Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CRITICAL CARE ISSUES FOR THE NEPHROLOGIST: Mechanical Ventilation in the Management of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

The occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), is now common in intensive care units throughout the world. The diagnosis of ARDS is based on a definition that includes bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiographs, impaired oxygenation, and the absence of clinical evidence of elevated left atrial pressure. ARDS is the clinical result of a group of diverse processes, which range from physical or chemical injury, to extensive activation of innate inflammatory response. All these processes damage the integrity of the alveolar‐capillary barrier causing increased alveolar‐capillary permeability and an influx of protein‐rich fluid into the alveolar space. This alveolar flooding results in hypoxemia, inactivated surfactant, intrapulmonary shunt, and impaired alveolar ventilation. The treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome is largely supportive in nature, keeping patients alive while allowing their lungs to heal, and minimizing further pulmonary insult. In 1994 the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) established the ARDS Network for the conduct of clinical trials. This is a network, supported by the National Institutes of Health, that provided the infrastructure for well‐designed, multicenter, randomized trials of therapies for ARDS. The first study from this group in 2001 produced landmark data demonstrating mortality improvements in ARDS with particular mechanical ventilation strategies. Specifically, low tidal volume mechanical ventilation was demonstrated to reduce mortality by 22%. Other strategies such as high positive end expiratory pressure and prone positioning have not been shown to reduce mortality. Clinicians who are involved in the care of patients with ARDS should have a basic understanding of mechanical ventilation and the evidence guiding the mechanical ventilation strategies of these patients. Until further evidence is published, providers should adopt the use of a volume and pressure limited approach to mechanical ventilation.
The Influence of Age on the Cytology of the Liver in Healthy Dogs

Liver cytology was evaluated in 28 healthy dogs 1–14 years of age with normal liver structure and function. Smears were stained with May-Grünwald-Giemsa. Hepatocytes had distinct cell borders, and cells did not overlap. Cells with two nuclei and cells with intranuclear crystalloid structures were observed regularly. Cytoplasm contained small numbers of vacuoles characteristic of glycogen and lipid and small amounts of pigment consistent with ceroid or bile. Nuclei were uniform. Small numbers of biliary epithelial cells were seen in most samples. Lymphocytes and neutrophils occurred in small numbers, with lipocytes, mast cells, fibrocytes, mesothelial cells, eosinophils, and Kupffer macrophages seen less frequently. Mean parenchymal cell sizes were significantly greater in older dogs, but no age-related differences were observed in nuclear size. Older dogs also had a significantly increased number of nuclei per cell. There were more neutrophils in young and old dogs than in middle-aged dogs.
Modular system building with Java/sup TM/ packages

As part of a project to develop scalable development techniques for systems written in the Java programming language, we are investigating the suitability of the package construct in Java as a system structuring mechanism. Although the Java package is incomplete in this regard, it represents a good foundation when combined with an advanced programming environment inspired by Vesta. The few ways in which the Java package is unsuitable appear to be correctable with careful programming conventions and support from the environment. At the center of the proposed approach is the notion of a hierarchical namespace based on Internet Domain Names populated by reusable, independently versioned packages, each of which encapsulates a parameterized build script. This concept unifies several important aspects of software development and permits the design of tools that simplify the development process. A laboratory prototype environment, based on persistent Java objects, is being constructed and now supports its own development.
The heliospheric Hale cycle over the last 300 years and its implications for a “lost” late 18th century solar cycle

