Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiac responses to exercise distinguish postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome variants

We previously showed that one‐third of adolescents with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) have hyperkinetic circulation. In a subsequent cohort, we compare participants with POTS grouped according to cardiac output ( Q˙ ) versus oxygen uptake ( V˙O2 ) function, whose circulatory response to exercise lay at the lower end of this distribution. We hypothesized that such grouping determines the circulatory response to incremental‐protocol, upright, cycle ergometry by whatever blend of flow and resistance adjustments best maintains normal blood pressure. We reviewed data on 209 POTS participants aged 10–19 years (73% female) grouped as follows: Q˙−V˙O2 < 3.20 L·min−1 per L·min−1 were designated low Q˙ or hypokinetic variant (N = 31); normal‐ Q˙ had slopes between 3.21 and 7.97; hyperkinetic participants had Q˙−V˙O2 slope >8 L·min−1 per L·min−1 (N = 32). Heart rate response to exercise was virtually identical in each group. Mean stroke volume (SV) rose normally in the hyperkinetic group (51 ± 38%); less in the normal Q˙ group (22 ± 27%); but was flat in the low Q˙ group (−7 ± 16%). Mean arterial pressure was similar at rest while systemic vascular conductance was flat from rest to exercise in the hypokinetic group, and by comparison rose more steeply in the normal Q˙ (P < 0.001) and in the hyperkinetic (P = 0.02) groups. In conclusion, we identified a variant of POTS with a hypokinetic circulation maintained by a vasoconstricted state. We speculate that they cannot muster preload to augment exercise SV due to profound thoracic hypovolemia, and must resort to vasoconstriction in order to maintain perfusion pressure within working muscle.
The effects of warm and cold intrathecal bupivacaine on shivering during delivery under spinal anesthesia

Background: Shivering associated with neuraxial anesthesia is a common problem that is uncomfortable for patients; it is of unknown ethnology and has no definite treatment. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of warm intrathecal bupivacaine stored at 23°C and cold intrathecal bupivacaine stored at 4°C on shivering during delivery under spinal anesthesia. Methods: Seventy-eight parturient women scheduled for nonemergency cesarean delivery were enrolled in the study and separated into 2 groups. The standard group received 10 mg of heavy bupivacaine 0.5% stored at room temperature (23°C) plus 10 μg of fentanyl intrathecally (warm group), and the case group received 10 mg of heavy bupivacaine 0.5% stored at 4°C plus 10 μg of fentanyl intrathecally (cold group). Data collection, including sensory block level, blood pressure, core temperature, and shivering intensity, was first performed every minute for 10 min, then every 5 min for 35 min and, finally, every 10 min until the sensory level receded to L4. Results: There were no differences between the 2 groups in the amount of bleeding, pulse rate, oxygen saturation, neonatal Apgar, and incidence of vomiting. The incidence and intensity of shivering decreased in the warm group (P=0.002). Conclusion: Warming of solutions can reduce the incidence and intensity of shivering in parturient candidates for cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia.
A Study of Convex Regularizers for Sparse Recovery and Feature Selection

We study the problem of recovering a sparse vector from a set o f linear measurements. This problem also relates to feature or variable sele ction in statistics and machine learning. A widely used method for such problems has been regularization with theL1 norm. We extend this methodology to allow for a broader class of regularizers which includes the L1 norm. This class is characterized by a convex analytic condition on the subdifferentials of its membe rs. We derive oracle inequalities for the estimators obtained by solving regula rization problems of this type. These bounds show that this class of regularizers may b e used for sparse recovery with the convergence rate depending on the first-or der properties of the regularizer. In particular, the optimal value in these boun ds is attained by theL1 norm. Finally, we present lower bounds on the recovery error , which hold under no assumptions on the design matrix.
Progress and challenges for cell encapsulation in brain tumour therapy

