Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endothelial Dysfunction Precedes Development of Microalbuminuria in IDDM

In patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), microalbuminuria is a predictor of widespread severe microangiopathy and macroangiopathy. Patients with microalbuminuria show generalized dysfunction of the vascular endothelium, but it is unknown whether endothelial dysfunction precedes the development of microalbuminuria. We examined a cohort of 17 IDDM patients at baseline and on three occasions during a follow-up of (median) 64 months (range 51–89). All had normal (< 15 μg/min) urinary albumin excretion (UAE) at the first three examinations. At the fourth examination, 11 patients had normal UAE and 6 had microalbuminuria (median 25.7 μg/min [range 15.3–42.8]). Compared with patients with normal UAE, microalbuminuric patients had significantly higher plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF), a marker of endothelial dysfunction, at the second (200% [168–274] vs. 131% [69–186]), third (208% [188–270] vs. 125% [82–190]), and fourth examinations (231% [202–269] vs. 132% [88–208], P < 0.0001), but not at baseline (128% [98–161] vs. 122% [87–210]). An increase in vWF preceded the occurrence of microalbuminuria by ∼3 years. The groups did not differ with regard to age, diabetes duration, blood pressure, mean glycated hemoglobin and cholesterol, smoking habits, or extent of retinopathy. Endothelial dysfunction, as estimated by plasma vWF concentration, precedes and may predict the development of microalbuminuria in IDDM.
Title The equilibrium response to idealized thermal forcings in a comprehensive GCM : implications for recent tropical expansion Permalink

Several recent studies have shown the width of the tropical belt has increased over the last several decades. The mechanisms driving tropical expansion are not well known and the recent expansion is underpredicted by state-of-the art GCMs. We use the CAM3 GCM to investigate how tropical width responds to idealized atmospheric heat sources, focusing on zonal displacement of the tropospheric jets. The heat sources include global and zonally restricted lowertropospheric warmings and stratospheric coolings, which coarsely represent possible impacts of ozone or aerosol changes. Similar to prior studies with simplified GCMs, we find that stratospheric cooling – particularly at high-latitudes – shifts jets poleward and excites Northern and Southern Annular Mode (NAM/SAM)-type responses. We also find, however, that modest heating of the midlatitude boundary layer drives a similar response; heating at high latitudes provokes a weaker, equatorward shift and tropical heating produces no shift. Over 70 % of the variance in annual mean jet displacements across 27 experiments is accounted for by a newly proposed “Expansion Index”, which compares mid-latitude tropospheric warming to that at other latitudes. We find that previously proposed factors, including tropopause height and tropospheric stability, do not fully explain the results. Results suggest recently observed tropical expansion could have been driven not only by stratospheric cooling, but also by mid-latitude heating sources due for example to ozone or aerosol changes.
Comprehensive review of the anatomy and physiology of male ejaculation: Premature ejaculation is not a disease

Human semen contains spermatozoa secreted by the testes and a mixture of components produced by the bulbo‐urethral and Littre (paraurethral) glands, prostate, seminal vesicles, ampulla, and epididymis. Ejaculation is used as a synonym for the external ejection of semen, but it comprises two phases: emission and expulsion. As semen collects in the prostatic urethra, the rapid preorgasmic distension of the urethral bulb is pathognomonic of impeding orgasm, and the man experiences a sensation that ejaculation is inevitable (in women, emission is the only phase of orgasm). The semen is propelled along the penile urethra mainly by the bulbocavernosus muscle. With Kegel exercises, it is possible to train the perineal muscles. Immediately after the expulsion phase the male enters a refractory period, a recovery time during which further orgasm or ejaculation is physiologically impossible. Age affects the recovery time: as a man grows older, the refractory period increases. Sexual medicine experts consider premature ejaculation only in the case of vaginal intercourse, but vaginal orgasm has no scientific basis, so the duration of intercourse is not important for a woman's orgasm. The key to female orgasm are the female erectile organs; vaginal orgasm, G‐spot, G‐spot amplification, clitoral bulbs, clitoris‐urethra‐vaginal complex, internal clitoris and female ejaculation are terms without scientific basis. Female sexual dysfunctions are popular because they are based on something that does not exist, i.e. the vaginal orgasm. The physiology of ejaculation and orgasm is not impaired in premature ejaculation: it is not a disease, and non‐coital sexual acts after male ejaculation can be used to produce orgasm in women. Teenagers and men can understand their sexual responses by masturbation and learn ejaculatory control with the stop–start method and the squeeze technique. Premature ejaculation must not be classified as a male sexual dysfunction. It has become the center of a multimillion dollar business: is premature ejaculation—and female sexual dysfunction—an illness constructed by sexual medicine experts under the influence of drug companies? Clin. Anat. 29:111–119, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Physiology of Life History Trade-Offs in Animals

