Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selecting pacing sites in children with complete heart block: is it time to avoid the right ventricular free wall?

Patients with congenital or acquired complete heart block (CHB) require chronic right ventricular (RV) pacing when bradycardia causes symptoms or exercise intolerance. Indications for pacing are summarized in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force Report.1 Patient age and individual centre preference will determine whether an epicardial or endocardial pacing system is placed. Epicardial leads are usually placed on the RV free wall, which is readily exposed at surgery, while endocardial leads are usually implanted at the interventricular septum, or, more commonly, close to the RV apex. However, electrical stimulation of the heart from the RV apex and especially from the RV anterior wall differs significantly from normal electrical activation, which originates at the apical interventricular septum and propagates to the basal septal and lateral left ventricular (LV) walls. Asynchronous electrical activation may lead to changes in cardiac structure and function. In adults, there are considerable data to suggest that electromechanical dyssynchrony associated with chronic RV apical pacing may result in asymptomatic unfavourable LV remodelling and dysfunction in up to 50% of patients and ultimately to LV failure in ∼10% of patients.2–4 Data pertaining to children are far more limited. Tantengco et al. 5 found that LV function, measured by LV fractional area change and … *Corresponding author. Tel: +1 416 813 7418, Fax: +1 416 813 5857, Email: Luc.Mertens{at}uz.kuleuven. ac.be; or luc.mertens{at}sickkids.ca
Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system using compact probe heads connected with large-mode-area photonic crystal fibers

We constructed terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) systems using compact probe heads, which are connected with large-mode-area photonic crystal fibers (LMA PCFs), which in turn are used for guiding ultrashort optical pulses to THz probe heads. The LMA-PCF based THz-TDS system had comparable THz radiation power and bandwidth with those obtained by a conventional THz-TDS system with free-space optical arrangement. This is because LMA PCFs are suitable for high-power delivery without introducing non-linear effects.
Efficient classification using phrases generated by topic models

There are many popular models available for classification of documents like Naïve Bayes Classifier, k-Nearest Neighbors and Support Vector Machine. In all these cases, the representation is based on the “Bag of words” model. This model doesn't capture the actual semantic meaning of a word in a particular document. Semantics are better captured by proximity of words and their occurrence in the document. We propose a new “Bag of Phrases” model to capture this discriminative power of phrases for text classification. We present a novel algorithm to extract phrases from the corpus using the well known topic model, Latent Dirichlet Allocation(LDA), and to integrate them in vector space model for classification. Experiments show a better performance of classifiers with the new Bag of Phrases model against related representation models.
Joint decorrelating multiuser detection and channel estimation in asynchronous CDMA mobile communications channels

