Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation an Investigation of the Effect of Advancing Uraemia, Renal Replacement Therapy and Renal Transplantation on Blood Pressure Diurnal Variability Degrees of Renal Impairment, in Renal Transplantation

phenomenon is not modulated by successful renal transplantation. Background. Ambulatory blood pressure recordings have been shown to correlate better with target organ Key words: ambulatory blood pressure; dipper; anti-damage than have isolated clinic blood pressure read-hypertensives; uraemia ings. There have been some small studies demonstrating that abnormal blood pressure diurnal rhythm is common in uraemia and in patients on renal replacement therapy. Abnormal blood pressure diurnal rhythm itself may be a risk factor for accelerated target Introduction organ damage. Methods. We retrospectively studied 480 ambulatory Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has blood pressure recordings in 380 patients with essential become an increasingly reliable and useful tool for the hypertension, secondary hypertension, and on renal accurate measurement of both daytime ambulatory replacement therapy. We examined diurnal blood pres-blood pressure and night-time (sleeping) blood pressure rhythm in each group. sure, when in normal individuals there is a decline in Results. Abnormal blood pressure diurnal rhythm blood pressure. Data from population studies have (non-dipping) is significantly more prevalent in patients given different values for the 'normal' nocturnal decline with underlying renal disease, even with normal excret-of blood pressure in healthy individuals [1,2]. This ory renal function (53%) than in age-, sex-, and race-change in blood pressure is approximately a 15% matched controls with essential hypertension ((30%), reduction in systolic and 20% reduction in diastolic P<0.01). In patients with renal disease the prevalence blood pressure with sleep [2 ]. There has been shown of non-dipping rose with worsening renal function, to be good correlation between clinic blood pressure reaching statistical significance once plasma creatinine recordings and daytime ambulatory blood pressure was greater than 400 mmol/l. There was a direct correla-recordings [3]; however, ambulatory blood pressure tion between plasma creatinine and percent decline in (ABP) over a 24-h period has been shown to have blood pressure at night for both systolic (r=0.23) and a better correlation with end-organ damage than have diastolic (r=0.24) blood pressure in patients with isolated clinic readings [4,5]. This more accurate underlying renal disease and impaired excretory renal correlation may be first because ABPM can identify function. High prevalences of abnormal diurnal BP those individuals with 'white coat hypertension' who rhythm are seen in patients on haemodialysis (82%), are less likely to have target-organ damage, and second peritoneal dialysis (78%), patients with plasma creat-that ABPM provides data about total 24-h blood inine >600 mmol/l (75%), and in renal transplant pressure load, …
An empirically tuned 2D and 3D FFT library on CUDA GPU

In this paper, a Cooley-Tukey algorithm based multidimensional FFT computation framework on GPU is proposed. This framework generalizes the decomposition of multi-dimensional FFT on GPUs using an I/O tensor representation, and therefore provides a systematic description of possible FFT implementations on GPUs. The framework is geared to the efficiency of multi-dimensional FFT on GPU architectures. In particular, no global transposition among dimensions is performed and some previously unnoticed grouping and commutability of multiple dimensions are highlighted in order to reduce the number of computational kernels and minimize the number of global memory accesses. Important architectural factors and constraints of CUDA, such as coalesced access, bank conflicts and register pressure are also considered in this framework. Moreover, we adapt codelets, a straight-line style FFT implementation originally developed in FFTW, into our framework and prove that they are highly efficient on GPUs. A 2D and 3D FFT library, currently supporting power-of-two sizes, is implemented on this framework and empirically-tuned results are compared with CUFFT and other recent publications on three NVIDIA GPUs. On a high-end NVIDIA GPU, GeForce GTX280, our 2D implementation is 2.8x faster than CUFFT and 1.6x faster than the best previously published results on average. Our 3D FFT implementation achieves 22.7x speed up over CUFFT on average. Furthermore both implementations show better precision than CUFFT. This library and its framework are potentially extensible to more general FFT problem sizes and other parallel architectures as well.
Eating the Forbidden Fruit: A Critical Race Theory Exploration of Black –White Interracial Couples in Nova Scotia

This thesis examines the motivations behind Black-White interracial intimate partnerships in Nova Scotia. Negative societal perceptions and social sanctions against such unions are explored with five interracial couples in Nova Scotia. From a conceptual or theoretical framework of critical race theory, radical feminism, and alienation theory, and employing a qualitative methodology, I interviewed five interracial couples from different economic social backgrounds. I conclude that the motivations for Black-White interracial marriages range from shared social similarities, desires to move up the social economic ladder and an exoticization of the body of the other. Sameness and difference both played roles in the motivations for these relationships. Social sanctions faced by these couples ranged from the stares of strangers, family rejection of the spouse, being ostracized by friends, and hearing negative or inappropriate comments about their marriage from both Black and White families and community members. The couples coped with these sanctions and negative comments by using a variety of strategies.
Information Geometrical Analysis of Additivity of Optical Quantum Channels

