Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Text Characteristics of Clinical Reports and Their Implications for the Readability of Personal Health Records

Through personal health record applications (PHR), consumers are gaining access to their electronic health records (EHR). A new challenge is to make the content of these records comprehensible to consumers. To address this challenge, we analyzed the text unit length, syntactic and semantic characteristics of three sets of health texts: clinical reports from EHR, known difficult materials and easy-to-read materials. Our findings suggest that EHR texts are more different from easy texts and more similar to difficult texts in terms of syntactic and semantic characteristics, and EHR texts are more similar to easy texts and different from difficult texts in regard to text unit length features. Since commonly used readability formulas focus more on text unit length characteristics, this study points to the need to tackle syntactic and semantic issues in the effort to measure and improve PHR readability.
Mathematical modeling of diffuse brain injury: Correlations of foci and severity of brain strain with clinical symptoms and pathology

To address the relationships of clinical symptoms and pathology and the location and magnitude of brain strains, the Wayne State University human head finite element model was used with loading conditions posited to produce severe concussion (AIS 3) and mild, moderate and severe diffuse axonal injury (DAI) (AIS 4 - AIS 5). Sinusoidal accelerations with peak thresholds of 8,100, 11,000, 14,000 and 16,000 rad/s2, respectively, were applied in sagittal, coronal and oblique planes to evaluate the effect of loading directions on brain strain distribution. Large maximum principal strains were consistently found in the thalamus, midbrain, corpus callosum and hippocampus. These areas seem to correlate well with observed clinical symptoms of memory dysfunction and altered awareness associated with concussion. Together with our previous study, 0.35 brain strain appeared to be a tissue injury tolerance for concussive injuries (severities of AIS 1-3), with the brain volume involvement of 5%, 20%, and 35% to be the thresholds for mild, classic and severe cerebral concussion, respectively. 0.50 brain strain would result in more widespread axonal pathology, with 10%, 20% and 30% volumetric involvement being the thresholds, respectively, for mild, moderate and severe DAI. These proposed regional strain estimates can be used to allow the assessment of risk and outcome for the whole spectrum of diffuse brain injury.
Efficacy and safety of long-term bisphosphonates in postmenopausal osteoporosis

Bisphosphonates have been in clinical use since the first approval of etidronate for myositis ossficans progressiva. They have now been used since the early 1990s for osteoporosis. As patients are continued on bisphosphonates and with consideration for bisphosphonate application in younger postmenopausal women, questions of ‘how long to treat’ are emerging in the clinical community. What is the evidence for continual efficacy and safety? The longest efficacy data where a placebo group was maintained is the 5-year risedronate vertebral fracture data, which demonstrated additional fracture reduction benefit with this bisphosphonate during years 4 – 5 of use. As bone mineral density (BMD) or biochemical markers of bone resorption (BCM) change very little for at least 1 – 2 years (and possibly longer) after discontinuing long-term (3 – 5 years) bisphosphonate use, it seems reasonable to suggest discontinuation for some indefinite period of time after 5 years of use in younger lower-risk postmenopausal women. Monitoring of both BMD and BCM may indicate when to consider reinitiation of bisphosphonate therapy. In higher-risk elderly postmenopausal women who are doing well on long-term bisphosphonate therapy as defined by a stable BMD, height and no incident fractures, the same discussion of a ‘honeymoon’ period of no treatment could be entertained. However, because there are no data on fracture events post-treatment even without changing BMD or BCM, this author is reluctant to stop bisphosphonates in elderly high-risk patients. My opinion on the continuation of the use in high-risk patients is also predicated on the observations that there does not appear to be any clinically important safety issues with long-term (10-year) use. Concerns about ‘oversuppression’ of bone turnover and accumulation of microdamage are theoretical and, so far, have no clinical basis for discontinuation in high-risk patients. It will be important, however, for the continual surveillance of bone safety issues by capturing postmarketing fracture data in patients on long-term therapy as well as long-term bone histomorphometry and measurements of bone quality to reassure clinicans about long-term bisphosphonate continuation.
Reversal of lesions of diabetic nephropathy after pancreas transplantation.

