Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
To Authors Reply: Invasive Mechanical Ventilation in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis or Idiopathic Non-Specific Interstitial Pneumonia

We thank Dr. Vincent and colleagues for their interest in our paper (1) and the data they provided showing that invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) applied in a modern lung protective mode has a potential role in managing lifethreatening acute respiratory failure in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or idiopathic non-specific interstitial pneumonia. Acute exacerbations of IPF or other types of chronic fibrotic interstitial pneumonia (AE-IP) are regarded pathologically as diffuse alveolar damage superimposed on underlying interstitial pneumonia induced by unknown etiology (2). As we do not yet have any effective treatments, this condition should be carefully diagnosed by excluding other treatable concomitant diseases, such as pulmonary bacterial infection, pneumothorax, heart failure or thromboembolic diseases. In Dr. Vincent’s data, 60% of the patients in the “P2 phase” were etiologically labeled as “other than AE”; whereas in our study, such patients were totally excluded and, further, we had no intention of discouraging the use of IMV in their case. Also, in their “P2 phase” (January 2005-December 2009), IMV was used in 9 out of 18 patients, of whom the 30-day survival rate was 40%, whereas, in the post-NIV cohort in our study (October 2004-September 2006), non-invasive ventilation (NIV) was continued until recovery or death in 9 patients, of whom the 60-day survival rate was 44%a similar result. This means that we were able to successfully avoid intubation in some cases by applying a strategy of continuing NIV until death. NIV has a great advantage over IMV with respect to providing lower positive pressures, and it may further improve prognosis with the use of systemic N-acetylcysteine or anticoagulation, as they mentioned. As long as patients are fitted with NIV-interfaces and are able to expectorate sputum, NIV can manage patients with pulmonary fibrosis in life-threatening acute respiratory failure no less than IMV. Moreover, NIV has several additional advantages over IMV, namely, reduced use of the high-care unit and better patient communicability, as shown in our data. Therefore, at present, we believe that by applying a strategy of continued use until death, NIV is beneficial in managing patients with such potentially disastrous outcomes.
Analog maximum power point tracking for spacecraft within a low earth orbit

This paper describes the implementation of a reliable maximum power point tracking design as an analog circuit for use on a satellite relying on solar power generation within low Earth orbit. The environment in which such a spacecraft system would function is evaluated. A specific maximum power point tracking algorithm is selected with regards to environmental constraints. A further increase in reliability was achieved by only using carefully selected analog components that are suitable for use within a space environment. The system was prototyped, and its power conversion performance was characterized using a custom-built measurement setup. The system successfully tracked the maximum power point through all the performed measurements. The results from the measurements suggest that the prototyped system has a nominal regulator efficiency of 88% and a nominal tracking accuracy of 96%.
Young people and the evaluation of information on the World Wide Web: Principles, practice and beliefs

A recurrent theme in LIS literature is the tendency of young people not to evaluate rigorously the information with which they come into contact. Although many information literacy models stress the need to take a critical approach, the reality of behaviour is often very different. Recent research conducted in an English high school has explored the importance that teenagers attach to 10 particular evaluative criteria. Data were contributed by 149 youngsters via an online questionnaire. Participants felt that information on the Web should be current/topical, free from spelling and grammatical errors and easily verifiable elsewhere but authorship was much less of a priority to them. The findings are likely to be of special relevance to information literacy teachers who are defining priorities for their own programmes.
Science Indicators 2012. Report notes China's influence in emerging Asian science zone.

