Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cesarean Section Short- and Long-term Medical Implications

Cesarean Section Shortand Long-term Medical Implications Apostolos Papageorgiou Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada The increasing rates of cesarean sections (C/section) are presently of intense medical interest and of public health importance. We are witnessing an extraordinary variation in the number of C/sections not only among countries but also among institutions. They range from 14 to over 65%. This large discrepancy cannot be explained only on the basis of population differences. Of particular concern are elective C/sections before 39 weeks of gestation.1 Many studies indicate a high incidence of neonatal pathologies requiring several days of hospitalization in neonatal intensive care units.2 The most important immediate complications are of respiratory nature, including respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), transient tachypnea of newborn (TTN), need for ventilation, and prolonged oxygen requirements. Parental separation and delayed breastfeeding are further complications (Table 1). Cesarean sections lead also to more frequent long-term risks. They include higher incidence of asthma, food allergies, diabetes, and neurodevelopmental difficulties. A Norway study indicates a 52% increased risk for asthma following C/section vs spontaneous vaginal delivery (hazard ratio = 1.5). 3 The advanced reason is based on the “hygiene hypothesis,” which assumes that the initial gut colonization takes place with the “wrong” microbes. The other reason relates to secondary complications following RDS, TTN, and ventilation. There is also evidence of increased food allergies due to increased sensitization to antigen-specific immunoglobulin E following C/sections.4 Finally, neurodevelopment in infants born between 37 and 39 weeks is reported to be affected by an odds ratio of 1.16 (95% confidence interval, 1.12–1.20). 5 It is also important to mention that high C/section rates do not guarantee low maternal and neonatal mortality, as proven by data from Latin America, where high C/section rates are the norm. In conclusion, C/sections are on the rise and not always justified. Judicious C/sections undoubtedly have improved perinatal mortality and morbidity. It is now well-established that elective C/sections before 39 weeks of gestation carry unacceptable neonatal risks and the cost of hospitalizations is not negligible. Parents requesting C/ sections should be made aware of the risks and benefits to the fetus and newborn. Table 1: Elective C/section after 37 weeks (13,258) Outcome 37 (n = 834) 38 (n = 3,909) 39 (n = 6,512) p trend Any adverse 15.3% 11.0% 8.0% < 0.001 RDS + TTN 8.2% 5.5% 3.4% < 0.001 Ventilation 1.9% 0.9% 0.4% < 0.001 Hospital ≥ 5d 9.1% 5.7% 3.6% < 0.001 RDS: Respiratory distress syndrome; TTN: Transient tachypnea of newborn
Mortality after Major trauma – An analysis of the factors that impacts Trauma Survivorship between India and the United Kingdom

Background: Major trauma following road traffic accidents (RTA) is the largest cause of death and permanent disability in children and adults below 40 years of age worldwide. Various factors at both a pre-hospital and in-hospital settings play a major role in the survivorship. This study critically evaluated and suggested changes that could potentially improve the survivorship of patients based on the provision of pre-hospital and in-hospital care. Methods: We researched epidemiological, economical, mortality and injury figures following RTAs in India and the UK and compared their trends from 2000-2015. We also analysed the factors that could have influenced the mortality rates, including the pre-hospital and in-hospital care in these two countries and emphasised the role of various factors that influences the post injury mortality rate. Results: In the UK, the number of RTA injuries recorded in 2000 was 320,000. This decreased by 41.8% to 186,189 in 2015. The number of RTA associated deaths recorded in the UK in 2000 was 3409, decreased by 49.2% to 1730 in 2015. The establishment of trauma networks contributed to significant reduction in mortality in the UK. In India, the number of RTA injuries recorded in 2000 was 399,265 and this increased by 20.8% in 2015 to 482,389. However the number of RTA associated deaths in India increased exponentially by 88.5% from 78,911 in 2000 to 148,707 in 2015. Conclusion: Our study revealed the exponential increase in mortality rate when compared to the number of injuries and highlighted the need for improving pre-hospital and in-hospital care India. The lessons learnt from the UK, especially with setting up of trauma networks, focussed training and establishment of major trauma centres, could bring a significant improvement in the survival rate of this young productive population in India. Though there is a long way to achieve the target set by ‘Brazilia Declaration’, India being a signatory has an obligation to its citizens and the world to reach the target.
Multidisciplinary evaluation of locally advanced leiomyosarcoma in the lower rectum: a case report and literature review

