Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diabetes-Related Symptom Distress in Association With Glucose Metabolism and Comorbidity

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between diabetes-related symptom distress, glucose metabolism status, and comorbidities of type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—This was a cross-sectional sample of 281 individuals with normal glucose metabolism (NGM), 181 individuals with impaired glucose metabolism (IGM), and 107 subjects with type 2 diabetes. We used the revised type 2 Diabetes Symptom Checklist (DSC-R) to assess diabetes-related symptom distress. RESULTS—The total symptom distress score (range 0–100) was relatively low for diabetic subjects (mean ± SD 8.4 ± 9.4), although it was significantly different from that for subjects with IGM (6.5 ± 7.1) and NGM (6.1 ± 7.9) (F = 3.1, 2 d.f., P = 0.046). Ischemic heart disease was associated with elevated DSC-R scores on three subscales, whereas depression showed higher symptom distress levels across all DSC-R domains. CONCLUSIONS—Worsening glucose metabolism is associated with increasing diabetes-related symptom distress. This relationship is attenuated by ischemic heart disease and particularly by depression.
Pregnanolone Sulfate Promotes Desensitization of Activated NMDA Receptors

Neurosteroids are potent neuromodulators which act in part by binding to and modifying the activity of neurotransmitter-gated channels. Pregnanolone sulfate (PAS) is an endogenous neurosteroid that inhibits NMDA receptors and is neuroprotective in vivo. To delineate the mechanism of NMDA receptor inhibition by pregnanolone sulfate we used kinetic analyses of equilibrium single-channel currents recorded from individual GluN1/GluN2A receptors. Results show that PAS (0.1 mm) reduces single-channel open probability by 50% solely by increasing ∼5-fold the mean time spent by receptors in closed conformations. From these data we derive a kinetic scheme that summarizes the effects of PAS on single channel kinetics, accounts for the PAS effects on macroscopic responses and leads us to propose that PAS inhibits NMDA receptor activity by shifting active receptors into desensitized conformations. These findings highlight the neurosteroid inhibitory site on NMDA receptors as a valuable therapeutic target against excitotoxic pathologies including acute and chronic neurodegeneration.
Whom and Where Are We Not Vaccinating? Coverage after the Introduction of a New Conjugate Vaccine against Group A Meningococcus in Niger in 2010

MenAfriVac is a new conjugate vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A developed for the African “meningitis belt”. In Niger, the first two phases of the MenAfriVac introduction campaign were conducted targeting 3,135,942 individuals aged 1 to 29 years in the regions of Tillabéri, Niamey, and Dosso, in September and December 2010. We evaluated the campaign and determined which sub-populations or areas had low levels of vaccination coverage in the regions of Tillabéri and Niamey. After Phase I, conducted in the Filingué district, we estimated coverage using a 30×15 cluster-sampling survey and nested lot quality assurance (LQA) analysis in the clustered samples to identify which subpopulations (defined by age 1–14/15–29 and sex) had unacceptable vaccination coverage (<70%). After Phase II, we used Clustered Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (CLQAS) to assess if any of eight districts in Niamey and Tillabéri had unacceptable vaccination coverage (<75%) and estimated overall coverage. Estimated vaccination coverage was 77.4% (95%CI: 84.6–70.2) as documented by vaccination cards and 85.5% (95% CI: 79.7–91.2) considering verbal history of vaccination for Phase I; 81.5% (95%CI: 86.1–77.0) by card and 93.4% (95% CI: 91.0–95.9) by verbal history for Phase II. Based on vaccination cards, in Filingué, we identified both the male and female adult (age 15–29) subpopulations as not reaching 70% coverage; and we identified three (one in Tillabéri and two in Niamey) out of eight districts as not reaching 75% coverage confirmed by card. Combined use of LQA and cluster sampling was useful to estimate vaccination coverage and to identify pockets with unacceptable levels of coverage (adult population and three districts). Although overall vaccination coverage was satisfactory, we recommend continuing vaccination in the areas or sub-populations with low coverage and reinforcing the social mobilization of the adult population.
Classical and novel discriminant features for affect recognition from speech

