Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medical-device recalls in the UK and the device-regulation process: retrospective review of safety notices and alerts

Background Medical devices are used widely for virtually every disease and condition. Although devices are subject to regulation, the number of recalls, the clinical data requirements for regulation and the impact on patient safety are poorly understood. Methods The authors defined a device using European directives and used publicly available information on the Medicines and Health Regulatory Authority website to determine the number of devices recalled from January 2006 to December 2010. Two reviewers independently assessed Field Safety Notices and Medical Device Alerts. The authors wrote to manufacturers to obtain further information and clinical data, and summarised data by year, Conformité Européenne classification, indication, and Food and Drug Administration recall system of severity. Results In total, 2124 field safety notices were issued over the 5-year period, an increase of 1220% (62 in 2006 to 757 in 2010). 447 Medical Device Alerts were issued in the same period, and 44% were assessed as a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death. The authors wrote to 192 manufacturers of withdrawn devices and received 101 (53%) replies; only four (2.1%) provided the clinical data the authors requested. A lack of available transparent data prevented full analyses of the safety impact. Of the highest-risk recalled devices, more than half were related to the cardiovascular system (25%) or musculoskeletal system (33%), and 88% (95% CI 80% to 97%) were assessed as a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death. For low-risk devices, the figure was 34% (95% CI 26% to 42%). Conclusion The number of medical devices subject to recalls or warnings in the UK has risen dramatically. A substantial number of these devices may have caused serious adverse effects in patients and contributed to healthcare costs. Significant problems exist in the UK with a lack of access to transparent data and a registry of the highest-risk devices.
Occupational illnesses related to physical strains in apple harvesting.

INTRODUCTION Special strains are an occupational hazard often due to physical loads and inadequately designed work equipment. OBJECTIVE The aim of this pilot study was to determine occupational illnesses related to physical strains through an experimental design that assesses the associated working postures and oxygen uptake in apple harvesting.Three methods were applied to define the physical stress provoked by apple farming tasks. MATERIAL AND METHODS The experiments considered 5 labourers - 3 women and 2 men. The physical fatigue was assessed through oxygen consumption and heartbeat frequency according to UNI EN ISO 8996 standards. Measurements were conducted using a portable metabolimeter(COSMED). Working postures were determined according to Ovako Working Posture Analysis System(OWAS). An interview was conducted to record the labourers' subjective estimate of the stress. RESULTS The interview results demonstrated neck and dorsal pains and fatigue causes for each operator. The VO₂ was equal to 82.33 ± 27.40 lO₂/h for women and 67.00 ± 27.60 lO₂/h for men, meaning that it was tiring for some men but for all women. The heart rates were of 115 ± 6.00 bpm for women and 113 ± 5.65 bpm for men. The VCO₂ was of 63.81 ± 21.45 lCO₂/h for women and 45.10 ± 25.53 lCO₂/h for men, while energetic equivalent and body surface area were similar for both genders, about 5.60W × h/l O₂ and 1,80 m(2) on average. Women's metabolic rate had a very high value - over 290W × m(-2), although for the men it was between 200-260W × m(-2). According to OWAS, low apple picking was ranked in class 2, high apple picking in class 1, and apple transportation belonged to class 3. conclusion. Related to VO₂ and VCO₂ consumption and the identified negative body postures, it is necessary to improve working conditions.
Impact of hepatitis C virus genotype-4 eradication following direct acting antivirals on liver stiffness measurement

