Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic profiling reveals coordinated switches in primary carbohydrate metabolism in grape berry (Vitis vinifera L.), a non-climacteric fleshy fruit

Changes in carbohydrate metabolism during grape berry development play a central role in shaping the final composition of the fruit. The present work aimed to identify metabolic switches during grape development and to provide insights into the timing of developmental regulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Metabolites from central carbon metabolism were measured using high-pressure anion-exchange chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry and enzymatic assays during the development of grape berries from either field-grown vines or fruiting cuttings grown in the greenhouse. Principal component analysis readily discriminated the various stages of berry development, with similar trajectories for field-grown and greenhouse samples. This showed that each stage of fruit development had a characteristic metabolic profile and provided compelling evidence that the fruit-bearing cuttings are a useful model system to investigate regulation of central carbon metabolism in grape berry. The metabolites measured showed tight coordination within their respective pathways, clustering into sugars and sugar-phosphate metabolism, glycolysis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In addition, there was a pronounced shift in metabolism around veraison, characterized by rapidly increasing sugar levels and decreasing organic acids. In contrast, glycolytic intermediates and sugar phosphates declined before veraison but remained fairly stable post-veraison. In summary, these detailed and comprehensive metabolite analyses revealed the timing of important switches in primary carbohydrate metabolism, which could be related to transcriptional and developmental changes within the berry to achieve an integrated understanding of grape berry development. The results are discussed in a meta-analysis comparing metabolic changes in climacteric versus non-climacteric fleshy fruits.
Pancreatic mucinous lesions: A retrospective analysis with cytohistological correlation

The diagnosis of mucinous pancreatic lesions, which include mucinous noncystic adenocarcinoma, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN), and mucinous metaplasia, is critical, given different clinical management and prognosis. This retrospective study is done to assess the cytological features and pitfalls associated with these entities in cytological samples.
Mother becoming: Learning to read Mikala's signs

Occupation-centered practices with infants and children necessarily involve parents. Although the importance of parent–therapist collaboration is recognized, there is little research demonstrating how collaboration is enacted. This article describes the therapy process between Erin, a NICU therapist, and Carmen and her infant, Mikala. These findings demonstrate how Erin, through the therapeutic strategies of scaffolding and narrative reinterpretation was able to facilitate the development of Carmen's competence and confidence in feeding Mikala, ultimately fostering their attachment and progress toward becoming a family. This article not only illustrates what was done—the procedural techniques—but how it was done through therapeutic use of self, a central aspect of occupation-based practice. These data strongly support understanding family patterns and perspectives through treating the infant as a developing occupational being within the context of co-occupations with the parents. The findings suggest that therapists must see parents as clients who must learn to nurture and manage their infant's ongoing medical and social needs as a member of the nuclear and human family. These findings provide therapists with an example on which to reflect on their own practices with infants and families and evidence-based theory through which to articulate and practice from an occupation-based approach.
Brain abnormalities in Sjogren syndrome with recurrent CNS manifestations: association with neuromyelitis optica

Background and objectives Optic neuritis or longitudinally extensive myelitis in Sjogren syndrome (SS) suggests a neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). However, brain abnormalities of SS remain to be elucidated for the association with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Methods Twelve primary SS patients (all women, 42 ± 13.2 years) who had recurrent central nervous system (CNS) manifestations with brain involvement were retrospectively identified. Brain MRI, and neurologic and serologic findings were analyzed with the measurement of anti-aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-Ab). Results All patients showed brain lesions characteristic of NMO as follows: 1) the involved sites adjacent to the third and fourth ventricles and in the posterior limb of the internal capsule, 2) unique configurations, such as the longitudinal course from the internal capsule to the midbrain, large cerebral or cerebellar lesions over 3 cm, and cavity-like formations. AQP4-Ab was positive in six of eight patients tested, and all the seropositive patients showed lesions with increased diffusion, suggestive of vasogenic edema. Four patients met the revised criteria of NMO, and nine had features of NMOSDs. Of the remaining three patients showing only brain involvement, one had AQP4-Ab. Conclusions This study demonstrates that SS patients with recurrent CNS involvement have brain abnormalities characteristic of NMO and AQP4-Ab in Korea. The presence of AQP4-Ab in one SS patient with only brain involvement may suggest that the coexistence of NMO should be explored in SS patients with recurrent CNS manifestations, even without optic neuritis or myelitis.
Intensification of Insulin Therapy for Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Primary Care: Basal-Bolus Regimen Versus Premix Insulin Analogs

