Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A randomized multicenter trial comparing the GlucoWatch Biographer with standard glucose monitoring in children with type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE This study assesses whether use of the GlucoWatch G2 Biographer (GW2B) in addition to standard glucose monitoring lowers HbA(1c) and reduces hypoglycemia compared with standard glucose monitoring alone. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In all, 200 subjects aged 7 to <18 years with type 1 diabetes were randomly assigned at five centers to standard glucose monitoring (usual care) or standard glucose monitoring plus GW2B use for 6 months. Study outcomes included HbA(1c) values obtained at 6 months and occurrence of severe hypoglycemia. RESULTS The mean HbA(1c) at baseline was 8.0% in both groups; at 6 months, HbA(1c) was 7.9% in the usual care group and 8.1% in the GW2B group (95% CI for mean reduction in the GW2B group compared with the usual care group -0.4 to 0.1%; P = 0.15). A decrease in HbA(1c) of > or =0.5% was achieved in 21% of the usual care group and 28% of the GW2B group (P = 0.29). Severe hypoglycemia events occurred in 7% of the GW2B group and in 2% of the usual care group (P = 0.10). In the GW2B group, sensor use declined throughout the study from a mean value of 2.1 times/week in the 1st month to 1.5 times/week in the 6th month. Reasons given for declining use included skin irritation (76%), frequent skips (56%), excessive alarms (47%), and inaccurate readings (33%). CONCLUSIONS Use of the GW2B in addition to standard glucose monitoring did not improve glycemic control or reduce the frequency of severe hypoglycemia. Skin reactions and other problems led to decreasing sensor use over time.
Brain γ‐aminobutyric acid: a neglected role in impulsivity

The investigation of impulsivity as a core marker of several major neuropsychiatric disorders has been greatly influenced by the therapeutic efficacy of drugs that block the reuptake of dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain. As a result, research into the neural mechanisms of impulsivity has focused on the catecholamine systems as the loci responsible for the expression of impulsive behaviour and the primary mechanism of action of clinically effective drugs for attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, abnormalities in the catecholamine systems alone are unlikely to account for the full diversity and complexity of impulsivity subtypes, nor can they fully explain co‐morbid brain disorders such as drug addiction. Here we review the lesser‐studied role of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) in impulsivity, a major target of the dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, and consider how abnormalities in this inhibitory neurotransmitter might contribute to several forms of impulsive behaviour in humans and experimental animals. Our analysis reveals several promising leads for future research that may help inform the development of new therapies for disorders of impulse control.
Automated synthesis of FPGA-based heterogeneous interconnect topologies

The choice of the communication topology in many systems is of vital importance because it affects the entire inter-component data traffic and impacts significantly the overall system performance and cost. On the other hand, there is a very large spectrum of interconnection topologies that potentially meet given communication requirements, determining various trade-offs between cost and performance. This work proposes an automated methodology to choose among all of these possibilities, avoiding a manual and time consuming design space search process. The methodology takes as input the description of the application communication requirements, and gives as output an on-chip synthesizable interconnection structure satisfying given area constraints. Targeted at FPGA technologies, the approach generates an interconnection structure combining crossbars and shared buses, connected through bridges, yielding a scalable, efficient structure. To the best of the authors' knowledge, it provides the first method to automatically generate FPGA-based communication architectures where heterogeneous communication elements, such as shared buses and crossbar switches, coexist in a network inherently supporting multiple communication paths. The resulting architecture improves the level of communication parallelism that can be exploited, while keeping area requirements low. The paper thoroughly describes the formalisms and the methodology used to derive such optimized heterogeneous topologies. It also discusses a couple of case-study applications emphasizing the impact of the proposed approach and highlighting the essential differences with a few other solutions in the literature.
Does changing the rules change the players? The effect of all-mail elections on the composition of the electorate

The all-mail format of the 1996 special Senate election in the state of Oregon provides an opportunity to test previous assumptions about the effect of elevated voter turnout on the composition of the electorate, as well as reexamine the conventional wisdom regarding Republican advantage among absentee voters. Methods. This research involves multivariate analysis of 1996 data obtained from a telephone survey conducted immediately following this special election. Results. This analysis reveals that vote-by-mail voters in Oregon differed only slightly from traditional voters who went to the polls in previous elections-they were older, more urban, and less partisan. Vote-by-mail voters were as informed, educated, and involved as traditional voters. Additionally, vote-by-mail voters were similar demographically to registered nonvoters but were better educated, and informed about politics. Conclusions. In some manner, all-mail elections provide a method of converting peripheral voters into core voters even in low-stimulus contests
Decision-making on Transport Policy: A Comparison between Scholars and Stakeholders

