Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of GaN transistors in a phase-leg configuration for motor drive applications

This paper presents the evaluation of a 650 V GaN transistor which is used for a motor drive application. The influence of parasitic effects, e.g. cross conduction and stray inductances, in a GaN phase-leg configuration are analyzed by means of simulation. Additionally, experimental results of the switching transients are shown. Furthermore, measurement issues and other practical challenges are discussed.
A Small High-Grade Carcinoma of the Rectum with Extensive Lymphatic Spread

I believe this operation has certain advantages and that it is applicable to all but the worst cases. It is a one-stage resection; no second operation to close a fistula is necessary. Though the anastomosis is intraperitoneal it is fixed to the parietal peritoneum beneath an abdominal incision and should sepsis occur within its omental wrappings it has at least an excellent opportunity to reach the exterior. The anastomosis is placed so that it covers the upper part of the "raw" area left by the resection. Not only is decompression drainage provided for the upper part of the alimentary tract by the gastric suction but the lower reaches of the ileum, that danger area in the post-operative case, are also drained and can be emptied considerably at operation. There may be dangers in introducing a rubber tube through an anastomosis, but I have seen no ill-effects. It is perhaps apposite to point out that Wangensteen (1943) has described two cases in which, with a Millar-Abbott tube in the lower ileum, it was yet necessary to put a duodenal tube down the patient's other nostril for post-operative distension. That this can occur once the small bowel has been "swept and garnished" by the passage of a Millar-Abbott tube and with the tube still in position, is surely good evidence of the part played in post-operative distension by aerophagy.
Activation and repression of transcription by auxin-response factors.

Auxin-response factors (ARFs) bind with specificity to TGTCTC auxin-response elements (AuxREs), which are found in promoters of primary/early auxin-response genes. Nine different ARFs have been analyzed for their capacity to activate or repress transcription in transient expression assays employing auxin-responsive GUS reporter genes. One ARF appears to act as a repressor. Four ARFs function as activators and contain glutamine-rich activation domains. To achieve transcriptional activation on TGTCTC AuxREs in transient expression assays, ARFs require a conserved dimerization domain found in both ARF and Aux/IAA proteins, but they do not absolutely require their DNA-binding domains. Our results suggest that ARFs can activate or repress transcription by binding to AuxREs directly and that selected ARFs, when overexpressed, may potentiate activation further by associating with an endogenous transcription factor(s) (e.g., an ARF) that is bound to AuxREs. Transfection experiments suggest that TGTCTC AuxREs are occupied regardless of the auxin status in cells and that these occupied AuxREs are activated when exogenous auxin is applied to cells or when ARF activators are overexpressed. The results provide new insight into mechanisms involved with auxin regulation of primary/early-response genes.
Female genomic response to mate information

Females should be choosier than males about prospective mates because of the high costs of inappropriate mating decisions. Both theoretical and empirical studies have identified factors likely to influence female mate choices. However, male–male social interactions also can affect mating decisions, because information about a potential mate can trigger changes in female reproductive physiology. We asked how social information about a preferred male influenced neural activity in females, using immediate early gene (IEG) expression as a proxy for brain activity. A gravid female cichlid fish (Astatotilapia burtoni) chose between two socially equivalent males and then saw fights between these two males in which her preferred male either won or lost. We measured IEG expression levels in several brain nuclei including those in the vertebrate social behavior network (SBN), a collection of brain nuclei known to be important in social behavior. When the female saw her preferred male win a fight, SBN nuclei associated with reproduction were activated, but when she saw her preferred male lose a fight, the lateral septum, a nucleus associated with anxiety, was activated instead. Thus social information alone, independent of actual social interactions, activates specific brain regions that differ significantly depending on what the female sees. In female brains, reproductive centers are activated when she chooses a winner, and anxiety-like response centers are activated when she chooses a loser. These experiments assessing the role of mate-choice information on the brain using a paradigm of successive presentations of mate information suggest ways to understand the consequences of social information on animals using IEG expression.
Aseptic meningitis following spinal analgesia

