Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Insulin Resistance in Adults from Maracaibo City, Venezuela

Background and Aim. Insulin resistance (IR) is a prominent pathophysiologic component in a myriad of metabolic disorders, including obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, which are common in our locality. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of IR and factors associated with this condition in an adult population from Maracaibo city, Venezuela. Methodology. A cross-sectional, descriptive study with multistaged randomized sampling was carried out in 2026 adults. IR was defined as HOMA2-IR ≥ 2. A multiple logistic regression model was constructed in order to evaluate factors associated with IR. Results. The prevalence of IR was 46.5% (n = 943), with 46.7% (n = 450) in the general population, 46.4% (n = 493) in females, and 47.90% (n = 970) in males (p = 0.895). IR prevalence tended to increase with age and was significantly greater in subjects aged ≥30 years (χ 2 = 16.726; p = 2.33 × 10−4). Employment, alcohol consumption, obesity, high triacylglycerides, low HDL-C, and dysglycemia were associated with greater odds of IR, whereas a high level of physical activity appeared to be weak protective factor against IR. Conclusions. The prevalence of IR is elevated in our locality. The main determinants of this condition appear to be the presence of obesity, high triacylglycerides, low HDL-C, dysglycemia, and alcohol intake.
Value Creation through Inter-Organizational Systems (iOS): from Governance Process View

In this study, we seek to reveal the mechanism of value creation between firms and their partners in B2B context. An integrated conceptual model is constructed grounded in the co-creation theory and the process view, which proposes the interaction between relational assets, IOS support and governance process, as well as their impacts on co-created value. It differs from previous studies by highlighting the mediating effect of governance on value creation. Using a sample of 181 collected from China, our analysis indicates the contribution of governance to co-created value, which is generated through IOS and relational assets. In fact, the IOS support and relational assets alone don’t hold the answer to value co-creation, but they affect the mediating process and enable governance to create value. Especially, the IOS could accommodate the use of relational assets and significantly affect governance process, which is found to be fundamental in value creation. While commodity-like resources have diminishing value in co-creation, governance process with causal ambiguity, social complexity and organizational interconnectedness, becomes the main source of co-created value. Overall, our research sheds light on the key drivers of value co-creation, and provides insights to their impacts on value creation.
Isogeometric analysis for cardiac modeling and mechanical analysis

The traditional left ventricle (LV) model based on the finite element analysis (FEA) is not good enough to obtain the ideal continuity and accuracy of the model. Under this condition, formulation utilizing isogeometric analysis is expected to be introduced to improve numerical stability significantly. A kind of modeling and mechanical analysis method based on isogeometric analysis (IGA) is proposed to obtain the surface model in this paper, which is applied to the LV modeling and mechanical analysis. As far as the modeling to be concerned, the calculation of control points and basis function in our method is depended on the feature points via image segmentation, while the areas between the inner and outer wall are fitted with the IGA entity simulation and interpolation to obtain a solid LV model with control points. , Meanwhile, the kinematical description is applied for mechanical analysis using the mechanics of materials formulated in the context of isogeometric analysis, while the constitutive equation is defined according to the theory of elasticity. Furthermore the distribution of stress and strain of myocardium could be calculated more easily according to the model-based stiffness matrix. Experimental results show that the model and mechanical analysis proposed in this paper is proved to be accurate and continuous.
Can we teach civic attitudes

There is a large amount of evidence that shows that higher levels of schooling are associated with a substantive increase in civic engagement. We empirically discuss this issue using Spanish data. In order to identify the existence of a possible causal link between schooling and civic attitudes, we use the discontinuity between compulsory schooling and minimum working age introduced in the 1976 law of employment regulation. We find that education has no significant effect on citizenship outcomes for those individuals who are indifferent between working or continue in school in the absence of the child labor law change, i.e. those identified by the instumental variable approach. However, family traits do have substantial effect on citizenship outcomes.
Peony-Glycyrrhiza Decoction, an Herbal Preparation, Inhibits Clozapine Metabolism via Cytochrome P450s, but Not Flavin-Containing Monooxygenase in In Vitro Models

