Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asociación de la disincronía de ventrículo izquierdo con mal pronóstico en los pacientes con tetralogía de Fallot

INTRODUCCION: Se desconoce con exactitud el efecto que tiene la disincronia del ventriculo izquierdo sobre el pronostico clinico tras reparacion completa quirurgica en pacientes con Tetralogia de Fallot. OBJETIVO: Evaluar la asociacion entre la disincronia de ventriculo izquierdo estudiada mediante la tecnica de tracking tisular sobre imagenes de resonancia magnetica cardiaca y la mortalidad o la taquicardia ventricular sostenida en pacientes reparados quirurgicamente para la correccion completa de Tetralogia de Fallot. METODO: Se incluyeron 440 pacientes intervenidos de Tetralogia de Fallot con estudios de resonancia magnetica cardiaca realizados desde 2000 a 2008 en el hospital Children´s de Boston (Massachussets). Se analizaron los datos de resonancia magnetica cardiaca de 13 (2,9%) pacientes con historia de muerte o taquicardia ventricular sostenida, y de 26 pacientes, emparejados por edad y tipo de correccion. Se recogieron los datos demograficos, clinicos, y electrocardiograficos. Se analizaron mediante tracking tisular las secuencias de resonancia magnetica cardiaca en eje corto, utilizando el software VVI - Velocity Vector Imaging version 3.03® (Siemens Medical Systems). La sincronia de ventriculo izquierdo se cuantifico midiendo la diferencia entre los 6 segmentos de ventriculo izquierdo, en los tiempos hasta el pico de maximo desplazamiento, de maximo strain circunferencial y de maximo strain radial. Tambien se midieron la desviacion estandar de los tiempos hasta el pico maximo de desplazamiento, strain circunferencial y strain radial. RESULTADOS: No hubo diferencias entre los grupos en las caracteristicas demograficas, clinicas y electrocardiograficas. Entre las variables morfologicas y funcionales analizadas, los pacientes presentaron mayores volumenes de ventriculo derecho y menor fraccion de eyeccion de ventriculo derecho. Ademas, presentaron indices de sincronia de ventriculo izquierdo mas alterados (mayor diferencia en el tiempo hasta el maximo strain circunferencial, 94 vs 46 ms, p <0.01; desviacion estandar del maximo strain circunferencial de 37.8 vs 20.3 ms, p <0.01). En un modelo multivariante, con las variables de sincronia de ventriculo izquierdo, el mejor discriminador pronostico fue la mayor diferencia segmentaria en el tiempo al strain circunferencial pico (p =0.01). Se construyo un modelo predictivo de mal pronostico clinico, que incorporaba la diferencia maxima segmentaria en los tiempos al pico de strain circunferencial y el volumen telesistolico indexado de ventriculo derecho (ROC=0,89; IC95%: 0,78-1). Ademas, se identificaron parametros de disincronia ventricular izquierda asociados a la disfuncion ventricular izquierda y derecha. CONCLUSIONES: La tecnica de tracking tisular, aplicada a imagenes de resonancia magnetica cardiaca, es factible y util. En pacientes reparados de Tetralogia de Fallot identifica indices de disincronia de ventriculo izquierdo asociados a mortalidad y a taquicardia ventricular sostenida.
Epidemiology of primary biliary cirrhosis in Victoria, Australia: high prevalence in migrant populations.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The prevalence of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) reported in different countries varies widely, indicating that genetic or environmental factors may be important in the etiology of the disease. The aim of this study was to examine this issue further by determining the overall prevalence of PBC in one state in Australia and to examine the prevalence among different migrant groups within this population. METHODS Thorough case-finding methods were used to identify all cases of PBC in Victoria, Australia. Age-adjusted prevalence rates among different migrant groups were examined. RESULTS A total of 249 cases were identified, giving a prevalence of 51 cases per million. This is significantly higher than the rate documented in a 1991 Victorian study. Prevalence in the 3 largest migrant groups was greater than that of Victoria as a whole (141, 200, and 208 cases per million in British, Italian, and Greek migrants, respectively). In women older than 40 years, previous studies have documented a prevalence of 940 cases per million in women in the United Kingdom; however, the prevalence was 344 cases per million in British-born immigrants to Victoria and 160 cases per million in Australian-born women. CONCLUSIONS The current prevalence of PBC in Victoria is higher than previously reported, but the age-adjusted prevalence in those born in Victoria remains significantly lower than in the United Kingdom and is less than in migrant communities. These findings suggest that Victorians may be relatively protected from developing the disease and add further weight to the suggestion that environmental factors may play a role in the etiology of PBC.
Performance of Floating wetland to reduce the organic matter in river water