The asymptotic efficiencies of two decorrelators, path-by-path and channel-matched decorrelators, are analyzed in fading multipath propagation environments, and based upon the analytical results, a new joint multiuser detection and channel estimation scheme is proposed for asynchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communications channels. In the path-by-path decorrelator, each of the received signals corresponding to one of the multiple propagation paths is regarded as an independent interference source. On the contrary, in the channel-matched decorrelator, each composite signal transmitted from an identical user is regarded as a response of the multipath channel to the corresponding user's spreading sequence. The asymptotic efficiency of the path-by-path decorrelator is shown to drop rapidly as the number of simultaneous users increases. It is shown that the asymptotic efficiency can be made independent of the number of the propagation paths by the channel-matched decorrelator at the expense of requiring knowledge about the fading complex envelopes of all the propagation paths. The proposed joint multiuser detection and channel estimation scheme uses both path-by-path and channel-matched decorrelators. The path-by-path decorrelator is used for providing the channel estimator with the (noisy) channel information path-by-path, and decisions are made on the output of the channel-matched decorrelator. The decision results are fed back to the channel estimator, and used as the reference signals. The received complex envelope of each of the propagation paths is estimated in the channel estimator. Results of a series of exhaustive computer simulations are presented in order to demonstrate the overall performance of the proposed scheme, both in non-fading and fading multipath propagation environments. >
Retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell complex thickness in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aim: The aim of the following study is to evaluate the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Materials and Methods: Average, inferior, and superior values of RNFL and GCC thickness were measured in 123 patients using spectral domain optical coherence tomography. The values of participants with DM were compared to controls. Diabetic patients were collected in Groups 1, 2 and 3. Group 1 = 33 participants who had no diabetic retinopathy (DR); Group 2 = 30 participants who had mild nonproliferative DR and Group 3 = 30 participants who had moderate non-proliferative DR. The 30 healthy participants collected in Group 4. Analysis of variance test and a multiple linear regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results: The values of RNFL and GCC in the type 2 diabetes were thinner than controls, but this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: This study showed that there is a nonsignificant loss of RNFL and GCC in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Axis I comorbidity of borderline personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the lifetime rates of occurrence of a full range of DSM-III-R axis I disorders in a group of patients with criteria-defined borderline personality disorder and comparison subjects with other personality disorders. METHOD The axis I comorbidity of 504 inpatients with personality disorders was assessed by interviewers who were blind to clinical diagnosis and who used a semistructured research interview of demonstrated reliability. RESULTS Four new findings emerged from this study. First, anxiety disorders were found to be almost as common among borderline patients (N=379) as mood disorders but far more discriminating from axis II comparison subjects (N=125). Second, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was found to be a common but not universal comorbid disorder among borderline patients, a finding inconsistent with the view that borderline personality disorder is actually a form of chronic PTSD. Third, male and female borderline patients were found to differ in the type of disorder of impulse in which they "specialized. " More specifically, substance use disorders were significantly more common among male borderline patients, while eating disorders were significantly more common among female borderline patients. Fourth, a lifetime pattern of complex comorbidity (i.e., met DSM-III-R criteria for both a disorder of affect and a disorder of impulse at some point before the patients' index admission) was found to have strong positive predictive power for the borderline diagnosis as well as a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the lifetime pattern of axis I comorbidity characteristic of borderline patients and distinguishing for the disorder is a particularly good marker for borderline personality disorder.
Epigenetics in Plasmodium: What Do We Really Know?

ABSTRACT In the burgeoning field of Plasmodium gene expression, there are—to borrow some famous words from a former U.S. Secretary of Defense—“known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. ” This is in itself an important achievement, since it is only in the past decade that facts have begun to move from the third category into the first. Nevertheless, much remains in the middle ground of known or suspected “unknowns. ” It is clear that the malaria parasite controls vital virulence processes such as host cell invasion and cytoadherence at least partly via epigenetic mechanisms, so a proper understanding of epigenetic transcriptional control in this organism should have great clinical relevance. Plasmodium, however, is an obligate intracellular parasite: it operates not in a vacuum but rather in the complicated context of its metazoan hosts. Therefore, as valuable data about the parasite's basic epigenetic machinery begin to emerge, it becomes increasingly important to relate in vitro studies to the situation in vivo. This review will focus upon the challenge of understanding Plasmodium epigenetics in an integrated manner, in the human and insect hosts as well as the petri dish.
Dual-Task Tandem Gait and Average Walking Speed in Healthy Collegiate Athletes.

OBJECTIVES To (1) examine the association between a commonly used concussion test, tandem gait, in single/dual-task conditions with single-task and dual-task average walking speed, (2) characterize the prevalence of tandem gait false positives, and (3) develop a normative reference range of dual-task tandem gait times. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Two NCAA collegiate athletic facilities. INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Athletes completed the tandem gait test and a gait evaluation in single/dual-task conditions during a preseason examination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Associations between tandem gait times and average walking speeds were evaluated using multiple linear regression models. Various tandem gait test time pass/fail cutoffs were calculated to examine false-positive rates. RESULTS Among the 171 participants (103 men, 19.8 ± 1.2 years of age), dual-task tandem gait completion times were independently associated with dual-task average walking speed [β = -4.018; 95% confidence interval (CI), -7.153 to -0.883], but single-task associations were not found. Male gender was associated with faster tandem gait times in both single-task (β = -0.880, 95% CI, -1.731 to -0.029) and dual-task conditions (β = -2.225, 95% CI, -3.691 to -0.759). A pass/fail cutoff threshold of 14 seconds resulted in a 2% false-positive rate for single-task tandem gait, while it resulted in a 29% false-positive rate during dual-task tandem gait. CONCLUSIONS Average walking speed and dual-task tandem gait represent objective measures that are useful in concussion management. While a single-task tandem gait cutoff of 14 seconds seems appropriate for males, adjustments may be necessary based on sex and alternate pass/fail criteria may be appropriate for dual-task tandem gait.
Antibody response to inactivated influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine in patients with and without HIV.