Our previous studies have shown the therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanisms of Peony-Glycyrrhiza Decoction (PGD), an herbal preparation, in treating antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia in cultured cells, animal models, and human subjects. In the present study, we further evaluated pharmacokinetic interactions of PGD with clozapine (CLZ) in human liver microsomes (HLM), recombinantly expressed cytochrome P450s (P450s), and flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs). CLZ metabolites, N-demethyl-clozapine and clozapine-N-oxide, were measured. PGD, individual peony and glycyrrhiza preparations, and the two individual preparations in combination reduced production of CLZ metabolites to different extents in HLM. While the known bioactive constituents of PGD play a relatively minor role in the kinetic effects of PGD on P450 activity, PGD as a whole had a weak-to-moderate inhibitory potency toward P450s, in particular CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. FMOs are less actively involved in mediating CLZ metabolism and the PGD inhibition of CLZ. These results suggest that PGD has the capacity to suppress CLZ metabolism in the human liver microsomal system. This suppression is principally associated with the inhibition of related P450 activity but not FMOs. The present study provides in vitro evidence of herb-antipsychotic interactions.
BANKFULL MOBILE PARTICLE SIZE AND ITS PREDICTION FROM A SHIELDS-TYPE APPROACH

Critical dimensionless shear stress values *c (Shields 1936) (also called Shields values) are often applied to solve a wide range of incipient motion questions in natural streams. A common application for a Shields curve is the computation of the bankfull mobile particle size. However, the original Shields values were obtained from experiments conducted in a narrow set of flume conditions and often fail to produce accurate incipient motion results in natural streams. This study examined how the computed bankfull mobile particle size (Dcbf) depends on the specific Shields value used to compute it and how Dcbf values and their relations to the bed surface D50 size vary over a wide range of stream types. Four Shields-type curves and their predictions of Dcbf were compared: 1) the original Shields curve *c, 2) a modified Shields curve *c mod (Parker et al. 2003), 3) a bankfull Shields curve *bf computed for bankfull flow and the bed D50 size over a wide range of model streams and 4) a critical bankfull Shields curve *cbf computed from bankfull flow and the largest bankfull mobile bedload particle size (Dmax bf) ob- served at 13 sites in mountain streams. The values of *c,*bf , and *cbf are similar for mobile gravel-bed streams, but differ widely for silt- and sand beds as well as for steep plane-bed and step-pool mountain streams. Critical bankfull Shields values *cbf increased steeply with gradient and bed coarseness, ranging within 0.03 - 0.085 for mixed plane-bed/pool-riffle coarse gravel-bed streams, within 0.05 to 0.36 for plane-bed streams that have occa- sional pool-riffle sequences forced by sharp channel bends, and within 0.17 - 0.67 for cobble-bed step-pool streams. Using the original or modified Shields curve with *c of 0.03 - 0.06 to predict the bankfull mobile particle size in coarse-grained streams can be appropriate in mobile gravel- and cobble-bed streams with high sediment supply (such as alternate bars, braided, pool-riffle morphology as well as in torrents). However, compared to the measured bankfull mobile particle size Dmax bf, a Shields value of 0.03 - 0.06 overpredicts Dcbf by a factor of approximately 5 in steep and poorly mobile plane-bed streams and by a factor of approximately 10 for step-pool streams. Shields values to compute the bankfull mobile particle size need to be carefully chosen.
Brain morphometry in reading-disabled twins

