Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Erythrocytes as a Reservoir for Ribavirin and Relationship with Adverse Reactions in the Early Phase of Interferon Combination Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infections

ABSTRACT We investigated the relationship between serum ribavirin concentrations and clearance, as well as therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions, in 97 Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infections treated with a 6-month course of high-dose alpha2b interferon (6 million units/day) plus ribavirin (600 to 800 mg/day) combination therapy. This randomized trial showed that the saturation of ribavirin uptake after taking ribavirin capsules does not occur within a dose range of 600 to 800 mg/day, which is a standard dosage used clinically in Japan. Serum ribavirin concentrations and clearance did not correlate with sustained virological response rates. Fourteen patients discontinued therapy because of adverse reactions, and sustained virological response rates were significantly reduced by discontinuation of therapy, while dose reduction of ribavirin did not alter the therapeutic effects. Ribavirin concentrations after 1 week and ribavirin clearance were significantly correlated with discontinuation of ribavirin; however, a multiple-regression analysis revealed that only hemoglobin concentration, but not ribavirin clearance, was a significant factor for discontinuation of therapy (odds ratio, 0.514; 95% confidence interval, 0.311 to 0.85; P = 0.0095). It appears that peripheral erythrocytes may act as a reservoir for ribavirin and regulate serum ribavirin levels in the very early phase of treatment.
Early and Late Combinations of Criteria for Reranking Distributional Thesauri

In this article, we first propose to exploit a new criterion for improving distributional thesauri. Following a bootstrapping perspective, we select relations between the terms of similar nominal compounds for building in an unsupervised way the training set of a classifier performing the reranking of a thesaurus. Then, we evaluate several ways to combine thesauri reranked according to different criteria and show that exploiting the complementary information brought by these criteria leads to significant improvements.
Mutual Information, Fisher Information, and Efficient Coding

Fisher information is generally believed to represent a lower bound on mutual information (Brunel & Nadal, 1998), a result that is frequently used in the assessment of neural coding efficiency. However, we demonstrate that the relation between these two quantities is more nuanced than previously thought. For example, we find that in the small noise regime, Fisher information actually provides an upper bound on mutual information. Generally our results show that it is more appropriate to consider Fisher information as an approximation rather than a bound on mutual information. We analytically derive the correspondence between the two quantities and the conditions under which the approximation is good. Our results have implications for neural coding theories and the link between neural population coding and psychophysically measurable behavior. Specifically, they allow us to formulate the efficient coding problem of maximizing mutual information between a stimulus variable and the response of a neural population in terms of Fisher information. We derive a signature of efficient coding expressed as the correspondence between the population Fisher information and the distribution of the stimulus variable. The signature is more general than previously proposed solutions that rely on specific assumptions about the neural tuning characteristics. We demonstrate that it can explain measured tuning characteristics of cortical neural populations that do not agree with previous models of efficient coding.
Alterations of the Lipid Metabolome in Dairy Cows Experiencing Excessive Lipolysis Early Postpartum

A decrease in insulin sensitivity enhances adipose tissue lipolysis helping early lactation cows counteracting their energy deficit. However, excessive lipolysis poses serious health risks for cows, and its underlying mechanisms are not clearly understood. The present study used targeted ESI-LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics and indirect insulin sensitivity measurements to evaluate metabolic alterations in the serum of dairy cows of various parities experiencing variable lipolysis early postpartum. Thirty (12 primiparous and 18 multiparous) cows of Holstein Friesian and Simmental breeds, fed the same diet and kept under the same management conditions, were sampled at d 21 postpartum and classified as low (n = 10), medium (n = 8), and high (n = 12) lipolysis groups, based on serum concentration of nonesterified fatty acids. Overall, excessive lipolysis in the high group came along with impaired estimated insulin sensitivity and characteristic shifts in acylcarnitine, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine and lysophospholipid metabolome profiles compared to the low group. From the detected phosphatidylcholines mainly those with diacyl-residues showed differences among lipolysis groups. Furthermore, more than half of the detected sphingomyelins were increased in cows experiencing high lipomobilization. Additionally, strong differences in serum acylcarnitines were noticed among lipolysis groups. The study suggests an altered serum phospholipidome in dairy cows associated with an increase in certain long-chain sphingomyelins and the progression of disturbed insulin function. In conclusion, the present study revealed 37 key metabolites as part of alterations in the synthesis or breakdown of sphingolipids and phospholipids associated with lowered estimated insulin sensitivity and excessive lipolysis in early-lactating cows.
Diagnosing Foreclosure Due to Exclusive Dealing