BACKGROUND In patients with type I diabetes mellitus who do not have uremia and have not received a kidney transplant, pancreas transplantation does not ameliorate established lesions of diabetic nephropathy within five years after transplantation, but the effects of longer periods of normoglycemia are unknown. METHODS We studied kidney function and performed renal biopsies before pancreas transplantation and 5 and 10 years thereafter in eight patients with type I diabetes but without uremia who had mild to advanced lesions of diabetic nephropathy at the time of transplantation. The biopsy samples were analyzed morphometrically. RESULTS All patients had persistently normal glycosylated hemoglobin values after transplantation. The median urinary albumin excretion rate was 103 mg per day before transplantation, 30 mg per day 5 years after transplantation, and 20 mg per day 10 years after transplantation (P=0.07 for the comparison of values at base line and at 5 years; P=0.11 for the comparison between base line and 10 years). The mean (+/-SD) creatinine clearance rate declined from 108+/-20 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area at base line to 74+/-16 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 at 5 years (P<0.001) and 74+/-14 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 at 10 years (P<0.001). The thickness of the glomerular and tubular basement membranes was similar at 5 years (570+/-64 and 928+/-173 nm, respectively) and at base line (594+/-81 and 911+/-133 nm, respectively) but had decreased by 10 years (to 404+/-38 and 690+/-111 nm, respectively; P<0.001 and P=0.004 for the comparisons with the base-line values). The mesangial fractional volume (the proportion of the glomerulus occupied by the mesangium) increased from base line (0.33+/-0.07) to 5 years (0.39+/-0.10, P=0.02) but had decreased at 10 years (0.27+/-0.02, P=0.05 for the comparison with the baseline value and P=0.006 for the comparison with the value at 5 years), mostly because of a reduction in mesangial matrix. CONCLUSIONS Pancreas transplantation can reverse the lesions of diabetic nephropathy, but reversal requires more than five years of normoglycemia.
Detection of hypoxia and inflammatory processes in tissues by fluorescence spectroscopy in vivo

In experiments with the use of laser fluorescence spectroscopy (LFS) in vivo both for endogenous porphyrin at occlusive ischemia and for exogenous phthalocyanine of aluminum at induced inflammatory processes the enhanced autofluorescence in the red waveband was detected. It means that the LFS in vivo can be an effective tool for the registration of both the ischemic hypoxia and inflammatory processes in clinics.
Disease and insect resistance in cultivated barley accessions from the USDA National Small Grains Collection

Cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. vulgare L.) accessions from the USDA-ARS National Small Grains Collection (NSGC) have been tested systematically for the past 20 yr for disease and insect resistance. In this study, we analyzed the resistance to barley yellow dwarf (BYD), spot blotch (SB) caused by Cochliobolus sativus (Ito and Kuribayashi) Drechs. ex Dastur, net blotch (NB) caused by Pyrenophora teres f. teres Drechs. , stripe rust (SR) caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. hordei, and Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), with respect to (i) geographic origin of resistant accessions, (ii) relationship to other NSGC descriptor data, and (iii) relationships among resistances. Centers of concentration for certain resistances were identified: eastern Africa for several diseases, western Turkey and the Caucasus for SR resistance, eastern Asia for adult plant resistance to NB, and south-central Asia for RWA resistance. Stripe rust resistance was also associated with accessions originating from high altitude in eastern Africa (Ethiopia). Various associations between resistances and grain descriptors, plant habit, and landrace status were also found. Forty-eight accessions showed multiple resistances on the basis of the field disease data and the RWA greenhouse data. Many of these resistant accessions were from Ethiopia, and many were of unknown origin. Stripe rust testing in California and Bolivia supported the conclusion that winter-habit accessions were more resistant to the disease than were spring-habit accessions. Information from this study will be used to guide future NSGC acquisition and evaluation efforts.
Avaliação entre o plano horizontal de Frankfurt osseo e cutaneo em diferentes raças e em diferentes padrões faciais

A radiografia cefalometrica lateral tem sido utilizada por grande parte dos profissionais da area odontologica e medica. Para a obtencao dessa radiografia, ha a necessidade de orientacao da cabeca do paciente, sendo o plano horizontal de Frankfurt (PHF) o mais utilizado pelos radiologistas. Dentre os fatores que levam os profissionais, especialmente os ortodontistas, a recusarem as radiografias cefalometricas e a orientacao cefalica incorreta. As causas que levam a obtencao do posicionamento incorreto tem origens variadas, como a movimentacao da cabeca do paciente e falhas por parte do operador. Sugeriuse que talvez o PHF osseo nao tem perfeita correspondencia com o PHF cutâneo, proporcionando radiografias incorretas quanto ao posicionamento do paciente. Devido a esta hipotese, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a relacao entre o PHF osseo e o PHF cutâneo em diferentes racas e padrao facial. A amostra foi constituida de 27 individuos, os quais foram divididos em 3 grupos de acordo com a raca que pertenciam: 9 leucodermas, 9 melanodermas e 9 xantodermas. Em seguida, esta mesma amostra foi dividida de acordo com o grupo facial: 14 braquifaciais e 13 dolicofaciais. O metodo radiografico foi o cefalometrico lateral, de acordo com a tecnica preconizada por Broadbent em 1931 e foram obtidas fotografias de perfil, tendo como base a relacao do PHF cutâneo com o plano horizontal. Observacao: O resumo, na integra, podera ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital Abstract
Airborne particulate matter and gaseous air pollutants in residential structures in Lodi province, Italy.

