Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bronchiolitis: Doing Less and Still Getting Better

* Abbreviation: RSV — : respiratory syncytial virus Infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is among the universal experiences of childhood. Worldwide, by 1 year of life, half of all children have been infected with RSV and by 2 years of age, virtually all children have been infected with RSV.1 Unlike many viral infections, it is the prevalence, as opposed to the severity, of infection that motivates our collective focus on the optimal treatment course for infants with RSV. Although acknowledging that in some small subset of high-risk infants, preventive strategies are justified,2,3 the focus of this commentary concerns a randomized, controlled trial of treatment with nebulized hypertonic saline in infants with acute bronchiolitis published in this issue of Pediatrics . 4 In general, bronchiolitis results primarily from RSV infection and causes a few days of congestive symptoms before resolving spontaneously. Despite suggestions that RSV infection increases the longitudinal risk for developing asthma, there is little direct evidence in support of such an association.5 In fact, … Address correspondence to David N. Cornfield, MD, Center for Excellence in Pulmonary Biology, 770 Welch Rd, Suite 350, Stanford, CA 94304. E-mail: cornfield{at}stanford.edu
Contribution to TAI frequency by a travelling primary frequency standard

The Mobile Atomic Fountain has been used to steer the TAI frequency when operating in sites without regular link to BIPM. A brief description of the method used to link this standard to a fly-wheel clock included in BIPM database and results are presented. There is no evidence of different behavior when the FOM is sitting in LNE-SYRTE or in remote laboratories.
A Rugged LDMOS for LBC5 Technology

This paper presents a new method of enhancing the SOA of n-channel Ldmos transistors. Attention is focused on those applications where “Electrical SOA” is important and where the power pulse time is typically a few µs or less. Typical applications include gate drives, H-bridge commutation, and self-protection against ESD pulses.
Path loss characteristics for vehicle-to-infrastructure channel in urban and suburban scenarios at 5.9 GHz

This paper investigates path loss characteristics for Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications in urban and suburban scenarios. We carried out measurements at 5.9 GHz. The transmitter antenna heights are 3.5 m and 1.5 m and the position of the receiver antenna is on the roof of the car. Then we analyzed the path loss characteristics by using the measured data. The results are helpful for the V2I communications system design.
Ionizing radiation from tobacco.

To the Editor. — Accidents at nuclear power facilities seem inevitably to bring in their wake a great deal of concern on the part of both the lay and medical communities. Relatively little attention, however, is given to what may be the largest single worldwide source of effectively carcinogenic ionizing radiation: tobacco. Let us take last year's Chernobyl disaster as an example. It has been calculated that here in Israel by year's end, although we are some distance from the Soviet Union, we shall all have absorbed an average of 4 mrem (40 μSv) of excess whole-body radiation due to the Chernobyl accident. Using the estimate chosen by Doll and Peto, 1 that the lifetime risk of fatal cancer per rem of whole-body dose is about 250 per million population, we should expect a lifetime excess of four cancer deaths among Israel's population of 4 million. In sharp contrast to this
Lead, mercury, and arsenic in US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines sold via the Internet.