Complications following well conducted spinal analgesia are rare 1-6. Septic meningitis may result from a breakdown in technique due to faulty preparation of equipment, direct contamination, or penetration of an infected area of the patient’s anatomy. Alternatively it may be due to the presence of a bacteraemia at the time of lumbar puncture, leading to a metastatic meningitis. Aseptic meningitis has also been reported following lumbar puncture although this disease can occur as an isolated illness’. The following is a case presentation together with a discussion of aetiology.
Genetic association of VDR polymorphisms and multiple myeloma susceptibility : a case control study

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms were associated with multiple myeloma (MM) susceptibility in the Chinese Han population. Methods: Two polymorphisms rs2228570 (FokI) and rs731236 (TaqI) in VDR gene were genotyped in 113 MM patients and 117 healthy controls. Chi-square test was employed to compare the genotype and allele distributions of each polymorphism between case and control groups. The strength of the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and MM risk was evaluated based on the odds ratio (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Significant association was found between VDR gene polymorphisms and MM risk. The TT genotype frequency of rs2228570 significantly increased in case group compared with controls, revealing that rs2228570 TT genotype positively associated with MM risk (P=0.031, OR=2.407, 95% CI=1.075-5.393). Individuals carrying T allele showed higher risk to be affected by MM by 1.463 fold versus the C allele carriers (P=0.043, OR=1.463, 95% CI=1.0112.118). Mutant C allele of rs731236 was a risk factor for the onset of MM (P=0.012, OR=2.407696, 95% CI=1.2135.990). Conclusion: All results suggested that VDR gene two polymorphisms rs2228570 and rs731236 might be important genetic factors in MM susceptibility in the Chinese Han population.
Constraints on detection of autoinducer-2 (AI-2) signalling molecules using Vibrio harveyi as a reporter.

The recently discovered signalling molecule autoinducer-2 (AI-2) is produced by a large number of bacterial species, as judged by the Vibrio harveyi bioassay (see below). AI-2 has been proposed to serve as a ‘universal’ signal for interspecies communication (Surette et al., 1999). The chemical identity of AI-2 of V. harveyi, the first bacterium for which production of AI-2 was reported (Bassler et al., 1994), has recently been discovered to be a cyclic borate diester (furanosyl borate diester) (Chen et al., 2002). LuxS, the AI-2-synthase, occurs in over 40 species of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (Winans & Bassler, 2002; Winzer et al., 2002). Recent findings strongly suggest that AI-2 molecules from diverse species of bacteria are identical (Schauder et al., 2001). This characteristic was previously hypothesized and exploited to assay AI-2 production by unrelated bacteria (Bassler et al., 1997). The marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi utilizes two distinct quorum-sensing mechanisms to regulate bioluminescence, AI-2 (Bassler et al., 1994) and AI-1 (Cao & Meighen, 1989). A mutant strain of V. harveyi, BB170, which is only able to respond to AI-2 signal molecules for bioluminescence induction, has been commonly used as a bioassay to demonstrate the presence of AI-2-like molecules in conditioned media of other bacterial species (Bassler et al., 1994).
Joint Route and Power Allocation in Cooperative-Multihop Networks

In this paper, we address the problem of joint optimization of route and power allocation in cooperative- multihop networks, where a source node wants to transmit a sequence of messages to a single destination node out of the range of direct transmission. We first study the optimal power allocation between the single source node and single relay with DF (decode and forward) protocol in multihop transmission. Then under the assumption that intermediate node can adaptively select transmission scheme between DT(direct transmission) and DF , a heuristic algorithm is proposed to find a good route and allocate power efficiently for the minimum outage probability with a given power budget. Finally, our simulation results show that cooperative-multihop transmission outperforms the non-cooperative-multihop transmission, and the proposed algorithm can achieve lower outage probability compared to the equal power allocation with shortest path.
Excess Peroxisomes Are Degraded by Autophagic Machinery in Mammals*

