Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulsatile perfusion with intra-aortic balloon pumping ameliorates whole body response to cardiopulmonary bypass in the elderly*

Objective:The growing life expectancy has led the elderly to be increasingly referred to coronary artery bypass grafting. Preexisting comorbidities may benefit from theoretical advantages of pulsatile perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Design:Prospective randomized trial. Setting:Cardiac surgery unit in a university hospital. Patients:Eighty consecutive patients older than 70 years. Interventions:Elective coronary artery bypass grafting on CPB, randomizing to conventional linear CPB (40 patients, group A) or intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP)-induced pulsatile CPB (40 patients, group B). Measurements and Main Results:We evaluated hemodynamic response by pulmonary artery flotation catheter, metabolic/splanchnic response by lactate and transaminase, bilirubin, amylase, and renal function (creatinine clearance, creatinine, incidence of renal insufficiency and failure), respiratory response by Pao2/Fio2, respiratory compliance, scoring of chest radiograph, intubation time, and need for noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation, hematologic response by chest drainage, hemocoagulative and fibrinolytic cascades, and transfusions. IABP-related complications were recorded. Two minor IABP-related complications (2.5%) were registered. Hemodynamics was comparable, except for a slightly better cardiac index and indexed systemic vascular resistances at the end of CPB and at intensive therapy unit (ITU) admission (p < 0.05). Transaminases, bilirubin, amylase, proved lower in group B (p < 0.05 from ITU admission to 48 hours). Creatinine clearance, serum creatinine, and lactate were better in group B (p < 0.05), and acute renal insufficiency was accordingly lower (p = 0.02). Respiratory response demonstrated better Pao2/Fio2 and respiratory compliance from aortic declamping to 48 hours, with better scoring of chest radiograph (p < 0.05 from ITU admission to 48 hours), lower noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (p = 0.002) and intubation time (p = 0.031) in group B. Lower chest drainage (p < 0.05 at first and second day), transfusions (p < 0.05), activated partial thromboplastin time, international normalized ratio, white blood cells, and D-dimer (p < 0.05 from ITU admission to 48 hours), together with higher platelets, fibrinogen, and antithrombin III (p < 0.05 from ITU admission to 48 hours) were demonstrated in the pulsated group. Conclusions:IABP-induced pulsatile flow significantly improves whole body perfusion in the elderly undergoing CPB.
3-(Methylnitrosamino)propionitrile: occurrence in saliva of betel quid chewers, carcinogenicity, and DNA methylation in F344 rats.

3-(Methylnitrosamino)propionitrile (MNPN), a potent carcinogen in F344 rats, was detected for the first time in the saliva of betel quid chewers at levels ranging from 0.5 to 11.4 micrograms/liter. The tumorigenic properties of MNPN and its potential to methylate DNA in F344 rats were evaluated. Groups of 21 male and 21 female rats were given 60 s.c. injections over a 20-week period (total doses 0.055 and 0.23 mmol per rat). The experiment was terminated after 106 weeks. MNPN at the higher dose induced 18 (86%) malignant tumors of the nasal cavity in male and 15 (71%) in female rats. The lower dose induced nine (43%) liver tumors. Groups of four or five male F344 rats were treated with a single s.c. or i.v. injection of MNPN (0.4 mmol/kg). MNPN was also administered to rats by swabbing the oral cavity (2.21 mmol/kg). The levels of 7-methylguanine and O6-methylguanine, formed 0.5-36 h after treatment, were measured in the liver, nasal mucosa, esophagus, and oral issues. The highest levels of methylated guanines were detected in the nasal cavity independent of the route of administration. The results of this study demonstrate that MNPN is present in the saliva of betel quid chewers and is a potent carcinogen in F344 rats.
Feature-based fuzzy control adaptive finite-element mesh generation for electromagnetic fields

Considering the feature-based initial mesh generation and the a posteriori error estimator, a fuzzy control adaptive finite-element mesh generation method is presented. The error of potential derivative of each element is regarded as the input of fuzzy controller. Fuzzy rules and reasoning mechanism are constructed. Consequently, the size of the elements and refinement of mesh can be controlled. Applications suggest that this method has advantages such as fast convergence and reasonable element distribution, with strong adaptation.
On the tradeoff between optimal relay selection and protocol design in hybrid D2D networks

Cooperative relaying is an enhancing technique for Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, which can significantly expend the communication distance and increase the capacity of D2D links. However, it is challenging to balance the probing time for selecting the optimal relay node and the effective transmission time, both of which will affect the overall throughput of D2D transmissions. In this work, we first build a tractable model for a multi-cell heterogeneous D2D network based on stochastic geometry to evaluate the coverage probability of three location-aware relay selection schemes, namely, All Relays Selection, Sectorized Relays Selection and Distance Based Selection. Based on this model, we develop a practical channel probing process to implement these relay selection schemes and investigate the corresponding transmission capacity under the probing-transmission tradeoff. Numerical results reveals that Distance Based Selection offers the best performance in terms of both coverage probability and transmission capacity when considering the channel-probing cost.
Remodelling of cardiac sympathetic re-innervation with thoracic spinal cord stimulation improves left ventricular function in a porcine model of heart failure.