CONTEXT Lead, mercury, and arsenic have been detected in a substantial proportion of Indian-manufactured traditional Ayurvedic medicines. Metals may be present due to the practice of rasa shastra (combining herbs with metals, minerals, and gems). Whether toxic metals are present in both US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines is unknown. OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of Ayurvedic medicines available via the Internet containing detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic and to compare the prevalence of toxic metals in US- vs Indian-manufactured medicines and between rasa shastra and non-rasa shastra medicines. DESIGN A search using 5 Internet search engines and the search terms Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine identified 25 Web sites offering traditional Ayurvedic herbs, formulas, or ingredients commonly used in Ayurveda, indicated for oral use, and available for sale. From 673 identified products, 230 Ayurvedic medicines were randomly selected for purchase in August-October 2005. Country of manufacturer/Web site supplier, rasa shastra status, and claims of Good Manufacturing Practices were recorded. Metal concentrations were measured using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of medicines with detectable toxic metals in the entire sample and stratified by country of manufacture and rasa shastra status. RESULTS One hundred ninety-three of the 230 requested medicines were received and analyzed. The prevalence of metal-containing products was 20.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.2%-27.1%). The prevalence of metals in US-manufactured products was 21.7% (95% CI, 14.6%-30.4%) compared with 19.5% (95% CI, 11.3%-30.1%) in Indian products (P = .86). Rasa shastra compared with non-rasa shastra medicines had a greater prevalence of metals (40.6% vs 17.1%; P = .007) and higher median concentrations of lead (11.5 microg/g vs 7.0 microg/g; P = .03) and mercury (20,800 microg/g vs 34.5 microg/g; P = .04). Among the metal-containing products, 95% were sold by US Web sites and 75% claimed Good Manufacturing Practices. All metal-containing products exceeded 1 or more standards for acceptable daily intake of toxic metals. CONCLUSION One-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic.
Length-tension relations in cardiac muscle.

The distinguishing mechanical characteristics of cardiac muscle are(1) the presence of a significant and sometimes labile resting tension at functional lengths. Certain invertebrate skeletal muscles also possess this property, but the structural basis seems to be different. (2)Force-velocity characteristics of heart muscle are labile and constitute a mechanism for regulating cardiac performance. (3)Data on quick-stretch and release show that the active state in heart muscle is slow in its onset, probably preceding the development of isometric tension by only a short time.The onset of the active state is labile also, and probably forms the basis of the regulatory function of the force-velocity relation. Measurements of heat show a slow rate of increase of heat during a twitch consistent with the onset of contractility.
Dynamic presentations for illustration purposes

Illustrations provide visual support for transmitting a communication goal with regard to an illustration subject and a target audience. A set of presentation variables exists supporting this task. This set has proven valuable for expressing illustration information. To broaden the spectrum of illustration techniques, this work introduces the notion of dynamic presentations for illustration purposes. Herein, temporally parameterised dynamics aim at maximising the expression capabilites while economising as much on cognitive load as possible. To this end, a collection of components is presented: (1) an overview of fundamentals of dynamics including cognitive aspects; (2) a temporal model for parameterising presentation of dynamics; (3) a set of exemplary dynamics with some special emphasis on non-photorealistic renderings; and (4) some aspects on system modelling for implementing the introduced concepts. Lastly, use of the presented components is exemplified by drawing on some applications using dynamics for illustration purposes. Inspirations for future research are derived for broadening the set of dynamic presentation techniques. This is expected to widen their field of application as well as further promoting the potential of dynamics as an independent expression dimension.
An analysis of heterogeneous ensembles at predicting stock prices of Brazilian power companies

Financial time series analysis has long been a target of study for time series modeling and machine learning, in particular the application of different predictive models to classify and estimate the value for a given asset. In this work, the author analyses the performance of a heterogeneous ensemble using stacking, composed of a SVM, a Ridge regressor and a Random Forest model on the task of predicting the close value for two stocks from the Brazilian energy sector. Instead of achieving the lowest possible prediction error, the goal of this work is to compare the prediction performance of an ensemble of regressors and its base models with the objective of validating the use of ensembles on this problem.
Dynamic ramp control in current-mode adaptive on-time control for Buck converter on chip

This paper proposes dynamic ramp control in current-mode adaptive on-time control for Buck converter on chip. It improves system stability and reduces output voltage at the load release. The concept of dynamic ramp control uses sample and hold circuit, comparator, and ramp valley control circuit adjusted according to the varied ramp signal to avoid the generation of an error pulse signal to regulate a high output voltage at the load release. Finally, the feasibility and performance of the integrated circuit implemented with dynamic ramp control are tested through experiments.
A method for lossless compression of images

