Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking trauma center performance in traumatic brain injury: The limitations of mortality outcomes

BACKGROUND Trauma centers (TCs) generally use mortality to gauge performance. However, differences in mortality outcomes might reflect different approaches or philosophies toward end-of-life care. We postulate that discharge home (DH) as a proxy for functional outcome may be a more useful measure of quality and may have significant implications on the assessment of TC performance and external benchmarking efforts. METHODS Data were derived from the National Trauma Data Bank (2007–2009). We included patients (18 years or older) with isolated, severe blunt head injuries who were admitted to Level I and Level II TCs. Observed-to-expected (O/E) mortality ratios were calculated and used to rank TC performance by mortality and then DH. Concordance between performance measures was calculated using a weighted kappa statistic. RESULTS In total, 19,705 patients in 240 TCs were identified. Crude mortality ranged from 4% to 60%, whereas rates of DH ranged from 3% to 66%. When O/E ratios for mortality were evaluated, five centers were identified as high performers. Of these five centers, only two were also high performers for DH. The concordance of outlier status and correlation across O/E ratios between mortality and DH high performers was 0.16 (poor). CONCLUSION Centers that are characterized as high performers when evaluating mortality are not high performers for functional outcome as evaluated by DH. DH may provide an alternative way of assessing quality of care delivered to patients with traumatic brain injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Care management study, level III.
Behaviour of lame cows: a review.

Claw horn disorders, infectious diseases of hooves and leg injuries cause lameness in dairy cows. However, such diseases as sole haemorrhages, sole ulcers or white line diseases, cause clinical lameness. Lame- ness reduces milk production, the fertility of cows and also causes earlier culling of cows, as well resultings in a deterioration of their welfare. In this review we focus on the impact of lameness on bovine behaviour. The time spent lying down is an important behaviour of dairy cows. As an increased locomotion score is associated with an increased percentage of cows lying down, also the position of cows within the milking parlour is associated with lameness. Lame cows are more likely to present toward the end of milking. Clinical lameness is a chronic stressor, reducing progesterone concentrations prior to oestrus, and resulting in reduced sexual behaviour; however, lame cows have the same potential period of oestrus when compared with non-lame cows. Hoof diseases, particularly those which are a source of pain, also reduce animal welfare. A high standard of cow welfare may be achieved by improving the lives of animals and the people who work with them. A lack of comfort while lying presents a significant risk for lameness. Improvements in comfort on more than 75% of farms (32 out of a total number of 53 farms) reduced the incidence of mastitis, while on 42 farms it reduced the prevalence of lameness. The keeping of cows on the straw bed of stalls does not only improve animal welfare, mainly through the greater comfort of the floor, but has also been showed to increase eating and ruminating behaviour. Cows also prefer straw to sand bedding and lay down longer on straw than on sand; however, cleanliness and hoof health have been shown to be better on sand. Apart from comfort, the main factors which promote improvements in bovine welfare and health, include good management of dairy farms, keeping cows in free stalls with accompanying regular exercise, and a long time spent at pasture. The prevalence of clinical lameness was demonstrated to be higher on farms using mattresses when compared with farms using deep-bedded stalls. No differences were found in behaviour among cows with different degrees of lameness housed in mattress stalls. Hence, measures of laying behaviour are not good indicators of lameness.
Karriereentwicklung in der Wissenschaft im Kontext von Akademikerpartnerschaften