Cell encapsulation provides a method to circumvent the host immune system by encapsulating cells or tissues in immunoisolating, semipermeable membranes before implantation. The technology has been widely studied with an aim of developing bio-organs transplantable into patients without the need of immunosuppression, and in cancer therapy, the principle of cell encapsulation may be further exploited. Encapsulated recombinant cells represent factories or bioreactors for the production of therapeutic proteins. By implanting the bioreactors in the vicinity of the tumour, long-term local de novo delivery of the therapeutic proteins may be achieved. Malignant brain tumours such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remain highly lethal neoplasms, refractory to current therapies. Researchers and medical professionals are working on developing translational therapies to combat these aggressive tumours. Numerous clinical trials on gene therapy for glioma patients have been conducted over the last decade, but the results have largely been disappointing. Cell encapsulation represents an alternative method for local delivery of therapeutic proteins with antineoplastic properties to glioma patients. The concept has not yet reached clinical trials, but encouraging results have been achieved in rats bearing gliomas when implanting endostatin-secreting encapsulated cells into the rat brain. This review primarily focuses on the recent progress that has been made with cell encapsulation technology. In addition, the challenges this field faces before clinical application in brain tumour patients is discussed.
Effects of S-nitrosoglutathione on acute vasoconstriction and glutamate release after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) causes acute vasoconstriction that contributes to ischemic brain injury shortly after the initial bleed. It has been theorized that decreased availability of nitric oxide (NO) may contribute to acute vasoconstriction. Therefore we examined the effect of the NO donor N-nitroso glutathione (GSNO) on acute vasoconstriction and early ischemic glutamate release after experimental SAH. METHODS SAH was induced by the endovascular suture method in anesthetized rats. GSNO (1 micromol/L/kg, n=31) or saline (n=21) was injected 5 minutes after SAH. Sham-operated rats received GSNO (1 micromol/L/kg, n=5) 5 minutes after sham surgery. Arterial and intracranial pressures, cerebral blood flow (CBF), and extracellular glutamate release were measured serially for 60 minutes after SAH. SAH size was determined, and vascular measurements were made histologically. RESULTS GSNO had no effect on resting blood pressure, intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, or CBF in sham-operated animals. However, administration of GSNO after SAH was associated with significantly increased CBF (161.6+/-26.6% versus saline 37.1+/-5.5%, 60 minutes after SAH, P<0.05), increased blood vessel diameter (internal carotid artery [ICA] 285.0+/-16.5 microm versus saline 149.2+/-14.1 microm, P<0.01), decreased vessel wall thickness (ICA12.9+/-0.7 microm versus saline 25.1+/-1.6 microm, P<0.01), and decreased extracellular glutamate levels (3315.6+/-1048.3% versus saline469. 7+/-134.3%, P<0.05). Blood pressure decreased transiently, whereas intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, and SAH size were not affected. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that GSNO can reverse acute vasoconstriction and prevent ischemic brain injury after SAH. This further implies that acute vasoconstriction contributes significantly to ischemic brain injury after SAH and is mediated in part by decreased availability of NO.
Prenylated isoforms of yeast casein kinase I, including the novel Yck3p, suppress the gcs1 blockage of cell proliferation from stationary phase

The GCS1 gene of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae mediate the resumption of cell proliferation from the starved, stationary-phase state. Here we identify yeast genes that, in increased dosages, overcome the growth defect of gcs1 delta mutant cells. Among these are YCK1 (CK12) and YCK2 (CKI1), encoding membrane-associated casein kinase I, and YCK3, encoding a novel casein kinase I isoform. Some Yck3p gene product was found associated with the plasma membrane, like Yck1p and Yck2p, but most confractionated with the nucleus, like another yeast casein kinase I isoform, Hrr25p. Genetic studies showed that YCK3 and HRR25 constitute an essential gene family and that Yck3p can weakly substitute for Yck1p-Yck2p. For gcs1 delta suppression, both a protein kinase domain and a C-terminal prenylation motif were shown to be necessary. An impairment in endocytosis was found for gcs1 delta mutant cells, which was alleviated by an increased YCK2 gene dosage. The ability of an increased casein kinase I gene dosage to suppress the effects caused by the absence of Gcs1p suggests that Gcs1p and Yck1p-Yck2p affect parallel pathways.
Querying data provenance