Compression of Images is one of the most actual and dynamic developing fields of Informatics and Informational Technologies.The suggested method for lossless compression of images requires that the image is presented as a set of 256 image levels, which must contain pixels from the initial image with identical intensity values.An algorithm containing 4 stages is applied to each level. Each stage of the algorithm is included depending on the satisfying of a criterion for closeness between the pixels of the level.The method can work as Iossless or as perceptually lossless depending on its settings.The method is universal and gives good results comparable to JPEG regarding images of different types and is open for further development at all stages.
Security of quantum key distribution with imperfect devices

This paper prove the security of the Bennett-Brassard (BB84) quantum key distribution protocol in the case where the source and detector are under the limited control of an adversary. This proof applies when both the source and the detector have small basis-dependent flaws, as is typical in practical implementations of the protocol. The estimation of the key generation rate in some special cases: sources that emit weak coherent states, detectors with basis-dependent efficiency, and misaligned sources and detectors.
Intraoperative 5-fluorouracil for filtration surgery in the rabbit.

PURPOSE Postoperative subconjunctival injections of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) improve the success rate of filtration surgery, but there is still a 20% or greater failure rate at 1 year in pseudophakic and repeat trabeculectomy cases. The injections are inconvenient to give and may produce corneal epithelial toxicity and other side effects. An alternative method for administration of 5-FU is investigated. METHODS A masked, randomized, prospective study was undertaken to compare bleb survival and complications in a rabbit model, after either a single intraoperative exposure to 5-FU (50 mg/ml concentration for 5 minutes) or five postoperative injections of 5-FU (5 mg injection on postoperative days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9), or a combination of both, with controls that received only a 5-minute exposure to distilled water, intraoperatively. RESULTS For the control eyes, all blebs were "flat" to masked grading, and intraocular pressure returned to preoperative levels by postoperative day 11. In the group receiving postoperative injections of 5-FU only, blebs were flat and the pressure normalized by postoperative day 14. Rabbits receiving intraoperative 5-FU only, or combined intraoperative and postoperative 5-FU, had consistently higher blebs than the former two groups, and some blebs survived until postoperative day 25. The mean intraocular pressure remained depressed in these groups until postoperative day 21 (P < 0.05 for days 5 through 18). A combination of intraoperative and postoperative 5-FU produced significantly higher blebs than intraoperative 5-FU alone on days 7 to 14. CONCLUSIONS Intraoperative application of high-dose 5-FU to the filtration site either as a single 5-minute treatment, or in conjunction with postoperative injections of 5-FU greatly prolongs bleb function after filtration surgery in the rabbit.
SERINE PROTEASE ACTIVITY IN DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF EIMERIA TENELLA

A number of complex processes are involved in Eimeria spp. survival, including control of sporulation, intracellular invasion, evasion of host immune responses, successful reproduction, and nutrition. Proteases have been implicated in many of these processes, but the occurrence and functions of serine proteases have not been characterized. Bioinformatic analysis suggests that the Eimeria tenella genome contains several serine proteases that lack homology to trypsin. Using RT-PCR, a gene encoding a subtilisin-like and a rhomboid protease-like serine protease was shown to be developmentally regulated, both being poorly expressed in sporozoites (SZ) and merozoites (MZ). Casein substrate gel electrophoresis of oocyst extracts during sporulation demonstrated bands of proteolytic activity with relative molecular weights (Mr) of 18, 25, and 45 kDa that were eliminated by coincubation with serine protease inhibitors. A protease with Mr of 25 kDa was purified from extracts of unsporulated oocysts by a combination of affinity and anion exchange chromatography. Extracts of SZ contained only a single band of inhibitor-sensitive proteolytic activity at 25 kDa, while the pattern of proteases from extracts of MZ was similar to that of oocysts except for the occurrence of a 90 kDa protease, resistant to protease inhibitors. Excretory-secretory products (ESP) from MZ contained AEBSF (4-[2-Aminoethyl] benzenesulphonyl fluoride)–sensitive protease activity with a specific activity about 10 times greater than that observed in MZ extracts. No protease activity was observed in the ESP from SZ. Pretreatment of SZ with AEBSF significantly reduced SZ invasion and the release of the microneme protein, MIC2. The current results suggest that serine proteases are present in all the developmental stages examined.
Accident management reinforcing with qualitative and quantitative analysis