Rectal leiomyosarcoma is a rare neoplasm, and no standard therapeutic strategy has been established, other than surgical resection. The prognosis of advanced leiomyosarcoma in the rectum is poor. We describe a case of a 47-year-old man with a locally advanced rectal leiomyosarcoma who presented with anal bleeding and lower abdominal pain. After discussions by a multidisciplinary team (MDT), the patient received preoperative pelvic short-course radiotherapy followed by laparoscopic-assisted abdominoperineal resection. Adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin and ifosfamide was administered postoperatively. Local recurrence was detected 13 months after the resection. The patient received chemotherapy with gemcitabine and docetaxel followed by radioactive particle implantation. Thereafter, apatinib was administered to gain systemic control. The patient died 24 months after the diagnosis. This case report draws attention to treatment with multidisciplinary therapy, as discussed by MDT, for rare locally advanced rectal leiomyosarcoma.
Multi-Organ Gland Segmentation Using Deep Learning

Clinical morphological analysis of histopathology samples is an effective method in cancer diagnosis. Computational pathology methods can be employed to automate this analysis, providing improved objectivity and scalability. More specifically, computational techniques can be used in segmenting glands, which is an essential factor in cancer diagnosis. Automatic delineation of glands is a challenging task considering a large variability in glandular morphology across tissues and pathological subtypes. A deep learning based gland segmentation method can be developed to address the above task, but it requires a large number of accurate gland annotations from several tissue slides. Such a large dataset need to be generated manually by experienced pathologists, which is laborious, time-consuming, expensive, and suffers from the subjectivity of the annotator. So far, deep learning techniques have produced promising results on a few organ-specific gland segmentation tasks, however, the demand for organ-specific gland annotations hinder the extensibility of these techniques to other organs. This work investigates the idea of cross-domain (-organ type) approximation that aims at reducing the need for organ-specific annotations. Unlike parenchyma, the stromal component of tissues, that lies between the glands, is more consistent across several organs. It is hypothesized that an automatic method, that can precisely segment the stroma, would pave the way for a cross-organ gland segmentation. Two proposed Dense-U-Nets are trained on H&E strained colon adenocarcinoma samples focusing on the gland and stroma segmentation. The trained networks are evaluated on two independent datasets, they are, a H&E stained colon adenocarcinoma dataset and a H&E stained breast invasive cancer dataset. The trained network targeting the stroma segmentation performs similar to the network targeting the gland segmentation on the colon dataset. Whereas, the former approach performs significantly better compared to the latter approach on the breast dataset, showcasing the higher generalization capacity of the stroma segmentation approach. The networks are evaluated using Dice coefficient and Hausdorff distance computed between the ground truth gland masks and the predicted gland masks. The conducted experiments validate the efficacy of the proposed stoma segmentation approach toward multi-organ gland segmentation.
Analysis of Sketch RNN for Sketch Auto Generation

We present an sketch generation system composed of Sketch RNN, Google released. It is a recurrent neural network (RNN) constructed stroke-based drawings. Our system is different from traditional way, it is based on serial strokes which human draws. The diference makes output image much smoother and more natural. We introduce Sketch RNN into a tool of sketch generation. This paper focuses on two points. The first, we check that sketch production with Sketch RNN makes output image similar to input one. The second, we confirm that all the latent vector given by Sketch RNN make a sketch compiled soft strokes. Through these condideration, we explore new sketch generation system.
Validation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Measurements in Adolescents