This study proposes a hybrid MCDM (multiple criteria decision-making) model to analyze the transport policy decision-making process and the various perspectives from stakeholders and scholars are discussed in detail. DEMATEL (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory) is employed to construct NRM (network relation map), ANP (analytic network process) is adopted to evaluate the weights of criteria, and VIKOR is used to select the best transport mode. The empirical results reveal that stakeholders are most concerned about Feasibility & Execution and Political Climate. The three criteria with the strongest impact levels are Economic Development, Social Security, and Environmental Protection. Social Security, Equity & Justice, and Environmental Protection have the highest weights. The main concerns of scholars are Political Climate and Environmental Protection. The three criteria with the greatest impact are Feasibility & Execution, Equity & Justice, and Political Climate, while Social Security, Environmental Protection, and Equity & Justice have the highest weights. Railway is the best choice among the four transport modes for stakeholders and scholars.
Women making meaning of their desistance from offending : an interpretative phenomenological analysis

It is recognised that women who have offended comprise a vulnerable group having commonly experienced trauma and abuse. However, the dominant risk paradigm and assessment tools used within the Criminal Justice System have excluded women offenders in the research base. Similarly, current approaches to desistance, which is concerned with the cessation of offending, have neglected the perspective of women offenders. This study explores an alternative approach, based upon women offenders perspectives, to inform upon intervention and support which encourages desistance from offending. Resilience theory provides a broad framework for the study, in which in depth interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 15 ethnically diverse women drawn from probation services and third sector agencies. Documentary records which included offence history and Probation assessment records were utilised to provide a rich context to the research. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore the women’s experiences and understandings of their offending behaviour, as well as how they found meaning in the support and interventions received from these services. Findings revealed complex histories of childhood neglect and abuse, interpersonal violence in adult relationships, including rape and mental health needs. Of particular importance was the value placed by the women on interventions and approaches that focussed on enabling them to build resilience, through relational resources and self-efficacy beliefs. Barriers to building resilience were related to adaptive behaviours, including the understanding that trust in relationships was paradoxical. Another barrier was posed through lack of self-efficacy beliefs. The study concludes that desistance from offending is underpinned by the process of building resilience for recovery in women offenders. It is recommended that building resilience to support the recovery journey is translated into policy and practice and that the way in which women offenders are assessed based on risk to the public is reconceptualised to inform this.
Explorative Multifactor Approach for Investigating Global Survival Mechanisms of Campylobacter jejuni under Environmental Conditions

ABSTRACT Explorative approaches such as DNA microarray experiments are becoming increasingly important in microbial research. Despite these major technical advancements, approaches to study multifactor experiments are still lacking. We have addressed this problem by using rotation testing and a novel multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) approach (50-50 MANOVA) to investigate interacting experimental factors in a complex experimental design. Furthermore, a new rotation testing based method was introduced to calculate false-discovery rates for each response. This novel analytical concept was used to investigate global survival mechanisms in the environment of the major food-borne pathogen C. jejuni. We simulated nongrowth environmental conditions by investigating combinations of the factors temperature (5 and 25°C) and oxygen tension (anaerobic, microaerobic, and aerobic). Data were generated with DNA microarrays for information about gene expression patterns and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to study global macromolecular changes in the cell. Microarray analyses showed that most genes were either unchanged or down regulated compared to the reference (day 0) for the conditions tested and that the 25°C anaerobic condition gave the most distinct expression pattern with the fewest genes expressed. The few up-regulated genes were generally stress related and/or related to the cell envelope. We found, using FT-IR spectroscopy, that the amount of polysaccharides and oligosaccharides increased under the nongrowth survival conditions. Potential mechanisms for survival could be to down regulate most functions to save energy and to produce polysaccharides and oligosaccharides for protection against harsh environments. Basic knowledge about the survival mechanisms is of fundamental importance in preventing transmission of this bacterium through the food chain.
A 3D NUMERICAL MODEL TO INVESTIGATE MECHANICAL, THERMAL AND MATERIAL FLOW CHARACTERISTICS IN FRICTION STIR WELDING OF COPPER SHEETS

The objective of this study was to develop a numerical model for the prediction of temperature distribution, effective plastic strain distribution, and especially material flow in friction stir welding of copper plates. The DEFORM-3D software was used by incorporating a lagrangian incremental formulation. Threedimensional results of the material flow pattern which were extracted using the point tracking are in good agreement with the experiment. It was shown that the main part of material flow occurs near the top surface. Material near the top surface at the behind of tool stretches from retreating side towards advancing side which leads to non-symmetrical shape of the stir zone. The stir zone shape in FSW of copper alloys, which was predicted by simulation, does not lean completely towards any sides of welding line.
Weak protein–protein interactions in live cells are quantified by cell-volume modulation