Exclusive dealing arrangements, in which a distributor contracts to work exclusively with a single manufacturer, can be efficiency enhancing or they can be an anticompetitive means to foreclose markets. This paper evaluates the effect of exclusive distribution arrangements on competition in the Chicago beer market in 1994. A diagnostic test is provided to judge whether exclusive arrangements between brewers and their distributors lead to foreclosure. To implement this test I estimate a model of consumer demand and firm behavior that incorporates industry details and allows for distribution through exclusive and shared channels. The test indicates that foreclosure effects are not present in this market, suggesting that the most likely effect of intervention would be to reduce social welfare.
IMILAST: A Community Effort to Intercompare Extratropical Cyclone Detection and Tracking Algorithms

The variability of results from different automated methods of detection and tracking of extratropical cyclones is assessed in order to identify uncertainties related to the choice of method. Fifteen international teams applied their own algorithms to the same dataset—the period 1989–2009 of interim European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERAInterim) data. This experiment is part of the community project Intercomparison of Mid Latitude Storm Diagnostics (IMILAST; see www.proclim.ch/imilast/index.html). The spread of results for cyclone frequency, intensity, life cycle, and track location is presented to illustrate the impact of using different methods. Globally, methods agree well for geographical distribution in large oceanic regions, interannual variability of cyclone numbers, geographical patterns of strong trends, and distribution shape for many life cycle characteristics. In contrast, the largest disparities exist for the total numbers of cyclones, the detection of weak cyclones, and distribution in some densely populated regions. Consistency between methods is better for strong cyclones than for shallow ones. Two case studies of relatively large, intense cyclones reveal that the identification of the most intense part of the life cycle of these events is robust between methods, but considerable differences exist during the development and the dissolution phases.
Latent Gaussian Models for Topic Modeling

A new approach is proposed for topic modeling, in which the latent matrix factorization employs Gaussian priors, rather than the Dirichlet-class priors widely used in such models. The use of a latent-Gaussian model permits simple and efficient approximate Bayesian posterior inference, via the Laplace approximation. On multiple datasets, the proposed approach is demonstrated to yield results as accurate as state-of-the-art approaches based on Dirichlet constructions, at a small fraction of the computation. The framework is general enough to jointly model text and binary data, here demonstrated to produce accurate and fast results for joint analysis of voting rolls and the associated legislative text. Further, it is demonstrated how the technique may be scaled up to massive data, with encouraging performance relative to alternative methods.
Physical, chemical, and nutritional characteristics of distillers dried grains with solubles for chicks and pigs.

The physical characteristics, chemical composition, and nutritional value of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) from seven beverage alcohol and two fuel alcohol manufacturers were evaluated in studies with chicks and pigs. Color scores of the DDGS ranged from very light to very dark and odor scores ranged from normal to burnt or smoky. The DDGS ranged from 23.4 to 28.7% CP, 2.9 to 12.8% fat, 8.8 to 36.9% ADIN, 28.8 to 40.3% NDF, 10.3 to 18.1% ADF, and 3.4 to 7.3% ash. Lysine concentrations of the DDGS ranged from . 43 to . 89%. In the first experiment, 12 corn-based diets were fed to 1-d-old chicks for 21 d to assess the nutritional value of the DDGS sources. A low-protein basal diet was supplemented with soybean meal to provide 13.6, 16.5, or 19.0% CP or supplemented with 20% DDGS, which supplied approximately the same amount of CP as the highest level of soybean meal. Weight gain, feed intake, and feed/gain were influenced (P < .01) by source of DDGS. The weight gain of chicks fed the DDGS sources ranged from 85% of that chicks fed the highest level of soybean meal to less than that of chicks fed the low-protein basal diet. Blends of the three best sources of DDGS and the three poorest sources of DDGS were evaluated in a subsequent chick trial. The relative nutritional values of the two blends were similar to the average of the sources that made up the blends. Performance responses to various blends of DDGS in the pig experiment paralleled those of the chick trial. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Soundtracks for Computer Animation: Sound Rendering in Dynamic Environment with Occlusions