Objective: To test for brain structure differences in reading disability (RD) by means of MRI-based morphometry. Background: Consensus is lacking on the brain structural correlates of RD. The current study reports on a wider set of structures in the largest sample yet studied, controlling for age, gender, IQ, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: A case–control study was performed that was comprised of 75 individuals with RD (mean age, 17.43 ± 4.29 years) and 22 control subjects without RD (mean age, 18.69 ± 3.75 years), each a single member of a twin pair. The two groups were similar in age, gender, and handedness, but differed in full-scale IQ (FSIQ), with the RD group having a lower mean FSIQ (101.8 ± 9.9 versus 118.3 ± 10.3). Using three group-by-structure analyses of covariance, groups were compared in terms of volume (in cubic centimeters) of major neocortical subdivisions, subcortical structures, and midsagittal areas (in square millimeters) of three subdivisions of the corpus callosum. Results: Controlling for age, gender, and IQ, the authors found a significant group-by-structure interaction for the major neocortical subdivisions (p = 0.002), reflecting a different developmental pattern in the RD group, with the insula and anterior superior neocortex being smaller and the retrocallosal cortex being larger in the RD group. In contrast, they found no group main or interaction effects for the subcortical or callosal structures. The pattern of results was essentially the same in subjects without ADHD. Conclusions: Most brain structures do not differ in size in RD, but cortical development is altered subtly. This study replicates in a larger sample previous findings of insular differences in RD and demonstrates further that those differences are not attributable to comorbid ADHD.
Family-Based Services:

The value of family-based programs for the treatment and prevention of problems with children is increasing. The advantages of family-based programs is reviewed in terms of their general effectiveness and long-term cost. Much of the early work in familybased programs originated in the private sector but is moving into public programs as legislation and financial incentives support this approach. Ways of overcoming resistance and other problems in introducing family center programs in public agencies are discussed.
The eIF 4 E RNA regulon promotes the Akt signaling pathway

© The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 181, No. 1, April 7, 2008 51–63 http://www.jcb. org/cgi/doi/ JCB 51 10.1083/jcb.200707018 B. Culjkovic and K. Tan contributed equally to this paper. Correspondence to Katherine L.B. Borden: katherine.borden@umontreal.ca Abbreviations used in this paper: 4E-BP, eIF4E-binding protein; 4E-SE, eIF4E sensitivity element; eIF4E, eukaryotic initiation factor 4E; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; m 7 G, 7-methyl guanosine; MEF, mouse embryonic fi broblast; MSCV, murine stem cell virus; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; NBS1, Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1; ODC, ornithine decarboxylase; PI, propidium iodide; PI3K, phosphoinositide-3 kinase; PML, promyelocytic leukemia protein; qPCR, quantitative PCR; USER, untranslated sequence elements for regulation; UTR, untranslated region. The online version of this article contains supplemental material. Introduction
A serine sensor for multicellularity in a bacterium

We report the discovery of a simple environmental sensing mechanism for biofilm formation in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis that operates without the involvement of a dedicated RNA or protein. Certain serine codons, the four TCN codons, in the gene for the biofilm repressor SinR caused a lowering of SinR levels under biofilm-inducing conditions. Synonymous substitutions of these TCN codons with AGC or AGT impaired biofilm formation and gene expression. Conversely, switching AGC or AGT to TCN codons upregulated biofilm formation. Genome-wide ribosome profiling showed that ribosome density was higher at UCN codons than at AGC or AGU during biofilm formation. Serine starvation recapitulated the effect of biofilm-inducing conditions on ribosome occupancy and SinR production. As serine is one of the first amino acids to be exhausted at the end of exponential phase growth, reduced translation speed at serine codons may be exploited by other microbes in adapting to stationary phase. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.01501. 001
Pilot Study of Concurrent 5-Fluorouracil/Paclitaxel Plus Radiotherapy in Patients With Carcinoma of the Esophagus and Gastroesophageal Junction

