Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychophysiological Reactivity: Mechanisms and Pathways to Cardiovascular Disease

Objective This article examines possible sources of heightened psychophysiological reactivity in relation to risk for hypertension and coronary artery disease. The idea that exaggerated reactions to psychological stress may predict greater risk for future disease has some support in the psychosomatic and behavioral medicine literature. However, the pathways by which exaggerated reactivity could arise in a given person and the implications of different sources of reactivity for potential disease relationships have received little attention. Methods This topic is approached through a selective literature review and by means of a neurophysiologically based model of individual differences in physiological reactivity. Temperament characteristics, cognitive processes, neurophysiology, and peripheral physiology are used to indicate three levels that could contribute to exaggerated physiological reactivity. Results At the top level in the model, activity of the frontal cortex and limbic system establish cognitive-emotional sources of activation that may underlie exaggerated physiological reactivity. In the absence of these influences, large responses may be more likely when exaggerated subcortical response tendencies are present via the hypothalamus or brain stem. Finally, peripheral alterations may account for larger reactions in persons who have otherwise normal emotional and hypothalamic and brainstem response tendencies. Cognitive-emotional and hypothalamic-brainstem sources of altered reactivity may cause or aggravate disease. In contrast, altered peripheral reactivity suggests that a pathophysiologic process may be present, serving as a marker for disease. Conclusions These three levels of analysis allow for organization of existing data in the area of cardiovascular reactivity and for planning future studies in a hypothesis-building framework.
Impacts of an Inquiry Teaching Method on Earth Science Students' Learning Outcomes and Attitudes at the Secondary School Level.

This paper summarizes two companion studies that were designed to investigate the impacts of an inquiry teaching method on Earth science students’ achievement and attitudes toward Earth science in secondary schools. Subjects were 557 Earth science students (9th grade) enrolled in 14 Earth science classes. Two Earth science units including topics of astronomy and meteorology were developed and taught using the inquiry-oriented instructional model. The experimental group (n=284) received inquiryoriented instruction while the control group (n=273) received a more traditional approach over an eightweek period. The dependent variables were measured through the use of (1) the Earth Science Achievement Test to assess Earth science students’ achievement and (2) the Attitudes toward Earth Science Inventory to measure students’ attitudes toward Earth science. Quantitative data were collected on students’ preand post-treatment achievement and attitudes toward Earth science measures. Analysis of covariance revealed that (a) the inquiry-oriented instructional method produced significantly greater achievement among ninth grade Earth science students than the conventional teaching approach on both astronomy content (F=9.45, p<0.01) and meteorology content (F=8.41, p<0.01), and that (b) students in the experimental group developed significantly more positive attitudes toward Earth science than did those in the control group (F=9.07, p<0.01). In light of these two studies, it is therefore suggested that students can learn Earth science through the inquiry approach. In addition, these findings support the notion that effective instruction of Earth science, such as using inquiry-oriented instruction, should be proposed and implemented in secondary schools.
Insulin-like Growth Factor-I Receptor Overexpression Mediates Cellular Radioresistance and Local Breast Cancer Recurrence after Lumpectomy and Radiation 1

The insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-IR) plays a critical role in cell growth regulation and transformation. The radiosensilivity of NIH 3T3 ftbroblasts overexpressing either wild-type or mutant IGF-IR was examined. High levels of wild-type IGF-IR conferred radioreslstance, and mutational analysis revealed that this effect correlated with the traits forming capacity but not the mitogenic activity of the receptor. The radioresistant phenotype was reversed when the cells were incubated with antisense oligonucleotides targeted to IGF-IR mRNA, demonstrating that IGF-IR directly influences radioresistance. The clinical significance of these findings was examined in an immunohistochemicalanalysis of pri mary breast tumors, revealing that highievels ofIGF-IR in tumor samples were highly correlated with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) following lumpectomy and radiation therapy (P 0.001). Subgroup anal ysis revealed that, for early breast tumor relapses (within 4 years of initial breast tumor diagnosis), elevated levels of IGF-IR were strongly associ ated with IBTh (P 0.004)but IGF-IR expressionwasnot prognosticfor IBTR from breast cancer patients with late relapses (P was not signifi cant). These studies provide evidence for the Influence of IGF-IR on cellular radloresistance and response to therapy and raise the possibility that the radiocurablilty of selected tumors may be Improved by pharma ceutical strategies directed toward the IGF-IR.
On the orbital period of the magnetic cataclysmic variable HS 0922+1333