Floating wetlands are innovative systems that rarely used in South Kalimantan Indonesia so their performance using local species of plant are still scarcely known. To gain initial information on their performance and potential in removing pollutants, especially organic content, an experiment have been conducted in laboratory scale. This study used local plants (Echinodorus palaefolius and Limnocharis flava) with a plant height of approximately ±30 cm and ±15 cm, grown with a distance of 15 cm x 15 cm, which was floated into a plastic-coated plywood reactor with a size of 80 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm. Water samples are taken from Kerukan River (Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan Indonesia) which is flowed continuously to the reactor with a flow rate of 0.002 L/s. After 30 days, floating wetland planted with E. palaefolius can reduce organic material (BOD, COD) by 82.19%; 77.22% and floating wetland planted with L. flava can reduce BOD and COD respectively by 78.83% and 72.75%. This show that floating wetland very potential to use as an organic pollutant removal from river water.
Bakterielle Virulenzfaktoren und genetische Faktoren des Menschen bei der Entstehung von schweren histologischen Veränderungen der Magenmukosa während der Helicobacter pylori Infektion

Die Infektion mit H. pylori ist die Hauptursache fur die Entstehung des Magenkarzinoms. Da jedoch nur ein kleiner Teil der infizierten Patienten ein Karzinom entwickelt, ist es von auserordentlicher Bedeutung, bakterielle Faktoren und genetische Risikofaktoren des Menschen zu identifizieren, die mit der Krebsentstehung assoziiert sind. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde gezeigt, das die bakteriellen Virulenzfaktoren CagA und VacA und humane Interleukin-1 Polymorphismen synergistisch auf die Entstehung prakanzeroser Lasionen des Magens wirken. Das Vorhandensein dieser Faktoren ist mit einem bis zu 25fach erhohten Risiko zur Entwicklung von schweren histologischen Veranderungen der Magenmukosa assoziiert. Desweiteren wurde der Einflus des bakteriellen Adhasins BabA auf die Kolonisation, Inflammation und Karzinogenese untersucht. Es wurde sowohl die Assoziation des Adharenzfaktors mit der gastralen Pathologie gezeigt, wie auch der Mechanismus der BabA vermittelten Pathogenese aufgedeckt.
Variability of day 3 follicle-stimulating hormone levels in eumenorrheic women.

OBJECTIVE To assess the intercycle variability of early follicular follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol (E2) levels in eumenorrheic women according to age. STUDY DESIGN Forty-eight female volunteers with regular menstrual cycles were studied. Serum samples were obtained on cycle day 3 in multiple cycles over a one-year period. Serum was also obtained on consecutive cycle days 2, 3 or 4 in a single cycle in 20 participants. All samples were assayed for FSH and E2 by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS In women under 40 years of age, all initial day 3 FSH levels were < 20 mIU/mL, and 15% of subjects had a subsequently elevated day 3 FSH level (> or = 20 mIU/mL) within the year. In eight women 40-44 years of age, 75% had an initial day 3 FSH level < 20 mIU/mL, but half of them subsequently had an elevated level, > 20 mIU/mL, within the year. Between cycle days 2, 3 and 4, FSH (coefficient of variation [CV] = 14.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 11.4-18.3%) varied less than E2 (CV = 31.1%, 95% CI = 21.5-40.6%). CONCLUSION A single day 3 FSH level < 20 mIU/mL is highly predictive of all subsequent values within a year and occurred only in women under 40. An FSH level drawn on cycle day 2 or 4 will probably be within 18% of the day 3 value, but the E2 level may vary by up to 40%.
Detecting Inclusion Dependencies on Very Many Tables

