Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of hepatitis C infection in hemodialysis patients: Report from 37 hemodialysis centers in Libya

Background/Aims: Data on the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Libya, and particularly among hemodialysis patients, are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients at 37 dialysis centers in Libya and review the demographic features in this group of patients. Patients and Methods: The present cross-sectional study included a total of 2325 patients who had spent at least 3 months in hemodialysis at 37 dialysis centers in different cities across the three main regions of Libya (Western, Eastern, and Southern regions). There were 1028 (44.2%) female and 1297 (55.8%) male with mean age 53.4 ± 15 years. Hypertension (36.4%), diabetes mellitus (33.3%), renal diseases (10.9%), genetic diseases (7.5%), and unclear reasons (12%) were diverse underlying causes of end-stage renal disease in these patients. Anti-HCV antibody was screened by a third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Results: The overall seroprevalence of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients in Libya was 16.7% (388/2325), ranging from 0% to 26.3% at different centers. The overall frequency of anti-HCV antibodies was higher in Western region (18.9%) than Eastern (18.3%) and Southern (6.1%) regions of Libya. It is noteworthy that the prevalence of HCV was 0% in numbers of dialysis centers across the three regions. The duration of hemodialysis was significantly longer in HCV-positive hemodialysis patients than in HCV-negative patients (P = 0.01). Hepatitis B surface antigen was positive in 92 hemodialysis patients (4%), of them 8 patients (8.7%) had coinfection with HCV infection. Conclusion: The present study showed an intermediate-prevalence rate of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients in Libya. The relatively low prevalence of HCV infection in the general Libyan population and HCV infection associated with a longer duration of hemodialysis indicate nosocomial transmission due to inappropriate infection control practices as the main HCV route of infection in these health-care settings.
Evaluation of the relation between T-Lymphocytes (CD4 + ve and CD8 + ve) and pemphigus vulgaris pathogenesis and severity

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune bullous disease involving both the skin and mucus membranes. Infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes may have a vital role in its pathogenesis. The autoimmune bullous skin disorder intensity score (ABSIS) was proposed for clinical evaluation and scoring of PV patients. Aims and Objectives: This work aimed to assess the role of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of PV and the correlation between number of T-lymphocytes infiltrate and clinical severity of the disease evaluated by ABSIS. Patients and Methods: Forty PV patients (patient group) and 10 healthy volunteers (control group) were enrolled. All patients were scored by ABSIS. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on skin biopsies for IgG, IgA, CD8, and CD4. Results: IgG was positive in 97.5% of patients, combined IgG and IgA were positive in 20% of patients, and only one case was negative for both antibodies. Thirty-three cases showed the predominance of CD4+ T cells, and seven cases showed predominance of CD8+ T cells. CD4/CD8 ratio was 2.578. Non-significant positive correlation was found between the total count of lymphocytic infiltrate and ABSIS. Conclusion: CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes share in the pathogenesis of PV and CD4+ are more expressed than CD8+ in the inflammatory infiltrate of PV lesions. The correlation between total lymphocytic count and ABSIS score may help to predict the clinical state of the patient from skin biopsy, and ABSIS score can predict the lymphocytic infiltration in PV cases. This correlation is in need to be reapplied on larger scales of patients to confirm its validity and reliability.
The impact of obesity on serum testosterone levels and semen quality in a population of infertile men