Many advanced data management operations (e.g., incremental maintenance, trust assessment, debugging schema mappings, keyword search over databases, or query answering in probabilistic databases), involve computations that look at how a tuple was produced, e.g., to determine its score or existence. This requires answers to queries such as, "Is this data derivable from trusted tuples? "; "What tuples are derived from this relation? "; or "What score should this answer receive, given initial scores of the base tuples? ". Such questions can be answered by consulting the provenance of query results. In recent years there has been significant progress on formal models for provenance. However, the issues of provenance storage, maintenance, and querying have not yet been addressed in an application-independent way. In this paper, we adopt the most general formalism for tuple-based provenance, semiring provenance. We develop a query language for provenance, which can express all of the aforementioned types of queries, as well as many more; we propose storage, processing and indexing schemes for data provenance in support of these queries; and we experimentally validate the feasibility of provenance querying and the benefits of our indexing techniques across a variety of application classes and queries.
Improved design methodology for high-speed high-accuracy current steering D/A converters

This paper describes a sizing and design methodology for high-speed high-accuracy current steering D/A converters taking into account mismatching in all the transistors of the current source cell. The presented method allows a more accurate selection of the optimal design point without introducing arbitrary safety margins, as was done in the previous literature. This methodology has been applied to the design of a CMOS 12-bit 400 MHz current-steering segmented D/A converter. Commercial CAD tools are used to automatically lay out regular structures of the DAC, specially the current source array, following an optimal two-dimensional switching scheme to compensate for systematic mismatch errors.
Pattern of mycobacterial resistance to four anti-tuberculosis drugs in pulmonary tuberculosis patients in the state of Qatar after the implementation of DOTS and a limited expatriate screening programme.

OBJECTIVE To determine the resistance pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to four anti-tuberculosis drugs in pulmonary tuberculosis patients in the State of Qatar after the implementation of DOTS and an expatriate screening programme on arrival. METHOD A state-wide, population-based, retrospective analysis of all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis with positive M. tuberculosis culture reported to the Division of Public Health TB Unit from January 1996 to December 1998. M. tuberculosis sensitivity testing was done by the Bactec method for isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP), streptomycin (SM) and ethambutol (EMB). The results were interpreted as a daily change of the growth index of test vials (with drug) compared with controls. RESULTS There were 406 isolates with positive M. tuberculosis culture. Sixty-one (15%) were resistant to one or more of the four anti-tuberculosis drugs, of which 58 (95%) were from newly diagnosed cases (primary) and three (5%) were from previously treated cases (acquired). Primary resistance was as follows: any resistance 15%, INH 12.4%, RMP 2%, SM 5.2%, EMB 0.8% and multidrug resistance (MDR, resistance to INH and RMP at least) was found in 0.8%. Acquired resistance was as follows: any resistance 15%, INH 15%, RMP 5%, SM 5% and MDR 5%. CONCLUSION The prevalence of resistance to four anti-tuberculosis drugs is strikingly low due to the limited expatriate screening programme (chest radiography) and implementation of DOTS. The four-drug regimen is recommended for the initial phase of therapy until the results of sensitivity testing are known.
Functional Selectivity and Classical Concepts of Quantitative Pharmacology