Background Liver fibrosis is the most important prognostic factor in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients, and Egypt shows the highest worldwide HCV prevalence with genotype-4 pre-dominance. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) improvement after successful HCV eradication. Patients and methods The study included 84 chronic HCV Egyptian patients, and was conducted at Qena University Hospital from November 1, 2015 till October 31, 2016. LSM was obtained by FibroScan® before starting direct acting antiviral (DAA) treatment and after achieving sustained virologic response-24 (SVR-24). Based on baseline LSM, patients were stratified into F0–F1, F2, F3 and F4 groups (METAVIR). LSM and laboratory data after achieving SVR-24 was compared with that before starting therapy in each fibrosis group (F0-F4), p-value <0.05 was statistically significant. Results Following DAA treatment, 80 patients achieved SVR-24; of these, 50 were males (62.5%), mean age: 54.2±7.6 years, and mean body mass index: 28.6±2.2 kg/m2. Mean baseline LSM dropped from 15.6±10.8 to 12.1±8.7 kPa post-SVR; the maximum change of −5.8 occurred in F4 versus −2.79, −1.28 and +0.08 in F3, F2 and F0–F1 respectively (p<0.0001). At baseline, 41 patients were in the F4 group; only 16 (39%) regressed to non-cirrhotic range (<12.5 kPa), while 25 (61%) were still cirrhotic despite achieving SVR-24 (p<0.0001). Patients who achieved LSM improvement (n=64) have had significantly higher baseline aspartate transferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT). Also, those patients showed significant improvement in AST, AST/platelets ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 index (Fib-4) after achieving SVR; 91% showed AST improvement (p=0.01) and APRI improvement (p=0.01) and 81% showed Fib-4 improvement (p=0.04). Females, diabetics, patients with S3 steatosis and patients older than 50 years showed less LSM improvements than their counterparts. Baseline LSM ≥9 kPa, bilirubin ≥1 mg/dl, ALT ≥36 U/L and AST ≥31 U/L were significant predictors for LSM improvement. Conclusion Successful HCV genotype-4 eradication results in significant LSM improvement; the best improvement occurs in F4 patients. But as the majority of cirrhotics are still at risk for liver decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma development despite achieving SVR-24, early detection and treatment are highly recommended.
Optical Properties of Sodium Chloride Solution within the Spectral Range from 300 to 2500 nm at Room Temperature

The optical properties of sodium chloride (NaCI) solution were experimentally determined by double optical pathlength transmission method in the spectral range from 300 to 2500 nm at the NaCl concentration range from 0 to 360 g/L. The results show that the refractive index of NaCl solution increases with NaCl concentrations and correlates nonlinearly with the concentration of NaCl solution. The absorption index of NaCl solution increases with NaCl concentrations in the visible spectral range of 300-700 nm, but varies little in the near-infrared spectral range of 700-2500 nm at room temperature. For the sake of applications, the fitted formulae of the refractive index and absorption index of NaCl solution as a function of wavelength and NaCl concentration are presented.
Identificação da Autoria de Manuscritos com Base em Atributos Genéticos e Genéricos da Escrita

A grafoscopia e uma area da ciencia forense dedicada, entre outros fins, a analise e identificacao da autoria de manuscritos, sejam eles contemporâneos ou antigos. Por se tratar de uma area onde predomina a subjetividade no uso da tecnica pericial ou grafometria, a mesma tem se tornado campo de interesse da computacao, na busca de solucoes para a padronizacao e auxilio de tais procedimentos. Neste contexto, este artigo apresenta um metodo para analise e identificacao da autoria de manuscritos, tendo como base os atributos geneticos e genericos da escrita, componentes fundamentais para a identificacao da autoria de manuscritos. O metodo proposto faz uso de uma abordagem global, na extracao dos atributos grafoscopicos e de verificacao.
Recursive least‐squares and accelerated convergence in stochastic approximation schemes

The so‐called accelerated convergence is an ingenuous idea to improve the asymptotic accuracy in stochastic approximation (gradient based) algorithms. The estimates obtained from the basic algorithm are subjected to a second round of averaging, which leads to optimal accuracy for estimates of time‐invariant parameters. In this contribution, some simple calculations are used to get some intuitive insight into these mechanisms. Of particular interest is to investigate the properties of accelerated convergence schemes in tracking situations. It is shown that a second round of averaging leads to the recursive least‐squares algorithm with a forgetting factor. This also means that in case the true parameters are changing as a random walk, accelerated convergence does not, typically, give optimal tracking properties. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Joint Study of Extracranial Arterial Occlusion II. Arteriography, Techniques, Sites, and Complications