Introduction: Multiple factors contribute to male infertility, with hypogonadism and low testosterone levels possibly affecting fertility in different aspects. This study focused on factors for low testosterone in infertile male patients. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected data of patients who were diagnosed with infertility and visited the National Taiwan University Hospital from January 2015 to October 2017. Patients' weight and height, basic blood test results, sperm analysis, and sex hormone profile were recorded. Patients diagnosed with obstructive azoospermia, particularly absence of bilateral vas deferens, those who received a vasectomy or orchiectomy, and patients diagnosed with cancer undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy were excluded. Pearson's correlation test was applied for detecting associating factors for serum testosterone. Multivariate linear regression was used for detecting independent factors predicting serum testosterone. An independent t-test was used to analyze continuous variables, and the Chi-square test was used for categorical variables. Results: Two hundred and forty-seven patients had serum sex hormone profile and semen profile recorded. The mean age was 36.48 ± 8.68 years. Pearson's correlation test showed that serum testosterone was correlated with serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, and body mass index (BMI). However, multivariate linear regression showed BMI (P = 0.001) and smoking (P = 0.029) to be independent factors predicting serum testosterone. On comparing sex hormone profile and semen profile between obese (BMI ≥30), overweight patient (BMI ≥25, <30), and nonoverweight patients (BMI <25), (i) serum testosterone was significantly lower in the obese and overweight group comparing to nonoverweight group (nonoverweight: 3.61 ± 1.63 ng/ml vs. overweight: 2.87 ± 1.27, P = 0.001; nonoverweight: 3.61 ± 1.63 vs. obese 2.89 ± 1.59, P = 0.035). Follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and prolactin did not differ significantly between the groups. No significant difference in sperm parameters, namely the total sperm count, sperm concentration, total sperm motility, and morphology, was observed between the groups. Conclusion: In the infertile Taiwanese male population, obese patients (BMI ≥ 30) and overweight patients (BMI ≥25) had a significant lower serum testosterone than the nonoverweight patients. Body weight control and treatment of metabolic syndrome, and diabetes could improve serum testosterone levels.
Performance evaluation of an Ev7 alphaserver machine

In this paper we detail the performance of a new Alphaserver machine consisting of 16 Alpha EV7 processors. This processor is based on the Alpha EV68 CPU core which is used in the existing Alphasever ES45 that has been used to build tera-scale systems at Los Alamos and Pittsburgh. The EV68 CPU core is supplemented with an additional six-way router circuitry which enables a 2-D torus network to be constructed using four of these connections. Further connections are used for I/O and local memory bandwidth. A performance evaluation of this machine is reported here which considers memory hierarchy, intra-box MPI communication, and full application performance. Comparisons are also made to existing Alphaserver machines. It is clear from this analysis that this machine achieves an excellent main memory bandwidth of over 4 GB/s. This has a positive impact on application performance on larger problem sizes in comparison to a similar speed EV68 processor.
MEMORANDUM No 25 / 2002 Coordination , Fair Treatment and Inflation Persistence By