Context. The object HS 0922+1333 was visited briefly in 2002 in a mini survey of low accretion rate polars (LARPs) in order to test if they undergo high luminosity states similar to ordinary polars. On the basis of that short observation the suspicion arose that the object might be an asynchronous polar (Tovmassian et al. 2004). The disparity between the presumed orbital and spin period appeared to be quite unusual. Aims. We performed follow-up observations of the object to resolve the problem. Methods. New simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations spanning several years allowed measurements of radial velocities of emission and absorption lines from the secondary star and brightness variations due to synchrotron emission from the primary. Results. New observations show that the object is actually synchronous and its orbital and spin period are equal to 4.04 h. Conclusions. We identify the source of confusion of previous observations to be a high velocity component of emission line arousing from the stream of matter leaving L 1 point.
Multicenter, prospective, open-label, observational study of bimatoprost 0.01% in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension

Background Bimatoprost 0.01% was developed for improved tolerability over bimatoprost 0.03%, while maintaining efficacy in lowering intraocular pressure (IOP). This multicenter, prospective, open-label, observational study was designed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of bimatoprost 0.01% in routine clinical practice. Methods Data were collected from 10,337 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension attending 1334 centers in Germany. The primary efficacy outcome was mean change in IOP in each eye from baseline to 10–14 weeks after initiation of bimatoprost 0.01%. Target IOP, prior therapies, additional treatments, and adverse events were also assessed. All treatment decisions were at the physicians’ discretion. Results Bimatoprost 0.01% significantly lowered mean IOP from baseline by −4.1 mmHg (P < 0.0001) in all patients after a mean of 10.45 weeks. In patients without previous treatment, bimatoprost 0.01% reduced mean IOP from baseline by −6.5 mmHg (P < 0.0001). Bimatoprost 0.01% also significantly reduced IOP in patients previously treated with monotherapy of β-blockers, prostaglandin analogs, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or bimatoprost 0.03%. No adverse events were reported by 93.9% of patients during treatment with bimatoprost 0.01%; the most commonly reported adverse events were eye irritation (2.0%), ocular hyperemia (1.4%), and conjunctival hyperemia (1.2%). Physicians and patients rated tolerability and adherence as high, and most patients said they would continue with bimatoprost 0.01% treatment. Conclusion Bimatoprost 0.01% can produce additional IOP-lowering effects when used in routine clinical practice in patients who have received prior therapy, in addition to lowering IOP in previously untreated patients. A high rate of continuation of therapy with bimatoprost 0.01% was observed in patients who switched from a variety of different medications. The results suggest that bimatoprost 0.01% is a suitable first-choice therapy in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
Effective leadership can positively impact school performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review literature about effective leadership’s impact on school performance, as a basis for schools to focus on, to encourage similar results in like school settings. Educational professionals are commissioned with the extraordinary task of instructing students with the acquisition of knowledge that will serve them in all future endeavors. In recent years, education has come under attack and has been scrutinized with the implementation accountability measures, in the form of standardized testing, to produce increased success in populations that have previously been underachieving. Design/methodology/approach The approach to compiling this literature was reflective in nature with identification of effective leadership attributes on school performance. Findings Many schools have used various strategies that have had positive impacts on student achievement. To enhance student achievement, the schools’ leadership should be trustworthy administrators who encourage collaboration and teacher leadership, as well as employment of educators who are genuinely passionate about teaching and love children. Examination of characteristics leading to school success may serve as a foundation for other schools. Originality/value The value of this review of literature is the compilation of numerous studies highlighting effective school leadership and structures used to impact student achievement.
Avocado Consumption Enhances Human Postprandial Provitamin A Absorption and Conversion from a Novel High–β-Carotene Tomato Sauce and from Carrots12

