Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in Germany based on health insurance data : Regional differences and first results of the PROCLAIR study].

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory joint disease with a prevalence of up to 1 % in the adult population. OBJECTIVE This study describes the prevalence of RA diagnoses in outpatient health insurance claims data, based on different case definitions and stratified by age, sex and region of residence. METHODS Based on data from a nationwide statutory health insurance fund (BARMER GEK) from the year 2013, a cross-sectional study of insurants aged 18 years or older was conducted. The following case definitions were applied: A) a diagnosis of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (M05) or other rheumatoid arthritis (M06) according to the international classification of diseases 10 German modification (ICD-10-GM) in at least two quarterly periods of the year 2013, B) case definition A plus determination of C‑reactive protein (CRP) or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at least once, C) case definition B plus specific drug therapy and D) case definition A plus treatment by a rheumatologist. Raw as well as age and sex-standardized prevalences were calculated and stratified according to the federal state. RESULTS The study population consisted of 7,155,315 insurants of whom 60.2 % were female. Overall, RA prevalences for the respective case definitions were 1.62 % (A), 1.11 % (B), 0.94 % (C) and 0.64 % (D). When standardized to the German population the prevalences were 1.38 % (A), 0.95 % (B), 0.81 % (C) and 0.55 % (D). The proportion of women was approximately 80 % for all case definitions. Prevalences increased with age, peaking in the age group 70-79 years old and showing the highest values in eastern and the lowest in southern Germany for raw as well as standardized measures. CONCLUSION Regional differences in the prevalence of RA diagnoses in health insurance claims data were observed independent of age, sex and case definition. The expected prevalence according to the results of international studies was best achieved when case definitions with CRP or ESR were considered.
Evaluating the usability of a commercial cooling vest in the Hong Kong industries

Objective. The provision of appropriate personal cooling vests is recognized as an effective measure to combat heat stress. However, personal cooling vests are not widely implemented in the Hong Kong industries. The current study aims to evaluate the usability of a hybrid cooling vest that is associated with the success of its application in industrial settings. Methods. A self-administrated questionnaire focusing on 10 subjective attributes of cooling effect, ergonomic design and usability of a hybrid cooling vest was administered with 232 occupational workers in the construction, horticultural and cleaning, airport apron services and kitchen and catering industries. Results. A structural equation model estimated by analysis of moment structures was constructed to evaluate the usability of the cooling vest, as influenced by cooling effect and ergonomic design. Results showed that cooling effect (path coefficient = 0.69, p < 0.001) and ergonomic design (path coefficient = 0.55, p < 0.001) significantly affect the usability of the cooling vest. Conclusions. The structural equation model is feasible to examine the complex nature of the structural relationships among the subjective perceptions of personal cooling vests. The empirical findings furnish sound evidence for further optimization of the hybrid cooling vest in terms of cooling effect and ergonomic design for occupational workers.
Interactive touch board using IR camera

This paper presents a novel and cost-effective approach to convert any projected display on a flat surface into interactive touch board, through the aid of computer vision techniques. An interactive touch board is similar to that of a touch screen available in mobile phones and tablets, but then uses a special stylus for its input and a LCD projector for projecting the display on the surface. Commonly used techniques fall under any of the four categories - Resistive, Capacitive, Electromagnetic and Optical. The paper proposes a method pertaining to the optical technique - involving an infrared camera, a light emitting stylus and an image processing algorithm to determine the position pointed by the user. The stylus has an infrared LED at its tip and capable of producing a tiny spot of light on the projected surface, which is invisible to human eyes. But an IR camera with IR pass filter can be used to capture the light spot and can be processed further. This is the principle technique behind the proposed method. The image from the camera is processed using an algorithm, which determines the coordinates of the IR light. This obtained position along with some calibration parameters is sufficient to calculate the mouse cursor coordinates and thus the cursor can moved to the intended position. The whole of the image processing algorithm has been implemented using the NI LabVIEW and its associated Vision and Motion toolkits. Further, the paper deals with the study of potential applications in education and scientific research.
Perspectives of intellectual disability in India: epidemiology, policy, services for children and adults

