Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Joint Panel Sizing and Appointment Scheduling in Outpatient Care

Patients nationwide experience difficulties in accessing medical care in a timely manner due to long backlogs of appointments. Medical practices aim to utilize their valuable resources efficiently, deliver timely access to care, and at the same time they strive to provide short waiting times for patients present at the medical facility. We address the joint problem of determining the panel size of a medical practice and the number of offered appointment slots per day, so that patients do not face long backlogs and the clinic is not overcrowded. We explicitly model the two time scales involved in accessing medical care: appointment delay (order of days, weeks) and clinic delay (order of minutes, hours). Closed-form expressions are derived for the performance measures of interest based on diffusion approximations. Our model captures many features of the complex reality of outpatient care, including patient no-shows, balking behavior, and random service times. Our analysis provides theoretical and numerical .
Hepatoprotective and Antioxidant Activity of Lannea coromandelica Linn. on Thioacetamide Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats

Hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of Lannea coromandelica bark extract (LCBE) was investigated on thioacetamide induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Hepatotoxicity was induced by thioacetamide (TAA) administration (100 mg/kg. s.c). LCBE at different doses (400 and 200 mg/kg) were administered orally to male wistar rats. Thioacetamide caused elevation of serum concentration of AST, ALT, ALP, serum bilirubin and also reduced serum concentration of total protein, albumin, sodium, potassium in animals as compared to control (p < 0.05) but LCBE treated rats showed maximum reduction of AST [(138±5.1) IU/L], ALT [(71 ±2.7) IU/L], ALP [(140 ±1.9) IU/L] with the high dose (400 mg/kg bw) of combined aqueous and alcoholic bark extract. Whereas, serum bilurubin, cholesterol, sugar and LDH content were varied with the treatments but showed higher with the only ethanolic extract at dose of 400 mg/kg. The IC50 value was observed as (83.28 ±2.12) µg/mL, for DPPH radical scavenging activity. Result concluded that ethanolic extract and combined aqueous and alcoholic bark extract of L. coromandelica showed a potential hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities might be due to the presence of phenolic groups, terpenoids and alkaloids.
Replacing protein in corn-soybean turkey diets with methionine and lysine.

The extent to which dietary protein can be minimized by using Met and Lys supplements for market turkeys has been investigated in three experiments involving 2,750 birds. Large White (Nicholas) male turkey poults were fed corn-soybean meal diets of varying protein level to supply Lys from 80 to 120 of NRC (1984) from day-old to 18 wk of age. Performance with diets of 90% NRC Lys was equal to that with diets of higher Lys, provided that SAA were at 100% of NRC. Up to . 2% Lys.HCl could be substituted into the 100 or 90% of NRC diets with no depression in performance, suggesting that the other essential amino acids were present in adequate amounts. When turkeys were fed diets of 85% of NRC (1984) Lys, maximum growth and breast meat yield were obtained with supplemental SAA at 100% during 0 to 18 wk of age and Lys at 100% during 12 to 18 wk of age. The requirements for other amino acids were supplied by diets formulated to provide 85% of the Lys requirement from protein. These values were for turkeys subjected to 18 C during final growout; they were not adequate in warmer temperatures.
Disruption of dopamine homeostasis has sexually dimorphic effects on senescence characteristics of Drosophila melanogaster

The neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) is known to be involved in a multitude of physiological processes. We investigated sexually dimorphic effects of disruptions in DA homeostasis and its relationship to senescence using three different Drosophila melanogaster mutants namely Catsup (Catsup26) with elevated DA levels, and pale (ple2), Punch (PuZ22) with depleted DA levels. In all genotypes including controls, DA levels were significantly lower in old (45–50‐day‐old) flies compared with young (3–5‐day‐old) in both sexes. Interestingly, females had lower DA content than males at young age whereas this difference was not observed in old age, suggesting that males had a larger decline in DA levels with age. Females, in general, were longer lived compared with males in all genotypes except ple2 mutants with depleted DA levels. This phenotype was abolished in the ple2 rescue flies. Interestingly, females also demonstrated marked age‐related decline in circadian locomotor activity compared with males. Old Catsup26 males with elevated DA levels accumulated significantly lower levels of lipid peroxidation product 4‐hydroxy 2‐nonenal (4‐HNE) compared with age‐matched wild type, ple2 and PuZ22 mutant males. In Catsup26 revertant lines this phenomenon was absent. We also observed a sexually dimorphic response in the expression levels of key stress and aging associated and/or related transcription factor genes across genotypes with elevated or depleted DA levels which was reverted to wild type levels in specific rescue lines. Taken together, our results reveal a novel sexually dimorphic involvement of DA in senescence characteristics of D. melanogaster.
Household air pollution and measures of blood pressure, arterial stiffness and central haemodynamics