This paper investigates the performance and relevance of a set of acoustic features for the task of automatic recognition of affect from speech using machine learning techniques. Eighty seven novel and classical features related to loudness, intonation, and voice quality, are examined. Using feature selection, the results yield a performance level of 49.4% recognition rate (compared to a human performance rate of 60.4% and a chance level of 20%), while the relevance results show that the more exploratory and novel subset of these features outrank the more classical features in the recognition task. In the active research area of recognition of affect from speech it is of particular interest to obtain acoustic features that provide results closer to those of human recognition abilities. While many now “classic” features have been proposed in the literature, their performance has still fallen short of human recognition, suggesting the need to continue a search for novel features and methods. This paper briefly highlights results from an extensive investigation developing new features, and comparing them side-by-side with classical ones using machine learning techniques. (See [1] for many details omitted in this paper.) Algorithms and features associated with modeling loudness, intonation, and voice quality are highlighted in § 2, 3 and 4 respectively, and results of the experiments in §5 with some concluding remarks in § 6.
Recent results on structural pattern recognition for Fusion massive databases

Physics studies in fusion devices require statistical analyses of a large number of discharges. Given the complexity of the plasma and the non-linear interactions between the relevant parameters, connecting a physical phenomenon with the signal patterns that it generates can be quite demanding Up to now, data retrieval has been typically accomplished by means of signal name and shot number. The search of the temporal segment to analyze has been carried out in a manual way. Manual searches in databases must be replaced by intelligent techniques to look for data in an automated way. Structural pattern recognition techniques have proven to be very efficient methods to index and retrieve data in JET and TJ-II databases. Waveforms and images can be accessed through several structural pattern recognition applications.
PREDICTING INTENDED UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STUDENTS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY AT UNIVERSITAS GADJAH MADA

This study attempted to examine the intention to act in an unethical manner among the economics and business students in Universitas Gadjah Mada by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived personal outcome, perceived social acceptance, and perceived behavioural control were included in predicting this intention. A total of 208 students participated in the main investigation. Using ordinal regression, 3 hypothetical unethical situations were proposed to measure the students’ intended behaviour: (1) having the class attendance list signed by a classmate; (2) cheating in an examination or quiz; and (3) knowingly plagiarising someone else’s work. The results confirmed that attitude was the strongest predictor of a student’s intention to act in an unethical manner. The study findings also supported subjective norms as the second strongest predictor, which was followed by perceived personal outcome and perceived social acceptance as determinants of such behavioural intention. Meanwhile, the findings demonstrated that perceived behavioural control was the weakest predictor of intention. Analysis for each situation, implications for practitioners, specifically university teachers and education policy makers, and further research recommendations are also discussed.
Assessing Students ’ Satisfaction With an E-Learning System : The Case Of National Open University Of Nigeria

127 BACKGROUND The introduction of ICT into the educational system has re-defined teaching and learning processes or endeavours thereby giving rise to contemporary medium of learning termed “e-learning” (Agbonlahor, 2005). E-learning is an innovative approach for delivering electronically mediated, well-designed, learner-centred and interactive learning environments to anyone, in any place and at any time by utilizing the Internet and digital technologies. More specifically, computers are used to facilitate teaching and learning processes (Hedge and Hayward, 2004). According to Islam (1997), learning with the use of computer is simply online ways of acquiring knowledge through the internet or through the offline CD-ROM. It may be in form of audio, visual, and or audio/visual. The convergence of internet and learning, or internet enabled learning is called e-learning. SUMMARY
Matrix-vector multiplication in sub-quadratic time: (some preprocessing required)