For 80% of 4,748 patients with cerebrovascular insufficiency, complete four-vessel examinations were made. Although the primary purpose was localization of surgically accessible extracranial lesions, intracranial studies were also obtained in a high percentage of cases. The overall grave complication rate was 1.2%. A test of interinstitutional comparability of x-ray interpretation revealed greatest agreement when lesions compromised more than 50% of the arterial lumen.
Pathogenetic Mechanisms of Post‐Polio Syndrome: Morphological, Electrophysiological, Virological, and Immunological Correlations

To understand the mechanism of post‐poliomyelitis muscular atrophy (PPMA) and the post‐polio syndrome (PPS) in general, we performed the following studies: (1) histopathology in spinal cord sections from patients who died 9 days to 44 years after acute paralytic poliomyelitis; (2) enzyme histochemistry, immunocyto‐chemistry (for lymphocyte subsets, MHC antigens and N‐CAM) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for poliovirus RNA in the muscle biopsies from symptomatic or asymptomatic muscles of post‐polio patients; (3) determination of lymphocyte subsets and circulating IgG or IgM antibodies against GM1 and poliovirus; (4) virological studies in the spinal fluid for oligoclonal bands and search for poliovirus genome with PCR; (5) electrophysiological studies including single fiber EMG, fiber density and macro‐EMG; and (6) [31P] exercise MRS spectroscopy on previously affected muscles to search for a metabolic correlate of fatigue. These studies concluded that in PPS a continuing dysfunction is present in the spinal cord motor neurons, resulting in ongoing muscle denervation and reinnervation first evident at the axonal branch points. Symptoms are related to attrition of the oversprouting motor neurons which after a period of time cannot support all their axonal sprouts, resulting in failure of re‐reinnervation. In some patients with PPS there is also an ongoing immune activation and presence of defective viral particles in the spinal fluid. However, their role in the pathogenesis of PPS is presently unknown.
Paleoceanography of the Tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean

The East Pacific Barrier (EPB) is the most effective marine barrier to dispersal of tropical shallow-water fauna in the world today. The fossil record of corals in the eastern Pacific suggests this has been true throughout the Cenozoic. In the Cretaceous, the EPB was apparently less effective in limiting dispersal. Equatorial circulation in the Pacific then appears to have been primarily east to west and the existence of oceanic atolls (now drowned guyots) in the eastern Pacific probably aided dispersal. Similarly, in the middle and early Mesozoic and late Paleozoic, terranes in the central tropical Pacific likely served as stepping stones to dispersal of tropical shelf faunas, reducing the isolating effect of an otherwise wider Pacific Ocean (Panthalassa).
WNoC - a microelectronic system architecture suitable for biomedical wireless sensor networks

This paper presents a low-cost microelectronic system architecture suitable for single chip CMOS integration. The system architecture consists of a large set of on-chip processing-cores, sensors, and four multi-standard wireless border cores that are interconnected to form an ultra-fast microelectronic network of distributed-computing systems. Our main application areas are: biomedical emergency monitoring systems and healthcare. The hardware platform is based on network-on-chip (NoC) design and RF circuitry for wireless connectivity. We focus on the design of this wireless network-on-chip (WNoC). WNoC faces several challenges. A main issue of concern from the application point of view is to have the design support the convergence to a decision within acceptable periods of time, because time is critical in many medical healthcare applications. We define a mechanism to enable many WNoCs to interact together over the wireless media. A key result is a design and protocol for internal and external WNoC communications between the main and backup wireless cores. We run simulations on a biomedical monitoring system for emergency situations, and our results show that the time to converge to a medical warning is in the range of milliseconds, which is acceptable for the related medical scenarios
10.92-Tb/s (273/spl times/40-Gb/s) triple-band/ultra-dense WDM optical-repeatered transmission experiment

With LD-pumped gain-shifted thulium-doped fiber amplifiers, polarization interleave multiplexing combined with wavelength/polarization demultiplexing for 50-GHz-spaced 40-Gb/s/ch WDM signals, and a transmission line optimization for triple-band systems, the first 10-Tb/s WDM transmission in single fiber using S-, C- and L-bands is demonstrated.
Heritability of central corneal thickness in nuclear families.