List of the last 10 Memoranda: No 24 Atle Seierstad Maximum principle for stochastic control in continuous time with hard end constraints. No 23 Hilde C. Bjørnland and Håvard Hungnes Fundamental determinants of the long run real exchange rate: The case of Norway. 40 pp. No 22 Atle Seierstad Conditions implying the vanishing of the Hamiltonian at the infinite horizon in optimal control problems. 3 pp. No 21 Morten Søberg The Duhem-Quine thesis and experimental economics: A reinterpretation. 22 pp. A Drift of the "Drift Adjustment Method". 35 pp. No 15 Oddbjørn Raaum, Hege Torp and Tao Zhang Do individual programme effects exceed the costs? Norwegian evidence on long run effects of labour market training. 60 pp. Abstract Most wage-contracting models with rational expectations fail to replicate the persistence in inflation observed in the data. We argue that coordination problems and multiple equilibria are the keys to explaining inflation persistence. We develop a wage-contracting model in which workers are concerned about being treated fairly. This model generates a continuum of equilibria (consistent with a range for the rate of unemployment), where workers want to match the wage set by other workers. If workers' expectations are based on the past behavior of wage growth, these beliefs will be self-fulfilling and thus rational. Based on quarterly U.S. data over the period 1955-2000, we find evidence that inflation is more persistent between unemployment rates of 4.7 and 6.5 percent, than outside these bounds, as predicted by our model. Decision Making and on Monetary Economics. Steinar Holden is grateful to the NBER for its hospitality when most of this paper was written. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 2 1 Introduction In recent years the short run aggregate supply curve has been the subject of renewed interest. Much of the theoretical literature has converged on a Taylor (1980) and Calvo (1983) type relationship, where nominal wage or price stickiness is combined with the assumption of rational expectations; the result is sometimes referred to as the New Keynesian Phillips curve. However, as has been pointed out by Fuhrer and Moore (1995) and more recently by Taylor (1999) and Mankiw (2000), these models run into serious problems when confronted with data: the models predict stickiness in prices, but not in inflation, and are thus …
Sorafenib with concurrent multiple-line therapies improves overall survival in advanced stage hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract The efficacy of sorafenib in combination with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or multiple-line therapies in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced HCC in response to different combination therapies. We analyzed the treatment and OS of 401 patients with Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage C HCC between 2012 and 2017. Mortality was analyzed using multivariate Cox regression, and OS was analyzed by the Kaplan–Meier method. The mean age was 59 years and males were predominant. During a median follow-up time of 8.6 months (range, 1–80 months), 346 (86.2%) patients died. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, primary tumor size ≥5 cm, serum alpha-fetoprotein ≥200, and serum albumin ≥3.5 were significantly associated with mortality. In addition, compared with sorafenib alone, multiple-line treatments with sorafenib and multiple-line treatments without sorafenib yielded significantly decreased mortality. In the Kaplan–Meier analysis, sorafenib with TACE, multiple-line treatments with sorafenib, third-line treatments with sorafenib, and multiple-line treatments without sorafenib yielded a significantly better median OS than sorafenib alone. Sorafenib with concurrent multiple-line therapies significantly improved OS. These combination therapies will provide important information for immunotherapy combination with locoregional therapies in advanced HCC.
Influence des cadres de référence sur la mémoire spatiale de trajets en trois dimensions

We investigated the importance of active, passive and snapshot exploration on spatial memory in a virtual city. The exploration consisted in traveling along a series of streets. “Active exploration” was performed by giving directions to the subject who controlled his displacement with a joystick. During “passive” exploration, the travel was imposed by the computer. Finally, during “snapshot exploration”, simple views of the scene were presented sequentially every 4 meters. Travel velocity was the same in all cases. The three visual exploration modes were compared with three spatial memory measures: (1) scene recognition, (2) at the end of the path, reorientation toward the departure point and (3) drawings of the path shape. Scene recognition and estimation of the direction of the starting point of the path were not affected by the mode of exploration. In contrast, reproduction of the shape of the path was affected: the errors of reproduction were greater for the snapshot exploration that for the other two conditions; there was no difference between the other two conditions. These results suggest that (1) 2D image features from a visual scene are memorized. Moreover, (2) pointing towards the origin of the path does not rely on the memory of the path shape. Finally, (3) drawing the path shape involves a reconstruction process. Theme: Neural basis of behavior Topic: Cognition
How are pollinators guided by colourful floral structures? A commentary on: 'The role of pollinator preference in the maintenance of pollen colour variation'.

This article comments on: Jennifer L. Ison, Elizabeth S. L. Tuan, Matthew H. Koski, Jack S. Whalen and Laura F. Galloway. 2019. The role of pollinator preference in the maintenance of pollen colour variation. Annals of Botany 123(6): 951–960.
Sistemas de visión automática y reconocimiento de patrones