We show that any <i>n</i> x <i>n</i> matrix <i>A</i> over any finite semiring can be preprocessed in <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>2</sup>+ε) time, such that all subsequent vector multiplications with <i>A</i> can be performed in <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>2</sup>/(εlog<i>n</i>)<sup>2</sup>) time, for all ε > 0. The approach is combinatorial and can be implemented on a pointer machine or a (log<i>n</i>)-word RAM. Some applications are described.
Longitudinal Assessment of Global and Regional Rate of Grey Matter Atrophy in 1,172 Healthy Older Adults: Modulation by Sex and Age

To characterize the neuroanatomical changes in healthy older adults is important to differentiate pathological from normal brain structural aging. The present study investigated the annualized rate of GM atrophy in a large sample of older participants, focusing on the hippocampus, and searching for modulation by age and sex. In this 4-year longitudinal community cohort study, we used a VBM analysis to estimate the annualized rate of GM loss, at both the global and regional levels, in 1,172 healthy older adults (65–82 years) scanned at 1.5T. The global annualized rate of GM was −4.0 cm3/year (−0.83%/year). The highest rates of regional GM loss were found in the frontal and parietal cortices, middle occipital gyri, temporal cortex and hippocampus. The rate of GM atrophy was higher in women (−4.7 cm3/year, −0.91%/year) than men (−3.3 cm3/year, −0.65%/year). The global annualized rate of GM atrophy remained constant throughout the age range of the cohort, in both sexes. This pattern was replicated at the regional level, with the exception of the hippocampi, which showed a rate of GM atrophy that accelerated with age (2.8%/year per year of age) similarly for men and women. The present study reports a global and regional description of the annualized rate of grey matter loss and its evolution after the age of 65. Our results suggest greater anatomical vulnerability of women in late life and highlight a specific vulnerability of the hippocampus to the aging processes after 65 years of age.
Comparisons of the Effects of Elevated Vapor Pressure Deficit on Gene Expression in Leaves among Two Fast-Wilting and a Slow-Wilting Soybean

Limiting the transpiration rate (TR) of a plant under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) has the potential to improve crop yield under drought conditions. The effects of elevated VPD on the expression of genes in the leaves of three soybean accessions, Plant Introduction (PI) 416937, PI 471938 and Hutcheson (PI 518664) were investigated because these accessions have contrasting responses to VPD changes. Hutcheson, a fast-wilting soybean, and PI 471938, a slow-wilting soybean, respond to increased VPD with a linear increase in TR. TR of the slow-wilting PI 416937 is limited when VPD increases to greater than about 2 kPa. The objective of this study was to identify the response of the transcriptome of these accessions to elevated VPD under well-watered conditions and identify responses that are unique to the slow-wilting accessions. Gene expression analysis in leaves of genotypes PI 471938 and Hutcheson showed that 22 and 1 genes, respectively, were differentially expressed under high VPD. In contrast, there were 944 genes differentially expressed in PI 416937 with the same increase in VPD. The increased alteration of the transcriptome of PI 416937 in response to elevated VPD clearly distinguished it from the other slow-wilting PI 471938 and the fast-wilting Hutcheson. The inventory and analysis of differentially expressed genes in PI 416937 in response to VPD is a foundation for further investigation to extend the current understanding of plant hydraulic conductivity in drought environments.
Discriminative and predictive power of an informant report in mild cognitive impairment

Background: The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) requires caregivers to rate decline in patients’ cognitive and functional performance and has never been used for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: We contrasted the discriminative and predictive power of the IQCODE with that of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and a verbal episodic memory measure, the Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), in 45 patients with MCI (mean (SD) age at baseline: 71.6 (4.7) years) and 30 outpatients with dementia (70.5 (6.3) years) attending the Neuropsychology Service, St Gerardo Hospital, and compared them with 55 cognitively intact elderly people (70.7 (7.1) years). Patients with MCI were followed up for at least 2 years or until conversion to dementia. Results: In total, 24 patients with MCI (53.3%) had converted to dementia at follow up (mean (SD) duration of follow up 17.0 (7.3) months for converters and 35.0 (7.1) months for non-converters). At baseline, the ability to differentiate patients with MCI from healthy controls was similar for the IQCODE (area under the curve (AUC) 0.86) and the MMSE (AUC 0.84; z = 0.53, not significant). As predictors of conversion to dementia, a trend favouring the IQCODE (AUC 0.86) with respect to immediate (AUC 0.74) and delayed (AUC 0.75) recall on the RAVLT was apparent (z = 1.36, p = 0.087 versus immediate recall, z = 1.51, p = 0.064 versus delayed recall). The independent predictive ability of IQCODE and memory scores was evaluated through logistic regression, and the questionnaire alone yielded the best correct classification of 81%. Conclusions: The IQCODE is an informant based measure of cognitive decline that may provide a relevant contribution to the diagnostic and prognostic investigation of patients with MCI.
Interactive Healthcare Big Data Analytics Platform under Simulated Performance