Dietary lipids have been shown to increase bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids from a single meal, but the effects of dietary lipids on conversion to vitamin A during absorption are essentially unknown. Based on previous animal studies, we hypothesized that the consumption of provitamin A carotenoids with dietary lipid would enhance conversion to vitamin A during absorption compared with the consumption of provitamin A carotenoids alone. Two separate sets of 12 healthy men and women were recruited for 2 randomized, 2-way crossover studies. One meal was served with fresh avocado (Persea americana Mill), cultivated variety Hass (delivering 23 g of lipid), and a second meal was served without avocado. In study 1, the source of provitamin A carotenoids was a tomato sauce made from a novel, high–β-carotene variety of tomatoes (delivering 33.7 mg of β-carotene). In study 2, the source of provitamin A carotenoids was raw carrots (delivering 27.3 mg of β-carotene and 18.7 mg of α-carotene). Postprandial blood samples were taken over 12 h, and provitamin A carotenoids and vitamin A were quantified in triglyceride-rich lipoprotein fractions to determine baseline-corrected area under the concentration-vs.-time curve. Consumption of lipid-rich avocado enhanced the absorption of β-carotene from study 1 by 2.4-fold (P < 0.0001). In study 2, the absorption of β-carotene and α-carotene increased by 6.6- and 4.8-fold, respectively (P < 0.0001 for both). Most notably, consumption of avocado enhanced the efficiency of conversion to vitamin A (as measured by retinyl esters) by 4.6-fold in study 1 (P < 0.0001) and 12.6-fold in study 2 (P = 0.0013). These observations highlight the importance of provitamin A carotenoid consumption with a lipid-rich food such as avocado for maximum absorption and conversion to vitamin A, especially in populations in which vitamin A deficiency is prevalent. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01432210.
Feature Extraction for Native Language Identification Using Language Modeling

This paper reports on the task of Native Language Identification (NLI). We developed a machine learning system to identify the native language of authors of English texts written by non-native English speakers. Our system is based on the language modeling approach and employs crossentropy scores as features for supervised learning, which leads to a significantly reduced feature space. Our method uses the SVM learner and achieves the accuracy of 82.4 % with only 55 features. We compare our results with the previous similar work by Tetreault et al. (2012) and analyze more details about the use of language modeling for NLI. We experiment with the TOEFL11 corpus (Blanchard et al., 2013) and provide an exact comparison with results achieved in the First Shared Task in NLI (Tetreault et al., 2013).
Phase I and Pharmacokinetic Study of the Oral Fluoropyrimidine S-1 on a Once-Daily-for-28-Day Schedule in Patients with Advanced Malignancies