EASL clinical practice guidelines: management of chronic hepatitis B. J Hepatol. 2009; 50:227–242. 3. de Vries-Sluijs TE, Reijnders JG, Hansen BE, et al. Long-term therapy with tenofovir is effective for patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus. Gastroenterology. 2010; 139:1934–1941. 4. Martin-Carbonero L, Teixeira T, Poveda E, et al. Clinical and virological outcomes in HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis B on long-term nucleos(t)ide analogues. AIDS. 2011;25:73–79. 5. Benhamou Y, Bochet M, Thibault V, et al. Long-term incidence of hepatitis B virus resistance to lamivudine in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. Hepatology. 1999;30:1302–1306. 6. Ratcliffe L, Beadsworth MB, Pennell A, et al. Managing hepatitis B/HIV co-infected: adding entecavir to truvada (tenofovir disoproxil/ emtricitabine) experienced patients. AIDS. 2011;25:1051–1056. 7. Amini-Bavil-Olyaee S, Sheldon J, Lutz T, et al. Molecular analysis of an HBsAgnegative hepatitis B virus mutant selected in a tenofovir-treated HIV-hepatitis B virus co-infected patient. AIDS. 2009;23:268–272. 8. Bottecchia M, Madejon A, Sheldon J, et al. Hepatitis B virus genotype A2 harbours an L217R polymorphism which may account for a lower response to adefovir. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2008;62:626–627. 9. Snow-Lampart A, Chappell B, Curtis M, et al. No resistance to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate detected after up to 144 weeks of therapy in patients monoinfected with chronic hepatitis B virus. Hepatology. 2011; 53:763–773. 10. Colonno R. Assessment at three years shows high barrier to resistance is maintained in entecavir-treated nucleoside naive patients while resistance emergence increases over time in lamivudine refractory patients. Hepatology. 2006;44:229A. Abstract 110. 11. Lacombe K, Massari V, Girard PM, et al. Major role of hepatitis B genotypes in liver fibrosis during coinfection with HIV. AIDS. 2006;20:419–427. 12. Chen CJ, Yang HI, Su J, et al. Risk of hepatocellular carcinoma across a biological gradient of serum hepatitis B virus DNA level. JAMA. 2006;295:65–73. 13. Iloeje UH, Yang HI, Jen CL, et al. Risk and predictors of mortality associated with chronic hepatitis B infection. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007;5:921–931. 14. Iloeje UH, Yang HI, Su J, et al. Predicting cirrhosis risk based on the level of circulating hepatitis B viral load. Gastroenterology. 2006; 130:678–686. 15. Di Marco V, Marzano A, Lampertico P, et al. Clinical outcome of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B in relation to virological response to lamivudine. Hepatology. 2004; 40:883–891. 16. Liaw YF, Sung JJ, Chow WC, et al. Lamivudine for patients with chronic hepatitis B and advanced liver disease. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:1521–1531. Antibody Response to Inactivated Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine in Patients With and Without HIV
The ‘microflora hypothesis’ of allergic diseases