Pumping money into research has made China a scientific force to be reckoned with. A new report from the U.S. National Science Foundation documents the impact of that investment on how scientists interact. The 2012 edition of the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report, a 575-page compendium of global trends in science and engineering released this week, provides a glimpse of that new landscape, including a sharp rise in intra-Asian collaborations and the growing share of top-cited papers by Chinese authors. The report also traces the impact of China9s sustained investment in engineering, on everything from university graduates to high-tech trade surpluses.
Fenofibrate Increases Homocystinemia Through a PPAR&agr;-Mediated Mechanism

Plasma homocysteine levels increase in humans treated with fibrates but the molecular mechanisms are unknown. The goal of the present study was to determine the mechanism of this increase using animal models. Firstly, an increase in homocysteine was observed in mice treated with fenofibrate irrespective of the genetic background C57BL/6 or SV129. Secondly, as the effect of fenofibrate on gene expression is mediated through activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR&agr;), a transcription factor belonging to the nuclear receptor family, it was determined whether the effect of fenofibrate on homocysteine levels were modulated through PPAR&agr; activation. Using PPAR&agr;-deficient mice, it was shown that the homocysteine increase after fenofibrate treatment was completely abolished in these animals. It can be concluded that fibrates increase homocystinemia through a PPAR&agr;-mediated mechanism and that mice constitute an animal model for analyzing the molecular mechanisms behind the homocysteine increase after fibrate therapy in dyslipidemic patients.
Avian influenza. The limits of avian flu studies in ferrets.

For the last few months, scientists, policymakers, and the public have intensely debated whether journals should reveal details of experiments by two labs that have engineered H5N1 avian influenza viruses that easily transmit among mammals—and could thus potentially spark a human flu pandemic. But there9s another difficult quandary in this tug of war between scientific freedom and bioterror fears. Both research teams relied on experiments with ferrets. How concerned should people be that what happened in Mustela putorius furo with these mutant viruses will apply to humans?
Direction finding with the sensors' gains suffering bayesian uncertainty —hybrid CRB and MAP estimation

The paper analyzes how a sensor array's direction-finding accuracy may be degraded by any stochastic uncertainty in the sensors' complex value gains, modeled here as complex value Gaussian random variables. This analysis is via the derivation of the hybrid Cramer-Rao bound (HCRB) of the azimuth-elevation direction-of-arrival estimates. This HCRB is analytically shown to be inversely proportional to a multiplicative factor equal to one plus the variance of the sensors' gain uncertainty. This finding applies to any array grid geometry. The maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator corresponding to this uncertain gain data model is also derived. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that this estimator approaches the lower bound derived.
A Trust Conscious Secure Route Data Communication in MANET S

Security in mobile adhoc networks is difficult to achieve, notably because of the vulnerability of wireless links, the limited physical protection of nodes, the dynamically changing topology, the absence of a certification authority, and the lack of a centralized monitoring or management point. The major difficulty in adhoc network occurs when a new node join network but not having any trust based relation with other nodes of network. We have proposed a new mechanism that provides trust conscious secure route data communication between the Mobile nodes. In this mechanism we will dynamically increase the trust from (Low to High) between the mobile nodes using proxy node. When mobile node needs secure data communication, it will generate a dynamic secret session key with the desired destination mobile node directly or via proxy mobile nodes. These dynamic secret session keys are generated using message digest and Diffie-Hellman protocol.
Avionics. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ... spy?

AvionicsIn 2011, AeroVironment unveiled a new crewless aircraft called the Nano Hummingbird. With a wingspan of 17 centimeters and a weight of 19 grams, the robot is hefty for a hummingbird. But it can hover in place and fly in any direction (including backward) as fast as 18 kilometers per hour. It can fly through doorways and be steered by a remote pilot using only video from an onboard camera. All of these abilities met or exceeded the targets for a second-generation "nano air vehicle" funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Association of programmed cell death 1 polymorphisms and systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis

Programmed cell death 1 (PDCD1 or PD1) polymorphisms have been inconsistently reported to be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to explore whether the PDCD1 polymorphisms confer a susceptibility to SLE and lupus nephritis (LN). We conducted a meta-analysis on the association of PDCD1 polymorphisms with SLE in overall and specific ethnic populations. A total of 15 separate comparisons were included in this meta-analysis consisting of nine Europeans, two Latin Americans, two Africans, one Asian and one unknown participant. In subgroup analysis, the PD1.3A allele was significantly associated with SLE in Latin Americans (OR = 3.073, 95% CI = 1.416–6.461, P = 0.003), but not in patients of European and African decent. The PD1.3A allele was a risk factor for LN in European descendants (OR = 2.207, 95% CI = 1.488–3.467, P < 0.001). The PD1.5C allele was a risk factor for SLE in Europeans (OR = 1.297, 95% CI = 1.024–1.643, P = 0.031). In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated an association of the PD1.3A allele with LN in European and SLE in Latin-American populations. Furthermore, the PD1.5C allele was associated with SLE susceptibility in Europeans.
A tooth for a tooth: Dental stem cell banking in India