Peroxisomes are degraded by autophagic machinery termed “pexophagy” in yeast; however, whether this is essential for peroxisome degradation in mammals remains unknown. Here we have shown that Atg7, an essential gene for autophagy, plays a pivotal role in the degradation of excess peroxisomes in mammals. Following induction of peroxisomes by a 2-week treatment with phthalate esters in control and Atg7-deficient livers, peroxisomal degradation was monitored within 1 week after discontinuation of phthalate esters. Although most of the excess peroxisomes in the control liver were selectively degraded within 1 week, this rapid removal was exclusively impaired in the mutant liver. Furthermore, morphological analysis revealed that surplus peroxisomes, but not mutant hepatocytes, were surrounded by autophagosomes in the control. Our results indicated that the autophagic machinery is essential for the selective clearance of excess peroxisomes in mammals. This is the first direct evidence for the contribution of autophagic machinery in peroxisomal degradation in mammals.
Incidence of chronic kidney disease in patients with atrial fibrillation and its relevance for prescribing new oral antithrombotic drugs

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the major indications for therapy with direct thrombin (dabigatran etexilate) or factor Xa inhibitors (rivaroxaban). Both Dabigatran (80%) and Rivaroxaban (65%) are primarily excreted via the kidney [1]. Therefore, prescribing these drugs in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) could lead to accumulation and hence potentially to more bleeding complications [2]. Importantly, patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of < 30 mL min have been excluded from trials with new antithrombotics [2–4]. However, patients with severe CKD are at increased risk of AF due to structural and electrical atrial remodeling [5,6]. Dabigatran has been approved by the Food andDrug Administration in an oral dose of 150 mg twice daily in AF patients with eGFR > 30 mL min and in a dose of 75 mg twice daily in patients with eGFR 15–30 mL min [7]. The National Kidney Foundation [8] has created guidelines to indicate stages of chronic kidney disease. Stage 1 incorporates patients with eGFR > 90 mL min per 1.73 m with structural abnormalities or genetic trait points. Patients with eGFR 60–90 mL min per 1.73 m fall into stage 2, those with eGFR 30–60 mL min per 1.73 m into stage 3, those with eGFR 15–30 mL min per 1.73 m into stage 4 and finally those with eGFR < 15 mL min per 1.73 m into stage 5. The incidence of AF in patients with CKD stage 5 is well known (about 7–13%). However, the different stages of CKD are not well studied in patients with AF [9]. Therefore, we evaluated the incidence of CKD stages 3–5 in patients with AF. In a multicenter retrospective cohort study the medical charts of AF patients from the Leiden anticoagulation clinic starting anticoagulant therapy between January 1997 andApril 2005 were scrutinized for creatinine levels. Patients were included if serum creatinine values were available within 6 months before or after the diagnosis of AF. The eGFR was calculated using the abbreviated MDRD formula because our study population was comprised of elderly patients, in whom the MDRD is more accurate in estimating the GFR in the lower ranges than the Cockroft–Gault formula [10,11]. During the inclusion period of our study, a total of 6933 new patients with AF visited the Leiden anticoagulation clinic. We excluded 1894 (27%) patients due to missing creatinine values, leaving 5039 (73%) patients for inclusion in our study. Fiftynine per cent of patients were male and the mean age was 69.9 years (SD 12.4). The mean number of days between the first visit to the Leiden anticoagulant clinic and serum creatinine measurement was 2.2 days. In 65.8% of all AF patients no renal impairment was found (i.e. eGFR > 60 mL min per 1.73 m); 30.9% of patients had stage 3 CKD (eGFR 30–60 mL min per 1.73 m), 2.5% had stage 4 CKD (eGFR 15–30 mL min per 1.73 m) and 0.8% had end-stage kidney disease stage 5 (eGFR < 15 mL min; see Fig. 1). In total 3.3% (95% CI, 2.8–3.8) of patients had an eGFR of < 30 mL min per 1.73 m. According to
La reconversion compétitive de l'industrie tunisienne : arrimage à l'Europe et mise à niveau