Purpose of review To provide a panoramic view of the recent developments and current situation in epidemiology, legislation, policies, services, and research in intellectual disability in India. Recent findings A wide variation in point prevalence of intellectual disability has been reported, from around 1/1000 to 32/1000, depending on the case definition, methodology, and population selected. There are a number of acts, policies, and programs addressing intellectual disability, but their implementation needs to improve. Services in terms of prevention, early intervention, health services, parent-focused and family-focused interventions, special and inclusion education, vocational training, support for individuals and their families, and community-based rehabilitation services are steadily improving, albeit unevenly across different regions and sub-populations. Genetics of disorders associated with intellectual disability such as primary microcephaly and fragile X syndrome have received research attention. Psychosocial research has focused on family needs, family-focused intervention, early intervention, and comorbid disorders. A positive development has been the organization of parents into parent associations all over India and formation of a national confederation. Summary There has been noticeable progress in addressing the challenges posed by intellectual disability in India on all fronts. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of developing a locally and nationally relevant and reliable database, effective implementation of legislation and policies, and development of effective, accessible, and affordable interventions.
Sympathetic denervation of heart and kidney induces similar effects on ventricular electrophysiological properties.

AIMS We aimed to investigate whether sympathetic denervation of the heart and kidney had similar effects on ventricular effective refractory period (ERP) and action potential duration (APD) restitution properties in a canine model. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-four anaesthetised open-chest dogs (17-20 kg) were assigned to a sham operation group (n=8), a cardiac sympathetic denervation group (CSD, n=8) or a renal sympathetic denervation group (RSD, n=8). CSD was performed by ablating the caudal half of the LSG and T2-T4 thoracic sympathetic ganglia, while RSD was performed by ablating four sites on the adventitial surface of each renal artery. The ventricular electrophysiological properties were determined at four time points: baseline, 0 min, 30 min, and 60 min after interventions. The results showed that, when compared to the control group at the time point of 60 min after interventions, both CSD and RSD significantly reduced heart rate, prolonged the QT interval and ventricular ERP and APD, decreased the ERP dispersion and the slopes of APD restitution curves, and suppressed the APD alternans without affecting blood pressure and corrected QT interval. However, there were no significant differences in these parameters between CSD and RSD groups at the same time point. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that sympathetic denervation of the heart and kidney induced similar electrophysiological effects in ventricles.
Acidente vascular cerebral

Os acidentes vasculares cerebrais (AVCs) estao entre as principais causas de morte e incapacitacao fisica em todo o mundo desenvolvido. Nos Estados Unidos da America, aproximadamente 500 mil pessoas apresentam um AVC novo ou recorrente a cada ano. Dessas, 150 mil morrem anualmente por AVC. Os ataques isquemicos transitorios (AITs) comumente duram poucos minutos (de 2 a 15 minutos). Episodios abruptos, durando apenas poucos segundos, provavelmente nao sao AITs. Os AITs constituem uma emergencia. Estao para o infarto cerebral assim como a angina instavel esta para o infarto agudo do miocardio. Os acidentes vasculares cerebrais isquemicos (AVCIs) podem ser classificados, segundo o mecanismo etiologico envolvido, em: aterotrombotico, cardioembolico, lacunar, hemodinâmico e venoso. Essa diferenciacao e fundamental na prevencao secundaria eficiente. Estudos cooperativos mostraram que, em pacientes sintomaticos com mais de 70 por cento de estenose de carotida, a endarterectomia e efetiva na reducao do risco de um AVC ipsilateral subsequente. Na fase aguda dos AVCIs o tratamento pode incluir o uso de anticoagulantes, cuidados para nao baixar indevidamente a pressao arterial, cuidados clinicos gerais e, em casos muito selecionados, o uso de agentes fibrinoliticos. Uma revisao a respeito dos principais ensaios clinicos com esses agentes e apresentado pelos autores. Os AVCs hemorragicos (AVCHs) representam aproximadamente 10 por cento dos AVCs e tendem a ocorrer mais cedo que os infartos. A hipertensao arterial e o aumento da idade sao os principais fatores de risco para o AVCH. Sao apresentadas consideracoes a respeito da etiopatogenia dos AVCHs e condutas de tratamento nesses pacientes.
Low-Frequency Diffusion Noise in Resistive-Switching Memories Based on Metal–Oxide Polymer Structure

