Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk Factors Affecting Quality of Life in a Group of Italian Children with Asthma

The measure of Quality of Life (QoL) has become one of the most important criteria used to assess the impact of chronic illness, such as asthma, on the patient's daily life, in adults and children alike. The objective of our open observational study was to measure the QoL and analyze several factors that potentially affect QoL, such as symptoms and functional respiratory parameters, in a cohort of children with asthma. One hundred and twenty-seven children with asthma, 6 to 14 years of age, living in the city of Rome, were enrolled as outpatients. They were subjected to Skin Prick Tests (SPT), underwent spirometry and filled out the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ). One hundred and eleven children were diagnosed with intermittent asthma, 12 (10%) with mild asthma, and four with moderate persistent asthma. Ninety-six children had a positive SPT. The mean total score of QoL, obtained from the questionnaire, was 5.4 (±1.2 SD). Two QoL groups were created. Children with total QoL score <5.5 were included in the “Lower QoL” score group while children with total QoL score ≥ 5.5 were included in the “Higher QoL” score group. Children in the Higher group and their mothers had a higher mean age, suffered from fewer asthma exacerbations during the year preceding the study, and showed a higher mean value of forced expiratory volume (FEV1) compared to the children in the Lower category. Using Logistic regression we identified the main factors that may affect QoL as FEV1, symptoms in the previous year and mother's age. QoL is correlated with the frequency of asthma exacerbations and FEV1 values. Furthermore, our research shows that a significant impairment of QoL may also occur in patients with normal lung function, pointing out the importance of evaluating QoL in all children with asthma.
The serological cross-reaction between bovine serum albumin and anti-ovalbumin.

BSA reacted with sera from both guinea pigs and rabbits immunized with five times crystallized OV, but OV did not react with the sera from rabbits immunized with crystalline BSA. The cross-reaction between BSA and anti-OV sera was the result of antibody produced against an impurity in the five times crystallized OV. This impurity could be detected by double diffusion in agar in a commercial preparation of OM, but not in preparations of OV, CA or lysozyme. Sheep albumin also reacted with anti-OV sera. Sera of rabbits and guinea pigs immunized with five times crystallized OV contained antibodies which reacted in agar with OV, CA and OM, but not with lysozyme. The reactions of egg white, OV, CA and OM with rabbit anti-OV also were analyzed by immunoelectrophoresis.
Risk factors and incidence of diabetic retinopathy

Objective:The present study aims to evaluate the incidence, and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy( disease duration and the presence of hypertension). Methods: This is a field study, retrospective with quantitative approach. The study population was patients diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy in the period of july 2015 to december 2015. The collection of the data was made through analysis of medical records, it was analyzed the following data : time of diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, presence or absence of systemic hypertension Results: The overall incidence of diabetic retinopathy was 24 new cases in thesis months of analysis. Of wich a total of 66%( 16 patients) had systemic arterial hypertension and 46% had inefficient glycemic control. It was observed that 66% of the patients had indication for photocoagulation laser or intravitreal injection of anti-angiogenic and among those, 35% had diabetes for over 20 years. Conclusion: There was a strong relation between severe diabetic retinopathy, the duration of disease, systemic hypertension and bad glycemic control, with a poor outcome for disease. It also concludes that there is a significant need for assessment of diabetic patients for the presence of DR.
The Structure Analysis of Chinese Medical Equipment Market

Chinese medical equipment industries are switching from traditional manufacture to high-tech development. Strategy of multiple demands, fierce competition between industries and capital resource promote industry consolidation. In the process of comprehensive and professional development, it is a trend that Chinese medical instrument enterprises will emerge into several industry giants. Strategic positioning is decisive for the future development. The three patterns of development recommended by this paper include focusing on market segments, focusing on emerging and becoming comprehensive giants and focusing on science and technology.
Critical Role of Protein Kinase C βII in Activation of Mast Cells by Monomeric IgE*