The additivity property of quantum channels is still an open question and an exciting subject of current research. There are some nonunital channels for which strict additivity is known, although the general rule for nonunital quantum channels is still not proven. We analyze the additivity of the amplitude damping channel, which is an important channel in physical implementations and optical communications. The effect of amplitude damping has great importance in optical communications, since this channel model describes energy dissipation. We show an efficient information computational geometric method to analyze the additivity property of the amplitude damping quantum channel, using quantum Delaunay tessellation on the Bloch ball and quantum relative entropy as a distance measure.
Investigating Country Differences in Mobile App User Behavior and Challenges for Software Engineering

Mobile applications (apps) are software developed for use on mobile devices and made available through app stores. App stores are highly competitive markets where developers need to cater to a large number of users spanning multiple countries. This work hypothesizes that there exist country differences in mobile app user behavior and conducts one of the largest surveys to date of app users across the world, in order to identify the precise nature of those differences. The survey investigated user adoption of the app store concept, app needs, and rationale for selecting or abandoning an app. We collected data from more than 15 countries, including USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, Brazil, United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, India, Canada, Spain, Australia, Mexico, and South Korea. Analysis of data provided by 4,824 participants showed significant differences in app user behaviors across countries, for example users from USA are more likely to download medical apps, users from the United Kingdom and Canada are more likely to be influenced by price, users from Japan and Australia are less likely to rate apps. Analysis of the results revealed new challenges to market-driven software engineering related to packaging requirements, feature space, quality expectations, app store dependency, price sensitivity, and ecosystem effect.
Effects of Amoxicillin and Augmentin on Cystine-Glutamate Exchanger and Glutamate Transporter 1 Isoforms as well as Ethanol Intake in Alcohol-Preferring Rats

Alcohol dependence is associated with alteration of glutamate transport and glutamate neurotransmission. Glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) is a major transporter that regulates the majority of extracellular glutamate concentration, which is also regulated by cystine-glutamate exchanger (xCT). Importantly, we recently reported that amoxicillin and Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate) upreglulated GLT-1 expression in nucleus accumbens (NAc) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) as well as reduced ethanol consumption in male P rats. In this study, we examined the effects of amoxicillin and Augmentin on GLT-1 isoforms (GLT-1a and GLT-1b), xCT, and glutamate/aspartate transporter (GLAST) expression in NAc and PFC as well as ethanol intake in male P rats. We found that both compounds significantly reduced ethanol intake, and increased GLT-1a, GLT-1b, and xCT expression in NAc. However, only Augmentin increased GLT-1a, GLT-1b, and xCT expression in PFC. There were no effects of these compounds on GLAST expression in NAc and PFC. These findings demonstrated that Augmentin and amoxicillin have the potential to upregulate GLT-1 isoforms and xCT expression, and consequently attenuate ethanol dependence.
Shock wave over hand muscles: a neurophysiological study on peripheral conduction nerves in normal subjects.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE shock waves are defined as a sequence of single sonic pulses largely used in the treatment of bone and tendon diseases and recently on muscular hypertonia in stroke patients. Our purpose is to investigate the short and long term effect of extra-corporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on the peripheral nerve conduction and central conductions from the treated muscles in normal human subjects in order to define safety criteria. METHODS we studied 10 patients normal subjects. Motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity and F response from right ipothenar eminence (abductor digiti minimi) of the hand was recorded. Furthermore MEP latency and amplitude and central conduction from the same muscles by transcranial magnetic stimulation was evaluated. In all subjects each neurophysiological measures were monitored before, immediately after, 15 minutes and after 30 minutes from the active ESWT treatment (1600 shots with an energy applied of 0.030 mj/mm(2)). RESULTS no significant short or long term changes were noted in sensory and motor peripheral nerve conduction and in central motor conduction in all the subjects evaluated after ESWT. CONCLUSIONS the ESWT has no effect on sensory and motor peripheral nerve conduction and in central motor conduction. The ESWT using low level of energy represent a safety method for treating the muscles in human subjects without involvement of motor or sensory nervous trunks. Different mechanisms of action of ESWT are discussed.
Title: Fasting enhances the response of arcuate neuropeptide Y (NPY)-glucose-inhibited (GI) neurons to decreased extracellular glucose. Abbreviated Title: Fasting modulates glucose responses in NPY neurons

