Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insulin Pump Therapy Is Associated with Lower Rates of Retinopathy and Peripheral Nerve Abnormality

Objective To compare rates of microvascular complications in adolescents with type 1 diabetes treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) versus multiple daily injections (MDI). Research Design and Methods Prospective cohort of 989 patients (aged 12–20 years; diabetes duration >5 years) treated with CSII or MDI for >12 months. Microvascular complications were assessed from 2000–14: early retinopathy (seven-field fundal photography), peripheral nerve function (thermal and vibration threshold testing), autonomic nerve abnormality (heart rate variability analysis of electrocardiogram recordings) and albuminuria (albumin creatinine ratio/timed overnight albumin excretion). Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to examine the relationship between treatment and complications rates, adjusting for socio-economic status (SES) and known risk factors including HbA1c and diabetes duration. Results Comparing CSII with MDI: HbA1C was 8.6% [70mmol/mol] vs. 8.7% [72 mmol/mol]) (p = 0.7), retinopathy 17% vs. 22% (p = 0.06); microalbuminuria 1% vs. 4% (p = 0.07), peripheral nerve abnormality 27% vs. 33% (p = 0.108) and autonomic nerve abnormality 24% vs. 28% (p = 0.401). In multivariable GEE, CSII use was associated with lower rates of retinopathy (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45–0.95, p = 0.029) and peripheral nerve abnormality (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.42–0.95, p = 0.026), but not albuminuria (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.10–2.17, p = 0.33). SES was not associated with any of the complication outcomes. Conclusions In adolescents, CSII use is associated with lower rates of retinopathy and peripheral nerve abnormality, suggesting an apparent benefit of CSII over MDI independent of glycemic control or SES.
A taxonomy of griefer type by motivation in massively multiplayer online role-playing games

ABSTRACT There is an anti-social phenomenon known as griefing that occurs in online games. Griefing refers to the act of one player intentionally disrupting another player’s game experience for personal pleasure and possibly potential gain. Achterbosch [2015. “Causes, Magnitude and Implications of Griefing in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. ” PhD thesis, Faculty of Science and Technology, Federation University Australia] carried out a substantial two-phase mixed method investigation into the behaviour and experiences of both griefers and griefed players in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The first phase consisted of a survey that attracted 1188 participants of a representative player population. The second phase consisted of interviews with 15 participants to expand the findings with more personalised data. The data were analysed from the perspectives of different demographics and different associations to griefing. One of the most unique findings is the factors that motivated a player to cause grief to another player. This paper analyses these factors to propose a taxonomy of ‘Griefer’ types (griefer being the individual who imposes upon others). The taxonomy consisted of eight types of griefers, based on their motivation for griefing. Some types related to previous studies, although new types of griefers were discovered such as the retaliator and elitist and these are discussed in detail in the article.
Cysts of the nasopharynx

T. I. a male aged 32 years, presented complaining of frequent hemming and hawking and the sensation of a lump in the posterior part of the nose. Examination revealed a normal nose, throat and larynx. Posterior rhinoscopy revealed a rounded swelling in the posterior wall of the nasopharynx, the yellowish white contents of which showed through the thinned wall of the cyst. Examination under general anaesthesia revealed a swelling of a cystic consistency and a soft anterior wall. A wide-bore needle was introduced (after retraction of the soft palate), but this failed to aspirate the thick creamy contents, which leaked around the needle when lipiodol was injected. An X-ray film after lipiodol injection is shown in Figure 1. A week later, under general anaesthesia, the cyst was removed through a transpalatal approach. The mucosa of the nasopharynx was adherent to the anterior wall of the cyst. The cyst was thus exposed and dissection was not very difficult except for an area at the upper end of the cyst, where fibrous tissue was attaching it to the junction of roof and posterior wall of the nasopharynx; however, the cyst wall was removed intact (Fig. 2). Biopsy from the cyst wall was reported as follows: The cyst wall is formed of collagenous fibrous tissue with congestion and lymphocytic infiltration. It is lined on one side with well-formed stratified squamous epithelium and on the other side with normal respiratory epithelium of stratified columnar type merging gradually into squamous type (Fig. 3).
Connectionist neuropsychology: the breakdown and recovery of behavior in lesioned attractor networks