Regenerative medicine is based on stem cells.The dental pulp contains the progenitor/stem cells which have the self renewal capability, multi-lineage differentiation capacity and clonogenic efficiency. Dental stem cells can generate many types of tissues including bone, nerve, cartilage, teeth and fat. However teeth can actually be a rich source of stem cells. Deciduous teeth or the so-called milk teeth and wisdom teeth have an abundance of stem cells. Stem cells have become the rage across the world after the health potential emerged some years ago. For years scientists all over the world have been working on possibilities of using these stem cells to regenerate human cells which are damaged due to illness, developmental defects and accidents. Recently stem cell banks are present, and even some of these banks do not only freeze cord stem cells but also dental stem cells of baby teeth. Hence this paper reviews the history, current concepts, evolution of stem cells in dentistry, dental stem cell banking in India, characterization of the stem cells in dentin regeneration and stem cell therapy in dentistry.
Clinical and immunological manifestations in 624 SLE patients in Saudi Arabia

Our objective was to study the demographic, clinical, laboratory features, therapy, and outcome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. In this retrospective study, which covered a 27-year period (1980–2006), 624 SLE patients referring to King Khalid University hospital, Riyadh were included. There were 566 females and 58 males (9.8:1) with a mean age of 34.3 (range 8–71) years and mean age at disease onset of 25.3 years (range 0.08–67). The mean disease duration was 9.3 years (range 0.3–30). The most common disease manifestations were hematological abnormalities (82.7%), arthritis (80.4%), and mucocutaneous symptoms (64.3%). The prevalence of malar rash was 47.9%, discoid rash 17.6%, photosensitivity 30.6%, oral ulcers 39.1%, serositis 27.4%, nephritis 47.9%, and neuropsychiatric manifestations 27.6%. Lymphopenia (40.3%), anti-Ro (53.1%), anti-La (26.6%), anti-Sm (41.6%), anticardiolipin IgG (49.7%), and IgM (33.5%) antibodies were highly prevalent. Antinuclear antibodies were detected in 99.7% and anti-DNA in 80.1% patients. Low C3 and C4 were observed in 45.4% and 42.2%, respectively. Therapy included oral steroids (96.2%), IV cyclophosphamide (34.1%) and azathioprine (32.1%) along with other drugs. Long-term remission was achieved in 82.4%, disease was active in 2.6%, renal failure occurred in 4.3% requiring dialysis, 6.7% lost follow up and 4.0% patients died. Infections (48%) and active SLE (36%) were the common causes of death. The 5- and 10-year patient survival rate was 98% and 97%, respectively. This study suggests that, in our patients, SLE manifests with features similar to SLE patients from other Arab countries and Caucasia. In comparison to Caucasians, higher prevalence of anti-Ro antibodies is observed in our study, in some Middle-Eastern and Asian countries; this may likely be due to inter-ethnic variation owing to genetic differences. Our 5-year patient survival rate was similar to that of western countries, while 10-year survival rate was better than that of most places.
Cyberbullying Detection Based on Semantic-Enhanced Marginalized Denoising Auto-Encoder

