Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A missing throat pack

Reading Dr Willatts' editorial exhorting our specialty to even greater efforts in the future initially provoked the old familiar feeling of guilt that I (and presumably my colleagues) should be doing much, much more. Happily this emotion soon passed, to be replaced with one of incredulity and, rather surprisingly (since I think by nature I am a placid fellow), anger. Coming from the Prime Minister, the five P's sound, as one might expect, like yet more political sound bites. Coming from a senior and distinguished colleague who might be expected to represent the views from the `coalface' they are rather surprising. As Clinical Director of a large department, I have just signed off the job plans of 37 consultant colleagues. All are working in excess of the European working time directive; so much for the `rigid three and a half hour session'. All would agree that inadequate nursing levels on the wards and inadequate high dependency beds are a limiting factor in what they would like to achieve. The vast majority are still under 40 and are certainly not `conservative and traditional'. They are certainly not `protectionist' but imaginative and enthusiastic in doing their very best for patients with chronically limited resources in terms of staff and equipment. As for simply `Passing Gas', the Association and Royal College recent snapshot of activity showed that at any one time 50% of us are engaged in other clinical activities anyway. The Utopian solution that Dr Willatts proposes of greater working flexibility and the abandonment of normal working methods will not by themselves be enough to save the NHS. Indeed, the `rock' of traditional medical practice may be all that has held it together for so long. Whatever the future holds, it is clear that Consultants cannot be expected to work any harder, or longer or with less support. Time must be given for teaching, lecture preparation, appraisal, assessment, revalidation, CME, audit, risk management, research, CEPOD, complaints and the many other calls on their time. In essence, enough is enough. For those of us without a higher award and with years left to work before retirement, the prospect is bleak indeed and hardly one of `Opportunity Knocks'. Oh and I've just thought of one more `P' 1⁄4 it's a decent Pay award.
Le virus Ebola, de sa découverte au développement d'une vaccination efficace

Le virus Ebola appartient a la famille des Filovirus, qui regroupe les virus a la morphologie filamenteuse unique dans le monde de la virologie. La maladie a virus Ebola, dont les epidemies humaines successives tres meurtrieres interessent l'Afrique, est une maladie emergente, bien que les Filovirus soient des virus tres anciens. Cette zoonose a pour espece reservoir, la chauve-souris frugivore, qui va contaminer l'Homme directement ou par l'intermediaire des populations de grands singes et petits animaux de brousse, lors de la chasse notamment. Le virus se transmet par contact direct avec les fluides corporels d’un animal ou d’une personne infectes. La virulence du virus Ebola, l’absence de traitement ou vaccin efficaces, et son utilisation potentielle comme arme biologique, font de ce virus une menace majeure pour la Sante Publique et une priorite en termes de recherche scientifique. Le virus va dereguler les reponses immunitaires innee et adaptative, via un defaut de maturation de la cellule dendritique. La glycoproteine virale, responsable de l'entree du virus dans la cellule-hote et directement accessible aux anticorps neutralisants, constitue l’antigene-cle pour la vaccination anti-Ebola. Le developpement de vecteurs viraux recombinants a permis d'obtenir une reelle efficacite vaccinale chez les modeles animaux, avec une seule injection. Le Virus recombinant de la Stomatite vesiculeuse ainsi que l'Adenovirus recombinant de chimpanze de type 3 contenant le gene de la glycoproteine du virus Ebola constituent les deux candidats vaccinaux majeurs et ont fait l’objet d’essais cliniques de phase III au cours de l’epidemie de 2014-2015 en Afrique de l'Ouest.
Lipid metabolism in active Crohn's disease: pre-results.