Accident analysis is an important component in risk management, however in nowadays, with the growing of complex plant and work procedure, identifing causing factor is impractical. In this paper, we proposed to use qualitative and quantitative methods to building base for risk management analysis and reinforcement. An analytic hierarchy process is conducted to build the accident chain, and the judgment degree is further project into probabilities indicates the chance of event occurring. Based on the constructed accident structure, a Bayesian Network analysis is applied, providing a view from statistics an uncertainty. Based on this, a 7S management framework was used in reinforcement analysis. A chemical accident case study is present to valid the proposed methods.
Delay in seeking specialized care for oral cancers: experience from a tertiary cancer center.

OBJECTIVE Advanced oral cancers are a challenge for treatment, as they require complex procedures for excision and reconstruction. Despite being occurring at a visible site and can be detected easily, many patients present in advanced stages with large tumors. Timely intervention is important in improving survival and quality of life in these patients. The aim of the present study was to find out the causes of delay in seeking specialist care in advanced oral cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective questionnaire based study was done on 201 consecutive advanced oral squamous cancer patients who underwent surgery at our hospital. All patients had either cancer of gingivobuccal complex (GBC) or tongue and had tumors of size more than 4 cm (T3/T4) and were treatment naοve at presentation. RESULTS Even though most patients observed abnormal lesions in their mouth, majority delayed the decision to visit a physician early. A significant percentage of patients (50%) also reported a delayed diagnosis by the primary care physician before being referred to a tertiary care center for definitive treatment. The average total duration from symptoms to treatment was 7 months. CONCLUSION The main reasons of this delay in receiving treatment were due to patients themselves (primary delay) or due to time taken by the primary physician to diagnose the condition (secondary delay). Oral self-examination can be helpful in detecting oral cancers early.
An ultra-high-speed comparator for ADC in 90nm CMOS technology

An ultra-high-speed comparator design based on the regeneration architecture, which could be used in flash ADC, was presented in this paper. The speed of regeneration circuit was studied deeply. And the size of switch-MOSFET was optimized and makes the comparator could work at the speed as high as possible. The corresponding circuit layout was implemented in IBM 90-nm CMOS technology. The post simulation result shows the comparator could work well at 6 GHz while the power dissipation is 240 µW.
Legume Shrubs Are More Nitrogen-Homeostatic than Non-legume Shrubs

Legumes are characterized as keeping stable nutrient supply under nutrient-limited conditions. However, few studies examined the legumes' stoichiometric advantages over other plants across various taxa in natural ecosystems. We explored differences in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry of different tissue types (leaf, stem, and root) between N2-fixing legume shrubs and non-N2-fixing shrubs from 299 broadleaved deciduous shrubland sites in northern China. After excluding effects of taxonomy and environmental variables, these two functional groups differed considerably in nutrient regulation. N concentrations and N:P ratios were higher in legume shrubs than in non-N2-fixing shrubs. N concentrations were positively correlated between the plants and soil for non-N2-fixing shrubs, but not for legume shrubs, indicating a stronger stoichiometric homeostasis in legume shrubs than in non-N2-fixing shrubs. N concentrations were positively correlated among three tissue types for non-N2-fixing shrubs, but not between leaves and non-leaf tissues for legume shrubs, demonstrating that N concentrations were more dependent among tissues for non-N2-fixing shrubs than for legume shrubs. N and P concentrations were correlated within all tissues for both functional groups, but the regression slopes were flatter for legume shrubs than non-N2-fixing shrubs, implying that legume shrubs were more P limited than non-N2-fixing shrubs. These results address significant differences in stoichiometry between legume shrubs and non-N2-fixing shrubs, and indicate the influence of symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) on plant stoichiometry. Overall, N2-fixing legume shrubs are higher and more stoichiometrically homeostatic in N concentrations. However, due to excess uptake of N, legumes may suffer from potential P limitation. With their N advantage, legume shrubs could be good nurse plants in restoration sites with degraded soil, but their P supply should be taken care of during management according to our results.
Targeted Delivery of FLT-Morpholino Using Cyclic RGD Peptide