Der Beitrag untersucht den Berufseinstieg von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern und fragt, welche Rolle dabei ihre Partnerschaft spielt. Auf der Basis von Lebensverlaufsdaten von Mannern und Frauen an deutschen Hochschulen wird zum einen untersucht, ob eine traditionelle Arbeitsteilung forderlich fur das Erreichen adaquater Berufspositionen ist. Entgegen den Erwartungen zeigen die Befunde, dass Wissenschaftler zwar wesentlich haufiger als ihre Kolleginnen die Alleinverdiener in ihrer Partnerschaft sind, dies geht jedoch mit keinem Karrierevorteil einher. Hingegen mussen Wissenschaftlerinnen mit Nachteilen rechnen, wenn sie langjahrige Erwerbsunterbrechungen aufweisen. Zum anderen wird der Einfluss unterschiedlicher Kinderbetreuungsarrangements untersucht. Dabei zeigt sich, dass selbst nach Berucksichtigung der partnerschaftlichen Erwerbsarrangements Vater einen Karrierevorteil haben, vor allem dann, wenn sich ihre Partnerinnen hauptsachlich um die Kinderbetreuung kummern. Vater erfahren jedoch keinen Nachteil, wenn sie sich die Betreuung mit ihren Partnerinnen aufteilen und externe Betreuungsangebote hinzuziehen. Mutter mit diesem Betreuungsarrangement haben sogar die „besten“ Chancen auf eine adaquate Berufsentwicklung.
Stability and controllability of a class of 2-D linear systems with dynamic boundary conditions

Discrete linear repetitive processes are a distinct class of two-dimensional (2-D) linear systems with applications in areas ranging from long-wall coal cutting through to iterative learning control schemes. The feature which makes them distinct from other classes of 2-D linear systems is that information propagation in one of the two independent directions only occurs over a finite duration. This, in turn, means that a distinct systems theory must be developed for them. In this paper a complete characterization of stability and so-called pass controllability (and several resulting features), essential building blocks for a rigorous systems theory, under a general set of initial, or boundary, conditions is developed. Finally, some significant new results on the problem of stabilization by choice of the pass state initial vector sequence are developed.
Population genetics of Schistosoma haematobium: development of novel microsatellite markers and their application to schistosomiasis control in Mali

SUMMARY The recent implementation of mass drug administration (MDA) for control of uro-genital schistosomiasis has identified an urgent need for molecular markers to both directly monitor the impact of MDA, for example to distinguish re-infections from uncleared infections, as well as understand aspects of parasite reproduction and gene flow which might predict evolutionary change, such as the development and spread of drug resistance. We report the development of a novel microsatellite tool-kit allowing, for the first time, robust genetic analysis of individual S. haematobium larvae collected directly from infected human hosts. We genotyped the parasite populations of 47 children from 2 schools in the Ségou region of Mali, the first microsatellite study of this highly neglected parasite. There was only limited evidence of population subdivision between individual children or between the two schools, suggesting that few barriers to gene flow exist in this population. Complex relationships between parasite reproductive success, infection intensity and host age and gender were identified. Older children and boys harboured more diverse infections, as measured by the number of unique adult genotypes present. Individual parasite genotypes had variable reproductive success both across hosts, a pre-requisite for evolutionary selection, and, phenotypically, in hosts of different ages and genders. These data serve as a baseline against which to measure the effect of treatment on parasite population genetics in this region of Mali, and the tools developed are suitable to further investigate this important pathogen, and its close relatives, throughout their range.
Nitric oxide in skeletal muscle: inhibition of nitric oxide synthase inhibits walking speed in rats.

Nitric oxide (NO*) is a multifunctional messenger molecule generated by a family of enzymes called the nitric oxide synthases (NOSs). Although NOSs have been identified in skeletal muscle, specifically brain NOS (bNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS), their role has not been well clarified. The goals of this investigation were to (1) characterize the immunoreactivity, Ca(2+) dependence, and activity of NOS in human and rat skeletal muscle and (2) using a rat model, investigate the effect of chronic blockade of NOS on skeletal muscle structure and function. Our results showed that both human and rodent skeletal muscle had NOS activity. This NOS activity was similar to that of the endothelial and brain NOS isoforms in that it was calcium-dependent. However, Western blot analysis consistently showed that a polyclonal antibody raised against a peptide sequence of human inducible NOS (iNOS) reacted with a protein with a molecular weight (95 kDa) that was different from that of other NOS isoforms. RT-PCR analysis identified the mRNA expression of not only eNOS and bNOS but also iNOS in human and rat muscle. Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase in rats with N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) resulted in a progressive, severe reduction in walking speed (30-fold reduction in walking velocity at day 22, P < 0.001), muscle fiber cross-sectional area (40% reduction at day 22, P < 0.001), and muscle mass (40% reduction in dry weight at day 22, P < 0.01). Rats fed the same regimen of the enantiomer of L-NAME (d-NAME) had normal motor function, muscle fiber morphology, and muscle mass. Taken together, these results imply that there may be a novel nitric oxide synthase in muscle and that NO. generated from muscle may be important in muscle function.
Japanese Clinical Guidelines for Autoimmune Pancreatitis