The concept of intrinsic efficacy has been enshrined in pharmacology for half of a century, yet recent data have revealed that many ligands can differentially activate signaling pathways mediated via a single G protein-coupled receptor in a manner that challenges the traditional definition of intrinsic efficacy. Some terms for this phenomenon include functional selectivity, agonist-directed trafficking, and biased agonism. At the extreme, functionally selective ligands may be both agonists and antagonists at different functions mediated by the same receptor. Data illustrating this phenomenon are presented from serotonin, opioid, dopamine, vasopressin, and adrenergic receptor systems. A variety of mechanisms may influence this apparently ubiquitous phenomenon. It may be initiated by differences in ligand-induced intermediate conformational states, as shown for the β2-adrenergic receptor. Subsequent mechanisms that may play a role include diversity of G proteins, scaffolding and signaling partners, and receptor oligomers. Clearly, expanded research is needed to elucidate the proximal (e.g., how functionally selective ligands cause conformational changes that initiate differential signaling), intermediate (mechanisms that translate conformation changes into differential signaling), and distal mechanisms (differential effects on target tissue or organism). Besides the heuristically interesting nature of functional selectivity, there is a clear impact on drug discovery, because this mechanism raises the possibility of selecting or designing novel ligands that differentially activate only a subset of functions of a single receptor, thereby optimizing therapeutic action. It also may be timely to revise classic concepts in quantitative pharmacology and relevant pharmacological conventions to incorporate these new concepts.
Topological Mapping through Distributed, Passive Sensors

In this paper we address the problem of inferring the topology, or inter-node navigability, of a sensor network given non-discriminating observations of activity in the environment. By exploiting motion present in the environment, our approach is able to recover a probabilistic model of the sensor network connectivity graph and the underlying traffic trends. We employ a reasoning system made up of a stochastic Expectation Maximization algorithm and a higher level search strategy employing the principle of Occam's Razor to look for the simplest solution explaining the data. The technique is assessed through numerical simulations and experiments conducted on a real sensor network.
Learning Structured Low-Rank Representations for Image Classification

An approach to learn a structured low-rank representation for image classification is presented. We use a supervised learning method to construct a discriminative and reconstructive dictionary. By introducing an ideal regularization term, we perform low-rank matrix recovery for contaminated training data from all categories simultaneously without losing structural information. A discriminative low-rank representation for images with respect to the constructed dictionary is obtained. With semantic structure information and strong identification capability, this representation is good for classification tasks even using a simple linear multi-classifier. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Glycemic control and all-cause mortality risk in type 1 diabetes patients: the EURODIAB prospective complications study.

CONTEXT Glycemic targets and the benefit of intensive glucose control are currently under debate because intensive glycemic control has been suggested to have negative effects on mortality risk in type 2 diabetes patients. OBJECTIVE We examined the association between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and all-cause mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS A clinic-based prospective cohort study was performed in 2764 European patients with type 1 diabetes aged 15-60 years enrolled in the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study. OUTCOME MEASURE Possible nonlinearity of the association between HbA1c and all-cause mortality was examined using multivariable restricted cubic spline regression using three (at HbA1c 5.6%, 8.1%, and 11.8%) and five knots (additionally at HbA1c 7.1% and 9.5%). Mortality data were collected approximately 7 years after baseline examination. RESULTS HbA1c was related to all-cause mortality in a nonlinear manner after adjustment for age and sex. All-cause mortality risk was increased at both low (5.6%) and high (11.8%) HbA1c compared with the reference (median HbA1c: 8.1%) following a U-shaped association [P overall effect = . 008 and . 04, P nonlinearity = . 03 and . 11 (three and five knots, respectively)]. CONCLUSIONS Results from our study in type 1 diabetes patients suggest that target HbA1c below a certain threshold may not be appropriate in this population. We recognize that these low HbA1c levels may be related to anemia, renal insufficiency, infection, or other factors not available in our database. If our data are confirmed, the potential mechanisms underlying this increased mortality risk among those with low HbA1c will need further study.
High quality, scalable and parallel community detection for large real graphs