A Hale cycle, one complete magnetic cycle of the Sun, spans two complete Schwabe cycles (also referred to as sunspot and, more generally, solar cycles). The approximately 22-year Hale cycle is seen in magnetic polarities of both sunspots and polar fields, as well as in the intensity of galactic cosmic rays reaching Earth, with odd- and even-numbered solar cycles displaying qualitatively different waveforms. Correct numbering of solar cycles also underpins empirical cycle-to-cycle relations which are used as first-order tests of stellar dynamo models. There has been much debate about whether the unusually long solar cycle 4 (SC4), spanning 1784–1799, was actually two shorter solar cycles combined as a result of poor data coverage in the original Wolf sunspot number record. Indeed, the group sunspot number does show a small increase around 1794–1799 and there is evidence of an increase in the mean latitude of sunspots at this time, suggesting the existence of a cycle “4b”. In this study, we use cosmogenic radionuclide data and associated reconstructions of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) to show that the Hale cycle has persisted over the last 300 years and that data prior to 1800 are more consistent with cycle 4 being a single long cycle (the “no SC4b” scenario). We also investigate the effect of cycle 4b on the HMF using an open solar flux (OSF) continuity model, in which the OSF source term is related to sunspot number and the OSF loss term is determined by the heliospheric current sheet tilt, assumed to be a simple function of solar cycle phase. The results are surprising; Without SC4b, the HMF shows two distinct peaks in the 1784–1799 interval, while the addition of SC4b removes the secondary peak, as the OSF loss term acts in opposition to the later rise in sunspot number. The timing and magnitude of the main SC4 HMF peak is also significantly changed by the addition of SC4b. These results are compared with the cosmogenic isotope reconstructions of HMF and historical aurora records. These data marginally favour the existence of SC4b (the “SC4b” scenario), though the result is less certain than that based on the persistence of the Hale cycle. Thus while the current uncertainties in the observations preclude any definitive conclusions, the data favour the “no SC4b” scenario. Future improvements to cosmogenic isotope reconstructions of the HMF, through either improved modelling or additional ice cores from well-separated geographic locations, may enable questions of the existence of SC4b and the phase of Hale cycle prior to the Maunder minimum to be settled conclusively.
Systems Engineering Requirements: A Guided Example of an Applied Knowledge System

Knowledge is centric to systems engineering, the knowledge management process must take into account that a System Knowledge Repository (SKR) exists as a key element for either quality improvement, traceability support and, in summary, reuse purposes. Requirements engineering in the Systems Engineering process is enhanced by using knowledge systems and quality of requirements enriched as well. The more correct, complete and consistent a requirement is, the best performance it will have and knowledge systems enable a more exhaustive and fast quality process. A knowledge management process is proposed and it is guided by a requirements domain based example.
Identification of quantitative trait loci for growth and carcass composition in cattle 1

A genomic screening to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting growth, carcass composition and meat quality traits was pursued. Two hundred nineteen microsatellite markers were genotyped on 176 of 620 (28%) progeny from a Brahman · Angus sire mated to mostly MARC III dams. Selective genotyping, based on retail product yield (%) and fat yield (%), was used to select individuals to be genotyped. Traits included in the study were birth weight (kg), hot carcass weight (kg), retail product yield, fat yield, marbling score (400 1⁄4 slight and 500 1⁄4 small), USDA yield grade, and estimated kidney, heart and pelvic fat (%). The QTL were classified as significant when the expected number of false positives (ENFP) was less than 0.05 (F-statistic greater than 17.3), and suggestive when the ENFP was <1 (F-statistic between 10.2 and 17.3). A significant QTL (F 1⁄4 19; ENFP 1⁄4 0.02) was detected for marbling score at centimorgan (cM) 54 on chromosome 2. Suggestive QTL were detected for fat yield at 50 cM, for retail product yield at 53 cM, and for USDA yield grade at 63 cM on chromosome 1, for marbling score at 56 cM, for retail product yield at 70 cM, and for estimated kidney, heart and pelvic fat at 79 cM on chromosome 3, for marbling score at 44 cM, for hot carcass weight at 49 cM, and for estimated kidney, heart and pelvic fat at 62 cM on chromosome 16, and for fat yield at 35 cM on chromosome 17. Two suggestive QTL for birth weight were identified, one at 12 cM on chromosome 20 and the other at 56 cM on chromosome 21. An additional suggestive QTL was detected for retail product yield, for fat yield, and for USDA yield grade at 26 cM on chromosome 26. Results presented here represent the initial search for quantitative trait loci in this family. Validation of detected QTL in other populations will be necessary.
A Practical Two-Step Quantitative Clinical and Electrophysiological Assessment for the Diagnosis and Staging of Diabetic Neuropathy