BACKGROUND Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic relapsing disease. Especially acute period may be associated with metabolic disturbances. Alteration of lipid metabolism has been described in critically ill patients and hypocholesterolemia is associated with poor prognosis. The human organism acquires cholesterol by two principal processes - synthesis de novo, and absorption from the diet. It is possible to assess, using cholesterol synthesis markers (lathosterol) and cholesterol absorption markers (sitosterol, campesterol) the leading form of cholesterol acquisition. AIM The aim of this study is assess the association between the lipid profile in plasma and the plasma concentration of sterols in active CD patients and in control subjects. METHOD Routine laboratory tests, CDAI, lipid and non-cholesterol sterols plasma levels were performed on days 3, 14 and 28. The metabolic parameters have been compared with a control cohort of 100 healthy blood donors. RESULTS Presently, complete data for 8 patients are available The serum total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations were lower in patients with acute Crohn's disease than in the control group. Moreover lathosterol, campesterol and sitosterol concentrations were lower, whereas squalene concentration was higher than in controls. As mentioned above, complete data are not currently available. Therefore statistical analysis has not been finished. CONCLUSION Our pre-results show substantial abnormalities in the concentrations of plasma lipids and non-cholesterol sterols, which are presented as markers of cholesterol requirement, in patients with acute CD.
Maternal Thyroid Disease as a Risk Factor for Craniosynostosis

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between maternal thyroid disease and craniosynostosis using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multisite, case–control study. METHODS: Case infants (n=431) were identified through population-based birth defects surveillance systems at eight sites and had craniosynostosis verified by radiographic imaging. Control infants (n=4,094) consisted of a random sample of live births with no major birth defects from the same population as the case infants. Information on thyroid disease was based on self-report: mothers who reported either a thyroid disorder or use of a medication to treat a thyroid disorder during pregnancy were considered to have thyroid disease. Using an unconditional logistic regression model, we considered potential confounding factors (maternal age, race or ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, preexisting diabetes, plurality, gravidity, family history, infant sex). RESULTS: Among case mothers, 19 (4.4%) were classified as having thyroid disease, compared with 65 (1.6%) of control mothers. Maternal thyroid disease was associated with craniosynostosis after controlling for maternal age (adjusted odds ratio 2.47, 95% confidence interval 1.46–4.18), the only factor that remained significant in the final model. CONCLUSION: These data provide additional evidence that maternal thyroid disease (most likely Graves' disease) or its treatment is associated with craniosynostosis. Given the frequency of maternal thyroid disease, this association warrants further investigation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF NATURAL AND SEXUAL SELECTION IN THE FUNGUS BEETLE, BOLITOTHERUS CORNUTUS

Selection on three phenotypic traits was estimated in a natural population of a fungus beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus. Lifetime fitness of a group of males in this population was estimated, and partitioned into five components: lifespan, attendance at the mating area, number of females courted, number of copulations attempted, and number of females inseminated. Three phenotypic characters were measured—elytral length, horn length, and weight; there were strong positive correlations among the three characters. Selection was estimated by regressing each component of fitness on the phenotypic traits.
Anchoring frame for intra-abdominal surgery

Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is one of the modern surgical techniques that led to the miniaturization of surgical tools and brings the concept of inserting many robotic units into the peritoneal cavity for executing “scarless” surgical tasks. However, the development of transabdominal anchoring systems that guarantee stability is recognized as a challenging issue in the design of miniature intra-abdominal robotic devices. A dedicated platform, exploiting magnetic coupling for anchoring, has been designed by respecting anatomical constraints, maximizing the volume to increase the number of embedded magnets, and consequently incrementing operating distance. The device is equipped with a SMA (shape memory alloy) mechanism that allows configuration change from an extended cylindrical (compliant for deployment) to a compact triangular (rigid for providing stability) design. The feasibility and the potential of the proposed platform have been demonstrated both in in vitro and in in vivo conditions on a human phantom and a porcine model, respectively.
Effects of phase noise spectral shape on the performance of dpsk systems for wireless applications

Phase noise could be the major source of performance degradation in low cost low bit-rate digital systems operating in the millimeter wavelength band. A general model considers the phase noise as the sum of several components, namely a white phase noise, a white frequency noise and a flicker frequency noise. All these components are taken into account in the evaluation of error probability in a DPSK receiver and are compared in terms of performance degradation.
Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus inhibits virulence factors and promotes metabolic changes in Candida yeast.