Low-frequency noise is studied in resistive-switching memories based on metal–oxide polymer diodes. The noise spectral power follows a <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\hbox{1}/f^{\gamma}$</tex></formula> behavior, with <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\gamma = \hbox{1}$</tex></formula> in the ohmic region and with <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\gamma = \hbox{3/2}$</tex></formula> at high bias beyond the ohmic region. The exponent <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\gamma = \hbox{3/2}$</tex></formula> is explained as noise caused by Brownian motion or diffusion of defects which induce fluctuations in diode current. The figure of merit to classify <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\hbox{1}/f$</tex></formula> noise in thin films has an estimated value of <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\hbox{10}^{-21}\ \hbox{cm}^{2}/\Omega$</tex></formula>, which is typical for metals or doped semiconductors. This value in combination with the low diode current indicates that the <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\hbox{1}/f$</tex></formula> noise is generated in the narrow localized regions in the polymer between the contacts. The analysis unambiguously shows that the current in bistable nonvolatile memories is filamentary.
Carotid endarterectomy in female patients: are the concerns of the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study valid?

OBJECTIVES Although the results of the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study clearly demonstrated the benefit of surgical over medical management of severe carotid artery stenosis, the results for women in particular were less certain. This was to some extent because of the higher perioperative complication rate observed in the 281 women (3.6% vs 1.7% in men). The objective of this study was to review a large experience with carotid endarterectomy in female patients and to determine whether the perioperative results differed from those of male patients. METHODS A review was conducted of a prospectively compiled database on all carotid endarterectomies performed between 1982 and 1997. Operations performed in 991 female patients were compared with those performed in 1485 male patients. RESULTS Female patients had a significantly lower incidence of diabetes, coronary artery disease, and contralateral carotid artery occlusion than did male patients. Female patients had a significantly higher incidence of hypertension. There were no significant differences in the age, smoking history, anesthetic route, shunt use, or clamp tolerance between the two groups. Of 991 female patients, 659 (66.5%) had preoperative symptoms, whereas 332 (33.5%) cases were performed for asymptomatic stenosis. Among 1485 male patients, 1041 (70.1%) had symptoms, and 444 (29.9%) were symptom free before surgery. There were no significant differences noted in the perioperative stroke rates between men and women overall (2.3% vs 2.4%, P =.92), or when divided into symptomatic (2.5% vs 3.0%, P =.52) and asymptomatic (2.0% vs 1.2%, P =.55) cases. CONCLUSIONS Carotid endarterectomy can be performed with equally low perioperative stroke rates in men and women in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. In this series, symptom-free female patients had the lowest overall stroke rate. The concerns of the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study regarding the benefit of carotid endarterectomy in female patients should therefore not prevent clinicians from recommending and performing carotid endarterectomy in appropriately selected symptom-free female patients.
Phosphorylated 4E‐binding protein 1 (p‐4E‐BP1): a novel prognostic marker in human astrocytomas

Korkolopoulou P, Levidou G, El‐Habr E A, Piperi C, Adamopoulos C, Samaras V, Boviatsis E, Thymara I, Trigka E‐A, Sakellariou S, Kavantzas N, Patsouris E & Saetta A A (2012) Histopathology 61, 293–305
A profile of older emergency department attendees: findings from an Irish study.