OBJECTIVE Early diagnosis of distal symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy, a common complication of diabetes, may decrease patient morbidity by allowing for potential therapeutic interventions. We have designed an outpatient program to facilitate diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Patients are initially administered a brief questionnaire and screening examination, designated the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI). Diabetic neuropathy is confirmed in patients with a positive assessment by a quantitative neurological examination coupled with nerve conduction studies, designated the Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Score (MDNS). In this study, 56 outpatients with confirmed type I or II diabetes were administered the standardized quantitative components required to diagnose and stage diabetic neuropathy according to the San Antonio Consensus Statement (1) and the Mayo Clinic protocol (2). These same patients were then assessed with the MNSI and the MDNS. RESULTS Of 29 patients with a clinical MNSI score > 2, 28 had neuropathy. Twenty-eight patients with an MDNS of ≥ 7 had neuropathy, while 21 non-neuropathic patients had a score ≤ 6. Of 35 patients with diabetic neuropathy, 34 had ≥ 2 abnormal nerve conductions. Twenty-one normal patients and one patient with neuropathy had ≤ 1 abnormal nerve conduction. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that the MNSI is a good screening tool for diabetic neuropathy and that the MDNS coupled with nerve conductions provides a simple means to confirm this diagnosis.
Fyn and Src are Effectors of Oncogenic EGFR Signaling in Glioblastoma Patients

Activating EGFR mutations are common in many cancers including glioblastoma. However, clinical responses to EGFR inhibitors are infrequent and short-lived. We demonstrate that the Src family kinases (SFKs) Fyn and Src are effectors of oncogenic EGFR signaling, enhancing invasion and tumor cell survival in vivo. Expression of a constitutively active EGFR mutant, EGFRvIII, resulted in activating phosphorylation and physical association with Src and Fyn, promoting tumor growth and motility. Gene silencing of Fyn and Src limited EGFR and EGFRvIII-dependent tumor cell Corresponding Author: Paul S. Mischel, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Box 951732, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Phone: (310) 794-5223; Fax: (310) 206-8290; E-mail: pmischel@mednet.ucla. edu. NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Cancer Res. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 September 1. Published in final edited form as: Cancer Res. 2009 September 1; 69(17): 6889–6898. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-0347. N IH PA Athor M anscript N IH PA Athor M anscript N IH PA Athor M anscript motility. The SFK inhibitor dasatinib inhibited invasion, promoted tumor regression and induced apoptosis in vivo, significantly prolonging survival of an orthotopic glioblastoma model expressing endogenous EGFRvIII. Dasatinib enhanced the efficacy of an anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody (mAb 806) in vivo, further limiting tumor growth and extending survival. Examination of a large cohort of clinical samples demonstrated frequent coactivation of EGFR and SFKs in glioblastoma patients. These results establish a mechanism linking EGFR signaling with Fyn and Src activation to promote tumor progression and invasion in vivo and provide rationale for combined anti-EGFR and anti-SFK targeted therapies.
Aiming for an Average Female Virtual Human Body Model for Seat Performance Assessment in Rear-End Impacts