▪ Abstract The functional causes of life history trade-offs have been a topic of interest to evolutionary biologists for over six decades. Our review of life history trade-offs discusses conceptual issues associated with physiological aspects of trade-offs, and it describes recent advances on this topic. We focus on studies of four model systems: wing polymorphic insects, Drosophila, lizards, and birds. The most significant recent advances have been: (a) incorporation of genetics in physiological studies of trade-offs, (b) integration of investigations of nutrient input with nutrient allocation, (c) development of more sophisticated models of resource acquisition and allocation, (d) a shift to more integrated, multidisciplinary studies of intraspecific trade-offs, and (e) the first detailed investigations of the endocrine regulation of life history trade-offs.
Effect of periodontal therapy on the subgingival microbiota over a 2-year monitoring period. I. Overall effect and kinetics of change.

AIM To examine the 2-year post-therapy kinetics of change in the composition of subgingival biofilms. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, 178 chronic periodontitis subjects were recruited and clinically monitored at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after therapy. All subjects received scaling and root planing and 156 one or more of periodontal surgery, systemically administered amoxicillin + metronidazole or local tetracycline at pockets ≥5 mm. Subgingival biofilm samples taken from each subject at each time point were analysed for their content of 40 bacterial species using checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization. The significance of changes in median species counts over time was sought using the Wilcoxon or Friedman tests and adjusted for multiple comparisons. RESULTS Mean counts were significantly reduced from baseline to 2 years for 30 of the 40 taxa. Marked reductions were observed for periodontal pathogens including Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola and Eubacterium nodatum. The kinetics of change differed from species to species. When data were subset according to baseline PD, patterns of change in the microbial profiles were generally similar. CONCLUSION Periodontal therapy leads to a rapid reduction in periodontal pathogens, followed by a slower reduction in other taxa that can be sustained for at least 2 years.
Bidirectional entry of poliovirus into polarized epithelial cells

The interactions of viruses with polarized epithelial cells are of some significance to the pathogenesis of disease because these cell types comprise the primary barrier to many virus infections and also serve as the sites for virus release from the host. Poliovirus-epithelial cell interactions are of particular interest since this virus is an important enteric pathogen and the host cell receptor has been identified. In this study, poliovirus was observed to adsorb to both the apical and basolateral surfaces of polarized monkey kidney (Vero C1008) and human intestinal (Caco-2) epithelial cells but exhibited preferential binding to the basolateral surfaces of both cell types. Localization of the poliovirus receptor by a receptor-specific monoclonal antibody (D171) revealed a similar distribution predominantly on basolateral membranes, and treatment of cells with antibody D171 inhibited virus adsorption to both membrane surfaces. Poliovirus was able to initiate infection with similar efficiency following adsorption to either surface, and infection was blocked at both surfaces by D171, indicating that functional receptor molecules are expressed on both surfaces at sufficient density to mediate efficient infection at the apical and basolateral plasma membranes. Poliovirus infection resulted in a decrease in transepithelial resistance which was inhibited by prior treatment with monoclonal antibody D171 and occurred prior to other visible cytopathic effects. These results have interesting implications for viral pathogenesis in the human gut.
Is colonialism history? The declining impact of colonial legacies on African institutional and economic development

Abstract This paper investigates the claim that colonial history has left an enduring imprint on Africa's institutional and economic development. The literature following Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2001) and Sokoloff and Engerman (2000) maintains that different types of colonialism affected the institutional environment differently, and that path-dependence subsequently ensures that these institutional differences and their impact on economic performance are persistent over time. By tracing the impact of colonial institutions on contemporary institutions over time, I show that – in contrast to claims in this literature – the relevance of colonial legacies to institutional quality and to per capita income is rapidly disappearing in Africa. Differences in institutional quality or income are explained less and less by colonial legacy, while there is some evidence that precolonial social and geographical circumstances are becoming more important. I conclude that while colonialism has affected African institutional and economic development significantly, this impact is not persistent. Rather, the evidence suggests that colonialism has created a large but very temporary institutional shock, after which a long-run equilibrium is being restored.
Functional Models for Regression Tree Leaves

This paper presents a study about functional models for regression tree leaves. We evaluate experimentally several alternatives to the averages commonly used in regression trees. We have implemented a regression tree learner (HTL) that is able to use several alternative models in the tree leaves. We study the effect on accuracy and the computational cost of these alternatives. The experiments carried out on 11 data sets revealed that it is possible to significantly outperform the “naive” averages of regression trees. Among the four alternative models that we evaluated, kernel regressors were usually the best in terms of accuracy. Our study also indicates that by integrating regression trees with other regression approaches we are able to overcome the limitations of individual methods both in terms of accuracy as well as in computational efficiency.
Government Bond Risk Premia and the Cyclicality of Fiscal Policy