Purpose We previously showed that intravitreal injection of the sFLT morpholino-oligomer (FLT-MO) suppresses laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in mice by decreasing the membrane bound form of Flt-1 while increasing the soluble form of Flt-1 via alternative splicing shift. In this study, we examined whether cyclic RGD peptide (cRGD) can promote morpholino-oligomer accumulation in CNV following tail vein injection, and whether systemic cRGD conjugated FLT-MO (cRGD-FLT-MO) suppresses CNV growth. Methods cRGD conjugated fluorescent morpholino-oligomer (cRGD-F-MO) was injected via tail vein into mice with previous retinal laser photocoagulation and examined for cRGD-F-MO accumulation in CNV. To examine whether cRGD-FLT-MO suppresses CNV growth, mice were tail-vein injected with cRGD-FLT-MO, cRGD conjugated standard morpholino-oligomer (cRGD-STD-MO), or Dulbecco's Phosphate-Buffered Saline (DPBS) 1 and 4 days postlaser photocoagulation. Seven days postlaser photocoagulation, eyes were harvested and laser CNV was stained with isolectin GS-IB4, allowing quantification of CNV size by confocal microscopy. Results cRGD-F-MO accumulation in CNV commenced immediately after tail vein injection and could be observed even 1 day after injection. cRGD-FLT-MO tail vein injection significantly suppressed CNV size (2.7 × 105 ± 0.3 × 105 μm3, P < 0.05 by Student's t-test) compared with controls (DPBS: 5.1 × 105 ± 0.6 × 105 μm3 and cRGD-STD-MO: 5.5 × 105 ± 0.8 × 105 μm3). Conclusions cRGD peptide facilitates morpholino-oligomer accumulation in CNV following systemic delivery. cRGD-FLT-MO suppressed CNV growth after tail-vein injection, demonstrating the potential utility of cRGD peptide for morpholino-oligomer delivery to CNV. Translational Relevance Current therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration involves intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs. Our results indicate that CNV can be treated systemically, thus eliminating risks and hazards associated with intravitreal injection.
Does next-generation sequencing of cyst fluid improve management of pancreatic cystic neoplasms?

Abstract Pancreatic cystic lesions represent a heterogeneous group of diseases ranging from benign to malignant lesions. They are increasingly being detected due to the widespread use of cross-sectional imaging. Their management is a challenge because it is often not possible to reliably discriminate between malignant and nonmalignant lesions using current imaging technology. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has the ability of both whole genome and targeted sequencing at a low cost and from a limited amount of DNA. NGS of cyst fluid aspired by endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration provides a valuable tool in biomarker research and may in the future help improve diagnosis and management of pancreatic cystic lesions.
Immunocytochemical analysis of human muscular dystrophy

Immunocytochemistry is an essential tool for the assessment of muscle biopsies from patients with muscular dystrophy, especially the recessive forms. Antibodies can detect primary defects when there is an alteration in expression, in particular in Xp21 muscular dystrophies, Emery‐Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, the limb‐girdle dystrophies caused by abnormal expression of the sarcoglycans, and in the form of congenital muscular dystrophy linked to the gene for laminin α2. Absence of a protein is easily observed and reduction in expression can be assessed provided adequate controls and baselines are established. Assessment of secondary defects can also be of diagnostic value; they widen the understanding of pathology changes, and are helping in the development of therapeutic strategies. Microsc. Res. Tech. 48:142–154, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.