Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of left ventricular end-diastolic wall stress on plasma B-type natriuretic peptide in heart failure with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a diagnostic and prognostic marker in heart failure (HF). Although renal function is reported as an important clinical determinant, precise evaluations of the relationships of renal function with hemodynamic factors in determining BNP have not been performed. Therefore, we evaluated the association of plasma BNP concentrations with LV end-diastolic wall stress (EDWS) in a broad range of HF patients including those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). METHODS In 156 consecutive HF patients including those with CKD and ESRD, we measured plasma BNP and performed echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. LV EDWS was calculated as a crucial hemodynamic determinant of BNP. RESULTS Plasma BNP concentrations increased progressively with decreasing renal function across the groups (P < 0.01) and were correlated with LV EDWS (r = 0.47) in the HF patients overall. This relationship was also present when patients were subdivided into systolic and diastolic HF (P < 0.01). In multivariable analysis, higher EDWS was associated with increased BNP concentration independently of renal dysfunction (P < 0.01). Anemia, systolic HF, and decreased BMI also contributed to increased BNP concentrations. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that LV EDWS is a strong determinant of BNP even in patients with CKD and ESRD. Anemia, obesity, and HF type (systolic or diastolic) should also be considered in interpreting plasma BNP concentrations in HF patients. These findings may contribute to the clinical management of HF patients, especially those complicated with CKD and ESRD.
Population genomics of the killer whale indicates ecotype evolution in sympatry involving both selection and drift

The evolution of diversity in the marine ecosystem is poorly understood, given the relatively high potential for connectivity, especially for highly mobile species such as whales and dolphins. The killer whale (Orcinus orca) has a worldwide distribution, and individual social groups travel over a wide geographic range. Even so, regional populations have been shown to be genetically differentiated, including among different foraging specialists (ecotypes) in sympatry. Given the strong matrifocal social structure of this species together with strong resource specializations, understanding the process of differentiation will require an understanding of the relative importance of both genetic drift and local adaptation. Here we provide a high‐resolution analysis based on nuclear single‐nucleotide polymorphic markers and inference about differentiation at both neutral loci and those potentially under selection. We find that all population comparisons, within or among foraging ecotypes, show significant differentiation, including populations in parapatry and sympatry. Loci putatively under selection show a different pattern of structure compared to neutral loci and are associated with gene ontology terms reflecting physiologically relevant functions (e.g. related to digestion). The pattern of differentiation for one ecotype in the North Pacific suggests local adaptation and shows some fixed differences among sympatric ecotypes. We suggest that differential habitat use and resource specializations have promoted sufficient isolation to allow differential evolution at neutral and functional loci, but that the process is recent and dependent on both selection and drift.
Arthritis, Depression, and Falls Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

The aims of this study were to examine the association between different types of arthritis and falls and to investigate whether clinically significant depression symptoms (CSDS) moderate these relationships. The study used nationally representative data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study (n = 7,715, M age = 75, 62% female, and 90% White). Among the respondents, 42% experienced at least one fall during the previous 2 years. About one third had some form of arthritis: 22% osteoarthritis (OA), 4.8% rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 2.3% both OA and RA, and 7.9% with other arthritis types. About one fifth of respondents had CSDS. OA and CSDS are associated with the odds of falling (17% and 29%, respectively), adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, health conditions, and psychiatric medications. There was no statistically significant interaction between types of arthritis and CSDS. Health care providers should pay attention to managing arthritis, especially OA, and CSDS to prevent falls among older adults.
Integrative Motivation as an Essential Determinant of Achievement: A Case of EFL High School Students

3 Abstract: Motivation is believed to be one very significant construct that imposes positive impact and enhances the learning in any second language learning context. Two types of motivation are known as th e instrumental and integrative according to Gardner and Lambert's original work on attitudes and motivation. Any learner may have a motivation type based on his/her learning goals and the context they are studying in. In EFL contexts, it is assumed that the learners have more instrumental motivation and that their achievement may be affected by their motivation type. Therefore, this survey was planned to investigate the performances of 95 Iranian EFL students at the 3 grade of high school to firstly determine which motivation type dominates among rd them and also to find out the motivation type of high achievers and finally to determine whether there is significant difference on the achievement of these two groups over their English Final-year Achievement Test. The sample of this study was selected using cluster sampling method and took a standard motivation test to determine their motivation types. Then they took English Final-year Achievement Test. The analysis of the results revealed that the dominant motivation type among high school students was the instrumental orientation (58.9%), high achievers in this study were mostly motivated integratively (92.9%) and finally students with integrative motivation significantly outperformed those who were motivated instrumentally.
Plant Actin-binding Protein SCAB1 Is Dimeric Actin Cross-linker with Atypical Pleckstrin Homology Domain*