We introduce a specification of habit formation featuring non-separability between consumption and leisure into an otherwise standard New Keynesian model. The model can be estimated with standard Bayesian techniques and the bond pricing implications are evaluated using higher-order approximations. The model is able to reproduce a sizeable risk premium on long-term bonds and the cyclicality of fiscal policy has an impact on the bond premium that is quantitatively important. Technology, government spending, and mark-up shocks are the main drivers of the time-variation in bond premia. JEL Classification: E5, E6, G1
Learning Gene Networks Underlying Clinical Phenotypes Under SNP Perturbations From Genome-Wide Data

Recent technologies are generating an abundance of genome sequence data and molecular and clinical phenotype data, providing an opportunity to understand the genetic architecture and molecular mechanisms underlying diseases. Previous approaches have largely focused on the co-localization of singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with clinical and expression traits, each identified from genome-wide association studies and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping, and thus have provided only limited capabilities for uncovering the molecular mechanisms behind the SNPs influencing clinical phenotypes. Here we aim to extract rich information on the functional role of trait-perturbing SNPs that goes far beyond this simple co-localization. We introduce a computational framework called Perturb-Net for learning the gene network that modulates the influence of SNPs on phenotypes, using SNPs as naturally occurring perturbation of a biological system. Perturb-Net uses a probabilistic graphical model to directly model both the cascade of perturbation from SNPs to the gene network to the phenotype network and the network at each layer of molecular and clinical phenotypes. Perturb-Net learns the entire model by solving a single optimization problem with an extremely fast algorithm that can analyze human genome-wide data within a few hours. In our analysis of asthma data, for a locus that was previously implicated in asthma susceptibility but for which little is known about the molecular mechanism underlying the association, Perturb-Net revealed the gene network modules that mediate the influence of the SNP on asthma phenotypes. Many genes in this network module were well supported in the literature as asthma-related.
Observability analysis of relative localization for AUVs based on ranging and depth measurements

The paper studies the observability properties of the relative localization of two Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) equipped with depth sensors, linear/angular velocity sensors, and communication devices with range measurement. The conditions that ensure observability of the linearized model and locally weak observability of the nonlinear system are derived. An Extended Kalman Filter is then designed aimed at estimating the relative position between two AUVs. Simulations in 3D and reconstruction from experimental data in 2D provide a numerical validation of the analysis.
To quit or not to quit: organizational determinants of voluntary turnover in MNC subsidiaries in Singapore

Adopting an inductive case study approach, the paper develops an empirically grounded theoretical framework for organizational determinants of voluntary turnover of local staff in MNC subsidiaries. The research draws upon semi-structured interviews with HR managers at the Singaporean subsidiaries of six western multinationals. Using the conceptual lens of organizational identification, the study derives two turnover determinants related to organizational structure and three turnover determinants related to organizational practices and explores how these organization-level factors may translate into individual turnover decisions. Implications for organizational responses to turnover and subsidiary staff careers are discussed.
Own or inherited? The effect of national fiscal rules after changes of government

In order to get to know more precisely the way national fiscal rules work, in our study we tried to differentiate the signaling function from the limiting one in regard to the operation of the rules. The former occurs when a government introduces fiscal rules to show its commitment to a disciplined fiscal policy, while the latter refers to the fact that rules constitute a true obstacle for budgetary policy. Through an empirical examination on our own database, we considered only the observations when the reigning government responsible for fiscal policy differed from the previous government responsible for its establishment; in this way we measured the effect of the limiting function the rules had. The results of our panel econometric study prove that fiscal rules can contribute to disciplined fiscal policy after a change in government, in times of economic upturn. All this, however, does not mean that the signaling function would be useless; quite the contrary. Our results, in line with the literature, indicate that the double functions of the rule complement one another. The government that introduces the rule is mostly already committed to a disciplined policy, and wishes to signal this in the short term. With the appearance of new governments, however, the rule changes its function and promotes disciplined economic activity efficiently in the long term.
Comparisons of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Hospital-Associated MSRA Infections in Sacramento, California