Objective We evaluated the exposure–response associations between personal exposure to air pollution from biomass stoves and multiple vascular and haemodynamic parameters in rural Chinese women. Methods We analysed the baseline information from a longitudinal study in southwestern China. Women’s brachial and central blood pressure and pulse pressure, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index, and their 48-hour personal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon were measured in summer and winter. We evaluated the associations between exposure to air pollution and haemodynamic parameters using mixed-effects regression models adjusted for known cardiovascular risk factors. Results Women’s (n=205, ages 27–86 years) exposures to PM2.5 and black carbon ranged from 14 µg/m3 to 1405 µg/m3 and 0.1–121.8 µg/m3, respectively. Among women aged ≥50 years, increased PM2.5 exposure was associated with higher systolic (brachial: 3.5 mm Hg (P=0.05); central: 4.4 mm Hg (P=0.005)) and diastolic blood pressure (central: 1.3 mm Hg (P=0.10)), higher pulse pressure (peripheral: 2.5 mm Hg (P=0.05); central: 2.9 mm Hg (P=0.008)) and lower peripheral–central pulse pressure amplification (−0.007 (P=0.04)). Among younger women, the associations were inconsistent in the direction of effect and not statistically significant. Increased PM2.5 exposure was associated with no difference in pulse wave velocity and modestly higher augmentation index though the CI included zero (1.1%; 95% CI −0.2% to 2.4%). Similar associations were found for black carbon exposure. Conclusions Exposure to household air pollution was associated with higher blood pressure and central haemodynamics in older Chinese women, with no associations observed with pulse wave velocity.
A Sensitivity Analysis of an Inverted Pendulum Balance Control Model

Balance control models are used to describe balance behavior in health and disease. We identified the unique contribution and relative importance of each parameter of a commonly used balance control model, the Independent Channel (IC) model, to identify which parameters are crucial to describe balance behavior. The balance behavior was expressed by transfer functions (TFs), representing the relationship between sensory perturbations and body sway as a function of frequency, in terms of amplitude (i.e., magnitude) and timing (i.e., phase). The model included an inverted pendulum controlled by a neuromuscular system, described by several parameters. Local sensitivity of each parameter was determined for both the magnitude and phase using partial derivatives. Both the intrinsic stiffness and proportional gain shape the magnitude at low frequencies (0.1–1 Hz). The derivative gain shapes the peak and slope of the magnitude between 0.5 and 0.9 Hz. The sensory weight influences the overall magnitude, and does not have any effect on the phase. The effect of the time delay becomes apparent in the phase above 0.6 Hz. The force feedback parameters and intrinsic stiffness have a small effect compared with the other parameters. All parameters shape the TF magnitude and phase and therefore play a role in the balance behavior. The sensory weight, time delay, derivative gain, and the proportional gain have a unique effect on the TFs, while the force feedback parameters and intrinsic stiffness contribute less. More insight in the unique contribution and relative importance of all parameters shows which parameters are crucial and critical to identify underlying differences in balance behavior between different patient groups.
Subtypes of depression and their overlap in a naturalistic inpatient sample of major depressive disorder