The female part of the population suffers more Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) in car crashes than males. Several studies have illustrated the need to consider the female population when developing and assessing the WAD prevention performance of advanced restraint systems in rear-end collisions. Presently only one crash test dummy is available, the average sized male BioRID. Recently a virtual dummy model of an average female, EvaRID, was developed and used in rear impact simulations. The results stressed the need for models representing the female part of the population, as well. Virtual crash simulations have become essential in traffic safety and with models of both an average male and female, further steps in addressing improved assessment of WAD prevention can be taken. The present paper presents a starting point of research aiming to develop an open-source average female Finite Element (FE) model with an anatomically detailed cervical spine. This paper provides a review of the literature to identify gender specific neck biomechanics and anatomical differences, followed by a review of published FE models of the cervical spine. Data on vertebral body dimensions (height, width, depth, spinal canal diameter, facet joint angles) have been compiled from biomechanical literature. Significant gender differences exist for the vertebral body depth and width, the spinal curvature in the seated posture, and the spinal stiffness and range of motion. All have the potential to influence the outcome of an impact and should be accounted for in the development of WAD prevention. The review of FE models of the cervical spine presented 17 models based on male geometry but only one model scaled to represent a female. An overview of the models are given with respect to the solver, geometry source, number of elements, and implementation of the facet joints, ligaments, and muscles. It is recommended that an average female model is developed with focus on; 1) the shape of the female vertebral body, especially the depth and width that provides less support area than for males, 2) defining the spinal curvature representative of seated female volunteers who generally display less lordosis than males, 3) the dimensions of the spinal ligaments, rather than the material properties, to capture the larger range of motion and less spinal stiffness of female subjects compared to males, and 4) validation to female volunteers and PMHS tests for range of motion, while failure prediction seem less gender sensitive
Characterization of TLC 3D-NAND Flash Endurance through Machine Learning for LDPC Code Rate Optimization

The advent of the 3D-NAND Flash memories introduced significant issues in terms of characterization and system-level optimization that can be performed to increase the memory reliability over its lifetime. Indeed, the knobs that a system designer can leverage to this extent are many. In this work we show that the application of machine learning algorithms like data clustering on a large characterization data set of TLC 3D-NAND Flash devices can help the designers in optimizing the countermeasures for improving the memory reliability while reducing their implementation cost.
Effects of Surface Orientation on the Performance of Idealized III–V Thin-Body Ballistic n-MOSFETs

Ballistic on-currents of thin-body n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (n-MOSFETs) are compared across group IV (Si, Ge) and III-V (InAs, In0.5Ga0.5As, GaAs, GaSb) materials for different body thickness values, surface orientations, and transport directions under several idealization assumptions. Previous simulation studies have shown that, as oxide capacitance increases, typical III-V channels with (100) surface perform worse than Si in the ballistic limit due to the degraded density-of-states (DOS). In this letter, simulation results based on tight-binding band structure calculations verify a recent proposal that confined III-V n-MOSFETs with small Γ-L separations overcome the DOS bottleneck and deliver high injection velocities, boosting on-current performance. By using the quantized L-valleys, GaSb with (100) or (111) surface orientations shows the best ballistic performance, outperforming all other materials. Although GaAs (100) and InAs or In0.5Ga0. 5As with any surface orientation suffer from the DOS bottleneck, GaAs (111) gives higher ballistic on -currents than Si does.
Molecular cloning of a human melanoma-associated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan.

A human melanoma-associated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (MCSP), recognized by mAb 9.2. 27, plays a role in stabilizing cell-substratum interactions during early events of melanoma cell spreading on endothelial basement membranes. We report here the molecular cloning and nucleotide sequencing of cDNA encoding the entire core protein of human MCSP and provide its deduced amino acid sequence. This core protein contains an open reading frame of 2322 aa, encompassing a large extracellular domain, a hydrophobic transmembrane region, and a relatively short cytoplasmic tail. Northern blot analysis indicated that MCSP cDNA probes detect a single 8.0-kb RNA species expressed in human melanoma cell lines. In situ hybridization experiments with a segment of the MCSP coding sequence localized MCSP mRNA in biopsies prepared from melanoma skin metastases. Multiple human Northern blots with an MCSP-specific probe revealed a strong hybridization signal only with melanoma cells and not with other human cancer cells or a variety of human fetal and adult tissues. These data indicate that MCSP represents an integral membrane chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan expressed by human malignant melanoma cells. The availability of cDNAs encoding MCSP should facilitate studies designed to establish correlations between structure and function of this molecule and help to establish its role in the progression of human malignant melanoma.
Critical role of JC virus-specific CD4 T-cell responses in preventing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