In April 2012, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) published a joint position statement regarding treatment of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes, “Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes: A Patient-Centered Approach” (1). As most diabetic patients (>366 million worldwide) (2) are treated by their primary family physician and not by an endocrinologist or diabetologist, the guidelines were intended to help physicians choose the best treatment for their patients. Some of the advantages of this position statement, over previous guidelines (3–8), are as follows: emphasizing the importance of individualization of treatment, widening treatment options, and stating the pros and cons of the different treatment option. However, as the statement was written by a group of world-known diabetologists, without the input of nurses, dietitians, family physicians, or the patients themselves, questions have been raised as to how “patient-centered” it actually is and how useful and relevant it is to the primary care setting. Choosing the best insulin regimen for initiation and intensification of insulin therapy in type 2 diabetic patients is still debatable both in the specialist clinic and in the primary care setting. The intention of this article is to review the data available and offer reasonable guidance regarding the selection of the preferred insulin regimen for initiation and intensification of insulin treatment, especially in a primary care setting. The ADA/EASD statement includes recommendations for the initiation and titration of insulin therapy (1). The recommendations point out three important aspects that need to be addressed when choosing or adjusting insulin regimens: the number of injections needed and the complexity and the flexibility of the regimens. The insulin regimens under consideration include basal insulin, premixed, basal insulin with one premeal short-acting insulin injection (referred to as basal plus regimen), and …
Body image disturbance and perfectionism as predictor's factors of disordered eating behavior among female students

Introduction The prevalence of disordered eating behaviors has been reported to increase in recent decades; therefore, scientific studies should perform for specifying psychological variables that may contribute to the etiology of this disorder. In this study, we examined the role of body image disturbance and perfectionism variables in predicting disordered eating behaviors among female students. Methods and Materials This cross-sectional study was performed in 2014 upon a sample consisting of 464 female students in Allame Tabatabaie University were selected based on a Morgan formula and multi-stage cluster random sampling. Then, participants responded to the questionnaires of body image disturbance of Reas and et al. (2002), perfectionism scale of Besharat (2004) and eating attitudes test of Garner and Garfinkel (1979). The data were analyzed by correlation techniques and stepwise regression. Results The results showed that these were internal correlation among body image disturbance and perfectionism and disordered eating behavior. Also, the results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that body image disturbance and perfectionism significantly predicted, respectively, almost 16% and 14% of variances of disordered eating behaviors among female students. Conclusion According to the findings of the present study, body image disturbance and perfectionism can predict disordered eating behaviors. Therefore, considering these variables can be important to prevent the development of eating-related diseases and to promote students’ health.
A Nonlinear Elastic Model of the Periodontal Ligament and its Numerical Calibration for the Study of Tooth Mobility

A large strain nonlinear elastic isotropic "split" law is proposed for modeling the behaviour of the periodontal ligament. This law allows for a better description of the stiffening response of this tissue and, concomitantly, for a more accurate calibration of its elastic properties. Indeed, fine finite element simulations of an upper human incisor attached to its surrounding alveolar bone by an intermediate layer of ligament were run using that "split" law for the ligament. A good correlation was established with available experimental data on such a tooth under axial loading. Values of 0.010-0.031 MPa for the initial Young's modulus and of 0.45-0.495 for Poisson's ratio were determined. A sensitivity analysis of the results with respect to material and numerical parameters of the model was also carried out. Finally, a comparison of the simulation results using this "split" law with standard ones obtained with the linear elastic law, shows a significant improvement.
Ultrasonic time synchronization and ranging on smartphones

In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of a platform that can be used for time synchronization and indoor positioning of mobile devices. The platform uses the Time-Difference-Of-Arrival (TDOA) of multiple ultrasonic chirps broadcast from a network of beacons placed throughout the environment to find an initial location as well as synchronize a receiver's clock with the infrastructure. These chirps encode identification data and ranging information that can be used to compute the receiver's location. Once the clocks have been synchronized, the system can continue performing localization directly using Time-of-Flight (TOF) ranging as opposed to TDOA. This provides similar position accuracy with fewer beacons (for tens of minutes) until the mobile device clock drifts enough that a TDOA signal is once again required. Our hardware platform uses RF-based time synchronization to distribute clock synchronization from a subset of infrastructure beacons connected to a GPS source. Mobile devices use a novel time synchronization technique leverages the continuously free-running audio sampling subsystem of a smartphone to synchronize with global time. Once synchronized, each device can determine an accurate proximity from as little as one beacon using TOF measurements. This significantly decreases the number of beacons required to cover an indoor space and improves performance in the face of obstructions. We show through experiments that this approach outperforms the Network Time Protocol (NTP) on smartphones by an order of magnitude, providing an average 720μs synchronization accuracy with clock drift rates as low as 2ppm.
Ethnic differences in perception of lung function: a factor in pediatric asthma disparities?

