Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Time Is Right for a New Classification System for Diabetes: Rationale and Implications of the β-Cell–Centric Classification Schema

The current classification system presents challenges to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), in part due to its conflicting and confounding definitions of type 1 DM, type 2 DM, and latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). The current schema also lacks a foundation that readily incorporates advances in our understanding of the disease and its treatment. For appropriate and coherent therapy, we propose an alternate classification system. The β-cell–centric classification of DM is a new approach that obviates the inherent and unintended confusions of the current system. The β-cell–centric model presupposes that all DM originates from a final common denominator—the abnormal pancreatic β-cell. It recognizes that interactions between genetically predisposed β-cells with a number of factors, including insulin resistance (IR), susceptibility to environmental influences, and immune dysregulation/inflammation, lead to the range of hyperglycemic phenotypes within the spectrum of DM. Individually or in concert, and often self-perpetuating, these factors contribute to β-cell stress, dysfunction, or loss through at least 11 distinct pathways. Available, yet underutilized, treatments provide rational choices for personalized therapies that target the individual mediating pathways of hyperglycemia at work in any given patient, without the risk of drug-related hypoglycemia or weight gain or imposing further burden on the β-cells. This article issues an urgent call for the review of the current DM classification system toward the consensus on a new, more useful system.
Potential L-Type Voltage–Operated Calcium Channel Blocking Effect of Drotaverine on Functional Models

Drotaverine is considered an inhibitor of cyclic-3′,5′-nucleotide-phophodiesterase (PDE) enzymes; however, published receptor binding data also support the potential L-type voltage– operated calcium channel (L-VOCC) blocking effect of drotaverine. Hence, in this work, we focus on the potential L-VOCC blocking effect of drotaverine by using L-VOCC–associated functional in vitro models. Accordingly, drotaverine and reference agents were tested on KCl-induced guinea pig tracheal contraction. Drotaverine, like the L-VOCC blockers nifedipine or diltiazem, inhibited the KCl-induced inward Ca2+- induced contraction in a concentration- dependent fashion. The PDE inhibitor theophylline had no effect on the KCl-evoked contractions, indicating its lack of inhibition on inward Ca2+ flow. Drotaverine was also tested on the L-VOCC–mediated resting Ca2+ refill model. In this model, the extracellular Ca2+ enters the cells to replenish the emptied intracellular Ca2+ stores. Drotaverine and L-VOCC blocker reference molecules inhibited Ca2+ replenishment of Ca2+-depleted preparations detected by agonist-induced contractions in post–Ca2+ replenishment Ca2+-free medium. Theophylline did not modify the Ca2+ store replenishment after contraction. It seems that drotaverine, but not theophylline, inhibits inward Ca2+ flux. The addition of CaCl2 to Ca2+-free medium containing the agonist induced inward Ca2+ flow and subsequent contraction of Ca2+-depleted tracheal preparations. Drotaverine, similar to the L-VOCC blockers, inhibited inward Ca2+ flow and blunted the slope of CaCl2-induced contraction in agonist containing Ca2+-free medium with Ca2+-depleted tracheal preparations. These results show that drotaverine behaves like L-VOCC blockers but, unlike PDE inhibitors using L-VOCC associated in vitro experimental models.
Surfactant in children with malignancies, immunosuppression, fever and pulmonary infiltrates

In children with malignancies and immunosuppression, significant morbidity and mortality result from respiratory complications. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether or not this is associated with altered surfactant components or functions. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 24 children with malignancies, immunosuppression, pulmonary infiltrates and fever unresponsive to empirical antibiotic treatment were compared to that from 24 healthy children. Levels of surfactant protein (SP) A and D and their binding capacity for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as levels of SP-B and SP-C, were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The large and small surfactant aggregate forms were separated and the biophysical activity of large surfactant aggregates was determined using a pulsating bubble surfactometer. Compared to healthy controls, SP-A levels were increased four-fold, the increase being most pronounced in those children with pathogens recovered from their bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. In children with malignancies, levels of SP-C were increased two-fold and of small surfactant aggregates five-fold. No differences were observed in levels of SP-B or SP-D, binding capacity of SP-A or SP-D or the surface activity of large surfactant aggregates. The increased levels of surfactant protein A, particularly in children with recovered microorganisms, and unchanged binding capacity of surfactant protein A are consistent with upregulated local host defence mechanisms. Increased surfactant protein A and C may also be responsible for the conserved biophysical activity of surfactant in children with malignancies, immunosuppression, pulmonary infiltrates and fever.
Trust: An Integrative Review from a Person–Situation Perspective