As a side effect of increasingly popular social media, cyberbullying has emerged as a serious problem afflicting children, adolescents and young adults. Machine learning techniques make automatic detection of bullying messages in social media possible, and this could help to construct a healthy and safe social media environment. In this meaningful research area, one critical issue is robust and discriminative numerical representation learning of text messages. In this paper, we propose a new representation learning method to tackle this problem. Our method named semantic-enhanced marginalized denoising auto-encoder (smSDA) is developed via semantic extension of the popular deep learning model stacked denoising autoencoder (SDA). The semantic extension consists of semantic dropout noise and sparsity constraints, where the semantic dropout noise is designed based on domain knowledge and the word embedding technique. Our proposed method is able to exploit the hidden feature structure of bullying information and learn a robust and discriminative representation of text. Comprehensive experiments on two public cyberbullying corpora ( Twitter and MySpace) are conducted, and the results show that our proposed approaches outperform other baseline text representation learning methods.
Sensitivity and specificity of autoantibody tests in the differential diagnosis of lupus nephritis

Several studies have investigated the potential of various autoantibody tests in the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Many lupus patients initially present with glomerulonephritis. In that clinical situation the main differential diagnosis are other forms of glomerulonephritis. In this study the diagnostic value of nine test kits for autoantibody against ANA, dsDNA, circulating immune complexes, C1q, nucleosomes, histones and Sm as well as C3 and C4 levels was evaluated in 39 patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis in comparison to 43 patients suffering from other forms of glomerulonephritis. The most useful test was an anti-nucleosome antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 88%. All tests for anti-dsDNA antibodies (Crithidia luciliae Anti-dsDNA, BINDAZYME Anti-dsDNA, FARRZYME high avidity Anti-dsDNA) were of moderate sensitivity and very good specificity. Decreasing the cut-off for the conventional anti-dsDNA ELISA (BINDAZYME) considerably increased its sensitivity (87%) without loss of specificity (90%). Tests for anti-C1q and immune complexes performed worse than the antidsDNA tests. As anti-histone and Sm antibodies are present only in a minority of lupus nephritis patients they are of limited value in diagnosing the disease. In conclusion, testing for anti-nucleosome antibodies and the conventional anti-dsDNA ELISA with lower cut-off provide the best diagnostic aids for differentiation of lupus nephritis from other forms of glomerulonephritis. Lupus (2009) 18, 1276—1280.
Análisis de ADN mitocondrial en una muestra de restos óseos arcaicos del periodo Herrera en la sabana de Bogotá

Introducción. Los restos óseos arcaicos son fuente privilegiada de información biológica y su caracterización genética permite confirmar o descartar filiaciones propuestas por otras aproximaciones científicas. La historia precolombina de los Andes orientales se divide en tres periodos principales: i) un poblamiento temprano por parte de grupos cazadores-recolectores; ii) un periodo intermedio (Herrera) de pueblos con agricultura incipiente, y iii) un periodo tardío de pueblos chibchas, agrícolas y alfareros (agroalfarero). Objetivo. Analizar el ADN mitocondrial de restos óseos del periodo Herrera. Materiales y métodos. Se analizaron 11 individuos pertenecientes al yacimiento arqueológico Madrid 2-41, con una edad aproximada de 2.000 años. Un fragmento (192 pb) del segmento hipervariable I fue amplificado y secuenciado, siguiendo criterios estrictos de autenticidad de ADN arcaico. Las secuencias se compararon con las existentes en bases de datos de Norteamérica y Europa usando herramientas bioinformáticas. Resultados. Todas las secuencias resultaron idénticas y fueron clasificadas como haplogrupo B. Esto puede relacionarse con el tipo de entierro ritual practicado en Madrid 2-41, es decir, probablemente los individuos analizados hagan parte de una familia jerárquicamente importante en la antigua sociedad Herrera. La búsqueda de secuencias homólogas en las bases de datos estadounidense y europea no arrojó coincidencias exactas, aunque existe el reporte de un individuo amazónico de ~4.000 años de antigüedad (Brasil) cuya secuencia coincide con la hallada en Madrid 2-41. Conclusión. Los individuos del yacimiento arqueológico Madrid 2-41 están estrechamente emparentados entre sí por línea materna y presentan una secuencia aparentemente ausente en poblaciones actuales.
Software representation to support change