Apres la periode «dirigiste» des annees soixante, puis celle de la transition a une economie liberale et l'execution des reformes menees dans le cadre de l'ajustement structurel, le secteur industriel tunisien vit depuis 1995 le dernier quart d'heure de sa liberalisation. La demantelement du dispositif protectionniste et «la mise a niveau» de l'entreprise et de son environnement augurent de nouveaux bouleversements plus spectaculaires les uns que les autres. L'ambition de ce travail est d'expliquer par quel processus l'industrie tunisienne est arrivee, dans sa marche progressive vers la liberalisation, au concept de demantelement tarifaire. Il s'agit d'evaluer aussi l'impact attendu de cette politique d'ouverture et de mise a niveau qui s'y refere sur la composition sectorielle et la repartition spatiale des industries dans le pays. Il est vrai que la periode ecoulee depuis la signature de l'accord d'association avec l'Union europeenne est trop courte pour permettre de dresser un bilan meme provisoire de cette politique. Mais il est important de souligner que l'effet d'annonce attendu de cet accord n'a pas opere avec la rapidite souhaitee. Les apports exterieurs de capitaux necessaires a couvrir le cout de l'ajustement a la Zone de Libre-Echange n 'ont pas ete a ce jour a la hauteur des espoirs.
Volumetric Assessment of Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Objective: To assess the radiographic outcome of secondary alveolar bone grafting in individuals with nonsyndromic unilateral or bilateral cleft lip and palate using cone beam computed tomography. Methods: This prospective study was conducted at the University of California at San Francisco Center for Craniofacial Anomalies on 21 consecutive nonsyndromic complete cleft lip and palate individuals between 8 and 12 years of age who required alveolar bone grafting. Seventeen unilateral and four bilateral cleft lip and palate individuals had preoperative and postoperative cone beam computed tomography scans that were analyzed using Amira 3.1. 1 software. Results: The average volume of the preoperative alveolar cleft defect in unilateral cleft lip and palate was 0.61 cm3, and the combined average volume of the right and left alveolar cleft defects in bilateral cleft lip and palate was 0.82 cm3. The average percentage bone fill in both unilateral cleft lip and palate and bilateral cleft lip and palate was 84%. The outcome of alveolar bone grafting was assessed in relation to (1) type of cleft, (2) size of preoperative cleft defect, (3) presence or absence of lateral incisor, (4) root development stage of the maxillary canine on the cleft side, (5) timing, and (6) surgeon. None of these parameters significantly influenced the radiographic outcome of alveolar bone grafting. Conclusions: Secondary alveolar bone grafting of the cleft defect in our center was successful, based on radiographic outcome using cone beam computed tomography scans. Volume rendering using cone beam computed tomography and Amira software is a reproducible and practical method to assess the preoperative alveolar cleft volume and the adequacy of bone fill postoperatively.
Expansion of polyfunctional HIV-specific T cells upon stimulation with 1 mRNA electroporated dendritic cells in the presence of 2 immunomodulatory drugs 3 4 Short title : Effects of IMiDs on HIV-specific T cells 5 6 7

22 Corresponding author: Brenda De Keersmaecker, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular 23 Therapy, Medical School of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, room E 24 206, 1090 Brussels, Belgium, phone: 32-2-477.45. 69 – fax: 32-2-477.45. 69 – e-mail: 25 bdekeers@vub.ac. be 26 27 Copyright © 2012, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. J. Virol. doi:10.1128/JVI.00472-12 JVI Accepts, published online ahead of print on 20 June 2012
Stress‐and Endotoxin‐Induced Increases in Brain Tryptophan and Serotonin Metabolism Depend on Sympathetic Nervous System Activity

