Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship of blood thiamine pyrophosphate to plasma phosphate and the response to enteral nutrition plus co-administration of intravenous thiamine during critical illness.

BACKGROUND Hypovitamin B1 occurs frequently during critical illness but is challenging to predict or rapidly diagnose. The objective of this study were to evaluate whether plasma phosphate concentrations predict hypovitamin B1, enteral nutrition prevents hypovitamin B1 and intravenous thiamine supplementation achieves supraphysiological concentrations in critically ill patients. METHOD Thirty-two enterally-fed critically ill patients, with a plasma phosphate concentration ≤ 0.65 mmol/L, formed a nested cohort within a larger randomised clinical trial. Patients were assigned to receive intravenous thiamine (200 mg) twice daily or no intravenous thiamine (control). Thiamine pyrophosphate concentrations were measured at 4 time points (pre- and post-infusion, and 4- and 6-hours post-infusion) on days 1 and 3 in those allocated to thiamine and once in the control group. RESULTS Baseline thiamine pyrophosphate concentrations were similar (intervention 88 [67, 93] vs. control 89 [62, 110] nmol/L, P=0.49). Eight (25%) patients had hypovitamin B1 (intervention 3 vs. control 5), with two patients in the control group remaining insufficient at day 3. There was no association between baseline phosphate and thiamine pyrophosphate concentrations. Intravenous thiamine achieved supraphysiological concentrations 6 hours post first infusion with concentrations increasing to day 3. In the control group, thiamine pyrophosphate concentrations were not statistically different between baseline and day 3 (mean change 8.6 (-6.0, 23.1) nmol/L, P=0.25). CONCLUSIONS Phosphate concentrations did not predict hypovitamin B1, which was observed in 25% of the participants. Enteral nutrition alone prevented the development of new hypovitamin B1. Administration of a single 200 mg dose of intravenous thiamine achieved supraphysiological concentrations of thiamine pyrophosphate with repeated dosing sustaining this effect. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Barcoding, linear and nonlinear analysis of full-day leg movements in infants with typical development and infants at risk of developmental disabilities: Cross-sectional study

Traditional methods do not capture the multidimensional domains and dynamic nature of infant behavioral patterns. We aim to compare full-day, in-home leg movement data between infants with typical development (TD) and infants at risk of developmental disabilities (AR) using barcoding and nonlinear analysis. Eleven infants with TD (2–10 months) and nine infants AR (adjusted age: 2–14 months) wore a sensor on each ankle for 7 days. We calculated the standard deviation for linear variability and sample entropy (SampEn) of leg acceleration and angular velocity for nonlinear variability. Movements were also categorized into 16 barcoding states, and we calculated the SampEn and proportions of the barcoding. All variables were compared between the two groups using independent-samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test. The AR group had larger linear variability compared to the TD group. SampEn was lower in the AR group compared to TD group for both acceleration and angular velocity. Two barcoding states’ proportions were significantly different between the two groups. The results showed that nonlinear analysis and barcoding could be used to identify the difference of dynamic multidimensional movement patterns between infants AR and infants with TD. This information may help early diagnosis of developmental disabilities in the future.
Immediate and Delayed Salivary Cytokine Responses during Repeated Exposures to Cold Pressor Stress

Introduction: Excessive stress is increasingly recognized as an important trigger of many diseases prevalent in modern societies, and monitoring such stress-related effects could aid prevention. The measurement of salivary markers of inflammation is emerging as a promising tool to non-invasively quantify stress’ effects on immune processes in everyday life and thereby detect early aberrations before the manifestation of serious health problems. However, more laboratory-controlled research is needed in order to establish the timescale and determinants of salivary cytokine responses to acute stress. Methods: We repeatedly exposed participants to Cold Pressor Stress Test (CPT) or a control procedure and measured a wide array of salivary cytokines as well as subjective, cardiovascular, and cortisol stress reactions. CPT exposure was repeated every 15 min, 3 times in total, with a duration of 3 min each. Saliva was sampled immediately after the first two exposures as well as in 15-min intervals until 60 min after the onset of the first intervention. Results: We found that many cytokines were detectable in saliva. Specific stress effects were limited to IL-8 and IL-6, however, which decreased immediately or 15 min after stress onset, respectively. Moreover, IL-8 was negatively correlated to cortisol output in the stress but not in the control group. Significant increases were also observed in salivary TNFα and IFNγ; however, these effects were similar under both stress and control conditions. Discussion: Our results show that particular salivary cytokines may be sensitive to immediate effects of acute CPT-induced stress and also highlight the importance of employing control procedures to discern stress effects from unrelated variations in salivary cytokines.
Relative importance of potential risk factors for dementia in patients with hypertension