INTRODUCTION This is the first study to examine the in vitro susceptibility and the expression of virulence factors in Candida species in the presence of Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus (Gomes) L.R. Landrum (Myrtaceae), a Brazilian plant known as paucravo. Additionally, the mechanisms of action of the crude ethanol extract and the ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions of this plant were investigated. METHODS The in vitro susceptibility of Candida was tested using the broth microdilution method, whereas an XTT reduction assay was used for biofilms. Adherence was determined by counting the number of yeast cells that adhered to 100 oral epithelial cells, and hyphal formation was verified in the hyphal induction medium M199. Flow cytometry with propidium iodide and FUN-1 was performed to assess the mechanism of action. RESULTS The results revealed that the crude ethanol extract and the ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions of P. pseudocaryophyllus inhibited the growth of Candida isolates at a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 64 to 256 µg/mL, whereas the 50% sessile minimal inhibitory concentration (SMIC50) ranged from 512 to >1,024 µg/mL. Adherence and hyphal formation were significantly reduced in the presence of the crude ethanol extract and both fractions. Although cell membrane injury was detected, the predominant mechanism of action appeared to be the alteration of yeast metabolism, as demonstrated by flow cytometry. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicated that antifungal activity reduced the expression of virulence factors in yeast via the alteration of yeast metabolism, suggesting that the crude extract of P. pseudocaryophyllus and its fractions may contain novel antifungal agents.
Estimates of tuberculosis mortality rates in China using the disease surveillance point system, 2004-2010.

OBJECTIVE To understand the current status and trends of tuberculosis mortality rates in China. METHODS In 2010, 161 National Disease Surveillance Points representing all 31 mainland provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions of China collected tuberculosis mortality surveillance data, including age, sex, region, and type of tuberculosis (all, pulmonary, and extra-pulmonary). The mortality rates of the three types of tuberculosis were compared between 2004 and 2010. RESULTS In 2010, the mortality rates due to all tuberculosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis were 4.69 (95% CI 4.54-4.84), 4.38 (4.23-4.52), and 0.31 (0.27-0.35) per 100 000 population, respectively. Mortality rates due to all tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis were higher in males, the elderly, and those living in western and rural areas. From 2004 to 2010, the mortality rates due to all tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis decreased by 36.02% and 37.70%, respectively, with an average annual rate of decline of 7.20% and 7.61%, respectively. CONCLUSION Mortality rates due to tuberculosis have declined rapidly in China. The target of reducing the 1990 mortality rate by 50% by 2015 has already been achieved. However, the tuberculosis control program should pay more attention to high-risk groups, including the elderly and those living in underdeveloped areas.
Highly efficient unidirectional twin arc-slot antennas on electrically thin substrates

Unidirectional, highly-efficient planar twin arc-slot antenna elements backed by a reflector are presented. The theoretical radiation efficiency is as high as 99.9%. This high efficiency is achieved because the proposed slot geometry reduces the coupling to the parallel-plate TEM mode effectively in all directions on the substrate plane. A corporate-fed as well as a compact, center-fed, twin arc-slot elements have been implemented and tested. The parallel-plate TEM substrate patterns for a representative twin arc-slot element have been measured and compared with those of a corresponding straight twin-slot element. It was verified that the parallel-plate TEM mode, coupled from the proposed twin arc-slot element is greatly reduced in all directions. The measured gain improvement when a back-reflector is added is found to be about 2.8 dB, further validating this high efficiency. In addition to the high radiation efficiency, the proposed twin arc-slot element is more compact compared to the corresponding, straight, full-wavelength twin-slot element, making it well-suited for two-dimensional antenna arrays.
LUCAS NEWS

