Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Warfarin-Aspirin Symptomatic Intracranial Disease Study

We conducted a retrospective, multicenter study to compare the efficacy of warfarin with aspirin for the prevention of major vascular events (ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or sudden death) in patients with symptomatic stenosis of a major intracranial artery.Patients with 50 to 99% stenosis of an intracranial artery (carotid; anterior, middle, or posterior cerebral; vertebral; or basilar) were identified by reviewing the results of consecutive angiograms performed at participating centers between 1985 and 1991. Only patients with TIA or stroke in the territory of the stenotic artery qualified for inclusion in the study. Patients were prescribed warfarin or aspirin according to local physician preference and were followed by chart review and personal or telephone interview. Seven centers enrolled 151 patients; 88 were treated with warfarin and 63 were treated with aspirin. Median follow-up was 14.7 months (warfarin group) and 19.3 months (aspirin group). Vascular risk factors and mean percent stenosis of the symptomatic artery were similar in the two groups, yet the rates of major vascular events were 18.1 per 100 patient-years of follow-up in the aspirin group (stroke rate, 10.4/100 patient-years; myocardial infarction or sudden death rate, 7.7/100 patient-years) compared with 8.4 per 100 patient-years of follow-up in the warfarin group (stroke rate, 3.6/100 patient-years; myocardial infarction or sudden death rate, 4.8/100 patient-years). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significantly higher percentage of patients free of major vascular events among patients treated with warfarin (p equals 0.01). The relative risk of a major vascular event in those treated with warfarin was 0.46 (95% CI, 0.23 to 0.86) compared with patients treated with aspirin. Major hemorrhagic complications occurred in three patients on warfarin (including two deaths) during 166 patient-years of follow-up and in none of the patients on aspirin during 143 patient-years of follow-up. This study suggests a favorable risk/benefit ratio for warfarin compared with aspirin for the prevention of major vascular events in patients with symptomatic intracranial large-artery stenosis. A prospective, randomized study is needed to confirm these findings. NEUROLOGY 1995;45: 1488-1493
Finding regions of interest for content extraction

A major problem in content based image retrieval (CBIR) is the unsupervised identification of perceptually salient regions in images. We contend that this problem can be tackled by mapping the pixels into various feature-spaces, whereupon they are subjected to a grouping algorithm. In this paper, we develop a robust and versatile non-parametric clustering algorithm that is able to handle the unbalanced and highly irregular clusters encountered in such CBIR applications. The strength of our approach lies not so much in the clustering itself, but rather in the definition and use of two cluster-validity indices that are independent of the cluster topology. By combining them, an optimal clustering can be identified, and experiments confirm that the associated clusters do, indeed, correspond to perceptually salient image regions.
NORADRENERGIC CEREBRAL STIMULATION OF SENSORINEURAL IMPAIRED SUBJECTS: YOHIMBINE EFFECTS ON SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY AND THE AUDITORY BRAIN RESPONSE

Norepinephrine has been shown to improve signal-to-noise ratios of sensory systems, including that of the auditory system. Yohimbine has been observed to cause a selective increase of cerebral norepinephrine. It was administered in one dose to sensorineurally impaired subjects with the object of improving their speech hearing in noise. Speech intelligibility was measured by the adaptive procedure. Mild, significant improvement was noted in one of the hearing components, “attenuation,” and an adverse effect was shown on “distortion,” owing to noise. Auditory brainstem response was improved significantly. The objective of temporarily improving intelligibility in noise was not attained.
An evaluation of palliative care services for cancer patients in the Southern Health and Social Services Board of Northern Ireland

An interview study of 55 lay carers of people who died from cancer in the Southern Board of Northern Ireland was undertaken using a combination of closed-format and open-ended questions. The aim of the study was to evaluate palliative care services delivered in the last six months of their lives to cancer patients who died either at home or in hospital. Two-thirds of the deaths (36) occurred in the domestic home, 45 of the deceased were admitted as hospital inpatients, and the great majority were in receipt of community nursing (53) and general practitioner (54) services. Open-ended questions were used to allow respondents to give their views about services in some detail and their views about good and bad aspects of services were sought. While they were generally satisfied with services specific areas of difficulty were identified in each aspect of care addressed by the study. The most favourable assessments were made of community nursing with the greatest number of negative comments being made about inpatient hospital care. Differing interests between some of those who were dying and their lay carers were found in two areas: the receipt of help from nonfamily members and the information that the deceased received about their terminal status.
Donor-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Combined With Low-Dose Tacrolimus Prevent Acute Rejection After Renal Transplantation: A Clinical Pilot Study