Background: SCAB1 is a novel plant-specific actin-bundling protein. Results: SCAB1 consists of an actin-binding domain, two coiled-coil dimerization domains, and a fused immunoglobulin and pleckstrin homology domain with an atypical binding site for inositol phosphates. Conclusion: SCAB1 is a dimeric actin cross-linker and may be regulated by inositol signaling. Significance: This work provides a structural framework to understand the function of SCAB1. SCAB1 is a novel plant-specific actin-binding protein that binds, bundles, and stabilizes actin filaments and regulates stomatal movement. Here, we dissected the structure and function of SCAB1 by structural and biochemical approaches. We show that SCAB1 is composed of an actin-binding domain, two coiled-coil (CC) domains, and a fused immunoglobulin and pleckstrin homology (Ig-PH) domain. We determined crystal structures for the CC1 and Ig-PH domains at 1.9 and 1.7 Å resolution, respectively. The CC1 domain adopts an antiparallel helical hairpin that further dimerizes into a four-helix bundle. The CC2 domain also mediates dimerization. At least one of the coiled coils is required for actin binding, indicating that SCAB1 is a bivalent actin cross-linker. The key residues required for actin binding were identified. The PH domain lacks a canonical basic phosphoinositide-binding pocket but can bind weakly to inositol phosphates via a basic surface patch, implying the involvement of inositol signaling in SCAB1 regulation. Our results provide novel insights into the functional organization of SCAB1.
The Illusion of Transparency and Normative Beliefs about Anxiety during Public Speaking.

Public speakers believe their nervousness is more apparent to others than is actually the case, a phenomenon known as the illusion of transparency. Study 1, in which participants delivered a public speech to an audience, provided evidence of this phenomenon. Despite this, a substantial minority of participants (36%) thought that the audience would rate them as more anxious than they actually were. We propose that these participants were adhering strongly to a social script which defines public speaking anxiety as normal. Study 2, a survey study, demonstrated the existence of this script; people tend to believe that virtually everyone experiences high levels of public speaking anxiety. Theoretical refinement is recommended to explain how this social script is integrated with the illusion of transparency.
Punctuation Processing for Projective Dependency Parsing

Modern statistical dependency parsers as- sign lexical heads to punctuations as well as words. Punctuation parsing errors lead to low parsing accuracy on words. In this work, we propose an alternative approach to addressing punctuation in dependency parsing. Rather than assigning lexical heads to punctuations, we treat punctu- ations as properties of their neighbour- ing words, used as features to guide the parser to build the dependency graph. In- tegrating our method with an arc-standard parser yields a 93.06% unlabelled attach- ment score, which is the best accuracy by a single-model transition-based parser re- ported so far.
Rotavirus NSP1 Inhibits Expression of Type I Interferon by Antagonizing the Function of Interferon Regulatory Factors IRF3, IRF5, and IRF7

ABSTRACT Secretion of interferon (IFN) by virus-infected cells is essential for activating autocrine and paracrine pathways that promote cellular transition to an antiviral state. In most mammalian cells, IFN production is initiated by the activation of constitutively expressed IFN regulatory factor 3, IRF3, which in turn leads to the induction of IRF7, the “master regulator” of IFN type I synthesis (alpha/beta IFN). Previous studies established that rotavirus NSP1 antagonizes IFN signaling by inducing IRF3 degradation. In the present study, we have determined that, in comparison to wild-type rotaviruses, rotaviruses encoding defective NSP1 grow to lower titers in some cell lines and that this poor growth phenotype is due to their failure to suppress IFN expression. Furthermore, we provide evidence that rotaviruses encoding wild-type NSP1 subvert IFN signaling by inducing the degradation of not only IRF3, but also IRF7, with both events occurring through proteasome-dependent processes that proceed with similar efficiencies. The capacity of NSP1 to induce IRF7 degradation may allow rotavirus to move across the gut barrier by enabling the virus to replicate in specialized trafficking cells (dendritic cells and macrophages) that constitutively express IRF7. Along with IRF3 and IRF7, NSP1 was found to induce the degradation of IRF5, a factor that upregulates IFN expression and that is involved in triggering apoptosis during viral infection. Our analysis suggests that NSP1 mediates the degradation of IRF3, IRF5, and IRF7 by recognizing a common element of IRF proteins, thereby allowing NSP1 to act as a broad-spectrum antagonist of IRF function.
Nonnarcotic Analgesic Use and the Risk of Hypertension in US Women