Accumulating evidence suggests that IgE-mediated activation of mast cells occurs even in the absence of antigen, which is referred to as “monomeric IgE” responses. Although monomeric IgE was found to induce a wide variety of responses, such as up-regulation of the FcϵRI, survival, cytokine production, histamine synthesis, and adhesion to fibronectin, it remains to be clarified how mast cells are activated in the absence of antigen. It has been controversial whether monomeric IgE responses are mediated by a similar signaling mechanism to antigen stimulation, although recent studies suggest that IgE can induce the FcϵRI aggregation even in the absence of antigen. In this study, we focused on the role of conventional protein kinase C (cPKC), since this response is suppressed by a specific inhibitor for cPKC. Monomeric IgE-induced Ca2+ influx was not observed in a mouse mastocytoma cell line, which lacks the expression of PKCβII, although Ca2+ influx induced by cross-linking of the FcϵRI was intact. Transfection of PKCβII cDNA was found to restore the Ca2+ influx induced by monomeric IgE in this cell line. Furthermore, the dominant negative form of PKCβII (PKCβII/T500V) significantly suppressed the Ca2+ influx, histamine synthesis, and interleukin-6 production in another mouse mast cell line, which is highly sensitive to monomeric IgE. Expression of PKCβII/T500V was found not to affect the antigen-induced responses. These results suggest that PKCβII plays a critical role in monomeric IgE responses, but not in antigen responses.
A built-in parametric timing measurement unit

On-chip timing-measurement units are needed because accessibility to internal nodes in SoCs is very limited, and performing time interval measurements using automatic test equipment is very difficult and expensive. We present a parametric timing measurement solution, which uses self-timed techniques and delivers high linearity and improved accuracy, at low risk of measurement error. Performing the time-to-digital conversion via built-in circuitry allows accurate measurement of short time intervals and setup/hold time. This circuitry coordinates well with low-cost ATE. To achieve this solution, researchers have used techniques such as delay matrices, phase-locked loops (PLLs), and dual-slope conversion.
Fast ‘Operando’ electron nanotomography

Electron tomography in transmission electron microscopy provides valuable three‐dimensional structural, morphological and chemical information of condensed matter at nanoscale. Current image acquisitions require at least tens of minutes, which prohibits the analysis of nano‐objects evolving rapidly such as under dynamic environmental conditions. Reducing the acquisition duration to tens of seconds or less permits to follow in 3D the same object during its evolution under varying temperatures and pressures. We report Operando Electron nanotomography using image series acquired in less than 230 seconds instead of typically 15 min in the best cases so far. The in situ calcination of silica zeolites encaging silver nanoparticles, a catalytic nanosystem of potential interest for, e.g., nuclear waste treatments or selective heterogeneous catalysis, was successfully studied. Kinetic environmental Operando 3D electron microscopy becomes possible, as well as real time observation of beam sensitive samples (polymers, biological objects) without prior preparation, which reduces their contrast and reactivity.
Pathogenesis of deep white matter medullary infarcts: a diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging study

Background and Purpose: The pathogenesis of deep white matter medullary (WMM) artery infarcts remains controversial. To address this question, we analysed the stroke patterns of WMM infarcts using diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) to detect embolic signals and investigate stroke subtypes according to the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) classifications. Methods: We identified WMM infarcts on DWI using templates to determine the subcortical vascular territories. We classified WMM infarcts into those with small artery disease (SAD), large artery disease (LAD), cardioembolism (CE), two or more aetiologies, or undetermined aetiology. Clinical course, risk factors, and cortical spotty lesions were compared. Results: Of the 1420 consecutive patients, 103 (7.3%) met the criteria for WMM infarcts. The stroke subtypes were as follows: 65 (63.1%) patients with LAD, 18 (17.5%) with SAD, 12 (11.7%) with CE, four (3.9%) with two or more aetiologies, three (2.1%) with undetermined aetiology, and one (1.0%) with other determined aetiology. LAD (87.7%) or CE (83.3%) was significantly accompanied by cortical embolic signals as compared to SAD (0%, p<0.001). The LAD infarcts were larger and tended to be chain-like in shape. Ischaemic stroke recurrence was more common in strokes with cortical embolic signals than in those without embolic signals (18.9% v 0%, p = 0.009). Conclusions: In present study, the most common pathogenesis of WMM infarcts was LAD. Our study indicates that WMM infarcts accompanying cortical embolic signals warrant evaluation of the underlying embolic sources in the large artery or the heart.
Non-focal microwave lens design with optimization of phase errors and amplitude performance