AIMS Thoracic spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been shown to improve left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in heart failure (HF). Nevertheless, the optimal duration (intermittent vs. continuous) of stimulation and the mechanisms of action remain unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed chronic thoracic SCS at the level of T1-T3 (50 Hz, pulse width 0.2 ms) in 30 adult pigs with HF induced by myocardial infarction and rapid ventricular pacing for 4 weeks. All the animals were treated with daily oral metoprolol succinate (25 mg) plus ramipril (2.5 mg), and randomized to a control group (n = 10), intermittent SCS (4 h ×3, n = 10) or continuous SCS (24 h, n = 10) for 10 weeks. Serial measurements of LVEF and +dP/dt and serum levels of norepinephrine and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured. After sacrifice, immunohistological studies of myocardial sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve sprouting and innervation were performed. Echocardiogram revealed a significant increase in LVEF and +dP/dt at 10 weeks in both the intermittent and continuous SCS group compared with controls (P < 0.05). In both SCS groups, there was diffuse sympathetic nerve sprouting over the infarct, peri-infarct, and normal regions compared with only the peri-infarct and infarct regions in the control group. In addition, sympathetic innervation at the peri-infarct and infarct regions was increased following SCS, but decreased in the control group. Myocardium norepinephrine spillover and serum BNP at 10 weeks was significantly decreased only in the continuous SCS group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In a porcine model of HF, SCS induces significant remodelling of cardiac sympathetic innervation over the peri-infarct and infarct regions and is associated with improved LV function and reduced myocardial norepinephrine spillover.
Fermented and non‐fermented soy food consumption and gastric cancer in Japanese and Korean populations: A meta‐analysis of observational studies

Soy food is known to contribute greatly to a reduction in the risk of gastric cancer (GC). However, both Japanese and Korean populations have high incidence rates of GC despite the consumption of a wide variety of soy foods. One primary reason is that they consume fermented rather than non‐fermented soy foods. In order to assess the varying effects of fermented and non‐fermented soy intake on GC risk in these populations, we conducted a meta‐analysis of published reports. Twenty studies assessing the effect of the consumption of fermented soy food on GC risk were included, and 17 studies assessing the effect of the consumption of non‐fermented soy food on GC risk were included. We found that a high intake of fermented soy foods was significantly associated with an increased risk of GC (odds ratio [OR] = 1.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02–1.44, I2 = 71.48), whereas an increased intake of non‐fermented soy foods was significantly associated with a decreased risk of GC (overall summary OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.54–0.77, I2 = 64.27). These findings show that a high level of consumption of non‐fermented soy foods, rather than fermented soy foods, is important in reducing GC risk. (Cancer Sci 2011; 102: 231–244)
The Information Content of Going Concern Conclusions: Do Interim Reviews Provide an Early Warning?

We investigate whether going concern conclusions in the interim (half-yearly) review (IGCC) provide investors with a timely source of useful information. Using the Australian setting, with mandatory interim assurance and disclosure, we find a strong negative market reaction surrounding the release of an IGCC. Additionally we show that auditors can signal both good and bad news regarding the firm in their interim review conclusion via changes in their judgement from the prior annual report audit opinion. Furthermore, despite containing different levels of assurance, there is no significant difference between the market reaction to IGCCs and going concern opinions received in the annual report audit (AGCO). The market reaction to the AGCO is also related to the prior interim review conclusion. Last, IGCCs are significant predictors of the following AGCO, beyond the previous annual report audit opinion. Overall, we conclude that going concern conclusions in interim financial statements provide an early warning to investors.
The Power Flow Control Strategy of Electric Armored Vehicle Multi Power System