Community detection has arisen as one of the most relevant topics in the field of graph mining, principally for its applications in domains such as social or biological networks analysis. Different community detection algorithms have been proposed during the last decade, approaching the problem from different perspectives. However, existing algorithms are, in general, based on complex and expensive computations, making them unsuitable for large graphs with millions of vertices and edges such as those usually found in the real world. In this paper, we propose a novel disjoint community detection algorithm called Scalable Community Detection (SCD). By combining different strategies, SCD partitions the graph by maximizing the Weighted Community Clustering (WCC), a recently proposed community detection metric based on triangle analysis. Using real graphs with ground truth overlapped communities, we show that SCD outperforms the current state of the art proposals (even those aimed at finding overlapping communities) in terms of quality and performance. SCD provides the speed of the fastest algorithms and the quality in terms of NMI and F1Score of the most accurate state of the art proposals. We show that SCD is able to run up to two orders of magnitude faster than practical existing solutions by exploiting the parallelism of current multi-core processors, enabling us to process graphs of unprecedented size in short execution times.
Regulation of Sucrose non-Fermenting Related Kinase 1 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

The Sucrose non-Fermenting Related Kinase 1 (SnRK1) proteins have been linked to regulation of energy and stress signaling in eukaryotes. In plants, there is a small SnRK1 gene family. While the SnRK1.1 gene has been well studied, the role other SnRK1 isoforms play in energy or stress signaling is less well understood. We used promoter:GUS analysis and found SnRK1.1 is broadly expressed, while SnRK1.2 is spatially restricted. SnRK1.2 is expressed most abundantly in hydathodes, at the base of leaf primordia, and in vascular tissues within both shoots and roots. We examined the impact that sugars have on SnRK1 gene expression and found that trehalose induces SnRK1.2 expression. Given that the SnRK1.1 and SnRK1.2 proteins are very similar at the amino acid level, we sought to address whether SnRK1.2 is capable of re-programming growth and development as has been seen previously with SnRK1.1 overexpression. While gain-of-function transgenic plants overexpressing two different isoforms of SnRK1.1 flower late as seen previously in other SnRK1.1 overexpressors, SnRK1.2 overexpressors flower early. In addition, SnRK1.2 overexpressors have increased leaf size and rosette diameter during early development, which is the opposite of SnRK1.1 overexpressors. We also investigated whether SnRK1.2 was localized to similar subcellular compartments as SnRK1.1, and found that both accumulate in the nucleus and cytoplasm in transient expression assays. In addition, we found SnRK1.1 accumulates in small puncta that appear after a mechanical wounding stress. Together, these data suggest key differences in regulation of the SnRK1.1 and SnRK1.2 genes in plants, and highlights differences overexpression of each gene has on the development of Arabidopsis.
Effect of unilateral exercise on spinal and pelvic deformities, and isokinetic trunk muscle strength

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to collect basic data regarding the prevention of spinal and pelvic deformities by investigating the spinal shape and muscular function characteristics of imbalance reduction and functional improvement following asymmetric activities. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 14 archery athletes who mostly perform unilateral motion with spinal and pelvic pain, and 19 healthy subjects. All the participants were evaluated using spinal structure analysis and for 60°/sec isokinetic muscular strength of the trunk. [Results] Between the two groups, there were significant differences in the interaction effect of trunk inclination deformities, and flexor and extensor 60°/sec isokinetic muscular strength of the trunk. Also, the main effects of gender comparison showed significant differences in the trunk inclination deformities, pelvic rotation deformities, lordosis angles, and flexor and extensor 60 ˚/sec isokinetic muscular strengths of the trunk. [Conclusion] The basic data obtained in this study can be used to help develop a strategic exercise program for improving unilateral movement and malalignment of the spine and pelvis.
Augmenting anycast network flows

Updating network flows in a real-world setting is a nascent research area, especially with the recent rise of Software Defined Networks. While augmenting s-t flows of a single commodity is a well-understood concept, we study updating flows in a multi-commodity setting: Given a directed network with flows of different commodities, how can the capacity of some commodities be increased, without reducing capacities of other commodities, when moving flows in the network in an orchestrated order? To this extent, we show how the notion of augmenting flows can be efficiently extended to multiple commodities for anycast applications.