Fasting increases neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression, peptide levels and the excitability of NPY-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate (ARC) nucleus. A subpopulation of ARC-NPY neurons (~ 40%) are glucose-inhibited (GI)-type glucose sensing neurons. Hence, they depolarize in response to decreased glucose. Because fasting enhances NPY neurotransmission, we propose that during fasting GI neurons depolarize in response to smaller decreases in glucose. This increased excitation in response to glucose decreases would increase NPY-GI neuronal excitability and enhance NPY neurotransmission. Using an in vitro hypothalamic explant system, we show that fasting enhances NPY release in response to decreased glucose concentration. By measuring relative changes in membrane potential using a membrane potential sensitive dye, we demonstrate that during fasting, a smaller decrease in glucose depolarizes NPY-GI neurons. Furthermore, incubation in low (0.7 mM) glucose enhanced while leptin (10 nM) blocked depolarization of GI neurons in response to decreased glucose. Fasting, leptin and glucose-induced changes in NPY-GI neuron glucose sensing were mediated by 5'AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK). We conclude that during energy sufficiency, leptin reduces the ability of NPY-GI neurons to sense decreased glucose. However, after a fast, decreased leptin and glucose activates AMPK in NPY-GI neurons. As a result, NPY-GI neurons become depolarized in response to smaller glucose fluctuations. Increased excitation of NPY-GI neurons enhances NPY release. NPY, in turn, shifts energy homeostasis towards increased food intake and decreased energy expenditure in order to restore energy balance.
Community Detection in Multidimensional Networks

The paper proposes a new approach to detect shared community structure in multidimensional networks based on the combination of multiobjective genetic algorithms, local search, and the concept of temporal smoothness, coming from evolutionary clustering. A multidimensional network is clustered by running on each slice a multiobjective genetic algorithm that maximizes the modularity on such a slice and, at the same time, minimizes the difference between the community structure obtained for the current layer and that found on the already considered dimensions. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets show the ability of the approach in discovering latent shared clustering of objects.
Global Music Recordings Support the Motor Constraint Hypothesis for Human and Avian Song Contour

There has recently been renewed interest in using quantitative data to explore questions about musical universals. One explanation for certain musical universals is that they reflect ways of singing that are most energetically efficient , as opposed to biological specializations for human music . Previous research found support for this "motor constraint hypothesis" by comparing pitch contour shapes in sample s of human and avian song s, but the sample of human song s was limited to notated scores of European and Chinese folk songs from the Essen database. Here we attempt to test this hypothesis using a more diverse global sample of human music recordings from the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music . By directly comparing pitch contour shapes in a diverse sample of human songs and bird songs , we found that both human and bird songs tend to employ similar descending / arched melodic contours despite substantial differences in absolute pitch and duration. This preference was consistent for both Western and non - Western songs. Surprisingly, w e also found that the global samples of human and bird song contours were signific antly more correlated with one another than either was with the Essen contours . Our findings of broad cross - cultural and cross - species parallels support the motor constraint hypothesis for melodic contour . More generally, our findings demonstr ate the importance of greater collaboration between ethnomusicology and music psychology.
Pulmonary Embolism in a Patient with Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Causal or Coincidental?

Eosinophilic esophagitis is a chronic immune-mediated disease characterized by infiltration of the esophageal mucosa with eosinophils and concomitant esophageal dysfunction. Though there are well-described associations between certain chronic inflammatory conditions and venous thromboembolism, there have been no reports of venous thromboembolism occurring in eosinophilic esophagitis. We report the case of a 33-year-old man with severe eosinophilic esophagitis resulting in recurrent esophageal strictures who was unresponsive to oral viscous budesonide therapy, and who developed an isolated pulmonary embolism in the absence of risk factors for venous thromboembolism. We then discuss potential mechanisms for venous thromboembolism in eosinophilic esophagitis, such as inflammation-mediated hypercoagulability, hypereosinophilia, and immunoglobulin E-mediated platelet activation.
Correlation of Molecular Characteristics, Isotype, and In Vitro Functional Activity of Human Antipneumococcal Monoclonal Antibodies