A symmetry design model for 7×7 microstrip non-focal Rotman lens is presented with a precise behavior of phase errors and amplitude performance. Methods for optimizing show average phase errors of 2.1 degree and average amplitude errors of 1.8 dB along the input ports of array elements. Array factor of the lens shows less than 2 degree deviation along the 90 degree scanning and shows good amplitude tapering at all excitation ports.
Reduction of partial product matrix for high-speed single or multiple constant multiplication

Multiplication by one or several constants is a frequently required arithmetic operation in many DSP functions. A fast and low power implementation for single constant multiplication based on Canonical Signed Digit (CSD) was proposed by Pai et al. to extend it for multiple constant multiplication, two upper bounds for the number of partial product rows were derived. The general upper bound depends only on the bit width of the variable and the specific upper bound depends on both the bit width of the variable and the number of nonzero digits of the CSD encoded constant. Their implications on the logic depth for the carry propagate adder implementation and the depth of the carry save adder tree are analyzed. This paper present an interesting fact that if the constant requires more nonzero digits to be represented than the input bit width, the number of partial product rows can be reduced and leads to a faster and simpler implementation than the direct CSD implementation. The improvements in terms of the maximal possible and average partial product rows are also shown for some constant coefficient FIR filters examples, where the reduction ranges from none to 71% depending on the input bit width. Besides the reduction in the height of the partial product matrix, an example is also presented to show that up to 56% of full and half adders can be shared for multiple constant multiplication.
Are formalised implementation activities associated with aspects of quality of care in general practice? A cross-sectional study

Background There is a substantial variation in how different general practices manage knowledge implementation, including the degree to which activities are collectively and formally organised. Yet, it is unclear how these differences in implementation activities affect quality of care. Aim To investigate if there are associations between specific formalised knowledge implementation activities and quality of care in general practices, exemplified by the use of spirometry testing. Design & setting A nationwide cross-sectional study combining survey and register data in Denmark. Method An electronic questionnaire was distributed to GPs, and data on spirometry testing among first-time users of medication against obstructive lung diseases were obtained from national registers. Associations were investigated using multilevel mixed-effect logit models. Results GPs from 1114 practices (58%) responded, and 33 788 patients were linked to a responding practice. In partnership practices, the frequency of interdisciplinary and GP meetings affected the quality of care. Interdisciplinary and GP meetings held on a weekly basis were significantly associated with a higher level of quality of care and this was measured by the odds ratio (OR) of patients having spirometry. The development of practice protocols and standard recordings in the electronic medical record (EMR) for a range of disease areas compared with few or no areas at all also impacted the quality of care level provided. The effect of formalised implementation activities was not as evident in single-handed practices as in partnerships. Conclusion This study provides valuable knowledge for GPs who aim to organise their practice in a way that supports implementation and quality improvement most effectively. Also, results may be useful for managers of implementation strategies and quality improvement initiatives when planning future activities.
Taxonomy of the Colocasiomyia gigantea species group (Diptera, Drosophilidae), with descriptions of four new species from Yunnan, China