Recent success in modeling the cognitive deficits of brain-injured patients by "lesioning" a connectionist model of the normal process supports the claim that connectionist networks can provide insight into the neural implementation of cognitive processes. However, there is little understanding of what underlying principles are responsible for the results. This thesis investigates the effects of damage in networks that make familiar patterns of activity into stable "attractors", in order to identify the computational principles that enable them to reproduce specific neuropsychological phenomena. In a series of simulations, networks are trained to pronounce written words via a simplified representation of their semantics. Under damage, the networks produce a distribution of visual and semantic errors similar to that of patients with "deep dyslexia. " Further simulations replicate other characteristics of these patients: additional error types, better performance on concrete vs. abstract words, preserved lexical decision, and greater confidence in visual vs. semantic errors. A range of network architectures and learning procedures produce qualitatively similar results, demonstrating that the layout of attractors giving rise to the error pattern depends more on the unstructured nature of the task than on the architectural details that enable the attractors to develop. Additional simulations address issues in relearning after damage: the speed of recovery, degree of generalization, and strategies for optimizing recovery. Relative differences in the degree of generalization for different lesion locations is due to the amount of structure in the subtasks performed by parts of the network. In the related domain of object recognition, a network augmented with short-term correlational weights is trained to generate semantic representations of objects from high-level visual representations. Under damage, the network exhibits the complex semantic and perseverative effects of patients with a visual naming disorder known as "optic aphasia. " The greater structure in mapping visual to semantic representations for object vs. words explains why the errors of optic aphasics are predominantly semantic rather than visual. Taken together, the results of the thesis demonstrate that the breakdown and recovery of behavior in lesioned attractor networks reproduces specific neuropsychological phenomena by virtue of the way the structure of a task shapes the layout of attractors.
Epidermal Growth Factor Genetic Variation Associated With Advanced Cervical Cancer in Younger Women

ObjectivesEpidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulates cell proliferation by binding to its receptor (epidermal growth factor receptor), and the overexpression of this receptor is associated with poorer prognosis. The EGF gene presents a polymorphism at position 61 (A/G), associated with higher EGF production. We examined the association between this polymorphism and cervical cancer through a case-control study. MethodsThis study used the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method on a sample of 384 women with cervical lesions and 500 controls of white ethnicity. ResultsIn cases of cervical cancer, we found an increased risk of progression to advanced disease (The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIb/IV) (odds ratios=2.05; 95% confidence intervals=1.11 to 3.79; P=0.021), and this risk was particularly evident in G carriers for younger women (odds ratios=2.96; 95% confidence intervals=1.41-6.20, P=0.003). ConclusionsWe hypothesize the onset of an advanced disease-driven selective pressure due to the effect of oncogenic human papillomavirus types in a favorable genetic background observed in G carrier women. These results suggest that EGF functional polymorphism may influence cervical cancer prognosis through an EGF/epidermal growth factor receptor pathway.
Mathematics and the Internet:

Graph theory models the Internet mathematically, and a number of plausible mathematically intersecting network models for the Internet have been developed and studied. Simultaneously, Internet researchers have developed methodology to use real data to validate, or invalidate, proposed Internet models. The authors look at these parallel developments, particularly as they apply to scale-free network models of the preferential attachment type.
Designing forest biodiversity experiments: general considerations illustrated by a new large experiment in subtropical China

Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) experiments address ecosystem‐level consequences of species loss by comparing communities of high species richness with communities from which species have been gradually eliminated. BEF experiments originally started with microcosms in the laboratory and with grassland ecosystems. A new frontier in experimental BEF research is manipulating tree diversity in forest ecosystems, compelling researchers to think big and comprehensively. We present and discuss some of the major issues to be considered in the design of BEF experiments with trees and illustrate these with a new forest biodiversity experiment established in subtropical China (Xingangshan, Jiangxi Province) in 2009/2010. Using a pool of 40 tree species, extinction scenarios were simulated with tree richness levels of 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 species on a total of 566 plots of 25·8 × 25·8 m each. The goal of this experiment is to estimate effects of tree and shrub species richness on carbon storage and soil erosion; therefore, the experiment was established on sloped terrain. The following important design choices were made: (i) establishing many small rather than fewer larger plots, (ii) using high planting density and random mixing of species rather than lower planting density and patchwise mixing of species, (iii) establishing a map of the initial ‘ecoscape’ to characterize site heterogeneity before the onset of biodiversity effects and (iv) manipulating tree species richness not only in random but also in trait‐oriented extinction scenarios. Data management and analysis are particularly challenging in BEF experiments with their hierarchical designs nesting individuals within‐species populations within plots within‐species compositions. Statistical analysis best proceeds by partitioning these random terms into fixed‐term contrasts, for example, species composition into contrasts for species richness and the presence of particular functional groups, which can then be tested against the remaining random variation among compositions. We conclude that forest BEF experiments provide exciting and timely research options. They especially require careful thinking to allow multiple disciplines to measure and analyse data jointly and effectively. Achieving specific research goals and synergy with previous experiments involves trade‐offs between different designs and requires manifold design decisions.
The Risk of Overall Mortality in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Receiving Glipizide, Glyburide, or Glimepiride Monotherapy