UNLABELLED The province of Lodi is located in northern Italy on the Po River plain, where high background levels of air pollutants are prevalent. Lodi province is characterized by intensive agriculture, notably animal husbandry. This paper assesses indoor levels of selected airborne pollutants in 60 homes in the province, with special attention to size-fractionated particulate matter (PM). Indoor PM₂. ₅ concentrations are frequently higher than current guidelines. PM₁₀ and nitrogen dioxide also exceed the respective guideline recommendations in some cases, noting that 24-h nitrogen dioxide levels were compared with an annual limit value. All other studied pollutant levels are below current international guidelines. Among indoor PM size fractions, PM₀. ₅ is predominant in terms of mass concentrations corresponding to 57% of PM₁₀ in summer and 71% in winter. A strong seasonal trend is observed for all studied pollutants, with higher levels in winter corresponding to changes in ambient concentrations. The seasonal variation in PM₁₀ is largely due to PM₀. ₅ increase from summer to winter. Summer indoor PM levels are mainly from indoor-generated particles, while particles of outdoor origin represent the main contribution to winter indoor PM levels. On average, indoor concentrations of coarse PM are mostly constituted by indoor-generated particles. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS This study presents a comparison between measured indoor concentrations in the study area and indoor air quality guideline criteria. Accordingly, particulate matter (PM) and NO₂ are identified as key pollutants that may pose health concerns. It is also found that indoor PM in residential units is mainly constituted by particles with aerodynamic diameters <0.5 μm, especially in winter. Risk mitigation strategies should be focused on the reduction in indoor levels of NO₂ and ultrafine and fine particles, both infiltrated from outdoors and generated by indoor sources.
Do Nurse Practitioners Make a Difference in Provision of Health Counseling in Hospital Outpatient Departments?

Purpose This study examined whether nurse practitioners (NPs) had any impact on the type and amount of health counseling provided during patient visits to hospital outpatient departments (OPDs). Data Sources This is a secondary data analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1997 to 2000. Only patient visits to hospital OPDs were included. Rates of health counseling provided at patient visits involving an NP were compared with those without an NP. Adjusted odds ratio was reported separately for each type of health counseling provided at patient visits for nonillness care, for chronic problems, and for acute Conclusions Health counseling for diet, exercise, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, tobacco use, and injury prevention are more likely to be provided at nonillness care visits involving an NP than at those not involving an NP. The presence of an NP is associated not only with higher rates of counseling for diet, exercise, and tobacco use provided at patient visits for chronic problems but also with higher rates of counseling for diet and HIV/STD prevention provided at patient visits for acute problems. Implications for Practice This study indicates an important role NPs can play in providing preventive services in outpatient hospital departments.The findings reflect the emphasis of the NP education on health counseling and patient education in clinical practice.
A low power LNA for bluetooth low energy application with consideration of process and mismatch

A low Power LNA for application in bluetooth low energy (BLE) receiver front-end in UMC 130-nm CMOS is presented. A capacitor cross-coupled common-gate LNA has been implemented. Due to the very low current consumption (1 mA @ 1.2 V) of the designed LNA, the standard deviation of the noise figure from the LNA circuit is dominated by process and mismatch. In this work, the reduction of standard deviation of the noise figure is achieved. The designed LNA achieves a noise figure of 3.2 dB and a voltage gain above 20 dB at all the bluetooth specified frequency ranges (2.4-2.483 GHz). The noise figure measurement with the whole receiver chain is done. The LNA fulfills the bluetooth system specifications and the measured power consumption is below 1.2 mW.
Jumping the Barrier to β-Lactam Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Although the staphylococcal methicillin resistance determinant, mecA, resides on a mobile genetic element, staphylococcus cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), its distribution in nature is limited to as few as five clusters of related methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones. To investigate the potential role of the host chromosome in clonal restriction of the methicillin resistance determinant, we constructed plasmid pYK20, carrying intact mecA, and introduced it into several methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strains, five of which were naive hosts (i.e., mecA not previously resident on the host chromosome) and five of which were experienced hosts (i.e., methicillin-susceptible variants of MRSA strains from which SCCmec was excised). We next assessed the effect of the recipient background on the methicillin resistance phenotype by population analysis, by assaying the mecA expression of PBP2a by Western blot analysis, and by screening for mutations affecting mecA. Each experienced host transformed with pYK20 had a resistance phenotype and expressed PBP2a similar to that of the parent with chromosomal SCCmec, but naive hosts transformed with pYK20 selected against its expression, indicative of a host barrier. Either inducible β-lactamase regulatory genes blaR1-blaI or homologous regulatory genes mecR1-mecI, which control mecA expression, acted as compensatory elements, permitting the maintenance and expression of plasmid-carried mecA.
Surface wave excitation and coupling mechanisms in PCBs and microstrip circuits