Background: JC virus (JCV) is ubiquitous among the general population. However, only individuals with severely impaired immunity, mainly AIDS patients, develop progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Here, we examined the role of specific CD4 T cells in the control of JCV infection. Methods and design : JCV-specific CD4 T-cell responses were investigated by assaying peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation in response to the purified virus. Four groups of individuals without PML were examined: 14 HIV-seronegative healthy donors and 25 HIV-infected patients without PML, separated into urinary JCV excretors (active infection) and non-excretors, according to JCV PCR on urine. Two groups of patients with PML were also studied: 14 HIV-infected patients with active PML; and 10 PML survivors on effective and prolonged antiretroviral therapy. All of the patients were PCR-positive for JCV in the cerebrospinal fluid at the time of diagnosis of PML. Results: No significant anti-JCV CD4 T-cell proliferation was found in any of the non-excretors tested. All nine healthy donors and seven of the 13 non-PML HIV-infected patients with urinary JCV excretion had positive JCV-specific CD4 T-cell responses. No significant response was found in the 14 patients with active PML, while nine of the 10 PML survivors had positive responses. Restoration of JCV-specific CD4 T-cell responses was associated with JCV clearance from the cerebrospinal fluid. Conclusion: JCV-specific CD4 T-cell responses appear to play a critical role in the control of JCV infection, preventing PML development. Such responses can be restored in PML survivors following effective and prolonged antiretroviral therapy.
A Hybrid algorithm for mining high utility itemsets from transaction databases with discount notion

High-utility itemset mining has attracted significant attention from the research community. Identifying high-utility itemsets from a transaction database can help business owners to earn better profit by promoting the sales of high-utility itemsets. The technique also finds applications in webclick stream analysis, biomedical data analysis, mobile E-commerce etc. Several algorithms have been proposed to mine high-utility itemsets from a transaction database. However, these algorithms assume that items have a constant profit associated with them and don’t embed the notion of discount into the utility-mining framework. In this thesis, we integrate the notion of discount in state-of-the-art utility-mining algorithms and propose a hybridalgorithm for efficient mining of high-utility itemsets. We conduct extensive experiments on real and synthetic datasets and our results show that our proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of total execution time and number of itemsets that need to be explored. I dedicate my MTech Thesis to My Family and SGI President Dr.Daisaku Ikeda.
ACCELERATION OF THE EMERGENCE OF BACTERIAL ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

We designed and fabricated a two-dimensional microfluidic device to mimic the heterogeneous environment in naturally occurring bacteria culture. We demonstrated that it is possible to fix resistance to the powerful antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Cipro) in E. coli within 10 hours through a combination of antibiotic gradients and bacterial metapopulation. Simulation based on a deterministic model shows the evolution is accelerated in a slanted fitness landscape, compared to uniformly high and uniformly low fitness landscape.
Visual evoked potential estimation by adaptive noise cancellation with neural-network-based fuzzy inference system

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are time-varying signals typically buried in relatively large background noise known as the electroencephalogram (EEG). In this paper, an adaptive noise cancellation with neural network-based fuzzy inference system (NNFIS) was used and the NNFIS was carefully designed to model the VEP signal. It is assumed that VEP responses can be modelled by NNFIS with the centres of its membership functions evenly distributed over time. The weights of NNFIS are adaptively determined by minimizing the variance of the error signal using the least mean squares (LMS) algorithm. As the NNFIS is dynamic to any change of VEP, the non-stationary characteristics of VEP can be tracked. Thus, this method should be able to track the VEP. Four sets of simulated data indicate that the proposed method is appropriate to estimate VEP. A total of 150 trials are processed to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method.