Increasingly, epidemiologic and clinical data support the hypothesis that perturbations in the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota because of antibiotic use and dietary differences in ‘industrialized’ countries have disrupted the normal microbiota‐mediated mechanisms of immunological tolerance in the mucosa, leading to an increase in the incidence of allergic airway disease. The data supporting this ‘microflora hypothesis’ includes correlations between allergic airway disease and (1) antibiotic use early in life, (2) altered fecal microbiota and (3) dietary changes over the past two decades. Our laboratory has recently demonstrated that mice can develop allergic airway responses to allergens if their endogenous microbiota is altered at the time of first allergen exposure. These experimental and clinical observations are consistent with other studies demonstrating that the endogenous microbiota plays a significant role in shaping the development of the immune system. Data are beginning to accumulate that a ‘balanced’ microbiota plays a positive role in maintaining mucosal immunologic tolerance long after post‐natal development. Other studies have demonstrated that even small volumes delivered to the nasopharynx largely end up in the GI tract, suggesting that airway tolerance and oral tolerance may operate simultaneously. The mechanism of microbiota modulation of host immunity is not known; however, host and microbial oxylipins are one potential set of immunomodulatory molecules that may control mucosal tolerance. The cumulative data are beginning to support the notion that probiotic and prebiotic strategies be considered for patients coming off of antibiotic therapy.
Comparisons of risk prediction methods using nested case‐control data

Using both simulated and real datasets, we compared two approaches for estimating absolute risk from nested case‐control (NCC) data and demonstrated the feasibility of using the NCC design for estimating absolute risk. In contrast to previously published results, we successfully demonstrated not only that data from a matched NCC study can be used to unbiasedly estimate absolute risk but also that matched studies give better statistical efficiency and classify subjects into more appropriate risk categories. Our result has implications for studies that aim to develop or validate risk prediction models. In addition to the traditional full cohort study and case‐cohort study, researchers designing these studies now have the option of performing a NCC study with huge potential savings in cost and resources. Detailed explanations on how to obtain the absolute risk estimates under the proposed approach are given. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bestimmung der Fluoreszenzkinetik von 5-Aminolävulinsäure-induziertem Protoporphyrin-IX an dreidimensionalen Organkulturen menschlicher Bronchialschleimhaut

Zielsetzung dieser Arbeit war es, die Fluoreszenzkinetik von 5-Aminolavulinsaure -induziertem Protoporphyrin-IX (PPIX) an dreidimensionalen Zellkulturen von humanem Bronchialepithel zu untersuchen, um Kenntnisse uber den zeitlichen Verlauf der PPIX-Fluoreszenz in Normalgewebe nach unterschiedlich langer Expositionszeit mit 5- Aminolavulinsaure (5-ALA) zu erlangen. Da die Prognose von Patienten mit Bronchialkarzinomen in erster Linie vom Tumorstadium bei Diagnosestellung abhangig ist, ist es notwendig die Fruhdiagnostik zu verbessern. Denkbar ist eine inhalative Anwendung von 5-ALA mit nachfolgender diagnostischer Bronchoskopie. Voraussetzung fur diese Anwendung am Patienten und fur weiterfuhrende Untersuchungen sind Kenntnisse uber die erforderliche 5-ALA-Kontaktzeit und Kenntnisse uber den zeitlichen Verlauf der 5-ALA-induzierten PPIX- Fluoreszenz von Normalgewebe. Die Ergebnisse lassen sich wie folgt zusammenfassen: Ein 5-minutiger Kontakt mit 5-ALA ist ausreichend, um in normalem humanen Bronchialepithel detektierbare Mengen an PPIX-Fluoreszenz zu induzieren. Die Bildung von 5-ALA-induziertem PPIX erfolgt in Abhangigkeit der 5-ALA-Kontaktzeit. Die Hohe der Maximalintensitat von 5-ALA-induzierter PPIX-Fluoreszenz ist ebenfalls von der 5-ALA-Kontaktzeit abhangig. Die Ergebnisse lassen folgende Schlussfolgerungen zu: Das Modell der dreidimensionalen Organkultur des humanen Bronchialepithels ist geeignet, um die 5-ALA-induzierte PPIX-Fluoreszenz zu untersuchen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die 5-ALA-induzierte PPIX-Fluoreszenzkinetik in Kulturen des normalen humanen Bronchialepithels von der 5-ALA-Kontaktzeit abhangig ist. Die Resultate vorliegender Experimente sind am ehesten auf die Situation der topischen Anwendung (z.B. Inhalation) von 5-ALA ubertragbar, da in diesem Modell kein intaktes Gefassystem zur Verfugung steht. Eine lokale Applikation fur 5 oder 15 Minuten, die unter klinischen Bedingungen realisierbar ware, ist nach den vorliegenden Ergebnissen fur die PDD ausreichend.
Utility of cytokine, adhesion molecule and acute phase proteins in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Background and Aim: Neonatal infection, including bacterial sepsis, is a major health care issue with an annual global mortality in excess of one million lives. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the potential diagnostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), E-selectin, procalcitonin (PCT), interleukins-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) both independently and in combination for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis in its earliest stages. Materials and Methods: A total of 320 subjects were included in this study. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, KSA during January 2013 to August 2015, the study based on three study groups categorized according to clinical symptoms and blood culture result. Study groups include healthy control neonates (n = 80), clinical sepsis (CS) group (n = 80) with clinical signs of sepsis but their blood culture was negative, and sepsis group with clinical signs of sepsis and their blood culture was positive. Results: The study observed significant difference in plasma levels of CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, E-selectin, and PCT in patients group when compared with control group (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the levels are significantly different between patient groups including CS and neonatal sepsis group. Moreover, result observed significant difference in CRP and IL-6 in early onset sepsis (EOS) when compared with late onset sepsis (LOS) neonates (P < 0.001 and 0.01), respectively, while there were no significant difference in TNF-α, E-selectin, and PCT between EOS and LOS (P = 0.44, 0.27 and 0.24), respectively. Regarding biomarkers accuracy, the result showed that CRP has the best diagnostic accuracy with cutoff value of 3.6 ng/ml (sensitivity 78% and specificity of 70%). The best combination is shown with CRP and IL-6 in which sensitivity increased to 89% and specificity to 79%. Conclusion: It was concluded that infected new-born babies have a higher E-selectin, PCT, IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP compared with the neonates with CS and control. IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP should be measured in combination for mare diagnostic accuracy in neonatal sepsis. Likewise, PCT should be investigated as a part of sepsis screening for all suspected neonates.
Axons and myelinating glia: An intimate contact