Preoperative concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be highly effective but are often associated with significant rates of morbidity and even mortality. We studied the toxicity of continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and weekly paclitaxel combined with radiotherapy. Patients had histologic proof of local–regional carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal (GE) junction, a Karnofsky performance status of 70 or greater, and normal liver, renal, and bone marrow functions. Chemotherapy consisted of continuous infusion of 5-FU (300 mg/m2/d) for 5 days a week for 5 weeks, plus paclitaxel (45 mg/m2) given during 3 hours every week for 5 weeks. Based on the tumor location and its resectability, the total dose of concurrent radiation varied between 45 Gy and 50.4 Gy. Nine men and one woman, with a median age of 61 years, were evaluated. One had GE junction cancer, six had distal esophageal cancer, and three had midesophageal cancer. Weight loss, nausea, vomiting, and dysphagia of grades I and II were noted. The hematologic toxicity was mild. No patients required transfusion. There was no leukopenia or thrombocytopenia. None of the patients was hospitalized during chemoradiation; all patients completed treatment as outpatients. Five patients had subsequent surgical resections: one had a pathologically complete response, and two had a partial response (>90% necrosis). Continuous infusion of 5-FU plus paclitaxel given concurrently with radiotherapy was well tolerated. We plan to study this regimen further in upper gastrointestinal cancers.
A device to measure in vivo forces in human flexor tendons during carpal tunnel operations

An apparatus has been designed to measure the in vivo forces transmitted along human hand flexor tendons during carpal tunnel release procedures. The tendon will be run through three hooks, the central one of which is attached to a load cell. The rationale is that once these forces are known this will aid in the design of repair techniques and rehabilitation regimens. As a first stage, an in vitro validation study is presented using cord subjected to varying forces to mimic an in vivo flexor tendon under varying conditions of use. Our results show that we can accurately and reproducibly measure the force in the cord.
Evaluation of cartilage invasion by laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with dual-energy CT.

PURPOSE To evaluate the clinical usefulness of dual-energy computed tomography (CT) with weighted-average (WA) images and iodine overlay (IO) images in the evaluation of laryngeal cartilage invasion in patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, and written comprehensive consent was obtained from all patients. Seventy-two consecutive patients underwent 128-section dual-source dual-energy CT to stage laryngeal (n=27) or hypopharyngeal (n=45) cancer. Three observers who were blinded to the patients' clinical histories and histopathologic findings evaluated cartilage invasion on WA images alone or in combination with IO images (nonossified cartilages were selectively evaluated on IO images) by using a five-point scale. Thirty of the 72 patients (42%) underwent surgery, and findings from histopathologic examination in those patients were used as the standard of reference for the evaluation of diagnostic performance with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Interobserver reproducibility was calculated with κ statistics. RESULTS For thyroid cartilage, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the WA plus IO images was marginally larger than that for WA images alone (AUC=0.957 vs 0.870, respectively; P=.075). The specificity of WA plus IO images was significantly superior to that of WA images alone (96% vs 70%, respectively; P=.031), with no compromise to the sensitivity (86% for both). For thyroid and cricoid cartilages, the interobserver reproducibility was higher for diagnoses made with WA plus IO images (κ=0.68-0.72 and 0.64-0.79, respectively) than for those made with WA images alone (κ=0.29-0.56 and 0.20-0.64, respectively). CONCLUSION Combined analysis of WA and IO images obtained with dual-energy CT improves the diagnostic performance and interobserver reproducibility of evaluations of laryngeal cartilage invasion by SCC.
Control of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVmac239 Is Not Predicted by Inheritance of Mamu-B*17-Containing Haplotypes

ABSTRACT It is well established that host genetics, especially major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, are important determinants of human immunodeficiency virus disease progression. Studies with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected Indian rhesus macaques have associated Mamu-B*17 with control of virus replication. Using microsatellite haplotyping of the 5-Mb MHC region, we compared disease progression among SIVmac239-infected Indian rhesus macaques that possess Mamu-B*17-containing MHC haplotypes that are identical by descent. We discovered that SIV-infected animals possessing identical Mamu-B*17-containing haplotypes had widely divergent disease courses. Our results demonstrate that the inheritance of a particular Mamu-B*17-containing haplotype is not sufficient to predict SIV disease outcome.
A Comparison of the Dynamics of S100B, S100A1, and S100A6 mRNA Expression in Hippocampal CA1 Area of Rats during Long-Term Potentiation and after Low-Frequency Stimulation