Research methodology from cognitive science and artificial intelligence is applied to the problem of software representation to support the process of software change. A model of software to support change, suggested by the current research, is presented. Populating that model requires data from tasks related to code-based functional decomposition, data abstraction, and functional data flows. A competence model for the task of code-based functional decomposition is proposed. <<ETX>>
Clinical analysis of systemic lupus erythematosus with gastrointestinal manifestations

Our objective was to analyse the clinical characteristics of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with gastrointestinal manifestations. Medical charts of 177 hospitalized SLE patients were systematically reviewed, including demographic data, clinical features, laboratory findings, and treatments, as well as outcomes. Thirty-nine cases (22.0%) had SLE-related gastrointestinal manifestations, and in 12 cases (30.8%), gastrointestinal manifestations occurred as the initial symptoms. Twenty-five cases (64.1%) had abdominal pain, 22 cases (56.4%) had nausea and vomiting, 12 cases (30.8%) had diarrhea, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage occurred in three cases (7.7%). Protein losing enteropathy and intestinal pseudo-obstruction were the most common identifiable gastrointestinal complications, though other reasons such as superior mesenteric venous thrombosis, pancreatitis, peritonitis, and liver impairment could also occur in SLE. The incidences of Raynaud’s phenomenon and pyeloureterectasis were significantly higher in patients with gastrointestinal complications than those without (p < 0.05). Multivariable analysis indicated Raynaud’s phenomenon, decreased C3, CH50, and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positivity were independent predictors of gastrointestinal involvements (p < 0.05). Gastrointestinal complications are common, diverse, and could be the initial and major manifestations of lupus. SLE patients who had Raynaud’s phenomenon, hypocomplementemia and positive anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody were at increasing risk of developing gastrointestinal complication.
The association between the PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism and systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis update

The aim of this study was to determine whether the functional protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor 22 (PTPN22) C1858T polymorphism (rs2476601) confers susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in ethnically different populations. A meta-analysis was conducted on the PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism across 11 comparative studies. Meta-analysis showed an association between the PTPN22 1858T allele and SLE in all study subjects (odds ratio (OR) 1.560, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.336, 1.822, p = 2.0 × 10−8). Analysis after stratification by ethnicity indicated that the PTPN22 1858T allele was significantly associated with SLE in Europeans and Hispanics (OR 1.490, 95% CI 1.280, 1.735, p = 2.0 × 10−8; OR 2.355, 95% CI 1.644, 3.373, p = 2.9 × 10−6). The meta-analysis showed that the C/T + T/T genotype was associated with susceptibility to SLE in all study subjects, Europeans, and Hispanics populations, and an association between the T/T genotype with SLE in Europeans. African Americans had a much lower prevalence of the T allele (2.2%) than any other population studied, and Europeans had the highest frequency (9.5%). In conclusion, this meta-analysis confirms that the PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism is associated with SLE susceptibility in different ethnic groups, and that its prevalence is ethnicity dependent.
Introducing Medical Humanities--Use of Humour for Teaching Ethics: A Pilot Study at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Delhi

Use of Medical humanities to teach empathy started to come into being nearly 50 years ago. It has been introduced in most of the medical schools in the West for many years. In India the concept is still in its infancy with very few medical schools teaching the subject. This study was undertaken as a pilot project at the Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi to introduce the concept of empathy through medical humanities to undergraduate students. Students were explained the definition, meaning, scope and purpose of medical humanities. The authors aimed at sensitising the students to the importance of the public image of their profession through humour/jokes. The students were encouraged to discuss and reflect on the reasons for a negative image. The session ended by asking for commitment on their part to behave in a more ethical and professional manner once they start practicing medicine. The session was appreciated by most of the students. Majority agreed that medical humanities was an interesting way to develop empathy in doctors and develop ethical values, professionalism and communication skills. It is imperative that communication skills, professionalism and ethics are integrated into medical curriculum at all stages to inculcate empathy in medical students. Medical humanities modules are an interesting way of achieving this aim. Humour has been used as a pedagogic and communication tool in medicine. Its use for reflection and analysis of a situation or as a tool of social commentary to bring about corrective change can be explored. Further research in the subject is required; curriculum needs to be defined, teachers need to be educated and trained.