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an important indicator of adolescent cardiovascular well-being and future cardiometabolic health but not always feasible to measure. The purpose of this study was to estimate the concurrent validity of the non-exercise test (NET) for adolescents against the Progressive Aerobic Capacity Endurance Run (PACER®) and direct measures of VO2max as well as to examine the concurrent validity of the PACER® with a portable metabolic system (K4b2™). Forty-six adolescents (12–17 years) completed the NET prior to performing the PACER® while wearing the K4b2™. The obtained VO2max values were compared using linear regression, intra-class correlation (ICC), and Bland–Altman plots, and α was set at 0.05. The VO2max acquired directly from the K4b2™ was significantly correlated to the VO2max indirectly estimated from the NET (r = 0.73, p < 0.001, r2 = 0.53, ICC = 0.67). PACER® results were significantly related to the VO2max estimates from the NET (r = 0.81, p < 0.001, r2 = 0.65, ICC = 0.72). Direct measures from the K4b2™ were significantly correlated to the VO2max estimates from the PACER® (r = 0.87, p < 0.001, r2 = 0.75, ICC = 0.93). The NET is a valid measure of CRF in adolescents and can be used when an exercise test is not feasible.
Thermal Behaviour of Oriented and Un-oriented Polymer Blends from Metallocene Polypropylene

In this paper the effect of various polyethylenes (PE) as well as Ziegler-Natta polypropylene (ZNPP) on thermal behaviour of metallocene polypropylene (mPP) in the oriented and unoriented polymer blend fibres is presented. The DSC 7 apparatus (Perkin Elmer) for measurement of thermal properties of these fibres was used. The oriented and un-oriented mPP/PE blends and fibres are characterised by individual melting temperatures of both components with deviation of the basic thermal quantities in comparison with mPP and PE. The decrease of the total melting enthalpy of the blend indicates a partial compatibility of mPP and PE at a temperature above the melting point of the components at low concentration of PE. The mPP/ZNPP fibres are compatible polymer blends with one melting temperature in the range of melting temperature of mPP and ZNPP.
Q-Adaptation of UKF Algorithm for Estimation of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Dynamics

Accurate estimation for the pose and orientation of the autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is necessary in most of the applications. This is same for both the missile type AUVs or the vehicles used for research purposes deep in the sea or ocean. A nonlinear version of the Kalman Filter as the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) gives satisfactory estimation results for this purpose in the normal operation conditions. However, in the deep sea, changes in the environment (process noise) either instantaneously or periodically are very likely. In such case, the UKF must be adapted to become robust against such changes and provide accurate estimation results even in this case. In this study, we propose process noise covariance matrix adaptation (Q-adaptation) for the UKF algorithm. The main aim is to make the algorithm adaptive against the changes in the process noise covariance. The Adaptive UKF (AUKF) estimates the AUVs dynamics. We investigate the performance of the algorithm when the process noise increases and decreases, which are very likely as a result of changes in the AUV dynamics in different environments. The results are compared with those of a non-Q-adaptive version of the UKF algorithm.
Improving the global memory efficiency in GPU-based systems

of the Dissertation Improving the Global Memory Efficiency in GPU-Based Systems by Amir Kavyan Ziabari Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering Northeastern University, December 2016 Dr. David Kaeli, Adviser Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have been used in a wide range of high performance computing domains. Unfortunately, computing with GPU devices presents its own challenges, including inefficiencies in the global memory system. With today’s growing demand for Big Data processing, the need to leverage larger-scale GPUs or multiple GPUs becomes the natural next step. Big Data applications magnify the current limitations of global memory on GPU-based systems. A major source of this global memory inefficiency is due to bottlenecks in the on-chip network associated with this memory. In this dissertation, we describe how to optimize the performance and power efficiency of an on-chip network used on a GPU. We explore the GPU-based Network-on-Chip (NoC) design space, develop execution-driven simulation models, and analyze a range of parallelized applications. We evaluate a number of conventional network topologies, and their impact on performance of a GPU system. We use detailed simulation to characterize memory access patterns present in the GPU applications, and explore electrical on-chip networks that best match the needs of these applications. We incorporate asymmetry into the NoC design as a solution to reduce the power consumption of a network, while providing comparable performance to the best conventional topology. Our solution reduces the Energy-Delay Product (EDP) by as much as 88%. In order to improve the performance of current and future GPUs, we explore the use of silicon-photonic link technology when constructing the NoC. This emerging, low-latency, highbandwidth technology has been incorporated in chip multiproccesors (CMPs). By introducing a hybrid silicon-photonic NoC in the GPU memory system, we are able to improve performance of memory-intensive applications by 3.43×, as compared with the best alternative electrical NoC. Finally, we conduct a thorough analysis of global memory management schemes for multi-GPU systems. We identify limitations of the global memory present in previously proposed
Detect and Pointing Algorithms Performance for a 2D Adaptive Antenna Array