: Stressful treatments and immune challenges have been shown previously to elevate brain concentrations of tryptophan. The role of the autonomic nervous system in this neurochemical change was investigated using pharmacological treatments that inhibit autonomic effects. Pretreatment with the ganglionic blocker chlorisondamine did not alter the normal increases in catecholamine metabolites, but prevented the increase in brain tryptophan normally observed after footshock or restraint, except when the duration of the footshock period was extended to 60 min. The footshock‐and restraint‐related increases in 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5‐HIAA) were also prevented by chlorisondamine. The increases in brain tryptophan caused by intraperitoneal injection of endotoxin or interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) were also prevented by chlorisondamine pretreatment. The footshock‐induced increases in brain tryptophan and 5‐HIAA were attenuated by the β‐adrenergic antagonist propranolol but not by the α‐adrenergic antagonist phenoxybenzamine or the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist atropine. Thus the autonomic nervous system appears to be involved in the stress‐related changes in brain tryptophan, and this effect is due to the sympathetic rather than the parasympathetic limb of the system. Moreover, the main effect of the sympathetic nervous system is exerted on β‐as opposed to α‐adrenergic receptors. We conclude that activation of the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the stress‐related increases in brain tryptophan, probably by enabling increased brain tryptophan uptake. Endotoxin and IL‐1 also elevate brain tryptophan, presumably by a similar mechanism. The increase in brain tryptophan appears to be necessary to sustain the increased serotonin catabolism to S‐HIAA that occurs in stressed animals, and which may reflect increased serotonin release.
Gender differences in patients' perceptions of inpatient care.

OBJECTIVE To examine gender differences in inpatient experiences and how they vary by dimensions of care and other patient characteristics. DATA SOURCE A total of 1,971,632 patients (medical and surgical service lines) discharged from 3,830 hospitals, July 2007-June 2008, and completing the HCAHPS survey. STUDY DESIGN We compare the experiences of male and female inpatients on 10 HCAHPS dimensions using multiple linear regression, adjusting for survey mode and patient mix. Additional models add additional patient characteristics and their interactions with patient gender. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We find generally less positive experiences for women than men, especially for Communication about Medicines, Discharge Information, and Cleanliness. Gender differences are similar in magnitude to previously reported HCAHPS differences by race/ethnicity. The gender gap is generally larger for older patients and for patients with worse self-reported health status. Gender disparities are largest in for-profit hospitals. CONCLUSIONS Targeting the experiences of women may be a promising means of improving overall patient experience scores (because women comprise a majority of all inpatients); the experiences of older and sicker women, and those in for-profit hospitals, may merit additional examination.
Management of locally advanced primary mediastinal synovial sarcoma

Primary mediastinal synovial sarcoma (PMSS) is a relatively rare disease, and patients are treated predominantly with surgery for resectable disease. Management of locally advanced borderline resectable and unresectable PMSS is not only challenging but also lacks standard guidelines. We present three patients with PMSS, who were unresectable or borderline resectable at presentation and were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and postoperative radiotherapy.
Reliability of In-hospital Mortality as a Quality Indicator in Clinical Quality Registries

Summary Objectives: Errors in the registration or extraction of patient outcome data, such as in-hospital mortality, may lower the reliability of the quality indicator that uses this (partly) incorrect data. Our aim was to measure the reliability of in-hospital mortality registration in the Dutch National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) registry. Methods: We linked data of the NICE registry with an insurance claims database, resulting in a list of discrepancies in in-hospital mortality. Eleven Intensive Care Units (ICUs) were visited where local data sources were investigated to find the true in-hospital mortality status of the discrepancies and to identify the causes of the data errors in the NICE registry. Original and corrected Stand -ardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) were calculated to determine if conclusions about quality of care changed compared to the national benchmark. Results: In eleven ICUs, 23,855 records with 460 discrepancies were identified of which 255 discrepancies (1.1% of all linked records) were due to incorrect in-hospital mortality registration in the NICE registry. Two programming errors in computer software of six ICUs caused 78% of errors, the remainder was caused by manual transcription errors and failure to record patient outcomes. For one ICU the performance became concordant with the national benchmark after correction, instead of being better. Conclusions: The reliability of in-hospital mortality registration in the NICE registry was good. This was reflected by the low number of data errors and by the fact that conclusions about the quality of care were only affected for one ICU due to systematic data errors. We recommend that registries frequently verify the software used in the registration process, and compare mortality data with an external source to assure consistent quality of data.