Background The deleterious side effects of calcineurin inhibitors have impaired long-term survival after renal allograft. New immunotherapy regimens that minimize or even eliminate calcineurin inhibitors are required to improve transplantation outcome. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a unique cell population with immunosuppressive function and prolong allograft survival in experimental organ transplant models. Methods In this pilot study, donor-derived bone marrow MSCs combined with a sparing dose of tacrolimus (50% of standard dose) were administered to six de novo living-related kidney transplant recipients. Six other patients who received a standard dose of tacrolimus were enrolled as a control. The safety of MSC infusion, acute rejection, graft function, and patient and graft survival within 12 months after kidney transplantation were observed. The immune profiles were analyzed at different time points after transplantation. Results None of the MSC recipients experienced immediate or long-term toxic side effects associated with MSC infusion. The tacrolimus dose (0.045±0.002 mg/kg) in the MSC group was significantly reduced compared with the control group (0.077±0.005 mg/kg). One acute rejection occurred only in the control group. All patients survived with stable renal function at month 12 and no chimerism was detectable at month 3. Patients in the MSC group showed significantly higher B-cell levels than the control group at month 3. Conclusion These preliminary data suggest that the use of MSCs could provide potential benefits in renal transplantation by reducing the dosage of conventional immunosuppressive drug that is required to maintain long-term graft survival and function.
TouchEEG: Eine MultitouchAnwendung für die EEG-Auswertung

Bei Neurostimulationssitzungen entstehen EEG-Aufnahmen, die nicht selten eine Aufzeichnungsdauer von mehr als einer Stunde erreichen können. Die nachträgliche Auswertung solch großer Datenmengen mit herkömmlicher EEG-Software gestaltet sich meist aufwendig. Insbesondere die Navigation durch die Signaldarstellung mit Maus und Tastatur scheint langsam und ineffektiv. In diesem Beitrag wird eine Applikation vorgestellt, die es Anwendern ermöglicht, mittels Gesten, die aus der Bedienung von Smartphones und Tablets bekannt sind, an einem Multitouch-Arbeitsplatz durch das EEG-Signal zu navigieren. Dazu werden verschiedene implementierte Gesten und Funktionen beschrieben und Ergebnisse einer Prototypenevaluation mit professionellen Anwendern vorgestellt.
Insights in pediatric ventilation: timing of intubation, ventilatory strategies, and weaning

Purpose of reviewMechanical ventilation is a common intervention provided by pediatric intensivists. This fact notwithstanding, the management of mechanical ventilation in pediatrics is largely guided by a few pediatric trials along with careful interpretation and application of adult data. Recent findingsA low tidal volume, pressure limited approach to mechanical ventilation as established by the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network investigators, has become the prevailing practice in pediatric intensive care. Studies by these investigators suggest that high positive end expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers are not uniformly beneficial. High frequency oscillatory ventilation continues to be evaluated in an attempt to provide ‘open lung’ ventilation. Airway pressure release ventilation is a newer mode of ventilation that may combine the ‘open lung’ approach with spontaneous breathing. Prone positioning was demonstrated in a recent pediatric trial to have no effect on outcome, while calfactant was found to potentially improve outcomes in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. Ventilator weaning protocols may not be as useful in pediatrics as in adults. Systemic corticosteroids decrease the incidence of post extubation stridor and may reduce reintubation rates. SummaryMechanical ventilation with pressure limitation and low tidal volumes has become customary in pediatric intensive care units, and this lung protective approach will continue into the foreseeable future. Further investigation is warranted regarding use of high frequency oscillatory ventilation, airway pressure release ventilation, and surfactant to assist pediatric intensivists in application of these therapies.
Spatial patterns and drivers of fire occurrence and its future trend under climate change in a boreal forest of Northeast China

Understanding the spatial patterns of fire occurrence and its response to climate change is vital to fire risk mitigation and vegetation management. Focusing on boreal forests in Northeast China, we used spatial point pattern analysis to model fire occurrence reported from 1965 to 2009. Our objectives were to quantitate the relative importance of biotic, abiotic, and human influences on patterns of fire occurrence and to map the spatial distribution of fire occurrence density (number of fires occurring over a given area and time period) under current and future climate conditions. Our results showed human‐caused fires were strongly related to human activities (e.g. landscape accessibility), including proximity to settlements and roads. In contrast, fuel moisture and vegetation type were the most important controlling factors on the spatial pattern of lightning fires. Both current and future projected spatial distributions of the overall (human‐ + lightning‐caused) fire occurrence density were strongly clustered along linear components of human infrastructure. Our results demonstrated that the predicted change in overall fire occurrence density is positively related to the degree of temperature and precipitation change, although the spatial pattern of change is expected to vary spatially according to proximity to human ignition sources, and in a manner inconsistent with predicted climate change. Compared to the current overall fire occurrence density (median value: 0.36 fires per 1000 km2 per year), the overall fire occurrence density is projected to increase by 30% under the CGCM3 B1 scenario and by 230% under HadCM3 A2 scenario in 2081–2100, respectively. Our results suggest that climate change effects may not outweigh the effects of human influence on overall fire occurrence over the next century in this cultural landscape. Accurate forecasts of future fire‐climate relationships should account for anthropogenic influences on fire ignition density, such as roads and proximity to settlements.
Allergen‐induced increase in non‐allergic bronchial reactivity