Surface waves, especially the fundamental substrate-guided TM0z mode, are excited by any kind of discontinuity in RF printed circuit boards (PCBs) and planar microwave circuits. This special type of substrate-bound radiation is highly increasing with frequency and can become a dominant coupling mechanism in planar circuits. In this paper, an efficient method is presented to calculate correctly the field distribution of the excited surface-waves and a novel theory for describing the coupling mechanism is developed in general for single-port discontinuities with arbitrary vertical and horizontal current distribution.
Molecular Analysis of Transport and Oligomerization of the Yersinia enterocolitica Adhesin YadA

ABSTRACT The Yersinia adhesin YadA is the prototype of a novel class of bacterial adhesins which form oligomeric lollipop-like structures and are anchored in the outer membrane by the C terminus. For YadA, six different regions (R) or domains (D) are predicted from the amino acid sequence: the N-terminal leader sequence, head-D, neck-D, stalk-D, linking-R, and a C-terminal transmembrane region consisting of four β-strands. To identify structural and functional features of these domains, we performed in-frame deletion mutagenesis and constructed N-terminally tagged YadA variants. Diverse YadA variants were analyzed for outer membrane localization, surface exposure, oligomerization adhesion properties, and ability to protect against complement-mediated lysis. We demonstrated that (i) the C-terminal region (amino acids [aa] 353 to 422) is sufficient for outer membrane insertion and formation of trimers in the outer membrane; (ii) the head, neck, and stalk domains (aa 26 to 330) are surface exposed, forming a passenger domain; and (iii) the linking region (aa 331 to 369) is responsible for outer membrane translocation of the passenger domain. Thus, YadA meets all the criteria of an autotransporter. The same may be true for all other members of the YadA family, forming a subfamily of surface-attached oligomeric autotransporters. Moreover, in-frame truncation mutagenesis suggested that the head and neck domains together form the YadA-binding module which is located on the top of the stalk. However, the YadA-binding module did not confer serum resistance. Mutants lacking the head and neck domain were resistant to complement-mediated lysis. In-frame truncation of the stalk domain did not result in significant attenuation of the mutant in an orogastric mouse infection model.
Modulation of neural networks for behavior.

All animals need to shape their behavior to the demands posed by their internal and external environments. Our goal is to understand how modu­ lation of the neural networks that generate behavior occurs, so that animals can change their behavior when necessary. We discuss recent work showing that anatomical networks in the nervous system provide a physical back­ bone upon which a large library of modulatory inputs can operate. These allow the networks to produce multiple variations in output under different conditions. In the scope of this review, it is impossible to discuss all the neural circuits in which modulatory processes are now known to shape behavior (for reviews, see Selverston 1985, Harris-Warrick 1988, Kravitz 1988, Getting 1989, Bicker & Menzel 1989, Marder & Altman 1989). Instead, we have chosen examples from the literature to highlight general principles and new findings that have arisen from recent work in this field. We emphasize simple rhythmic behaviors, because more is known concerning their neural circuitry than for complex, nonrepetitive actions. As research continues, we anticipate that ideas first developed in simpler invertebrate nervous systems will be found to apply to more complex vertebrate preparations.
Comparative cytokine profile of human skin mast cells from two compartments—strong resemblance with monocytes at baseline but induction of IL‐5 by IL‐4 priming

Although known as heterogenous, mast cells (MC) are believed to induce allergic inflammation, partially by secretion of T helper cell type 2 (Th2) cytokines. We show here that MC purified from twohuman skin compartments produce cytokines that are primarily associated with inflammation and innate immunity [interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐8, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α)]. Although these are detectable even without stimulation, immunoglobulin (Ig)E receptor cross‐linking is able to enhance only TNF‐α production, but phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate additionally promotes IL‐1β and IL‐8. With the exception of TNF‐α, the presence of serum has a positive impact on cytokine production. Although IL‐13 transcripts (but not those for IL‐4 and ‐5) are produced by skin MC, all Th2 cytokines remain undetectable in the supernatants or lysates of MC from foreskin and breast skin by all treatments. Therefore, rather than sharing similarity with Th2 cells, the cytokine profile of skin MC at baseline resembles that of monocytes. Of note, MC precultured in the presence of IL‐4 [alone or plus stem cell factor (SCF)] before anti‐IgE stimulation, acquired the ability to produce IL‐5, and IL‐1β was concomitantly suppressed. Additionally, strong up‐regulation of IL‐6 by SCF was observed, which was inhibited by IL‐4. In summary, we present a detailed analysis of the cytokine array of human skin MC immediately upon isolation; demonstrate that MC from different skin compartments, although producing the same pattern of cytokines, display quantitative differences in several aspects; and provide further evidence that MC possess a proinflammatory capacity, which can, however, be altered by microenvironmental stimuli, substantiating the marked plasticity of the cells.