Patients with hypertension are at higher risk for dementia than the general population. We sought to understand the relative importance of various risk factors in the development of dementia among patients with hypertension. This population-based cohort study used data from the Korean National Insurance Service database. Using the Cox proportional hazard model, R2 values for each potential risk factor were calculated to test the relative importance of risk factors for the development of dementia. Eligible individuals were adults 40 to 79 years of age with hypertension and without a history of stroke and dementia between 2007 and 2009. A total of 650,476 individuals (mean age, 60 ± 11 years) with hypertension were included in the analyses. During a mean follow-up of 9.5 years (±2.8 years), 57,112 cases of dementia were observed. The three strongest predictors of dementia were age, comorbidity burden (assessed using the Charlson Comorbidity Index), and female sex (R2 values, 0.0504, 0.0023, and 0.0022, respectively). The next strongest risk factors were physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity (R2 values, 0.00070, 0.00024, 0.00021, and 0.00020, respectively). Across all age groups, physical inactivity was an important risk factor for dementia occurrence. In summary, controlling and preventing comorbidities are of utmost importance to prevent dementia in patients with hypertension. More efforts should be taken to encourage physical activity among patients with hypertension across all age groups. Furthermore, smoking cessation, avoiding and limiting alcohol consumption, and maintaining an appropriate body weight are urged to prevent dementia.
Superiority of ibrutinib plus bendamustine and rituximab in newly diagnosed patients with mantle‐cell lymphoma ineligible for intensive therapy: A network meta‐analysis

Because of lacking of head‐to‐head comparison among recently effective novel agents’ combination regimens for newly diagnosed patients with mantle‐cell lymphoma (MCL) who are ineligible for intensive therapy like autologous stem‐cell transplantation, the optimal option for these patients still remains undefined. We searched relevant published reports. Three randomized controlled trials with 1459 subjects were identified. In the network meta‐analysis, ibrutinib plus bendamustine and rituximab (Ibru + BR) significantly improved progression‐free survival (PFS) when compared to bortezomib, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (VR‐CAP; hazard ratio [HR]: 0.55, p = .03) and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R‐CHOP; HR: 0.35, p < .001) for newly diagnosed patients with MCL ineligible for intensive therapy. Among these first‐line treatment regimens (Ibru + BR, VR‐CAP, R‐CHOP, and BR), Ibru + BR had the highest probability of 94.9% to be the best intervention in PFS analysis. No significant difference was found in adverse events analysis. Our data indicated that Ibru + BR seemed to prolong the PFS when compared to VR‐CAP and R‐CHOP for newly diagnosed patients with MCL ineligible for intensive therapy. Considering our limits, prospective clinical trials directly comparing these regimens are warranted.
NEW MAXIMUM FLOW ALGORITHMS BY MA ORDERINGS AND SCALING

Maximum adjacency (MA) ordering has eﬀectively been applied to graph connectivity problems by Nagamochi and Ibaraki. We show an application of MA ordering to the maximum ﬂow problem to get a new polynomial-time algorithm and propose its scaling versions that run in O( mn log U ) time, where m is the number of arcs, n the number of vertices, and U the maximum capacity. We give computational results, comparing our algorithms with those of Goldberg-Tarjan and Dinitz, to show behaviors of our proposed algorithms.
Beyond Spin-Triplet: Nodal Topological Superconductivity in a Noncentrosymmetric Semimetal

The discovery of superconductivity in the rare earth-based half-Heusler semimetals RTBi (R=rare earth, T=Pt, Pd) has opened a new avenue for investigation of topological phases of matter. With charge carrier densities several orders of magnitude lower than conventional metals, these materials pose a challenge for investigating the nature of the superconducting state, which itself may have inherent topological properties. Here, we report experimental evidence for an unconventional superconducting state in YPtBi, which presents a striking linear temperature dependence of the London penetration depth consistent with line nodes in the superconducting order parameter $\Delta$. With strong antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling giving rise to spin-split Fermi surfaces -- as verified by angle-dependent Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy -- we propose a $\mathbf{k\cdot p}$ model of $j=3/2$ fermions that naturally leads to exotic nodal Cooper pairing states with high total angular momentum. With the simplest gap model involving a dominant $J=3$ septet pairing between the $j=3/2$ fermions of the $p$-like $\Gamma_8$ band, the topological pairing states in this half-Heusler compound present a truly novel form of superconductivity that has strong potential for leading the development of a new series of topological superconductors.
Fractionation of blood components using high gradient magnetic separation

We review a wide range of strategies for using high gradient magnetic separtion to fractionate blood components. The physics bases of the techniques involve: (i) variations in cell haemoglobin and cell geometry; (ii) changes in haemoglobin magnetic susceptibility in various carrier environments; (iii) the use of paramagnetic carrier fluids. Single wire and bulk filter studies are reported which show that these techniques can be successfully applied to: (a) white cell and platelet counting; (b) cell fractionation on haemoglobin type and content; (c) diamagnetic white cell and platelet separation; (d) nucleated red cell studies; (e) sickle cell separation. We show that red blood cells can be magnetically separated both paramagnetically and diamagnetically and offer a basis or the assessment of diamagnetic capture efficiency.
Physics of Cardiac Arrhythmogenesis