The RSL continues to evolve and two faculty recruitments are in progress for molecular imaging and cognitive neuroimaging. These are major initiatives for the Department and the Lab. Molecular imaging is broadly defined as the visualization of in vivo structures that are identified on the molecular level by genetic expression or some other tagging means. The NIH has recently highlighted this field as a major growth area. Dr. Mark Bednarski has accepted the position as Assistant Professor (Research). This appointment will begin June 1, 2000. The cognitive neuroimaging position has evolved from the burgeoning collaborations between RSL and others within the Center and the neuroscience community, and the desire to provide transitions of the functional brain mapping technology to clinical applications. We are enthusiastic to find the right person who will join our team and lead this effort. The faculty and students continue to distinguish themselves in numerous ways. The faculty are frequently invited to serve as consultants to government and foundation agencies and in policy-making positions for international scientific societies. Norbert Pelc was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the 5500-member International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), also serving on the society’s Education Committee and Young Investigator Subcommittee. He was invited to give a prestigious plenary lecture at the ISMRM’s 1999 annual meeting in Philadelphia. In addition, he serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Whitaker Foundation. He also is chair of the Stanford Animal Care and Use Panel. Sandy Napel served on the steering committee for the workshop “Medicine Meets Virtual Reality at Stanford” in January 1999 and gave an invited talk. In April 1999 he was an invited speaker at an NIH workshop (sponsored by NCI/Office of Women’s Health) entitled: “Joint Working Group on Image-Guided Diagnosis and Treatment”. Such workshops are utilized by the NIH to steer their priorities and set policies. In addition, Christopher Beaulieu/Sandy’s paper entitled: “Multidetector Spiral CT: Maintaining Image Quality with Rapid Acquisition” won a cum laude award at the RSNA meeting. Chairman's Views . 2
Interactions of tamoxifen, N‐desmethyltamoxifen and 4‐hydroxytamoxifen with P‐glycoprotein and CYP3A

The effects of tamoxifen, N‐desmethyltamoxifen and 4‐hydroxytamoxifen on transport attributable to P‐glycoprotein were studied using Caco‐2 cell monolayers in a transwell system, with rhodamine‐123 as an index substrate for inhibition studies. The three compounds did not demonstrate differential flux between basal‐apical and apical‐basal directions in Caco‐2 monolayers. The mean IC50 values for inhibition of rhodamine‐123 transport were: 29 µM for tamoxifen; 26 µM for N‐desmethyltamoxifen; and 7.4 µM for 4‐hydroxytamoxifen. The three compounds were also evaluated as potential inhibitors of human CYP3A based on an in vitro model using triazolam hydroxylation by human liver microsomes as an index reaction. Mean (±SE) IC50 values versus formation of α‐hydroxy‐triazolam and 4‐hydroxy‐triazolam in human liver microsomes were, respectively: 23.5 (±3.9) and 18.4 (±5.3) µM for tamoxifen; 10.2 (±1.7) and 9.2 (±1.5) µM for N‐desmethyltamoxifen; and 2.6 (±0.5) and 2.7 (±0.3) µM for 4‐hydroxytamoxifen. Thus, tamoxifen, N‐desmethyltamoxifen and 4‐hydroxytamoxifen, do not appear to be substrates for transport by P‐glycoprotein. However, tamoxifen has the potential to inhibit transport mediated by P‐glycoprotein as well as CYP3A‐mediated metabolism. Inhibitory effects of the principal metabolites, N‐desmethyltamoxifen and 4‐hydroxytamoxifen, may exceed those of the parent drug. Tamoxifen, and possibly its metabolites, may have the potential to cause drug interactions by inhibiting both drug transport and metabolism. This possibility requires further evaluation in clinical studies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
GaAs MMIC-based RF on-chip spiral inductors with metal shores and patterned ground shields

The design and fabrication of RF on-chip spiral inductors with metal shores (MS) located and patterned ground shields (PGS) inserted between spiral inductors and the GaAs substrate are proposed in this paper, in order to minimize substrate losses. And inductors are processed by the back-etching micromachining technology for further improving the performance of inductors. These inductors provide the complete compatibility capability with standard GaAs MMIC process. The measured Q of 4nH on-chip MMIC inductors with MS and PGS are 13 at 5.8 GHz and 14.2 at 6.6 GHz, respectively. Measurement results show that the effect of MS and PGS on the quality factor (Q) of inductors has resulted in the improvement of about 6% and 15% respectively, and on the inductance is almost invariant. Experiments demonstrate that the distributed effect occurrence of the inductor with PGS is postponed, so the model of the RF on-chip MMIC inductor does not take into consideration the distributed effect before 10GHz.
The impact of structural parameters on the electrical characteristics of GAA Silicon nanowire transistor