ABSTRACT Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has long been a common pathogen in healthcare facilities, but in the past decade, it has emerged as a problematic pathogen in the community setting as well. A retrospective case series study of patients from whom MRSA was isolated from December 1, 2003, through May 31, 2004, was conducted at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center. Patient data were collected from electronic medical records and traditional chart reviews to determine whether MRSA acquisition was likely to have been in the community or in the hospital. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were performed for all confirmed isolates. Skin and soft tissue were the most common infection sites for all MRSA patients. Among the 283 MRSA infections, 127 (44.9%) were defined as community-associated (CA)-MRSA. Ninety-six percent of the CA-MRSA isolates were susceptible to clindamycin. Double-disk diffusion tests were performed to examine inducible clindamycin resistance by erythromycin induction on both CA and hospital-associated (HA) clindamycin-susceptible and erythromycin-resistant isolates. Ten percent (17 of 183) were positive. Most CA-MRSA isolates were identified by PFGE as a unique strain, genotype USA300, which was not genetically related to the predominant genotype, USA100, in the HA-MRSA isolates. Injecting drug users accounted for 49% of CA-MRSA infections but only 19% of the HA-MRSA infections (odds ratio, 4.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.4 to 7.4). Our study shows that a single clone of CA-MRSA accounts for the majority of infections. This strain originated in the community and is not related to MRSA strains from healthcare settings. Injecting drug users could be a major reservoir for CA-MRSA transmission.
Using System Dynamics to Model Student Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

This paper presents preliminary results of a Raytheon project that uses systems dynamics to understand the intricacies of the U.S. educational system and to assist in exploring the effects of policies and programs, with a goal of doubling the numbers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) college graduates by 2015. Specifically, a system dynamics model has been developed, the initial version of which targets increasing the number of students both capable and interested in pursuing careers in STEM disciplines. A few scenarios have been analyzed that examine changes for improving student capabilities. Initial results provide insight into the value and viability of a few proposed policies and indicate that with continued research, model development, and analysis it will be possible to further assess proposed improvements in the U.S education system.
ESTIMATING THE POSITIVE FALSE DISCOVERY RATE UNDER DEPENDENCE, WITH APPLICATIONS TO DNA MICROARRAYS

When conducting multiple hypothesis tests, it is important to assess the number of false positives in some fashion . One useful error measure is the positive False Discovery Rate (pFDR). We show how to estimate the pFDR when general dependence between the hypotheses exists . This can be done using general statistics, not necessarily p-values, where the Type I error rate for a given rejection region may not even be known . We apply the proposed methodology to the problem of detecting differential gene expression in replicated DNA microarray experiments, where unknown dependence is likely to occur.
Neighborhood Revitalization and the Practice of Evaluation in the United States: Developing a Margin Research Perspective

The dominant framework of neighborhood revitalization in the United States that emerged in the 1990s is the comprehensive community‐building approach based on a “theory of change” model. This framework posits that to improve neighborhoods and the quality of life of residents, programmatic efforts are needed that are “resident‐driven” and holistic in their focus. While these types of initiatives flourish, neighborhood revitalization often results in the displacement of low‐income families and marginal return for existing residents. Why this occurs in the context of initiatives purporting to aid existing residents is underexamined in the evaluation literature. We argue that researchers engaged in documentation and evaluation of revitalization initiatives need a broader framework to examine heretofore marginalized issues. We use a “margin research” methodology to demonstrate how this alternative form provides a more expansive representation of revitalization activities and outcomes.
Highly responsive core-shell microactuator arrays for use in viscous and viscoelastic fluids

We present a new fabrication method to produce arrays of highly responsive polymer-metal core-shell magnetic microactuators. The core-shell fabrication method decouples the elastic and magnetic structural components such that the actuator response can be optimized by adjusting the core-shell geometry. Our microstructures are 10 µm long, 550 nm in diameter, and electrochemically fabricated in particle track-etched membranes, comprising a poly(dimethylsiloxane) core with a 100 nm Ni shell surrounding the upper 3–8 µm. The structures can achieve deflections of nearly 90° with moderate magnetic fields and are capable of driving fluid flow in a fluid 550 times more viscous than water.
Mechanism of synergistic activation of Arp2/3 complex by cortactin and N-WASP

Nucleation promoting factors (NPFs) initiate branched actin network assembly by activating Arp2/3 complex, a branched actin filament nucleator. Cellular actin networks contain multiple NPFs, but how they coordinately regulate Arp2/3 complex is unclear. Cortactin is an NPF that activates Arp2/3 complex weakly on its own, but with WASP/N-WASP, another class of NPFs, potently activates. We dissect the mechanism of synergy and propose a model in which cortactin displaces N-WASP from nascent branches as a prerequisite for nucleation. Single-molecule imaging revealed that unlike WASP/N-WASP, cortactin remains bound to junctions during nucleation, and specifically targets junctions with a ∼160-fold increased on rate over filament sides. N-WASP must be dimerized for potent synergy, and targeted mutations indicate release of dimeric N-WASP from nascent branches limits nucleation. Mathematical modeling shows cortactin-mediated displacement but not N-WASP recycling or filament recruitment models can explain synergy. Our results provide a molecular basis for coordinate Arp2/3 complex regulation. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.00884. 001