Significance Weak, transient protein complexes are emerging as vital to cell function and regulation, with roles ranging from stabilization of a protein structure to driving cytoplasmic phase separations. Because of their fleeting nature and sensitivity, such complexes are notoriously hard to characterize. We develop and validate a method to quantify such “quinary interactions” inside the cell itself, and apply it to the putative interaction of the glycolytic enzymes GAPDH and PGK. Our method can characterize weak protein–protein interactions in live cells, with future application to other biomolecular species, such as RNAs. Weakly bound protein complexes play a crucial role in metabolic, regulatory, and signaling pathways, due in part to the high tunability of their bound and unbound populations. This tunability makes weak binding (micromolar to millimolar dissociation constants) difficult to quantify under biologically relevant conditions. Here, we use rapid perturbation of cell volume to modulate the concentration of weakly bound protein complexes, allowing us to detect their dissociation constant and stoichiometry directly inside the cell. We control cell volume by modulating media osmotic pressure and observe the resulting complex association and dissociation by FRET microscopy. We quantitatively examine the interaction between GAPDH and PGK, two sequential enzymes in the glycolysis catalytic cycle. GAPDH and PGK have been shown to interact weakly, but the interaction has not been quantified in vivo. A quantitative model fits our experimental results with log Kd = −9.7 ± 0.3 and a 2:1 prevalent stoichiometry of the GAPDH:PGK complex. Cellular volume perturbation is a widely applicable tool to detect transient protein interactions and other biomolecular interactions in situ. Our results also suggest that cells could use volume change (e.g., as occurs upon entry to mitosis) to regulate function by altering biomolecular complex concentrations.
Complex Patterns in a Simple System

Numerical simulations of a simple reaction-diffusion model reveal a surprising variety of irregular spatiotemporal patterns. These patterns arise in response to finite-amplitude perturbations. Some of them resemble the steady irregular patterns recently observed in thin gel reactor experiments. Others consist of spots that grow until they reach a critical size, at which time they divide in two. If in some region the spots become overcrowded, all of the spots in that region decay into the uniform background.
Exploring pre-service secondary teachers’ understanding of care

ABSTRACT Care in teaching has been widely investigated; however, little research has sought secondary pre-service teachers’ understandings of caring and their potential responsibility to care for students. Accordingly, semi-structured interviews were employed with four focus groups, involving 12 (2 male and 10 female) participants. Data were analysed within a qualitative paradigm using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and inter-rater reliability. Five overlapping themes were identified, and although many tensions around the ambiguities of establishing appropriate boundaries to care were shown, caring was deemed central by the participants to being effective teachers. Overall, pre-service secondary teachers agreed that neither pedagogy nor discipline strategy would be effective without care. Training implications and suggestions for future research conclude this paper.
Functional and Pathogenic Differences of Th1 and Th17 Cells in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Background There is consensus that experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) can be mediated by myelin specific T cells of Th1 as well as of Th17 phenotype, but the contribution of either subset to the pathogenic process has remained controversial. In this report, we compare functional differences and pathogenic potential of “monoclonal” T cell lines that recognize myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) with the same transgenic TCR but are distinguished by an IFN-γ producing Th1-like and IL-17 producing Th17-like cytokine signature. Methods and Findings CD4+ T cell lines were derived from the transgenic mouse strain 2D2, which expresses a TCR recognizing MOG peptide 35–55 in the context of I-Ab. Adoptive transfer of Th1 cells into lymphopenic (Rag2−/−) recipients, predominantly induced “classic” paralytic EAE, whereas Th17 cells mediated “atypical” ataxic EAE in approximately 50% of the recipient animals. Combination of Th1 and Th17 cells potentiated the encephalitogenicity inducing classical EAE exclusively. Th1 and Th17 mediated EAE lesions differed in their composition but not in their localization within the CNS. While Th1 lesions contained IFN-γ, but no IL-17 producing T cells, the T cells in Th17 lesions showed plasticity, substantially converting to IFN-γ producing Th1-like cells. Th1 and Th17 cells differed drastically by their lytic potential. Th1 but not Th17 cells lysed autoantigen presenting astrocytes and fibroblasts in vitro in a contact-dependent manner. In contrast, Th17 cells acquired cytotoxic potential only after antigenic stimulation and conversion to IFN-γ producing Th1 phenotype. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that both Th1 and Th17 lineages possess the ability to induce CNS autoimmunity but can function with complementary as well as differential pathogenic mechanisms. We propose that Th17-like cells producing IL-17 are required for the generation of atypical EAE whereas IFN-γ producing Th1 cells induce classical EAE.
Increasing Clinical Virulence in Two Decades of the Italian HIV Epidemic