AIMS This paper is a report of a study of older emergency department attendees' demographic, health and social profiles. BACKGROUND Relative to the general population, older people are higher users of hospital emergency departments. Attendance is most often associated with medical need, including a chronic condition and related morbidities. METHOD A series of standardized health and social profiling questionnaires was administered to a non-probability sample of 307 older emergency department attendees. The sample was recruited during the spring-summer and autumn-winter periods in 2008 and 2009 at two hospitals in the city of Dublin. Subjects who met the inclusion criteria were recruited as they presented to the emergency department during the hours 8 am to midnight. The sample was stratified into those admitted and those discharged, with the aim of equally representing each stratum. Data were collected at the time of the index visit or shortly following hospital admission. FINDINGS Medical conditions accounted for almost half of all reasons for attendance and the health profile of the sample was characteristic of a population of chronically ill older people. Relative to the national picture for older people's social networks in Ireland, a proportion of the sample was at risk of social isolation. CONCLUSIONS In the absence of other avenues to treatment and based on health profile and diagnostic category, older people's attendance at the emergency department was appropriate. The hospital emergency department remains a major arm of the Irish health service in dealing with the morbidity associated with enduring illness.
First‐trimester diagnosis of conjoined twins

Conjoined twins are a rare and complex complication of monozygotic twinning, which is associated with high perinatal mortality. Early prenatal diagnosis of conjoined twins allows better counselling of the parents regarding the management options, including continuation of pregnancy with post‐natal surgery, termination of pregnancy or selective fetocide in case of a triplet pregnancy. With the introduction of high‐resolution and transvaginal ultrasound imaging, accurate prenatal diagnosis of conjoined twins is possible early in pregnancy. We have reviewed the medical literature on the early prenatal diagnosis of suspected conjoined twins using a MEDLINE search. Although first‐trimester diagnosis of conjoined twins is feasible, false‐positive cases are common before 10 weeks because, earlier in gestation, fetal movements are limited and monoamniotic twins may appear conjoined. As most parents opt for immediate termination of pregnancy at confirmation of the diagnosis, there are limited data on the prenatal follow‐up of conjoined twins. When the parents opt for conservative management, half of the fetuses die in utero and another 44% will die during the neonatal period. A detailed analysis of case reports where 3D imaging was used indicates that this modality does not improve on the diagnosis made by 2D ultrasound. Overall, very early prenatal diagnosis and first‐trimester 3D imaging provide very little additional practical medical information compared to the 11–14 weeks' ultrasound examination. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Crossmodal Integration in the Identification of Consonant Segments

Although speechreading can be facilitated by auditory or tactile supplements, the process that integrates cues across modalities is not well understood. This paper describes two “optimal processing” models for the types of integration that can be used in speechreading consonant segments and compares their predictions with those of the Fuzzy Logical Model of Perception (FLMP, Massaro, 1987). In “pre-labelling” integration, continuous sensory data is combined across modalities before response labels are assigned. In “post-labelling” integration, the responses that would be made under unimodal conditions are combined, and a joint response is derived from the pair. To describe pre-labelling integration, confusion matrices are characterized by a multidimensional decision model that allows performance to be described by a subject's sensitivity and bias in using continuous-valued cues. The cue space is characterized by the locations of stimulus and response centres. The distance between a pair of stimulus centres determines how well two stimuli can be distinguished in a given experiment. In the multimodal case, the cue space is assumed to be the product space of the cue spaces corresponding to the stimulation modes. Measurements of multimodal accuracy in five modern studies of consonant identification are more consistent with the predictions of the pre-labelling integration model than the FLMP or the post-labelling model.
A 3-stage shunt-feedback op-amp having 19.2dB gain, 54.1dBm OIP3 (2GHz), and 252 OIP3/PDC ratio