A normal heartbeat is orchestrated by the stable propagation of an excitation wave that produces an orderly contraction. In contrast, wave turbulence in the ventricles, clinically known as ventricular fibrillation (VF), stops the heart from pumping and is lethal without prompt defibrillation. I review experimental, computational, and theoretical studies that have shed light on complex dynamical phenomena linked to the initiation, maintenance, and control of wave turbulence. I first discuss advances made to understand the precursor state to a reentrant arrhythmia where the refractory period of cardiac tissue becomes spatiotemporally disordered; this is known as an arrhythmogenic tissue substrate. I describe observed patterns of transmembrane voltage and intracellular calcium signaling that can contribute to this substrate, and symmetry breaking instabilities to explain their formation. I then survey mechanisms of wave turbulence and discuss novel methods that exploit electrical pacing stimuli to control pr.
Reverse Maximum Inner Product Search: Formulation, Algorithms, and Analysis

The maximum inner product search (MIPS), which finds the item with the highest inner product with a given query user, is an essential problem in the recommendation field. Usually e-commerce companies face situations where they want to promote and sell new or discounted items. In these situations, we have to consider the following questions: Who is interested in the items, and how do we find them? This article answers this question by addressing a new problem called reverse maximum inner product search (reverse MIPS). Given a query vector and two sets of vectors (user vectors and item vectors), the problem of reverse MIPS finds a set of user vectors whose inner product with the query vector is the maximum among the query and item vectors. Although the importance of this problem is clear, its straightforward implementation incurs a computationally expensive cost. We therefore propose Simpfer, a simple, fast, and exact algorithm for reverse MIPS. In an offline phase, Simpfer builds a simple index that maintains a lower bound of the maximum inner product. By exploiting this index, Simpfer judges whether the query vector can have the maximum inner product or not, for a given user vector, in a constant time. Our index enables filtering user vectors, which cannot have the maximum inner product with the query vector, in a batch. We theoretically demonstrate that Simpfer outperforms baselines employing state-of-the-art MIPS techniques. In addition, we answer two new research questions. Can approximation algorithms further improve reverse MIPS processing? Is there an exact algorithm that is faster than Simpfer? For the former, we show that approximation with quality guarantee provides a little speed-up. For the latter, we propose Simpfer++, a theoretically and practically faster algorithm than Simpfer. Our extensive experiments on real datasets show that Simpfer is at least two orders of magnitude faster than the baselines, and Simpfer++ further improves the online processing time.
Lipid exchange among electroneutral Sulfo-DIBMA nanodiscs is independent of ion concentration

Abstract Polymer-encapsulated nanodiscs enable membrane proteins to be investigated within a native-like lipid-bilayer environment. Unlike other bilayer-based membrane mimetics, these nanodiscs are equilibrium structures that permit lipid exchange on experimentally relevant timescales. Therefore, examining the kinetics and mechanisms of lipid exchange is of great interest. Since the high charge densities of existing anionic polymers can interfere with protein–protein and protein–lipid interactions as well as charge-sensitive analysis techniques, electroneutral nanodisc-forming polymers have been recently introduced. However, it has remained unclear how the electroneutrality of these polymers affects the lipid-exchange behavior of the nanodiscs. Here, we use time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer to study the kinetics and the mechanisms of lipid exchange among nanodiscs formed by the electroneutral polymer Sulfo-DIBMA. We also examine the role of coulombic repulsion and specific counterion association in lipid exchange. Our results show that Sulfo-DIBMA nanodiscs exchange lipids on a similar timescale as DIBMA nanodiscs. In contrast with nanodiscs made from polyanionic DIBMA, however, the presence of mono- and divalent cations does not influence lipid exchange among Sulfo-DIBMA nanodiscs, as expected from their electroneutrality. The robustness of Sulfo-DIBMA nanodiscs against varying ion concentrations opens new possibilities for investigating charge-sensitive processes involving membrane proteins.
Stability of distributed MPC in an intersection scenario

The research topic of autonomous cars and the communication among them has attained much attention in the last years and is developing quickly. Among others, this research area spans fields such as image recognition, mathematical control theory, communication networks, and sensor fusion. We consider an intersection scenario where we divide the shared road space in different cells. These cells form a grid. The cars are modelled as an autonomous multi-agent system based on the Distributed Model Predictive Control algorithm (DMPC). We prove that the overall system reaches stability using Optimal Control for each multi-agent and demonstrate that by numerical results.
Phospholipid Fatty Acid Profiles of Plasma and Erythrocyte Membranes in Dogs Fed with Commercial Granulated Food