Subtyping depression is important in order to further delineate biological causes of depressive syndromes. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical and outcome characteristics of distinct subtypes of depression and to assess proportion and features of patients fulfilling criteria for more than one subtype. Melancholic, atypical and anxious subtypes of depression were assessed in a naturalistic sample of 833 inpatients using DSM‐IV specifiers based on operationalized criteria. Baseline characteristics and outcome criteria at discharge were compared between distinct subtypes and their overlap. A substantial proportion of patients (16%) were classified with more than one subtype of depression, 28% were of the distinct anxious, 7% of the distinct atypical and 5% of the distinct melancholic subtype. Distinct melancholic patients had shortest duration of episode, highest baseline depression severity, but were more often early improvers; distinct anxious patients had higher NEO‐Five Factor Inventory (NEO‐FFI) neuroticism scores compared with patients with unspecific subtype. Melancholic patients with overlap of anxious features had worse treatment outcome compared to distinct melancholic and distinct anxious subtype. Distinct subtypes differed in only few variables and patients with overlap of depression subtypes may have independent clinical and outcome characteristics. Studies investigating biological causes of subtypes of depression should take influence of features of other subtypes into account.
The NOTCH Pathway in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Comprehensive genomic analyses have been performed for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), revealing a significant rate of NOTCH1 mutations and identifying NOTCH1 as the second most frequently mutated gene after TP53. Most NOTCH1 mutations are considered inactivating, indicating that NOTCH1 is a tumor suppressor gene. On the other hand, cohorts from Asian populations with HNSCC have shown activating NOTCH1 mutations. HNSCC with NOTCH1 mutations have a worse prognosis than the NOTCH1 wild-type tumors. Additional data on other NOTCH family members have shown that NOTCH promotes HNSCC progression. NOTCH family members, including NOTCH pathway genes, are upregulated in HNSCC compared with normal tissues, and inhibition of the NOTCH pathway decreases cell proliferation and invasion. NOTCH activity in HNSCC is therefore contextual, and NOTCH in HNSCC is considered to have a bimodal role as a tumor suppressor and an oncogene. In this review, recent understandings of NOTCH pathway genes, including NOTCH genes, in HNSCC are described. In addition, the implications of NOTCH pathway alteration for HNSCC-specific NOTCH-targeted cancer therapy are explored.
Maintenance lysine requirement and efficiency of using lysine for accretion of whole-body lysine and protein in young chicks.

Two bioassays were conducted to determine the maintenance requirement and efficiency of utilization of dietary Lys in young chicks. New Hampshire x Columbian males were used in Assay 1 and Avian x Avian males were used in Assay 2. In each assay, chicks were given free access for 10 d to crystalline amino acid (AA) diets containing graded levels of L-Lys.HCl. Doses of Lys represented 5, 40, 55, 70, and 95% of its ideal level in Assay 1; all other AA were set at 100% of their ideal levels, except for the lowest Lys level, in which the other AA were maintained at a 15% excess. In Assay 2, doses of Lys represented 5, 10, 40, 55, 70, and 95% of ideal; all other AA were maintained at minimized excess levels that were 15% (of ideal) above the various doses of Lys. After 24 h of feed deprivation, chicks were killed for whole-body protein and AA analysis. In Assay 1, protein accretion (r2 = 0.95) and Lys accretion (r2 = 0.98) were linear (P < 0.01) functions of Lys intake. Slope of the Lys accretion regression line indicated that 75.8% of the crystalline Lys ingested (above maintenance) was retained. The Lys required for zero protein accretion was 12 mg/d or 45 mg/d per kg3/4, whereas the Lys required for zero Lys accretion was 30.3 mg/d or 114 mg/d per kg3/4. With Avian x Avian chicks, protein accretion (r2 = 0.99) and Lys accretion (r2 = 0.99) were linear (P < 0.01) functions of Lys intake. Slope of the Lys regression line indicated that 79.3% of the Lys ingested was retained. The Lys requirement for zero protein accretion was 2.5 mg/d or 6.9 mg/d per kg3/4. The Lys maintenance requirement for zero Lys accretion, however, was 32.3 mg/d or 89.1 mg/d per kg3/4. The data demonstrated that at nitrogen equilibrium, chicks are in negative Lys balance but are in positive balance of glycine and proline.
Deep Contextualized Word Representations