Trust is a key aspect of various social interactions. Correspondingly, trust has been heavily studied across different scientific disciplines. However, an integration of the diverse research and literature is still missing. Addressing this issue, we review several hundred articles on interpersonal trust among strangers and integrate them into a coherent framework, explaining trust behavior among unfamiliar agents based on an interaction between situational features and distinct personality characteristics. Understanding trust as a decision under risk, we distill 3 core components of trust behavior from the extant literature: attitudes toward risky prospects (i.e., risk aversion and loss aversion), trustworthiness expectations, and betrayal sensitivity. Each of these refers to a distinct set of causal determinants, including personality characteristics (anxiety/fear, trustworthiness, and forgiveness) which can be localized in the space defined by models of basic personality structure (e.g., the Five-Factor Model and the HEXACO model of personality). In sum, the review contributes to the understanding of trust behavior by linking and integrating the findings from various fields of trust research. Additionally, it provides fruitful directions and implications for future research.
Using Neutral Singular Vectors to Study Low-Frequency Atmospheric Variability

Abstract The authors explore the use of the “neutral vectors” of a linearized version of a global quasigeostrophic atmospheric model with realistic mean flow in the study of the nonlinear model's low-frequency variability. Neutral vectors are the (right) singular vectors of the linearized model's tendency matrix that have the smallest eigenvalues; they are also the patterns that exhibit the largest response to forcing perturbations in the linear model. A striking similarity is found between neutral vectors and the dominant patterns of variability (EOFs) observed in both the full nonlinear model and in the real world. The authors discuss the physical and mathematical connection between neutral vectors and EOFs. Investigation of the “optimal forcing patterns”—the left singular vectors—proves to be less fruitful. The neutral modes have equivalent barotropic vertical structure, but their optimal forcing patterns are baroclinic and seem to be associated with low-level heating. But the horizontal patterns of th.
Tracking changes in dynamic information networks

Social network analysis is a discipline that has emerged to analyze social structures and information networks to uncover patterns of interaction among the vertices in the network. Most social networks are dynamic, and studying the evolution of these networks over time could provide insight into the behavior of individuals expressed by the nodes in the graph and the flow of information among them. In a dynamic network, communities, which are groups of densely interconnected nodes, are affected by changes in the underlying population. The analysis of communities and their evolutions can help determine the shifting structural properties of the networks. We present a framework for modeling and detecting community evolution over time. First, our proposed community matching algorithm efficiently identifies and tracks similar communities over time. Then, a series of significant events and transitions are defined to characterize the evolution of networks in terms of its communities and individuals. We also propose two metrics called stability and influence metrics to describe the active behavior of the individuals. We present experiments to explore the dynamics of communities on the Enron email and DBLP datasets. Evaluating the events using topics extracted from the detected communities demonstrates that we can successfully track communities over time in real datasets.
The competitive environment hypothesis revisited: non-linearity, nonstationarity and profit persistence

Much empirical literature dealing with the competitive environment hypothesis tends to find nonstationary behaviour and very high persistence in time series of company profits. Profit time series is modelled using a simple threshold autoregressive model that allows for nonstationary behaviour over subsamples. Using a new dataset consisting of profits for more than 150 US companies over a time period of 50 years, statistical evidence is presented that the high persistence observed in profits when using linear autoregressive models is often due to the misspecification of the data generating process.
Linkage disequilibrium and effective population size when generations overlap

Estimates of effective population size are critical for species of conservation concern. Genetic datasets can be used to provide robust estimates of this important parameter. However, the methods used to obtain these estimates assume that generations are discrete. We used simulated data to assess the influences of overlapping generations on the estimates of effective size provided by the linkage disequilibrium (LD) method. Our simulations focus on two factors: the degree of reproductive skew exhibited by the focal species and the generation time, without considering sample size or the level of polymorphism at marker loci. In situations where a majority of reproduction is achieved by a small fraction of the population, the effective number of breeders can be much smaller than the per‐generation effective population size. The LD in samples of newborns can provide estimates of the former size, while our results indicate that the latter size is best estimated using random samples of reproductively mature adults. Using samples of adults, the downwards bias was less than approximately 15% across our simulated life histories. As noted in previous assessments, precision of the estimate depends on the magnitude of effective size itself, with greater precision achieved for small populations.
Use of socialization games to increase prosocial behavior of institutionalized retarded women

3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photo­ graphed the photographer has followed a definite method in “sectioning” the material. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
LINEAR PROGRAMMING PROBLEM WITH INTERVAL COEFFICIENTS AND AN INTERPRETATION FOR ITS CONSTRAINTS