OBJECTIVE Sulfonylureas have historically been analyzed as a medication class, which may be inappropriate given the differences in properties inherent to the individual sulfonylureas (hypoglycemic risk, sulfonylurea receptor selectivity, and effects on myocardial ischemic preconditioning). The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of individual sulfonylureas and the risk of overall mortality in a large cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted using an academic health center enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR) system to identify 11,141 patients with type 2 diabetes (4,279 initiators of monotherapy with glyburide, 4,325 initiators of monotherapy with glipizide, and 2,537 initiators of monotherapy with glimepiride), ≥18 years of age with and without a history of coronary artery disease (CAD) and not on insulin or a noninsulin injectable at baseline. The patients were followed for mortality by documentation in the EHR and Social Security Death Index. Multivariable Cox models were used to compare cohorts. RESULTS No statistically significant difference in the risk of overall mortality was observed among these agents in the entire cohort, but we did find evidence of a trend toward an increased overall mortality risk with glyburide versus glimepiride (hazard ratio 1.36 [95% CI 0.96–1.91]) and glipizide versus glimepiride (1.39 [0.99–1.96]) in those with documented CAD. CONCLUSIONS Our results did not identify an increased mortality risk among the individual sulfonylureas but did suggest that glimepiride may be the preferred sulfonylurea in those with underlying CAD.
Systematic review: the safety and efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for inflammatory bowel disease

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) provides 100% oxygen under pressure, which increases tissue oxygen levels, relieves hypoxia and alters inflammatory pathways. Although there is experience using HBOT in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the safety and overall efficacy of HBOT in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is unknown.
Optimization of the PubMed Automatic Term Mapping

PubMed, freely available on the internet, is the best known database for medical information. We propose a method of optimization of the PubMed Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) that includes MeSH terms. This method is evaluated using two queries constructed to emphasize the differences between the PubMed queries as they are at present and also between these queries and the optimized one. The proposed query is significantly more precise than the current PubMed query (54.5% vs. 27%). The optimized query proposed would be easy to implement into PubMed.
Risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Summary Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with atherosclerosis. However, the relationship between RA and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) remains unclear. We used a national health insurance database to identify a cohort of 30,812 patients diagnosed with RA between 2000 and 2011. Each RA patient was frequency-matched according to age and sex with a patient without RA from a control cohort. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyse the adjusted risk of PAOD. The incidence of PAOD was 1.73-fold higher (95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.57–1.91) in the RA cohort than in the non-RA cohort. The adjusted risk of PAOD was the highest in the patients with RA aged ≤ 49 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.39, 95 % CI = 2.66–4.32). Patients with RA and various comorbidities showed a significantly higher risk of PAOD (HR = 9.62, 95 % CI = 4.86–19.1) compared with control patients without comorbidity. The risk of PAOD increased during the first year of follow-up. In conclusion, patients with RA have an independently higher risk of PAOD compared with the general population. Patients with RA and various comorbidities and those at a young age and early stage of the disease have an increased risk of PAOD.
A micromechanical model of distributed damage due to void growth in general materials and under general deformation histories

We develop a multiscale model of ductile damage by void growth in general materials undergoing arbitrary deformations. The model is formulated in the spirit of multiscale finite element methods (FE 2), that is, the macroscopic behavior of the material is obtained by a simultaneous numerical evaluation of the response of a representative volume element. The representative microscopic model considered in this work consists of a space‐filling assemblage of hollow spheres. Accordingly, we refer to the present model as the packed hollow sphere (PHS) model. A Ritz–Galerkin method based on spherical harmonics, specialized quadrature rules, and exact boundary conditions is employed to discretize individual voids at the microscale. This discretization results in material frame indifference, and it exactly preserves all material symmetries. The effective macroscopic behavior is then obtained by recourse to Hill's averaging theorems. The deformation and stress fields of the hollow spheres are globally kinematically and statically admissible regardless of material constitution and deformation history, which leads to exact solutions over the entire representative volume under static conditions. Excellent convergence and scalability properties of the PHS model are demonstrated through convergence analyses and examples of application. We also illustrate the broad range of material behaviors that are captured by the PHS model, including elastic and plastic cavitation and the formation of a vertex in the yield stress of porous metals at low triaxiality. This vertex allows ductile damage to occur under shear‐dominated conditions, thus overcoming a well‐known deficiency of Gurson's model. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
NF-κB Signaling Dynamics Play a Key Role in Infection Control in Tuberculosis