In this paper we investigate the electrical characteristics of silicon nanowire transistors using a fully ballistic quantum mechanical transport approach to analyze rectangular silicon nanowire transistor. We investigate the impact of structural parameters of nano scale Gate all around Silicon nano wire transistor (GAA-SNWT)on its electrical characteristics in subthreshold regime. In particular we show that increase in Source/Drain length (LS, LD) negligibly affects the current while increasing the LS/LD will affect the gate capacitance. We also investigate the effect of increasing the gate underlap on short channel effects and on the switching speed of device. We show that if the L un is increased the gate capacitance and DIBL will reduces while the ION/IOFF ratio is increased. This parameter affect the power consumption and delay and is useful in nanowire design for low power application.
Shared care with task delegation to nurses for type 2 diabetes: prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND To study the effects of two different structured shared care interventions, tailored to local needs and resources, in an unselected patient population with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS A three-year prospective observational study of two interventions and standard care. The interventions involved extensive (A) or limited (B) task delegation from general practitioners to hospital-liaised nurses specialised in diabetes and included a diabetes register, structured recall, facilitated generalist-specialist communication, audit and feedback, patient-specific reminders, and emphasised patient education. The target population consisted of 2660 patients with type 2 diabetes treated in the primary care setting. Patients who were terminally ill or who had been diagnosed with dementia were excluded from the study. RESULTS The participation rates were high (90%) for patients, and none of the 64 GPs discontinued their participation in the study. Longitudinal analyses showed significant improvements in quality indicators for both intervention groups (process parameters and achieved target values on the individual patient level); in standard care, performance remained stable or deteriorated. Both patients and caregivers appeared satisfied with the project. CONCLUSION This study shows that structured shared care with task delegation to nurses, targeted at a large unselected general practice population, is feasible and can positively affect the quality of care for patients with type 2 diabetes.
Gallstones play a significant role in Salmonella spp. gallbladder colonization and carriage

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi can colonize the gallbladder and persist in an asymptomatic carrier state that is frequently associated with the presence of gallstones. We have shown that salmonellae form bile-mediated biofilms on human gallstones and cholesterol-coated surfaces in vitro. Here, we test the hypothesis that biofilms on cholesterol gallbladder stones facilitate typhoid carriage in mice and men. Naturally resistant (Nramp1+/+) mice fed a lithogenic diet developed cholesterol gallstones that supported biofilm formation during persistent serovar Typhimurium infection and, as a result, demonstrated enhanced fecal shedding and enhanced colonization of gallbladder tissue and bile. In typhoid endemic Mexico City, 5% of enrolled cholelithiasis patients carried serovar Typhi, and bacterial biofilms could be visualized on gallstones from these carriers whereas significant biofilms were not detected on gallstones from Escherichia coli infected gallbladders. These findings offer direct evidence that gallstone biofilms occur in humans and mice, which facilitate gallbladder colonization and shedding.
Phase Noise Power Spectral Density Measurement of Narrow Linewidth CW Lasers Using an Optical Phase-Locked Loop

A novel technique for continuous-wave (CW) laser phase noise power spectral density measurement, useful for coherent communications, is proposed. It employs a homodyne optical phase-locked loop. Experimental results are compared with a self-heterodyne linewidth measurement and the comparison shows how the proposed measurement method gives more accurate results for coherent transmission system applications
ADAPTIVE FGS CODING MODE SELECTION FOR INTERNET VIDEO STREAMING

Streaming Video Profile in MPEG-4 provides fine granularity scalability (FGS), its combination with temporal scalability addresses a variety of challenging problems in delivering video over the Internet. In this paper, we develop a mode selection method to find the most suitable scalable coding scheme for the video sequence based on the information that can be easily extracted from base layer encoder. There are six different FGS coding schemes: FGS, FGST9, FGST13, FGS-SE and FGST9-BC FGST13-BC.