Abstract Intake of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) benefits human and animal health. Our study aimed to analyze the long-chain n-3 PUFA content of two types of food and their effect on plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids of Belgian Shepherd dogs. A total of 10 dogs were fed commercial granulated food (Food 1), and another 10 were provided commercial Premium granulated food of high quality (Food 2). All the analyses were performed using gas-liquid chromatography. Our results showed that Food 1 contained more n-3 PUFA than Food 2, which was reflected in higher n-3 PUFA in plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids. Because long-chain n-3 PUFA in phospholipids are precursors for antioxidative molecules, further studies should investigate the effects of the analyzed commercial granulated food rich in n-3 on oxidative stress parameters in dogs.
Survival benefits with EPIC in addition to HIPEC for low grade appendiceal neoplasms with pseudomyxoma peritonei: a propensity score matched study

Abstract Objectives Appendiceal cancer is a rare malignancy, occurring in roughly 1.2 per 100,000 per year. Low grade appendiceal neoplasams (LAMN) in particular can lead to pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), and respond poorly to systemic chemotherapy. Standard treatment includes cytoreduction surgery (CRS) with addition of heated intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Several centres include early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC) however; the literature is mixed on the benefits. We aim to examine the benefits of additional EPIC through a propensity-matched analysis. Methods Patients with LAMN with PMP who underwent cytoreductive surgery at St George hospital between 1996 and 2020 were included in this retrospective analysis. Propensity score matching was performed with the following used to identify matched controls; sex, age, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade, peritoneal cancer index (PCI) and morbidity grade. Outcomes measured included length of stay and survival. Results A total of 224 patients were identified of which 52 received HIPEC alone. Propensity matching was performed to identify 52 matched patients who received HIPEC + EPIC. Those receiving HIPEC + EPIC were younger at 54.3 vs. 58.4 years (p=0.044). There was a median survival benefit of 34.3 months for HIPEC + EPIC (127.3 vs. 93.0 months, p=0.02). Median length of stay was higher in those who received EPIC (25.0 vs. 23.5 days, p=0.028). Conclusions In LAMN with PMP, the addition of EPIC to HIPEC with CRS improves overall survival in propensity score matched cases but results in prolonged hospitalisation. The use of EPIC should still be considered in selected patients.
Measurement of the Cross-Section for W Boson Production in Association with b-Jets in Proton-Proton Collisions at \(\sqrt s = 7\) TeV at the LHC using the ATLAS detector

This dissertation presents a measurement of the W+b-jets (pp → W + b(b̄) + X) production cross-section in proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC. The results are based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb−1, collected with the ATLAS detector. The measurement probes the QCD sector of the Standard Model at high energy, in a region where b-quark mass and double parton scattering play an important role. In addition, the measurement is relevant for searches for physics beyond the Standard Model in final states with a W boson and b-jets. The measurement relies on the leptonic decay modes of the W , and on the identification of b-jets. The backgrounds to the W+b-jets process are estimated using Monte Carlo simulation and data-driven techniques. Cross-sections, corrected for all known detector effects and quoted in a limited kinematic range, are presented as a function of jet multiplicity and of the transverse momentum of the leading b-jet for both the muon and electron decay modes of the W boson.
Knockout of αβ but not γδ T cells in chickens is associated with high cytotoxicity and deficiency of regulatory and helper T cells

The availability of genetically modified mice has facilitated the study of mammalian T cells. No model has yet been developed to study these cells in chicken, an important livestock species with a high availability of γδ T cells. To investigate the role of γδ and αβ T cell populations in birds, we generated chickens lacking these T cell populations. This was achieved by genomic deletion of the constant region of the T cell receptor γ or αβ chain, leading to a complete loss of either γδ or αβ T cells. Our results show that a deletion of αβ T cells but not γδ T cells resulted in a severe phenotype in knockout chickens. The αβ T cell knockout chickens exhibited granulomas associated with inflammation of the spleen and the proventriculus. Immunophenotyping of αβ T cell knockout chickens revealed a significant increase in monocytes and the absence of CD4+ T cells and FoxP3+ regulatory T cells compared to wild type chickens. In addition, we observed a significant decrease in immunoglobulins, B lymphocytes, and changes in the bursa morphology. Our data reveal the consequences of T cell knockouts in chickens and provide new insights into their function in vertebrates. Significance statement The lack of genetically modified chickens has severely limited research in avian immunology compared to other animal models. Here, we report the generation of two T cell knockout chicken lines that will contribute significantly to the understanding of T cell biology as a very important research model as well as an important livestock species. The generated animals reveal the function of different T cell populations in chickens and will help to better understand the role of these cells during the interaction with various pathogens in birds.