The NF-κB signaling pathway is central to the body’s response to many pathogens. Mathematical models based on cell culture experiments have identified important molecular mechanisms controlling the dynamics of NF-κB signaling, but the dynamics of this pathway have never been studied in the context of an infection in a host. Here, we incorporate these dynamics into a virtual infection setting. We build a multi-scale model of the immune response to the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to explore the impact of NF-κB dynamics occurring across molecular, cellular, and tissue scales in the lung. NF-κB signaling is triggered via tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) binding to receptors on macrophages; TNF has been shown to play a key role in infection dynamics in humans and multiple animal systems. Using our multi-scale model, we predict the impact of TNF-induced NF-κB-mediated responses on the outcome of infection at the level of a granuloma, an aggregate of immune cells and bacteria that forms in response to infection and is key to containment of infection and clinical latency. We show how the stability of mRNA transcripts corresponding to NF-κB-mediated responses significantly controls bacterial load in a granuloma, inflammation level in tissue, and granuloma size. Because we incorporate intracellular signaling pathways explicitly, our analysis also elucidates NF-κB-associated signaling molecules and processes that may be new targets for infection control.
Some Properties of a Macromolecular Conjugate of Lysozyme Prepared by Modification with a Monomethoxypolyethylene Glycol Derivative

Hen egg-white lysozyme was modified with a succinyl ester derivative of monomethoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG-COONSu), and some properties of the resulting conjugate (mPEG-lysozyme) were studied. The conjugate was prepared by modification of lysozyme with mPEG-COONSu and purified with use of columns of CM-Toyopearl 650M and Sephadex G-75. Analytical data indicated that in the conjugate, 1.05 moles of mPEG with an average molecular weight of 5,000 were covalently attached to the lysozyme molecule. Tryptic peptide analysis of the conjugate showed that Lys 33 in lysozyme is the residue mainly modified with mPEG-COONSu. Covalent attachment of the mPEG-derivative to amino groups greatly increased the thermostability of lysozyme without any conformational change of the protein molecule. mPEG-lysozyme retained full enzyme activity for glycol chitin, but lytic activity for Micrococcus luteus cells in neutral media was 75% of that of native lysozyme and its optimal pH was at pH 5.0. It was also found that the reactivity of lysozyme with anti-lysozyme antibody from BALB/c mice or human lymphocytes was decreased by modification with mPEG-COONSu. From these findings, it was suggested that mPEG-COONSu can be advantageously used for protein tailoring of lysozyme.
Modulus Effect of Bonded CFRP Laminates Used for Repairing Preyield and Postyield Cracked Concrete Beams

AbstractTwo different prerepair loading histories were simulated in 3,000×300×150 mm reinforced concrete beams, namely cracking within the elastic range, and overloading in the plastic range. After unloading, the beams were repaired with either high or ultrahigh modulus (210 or 400 GPa) carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates, or a hybrid system, and then reloaded to failure. It was shown that the level of preexisting damage has insignificant effect on strengthening effectiveness and failure mode at ultimate. The 210 and 400 GPa CFRP of reinforcement ratio ρf=0.17% increased the yielding load by 33 and 60%, respectively, whereas the ultimate strength was increased by up to 29 and 51%, respectively. Doubling ρf of the 400 GPa CFRP to 0.34% resulted in a 63% overall gain in flexural strength, which is only an 8% increase over ρf=0.17%, because of change in failure mode from rupture to concrete cover delamination. The beam retrofitted by hybrid CFRP showed remarkable pseudoductility and warning signs.
Latent Semantic Analysis as Method for Automatic Question Scoring

Automatically scoring open questions in massively multiuser virtual courses is still an unsolved challenge. In most online platforms, the time consuming process of evaluating student answers is up to the instructor. Especially unexpressed semantic structures can be considered problematic for machines. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is an attempt to solve this problem in the domain of information retrieval and can be seen as general attempt for representing semantic structure. This paper discusses the rating of one item taken from an exam using LSA. It is attempted to use documents in a corpus as assessment criteria and to project student answers as pseudo-documents into the semantic space. The result shows that as long as each document is sufficiently distinct from each other, it is possible to use LSA to rate open questions.
ADAMTS13 unbound to larger von Willebrand factor multimers in cryosupernatant: implications for selection of plasma preparations for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura treatment

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is characterized by deficient ADAMTS13 activity. Treatment involves plasma exchange (PE). Both fresh‐frozen plasma (FFP) and cryosupernatant (CSP) are used, but it remains to be determined which is more effective.