A power flow control strategy is established according to the power source feature and the load characteristic of series hybrid system to realize disparate control target based on different control algorithm. Firstly, wavelet transform is used to divide high frequency value and low frequency value of load demand. The value is distributed to ultracapacity and the sources which have low output cutoff frequency, finally each power source match the power demand component allocated. Secondly, adopting the fuzzy controller to realize optimal control of battery State Of Charge (SOC). Finally, system efficiency optimal control algorithm is designed for low frequency value secondary distribution between battery and Engine-Generator Set (EGS), it can realize optimal system efficiency control. Ultimately, the power flow control strategy can achieves the multi targets' optimal control of the multi areas and nonlinear time variety hybrid system. The results of simulation analysis and vehicle test show that the algorithm is well performed, it is suitable for electric armored vehicle power flow control.
VariBench: A Benchmark Database for Variations

Several computational methods have been developed for predicting the effects of rapidly expanding variation data. Comparison of the performance of tools has been very difficult as the methods have been trained and tested with different datasets. Until now, unbiased and representative benchmark datasets have been missing. We have developed a benchmark database suite, VariBench, to overcome this problem. VariBench contains datasets of experimentally verified high‐quality variation data carefully chosen from literature and relevant databases. It provides the mapping of variation position to different levels (protein, RNA and DNA sequences, protein three‐dimensional structure), along with identifier mapping to relevant databases. VariBench contains the first benchmark datasets for variation effect analysis, a field which is of high importance and where many developments are currently going on. VariBench datasets can be used, for example, to test performance of prediction tools as well as to train novel machine learning‐based tools. New datasets will be included and the community is encouraged to submit high‐quality datasets to the service. VariBench is freely available at http://structure.bmc. lu.se/VariBench.
Resource Compensation or Multiplication? The Interplay between Cognitive Ability and Social Origin in Explaining Educational Attainment

While previous research has conclusively established that children with higher cognitive ability and those originating from advantaged socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds have better educational outcomes, the interplay between the influences of cognitive ability and social origin has been largely overlooked. The influence of cognitive ability might be weaker in high-SES families as a result of resource compensation, and stronger in high-SES families owing to resource multiplication. We investigate these mechanisms while taking into account the possibility that the association between cognitive ability and educational attainment might be partly spurious due to unobserved genetic and environmental influences. We do so by analysing a large sample of twins from the German TwinLife study (Npairs = 2,190). Our results show that the association between cognitive ability and educational attainment is to a large extent confounded by genetic and shared environmental factors. If this is not considered, and this is the case in most previous studies, high-SES parents seem to compensate for the lower cognitive ability of their children. However, when we consider the genetic and shared environmental confounding, the resource compensation effect becomes non-significant.
Life satisfaction and suicide: a 20-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE The authors investigated whether self-reported life satisfaction predicted suicide over a period of 20 years (1976-1995) in adults unselected for mental health status. METHOD A nationwide sample of adults aged 18-64 years (N=29,173) from the Finnish Twin Cohort responded to a health questionnaire that included a life satisfaction scale (score range=4-20, with higher scores indicating greater dissatisfaction) that covered four items: interest in life, happiness, general ease of living, and feeling of loneliness. "Dissatisfied" subjects (life satisfaction score=12-20) were compared to "satisfied" subjects (score=4-6). Mortality data were derived from the national registry and analyzed with Cox regression. RESULTS Dissatisfaction at baseline (life satisfaction score=12-20) was associated with a higher risk of suicide throughout the 20-year follow-up period (age-adjusted hazard ratio=3.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.83-4.98). The association was somewhat stronger in the first decade (hazard ratio=4.46, 95% CI=1.95-10.20) than in the second (hazard ratio=2.34, 95% CI=1.24-4.45). A dose-response relationship was also found. Men with the highest degrees of dissatisfaction (life satisfaction score=19-20) were 24.85 times as prone to commit suicide as satisfied men during the first 10 years of the follow-up period. Throughout the entire follow-up, life dissatisfaction still predicted suicide after adjusting for age, sex, baseline health status, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and physical activity (hazard ratio=1.74, 95% CI=1.02-2.97). Subjects who reported dissatisfaction at baseline and again 6 years later showed a high suicide risk (hazard ratio=6.84, 95% CI=1.99-23.50) compared to those who repeatedly reported satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS Life dissatisfaction has a long-term effect on the risk of suicide, and this seems to be partly mediated through poor health behavior. Life satisfaction seems to be a composite health indicator.
Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Health-related Quality of Life among Female Students