With the development of virtual reality systems and multi-modal simulations, soundtrack generation is becoming an important issue in computer graphics. In the context of computer generated animation, many more parameters than the sole object geometry as well as specific events can be used to generate, control and render a soundtrack that fits the object motions. Producing a convincing soundtrack involves the rendering of the interactions of sound with the dynamic environment : in particular sound reflections and sound absorption due to partial occlusions, usually implying an unacceptable computational cost. We present an integrated approach to sound and image rendering in a computer animation context, which allows the animator to recreate the process of sound recording, while ``physical effects" are automatically computed. Moreover, our sound rendering process efficiently combines a sound reflection model and an attenuation model due to scattering/diffraction by partial occluders, through the use of graphics hardware allowing interactive computation rates.
Analysing large COBOL programs: the extraction of reusable modules

We describe work performed for the IDENT project which is concerned with the identification and encapsulation of reusable modules. The aim of the project is to look at the integration of two methods for supporting maintenance; RE/sup 2/ and RECAST. We describe a case study where we try to extract reusable modules from a 21,000 line COBOL program. We approach this through the use of some of the basic methods addressed by the RE/sup 2/ reuse reengineering paradigm and some of the stages of the reverse engineering RECAST method. We have found that the identification of modules is very difficult because of high connectivity between data items. In order to deal with this problem we identify a number of strategies for removing particular data items using some of the RECAST stages and steps. These include the logical data model and system processing steps. However, in most cases we have found that such approaches were insufficient and that expert domain knowledge is also required to assist in module identification.
Postoperative course and prognostic value of circulating angiogenic cytokines after pancreatic cancer resection

Background Circulating angiogenic cytokines (CACs) have been confirmed as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in several solid tumors. However, their role as prognostic biomarkers in resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is unknown. Results The expression of CACs in patients with PDAC differs from those with CP both pre- and postoperatively. Correlation analyses show significant correlations between circulating levels of CACs: VEGF was correlated with IL-6 (r = 0.457), FGF (r = 0.44), G-CSF (r = 0.543), HGF (r = 0.586) and SDF-1α (r = 0.784) before the surgery. The circulating levels of TNF-α correlated with the serum concentration of IL-4 before (r= 0.656) and after the resection (r = 0.776 on POD 3, r = 0.865 on POD 7). Gender did not show any correlation with serum levels of CAC, except for significantly higher levels of EGF in males (P = 0.002). Other clinicopathological variables such as age (< 65 vs. > 65 years), T, N, or UICC stage did not have an association with the cytokine levels. The multivariate model including the entire angiogenic panel revealed that postoperative increasing levels of EGF (P = 0.023), PDGFA-A (P = 0.024), TNF-α (P = 0.001) and IL-8 (P = 0.049) were associated with a favorable prognosis, whereas elevating levels of VEGF (P = 0.005) correlated with a poor cancer-specific survival. Materials and Methods Preoperative and postoperative blood samples were collected in patients undergoing surgery for PDAC (n = 40) or chronic pancreatitis (CP; n = 9). Serum levels of 13 angiogenic cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, FGF-b, G-CSF, TNF-α, VEGF, HGF, SDF-1α, IL-8, EGF, Ang-1, PDGF-AA and PlGF) were analyzed using ELISA and Multiplex. Prognostic factors were identified by a Cox proportional hazards model. Conclusions Postoperative changes of serum levels of certain angiogenic cytokines correlate with patients’ prognosis after resection for pancreatic cancer. CACs should thus be considered as biomarkers in patients with resected pancreatic cancer.
The Development of a Culturally Appropriate Analogy for Implicit Motor Learning in a Chinese Population