RATIONALE Disparities in pediatric asthma exist in that Latino children have higher prevalence and greater morbidity from asthma than non-Latino white children. The factors behind these disparities are poorly understood, but ethnic-related variations in children's ability to accurately recognize and report their pulmonary functioning may be a contributing process. OBJECTIVES To determine (1) if differences exist between Latino and non-Latino white children's perceptual accuracy and (2) whether these differences are related to asthma outcomes. METHODS Five hundred and twelve children, aged 7-16 years (290 island Puerto Ricans, 115 Rhode Island Latinos, and 107 Rhode Island non-Latino white children) participated in a 5-week home-based protocol in which twice daily they entered subjective estimates of their peak expiratory flow rate into a hand-held, programmable spirometer and then performed spirometry. Their accuracy was summarized as three perceptual accuracy scores. Demographic data, asthma severity, intelligence, emotional expression, and general symptom-reporting tendencies were assessed and covaried in analyses of the relationship of perceptual accuracy to asthma morbidity and health care use. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Younger age, female sex, lower intelligence, and poverty were associated with lower pulmonary function perception scores. Island Puerto Rican children had the lowest accuracy and highest magnification scores, followed by Rhode Island Latinos; both differed significantly from non-Latino white children. Perceptual accuracy scores were associated with most indices of asthma morbidity. CONCLUSIONS Controlling for other predictive variables, ethnicity was related to pulmonary function perception ability, as Latino children were less accurate than non-Latino white children. This difference in perceptual ability may contribute to recognized asthma disparities.
Spectrum sensing with multiple antennas

The primary signal detection is an essential operation for the secondary spectrum usage. In this paper we extend the covariance based detection for multiple-antenna receiver. The proposed method uses the noise power estimation and does not suffer from the noise level uncertainty. We analyze the detection algorithm and compute the distribution of the decision variable not only for the pure noise case but also for the jointly presence of primary signal and noise. By deriving the distribution of the primary signal in noise we are able to use the detection probability as the detector design constraint. Our analysis takes advantage of the high amount of samples available at the detector. The proposed method sets the foundation for the analysis of any detector that involves cross correlation, summing and squaring operations of samples.
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of n-i-p Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Based Photovoltaic Devices

Optimization of thin film photovoltaics (PV) relies on characterizing the optoelectronic and structural properties of each layer and correlating these properties with device performance. Growth evolution diagrams have been used to guide production of materials with good optoelectronic properties in the full hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) PV device configuration. The nucleation and evolution of crystallites forming from the amorphous phase were studied using in situ near-infrared to ultraviolet spectroscopic ellipsometry during growth of films prepared as a function of hydrogen to reactive gas flow ratio R = [H2]/[SiH4]. In conjunction with higher photon energy measurements, the presence and relative absorption strength of silicon-hydrogen infrared modes were measured by infrared extended ellipsometry measurements to gain insight into chemical bonding. Structural and optical models have been developed for the back reflector (BR) structure consisting of sputtered undoped zinc oxide (ZnO) on top of silver (Ag) coated glass substrates. Characterization of the free-carrier absorption properties in Ag and the ZnO + Ag interface as well as phonon modes in ZnO were also studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Measurements ranging from 0.04 to 5 eV were used to extract layer thicknesses, composition, and optical response in the form of complex dielectric function spectra (ε = ε1 + iε2) for Ag, ZnO, the ZnO + Ag interface, and undoped a-Si:H layer in a substrate n-i-p a-Si:H based PV device structure.
Mycobacterial Mutants with Defective Control of Phagosomal Acidification

The pathogenesis of mycobacterial infection is associated with an ability to interfere with maturation of the phagosomal compartment after ingestion by macrophages. Identification of the mycobacterial components that contribute to this phenomenon will allow rational design of novel approaches to the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis. Microarray-based screening of a transposon library was used to identify mutations that influence the fate of Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) following uptake by macrophages. A screen based on bacterial survival during a 3-d infection highlighted genes previously implicated in growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages and in mice, together with a number of other virulence genes including a locus encoding virulence-associated membrane proteins and a series of transporter molecules. A second screen based on separation of acidified and non-acidified phagosomes by flow cytometry identified genes involved in mycobacterial control of early acidification. This included the KefB potassium/proton antiport. Mutants unable to control early acidification were significantly attenuated for growth during 6-d infections of macrophages. Early acidification of the phagosome is associated with reduced survival of BCG in macrophages. A strong correlation exists between genes required for intracellular survival of BCG and those required for growth of M. tuberculosis in mice. In contrast, very little correlation exists between genes required for intracellular survival of BCG and those that are up-regulated during intracellular adaptation of M. tuberculosis. This study has identified targets for interventions to promote immune clearance of tuberculosis infection. The screening technologies demonstrated in this study will be useful to the study of pathogenesis in many other intracellular microorganisms.
Estimating Aggregates on a Peer-to-Peer Network

As Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks become popular, there is an emerging need to collect a variety of statistical summary information about the participating nodes. The P2P networks of today lack mechanisms to compute even such basic aggregates as MIN, MAX, SUM, COUNT or AVG. In this paper, we define and study the NODEAGGREGATION problem that is concerned with aggregating data stored at nodes in the network. We present generic schemes that can be used to compute any of the basic aggregation functions accurately and robustly. Our schemes can be used as building blocks for tools to collect statistics on network topology, user behavior and other node characteristics. This is a STUDENT paper intended as a REGULAR presentation.
JESSICA2: a distributed Java Virtual Machine with transparent thread migration support

A distributed Java Virtual Machine (DJVM) spanning multiple cluster nodes can provide a true parallel execution environment for multi-threaded Java applications. Most existing DJVMs suffer from the slow Java execution in interpretive mode and thus may not be efficient enough for solving computation-intensive problems. We present JESSICA2, a new DJVM running in JIT compilation mode that can execute multi-threaded Java applications transparently on clusters. JESSICA2 provides a single system image (SSI) illusion to Java applications via an embedded global object space (GOS) layer. It implements a cluster-aware Java execution engine that supports transparent Java thread migration for achieving dynamic load balancing. We discuss the issues of supporting transparent Java thread migration in a JIT compilation environment and propose several lightweight solutions. An adaptive migrating-home protocol used in the implementation of the GOS is introduced. The system has been implemented on x86-based Linux clusters and significant performance improvements over the previous JESSICA system have been observed.
ER sheet persistence is coupled to myosin 1c–regulated dynamic actin filament arrays

Dynamic actin filament arrays localize to polygonal spaces between ER sheets and tubules and regulate lateral movement and transformations of sheets, that is, sheet persistence, and thereby the characteristic ER network architecture in cultured mammalian cells. Myosin 1c has a role in creating and/or maintaining ER-associated actin arrays.
The phosphatidylethanolamine level of yeast mitochondria is affected by the mitochondrial components Oxa1p and Yme1p

The majority of phosphatidylethanolamine, an essential component of yeast mitochondria, is synthesized by phosphatidylserine decarboxylase 1 (Psd1p), a component of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Here, we report that deletion of OXA1 encoding an inner mitochondrial membrane protein translocase markedly affects the mitochondrial phosphatidylethanolamine level. In an oxa1Δ mutant, cellular and mitochondrial levels of phosphatidylethanolamine were lowered similar to a mutant with PSD1 deleted, and the rate of phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis by decarboxylation of phosphatidylserine in vivo and in vitro was decreased. This was due to a lower PSD1 transcription rate in the oxa1Δ mutant compared with wild‐type and compromised assembly of Psd1p into the inner mitochondrial membrane. Lack of Mba1p, another component involved in the assembly of mitochondrial proteins into the inner mitochondrial membrane, did not affect the amount of phosphatidylethanolamine or the assembly of Psd1p. Deletion of the inner membrane protease Yme1p enhanced Psd1p stability suggesting that Yme1p contributed substantially to the proteolytic turnover of Psd1p in wild‐type. In summary, our results demonstrate a link between the mitochondrial protein import machinery, assembly and stability of Psd1p, and phosphatidylethanolamine homeostasis in yeast mitochondria.
Dual Averaging Methods for Regularized Stochastic Learning and Online Optimization

We consider regularized stochastic learning and online optimization problems, where the objective function is the sum of two convex terms: one is the loss function of the learning task, and the other is a simple regularization term such as l1-norm for promoting sparsity. We develop a new online algorithm, the regularized dual averaging (RDA) method, that can explicitly exploit the regularization structure in an online setting. In particular, at each iteration, the learning variables are adjusted by solving a simple optimization problem that involves the running average of all past subgradients of the loss functions and the whole regularization term, not just its subgradient. Computational experiments show that the RDA method can be very effective for sparse online learning with l1-regularization.