Detecting inclusion dependencies, the prerequisite of foreign keys, in relational data is a challenging task. Detecting them among the hundreds of thousands or even millions of tables on the web is daunting. Still, such inclusion dependencies can help connect disparate pieces of information on the Web and reveal unknown relationships among tables. With the algorithm Many, we present a novel inclusion dependency detection algorithm, specialized for the very many—but typically small—tables found on the Web. We make use of Bloom filters and indexed bit-vectors to show the feasibility of our approach. Our evaluation on two corpora of Web tables shows a superior runtime over known approaches and its usefulness to reveal hidden structures on the Web.
Rôle des contextes lexical et post-lexical dans la réalisation du schwa : apports du traitement automatique de grands corpus (Role of lexical and post-lexical contexts in French schwa realisations : benefits of automatic processing of large corpora )[In French]

Le rôle du contexte est connu dans la réalisation ou non du schwa en français. Deux grands corpus oraux de parole journalistique (ETAPE) et de parole familière (NCCFr), dans lesquels la realisation de schwa est déterminée à partir d’un alignement automatique, ont été utilisés pour examiner la contribution du contexte au sein du mot contenant schwa (lexical) vs. au travers de la frontière avec le mot précédent (post-lexical). Nos résultats montrent l’importance du contexte pré-frontière dans l’explication de la chute du schwa dans la première syllabe d’un mot polysyllabique en parole spontanée. Si le mot précédant se termine par une consonne, nous pouvons faire appel à la loi des trois consonnes et au principe de sonorité pour expliquer des différences de comportement en fonction de la nature des consonnes en contact.
Localization of complex fractionated atrial electrograms by approximate entropy in a 3D model of human atria

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common tachyarrhythmia seen clinically. Radiofrequency ablation has become an accepted therapeutic alternative in patients refractory to pharmacologic management. Different ablation strategies ranging from targeting triggers originating in the vicinity of the pulmonary veins (PV) to mapping areas with high dominant frequency (DF) or complex fragmented atrial electrograms (CFAE) have been proposed to identify potential sites for ablation. Mapping of high DF has not proven to be entirely effective on chronic AF. To determine the behavior of approximate entropy (ApEn) and its ability to detect CFAE regions, we simulated an episode of chronic AF in a 3D model of human atria. A circular area of the posterior wall of the left atrium was selected to record electrograms. The following indexes were calculated: ApEn in short time intervals, DF and regularity index (RI). Wavefront activation maps were plotted for each of the above indexes. CFAE region was viewed as the tip of the rotors, and correlated with high ApEn values analyzed in short periods of time. DF and RI maps did not identify CFAE in short time intervals. These findings suggest that targeting ApEn areas may potentially be effective in identifying sites for ablation in chronic AF.
Valuing Changes in Political Networks: Evidence from Campaign Contributions to Close Congressional Elections

This paper investigates the value of firm political connections using a regression discontinuity design in a sample of close, off-cycle U.S. congressional elections. I compare firms donating to winning candidates and firms donating to losing candidates and find that postelection abnormal equity returns are 3% higher for firms donating to winning candidates. Connections to politicians serving on powerful congressional committees, such as appropriations and taxation, are especially valuable and impact contributing firms sales. Firms' campaign contributions are correlated with other political activities such as lobbying and hiring former government employees, suggesting that firms take coordinated actions to build political networks.
Untersuchungen zur Pathogenese und Transmission eines frettchenadaptierten H7N7 Influenza A Virus

Hochpathogene aviare Influenzaviren (HPAIV) konnen aus ihrem naturlichen Reservoir, den Wasservogeln, durch Interspeziestransmission auf den Sauger ubertragen werden und dort milde bis letale Infektionen hervorrufen. Bis heute sind die molekularen Mechanismen der Adaptation und Transmission von HPAIV jedoch weitestgehend unbekannt. Um wahrend der Adaptation von HPAIV an den Sauger fur diese wichtige virale Determinanten zu untersuchen, wurde in dieser Arbeit ein frettchenadaptiertes H7N7 HPAIV als Modellsystem verwendet. Zusammenfassend konnten in dieser Arbeit erfolgreich saugeradaptive Mutationen identifiziert und charakterisiert werden, welche die Virulenz und Kontakttransmission von H7N7 HPAIV in Kleintiermodellen vermitteln. Diese Befunde sind besonders wichtig, um eine mogliche epidemische bzw. pandemische Gefahr fur die humane Bevolkerung ausgehend von neuauftretenden HPAIV besser abzuschatzen, so dass entsprechende Gegenmasnahmen rasch eingeleitet werden konnen.
Effects of poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase inhibition on cell death and chromosome damage induced by VP16 and bleomycin

Poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) is a DNA‐binding protein involved in cellular response to various genotoxic agents. To understand the role of PARP in the mechanisms which lead from specific DNA damage to cell death, we studied the effects of PARP inhibition in human lymphoblasts damaged with bleomycin (BLM) and VP16. These agents can induce DNA breakage but through different mechanisms, enabling the study of the different effects of PARP in inducing apoptosis in damaged cells. We demonstrate that in lymphoblasts VP16 treatment induces apoptosis to a greater extent than BLM treatment, and that PARP inhibition reduces VP16‐induced apoptosis whereas it has no effect on BLM‐induced apoptosis. After VP16 treatment with PARP inhibition, a reduction in the depletion of the proliferative compartment and a G2/M phase arrest are observed. Therefore, the increase in cell viability and the reduction in chromosome damage may both be the result of a prolonged DNA repair time. Hence, PARP appears to play a significant role in VP16‐induced apoptosis and not in BLM‐induced apoptosis. Since apoptosis is important in tumor treatment these findings might be useful when considering the combined employment of PARP inhibition with antineoplastic drugs. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 32:56–63, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Venture Capital: Fueling the Innovation Economy

Venture capital experts explore current opportunities to fuel and benefit from the innovation economy. Venture capital remains a vibrant force in the US, funding a broad array of disruptive technologies and playing a major role in fueling a startup-based economy. A survey of Austin Technology Incubator's recent startup portfolio suggests promising trends for venture investment in the innovation economy. Next-generation data analytics, offering strategic business applications that integrate data and technology into innovative and affordable tools, provide significant opportunities for venture investment. Corporations worldwide increasingly look to Silicon Valley's culture of entrepreneurship and venture investment to create new models for successful disruptive innovation.
Analysis of correlated bronchial responsiveness data

Correlated survival data analysis techniques were utilize d to determine the efficacy of such techniques to analyze correlated airway responsiveness data. When the survival data are correlated, standard maximum likelihood estimates of the regression coefficients obtained by using the Cox's model ar e consistent, but the estimates of standard errors may not be valid or consistent due to within-subject dependencies and hence give rise to wrong interpretations. We used jackknife, bootstrap and the method proposed by Wei, Lin and Weissfeld (WLW) to obtain robust estimates for the standard errors. The data analyzed in this report were obtained from a longitudinal study conducted to investigate the respiratory health effect s of initial exposure to grain dust among workers commencing employment in the grain industry in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bronchial responsiveness was determined by histamine inhalation test administered at four different time points. The provocation concentration (PC20) of inhaled histamine that produced 20% fall in the lung function parameter forced expired volume in one second (FEV1) was used as an indicator of bronchial responsiveness. Failure was defined as the dose of histamine at which a 20% fall in FEV1 occurred. In provocation tests, censored data may occur due to the failure to reach a determined end point. Censoring occurred when a subject did not have 20% fall in FEV1 with the maximum histamine dose of 8 mg. Significant predicto rs of bronchial responsiveness were FEV1, wheezing and height. The estimates of standard errors were similar for jackknife, bootstrap, and WLW, but different from those obtained using standard maximum likelihood method.
A Robust Least Squares Solution to the Relative Pose Problem on Calibrated Cameras with Two Known Orientation Angles

This paper proposes a robust least squares solution to the relative pose problem on calibrated cameras with two known orientation angles based on a physically meaningful optimization. The problem is expressed as a minimization problem of the smallest eigenvalue of a coefficient matrix, and is solved by using 3-point correspondences in the minimal case and more than 4-point correspondences in the least squares case. To obtain the minimum error, a new cost function based on the determinant of a matrix is proposed instead of solving the eigenvalue problem. The new cost function is not only physically meaningful, but also common in the minimal and the least squares case. Therefore, the proposed least squares solution is a true extension of the minimal case solution. Experimental results of synthetic data show that the proposed solution is identical to the conventional solutions in the minimal case and it is approximately 3 times more robust to noisy data than the conventional solution in the least squares case.
A Comparison of Hand-Geometry Recognition Methods Based on Low- and High-Level Features