Learning a motor skill by analogy can benefit performers because the movement that is developed has characteristics of implicit motor learning: namely, movement robustness under pressure and secondary task distraction and limited accrual of explicit knowledge (Liao & Masters, 2001). At an applied level the advantages are lost, however, if the heuristic that underpins the analogy conveys abstractions that are inappropriate for the indigenous culture. The aim of the current experiment was to redevelop Masters’s (2000) right-angled-triangle analogy to accommodate abstractions appropriate for Chinese learners. Novice Chinese participants learned to hit table tennis forehands with topspin using either a redeveloped, culturally appropriate analogy (analogy learning) or a set of 6 instructions relevant to hitting a topspin forehand in table tennis (explicit learning). Analogy learners accrued less explicit knowledge of the movements underlying their performance than explicit learners. In addition, a secondary ta.
On the performance of wavelets for low bit rate coding of audio signals

The performance of some different wavelet families, including for comparison a well known family of QMFs, is investigated for low bit rate coding of audio signals. For the assessment of the coding gain of these wavelets, both octave and uniform subband coding schemes have been evaluated, using both constant and dynamic bit allocation, with and without entropy noiseless Huffman coding. The influence of complexity of these wavelets, in terms of number of filter coefficients, against the quality of the decompressed audio signals in terms of segmental-SNR (dB), is presented, at different bit rates. In addition, this evaluation suggests that perceptually transparent quality of monophonic signals can be achieved at 24 kbits/sec (Fs=8 kHz, 3 bits/sample) for speech applications and at 64 kbits/sec (Fs=48 kHz, 1.33 bits/sample) for music related applications, as in digital audio transmission and storage.
Association Between Accommodative Accuracy, Hypermetropia, and Strabismus in Children with Down’s Syndrome

Purpose. A significant proportion of children with Down’s syndrome have been shown to have reduced accommodation. The purpose of this study was to investigate any association between reduced accommodation and refractive error, strabismus, visual acuity, and other ocular parameters. Methods. Subjects were children with Down’s syndrome enrolled in a longitudinal cohort to monitor visual development. Twenty-seven children with accurate accommodation were age-matched to children with reduced accommodation based on their most recent assessment for which a full, reliable data set was available. Each child was used only once for matching. Cross-sectional ocular and visual data were analyzed using &khgr;2 or Fisher’s exact test, or the Mann–Whitney U test for (non-normally distributed) quantitative data. Results. Children with under-accommodation were statistically more likely to have moderate/high hypermetropia (≥+3.00 D) and to be strabismic (most with esotropia). No significant difference between the groups was found for any other ocular parameters. Conclusions. This study demonstrates the marked association between under-accommodation, hypermetropia, and strabismus in children with Down’s syndrome. No causal relation can be demonstrated with these data, but findings suggest that the link between under-accommodation and hypermetropia (and between accurate accommodation and emmetropia) is present in early infancy.
The Effect of Gay Visual Exemplars on Issue Perceptions in Newspaper Reports

Visual implicit propositioning suggests that exemplars can activate stereotypes regarding social group members, affecting how individuals may perceive issues presented in a news format. This experiment sought to test the main tenet of visual implicit propositioning by examining how gay exemplars affect social estimate perceptions associated with the mortgage crisis and support for programs that would help homeowners refinance their mortgages. One hundred and ninety heterosexual college students read a news story featuring recent the mortgage crisis with a gay male couple, a heterosexual couple or a house and reported their perceptions related to various social groups. Gay exemplars did not affect social estimate perceptions, but did affect support for programs that would help homeowners refinance their homes. Attitudes towards gay males was examined as a moderating variable, however, this study did not find that these attitudes moderated the relationship between the exemplar presented and social estimates or support for programs. INDEX WORDS: Exemplification Theory, Visual Implicit Propositioning, Stereotyping, Attitudes Toward Gay Males, Newspaper Perception THE EFFECT OF GAY VISUAL EXEMPLARS ON ISSUE PERCEPTIONS IN NEWSPAPER REPORTS
Passive-Based Walking Robot