The recent origin and great evolutionary potential of HIV imply that the virulence of the virus might still be changing, which could greatly affect the future of the pandemic. However, previous studies of time trends of HIV virulence have yielded conflicting results. Here we used an established methodology to assess time trends in the severity (virulence) of untreated HIV infections in a large Italian cohort. We characterized clinical virulence by the decline slope of the CD4 count (n = 1423 patients) and the viral setpoint (n = 785 patients) in untreated patients with sufficient data points. We used linear regression models to detect correlations between the date of diagnosis (ranging 1984–2006) and the virulence markers, controlling for gender, exposure category, age, and CD4 count at entry. The decline slope of the CD4 count and the viral setpoint displayed highly significant correlation with the date of diagnosis pointing in the direction of increasing virulence. A detailed analysis of riskgroups revealed that the epidemics of intravenous drug users started with an apparently less virulent virus, but experienced the strongest trend towards steeper CD4 decline among the major exposure categories. While our study did not allow us to exclude the effect of potential time trends in host factors, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis of increasing HIV virulence. Importantly, the use of an established methodology allowed for a comparison with earlier results, which confirmed that genuine differences exist in the time trends of HIV virulence between different epidemics. We thus conclude that there is not a single global trend of HIV virulence, and results obtained in one epidemic cannot be extrapolated to others. Comparison of discordant patterns between riskgroups and epidemics hints at a converging trend, which might indicate that an optimal level of virulence might exist for the virus.
Factors related to previous tuberculosis treatment of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Bangladesh

Objective Previous tuberculosis (TB) treatment status is an established risk factor for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). This study explores which factors related to previous TB treatment may lead to the development of multidrug resistant in Bangladesh. Design We previously conducted a large case–control study to identify risk factors for developing MDR-TB in Bangladesh. Patients who had a history of previous TB treatment, either MDR-TB or non-MDR-TB, were interviewed about their previous treatment episode. This study restricts analysis to the strata of patients who have been previously treated for TB. Information was collected through face-to-face interviews and record reviews. Unadjusted and multivariable logistic regression was used for data analysis. Setting Central-level, district-level and subdistrict-level hospitals in rural and urban Bangladesh. Results The strata of previously treated patients include a total of 293 patients (245 current MDR-TB; 48 non-MDR-TB). Overall, 54% of patients received previous TB treatment more than once, and all of these patients were multidrug resistant. Patients with MDR-TB were more likely to have experienced the following factors: incomplete treatment (OR 4.3; 95% CI 1.7 to 10.6), adverse reactions due to TB treatment (OR 8.2; 95% CI 3.2 to 20.7), hospitalisation for symptoms associated with TB (OR 16.9; CI 1.8 to 156.2), DOTS (directly observed treatment, short-course) centre as treatment unit (OR 6.4; CI 1.8 to 22.8), supervised treatment (OR 3.8; CI 1.6 to 9.5); time-to-treatment centre (OR 0.984; CI 0.974 to 0.993). Conclusions Incomplete treatment, hospitalisation for TB treatment and adverse reaction are the factors related to previous TB treatment of patients with MDR-TB. Although the presence of supervised treatment (DOT), less time-to-treatment centres and being treated in DOTS centres were relatively higher among the patients with MDR-TB compared with patients without MDR-TB, these findings include information of their most recent TB treatment episode only. Most (64.5%) of the patients with MDR-TB had received TB treatment more than once.
Association of Common Genetic Variants with Lipid Traits in the Indian Population

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been instrumental in identifying novel genetic variants associated with altered plasma lipid levels. However, these quantitative trait loci have not been tested in the Indian population, where there is a poorly understood and growing burden of cardiometabolic disorders. We present the association of six single nucleotide polymorphisms in 1671 sib pairs (3342 subjects) with four lipid traits: total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We also investigated the interaction effects of gender, location, fat intake and physical activity. Each copy of the risk allele of rs964184 at APOA1 was associated with 1.06 mmol/l increase in triglycerides (SE = 0.049; p = 0.006), rs3764261 at CETP with 1.02 mmol/l increase in both total cholesterol (SE = 0.042; p = 0.017) and HDL-C (SE = 0.041; p = 0.008), rs646776 at CELSR2-PSRC1-SORT1 with 0.96 mmol/l decrease in cholesterol (SE = 0.043; p = 0.0003) and 0.15 mmol/l decrease in LDL-C levels (SE = 0.043; p = 0.0003) and rs2954029 at TRIB1 with 1.02 mmol/l increase in HDL-C (SE = 0.039; p = 0.047). A combined risk score of APOA1 and CETP loci predicted an increase of 1.25 mmol/l in HDL-C level (SE = 0.312; p = 0.0007). Urban location and sex had strong interaction effects on the genetic association of most of the studied loci with lipid traits. To conclude, we validated four genetic variants (identified by GWAS in western populations) associated with lipid traits in the Indian population. The interaction effects found here may explain the sex-specific differences in lipid levels and their heritability. Urbanization appears to influence the nature of the association with GWAS lipid loci in this population. However, these findings will require replication in other Indian populations.