Objectives: As the patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) are increasing in Japan, the practical guideline for managing AIP is required to be established. Methods: Three committees (the professional committee for making clinical questions [CQs] and statements by Japanese specialists, the expert panelist committee for rating statements by the modified Delphi method, and the evaluating committee by moderators) were organized. Fifteen specialists for AIP extracted the specific clinical statements from a total of 871 literatures by PubMed search (∼1963-2008) and from a secondary database and made the CQs and statements. The expert panelists individually rated these clinical statements using a modified Delphi approach, in which a clinical statement receiving a median score greater than 7 on a 9-point scale from the panel was regarded as valid. Results: The professional committee made 13, 6, 6, and 11 CQs and statements for the concept and diagnosis, extrapancreatic lesions, differential diagnosis, and treatment, respectively. The expert panelists regarded them as valid after a 2-round modified Delphi approach. Conclusions: After evaluation by the moderators, the Japanese clinical guideline for AIP has been established. Further studies for the international guideline are needed after international consensus for diagnosis and treatment.
The Her7 node modulates the network topology of the zebrafish segmentation clock via sequestration of the Hes6 hub

Using in vitro and in vivo assays, we define a network of Her/Hes dimers underlying transcriptional negative feedback within the zebrafish segmentation clock. Some of the dimers do not appear to be DNA-binding, whereas those dimers that do interact with DNA have distinct preferences for cis regulatory sequences. Dimerization is specific, with Hes6 serving as the hub of the network. Her1 binds DNA only as a homodimer but will also dimerize with Hes6. Her12 and Her15 bind DNA both as homodimers and as heterodimers with Hes6. Her7 dimerizes strongly with Hes6 and weakly with Her15. This network structure engenders specific network dynamics and imparts greater influence to the Her7 node. Computational analysis supports the hypothesis that Her7 disproportionately influences the availability of Hes6 to heterodimerize with other Her proteins. Genetic experiments suggest that this regulation is important for operation of the network. Her7 therefore has two functions within the zebrafish segmentation clock. Her7 acts directly within the delayed negative feedback as a DNA-binding heterodimer with Hes6. Her7 also has an emergent function, independent of DNA binding, in which it modulates network topology via sequestration of the network hub.
Polyaxonal amacrine cells of rabbit retina: Size and distribution of PA1 cells

Type 1 polyaxonal (PA1) amacrine cells have been identified previously in rabbit retina, and their morphological characteristics have been described in detail in the preceeding paper. Like other polyaxonal amacrine cells they bear distinct dendritic and axonal branching systems, the latter of which originates in two to six thin, branching axons which emerge from or near to the cell body. Unlike other types of polyaxonal amacrine cells, however, their branching is stratified at the a/b sublaminar border and their cell bodies are most often displaced interstitially in the inner plexiform layer (IPL).
Weathering in soil increases nanoparticle CuO bioaccumulation within a terrestrial food chain

