Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analytical Derivation of T-Shaped Structures for Synthesis of Quarter-Wavelength Transmission Lines

T-shaped structures, proposed to synthesize the quarter-wavelength transmission lines, have proved efficient for circuit miniaturization. While the design equations for the symmetric case are published, the existing equations for asymmetric cases, as reported recently, could lead to frequency-shift problems. In this letter, we analytically study the T-shaped structures and present closed-form design equations for synthesis of quarter-wavelength transmission lines. The equations explicitly show that quarter-wavelength transmission lines synthesized with asymmetric T-shaped structures cannot be perfectly matched to the reference impedance. The design of couplers with asymmetric T-shaped structures can be regarded as exploiting reflection cancellations to attain the matched condition at each port, as indicated by the equations. The closed-form equations are clear and concise enough for facilitating the design and application of T-shaped structures.
Endemic gentamicin resistance R factors on a spinal cord injury unit

Cleared lysates of gentamicin-resistant, gram-negative bacilli obtained during a prevalence survey and a subsequent prospective study on a spinal cord injury unit were analyzed. Of 105 strains obtained during the epidemiological study, 62 were analyzed for plasmid content. None of the 14 Acinetobacter strains carried plasmids. Of 20 strains from the initial prevalence survey, 9 carried a 36- or (in two cases) a 27-megadalton plasmid. Eight of the nine were Providencia strains; none were Pseudomonas strains. Of 28 nosocomial isolates obtained during the prospective survey, 22 carried plasmids of similar molecular weight (P less than 0.025, compared with the prevalence survey), including 20 of 22 isolates of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and 2 of 6 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. Conjugation, curing, and transformation indicate that these plasmids carry gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, ampicillin, carbenicillin, cephalothin, and, variably, chloramphenicol resistance. Restriction endonuclease digestion of purified plasmid DNA suggests that the plasmids from multiple species of the family Enterobacteriaceae contain common sequences, whereas those from Pseudomonas spp. do not. This study suggests that an endemic conjugal 36-megadalton gentamicin resistance R factor exists in many nosocomial species of the family Enterobacteriaceae.
Direct medical costs and their predictors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a three-year study of 7,527 patients.

OBJECTIVE To estimate total direct medical costs in persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to characterize predictors of these costs. METHODS Patients (n = 7,527) participating in a longitudinal study of outcome in RA completed 25,050 semiannual questionnaires from January 1999 through December 2001. From these we determined direct medical care costs converted to 2001 US dollars using the consumer price index. We used generalized estimating equations to examine potential predictors of the costs. Monte Carlo simulations and sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the varying prevalence and cost of biologic therapy. RESULTS The mean total annual direct medical care cost in 2001 for a patient with RA was 9,519 US dollars. Drug costs were 6,324 US dollars (66% of the total), while hospitalization costs were only 1,573 US dollars (17%). Approximately 25% of patients received biologic therapy. The mean total annual direct cost for patients receiving biologic agents was 19,016 US dollars per year, while the cost for those not receiving biologic therapy was 6,164 US dollars. RA patients who were in the worst quartile of functional status, as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire, experienced direct medical costs for the subsequent year that were 5,022 US dollars more than the costs incurred by those in the best quartile. Physical status as determined by the Short Form 36 physical component scale had a similar large effect on RA costs, as did comorbidity. Medical insurance type played a more limited role. However, those without insurance had substantially lower service utilization and costs, and health maintenance organization patients had lower drug costs and total medical costs. Increased years of education, increased income, and majority ethnic status were all associated with increased drug costs but not hospitalization costs. Costs in all categories decreased after age 65 years. CONCLUSION Estimates of direct medical costs for patients with RA are substantially higher than cost estimates before the biologic therapy era, and costs are now driven predominantly by the cost of drugs, primarily biologic agents. RA patients with poor function continue to incur substantially higher costs, as do those with comorbid conditions, and sociodemographic characteristics also play an important role in determination of costs.
Induction of micronuclei in mouse bone marrow cells: An evaluation of nucleoside analogues used in the treatment of AIDS