ABSTRACT Structure-function correlations of pneumococcal antibodies are important in predicting how changes in the pneumococcus (Pnc)-specific B-cell repertoire will influence humoral immunity against invasive Pnc disease. Using a unique panel of human hybridomas derived from memory B cells after pneumococcal conjugate vaccination, we analyzed the structure-function relationship of nine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) reactive to Pnc polysaccharides. The avidities of the antibodies correlated with the avidity of donor immune serum (R, 0.7; P < 0.025), and this relationship was particularly strong for immunoglobulin A clones (R, 1; P < 0.0005), suggesting that the MAbs may represent important clones contributing to serological memory. Common heavy-light chain combinations and amino acid replacement mutations were seen for clones with the same serospecificity from different individuals. The two highest-avidity MAbs used Vh3-48, and two MAbs with the same serospecificity, using the same V gene pairings (Vh3-7 and Vk2A17), had similar avidities, suggesting that canonical V gene use makes an important contribution to avidity. Although all clones had mutation levels consistent with their being derived from memory B cells, low levels of replacement mutation were associated with high avidities. This relationship was strongest for Vh genes (R, 0.8; P < 0.01). Opsonophagocytosis was demonstrated for all clones, and there was a trend toward clones using canonical genes with low levels of mutation having high opsonophagocytic activities (R, 0.5). These data suggest that the use of canonical genes in the Pnc antibody response is associated with highly functional antibodies and that most somatic mutations seen in these genes are not antigen selected.
Enhancing Coherent Interpretation in Academic WrittenDiscourse: Cross-Cultural Variation in the Use of DiscourseMarkers

The chapter is concerned with discourse markers and the role they perform in the achieving of coherent interpretation and establishing and maintaining of coherence. The aim is to find out whether two semantic relations often considered most important in academic argumentation–cause and contrast–tend to be expressed overtly by discourse markers and whether there is cross-cultural variation in the use of causal and contrastive DMs in academic written discourse, notably in research articles (RAs) produced by native speakers of English and Czech expert writers. In addition, a supplementary comparison will be made with Czech novice writers.
Model reference adaptive control of a full-bridge buck inverter with minimal controller synthesis

The rejection of the undesirable effects of sudden load changes undergone by power inverters requires control techniques able to recover regular operation with a low transient error, in a short number of periods and being robust to unmodelled dynamics and parametric uncertainties. The possibilities are explored in this paper of controlling a full-bridge buck inverter via the discrete-time version of a model reference adaptive algorithm with minimal controller synthesis recently proposed by some of the authors. Besides confirming the theoretically predicted stability and robustness properties in the face of large load jumps, numerical results show that acceptable performance is still guaranteed when the control signal is injected through a PWM generator switching at a realistic frequency.
Significance of Soluble Lectin-Like Oxidized LDL Receptor-1 Levels in Systemic and Coronary Circulation in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background. Soluble lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) level is a novel biomarker for diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS); however, this level in the coronary circulation has yet to be examined. Methods. Twenty-seven consecutive patients with ACS and 40 patients with effort angina pectoris (EAP) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had levels of soluble LOX-1 and LOX-1 index measured in paired blood samples from aorta (Ao) and coronary sinus (CS) just prior to the PCI. Results. We found positive correlations between soluble LOX-1 levels in the Ao and CS in both ACS and EAP patients (P < 0.01, for both). The soluble LOX-1 levels in the Ao and CS were higher in ACS than in EAP patients (P < 0.01, for both). The levels of soluble LOX-1 and LOX-1 index of the CS were significantly greater than those of the Ao in both ACS and EAP patients (P < 0.01, for both). Receiver operating characteristic curves for ACS detection demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for the soluble LOX-1 and LOX-1 index with no differences between the Ao and CS. Conclusions. The present study showed that circulating soluble LOX-1 originates from coronary circulation and soluble LOX-1 and LOX-1 index are useful biomarkers for ACS.
Etiology and Audiological Outcomes at 3 Years for 364 Children in Australia

Hearing loss is an etiologically heterogeneous trait with differences in the age of onset, severity and site of lesion. It is caused by a combination of genetic and/or environmental factors. A longitudinal study to examine the efficacy of early intervention for improving child outcomes is ongoing in Australia. To determine the cause of hearing loss in these children we undertook molecular testing of perinatal “Guthrie” blood spots of children whose hearing loss was either detected via newborn hearing screening or detected later in infancy. We analyzed the GJB2 and SLC26A4 genes for the presence of mutations, screened for the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) A1555G mutation, and screened for congenital CMV infection in DNA isolated from dried newborn blood spots. Results were obtained from 364 children. We established etiology for 60% of children. One or two known GJB2 mutations were present in 82 children. Twenty-four children had one or two known SLC26A4 mutations. GJB2 or SLC26A4 changes with unknown consequences on hearing were found in 32 children. The A1555G mutation was found in one child, and CMV infection was detected in 28 children. Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder was confirmed in 26 children whose DNA evaluations were negative. A secondary objective was to investigate the relationship between etiology and audiological outcomes over the first 3 years of life. Regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between hearing levels and etiology. Data analysis does not support the existence of differential effects of etiology on degree of hearing loss or on progressiveness of hearing loss.