Non‐allergic bronchial hyper‐reactivity is a feature of most patients with asthma. We have measured non‐allergic bronchial reactivity to inhaled histamine and methacholine in thirteen asthmatic subjects before and after allergen inhalation in the laboratory. The allergen inhalation produced mild early asthmatic responses (19–40% FEV1 fall) in all thirteen, additional definite late asthmatic responses (17–29% FEV1 fall) in four, and equivocal late asthmatic responses (5–11% FEV1 fall) in five. Following allergen inhalation, non‐allergic bronchial reactivity increased in seven for up to 7 days. The seven included all four with definite late asthmatic responses and three of the five with equivocal late asthmatic responses. We conclude that allergens make asthma worse, partly through non‐allergic mechanisms, and that avoidance of allergens is important in reducing non‐allergic bronchial hyper‐reactivity.
A Platform Solution of Data-Quality Improvement for Internet-of-Vehicle Services

Interconnection and intelligence have become the latest trends of the new generation of vehicle and transportation technologies. Applications built upon platforms of cloud-centered vehicle networking, i.e., Internet-of-Vehicles (IoVs), have been increasingly developed and deployed to provide data-centric services (e.g., driving assistance). Because these services are often safety critical, assuring service dependability has become an important requirement. In this paper, we propose DQI, a platform-level solution of Data-Quality Improvement designed to assure service dependability for Internet-of-Vehicle services. As an example, DQI is deployed in CarStream, an industrial system of big data processing designed for chauffeured car services. Via CarStream, over 30,000 vehicles are organized in a virtual vehicle network by sharing vehicle-status data in a near real-time manner. Such data often have low-quality issues and compromise the dependability of data-centric services. DQI includes techniques of data-quality improvement, including detecting outliers, extracting frequent patterns, and interpolating sequences. DQI enhances the dependability of data-centric services in IoVs by addressing the common data-quality requirements at the platform level. Upper-level services can benefit from DQI for data-quality improvement and reduce the complexity of service logic. We evaluate DQI by using a three-year dataset of vehicles and real applications deployed in CarStream. The result shows that compared with existing approaches, DQI can effectively restore missing data and correct anomalies with more than 30.0% improvement in precision. By studying multiple real applications, we also show that this data-quality improvement can indeed enhance the dependability of IoV services.
Performance evaluation of a 1kW non-isolated high step-up/step-down bidirectional converter for distributed battery storage system

A bidirectional DC/DC converter with high step-up/step-down is presented for battery storage power systems. This converter consists of a Buck-Boost converter, a half bridge module and an embedded coupled inductor. The voltage stresses of the power switches are reduced significantly. PWM plus phase-shift (PPS) control strategy is employed to regulate the intermediate capacitor voltage and the output voltage, due to which the conduction losses of the converter are reduced and ZVS for all power switches are achieved. The converter can switch between the battery charging and discharging modes smoothly. The operation principle, performance analysis and design consideration are analyzed in detail. Finally, a 1kW prototype is built and tested to verify the analysis.
Newcastle disease in ostriches (Struthio camelus) — a review

Newcastle disease (ND) in ostriches was first reported in zoo birds in the 1950s. An outbreak of ND in commercial ostriches in Israel was reported in 1989, but of more significance were the ND infections of ostriches in southern Africa during the 1990s as a result of assumed spread from commercial domestic fowl. The latter outbreaks were of particular concern due to the boom in international trade in ostriches and their products at that time. ND virus appeared to spread only slowly through affected ostrich flocks, and the clinical signs and mortality seen varied considerably with age. In field and experimental infections, morbidity, mainly in the form of nervous signs, and mortality could be extremely high in young birds but low or absent in adults. Characterization of ND viruses isolated during outbreaks in ostriches has shown them to be indistinguishable from viruses infecting chickens in the locality. Experimental challenge has shown ND poultry vaccines to be protective in ostriches, and several workers have proposed vaccine regimens employing both live and inactivated vaccines, usually given more frequently and employing much higher doses than recommended for chickens. Indirect and blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests have been developed for the detection of ND antibodies in ostrich sera. Although some reports have suggested problems using the haemagglutination inhibition(HI)tests, others have recorded good correlation between ELISA, HI and virus neutralization tests. Because of their size and, as a consequence, the method of rearing, ostriches are quite different to conventional poultry and respond differently, in terms of disease and spread, when infected with ND virus. However, at present, for the international control of ND, there would appear to be little alternative to treating ostriches as poultry for the purposes of trade.
White blood cell response to burn injury.