Objective: To investigate prevalence of iron deficiency and examine the relationship between iron status and Health-related Quality of Life among female students. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects and Setting: Data were collected from 543 female students, aged 17 to 38 years, attending University or secondary schools in Clermont-Ferrand (France) and its metropolitan area. Three groups were defined, according to the rate of serum ferritin: iron deficient (serum ferritin <15μg/L), iron depletion borderline (serum ferritin 15–20 μg/L), and iron replete (serum ferritin > 20 μg/L). Those 3 groups of menstruating female students were compared in terms of health-related quality of life using univariate analysis. Measures of Outcome: Health-related Quality of Life based on SF-36 questionnaire, and iron status measured by serum ferritin. Results: The prevalence of iron deficiency was 19.3 %, the prevalence of borderline iron status was 11.4 %. Regarding the SF-36 questionnaire, the only significant difference between iron deficient and iron replete female students concerned the dimension reflecting ‘general health', which was significantly lower in iron deficient group (p = 0.015). Conclusion: Iron deficiency seems to impair the perceived general health in female students. Further research should be conducted on this little known subject.
Strategic renewal and management control in the front-end of innovation: The importance of input control mechanisms

Should management control the front-end phase of the innovation process, and if so, how? This paper examines the use of management control in the front-end phase, and how the different mechanisms of control are associated with generating strategic renewal in the form of new product concepts. Input control mechanisms, more precisely goal setting and human resource allocation, are taken into closer investigation. This paper develops a framework on management control in the front-end phase. Seven management control constructs are created: input control, front-end process formalization, output- based rewarding, influence of strategic vision, informal communication, involvement in goal setting, and influence of intrinsic task motivation. This paper focuses on testing hypothesis on the relationship between input control and achievement of strategic renewal. Also, the role of technology and market uncertainty as potential moderators of this relationship is investigated. Strategic renewal is used as a front- end performance indicator. Data from the front-end phase of 133 new product development projects from different large and medium-sized Finnish companies were collected and analyzed. A factor model was used to test the validity of the management control framework, and a moderated regression analysis was used for hypothesis testing. The results show that input control is positively associated with achieving strategic renewal in the form of new product concepts. Implications of results from theoretical and practical point of views are discussed.
Recurrence after recovery from major depressive disorder during 15 years of observational follow-up.

OBJECTIVE The recurrence of an affective disorder in people who initially recover from major depressive disorder was characterized by using the unique longitudinal prospective follow-up data from the National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression-Clinical Studies. METHOD Up to 15 years of prospective follow-up data on the course of major depressive disorder were available for 380 subjects who recovered from an index episode of major depressive disorder and for 105 subjects who subsequently remained well for at least 5 years after recovery. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were examined as predictors of recurrence of an affective disorder. The authors also examined naturalistically applied antidepressant therapy. RESULTS A cumulative proportion of 85% (Kaplan-Meier estimate) of the 380 recovered subjects experienced a recurrence, as did 58% (Kaplan-Meier estimate) of those who remained well for at least 5 years. Female sex, a longer depressive episode before intake, more prior episodes, and never marrying were significant predictors of a recurrence. None of these or any other characteristic persisted as a predictor of recurrence in subjects who recovered and were subsequently well for at least 5 years. Subjects reported receiving low levels of antidepressant treatment during the index episode, which further decreased in amount and extent during the well interval. CONCLUSIONS Few baseline demographic or clinical characteristics predict who will or will not experience a recurrence of an affective disorder after recovery from an index episode of major depressive disorder, even in persons with lengthy well intervals. Naturalistically applied levels of antidepressant treatment are well below those shown effective in maintenance pharmacotherapy studies.
Use of tonsil size in the evaluation of obstructive sleep apnoea

Aims: (1) To determine the extent to which tonsil size contributes to the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children; and (2) to assess the use of tonsillar-pharyngeal (TP) ratio in differentiating patients with different severity of OSA. Methods: Lateral neck radiograph was performed on 35 children referred consecutively to a university paediatric chest clinic for suspected OSA secondary to tonsillar hypertrophy. The tonsil size was determined by measuring the TP ratio on the radiographs. The severity of OSA was assessed by overnight polysomnography. Results: A total of 24 boys and 11 girls (median age 6.2 years) were studied. All presented with symptoms of OSA, and tonsillar hypertrophy was detected on clinical examination. The median apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) was 16.93 (interquartile range: 8.41 to 28.29). The median TP ratio was 0.76 (interquartile range: 0.65 to 0.80). AHI was positively correlated with the TP ratio. The clinical tonsil size did not correlate with the AHI or the TP ratio. Using a TP ratio of 0.479, the sensitivity and specificity in predicting cases with moderate/severe OSA (AHI >10) were 95.8% and 81.8% respectively, while the positive and negative predictive values were 92.0% and 90.0% respectively. Conclusions: Results show that in a population of children with OSA, tonsillar hypertrophy as assessed by lateral neck radiograph correlates positively with the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea. The TP ratio has high sensitivity and specificity in predicting those with moderate/severe disease and this feature may be used as a clinical screening method in prioritising patients with OSA for further assessment.