The coordination of the vertebrate nervous system requires high velocity signal transmission between different brain areas. High speed nerve conduction is achieved in the myelinated fibers of both the central and the peripheral nervous system where the myelin sheath acts as an insulator of the axon. The interactions between the glial cell and the adjacent axon, namely axo‐glial interactions, segregate the fiber in distinct molecular and functional domains that ensure the rapid propagation of action potentials. These domains are the node of Ranvier, the paranode, the juxtaparanode and the internode and are characterized by multiprotein complexes between voltage‐gated ion channels, cell adhesion molecules, members of the Neurexin family and cytoskeletal proteins. In the present review, we outline recent evidence on the key players of axo‐glial interactions, depicting their importance in myelinated fiber physiology and disease. © 2011 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 63(9): 730–735, 2011
Peripartum length of stay for women with depressive symptoms during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND Approximately 1 in 10 women suffers from depression during pregnancy. Little is known about whether antepartum depression affects a mother's length of stay at delivery. We aimed to compare peripartum length of stay in women with and without depressive symptoms during pregnancy. METHODS This study involved secondary data analysis of a larger study exploring antepartum depression. Each subject completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used bivariate analyses to compare patient characteristics of women with and without an elevated CES-D, and we used a multivariate Poisson regression to evaluate predictors of length of stay. RESULTS The study sample included 867 pregnant women. Overall, 18% of study subjects scored >or=16 on the CES-D. In bivariate analyses, a longer stay was associated with an elevated CES-D and minority race, antepartum complications, cesarean delivery, prematurity, multiple gestation, and neonatal length of stay. In the final multivariate model adjusting for sociodemographic, antepartum, and obstetric factors, an elevated CES-D was associated with a significantly longer peripartum stay (0.26 days, CI 0.04-0.48). CONCLUSIONS Depressive symptoms during pregnancy predict an increase in peripartum length of stay.