Abstract Species of the genus Colocasiomyia de Meijere feed/breed on inflorescences/infructescences of the plants from the families Araceae, Arecaceae and Magnoliaceae. Although most of them utilize plants from the subfamily Aroideae of Araceae, three species of the recently established C. gigantea species group make use of plants of the subfamily Monsteroideae. We describe four new species of the gigantea group found from Yunnan, China: Colocasiomyia longifilamentata Li & Gao, sp. n. , C. longivalva Li & Gao, sp. n. , C. hailini Li & Gao, sp. n. , and C. yini Li & Gao, sp. n. The species delimitation is proved in virtue of not only morphology but also DNA barcodes, i.e., sequences of the partial mitochondrial COI (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) gene. Some nucleotide sites with fixed status in the alignment of the COI sequences (658 sites in length) are used as “pure” molecular diagnostic characters to delineate species in the gigantea group.
Testing randomness in a multivariate Bernoulli process

The problem of detecting randomness in a multivariate Bernoulli process is considered. A test which is based on the likelihood ratio test is presented, and its asymptotic distribution is derived. Simulations are reported on the performance of the proposed test in large and small sample sizes. Further analysis is conducted by comparing the power of the proposed test and the Rao-Scott test.
Parallel algorithms for modeling flow in permeable media. Annual report, February 15, 1995 - February 14, 1996

This report describes the application of distributed-memory parallel programming techniques to a compositional simulator called UTCHEM. The University of Texas Chemical Flooding reservoir simulator (UTCHEM) is a general-purpose vectorized chemical flooding simulator that models the transport of chemical species in three-dimensional, multiphase flow through permeable media. The parallel version of UTCHEM addresses solving large-scale problems by reducing the amount of time that is required to obtain the solution as well as providing a flexible and portable programming environment. In this work, the original parallel version of UTCHEM was modified and ported to CRAY T3D and CRAY T3E, distributed-memory, multiprocessor computers using CRAY-PVM as the interprocessor communication library. Also, the data communication routines were modified such that the portability of the original code across different computer architectures was mad possible.
Reproduction and fetal development in mice chronically exposed to enflurane.

Reproductive indices and developmental toxicity were evaluated in Swiss/ICR mice chronically exposed to a subanesthetic (0.01 or 0.1 per cent) or an anesthetic (0.5/1.0 per cent) concentration of enflurane. Pregnant mice (443) and fetuses (4743) were examined. In one experiment, groups of females were exposed to 0.01, 0.1, or 0.5/1.0 per cent enflurane for 4 hours per day, 7 days per week for 3 weeks; they were then mated with unexposed males. Exposure of females was continued daily throughout pregnancy. No adverse effects on fertility were observed at any dosage. At the highest dosage, 1.0 per cent, minor developmental variations occurred (i.e., lumbar ribs and increased renal pelvic cavitation). In a second experiment, groups of mice were exposed to 0.01, 0.1 or 1.0 per cent enflurance only on days 6 through 15 of pregnancy for 4 hours per day, after having been mated with untreated males. Abnormalities (i.e., increased incidence of cleft palate, minor skeletal and visceral anomalies, and developmental variants) were again seen only at the highest dosage. In a third experiment, male mice were exposed to 0.01, 0.1 or 0.5/1.0 per cent enflurane for 11 weeks for 4 hours per day, 5 days per week, prior to mating with unexposed females; results of this experiment were negative. In general, enflurane treatments did not adversely affect reproductive indices. Effects on fetal development were minimal, being somewhat greater than those reported in previous experiments with methoxyflurane but less than those seen with halothane. The smallest exposure at which effects were seen was approximately 100 times greater than the level of human occupational exposure in unscavenged operating rooms.
Research Outcomes of Auditory-Verbal Intervention: Is the Approach Justified?