Purpose: The oral fluoropyrimidine S-1, which consists of a mixture of a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) prodrug (tegafur), a dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase inhibitor [5-chloro-2,4-dihydroxypyrimidine (CDHP)], and an inhibitor of orotate phosphoribosyltransferase [potassium oxonate (oxonic acid)], was developed to increase the feasibility and therapeutic index of 5-FU administered orally. The principal objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of administering S-1 on a once-daily-for-28-day schedule every 5 weeks, determine the maximum tolerated dose, characterize the pharmacokinetics of S-1, and seek evidence of anticancer activity. Experimental Design: Patients with advanced solid malignancies were treated with escalating doses of S-1 on a once-daily oral schedule for 28 days every 5 weeks. The maximum tolerated dose was defined as the highest dose in which fewer than two of the first six new patients experienced dose-limiting toxicity. The pharmacokinetic profiles of the tegafur, CDHP, and oxonic acid constituents were characterized. Results: Twenty patients were treated with 72 courses of S-1 at three dose levels ranging from 50 to 70 mg/m2/day. Diarrhea, which was often associated with abdominal discomfort and cramping, was the principal dose-limiting toxicity of S-1 on this protracted schedule. Nausea, vomiting, mucositis, fatigue, and cutaneous effects were also observed but were rarely severe. Myelosuppression was modest and uncommon. A partial response and a 49% reduction in tumor size were observed in patients with fluoropyrimidine- and irinotecan-resistant colorectal carcinoma. The pharmacokinetic data suggested potent inhibition of 5-FU clearance by CHDP, with resultant 5-FU exposure at least 10-fold higher than that reported from equitoxic doses of tegafur modulated by uracil in the oral fluoropyrimidine UFT. Conclusions: The recommended dose for Phase II studies of S-1 administered once daily for 28 consecutive days every 5 weeks is 50 mg/m2/day. The pharmacokinetic data indicate substantial modulation of 5-FU clearance by CDHP. Based on these pharmacokinetic data, the predictable toxicity profile of S-1, and the low incidence of severe adverse effects at the recommended Phase II dose, evaluations of S-1 on this schedule are warranted in malignancies that are sensitive to the fluoropyrimidines.
Budesonide–formoterol (inhalation powder) in the treatment of COPD

The budesonide–formoterol dry powder inhaler (Symbicort® Turbuhaler® 160/4.5–640/18 μg/day) contains the long-acting β2-adrenoreceptor agonist formoterol and the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide. Two large, 12-month trials examined the effect of budesonide–formoterol 160/4.5 μg twice daily in COPD patients who met these criteria. The studies were identical, except one in which the patients had received oral prednisolone 30 mg/day and had inhaled formoterol 4.5 μg twice daily for 2 weeks before randomization. In terms of the FEV1, budesonide–formoterol produced an effect greater than that of both budesonide alone and formoterol alone reported in previous studies. The combination was generally more effective than either of the components in terms of peak expiratory flow, symptoms, and exacerbations. These advantages of the combination over those of either budesonide alone or formoterol alone were quite consistent. Improving lung function and decreasing symptoms significantly, budesonide–formoterol combination therapy provides significant clinical improvements in COPD, despite the limited reversibility of impaired lung function in the disease.
Factors Affecting Blood Pressure Variability: Lessons Learned from Two Systematic Reviews of Randomized Controlled Trials

Systematic reviews can often reveal much more than the original objective of the work. The objectives of this retrospective analysis were to answer three basic questions about blood pressure variability: 1) Does blood pressure entry criterion have an effect on baseline blood pressure variability? 2) Do thiazide diuretics have a significant effect on blood pressure variability? and 3) Does systolic blood pressure vary to the same degree as diastolic blood pressure? This analysis of blood pressure variability is based on resting standardized research setting BP readings from two systematic reviews evaluating blood pressure lowering efficacy of thiazide diuretics from double blind randomized controlled trials in 33,611 patients with primary hypertension. The standard deviation reported in trials was the focus of the research and the unit of analysis. When a threshold systolic or diastolic blood pressure value is used to determine entry into a trial, baseline variability is significantly decreased, systolic from 14.0 to 9.3 mmHg and diastolic from 8.4 to 5.3 mmHg. Thiazides do not change BP variability as the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between thiazide and placebo groups at end of treatment. The coefficient of variation of systolic blood pressure was significantly greater than the coefficient of variation of diastolic blood pressure. Entry criterion decreases the baseline blood pressure variability. Treatment with a thiazide diuretic does not affect blood pressure variability. Systolic blood pressure varies to a greater degree than diastolic blood pressure.
Learning the Architecture of Deep Neural Networks