To utilize data from hospital systems, big data analytics (BDA) has become increasingly important. BDA enable queries of large highly diverse and real volumes of patient data in an interactively dynamic way that enriches the use of the platform with data visualization for healthcare. We established a Healthcare BDA (HBDA) platform at the University of Victoria (UVic) with Compute Canada/Westgrid, and Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), Victoria, BC, Canada. The framework was a proof-of-concept implementation that tested emulated patient data representative of the main hospital system at VIHA. We cross-referenced all data, its profiles and metadata, with the existing clinical reporting. Our HBDA platform and its performance was tested for different patient query types in simulation with the data ingested into Hadoop file system over different applications of Apache Spark with Zeppelin and Jupyter web-based interfaces, and Apache Drill interfaces. The results showed that the ingestion time of one billion records took circa 2 hours via Apache Spark. Apache Drill outperformed Spark/Zeppelin and Spark/Jupyter. However, it was restricted to running more simplified queries, and very limited in its visualizations exhibiting poor usability for healthcare. Zeppelin running on Spark showed ease-of-use interactions for health applications, but it lacked the flexibility of its interface tools and required extra setup time before running queries. Jupyter on Spark offered high performance stacks not only over our HBDA platform but also in unison to run all queries simultaneously with high usability for a variety of reporting requirements by providers and health professionals.
The networks of syllables and characters in Chinese*

Abstract We develop networks using the syllables (both base syllables and tonal syllables) and characters of Chinese. The nodes (vertices) of the networks represent the syllables of the syllable network and the characters of the character network respectively. The links (edges) are established between any two syllables (or two characters) that form part of one or more words. We use two dictionaries to perform the analysis: a Putonghua 1 dictionary and a Cantonese dictionary. All networks here show low distances and high clustering coefficients compared with ER random networks. The degree distributions all follow a power-law; however, the exponents for the base syllable, tonal syllable and Chinese character networks differ considerably. These differences may account for the different cognitive processes used when constructing new Chinese words. The networks are compared to the syllabic networks of Portuguese in terms of the magnitude of the power-law exponent. The Chinese character network is found to be the most similar to the Portuguese syllabic network (γ≈ 1.4). 1Putonghua is a generally accepted term for Modern Standard Chinese (MSC).
Influencing and adjusting in daily emotional situations: A comparison of European and Asian American action styles

Emotions are for action, but action styles in emotional episodes may vary across cultural contexts. Based on culturally different models of agency, we expected that those who engage in European-American contexts will use more influence in emotional situations, while those who engage in East-Asian contexts will use more adjustment. European-American (N=60) and Asian-American (N=44) college students reported their action style during emotional episodes four times a day during a week. Asian Americans adjusted more than European Americans, whereas both used influence to a similar extent. These cultural differences in action style varied across types of emotion experienced. Moreover, influencing was associated with life satisfaction for European Americans, but not for Asian Americans.
Themis2/ICB1 Is a Signaling Scaffold That Selectively Regulates Macrophage Toll-Like Receptor Signaling and Cytokine Production