In this article, we presented our passive-based biped Denise. Using only two foot contact switches as sensors and simple on/off pneumatic muscle action, it walks at 0.4 m/s and can handle floor disturbances up to 6 mm (leg length is 0.7 m). Its simplicity, efficiency, and die natural look of its motions make it a promising lead for the development of commercially viable humanoid robots. The aim of this article is to provide other researchers enough details so that they can reproduce the work or use it as a basis for future research.
Selective induction of integrin βi by hypoxia‐inducible factor: implications for wound healing

Because of localized vascular damage and increased tissue oxygen demand, wound healing occurs in a relatively hypoxic microenvironment. These features are particularly relevant to wound healing and fibrosis in chronic inflammatory conditions, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In these studies, we sought to identify the contribution of hypoxia to mechanisms of wound repair in a model of the intestinal submucosa. Initial studies revealed that hypoxia promotes wound healing, as modeled by an increase in intestinal fibroblastmediated collagen gel contraction. Guided by results from transcriptional profiling, we identified the selective induction of fibroblast integrin β1 (ITGB1) by hypoxia. Further analysis revealed that hypoxia, as well as pharmacological activators of hypoxia‐inducible factor (HIF), induce fibroblast pi integrin mRNA, protein, and function by as much as 4‐fold. Cloning and analysis of the βi integrin gene promoter revealed a 10 ± 0.8‐fold increase in promoter activity in response to hypoxia, and subsequent studies identified a functional DNA binding region for HIF in the ITGB1 gene promoter. Mutational analysis of the HIF binding site within the ITGB1 promoter resulted in a significant loss of ITGB1 hypoxia‐inducibility. As proof of principle, studies in a murine model of colitis revealed a correlation between colitic disease severity and tissue ITGB1 expression (R2=0.80). Taken together, these results demonstrate that hypoxia induces fibroblast ITGB1 expression and function by transcriptional mechanisms dependent on HIF. — Keely, S. , Glover, L. E. , MacManus, C. F. , Campbell, E. L. , Scully, M. M. , Furuta, G. T. , Colgan, S. P. Selective induction of integrin β1 by hypoxia‐inducible factor: implications for wound healing. FASEBJ. 23, 1338–1346 (2009)
High rates of growth recorded for hawksbill sea turtles in Anegada, British Virgin Islands

Management of species of conservation concern requires knowledge of demographic parameters, such as rates of recruitment, survival, and growth. In the Caribbean, hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) have been historically exploited in huge numbers to satisfy trade in their shells and meat. In the present study, we estimated growth rate of juvenile hawksbill turtles around Anegada, British Virgin Islands, using capture–mark–recapture of 59 turtles over periods of up to 649 days. Turtles were recaptured up to six times, having moved up to 5.9 km from the release location. Across all sizes, turtles grew at an average rate of 9.3 cm year−1 (range 2.3–20.3 cm year−1), and gained mass at an average of 3.9 kg year−1 (range 850 g–16.1 kg year−1). Carapace length was a significant predictor of growth rate and mass gain, but there was no relationship between either variable and sea surface temperature. These are among the fastest rates of growth reported for this species, with seven turtles growing at a rate that would increase their body size by more than half per year (51–69% increase in body length). This study also demonstrates the importance of shallow water reef systems for the developmental habitat for juvenile hawksbill turtles. Although growth rates for posthatching turtles in the pelagic, and turtles larger than 61 cm, are not known for this population, the implications of this study are that Caribbean hawksbill turtles in some areas may reach body sizes suggesting sexual maturity in less time than previously considered.