PURPOSE Many ocular parameters show strong heritable tendencies. The significance of central corneal thickness (CCT) in the context of glaucoma has been the subject of much debate recently, but its heritability has not been extensively explored. This study was designed to investigate the parent-child heritability of CCT among groups who have CCT considered to be at the extreme ends of the normal range. METHODS Index cases were recruited through a tertiary referral center if their CCT was greater than 578 microm (thick) or less than 510 microm (thin), representing +/-1 SD from a previously published meta-analysis mean of 544 microm (34 microm SD). Subsequently, CCT was measured in all available family members of the index cases. Family units were then analyzed to establish the degree of heritability of CCT from parent to child. RESULTS Thirty-three index cases were included in the analysis (10 >1 SD and 23 <1 SD from the meta-analysis CCT mean). The mean CCT of the children of index cases with a CCT more than 1 SD from the mean (n = 15) and less than 1 SD from the mean (n = 40) was 568 microm (32 microm SD) and 521 microm (22 microm SD), respectively (t = 6.14; P < 0.0001). The parent-child heritability estimate for CCT was h(2) = 0.68 (95% CI, 0.64-0.73). CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that CCT shows strong parent-child heritability, with offspring likely to demonstrate CCT similar to the parental index case.
Random‐Dot‐Stereogram Performance by Strabismic, Amblyopic, and Ocular‐Pathology Patients in an Operant‐Discrimination Task

Abstract Stereopsis performance was assessed in 88 optometric patients using an operant match‐to‐sample discrimination task involving random dot stereograms (RDSs). All normals passed the RDS test, and all constant strabismics without amblyopia, microtropes, and amblyopic strabismics failed. Only a portion of anisometropic amblyopes, intermittent strabismics, and ocular‐pathology patients passed. The findings were interpreted as indicating that stereopsis with a RDS may be better predicted and explained in terms of binocular fusion and bifoveal alignment than by visual acuity.
Comparison of abdominal computed tomography with and without oral contrast in diagnosis of body packers and body stuffers

Abstract Context. Toxicity due to body packing/pushing/stuffing is a major concern in many countries. Of different imaging techniques, computed tomography (CT) scan is described as the method of choice in detecting body couriers, but there is no study to concomitantly compare with- and without-contrast abdominopelvic CTs to determine the more accurate one for this purpose.Objective. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of abdominopelvic CT “with” and “without” oral contrast in diagnosis of existence, number, and type of packets in body packers/pushers and stuffers. Materials and methods. In a prospective observational case series, all suspected cases of body packing/stuffing were included and underwent abdominopelvic CT with and without oral contrast in a one-year period. CT scans were reported by three independent attending radiologists blind to the demographic and clinical results and compared to our defined “gold standard” which was surgery or expulsion of packets. The existence and number of packets detected by each method were compared to define the better method of diagnosis. Results. Of 11 suspect body packers/pushers, 10 carried packs. Abdominopelvic CT with and without oral contrast detected six and seven of them, respectively. In 24 body stuffers, CT without oral contrast was more accurate in diagnosis of existence (9/24 vs. 7/24, p = 0.003) and number (sensitivity and positive predictive values of 29.2% vs. 37.5% and 100% vs. 100% for CTs with and without oral contrast, respectively, p = 0.021). Discussion and conclusions. There is a remarkable gap between detection of existence and number of packets/baggies reported by the radiologists and the real condition of the patients. A close teamwork between radiologists and toxicologists is needed to manage these problematic cases.
Clinical Control of Diabetes by the Artificial Pancreas