Background Thymocyte expressed molecule involved in selection 1 (Themis1, SwissProt accession number Q8BGW0) is the recently characterised founder member of a novel family of proteins. A second member of this family, Themis2 (Q91YX0), also known as ICB1 (Induced on contact with basement membrane 1), remains unreported at the protein level despite microarray and EST databases reporting Themis2 mRNA expression in B cells and macrophages. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we characterise Themis2 protein for the first time and show that it acts as a macrophage signalling scaffold, exerting a receptor-, mediator- and signalling pathway-specific effect on TLR responses in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Themis2 over-expression enhanced the LPS-induced production of TNF but not IL-6 or Cox-2, nor TNF production induced by ligands for TLR2 (PAM3) or TLR3 (poly I∶C). Moreover, LPS-induced activation of the MAP kinases ERK and p38 was enhanced in cells over-expressing Themis2 whereas the activation of JNK, IRF3 or NF-κB p65, was unaffected. Depletion of Themis2 protein by RNA inteference inhibited LPS-induced TNF production in primary human macrophages demonstrating a requirement for Themis2 in this event. Themis2 was inducibly tyrosine phosphorylated upon LPS challenge and interacted with Lyn kinase (P25911), the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor, Vav (P27870), and the adaptor protein Grb2 (Q60631). Mutation of either tyrosine 660 or a proline-rich sequence (PPPRPPK) simultaneously interrupted this complex and reduced by approximately 50% the capacity of Themis2 to promote LPS-induced TNF production. Finally, Themis2 protein expression was induced during macrophage development from murine bone marrow precursors and was regulated by inflammatory stimuli both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions/Significance We hypothesise that Themis2 may constitute a novel, physiological control point in macrophage inflammatory responses.
STRESS MESSENGERS JASMONIC ACID AND ABSCISIC ACID NEGATIVELY REGULATE PLANT CELL CYCLE

Environmental stress affects plant growth and development. Several plant hormones, such as salicylic acid, abscisic acid, jasmonic acid and ethylene play a crucial role in altering plant morphology in response to stress. Developmental regulation often has the cell cycle machinery among its targets. We analyzed the effect of jasmonic acid (JA) and abscisic acid (ABA) on cell cycle progression in synchronized tobacco BY-2 cells. Both compounds were found to prevent DNA replication, keeping the cells in the G1 stage, when applied just before the G1/S transition. However, ABA did not have any effect on subsequent phases of the cell cycle when applied at a later stage, whereas JA effectively prevented mitosis on application during DNA synthesis. This demonstrates that JA treatment can freeze synchronized BY-2 cells in both the G1 and G2 stages of the cell cycle. Jasmonate administered after the S-phase was less effective in decreasing the mitotic index, suggesting that cell sensitivity towards JA is dependent on the cell cycle phase. In parallel, we employed a more complex system: Arabidopsis thaliana roots, where JA induced root growth inhibition was well documented. We used detailed image analysis of the root in order to describe the effects of jasmonic acid on the function of the root apical meristem.
A numerical approach towards the correlation between ball impact test and drop reliability

The ball impact test is developed as a package-level measure for the board-level drop reliability of solder joints in the sense that it leads to fracturing of solder joints around the intermetallics, similar to that from a board-level drop test. In this paper, both board-level drop test and package-level ball impact test are examined numerically for solder joints of nine Sn-Ag-Cu solder compositions. Correlations between the drop reliability and characteristics of the impact force profile are sought
Virtual Worlds and Social Work Education

ABSTRACT The introduction of computerised virtual worlds in the early twenty-first century was considered to be an innovation that would be widely used in higher education. There are a number of examples of virtual worlds used for higher education in medicine, nursing, and allied health, including examples in social work. The aim of this article is to explore the potential value of virtual-world technology to enhance the student learning experience for social work education in interpersonal communication skills in a virtual health centre. Findings of a study of Australian undergraduate social work students who engaged in a role play in a virtual health centre for skill development in interpersonal communication are presented. The study findings highlight issues for social work educators to consider when deciding whether or not to use virtual-world technology in social work education, and when designing further research on similar innovations.