We introduce a new type of deep contextualized word representation that models both (1) complex characteristics of word use (e.g., syntax and semantics), and (2) how these uses vary across linguistic contexts (i.e., to model polysemy). Our word vectors are learned functions of the internal states of a deep bidirectional language model (biLM), which is pre-trained on a large text corpus. We show that these representations can be easily added to existing models and significantly improve the state of the art across six challenging NLP problems, including question answering, textual entailment and sentiment analysis. We also present an analysis showing that exposing the deep internals of the pre-trained network is crucial, allowing downstream models to mix different types of semi-supervision signals.
Lipid and Some Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors Assessment in a Rural Community in Eastern Nigeria

Background: Continuous re evaluation of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (cardiovascular diseases [CVDs]) in developing nations is imperative as it lays foundation for early preventive/intervention measures at grass root level to improve/prevent CVD morbidity and mortality in those nations where health indices still score below the standard. Aim: The aim was to assess CVD risk factors as a continuous re evaluation of these may underscore the need for early intervention measures at grass root level. Subjects and Methods: A total of 257 apparently healthy inhabitants aged 18–85 years were recruited in a rural community in South Eastern Nigeria by convenient sampling. Blood pressure, waist circumference and blood lipid analysis were done procedurally and data analyzed using SPSS 16.0 statistical software. Results: The males were older (59.41 [5.22]) than the females (53.31 [16.90]). 69.2% (133/192) were low level farmers, retirees and dependents. Total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and risk predictive index were higher in females while triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein and very LDL (VLDL) were higher in males. The middle aged and elderly respectively had higher TG and VLDL compared to the young. Aside hypertriglyceridemia, all lipid abnormalities were higher in females than males both singly (high TC: 28.9% [35/121] vs. 16.9% [12/71]; high LDL cholesterol: 52.0% [63/121] vs. 31.0% [22/71]) and in combination hypercholesterolemia with hypertriglyceridemia (42.9% [52/121] vs. 36.6% [26/71]). “Multiple risk factors” also occurred more in females with seeming further increase in older age. Conclusion: The chances of a female having CVD after menopause seemed to outweigh that of the male. CVD preventive measures should be focused at the primary/community level as a means to curtailing the increasing morbidity and eventual mortality from CVDs.
Conjugation of Indoles to Antibodies through a Novel Self-Immolating Linker.

A novel strategy to attach indole-containing payloads to antibodies through a carbamate moiety and a self-immolating, disulfide-based linker is described. This new strategy was employed to connect a selective estrogen receptor down-regulator (SERD) to various antibodies in a site-selective manner. The resulting conjugates displayed potent, antigen-dependent down-regulation of estrogen receptor levels in MCF7-neo/HER2 and MCF7-hB7H4 cells. They also exhibited similar antigen-dependent modulation of the estrogen receptor in tumors when administered intravenously to mice bearing MCF7-neo/HER2 tumor xenografts. The indole-carbamate moiety present in the new linker was stable in whole blood from various species and also exhibited good in vivo stability properties in mice.
Metabolic studies on lean and fat Pekin ducks selected for breast muscle thickness measured by ultrasound scanning.

Female Pekin ducks selected for high (lean) or low (fat) breast muscle:total breast thickness ratio (MT:TOT), measured with ultrasound scanning, were used in metabolic studies to determine the metabolic differences and assess the effects of feed withdrawal and refeeding on plasma parameters. Lean and fat ducks had similar body weight changes throughout the studies. Lean ducks had significantly lower fat and higher CP and ash carcass contents. They also had higher (P < 0.05) plasma glucose after feed withdrawal but less (P < 0.05) plasma glucose after feeding. Fat ducks had similar plasma triglycerides (TG) after feed withdrawal but higher (P < 0.05) TG concentration after feeding and higher (P < 0.05) plasma uric acid than the lean females after feeding. Feed deprivation resulted in higher (P < 0.05) plasma cholesterol than did feeding. Lean ducks fed the test diet retained more (P < 0.05) N than the fat birds. Lean and fat Pekin ducks had similar (P > 0.05) AME, AMEn, TME, and TMEn. Lean ducks lost less (P < 0.05) N than fat birds. Plasma cholesterol was not significantly correlated (P = 0.06) with nitrogen retention (NR); NR was negatively correlated (P < 0.05) with plasma TG, and TG was positively correlated (P < 0.05) with total energy excreted. There was a positive correlation (P < 0.05) between MT:TOT and NR. The MT:TOT correlated (P < 0.05) negatively with carcass fat, and positively with carcass CP and plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentration. The results we obtained demonstrate the usefulness of ultrasound scanning in live bird selection for leanness and greater breast muscle thickness and are related to metabolic differences between lean and fat female Pekin ducks selected for high or low MT:TOT ratios.
Anatomical and functional organization of the human substantia nigra and its connections