An artificial pancreas capable of maintaining blood sugar homeostasis within the physiological range is described in this paper. The blood sugar is continuously monitored and then interpreted by a minicomputer which in turn controls and implements the delivery of insulin (or glucose). The entire system is automatic and by giving insulin according to a projected blood sugar level the pattern of insulin administration is similar to the biphasic response of the normal pancreas. Five parameters for control can be selected and altered at will so that any level of normoglycemia can be maintained. Hypoglycemia is not encountered, and none of the patients experienced any side effects during or after the trials. The clinical trials involved a two-day study. On the first day the blood sugar profiles were monitored throughout the day. The patients were given their usual doses of subcutaneous insulin and ate measured meals and snacks. On the second day, they received no subcutaneous insulin; insulin was administered intravenously in accordance with the moment-to-moment requirements of the patients who were given meals the same as those of the previous day. Graphs plotted on a common time scale compare the blood sugar patterns on the two successive days and show the significant improvement in blood sugar homeostasis achieved by this artificial pancreas.
Extracorporeal life support: An update of Rogers’ Textbook of Pediatric Intensive Care

Introduction: The field of extracorporeal life support, which has focused predominantly on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the past, is undergoing rapid expansion following years of stagnation as newer devices and improved technology have become available. Additionally, new cannulae and cannulation techniques have allowed extracorporeal life support to be expanded to many groups who would have been excluded from support in the past. Review: This update will review the current state of the art since Rogers’ Textbook of Pediatric Intensive Care (Fourth Edition) was published several years ago. The changing environment of extracorporeal support in terms of patient populations, technological advances, patient management, and outcome will be discussed. Conclusions: Continued examination of the criteria and circumstances where extracorporeal life support is applied as well as outcomes which include morbidity, cost effectiveness, and quality of life are needed areas of continued research. Increasing collaborations between all centers performing extracorporeal life support throughout the world should remain a priority to further research and understanding of this complex field.
A novel direct torque controlled interior permanent magnet synchronous machine drive with low ripple in flux and torque and fixed switching frequency

A modified direct torque control (DTC) scheme for interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) is investigated in this paper, which features in very low flux and torque ripple and almost fixed switching frequency. It is based on the compensation of the error flux linkage vector by means of space vector modulation. Modeling and experimental results show that the flux and torque ripples are greatly reduced when compared with those of the basic DTC. With the new scheme, very short sampling time is not essential. All the advantages of the basic DTC are still retained. In addition, fixed switching frequency at different operating conditions becomes possible. The field-weakening control of this drive is also studied; an IPM DTC drive with a wider operation range and lower flux and torque ripple has been achieved experimentally.
Effector and regulatory events during natural killer–dendritic cell interactions

Summary: The different cell types of the innate immune system can interact with each other and influence the quality and strength of an immune response. The cross talk between natural killer (NK) cells and myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) leads to NK cell activation and DC maturation. Activated NK cells are capable of killing DCs that fail to undergo proper maturation (‘DC editing’). Encounters between NK cells and DCs occur in both inflamed peripheral tissues and lymph nodes, where both cell types are recruited by chemokines released in the early phases of inflammatory responses. Different NK cell subsets (CD56brightCD16− versus CD56+CD16+) differ in their homing capabilities. In particular, CD56brightCD16− NK cells largely predominate the lymph nodes. In addition, these two subsets display major functional differences in their cytolytic activity, cytokine production, and ability to undergo proliferation. NK cell functions are also greatly influenced by the presence of polarizing cytokines such as interleukin (IL)‐12 and IL‐4. The cytokine microenvironment reflects the presence of different cell types that secrete such cytokines in response to microbial products acting on different Toll‐like receptors (TLRs). Moreover, NK cells themselves can respond directly to microbial products by means of TLR3 and TLR9. Thus, it appears that the final outcome of a response to microbial infection may greatly vary as a result of the interactions occurring between different pathogen‐derived products and different cell types of the innate immunity system. These interactions also determine the quality and strength of the subsequent adaptive responses. Remarkably, NK cells appear to play a key role in this complex network.