Esta linea de investigacion y desarrollo (I/D) forma parte del Subproyecto “Tratamiento de imagenes digitales y video. Vision 3D”, dentro del Proyecto “Procesamiento Paralelo y Distribuido y Aplicaciones en Sistemas Inteligentes y Tratamiento de Imagenes y Video” del Instituto de Investigacion en Informatica LIDI, acreditado por la UNLP en el marco del Programa de Incentivos. Asimismo se integra al proyecto “A1/037910/11 Formacion de Recursos Humanos e Investigacion en el Area de Vision por Computador e Informatica Grafica (FRIVIG)”, financiado por la Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional (AECID) dentro del Programa de Cooperacion Interuniversitaria e Investigacion Cientifica.
Incidence of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment in Europe – A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: To examine the prevalence and incidence of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in Europe. Methods: A systematic review of the prevalence and incidence of RRD in Europe according to the meta-analyses of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines was performed using the databases PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science followed by a meta-analysis of incidence data. Results: 658 studies were identified, 76 full-text articles were assessed, and 5 studies were eligible for meta-analysis. Random-effects pooled mean annual incidence of RRD in Europe was 13.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI: 11.3–15.6) based on the examination of 95,765 individuals from the 5 incidence studies. No European studies reporting prevalence of retinal detachment were identified. Conclusion: Published articles on the prevalence and incidence of RRD in Europe are limited. Further epidemiological research is needed for adequate healthcare planning.
RECOGNITION OF TEXT IN 3-D SCENES

Continuous system for separating a liquid from a liquid-solid admixture comprises a feed conveyor means for transporting the admixture, an electrically-driven centrifugal separator and control means therefor, a discharge conveyor means for receiving and transporting away the separated solids, and a feed conveyor control means responsive to the rotational speed of the separator so that the feed conveyor is operable only when the separator is operating at a predetermined speed.
p-SARS: Peer-to-peer search for a recommender system

WAIF started out in 2002 and the overall goal is to make the computers automatically search for relevant information based on the user’s preferences, and to push this information directly to the user wherever he/she is and to whatever device he/she has available. In other words, make the machines serve us, with as little human interaction as possible. This thesis focuses on a specific part of this problem, which is to design and implement a search mechanism and the surrounding distributed system that can find publishers that publish on a given topic. We present a search mechanism that is scalable, fault resistant, self administrative and that utilizes the resources already present in the network. This is done by utilizing the powers of the unstructured overlay peer-to-peer architecture. However creating an efficient search mechanism for a pure peer-to-peer net is known to be a problem due to the decentralized nature of these overlay networks. Our solution is to incorporate several known techniques. We propose the use of Random Walks supplemented by both a hint cache and a probabilistic gossiping mechanism. The results gathered show that the search mechanism has good coverage but is highly dependent on that the time to live (TTL) set on the query reflects the size of the overlay network and that the nodes individual hint caches are populated. To verify our design we have both implemented the system and a simulator. We show with throughput testes and simulations that the system designed can scale to millions of users.
The use of predictive correlated double sampling techniques in low-voltage delta-sigma modulators

This paper explores predictive correlated double sampling (CDS) as a means of achieving good linearity and low power dissipation in low-voltage moderate-performance switched-capacitor (SC) delta-sigma modulators. The technique reduces the effect of the open-loop nonlinearity characteristic of an amplifier, thereby allowing the utilization of single-stage low-gain structures.
Repetitive Behaviors Treated With N-Acetylcysteine: Case Series.

OBJECTIVES Skin-picking disorders, trichotillomania, and nail biting are all characterized by repetitive behaviors resulting in functional deterioration and remarkable changes in physical appearance with repeated attempts to stop or decrease the behavior. While standard pharmacotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders consists of serotonergic reuptake inhibitors, their moderate efficacy pushed researchers to find alternative treatment approaches. Some of these alternatives are glutamate-modulating agents. The most widely studied of these glutamate modulator agents is N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is a derivative of the amino acid cysteine. METHODS This report describes a case series of 3 patients in whom skin-picking disorders, trichotillomania, and nail biting were diagnosed at a center in Turkey. RESULTS First case was a 42-year-old female patient who had been picking her skin from her arm area, especially in stressful times. Second case was a 31-year-old female patient who has a habit of pulling her hair for the last 20 years. The third case was 24-year-old male patient with a habit of eating his own nails that he has had for as long as he could remember. We successfully treated 3 of our patients who suffer from previously mentioned disorders with NAC. CONCLUSIONS Outcome of our cases demonstrates the efficacy of NAC, which is effective and well tolerated on the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder-related disorders.
Magnesium Bioavailability and Tolerability Do Not Differ between Two Supplements with Different Release Properties