We investigated the anatomical and functional organization of the human substantia nigra (SN) using diffusion and functional MRI data from the Human Connectome Project. We identified a tripartite connectivity-based parcellation of SN with a limbic, cognitive and motor arrangement. The medial SN connects with limbic striatal and cortical regions and encodes value (greater response to monetary wins than losses during fMRI), while the ventral SN connects with associative regions of cortex and striatum and encodes salience (equal response to wins and losses). The lateral SN connects with somatomotor regions of striatum and cortex and also encodes salience. Connectivity within the value-coding medial SN network was associated with a measure of decisional impulsivity, while the salience-coding ventral SN network was associated with motor impulsivity. In sum, there is anatomical and functional heterogeneity of human SN, and separate SN networks underpin value versus salience coding, and impulsive choice versus impulsive action.
Characterizing the performance of a single-layer fabric system through a heat and mass transfer model - Part II: Thermal and evaporative resistances

In Part I of this work, a heat and mass transfer model was developed to calculate the thermal and evaporative resistances of a single-layer fabric system. Using this model, the effects of environmental conditions, air gap, and material properties on the thermal and evaporative resistances have now been studied. The thickness of the air gap and that of the fabric layer were shown to contribute significantly to both the thermal resistance and evaporative resistance. The occurrence of natural convection in the air gap can cause decreases in thermal and evaporative resistances, and needs to be considered to determine the optimal air gap thickness. The porosity of the fabric layer has a distinct effect on the two resistances, and is an excellent property to help achieve both thermal protection and comfort. This work provides the fundamental basis for the optimization of garment fit and material properties to achieve good performance of the clothing system.
Skeletal Muscle Microvascular-Linked Improvements in Glycemic Control From Resistance Training in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Insulin increases glucose disposal in part by enhancing microvascular blood flow (MBF) and substrate delivery to myocytes. Insulin’s microvascular action is impaired with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Resistance training (RT) improves glycemic control and insulin sensitivity, but whether this improvement is linked to augmented skeletal muscle microvascular responses in type 2 diabetes is unknown. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Seventeen (11 male and 6 female; 52 ± 2 years old) sedentary patients with type 2 diabetes underwent 6 weeks of whole-body RT. Before and after RT, participants who fasted overnight had clinical chemistries measured (lipids, glucose, HbA1c, insulin, and advanced glycation end products) and underwent an oral glucose challenge (OGC) (50 g × 2 h). Forearm muscle MBF was assessed by contrast-enhanced ultrasound, skin MBF by laser Doppler flowmetry, and brachial artery flow by Doppler ultrasound at baseline and 60 min post-OGC. A whole-body DEXA scan before and after RT assessed body composition. RESULTS After RT, muscle MBF response to the OGC increased, while skin microvascular responses were unchanged. These microvascular adaptations were accompanied by improved glycemic control (fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and glucose area under the curve [AUC] during OGC) and increased lean body mass and reductions in fasting plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol, advanced glycation end products, and total body fat. Changes in muscle MBF response after RT significantly correlated with reductions in fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and OGC AUC with adjustment for age, sex, % body fat, and % lean mass. CONCLUSIONS RT improves OGC-stimulated muscle MBF and glycemic control concomitantly, suggesting that MBF plays a role in improved glycemic control from RT.