Abstract This study evaluates the bioaccumulation of unweathered (U) and weathered (W) CuO in NP, bulk and ionic form (0–400 mg/kg) by lettuce exposed for 70 d in soil co-contaminated with field incurred chlordane. To evaluate CuO trophic transfer, leaves were fed to crickets (Acheta domestica) for 15 d, followed by insect feeding to lizards (Anolis carolinensis). Upon weathering, the root Cu content of the NP treatment increased 214% (327 ± 59.1 mg/kg) over unaged treatment. Cu root content decreased in bulk and ionic treatments from 70–130 mg/kg to 13–26 mg/kg upon aging in soil. Micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) analysis of W-NP-exposed roots showed a homogenous distribution of Cu (and Ca) in the tissues. Additionally, micro X-ray absorption near-edge (μ-XANES) analysis of W-NP-exposed roots showed near complete transformation of CuO to Cu (I)-sulfur and oxide complexes in the tissues, whereas in unweathered treatment, most root Cu remained as CuO. The expression level of nine genes involved in Cu transport shows that the mechanisms of CuO NPs (and bulk) response/accumulation are different than ionic Cu. The chlordane accumulation by lettuce upon co-exposure to CuO NPs significantly increased upon weathering. Conversely, bulk and ionic exposures decreased pesticide accumulation by plant upon weathering. The Cu cricket fecal content from U-NP-exposed insects was significantly greater than the bulk or ion treatments, suggesting a higher initial NP accumulation followed by significantly greater elimination during depuration. In the lizard, Cu content in the intestine, body and head did not differ as a function of weathering. This study demonstrates that CuO NPs may undergo transformation processes in soil upon weathering that subsequently impact NPs availability in terrestrial food chains.
Effect of chronic hypoxaemia from birth upon chemosensitivity in the adult rat carotid body in vitro.

1. The effect of chronic hypoxaemia upon in vitro carotid body chemosensitivity was observed in eight rats > 5 weeks of age born and reared in 12% oxygen. Comparisons were made with eight age‐matched normoxic rats. 2. Single exponential functions with offset were fitted to the normalized (percentage of maximum) discharge responses to ramp decreases in PO2 at three steady levels of PCO2. CO2 sensitivity was derived from these functions. 3. Increasing hypercapnia increased the horizontal asymptote of the exponential functions in the normoxic (0.15 +/‐ 0.03% discharge per mmHg PCO2; P < 0.001) and chronically hypoxic (0.13 +/‐ 0.04% discharge per mmHg PCO2; P < 0.005) animals but was without effect upon the rate constants in both groups (‐0.04 +/‐ 0.18 mmHg PO2 per mmHg PCO2, P > 0.50 and 0.63 +/‐ 0.48 mmHg PO2 per mmHg PCO2, P > 0.20, respectively). Rate constants were greater in the chronically hypoxic animals (P < 0.05) compared with the normoxic animals. 4. CO2 chemosensitivity increased with decreasing PO2 in normoxic (P < 0.05) but not in chronically hypoxic (P > 0.50) rats. 5. Our results show that chronic hypoxaemia from birth attenuates the maturation of CO2‐O2 interaction at the carotid body.
Field analysis of 40.000 PLC channels to evaluate the potentials for adaptive transmit power management

One of the new mitigation methods to improve the EMC behaviour of PLC devices is adaptive transmit power management (ATPM). This is basically the reduction of the power spectrum density (PSD) levels in case of low noise and low attenuated channels which may have PSD budget left. This paper will present results of measurements done with two possible PSD masks compliant to the new PSD levels defined in CISPR/I/301/CD [1]. The second part of the paper will make conclusions made from more than 11 million of records collected from more than 40.000 different users distributed mostly all over Western Europe. With these records containing information about real world PLC networks we can make estimations on how much we could benefit from ATPM.
Some key technologies for the next car generation

Summary form only given. Modern cars include more and more sophisticated electronics, sensors, processing and control components. These new components are used both for controlling the main functions of the vehicle and for providing the driver with Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS). Such ADAS functionalities are increasingly based on Robotics technologies for partly automating some driving functions such as adaptive cruise control, acceleration/braking in a traffic lane, lane keeping, parking assistance, or even simple collision avoidance or mitigation actions (including braking or airbag actuation). Most of the automotive constructors are now proposing ADAS options, and the degree of autonomy of cars is progressively increasing. But the ultimate challenge addressed by many Academic and Industrial Research Laboratories and is to develop driverless cars. Impressive results have already been published and shown to a large public through the media, and many announcements concerning the future deployment of such vehicles have recently been done by several major Automotive Manufacturers and Multinational groups such as Google. This talk addresses both the socio-economic and technical issues which are behind the development of the next car generation. These future cars will include both smart ADAS and Driverless Car functionalities. An emphasis will be put on the main enabling technologies which are required for providing the vehicle with a Robust Embedded Perception system, a Situation Awareness capability including Short term Prediction and Collision Risk estimation, and a Decisional and Control System for generating safe Navigation and Maneuvering actions. All theses functionalities have to be robust in the presence of sensing errors, uncertainty and traffic hazards. It will be shown that "Bayesian Perception" and "Bayesian Decision" are two key paradigms for developing the above mentioned functionalities. Experimental results obtained on real equipped vehicles provided by Toyota and by Renault will be used to illustrate the talk.
Targeted Disruption of a Murine Glucuronyl C5-epimerase Gene Results in Heparan Sulfate Lacking l-Iduronic Acid and in Neonatal Lethality*