Abstract Magnesium (Mg2+) is one of the most frequently supplemented micronutrients. Due to possible gastrointestinal side effects, the European Food Safety Authority and the Institute of Medicine set the upper intake level for Mg2+ from supplements to 250 and 350 mg, respectively. Nevertheless, systematic data concerning the tolerability of Mg2+ supplements are scarce. The aim of the study was to directly compare the bioavailability and tolerability of two 500 mg Mg2+ supplements in a crossover study with duplicate determination. The different release properties were either a direct release (one phase) or a delayed release of the second half (two phases). An open-label, controlled trial with a crossover design, duplicate determination, and one-week washout phases was conducted. The participants ingested the test product after overnight fasting. Blood samples were taken at baseline and after 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 hours, and urine was collected over a period of 24 hours. The participants were on standardized nutrition during all examination days. There were no significant differences between the test products regarding 24-hour renal Mg2+ excretion and area under the curve of serum Mg2+ levels for 8 hours. Both test products were well tolerated with a very low frequency of gastrointestinal adverse effects and no significant differences between the test products. The Mg2+ bioavailability did not differ between the test products. The supplements examined had the same good tolerability. Both test products are therefore suited to enhance Mg2+ supply without relevant side effects.
Interactive Effects of Naturalistic Drinking Context and Alcohol Sensitivity on Neural Alcohol Cue-Reactivity Responses.

BACKGROUND Considerable evidence indicates that a low level of subjective response to alcohol's acute effects (i.e., low sensitivity) is associated with enhanced risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Recent work suggests that the highest-risk response profile consists of blunted sensitivity to alcohol's sedation-like effects, coupled with enhanced sensitivity to alcohol's stimulation-like effects (i.e., differential sensitivity). A largely separate body of work indicates that enhanced reactivity to alcohol-related cues is associated with increased AUD risk. AIMS The current research examined the extent to which variability in alcohol response phenotypes is associated with enhanced P3 event-related potential (ERP) responses to alcohol-related pictures (ACR-P3), and whether this reactivity varies according to depicted drinking contexts. Methods Eighty young adults (aged 18-33 yrs.) completed a self-report measure of alcohol sensitivity (the Alcohol Sensitivity Questionnaire) and viewed images depicting drinking in naturalistic contexts, alcohol and nonalcohol beverages in isolation (devoid of naturalistic drinking context), and neutral non-beverage control images while ERPs were recorded. RESULTS Results indicated that blunted sensitivity to alcohol's sedative-like effects was differentially associated with enhanced ACR-P3 but reduced P3 reactivity to nonalcohol cues. Variation in sensitivity to alcohol's stimulant-like effects was not associated with differential ACR-P3. Contrary to predictions, these effects were not potentiated by drinking contexts. CONCLUSIONS The current results replicate and extend previous work linking low alcohol sensitivity with enhanced incentive salience for alcohol-related cues and suggest that cues depicting drinking contexts are less likely to differentiate high-risk from low-risk drinkers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
An intelligent approach to mining the related websites

We propose an intelligent meta-search engine that bases on user's query keyword(s) to find the more related websites in this paper. Instead of listing a lot of candidate websites waiting for users to search, our approach automatically pops up only the most related document for the user to read. The most related document appeared in the dialogue window is derived from the proposed method. User's satisfaction of the search result gives a feedback to our system for further improvement of the designed model. In case the user is not satisfied with the recommended document, we also have the options for user to choose. The options are listed in descending relations to the query keyword(s). We will present the architecture of designed model and illustrate how the proposed system works in finding the desired websites.