Various nucleoside analogues are being used or are being considered for use as therapeutic drugs to inhibit replication of the HTLV‐III/LAV virus in infected human cells. Here, the ability of seven nucleoside analogues, a combination of two analogues, and two other therapeutic compounds to induce genotoxic and cytotoxic damage in vivo was evaluated in the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test. Using a 3‐consecutive‐day oral treatment protocol, almost all of the test chemicals induced a significant increase in the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MN‐PCE) in male B6C3F1 mice, ranked in decreasing potency as 6‐thioguanine > Cytarabine HCl > 3′‐azido‐3′‐deoxythymidine (AZT)/2′,3′‐dideoxycytidine combination = AZT > Ribavirin = 2′,3′‐didehydro‐3′‐deoxythymidine > 2′,3′‐dideoxyadenosine = 2′,3′‐dideoxycytidine. The frequency of MN‐PCE was not increased significantly by treatment with 2′,3‐dideoxyinosine (DDI) or pentamidine isethionate (PI). The differential ability of AZT and DDI to induce MN in mouse bone marrow was verified from peripheral blood smears prepared from subchronic (90 day) oral studies. The lack of genotoxic activity by DDI was route‐specific since, when tested by intraperitoneal injection, a small but significant increase in MN‐PCE was observed. A number of these chemicals induced a significant depression in erythropoiesis. However, there was not a significant correlation between the increase in MN‐PCE and the depression in the percentage of PCE. This lack of a correlation suggests that factors other than DNA damage may contribute to the inhibition in the rate of erythropoiesis. The presence of increased levels of micronuclei in bone marrow PCE following treatment with various nucleoside analogues suggests that intrinsic genotoxic activity in mammalian cells should be one factor considered during drug selection for AIDS therapy.
Dynamic FDG‐PET is useful for detection of cholangiocarcinoma in patients with PSC listed for liver transplantation

Five to 15% of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) develop cholangiocarcinoma (CC) with a median survival of 5 to 7 months, an outcome not significantly improved by liver transplantation. However, if CC is found incidentally during the procedure or in the explanted liver, 5‐year survival rates of 35% are reported. A noninvasive method to detect CC small enough to allow for intended curative surgery is needed. Unfortunately, computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US) have poor sensitivity for detection of CC in PSC; however, positron emission tomography (PET) using 2‐[18F]fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose (FDG) differentiates well between CC and nonmalignant tissue. We examined whether PET findings are valid using a blinded study design comparing pretransplantation FDG‐PET results with histology of explanted livers. Dynamic FDG‐PET was performed in 24 consecutive patients with PSC within 2 weeks after listing for liver transplantation and with no evidence of malignancy on CT, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasonography. The PET Center staff was blinded to clinical findings, and surgeons and pathologists were blinded to the PET results. Three patients had CC that was correctly identified by PET. PET was negative in 1 patient with high‐grade hilar duct dysplasia. In 20 patients without malignancies, PET was false positive in 1 patient with epitheloid granulomas in the liver. In conclusion, dynamic FDG‐PET appears superior to conventional imaging techniques for both detection and exclusion of CC in advanced PSC. FDG‐PET may be useful for screening for CC in the pretransplant evaluation of patients with PSC. (HEPATOLOGY 2006;44:1572–1580.)
Novel Single-Phase PWM AC–AC Converters Solving Commutation Problem Using Switching Cell Structure and Coupled Inductor

This paper presents novel single-phase pulse width modulation (PWM) ac-ac converters that can solve the commutation problem in single-phase direct PWM ac-ac converters without sensing the input voltage polarity. By using a basic switching cell structure and coupled inductors, the proposed ac-ac converters can be short- and open-circuited without damaging the switching devices. Neither lossy RC snubber nor dedicated soft commutation strategy is required in the proposed converter. By replacing the conventional phase-leg of the PWM ac-ac converters with the switching cell structure and the coupled inductor, three novel buck, boost, and buck-boost type PWM ac-ac converters are developed. Although two coupled inductors are required for the proposed converter, the input inductor of the proposed converter can be much smaller than that of the conventional PWM ac-ac converters. The volume of the magnetic components can be further reduced by increasing switching frequency of the converter because very fast recovery diodes can be selected externally. In order to verify performance and robustness of the proposed converter, a 200-W boost type prototype converter was built and tested with both mismatched gate signals and highly distorted input voltage.
Elevated Levels of Interleukin-8 in Serum Are Associated with Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Resistance to Interferon Therapy

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major cause of liver disease worldwide, is frequently resistant to the antiviral alpha interferon (IFN). We have recently found that the HCV NS5A protein induces expression of the proinflammatory chemokine IL-8 to partially inhibit the antiviral actions of IFN in vitro. To extend these observations, in the present study we examined the relationship between levels of IL-8 in serum, HCV infection, and biochemical response to IFN therapy. Levels of IL-8 were significantly elevated in 132 HCV-infected patients compared to levels in 32 normal healthy subjects and were also significantly higher in patients who did not respond to IFN therapy than in patients who did respond to therapy. This study suggests that HCV-induced changes in levels of chemokine and cytokine expression may be involved in HCV antiviral resistance, persistence, and pathogenesis.
Long-Term Efficacy of Galantamine in Alzheimer's Disease: The Okayama Galantamine Study (OGS).