Multiple sites of decreased immune response have been discovered, but the instigation of this diffuse immunosuppression remains a matter of much debate. Several investigators have observed immunosuppressive affects of low-molecular weight peptides found in the serum of burn and trauma patients. These substances have been termed suppressive active peptides (SAP). Current research is also focusing on the intricate connection between stress hormones and neurotransmitters, in which there exist a complex information channel between the immune, endocrine, and central nervous systems. It is becoming clear that immune homeostasis may require regulatory influence via immunocompetent cells, along with influences from the central nervous system and a balanced endocrine environment. In fact, macrophages, lymphocytes, and neutrophils contain receptors for many hormones including corticosteroids, insulin, growth hormone, catecholamines, acetylcholine, and endorphins. The dramatic alteration in the hormonal milieu after injury may play a significant role in immunocompetence. Attempts to modulate specific defects in the immune system have been unsuccessful to date. Our goal, to decrease the risk of infection in burn patients, therefore, is meticulous supportive care. This includes not only reducing the risk of invading bacteria, but also increasing the patient's resistance to overall infection. The cornerstone of this support is to restore mechanical barrier function to as near normal as possible. Immediately after injury, vigorous wound management includes several daily debridements combined with wound protection using an appropriate topical antimicrobial substance. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The σB Regulon Influences Internalization of Staphylococcus aureus by Osteoblasts

ABSTRACT Individual strains of Staphylococcus aureus have different capacities to become internalized by osteoblasts. Here we report that the levels of σB expressed by S. aureus correlate with the capacity of this bacterium to be internalized by osteoblasts. However, σB is not essential for internalization and does not necessarily account for the differences in the capacities of strains to be internalized.
Real help and red herrings in spinal imaging.

Visual evidence is compelling. Unlike an abstract measure of plasma glucose or blood pressure, a herniated disk — or a picture of one, thanks to the wonders of modern imaging — can be seen by doctors and patients. Furthermore, conventional wisdom would have it that knowing imaging results can only be good. Most people are uncomfortable with uncertainty, especially regarding medical diagnosis. To reduce anxiety, patients, family members, and physicians alike often request imaging tests “just to be sure. ” Spine imaging plays an essential role in confirming diagnoses and planning surgery. However, with ever-improving resolution, modern imaging uncovers ever more .
Application of Myo Armband System to Control a Robot Interface

This paper discusses the application of myoelectric signals to control electronic devices aiming the development of a digital controlling interface with Myo Gesture Control Armband System. Through this interface it is possible to control the movement of a robot and its interaction with the environment, in this case the robot being PeopleBot, a robot designed for home necessities. Thus, allowing an assessment on the operation of controlling devices with myoelectric signals and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), the advantages and disadvantages of working with this technology are discussed.
COMPARING THE EFFECT OF MASSED & DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF DISCRETE MOTOR TASK LEARNING

How to distribute the duration of practice and rest at each session is a matter of concern in organizing the practice of motor skills. In this connection, most studies have introduced the nature of motor task as a determining factor and suggested that if the discrete skills are practiced according to massed method and continued skills according to distributed method, then better results can be obtained. But, it seems that the stage of the learner prior to the test, also as one of the effective variables in this process, has not been taken into consideration. To this end and in order to determine the role of learning stage in the mechanism of distributing practice and rest during a session, 60 male students of Tabriz University were placed randomly in two groups. One group repeated one of the discrete motor tasks (throwing dart) during five sessions with two blocks at each session according to the massed and group two according to the distributed method. Off course, each block contained ten trials. During this course, the results of the subject's performance were recorded with repeated pre-and-post tests, and eventually, the subject's rate of learning became known by giving a retention test. After collecting the data and analysis of them according to T-Student method, the following results were obtained: the findings showed that the performance of both groups in pre-test and post-test had a significant difference. But, the performance of both groups of subjects did not have a significant difference in any of the stages of repeated pre-tests and post-tests. Off course, it should be noted that the group which had practiced according to massed method, did better than the distributed group on the delayed retention test which was taken at the interval of 48 hours after the last practice session although, this better result was not significant statistically. So, according to the findings of this research, the learner's stage while learning discrete motor task, is not considered as an effective and significant factor in the way of distributing the practice and rest duration. Although, for the subject to be clearer, much more & exact researches are recommended.