Deep neural networks with millions of parameters are at the heart of many state of the art machine learning models today. However, recent works have shown that models with much smaller number of parameters can also perform just as well. In this work, we introduce the problem of architecture-learning, i.e; learning the architecture of a neural network along with weights. We introduce a new trainable parameter called tri-state ReLU, which helps in eliminating unnecessary neurons. We also propose a smooth regularizer which encourages the total number of neurons after elimination to be small. The resulting objective is differentiable and simple to optimize. We experimentally validate our method on both small and large networks, and show that it can learn models with a considerably small number of parameters without affecting prediction accuracy.
Ja n 20 02 Tranfer matrix and Monte Carlo tests of critical exponents in lattice models

The corrections to finite-size scaling in the critical two-point correlation function G(r) of 2D Ising model on a square lattice have been studied numerically by means of exact transfer–matrix algorithms. The systems of square geometry with periodic boundaries oriented either along 〈10〉 or along 〈11〉 direction have been considered, including up to 800 spins. The calculation of G(r) at a distance r equal to the half of the system size L shows the existence of an amplitude correction ∝ L. A nontrivial correction ∝ L of a very small magnitude also has been detected in agreement with predictions of our recently developed GFD (grouping of Feynman diagrams) theory. A refined analysis of the recent MC data for 3D Ising, φ, and XY lattice models has been performed. It includes an analysis of the partition function zeros of 3D Ising model, an estimation of the correction–to–scaling exponent ω from the Binder cumulant data near criticality, as well as a study of the effective critical exponent η and the effective amplitudes in the asymptotic expansion of susceptibility at the critical point. In all cases a refined analysis is consistent with our (GFD) asymptotic values of the critical exponents (ν = 2/3, ω = 1/2, η = 1/8 for 3D Ising model and ω = 5/9 for 3D XY model), while the actually accepted ”conventional” exponents are, in fact, effective exponents which are valid for approximation of the finite–size scaling behavior of not too large systems.
On efficiency and optimality of asymmetric dynamic bipedal gait

Period-doubling bifurcation and chaotic behavior are interesting phenomena in limit cycle walking. Their mechanisms are very complicated and their roles in dynamic biped locomotion are still unclear. This paper then investigates how the gait efficiency changes with the asymmetrization through analysis of a simple rimless wheel model. We mathematically show that the symmetric configuration gives the optimal solution when the mean value of the inter-leg angles is constant in terms of kinetic energy. This is derived from two magnitude relations of the energy-loss coefficient and restored mechanical energy. We also show that the symmetric gait is not always optimal from another viewpoint.
Early Expression of Sodium Channel Transcripts and Sodium Current by Cajal-Retzius Cells in the Preplate of the Embryonic Mouse Neocortex

In mouse, the first neurons are generated at embryonic day (E) 12 and form the preplate (PP), which contains a mix of future marginal zone cells, including Cajal-Retzius cells, and subplate cells. To detect developmental changes in channel populations in these earliest-generated neurons of the cerebral cortex, we studied the electrophysiological properties of proliferative cells of the ventricular zone and postmitotic neurons of the PP at E12 and E13, using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. We found an inward sodium current in 55% of PP cells. To determine whether sodium currents occur in a specific cell type, we stained recorded cells with an antibody for calretinin, a calcium-binding protein found specifically in Cajal-Retzius cells. All calretinin-positive cells had sodium currents, although so did some calretinin-negative cells. To correlate the Na current expression to Na channel gene expression with the Cajal-Retzius cell phenotype, we performed single-cell reverse transcription-PCR on patch-clamp recorded cells to detect expression of the Cajal-Retzius cell marker reelin and the Na channel isoforms SCN 1, 2, and 3. These results showed that virtually all Cajal-Retzius cells (97%), as judged by reelin expression, express the SCN transcript identified as the SCN3 isoform. Of these, 41% presented a functional Na current. There is, however, a substantial SCN-positive population in the PP (27% of SCN-positive cells) that does not express reelin. These results raise the possibility that populations of pioneer neurons of the PP, including Cajal-Retzius cells, gain neuronal physiological properties early in development via expression of the Nav1.3 (SCN3) Na channel isoform.