Abstract – In this paper, we introduce a Satisfaction Function (SF) to compare interval values on the basis of Tseng and Klein’s idea. The SF estimates the degree to which arithmetic comparisons between two interval values are satisfied. Then, we define two other functions called Lower and Upper SF based on the SF. We apply these functions in order to present a new interpretation of inequality constraints with interval coefficients in an interval linear programming problem. This problem is as an extension of the classical linear programming problem to an inexact environment. On the basis of definitions of the SF, the lower and upper SF and their properties, we reduce the inequality constraints with interval coefficients in their satisfactory crisp equivalent forms and define a satisfactory solution to the problem. Finally, a numerical example is given and its results are compared with other approaches.
Heterologous Replacement of the Supposed Host Determining Region of Avihepadnaviruses: High In Vivo Infectivity Despite Low Infectivity for Hepatocytes

Hepadnaviruses, including hepatitis B virus (HBV), a highly relevant human pathogen, are small enveloped DNA viruses that replicate via reverse transcription. All hepadnaviruses display a narrow tissue and host tropism. For HBV, this restricts efficient experimental in vivo infection to chimpanzees. While the cellular factors mediating infection are largely unknown, the large viral envelope protein (L) plays a pivotal role for infectivity. Furthermore, certain segments of the PreS domain of L from duck HBV (DHBV) enhanced infectivity for cultured duck hepatocytes of pseudotyped heron HBV (HHBV), a virus unable to infect ducks in vivo. This implied a crucial role for the PreS sequence from amino acid 22 to 90 in the duck tropism of DHBV. Reasoning that reciprocal replacements would reduce infectivity for ducks, we generated spreading-competent chimeric DHBVs with L proteins in which segments 22–90 (Du-He4) or its subsegments 22–37 and 37–90 (Du-He2, Du-He3) are derived from HHBV. Infectivity for duck hepatocytes of Du-He4 and Du-He3, though not Du-He2, was indeed clearly reduced compared to wild-type DHBV. Surprisingly, however, in ducks even Du-He4 caused high-titered, persistent, horizontally and vertically transmissable infections, with kinetics of viral spread similar to those of DHBV when inoculated at doses of 108 viral genome equivalents (vge) per animal. Low-dose infections down to 300 vge per duck did not reveal a significant reduction in specific infectivity of the chimera. Hence, sequence alterations in PreS that limited infectivity in vitro did not do so in vivo. These data reveal a much more complex correlation between PreS sequence and host specificity than might have been anticipated; more generally, they question the value of cultured hepatocytes for reliably predicting in vivo infectivity of avian and, by inference, mammalian hepadnaviruses, with potential implications for the risk assessment of vaccine and drug resistant HBV variants.
A multifaceted approach into the effect of coloured environment on impulsivity using personality, behavioural and neurological methods

The direct interplay between colour and impulsivity has yet to be researched despite growing interest and activity in the field. The implications of gaining a better understanding of this area helps: realise the impact of LED use in modern environments, address the lack of evidence in reported crime and impulsive psychopathologies relating to coloured light and builds an understanding of impulsivity as a testable concept. The comparison of personality, behaviour and neurological approaches were used to understand: The effect of colour on moods and personality traits associated with impulsiveness, how colour interacts with impulsive behaviours and to explore how colour alters brain activity relating to impulsivity. Various methods were used in each approach: four self-report personality measures, two behavioural tasks and an electroencephalogram for information regarding brain activity. Results from the personality approach indicated that participants felt more impulsive under red light. However results from behavioural and neurological approaches differed indicating that blue light caused increased bursts in a balloon analogue risk taking task and increases in frontal (F3, FZ and F3 position) beta wave activity. These both suggest an increase in impulsiveness. Faster reaction times in the blue go no/ go task condition hinted at better performance but may also be an indication of hampered behavioural inhibition. These findings are contrary to the traditional notion that long wavelength lights are stimulating and short wavelength lights are relaxing but do align with the effects observed when intrinsically photoreceptive ganglion cells are active. It is recommended that until further empirically robust research is conducted, interventions relating to coloured environments effect on serious impulsive pathologies should not be implemented. Most prominently cases of blue light being used to reduce violent crime and suicide. The research also highlights the complexity of impulsivity, the difficulties in measuring it and the need to focus on sub-constructs in order to make accurate inferences about the effect of colour and impulsiveness in the future.
Why go bipedal? Locomotion and morphology in Australian agamid lizards

SUMMARY Bipedal locomotion by lizards has previously been considered to provide a locomotory advantage. We examined this premise for a group of quadrupedal Australian agamid lizards, which vary in the extent to which they will become bipedal. The percentage of strides that each species ran bipedally, recorded using high speed video cameras, was positively related to body size and the proximity of the body centre of mass to the hip, and negatively related to running endurance. Speed was not higher for bipedal strides, compared with quadrupedal strides, in any of the four species, but acceleration during bipedal strides was significantly higher in three of four species. Furthermore, a distinct threshold between quadrupedal and bipedal strides, was more evident for acceleration than speed, with a threshold in acceleration above which strides became bipedal. We calculated these thresholds using probit analysis, and compared these to the predicted threshold based on the model of Aerts et al. Although there was a general agreement in order, the acceleration thresholds for lizards were often lower than that predicted by the model. We suggest that bipedalism, in Australian agamid lizards, may have evolved as a simple consequence of acceleration, and does not confer any locomotory advantage for increasing speed or endurance. However, both behavioural and threshold data suggest that some lizards actively attempt to run bipedally, implying some unknown advantage to bipedal locomotion.
2 2 A ug 2 01 1 1 Sparse Estimation using Bayesian Hierarchical Prior Modeling for Real and Complex Models