Abstract This paper examines the construct of evidence-based practice, how existing data on the effectiveness of the Auditory-Verbal (A-V) approach for children with hearing loss are evaluated within this construct, and whether implementation of an A-V intervention model is therefore justified. It concludes with a recurrent call for action towards collaborative multi-centre research. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development of Drosophila on sterol mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Four species of Drosophila (melanogaster, simulans, mauritiana and virilis ) were tested for their ability to survive on erg strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae each having a mutant block at a different reaction in the synthesis of ergosterol. Species capable of completing development on a given yeast mutant strain were tested for egg production and viability, and also for their ability to survive on the mutant yeast for five complete generations. Sterol analyses using gas–liquid chromatography show that the sterol composition of flies closely resembles that of the yeasts on which they are grown, confirming that the steric criteria for sterols capable of a structural role in lipoprotein membranes are relatively broad. Even so, different sterols are not equally efficient in this respect and there are differences between species in their tolerance to the sterols available from each of the yeast mutants. The range of sterols capable of satisfying the micronutrient, as distinct from the macronutrient, requirement is narrower. Growth on two of the yeast mutants ( erg-2 and erg-6 ) leads to developmental arrest in the larval stage due, it is suggested, to a block in the synthesis of ecdysone. The four Drosophila species lack an effective level of Δ 8 −Δ 7 isomerase which is necessary for utilization of zymosterol and other Δ 8 sterol precursors of ergosterol. Ergosta-5,7-diene-3β-ol appears to be capable of substituting for cholesterol in the metabolism of Drosophila .
Characterization of rotaviruses causing diarrhoea in Vietnamese children

Abstract Faecal samples from 123 children admitted to the Centre for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, with acute watery diarrhoea were screened by negative-stain electron microscopy for viral enteropathogens. In addition to the 48 children who were found to be infected with rotavirus only, one had both rotavirus and astrovirus, two had adenovirus 40/41, and one had astrovirus only. The rotaviruses were subjected to molecular analysis by electropherotyping, G- and P-genotyping (by reverse-transcriptase PCR), and amplicon sequencing. By use of newly designed PCR primers, all 49 isolates could be G-genotyped and all but one P-genotyped. Novel variants of G1—G1*—were the most commonly detected G-genotype and such variants of P[8]—P[8*]—were the second commonest P-genotype. The P[8*] and G1* amplicons were, respectively, only 92%–93.4% and 88.1%-89% similar to the corresponding sequences from the prototype P[8] G1 rotavirus, Wa. Several unusual P- and G-genotype combinations were detected. Four (8%) of the children investigated were each found to be co-infected with two different rotaviruses. These data add to our knowledge of the continuing evolution and diversity of human rotaviruses, and should help in the rational design of vaccines.
Nonvalvular Cardiovascular Device–Related Infections

More than a century ago, Osler took numerous syndrome descriptions of cardiac valvular infection that were incomplete and confusing and categorized them into the cardiovascular infections known as infective endocarditis. Because he was both a clinician and a pathologist, he was able to provide a meaningful outline of this complex disease. Technical advances have allowed us to better subcategorize infective endocarditis on the basis of microbiological etiology. More recently, the syndromes of infective endocarditis and endarteritis have been expanded to include infections involving a variety of cardiovascular prostheses and devices that are used to replace or assist damaged or dysfunctional tissues (Table 1). Taken together, infections of these novel intracardiac, arterial, and venous devices are frequently seen in medical centers throughout the developed world. In response, the American Heart Association’s Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease wrote this review to assist and educate clinicians who care for an increasing number of patients with nonvalvular cardiovascular device–related infections. Because timely guidelines1,2 exist that address the prevention and management of intravascular catheter–related infections, these device-related infections are not discussed in the present Statement. View this table: TABLE 1. Nonvalvular Cardiovascular Device–Related Infections This review is divided into two broad sections. The first section examines general principles for the evaluation and management of infection that apply to all nonvalvular cardiovascular devices. Despite the marked variability in composition, structure, function, and frequency of infection among the various types of nonvalvular cardiovascular devices reviewed in this article, there are several areas of commonality for infection of these devices. These include clinical manifestations, microbiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The second section addresses each device and describes unique clinical features of infection. Each device is placed into one of 3 categories—intracardiac, arterial, or venous—for discussion. ### Clinical Manifestations The specific signs and symptoms associated with an infection of a …