Abstract—Acetaminophen, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely consumed. Each is theoretically capable of elevating blood pressure by altering prostaglandin homeostasis; however, there is little prospective information on the relation between these agents and physician-diagnosed hypertension. We examined the association between the use of aspirin, acetaminophen, or NSAIDs and incident hypertension in a prospective cohort study of 51 630 women 44 to 69 years of age in 1990 who had no history of hypertension or chronic renal insufficiency. Analgesic use was assessed in 1990 by a mailed questionnaire, and the women were followed for 8 years. The primary outcome was physician-diagnosed hypertension reported on a follow-up biennial questionnaire. During 381 078 person-years of follow-up, 10 579 incident cases of hypertension were identified. Compared with nonusers, women who used aspirin or acetaminophen at least 1 day per month or NSAIDs 5 or more days per month were at a significantly higher risk for development of hypertension. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratios for women in the highest frequency of use category (≥22 days per month) compared with no use were as follows: aspirin, 1.21 (95% CI, 1.13 to 1.30); acetaminophen, 1.20 (1.08 to 1.33); and NSAIDs, 1.35 (1.25 to 1.46). For each analgesic type, there was a significant trend toward an increased risk of incident hypertension with increasing frequency of use (P <0.001). Given the observed odds ratios, biologic plausibility, and the sizeable population at risk, health professionals should consider potential hypertensive effects of aspirin, acetaminophen, and NSAIDs when counseling their patients about the use of nonnarcotic analgesics.
Discrimination of Antibody to Herpes B Virus from Antibody to Herpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2 in Human and Macaque Sera

ABSTRACT The antigenic cross-reactive characteristics of herpes B virus and herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 are responsible for false-positive diagnoses by serological assays in humans and macaques. In the present study, we developed a fluorometric indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with recombinant herpes B virus glycoprotein D (gD) and HSV-1 and HSV-2 gG (gG-1 and gG-2, respectively) to discriminate between the three primate herpesvirus infections. The secreted form of gD, gDdTM, was used to detect antibody to herpes B virus gD. Sera positive for herpes B virus, HSV-1, and HSV-2 showed specific reactions to gD, gG-1, and gG-2, respectively. Sera collected from humans and rhesus macaques were investigated for the presence of antibodies to the recombinant proteins of the three herpesviruses. The results suggested that the approach is able to discriminate between herpes B virus and HSV infections. The ELISA was also found to be able to detect infections with multiple primate herpesviruses and may have the potential to identify a subsequent infection in individuals that have already been infected with another herpesvirus. In addition, we found evidence of a greater cross-reactivity of herpes B virus with HSV-1 than with HSV-2. It is suggested that the ELISA with the recombinant antigens is useful not only for the serodiagnosis of primate herpesvirus infections but also for elucidation of the seroprevalence of herpesviruses in humans and primates.
Sequential detection for optical wireless scattering communication

In an optical wireless scattering communication network, the receiver needs to periodically listen to the channel to detect whether the channel is occupied by other transceiver pairs. It falls into the spectrum sensing category of the cognitive radio. In this work, we adopt the sequential detection for the spectrum sensing, for both the photon-counting receiver and the photomultiplier tube (PMT) receiver. For the PMT receiver, to reduce the computational complexity, we propose the one-term approximation for the log-likelihood ratio computation. From simulations, it is seen that the one-term approximation can show virtually the same number of samples as that for the exact log-likelihood ratio (LLR) computation to achieve certain miss detection(MD) and false alarm (FA) probabilities, significantly fewer than that required by the Gaussian approximation.
Root Exudates from Grafted-Root Watermelon Showed a Certain Contribution in Inhibiting Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum

Grafting watermelon onto bottle gourd rootstock is commonly used method to generate resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON), but knowledge of the effect of the root exudates of grafted watermelon on this soil-borne pathogen in rhizosphere remains limited. To investigate the root exudate profiles of the own-root bottle gourd, grafted-root watermelon and own-root watermelon, recirculating hydroponic culture system was developed to continuously trap these root exudates. Both conidial germination and growth of FON were significantly decreased in the presence of root exudates from the grafted-root watermelon compared with the own-root watermelon. HPLC analysis revealed that the composition of the root exudates released by the grafted-root watermelon differed not only from the own-root watermelon but also from the bottle gourd rootstock plants. We identified salicylic acid in all 3 root exudates, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid in root exudates from own-root bottle gourd and grafted-root watermelon but not own-root watermelon, and abundant cinnamic acid only in own-root watermelon root exudates. The chlorogenic and caffeic acid were candidates for potentiating the enhanced resistance of the grafted watermelon to FON, therefore we tested the effects of the two compounds on the conidial germination and growth of FON. Both phenolic acids inhibited FON conidial germination and growth in a dose-dependent manner, and FON was much more susceptible to chlorogenic acid than to caffeic acid. In conclusion, the key factor in attaining the resistance to Fusarium wilt is grafting on the non-host root stock, however, the root exudates profile also showed some contribution in inhibiting FON. These results will help to better clarify the disease resistance mechanisms of grafted-root watermelon based on plant-microbe communication and will guide the improvement of strategies against Fusarium-mediated wilt of watermelon plants.
Robust multi-model fault detection and isolation with a state-space neural network

This paper presents an design of a Robust Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) diagnostic system by the means of state-space neural network. First, an solution utilizing multimodel technique is described, in which a Single-Input MultiOutput (SIMO) system is decomposed into a number of Multi-Input Single-Output (MISO) and Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) models. Application of such models makes possible to calculate a set of residual signals required in evaluation process with a Model Error Modelling (MEM) to obtain diagnostic signals. In turn, to isolate faults the diagnostic signals together with defined binary diagnostic table are applied. For experimental verification of the proposed approach, the laboratory stand of Modular Servo is chosen. All necessary data were gathered with the Matlab/Simulink software.
Influence and correlation in social networks

In many online social systems, social ties between users play an important role in dictating their behavior. One of the ways this can happen is through social influence, the phenomenon that the actions of a user can induce his/her friends to behave in a similar way. In systems where social influence exists, ideas, modes of behavior, or new technologies can diffuse through the network like an epidemic. Therefore, identifying and understanding social influence is of tremendous interest from both analysis and design points of view. This is a difficult task in general, since there are factors such as homophily or unobserved confounding variables that can induce statistical correlation between the actions of friends in a social network. Distinguishing influence from these is essentially the problem of distinguishing correlation from causality, a notoriously hard statistical problem. In this paper we study this problem systematically. We define fairly general models that replicate the aforementioned sources of social correlation. We then propose two simple tests that can identify influence as a source of social correlation when the time series of user actions is available. We give a theoretical justification of one of the tests by proving that with high probability it succeeds in ruling out influence in a rather general model of social correlation. We also simulate our tests on a number of examples designed by randomly generating actions of nodes on a real social network (from Flickr) according to one of several models. Simulation results confirm that our test performs well on these data. Finally, we apply them to real tagging data on Flickr, exhibiting that while there is significant social correlation in tagging behavior on this system, this correlation cannot be attributed to social influence.
Olmesartan is not associated with the risk of enteropathy: a Korean nationwide observational cohort study

Background/Aims Olmesartan, a widely used angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), has been linked to sprue-like enteropathy. No cases of olmesartan-associated enteropathy have been reported in Northeast Asia. We investigated the associations between olmesartan and other ARBs and the incidence of enteropathy in Korea. Methods Our retrospective cohort study used data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service to identify 108,559 patients (58,186 females) who were initiated on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEis), olmesartan, or other ARBs between January 2005 and December 2012. The incidences of enteropathy were compared among drug groups. Changes in body weight were compared after propensity score matching of patients in the ACEis and olmesartan groups. Results Among 108,559 patients, 31 patients were diagnosed with enteropathy. The incidences were 0.73, 0.24, and 0.37 per 1,000 persons, in the ACEis, olmesartan, and other ARBs groups, respectively. Adjusted rate ratios for enteropathy were: olmesartan, 0.33 (95% confidential interval [CI], 0.10 to 1.09; p = 0.070) and other ARBs, 0.34 (95% CI, 0.14 to 0.83; p = 0.017) compared to the ACEis group after adjustment for age, sex, income level, and various comorbidities. The post hoc analysis with matched cohorts revealed that the proportion of patients with significant weight loss did not differ between the ACEis and olmesartan groups. Conclusions Olmesartan was not associated with intestinal malabsorption or significant body weight loss in the general Korean population. Additional large-scale prospective studies of the relationship between olmesartan and the incidence of enteropathy in the Asian population are needed.