We report here a 3-stage shunt-feedback configured operational amplifier using simple-Miller compensation demonstrating 19.2dB mid-band S<inf>21</inf> gain, P<inf>DC</inf> = 1020mW. At 2GHz operation the amplifier shows 54.1dBm OIP3 and a record high OIP3/P<inf>DC</inf> ratio = 252. Through the use of a 350GHz ƒ<inf>r</inf>, ƒ<inf>max</inf> 0.5um InP HBT technology, the loop transmission at low GHz operation provides a large reduction to the closed-loop distortion. The amplifier employs a differential topology, resistive pulldown biasing, large 6nH inductors to act as RF chokes, and a 6-finger (10µm L<inf>e</inf>) output stage to increase P<inf>out</inf> before the onset of waveform clipping. The loop bandwidth is greater than 30GHz, 5.5dB NF, and is unconditionally stable from DC-8.5GHz. The slope-3 breakpoint (S-3BP, where the IM3 spurs are 3dB greater than the expected slope-3 trend) is at P<inf>out</inf> = 16.6mW/tone. The increases to OIP3/P<inf>DC</inf> ratio represent > 1.7× betterment in state-of-the-art. The circuit contains 24 HBTs and is 0.92×0.46-mm<sup>2</sup>.
Global rates of marine sulfate reduction and implications for sub–sea-floor metabolic activities

Sulfate reduction is a globally important redox process in marine sediments, yet global rates are poorly quantified. We developed an artificial neural network trained with 199 sulfate profiles, constrained with geomorphological and geochemical maps to estimate global sulfate-reduction rate distributions. Globally, 11.3 teramoles of sulfate are reduced yearly (~15% of previous estimates), accounting for the oxidation of 12 to 29% of the organic carbon flux to the sea floor. Combined with global cell distributions in marine sediments, these results indicate a strong contrast in sub–sea-floor prokaryote habitats: In continental margins, global cell numbers in sulfate-depleted sediment exceed those in the overlying sulfate-bearing sediment by one order of magnitude, whereas in the abyss, most life occurs in oxic and/or sulfate-reducing sediments. Up to 89% of microbial cells in the sub–sea floor at continental margins are sustained by fermentation and methanogenesis Mapping sub–sea-floor communities The sea floor is teeming with microbes, whose sheer numbers produce a major effect on the global biogeochemical cycles of carbon, sulfur, and other important nutrients. Bowles et al. constructed a map showing how deeply sulfates penetrate marine sediments worldwide and how quickly that sulfate is chemically reduced by microbes in the sub–sea-floor. Globally, almost a third of the organic carbon that reaches the sea floor is consumed during sulfate reduction, and the vast majority of microbial cells in the sub–sea-floor at continental margins get their energy through the biochemical processes of fermentation and methanogenesis. Science, this issue p. 889.
Evaluation of an uncalibrated arterial pulse contour cardiac output monitoring system in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver surgery.

BACKGROUND The pulmonary artery catheter is invasive and may cause serious complications. A safe method of cardiac output (CO) measurement is needed. We have assessed the accuracy and reliability of a recently marketed self-calibrating arterial pulse contour CO monitoring system (FloTrac/Vigileo) in end-stage liver failure patients undergoing liver transplant. The pattern of alterations known as cirrhotic cardiomyopathy, and the transplant procedure itself, provided an evaluation under varying clinical conditions. METHODS The cardiac index was measured simultaneously by thermodilution (CI(TD): mean of four readings) using a pulmonary artery catheter and pulse contour analysis (CI(V): mean value computed by the FloTrac/Vigileo over the same time period). Readings were made at 10 time-points during liver transplant surgery (T1-T5) and on the intensive care unit (T6-T10). CI(V) was computed using the latest Vigileo software version 01.10. RESULTS A total of 290 paired readings from 29 patients were collected. Mean (SD) CI(TD) was 5.2 (1.3) and CI(V) was 3.9 (0.9) litre min(-1) m(-2), with a corrected for repeated measures bias between readings of 1.3 (0.2) litre min(-1) m(-2) and 95% limits of agreement of -1.5 (0.2) to 4.1 (0.3) litre min(-1) m(-2). The percentage error (2SD(Bias)/meanCI(TD)) was 54%, which exceeded a 30% limit of acceptance. Low peripheral resistance and increasing bias were related (r=0.69; P<0.001). The Vigileo system failed to reliably trend CI data, with a concordance compared with thermodilution below an acceptable level (at best 68% of sequential readings). CONCLUSIONS In cirrhotic patients with hyperdynamic circulation, the Vigileo system showed a degree of error and unreliability higher than that considered acceptable for clinical purposes.