The glycosaminoglycan, heparan sulfate (HS), binds proteins to modulate signaling events in embryogenesis. All identified protein-binding HS epitopes contain l-iduronic acid (IdoA). We report that targeted disruption of the murine d-glucuronyl C5-epimerase gene results in a structurally altered HS lacking IdoA. The corresponding phenotype is lethal, with renal agenesis, lung defects, and skeletal malformations. Unexpectedly, major organ systems, including the brain, liver, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and heart, appeared normal. We find that IdoA units are essential for normal kidney, lung, and skeletal development, albeit with different requirement for 2-O-sulfation. By contrast, major early developmental events known to critically depend on heparan sulfate apparently proceed normally even in the absence of IdoA.
Estimated radiation dose reduction using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction in coronary CT angiography: the ERASIR study.

OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to assess the impact of Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction (ASIR) on radiation dose and study quality for coronary CT angiography (CTA). SUBJECTS AND METHODS We prospectively evaluated 574 consecutive patients undergoing coronary CTA at three centers. Comparisons were performed between consecutive groups initially using filtered back projection (FBP) (n = 331) and subsequently ASIR (n = 243) with regard to patient and scan characteristics, radiation dose, and diagnostic study quality. RESULTS There was no difference between groups in the use of prospective gating, tube voltage, or scan length. The examinations performed using ASIR had a lower median tube current than those obtained using FBP (median [interquartile range], 450 mA [350-600] vs 650 mA [531-750], respectively; p < 0.001). There was a 44% reduction in the median radiation dose between the FBP and ASIR cohorts (4.1 mSv [2.3-5.2] vs 2.3 mSv [1.9-3.5]; p < 0.001). After adjustment for scan settings, ASIR was associated with a 27% reduction in radiation dose compared with FBP (95% CI, 21-32%; p < 0.001). Despite the reduced current, ASIR was not associated with a difference in adjusted signal, noise, or signal-to-noise ratio (p = not significant). No differences existed between FBP and ASIR for interpretability per coronary artery (98.5% vs 99.3%, respectively; p = 0.12) or per patient (96.1% vs 97.1%, p = 0.65). CONCLUSION. ASIR enabled reduced tube current and lower radiation dose in comparison with FBP, with preserved signal, noise, and study interpretability, in a large multicenter cohort. ASIR represents a new technique to reduce radiation dose in coronary CTA studies.
Spirituality Group With Female Prisoners: Impacting Hope

Female offenders are showing a dramatic increase and presenting with several challenges to emotional stability. Current research literature notes the disadvantaged state of these women and psychological profiles reflecting depression, anxiety, trauma, shame, low self-worth, and substance abuse. The instillation of hope has been identified as a therapeutic factor and motivating energy that promotes goal development, reduction of negative emotions, and coping ability. This investigation assessed the impact of hope on female prisoners through the use of a psychoeducational group based on Christian spirituality. Data from the Herth Hope Index were analyzed using a series of t tests to measure group differences. Analysis of the data indicated positive change in the therapy group but did not support statistical significance for every factor analyzed, yet it does provide several implications for practice and future research.
TERMINAL DIFFERENTIATION AND LEFT‐HANDED Z‐DNA: A REVIEW

Nucleic acids control the expression of genes, and different conformations of DNA structure may regulate cell death. Left‐handed Z‐DNA, which is speculated to function as a transcriptional enhancer, may be directly influenced by the destructive effects of terminal differentiation. The nicking‐denaturation of double‐stranded Z‐DNA could possibly initiate and enhance terminal differentiation within specific tissues.