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most significant diseases affecting an increasingly aging society. OBJECTIVE To determine the long-term efficacy of galantamine treatment in a Japanese population. METHODS We performed "Okayama Galantamine Study (OGS)" to retrospectively analyze the clinical effects of galantamine in 279 AD patients using 7 batteries for assessing dementia at baseline, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. We further analyzed the effects of galantamine based on gender and the severity of their baseline cognitive, affective, and activity of daily living (ADL) functions. RESULTS In all 279 AD patients (80.6 ± 7.2 years old, MMSE 20.0 ± 4.5), cognitive functions were well preserved until 12 months and even frontal assessment battery improved after 12 months although Hasegawa dementia scale-revised finally worsened at 24 months ( *p < 0.05) with galantamine treatment. Affective and ADL functions were also well maintained after galantamine treatment with significant improvement of Geriatric Depression Scale scores at 3 months ( *p < 0.05). Subanalyses showed the better response to galantamine for male and lower baseline function subgroups. CONCLUSIONS Our present study (OGS) revealed a long-term efficacy of galantamine in very elderly AD patients, and suggested a better efficacy for male and baseline lower cognitive, affective, and ADL functions.
The declining dependence of ski lift operators on natural snow conditions

This study tests for a structural shift in the relationship between revenues of ski lift operators and natural snow conditions. The analysis is based on time series data for the Swedish ski lift industry spanning from 1980 to 2017. Since 1970, snow depth in winter sport destinations has decreased markedly by about 5 cm per decade. Estimations based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model show that revenues (in constant prices) of ski lift operators are significantly positively related to natural snow conditions, given the impact of relative prices and real GDP. However, ARDL estimations with rolling windows reveal that the sensitivity of revenues from ski lift ticket sales to variations in snow depth is declining over time. For the subsamples starting at the end of 1980s onward, revenues no longer significantly depend on natural snow depth. This is likely due to the implementation of adaptation measures such as investments in snowmaking facilities.
Prevalence and correlates of depression in late pregnancy among Nigerian women

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorder in late pregnancy in a group of Nigerian women and to examine the associated factors. One hundred and eighty women in late pregnancy completed a questionnaire on sociodemographic and obstetrical details. They also completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). A proportion of them were then assessed for the DSM‐IV diagnosis of depressive disorder. Fifteen (8.3%) women met the current (2 weeks) DSM‐IV diagnosis of depressive disorder. The factors independently associated with depression included being single [odds ratio (OR)=16.67, 95% confidence interval (CI)=3.17–87.76], divorced/separated (OR=11.11, 95% CI=1.55–19.65), polygamous (OR=3.92, 95% CI=0.94–16.33), and having a previous history of stillbirth (OR=8.00, 95% CI=1.70–37.57) and perceived lack of social support (OR=6.08, 95% CI=1.42–26.04). Depression is common in late pregnancy among Nigerian women, with the significant correlates including mainly social and family factors. Such factors should be considered when planning health care services or formulating a predictive model. Interventions aimed at reducing the occurrence of antenatal depression need further research. Depression and Anxiety 24:15–21, 2007 . © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Message Masking Communication of Switched Chaotic Systems

In this study, the secure communication application of switched chaotic systems which depend on a time-driven switching law is considered. The secure communications is set up by the masking scheme. Based on Lyapunov stability theorem, linear matrix inequality (LMI), and linear matrix equality (LME) optimization techniques, an output feedback controller is designed to synchronize the master-slave system and to guarantee the recovery the transmitted message. Finally, the numerical simulation verifies the results of the proposed method in this paper.
Product information retrieval based on opinion mining

With the dramatically increase of E-commerce, product information gradually forms a massive scale. However, public search engine, such as Google, Baidu, can't satisfy user's need to search product information in recall ratio, especially accuracy ratio. As a result, the product information that user real needs can't be searched and acquired quickly and easily, so user spends lots of time in eliminating the useless information. Product opinion mining, namely analyze the user's opinion of products, can find out some of characteristics of the product itself and whether user is satisfied with the product characteristics. According to the description of product characteristics, we can draw some information which is fundamental to user's concern and used them for reliable recommendation in product information retrieval.
Angioplasty for Intracranial Symptomatic Vertebrobasilar Ischemia