Additional information is available at the end the chapter Abstract In recent decades, we have witnessed a great progress in wireless communications. The huge amount of data that users expect to access has required an effort to increase the capacity of wireless networks. The main limitation of these communication systems is the increasing interference between channels and multipath fading. Smart antennas technology has emerged, solving some of these problems and improving the perfor- mance of wireless networks. This chapter addresses a group of algorithms, directions of arrival (DOA) and beamforming, applied to planar antenna arrays. The algorithms are simulated, and their performance is evaluated in terms of runtime, accuracy and dependence with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), applied to a smart antenna system.
Relevance of Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Plaque Morphology in the Risk Assessment of Patients with Acute Ischemic Cerebral Infarcts: A Case-Control Study of Large Series from a Single Center

Background: Carotid atherosclerosis is not only a marker of systemic atherosclerosis but also a predictor of ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study is to correlate the relationship between atherosclerotic risk factors, plaque categories, percentage of stenosis, stroke subtypes, and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods: This case–control study was conducted over 4 years from December 2014 to December 2018. A total of 500 cases diagnosed with acute cerebral infarct using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging were included in the study. Two hundred and fifty healthy controls were studied for the presence of atherosclerotic risk factors and carotid artery IMT by B-mode Doppler ultrasonography. The IMT value thus calculated was 0.79 mm and such a value would include >95% of the controls. Carotid plaques were detected from both sides of IMT measurement of the carotid system. Results: A total of 500 cases of acute infarct and 250 healthy controls were included in this case–control study. CIMT was abnormal in 348 cases with 192 males and 156 females with a mean value of 0.912 ± 0.124 against 0.794 ± 0.132;P< 0.001 controls. Mean CIMT (averaged right and left) varied directly according to the increasing plaque stenosis ranging from 0.70 mm to 0.96 mm in males and 0.68 mm to 0.94 mm in females ranging from no plaque to cases with ≥50% stenosis (P < 0.001 across stenosis categories). On multivariate analysis, CIMT (>0.79) remained associated as compared to other variables (PR [Probability] 5.33, 95% confidence interval: 1.398–22.784;P= 0.012). Mean right CIMT of patients with lacunar infarction, cardioembolism, and large artery stroke was 0.886 ± 0.230, 0.919 ± 0.171, and 0.938 ± 0.169 mm, respectively (P = 0.032). Mean left CIMT of patients with lacunar infarction, cardioembolism, and large artery stroke was 0.884 ± 0.195, 0.916 ± 0.144, and 0.930 ± 0.137 mm, respectively (P = 0.034). Conclusion: CIMT measurements are independent markers of acute ischemic cerebral infarcts. In the current study, CIMT was found to be higher among acute ischemic stroke patients who were the elderly, smoker, hypertensive, diabetic, and hypercholesterolemic than that of nonsmoker, normotensive, nondiabetic, and normocholesterolemic controls.
Clinical consensus on preoperative pulmonary function assessment in patients undergoing pulmonary resection (first edition)