Sparse modeling and estimation of complex signals is not unc ommon in practice. However, historically, much attention has been drawn to real-valued sys tem models, lacking the research of sparse signal modeling and estimation for complex-valued models. This paper introduces a unifying sparse Bayesian formalism that generalizes to complexas well as r e l-valued systems. The methodology relies on hierarchical Bayesian sparsity-inducing prior modelin g of the parameter of interest. This approach allows for the Bayesian modeling of l1-norm constraint for complex-valued as well as real-valued mo els. In addition, the proposed two-layer hierarchical model all ows for the design of novel priors for sparse estimation that outperform the Bayesian formulation of the l1-norm constraint and lead to estimators approximating a soft-thresholding rule. An extension of th e wo-layer model to a three-layer model is also presented. Varying the free parameters of the three-la yer model leads to estimators that approximate a hard-thresholding rule. Finally, a variational messagepassing (VMP) implementation of the proposed Bayesian method that effectively exploits the hierarchica l structure of the inference problem is presented. The simulation results show that the VMP algorithm outperfo rms existing sparse methods both in terms of the sparsity of the estimation results and achieved mean s quared error in low and moderate SNR regimes. This work was supported in part by the 4GMCT cooperative rese arch project funded by Intel Mobile Communications, Agilen t Technologies, Aalborg University and the Danish National A dvanced Technology Foundation. This research was also supp orted in part by the project ICT248894 Wireless Hybrid Enhanced M obile Radio Estimators (WHERE2) and by Erwin Schrödinger Postdoctoral Fellowship, Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Proj ect J2909-N23. This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publica tion. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after wh ich this version may no longer be accessible. August 23, 2011 DRAFT
Fast Estimation of State of Charge for Lithium-Ion Battery

This paper proposes a fast measurement method to estimate the state of charge (SOC) of Li-ion battery based on AC impedance. The AC impedances of an 18650 lithium-ion battery related to various states of charge are measured firstly using a commercial AC impedance analyzer to form a database. Using the relationships between the state of charge and the AC impedance, the proposed method can obtain the battery state of charge quickly. To validate the accuracy of the proposed method, SOC 0%, 50%, and 100% are tested and compared in this paper. The results show that the error is 8.636%, 2.604%, and 0.6%, respectively.
Angiotensin II Receptors on Human Platelets

The investigation of the interaction between angiotensin II and its receptors in human subjects has been hampered by the inaccessibility of human tissue containing angiotensin II receptors. In order to find a more accessible angiotensin II-binding tissue, we studied angiotensin II binding to platelets in normal human volunteers. Platelet preparations purified on Ficoll: Isopaque gradients were incubated with 125I-angiotensin II (30 PM), with and without unlabeled angiotensin at 22°C, separating bound from free hormone by microcentrifugation. Binding was linearly related to the number of platelets incubated, and, at 8 × 105 cells//il, specific binding ranged from 0.8 to 10%. Scatchard analysis indicated a binding site with a KD of 2.4 % 0.3 × 10−10 M which agreed well with the KD by displacement analysis (3.1 × 10″10 M). The relative binding potencies for angiotensin II and analogues were: angiotensin II = des-Asp1 angiotensin II > [Sar1, Ala8] angiotensin II > des- Asp′-[Ile8] angiotensin II > angiotensin I. The effect of high and low sodium (Na) intake (200 vs. 10 mEq/day) on platelet angiotensin II binding was studied in nine subjects. Compared to low Na, high Na intake produced an 80% increase in the angiotensin II-binding capacity (P < 0.01) with no significant change in binding affinity. We conclude that human platelets possess angiotensin receptors whose binding characteristics and modulation by dietary sodium resemble the properties of the receptors on “classical” animal angiotensin target tissues. The platelet may provide an accessible source of angiotensin receptors for a detailed study of angiotensin-receptor interaction in human tissue.
Technology Adoption in Hospitals - The Roles of System Integration and Technology Support

This research studies how hospital employees react to new HIT systems with an attention to the special IT environment of hospital operations. Two characteristics of the IT environment, system integration and technology support, are identified as contextual constraints that shape the adoption of new HIT systems. A research model is developed based on the established IS theory of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A field study was conducted by surveying employees from two hospitals. The research model is tested and results are discussed.