OBJECTIVE Although anterior circulation disease has both medical and surgical treatment options, management of vertebrobasilar disease has predominantly had only medical options. Some patients remain symptomatic despite medical treatment, and angioplasty has been demonstrated to relieve critical stenoses. However, the relative safety and effectiveness of medical and surgical treatments is not clearly known. This report reviews the clinical characteristics, indications, and procedural risks of intracranial angioplasty in a series of patients with symptomatic posterior circulation ischemia. METHODS All patients undergoing angioplasty for critical intracranial vertebral or basilar artery stenosis at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center between June 1986 and July 1999 were included in a retrospective record review. Clinical features and procedural complications were recorded. RESULTS Angioplasty was performed on 25 vessel lesions in 25 patients in whom medical therapy had failed. The patients ranged in age from 50 to 87 years. Of the 25 stenoses, 10 were intracranial vertebral, 9 vertebrobasilar junction, and 6 basilar in location. Angioplasty was effective in reducing the degree of stenosis by more than 40% in all 25 vessels. The overall risk of stroke or death was 28%, and the risk of disabling stroke or death was 16%. CONCLUSION Intracranial posterior circulation angioplasty is effective in the reduction of stenosis and can be performed with relative safety. Angioplasty can be considered as a treatment option in patients with recurrent ischemic symptoms despite medical therapy.
Metabolic Syndrome in Alcohol-Dependent Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: In the context to mental illness metabolic syndrome (MS) has gained significant attention in the last decade. The present research aimed to study the prevalence of MS and its correlates among the alcohol-dependent men at a deaddiction center in Northern India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was done for consecutive male subjects who met the diagnosis of alcohol-dependence syndrome currently using alcohol according to the International Clinical Diagnostic criteria- tenth revision mental and behavioral disorder- Clinical description and diagnostic guidelines criteria (ICD-10). The subjects were evaluated for alcohol consumption and the components of MS as per the International Diabetic Federation (IDF) and National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel-III (NCEP ATP-III). Results: A total of 200 male subjects were studied: 100 subjects meeting ICD-10 criteria for alcohol dependence currently using alcohol; 50 each of genetically related controls and nongenetically related healthy controls. As per the IDF (with ethnicity specific modifications for waist circumference) and NCEP ATP- III definitions, respectively, MS was found to be less prevalent in alcohol-dependent subjects (27% and 18%) in comparison the healthy controls (30% and 20%). Conclusion: Findings of the study suggest that irrespective of the amount the current alcohol intake is associated with a lower prevalence of MS and a favorable effect on serum high density lipoproteins and waist circumference. However, the cross-sectional nature of our study does not allow any definitive causal inference.
Lactose malabsorption in a population with irritable bowel syndrome: prevalence and symptoms. A case‐control study

Background: Symptoms after intake of milk are common in persons with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The aims of this study were to compare the prevalence of lactose malabsorption (LM) and symptoms related to intake of milk and lactose in subjects with IBS with that of healthy volunteers, and to search for symptoms that are characteristic of LM. Methods: A case‐control study in a Norwegian population was initiated. Subjects with IBS were asked for symptoms related to intake of milk and lactose, tested for LM, and compared with a group of healthy volunteers. Results: The study comprised a total of 187 persons (82 with IBS and 105 volunteers), females/males: 138/49, mean age 47 years. In subjects with IBS and in healthy volunteers, LM was present in 3/74 (4.1%) and 4/105 (3.8%), respectively (ns), milk‐related symptoms in 32/79 (40%) and 13/105 (12%), respectively (P < 0.001) and symptoms after intake of lactose in 28/74 (38%) and 21/104 (20%), respectively (P = 0.01). Borborygmi starting within 5 h after intake of lactose and lasting for more than 2 h indicated LM (OR 61 (95% CI:8–475), P < 0.001). Conclusions: IBS and LM are unrelated disorders in a Norwegian population. Milk‐related symptoms and symptoms after intake of lactose are unreliable predictors for LM. Precise symptom‐based criteria might enhance the diagnostic accuracy for LM.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis

Background Studies of angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (ACE I/D) polymorphisms and the risks of knee osteoarthritis (OA) have yielded conflicting results. Objective To determine the association between ACE I/D and knee OA, we conducted a combined case-control study and meta-analysis. Methods For the case-control study, 447 knee OA cases and 423 healthy controls were recruited between March 2010 and July 2011. Knee OA cases were defined using the Kellgren-Lawrence grading system, and the ACE I/D genotype was determined using a standard polymerase chain reaction. The association between ACE I/D and knee OA was detected using allele, genotype, dominant, and recessive models. For the meta-analysis, PubMed and Embase databases were systematically searched for prospective observational studies published up until August 2015. Studies of ACE I/D and knee OA with sufficient data were selected. Pooled results were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the D versus I allele with regard to knee OA risk. Results We found no significant association between the D allele and knee OA [OR: 1.09 (95% CI: 0.76–1.89)] in the present case-control study, and the results of other genetic models were also nonsignificant. Five current studies were included, and there were a total of six study populations after including our case-control study (1165 cases and 1029 controls). In the meta-analysis, the allele model also yielded nonsignificant results [OR: 1.37 (95% CI: 0.95–1.99)] and a high heterogeneity (I2: 87.2%). Conclusions The association between ACE I/D and knee OA tended to yield negative results. High heterogeneity suggests a complex, multifactorial mechanism, and an epistasis analysis of ACE I/D and knee OA should therefore be conducted.