While surgery is an important treatment option for lung diseases, its value can be compromised in patients with impaired lung function. The decreased lung ventilation or diffusion function in these patients increases the risk of perioperative complications and affects long-term survival. Therefore, the extent of resection should be defined according to disease stage; based on the pulmonary function, the risk of perioperative complications and long-term quality of life should be evaluated and predicted before surgery. Thus, the feasibility of surgical treatment and the extent of resection should be decided after weighing the pros and cons.
Aquaporin 1-Inhibition Promote Angiogenesis in Malignant Glioma: An Intro Study

Aquaporin 1-Inhibition Promote Angiogenesis in Malignant Glioma: An Intro Study Yinsheng Chen1* Ji Zhang1*, Haicheng Xia2, Zhengquan Zhu2# and Jian Wang1# 1Department of Neurosurgery/Neuro-oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China 2Department of Neurosurgery, The third affi liated hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China *Yinsheng Chen and Ji Zhang contributed equally to this work. #Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Jian Wang, E-mail: wangjian2@sysucc. org.cn *Address for Correspondence: Yinsheng Chen, Department of Neurosurgery/Neuro-oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China, E-mail: Submitted: 16 November 2017; Approved: 28 November 2017; Published: 30 November 2017 Cite this article: Chen Y, Zhang J, Xia H, Zhu Z, Wang J. Aquaporin 1-Inhibition Promote Angiogenesis in Malignant Glioma: An Intro Study. Sci J Neurol Neurosurg. 2017;3(4): 076-078. Copyright: © 2017 Chen Y, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Population-level impact of Zimbabwe's National Behavioural Change Programme.

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of Zimbabwe's National Behavioural Change Programme (NBCP) on biological and behavioral outcomes. METHODS Representative household biobehavioral surveys of 18- to 44-year-olds were conducted in randomly selected enumeration areas in 2007 and 2011 to 2012. We examined program impact on HIV prevalence among young women, nonregular partnerships, condom use with nonregular partners, and HIV testing, distinguishing between highly exposed and low-exposed communities and individuals. We conducted (1) difference-in-differences analyses with communities as unit of analysis and (2) analyses of key outcomes by individual-level program exposure. RESULTS Four thousand seven hundred seventy-six people were recruited in 2007 and 10,059 in 2011 to 2012. We found high exposure to NBCP in 2011. Prevalence of HIV and reported risky behaviors declined between 2007 and 2011. Community-level analyses showed a smaller decline in HIV prevalence among young women in highly exposed areas (11.0%-10.1%) than low-exposed areas (16.9%-10.3%, P = 0.078). Among young men, uptake of nonregular partners declined more in highly exposed areas (25%-16.8%) than low-exposed areas (21.9%-20.7%, P = 0.055) and HIV testing increased (27.2%-46.1% vs. 31.0%-34.4%, P = 0.004). Individual-level analyses showed higher reported condom use with nonregular partners among highly exposed young women (53% vs. 21% of unexposed counterparts, P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS We conducted the first impact evaluation of a NBCP and found positive effects of program exposure on key behaviors among certain gender and age groups. HIV prevalence among young women declined but could not be attributed to program exposure. These findings suggest substantial program effects regarding demand creation and justify program expansion.
Evaluation of Mirror Therapy for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke

Trials have shown modest clinical improvement in disabilities after stroke with the use of different techniques; however most of the treatment protocols for the paretic upper extremity are either expensive or labour intensive, which makes the provision of intensive treatment for many patients difficult. It has been suggested that mirror therapy is a simple, inexpensive and, most importantly patient-directed treatment that may improve upper extremity function. A prospective randomised case control study was done on 60 patients of both the sexes in the age group of 19 to 82 years having stroke for the first time. This study was conducted in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of a tertiary care hospital. All the patients who fulfilled the criteria were enrolled for study; patients were randomly allotted to the study or control group. Study group was given mirror therapy in addition to the conventional stroke rehabilitation programme. Patients were assessed in terms of motor recovery (Brunnstrom stages), spasticity (modified Ashworth Scale), and the self-care items of the Barthel index. These indices were measured at 0 month (pretreatment), 1 month (post-treatment), and 6 months (follow-up).