This paper compares the performance of hand-geometry recognition based on high-level features and on low-level features. The difference between high- and low-level features is that the former are based on interpreting the biometric data, e.g. by locating a finger and measuring its dimensions, whereas the latter are not. The low-level features used here are landmarks on the contour of the hand. The high-level features are a standard set of geometrical features such as widths and lengths of fingers and angles, measured at preselected locations.
Liver fibrosis mechanisms – the role of stellate cells, oxidative and nitrosative stress

Liver fibrosis is a chronic and complex pathological process, occuring in patients with chronic liver diseases. The most common cause of liver fibrosis is the alcoholic liver disease, viral hepatitis type B, C and D, as well as autoimmune diseases. Other causes include metabolic dysfunctions like hemachromatosis and Wilson’s disease, biliary duct disorders, damaging effects of medicine and parasite infections. Fibrosis’ dynamics and progres speed depend on the nature of underlying mechanisms and are characterized by accumulation of ECM elements. They vary from patient to patient and are directly correlated to aberrations of homeostasis degradation and production of liver connective tissue. In liver fibrosis the main source of ECM are hepatic stellate cells (HSCS), although other cells are also able to produce ECM such as: portal fibroblasts, narrow-derived cells, biliary duct epithelial cells and epithelial mesenchymal transition hepatocytes. The HSCS activity is stimulated by proinflammatory cytokines, oxidative and nitrosative stress which lead to different pathologies such as: inflammation, steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver-cell cancer. Alcohol, the main fibrotic agents is metabolized almost entirely in the liver, so the organ is extremely sensitive to its negative intermediate and mediate influence. Factors influencing alcoholic liver failure are not only oxidative and nitrosative stress and proinflammatory cytokines activity, but also reductive stress, hepatocytes; hypoxia, mucous membranę dysfunction and intestine flora influence, as well as genetic and immunological factors. Though in last several yers there has been a great advancement in our knowledge of liver fibrosis mechanisms, it remains tough to diagnose the proces in its early stages and consequently apply an efficient therapy. The challenge for the futur is finding useful biomarkers and new therapeutic goals.
Evaluation of adverse effects in intracarotid propofol injection for Wada test

The authors evaluated adverse effects of intracarotid propofol injection during a Wada test and their risk factors in 58 patients. Nineteen patients had an adverse effect, mostly in patients receiving more than 10 mg. For patients older than age 55 years or those requiring an injection dose greater than 20 mg to produce hemiplegia, propofol should be injected slowly and patients monitored for excitatory movements.
Rhinovirus infection associated with serious lower respiratory illness in patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

OBJECTIVE To determine the characteristics of rhinovirus infection in patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Between July 1, 1993, and July 1, 1995, 40 patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia were identified. Viral cultures were obtained in ambulatory patients presenting with an acute respiratory illness requiring hospitalization or in hospitalized patients with a respiratory deterioration. When rhinovirus was isolated epidemiologic data were collected, and the characteristics of the illness, its severity and outcome were noted. Key features of rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis were compared. RESULTS There were 8 cases of lower respiratory tract illness associated with rhinovirus infection in 6 infants (mean age, 7.1 +/- 4.1 months) and 1 child (age, 40 months), an incidence of 0.15 infection/patient year. The mean gestational age and birth weight of these patients were 27.3 (+/- 2.75) weeks and 853 (+/-341) g, respectively. There were 5 males. Four patients needed intensive care unit admission and 1 required mechanical ventilation. By comparison there were 13 cases of RSV bronchiolitis, an incidence of 0.25 infection/patient year. The 2 groups were similar epidemiologically and an equal proportion of patients with rhinovirus and RSV needed intensive care unit admission. A greater percentage of patients with RSV required mechanical ventilation (50% vs. 14%), but this difference was not statistically significant. Three cases of rhinovirus were nosocomial, and 1 infant had a second infection. Four patients required 5 hospitalizations caused by rhinovirus infection, and the mean duration of hospital stay was 11 days. All children had sustained worsening in their respiratory status after rhinoviral illness requiring additional therapy. CONCLUSIONS Rhinovirus is a common and potentially serious lower respiratory pathogen in bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients. Rhinovirus infection has lasting pulmonary sequelae in these children.