The interest in tissue- and cell-specific S100 proteins physiological roles in the brain remains high. However, necessary experimental data for the assessment of their dynamics in one of the most important brain activities, its plasticity, is not sufficient. We studied the expression of S100B, S100A1, and S100A6 mRNA in the subfield CA1 of rat hippocampal slices after tetanic and low-frequency stimulation by real-time PCR. Within 30 min after tetanization, a 2–4 fold increase of the S100B mRNA level was observed as compared to the control (intact slices) or to low-frequency stimulation. Subsequently, the S100B mRNA content gradually returned to baseline. The amount of S100A1 mRNA gradually increased during first hour and maintained at the achieved level in the course of second hour after tetanization. The level of S100A6 mRNA did not change following tetanization or low-frequency stimulation.
Speechalator: two-way speech-to-speech translation on a consumer PDA

This paper describes a working two-way speech-to-speech translation system that runs in near real-time on a consumer handheld computer. It can translate from English to Arabic and Arabic to English in the domain of medical interviews. We describe the general architecture and frameworks within which we developed each of the components: HMM-based recognition, interlingua translation (both rule and statistically based), and unit selection synthesis.
A Discourse Analysis of Beginning English Teachers' Identity Development

A P/ liberal arts/” (lines 10-11) way. By using these adjectives, she depicts her mentor’s input as useless, and by employing vagueness (Edwards & Potter, 1992) and not giving any specific examples of the types of comments her mentor makes, the other participants must take Anna Lucia’s word that her mentor is not good at giving effective feedback. As Anna Lucia
Global stabilisation of high-order nonlinear systems with multiple time delays

This paper focuses on the stabilisation for a class of high-order nonlinear systems with multiple time delays. Growth restriction on system nonlinearities is further relaxed. Design procedures of a continuous controller are provided by the method of adding a power integrator, and the stability of the resulting closed-loop system is rigorously proven with the help of the elegant choice of a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. Finally, a simulation example is provided to demonstrate the validness of the proposed approach.
Emotional intelligence and leadership in organizations: A meta-analytic test of process mechanisms

OF THE DISSERTATION EMOTIONAL INTELLGENCE AND LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS: A META-ANALYTIC TEST OF PROCESS MECHANISMS by Daniel S. Whitman Florida International University, 2009 Miami, Florida Professor Chockalingam Viswesvaran, Major Professor The present study – employing psychometric meta-analysis of 92 independent studies with sample sizes ranging from 26 to 322 leaders – examined the relationship between EI and leadership effectiveness. Overall, the results supported a linkage between leader EI and effectiveness that was moderate in nature ( = .25). In addition, the positive manifold of the effect sizes presented in this study, ranging from . 10 to . 44, indicate that emotional intelligence has meaningful relations with myriad leadership outcomes including effectiveness, transformational leadership, LMX, follower job satisfaction, and others. Furthermore, this paper examined potential process mechanisms that may account for the EI-leadership effectiveness relationship and showed that both transformational leadership and LMX partially mediate this relationship. However, while the predictive validities of EI were moderate in nature, path analysis and hierarchical regression suggests that EI contributes less than or equal to 1% of explained variance in leadership effectiveness once personality and intelligence are accounted for.
A Lower Bound for the Optimization of Finite Sums

This paper presents a lower bound for optimizing a finite sum of n functions, where each function is L-smooth and the sum is µ-strongly convex. We show that no algorithm can reach an error e in minimizing all functions from this class in fewer than Ω(n+√n(κ-1) log(1/e)) iterations, where κ = L/µ is a surrogate condition number. We then compare this lower bound to upper bounds for recently developed methods specializing to this setting. When the functions involved in this sum are not arbitrary, but based on i.i. d. random data, then we further contrast these complexity results with those for optimal first-order methods to directly optimize the sum. The conclusion we draw is that a lot of caution is necessary for an accurate comparison, and identify machine learning scenarios where the new methods help computationally.