Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First-Phase Insulin Secretion Restoration and Differential Response to Glucose Load Depending on the Route of Administration in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects After Bariatric Surgery

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms of diabetes reversibility after malabsorptive bariatric surgery. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Peripheral insulin sensitivity and β-cell function after either intravenous (IVGTT) or oral glucose tolerance (OGTT) tests and minimal model analysis were assessed in nine obese, type 2 diabetic subjects before and 1 month after biliopancreatic diversion and compared with those in six normal-weight control subjects. Insulin-dependent whole-body glucose disposal was measured by the euglycemic clamp, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) were also measured. RESULTS—The first phase of insulin secretion after the IVGTT was fully normalized after the operation. The disposition index from OGTT data was increased about 10-fold and became similar to the values found in control subjects, and the disposition index from IVGTT data increased about 3.5-fold, similarly to what happened after the euglycemic clamp. The area under the curve (AUC) for GIP decreased about four times (from 3,000 ± 816 to 577 ± 155 pmol · l−1 · min, P < 0.05). On the contrary, the AUC for GLP1 almost tripled (from 150.4 ± 24.4 to 424.4 ± 64.3 pmol · l−1 · min, P < 0.001). No significant correlation was found between GIP or GLP1 percent changes and modification of the sensitivity indexes independently of the route of glucose administration. CONCLUSIONS—Restoration of the first-phase insulin secretion and normalization of insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic subjects after malabsorptive bariatric surgery seem to be related to the reduction of the effect of some intestinal factor(s) resulting from intestinal bypass.
Mining IP to Domain Name Interactions to Detect DNS Flood Attacks on Recursive DNS Servers

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a critical infrastructure of any network, and, not surprisingly a common target of cybercrime. There are numerous works that analyse higher level DNS traffic to detect anomalies in the DNS or any other network service. By contrast, few efforts have been made to study and protect the recursive DNS level. In this paper, we introduce a novel abstraction of the recursive DNS traffic to detect a flooding attack, a kind of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). The crux of our abstraction lies on a simple observation: Recursive DNS queries, from IP addresses to domain names, form social groups; hence, a DDoS attack should result in drastic changes on DNS social structure. We have built an anomaly-based detection mechanism, which, given a time window of DNS usage, makes use of features that attempt to capture the DNS social structure, including a heuristic that estimates group composition. Our detection mechanism has been successfully validated (in a simulated and controlled setting) and with it the suitability of our abstraction to detect flooding attacks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that work is successful in using this abstraction to detect these kinds of attacks at the recursive level. Before concluding the paper, we motivate further research directions considering this new abstraction, so we have designed and tested two additional experiments which exhibit promising results to detect other types of anomalies in recursive DNS servers.
Identification of Escherichia coli Genes Associated with Urinary Tract Infections

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is the most common cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs). E. coli genes epidemiologically associated with UTIs are potentially valuable in developing strategies for treating and/or preventing such infections as well as differentiating uropathogenic E. coli from nonuropathogenic E. coli. To identify E. coli genes associated with UTIs in humans, we combined microarray-based and PCR-based analyses to investigate different E. coli source groups derived from feces of healthy humans and from patients with cystitis, pyelonephritis, or urosepsis. The cjrABC-senB gene cluster, sivH, sisA, sisB, eco274, and fbpB, were identified to be associated with UTIs. Of these, cjrABC-senB, sisA, sisB, and fbpB are known to be involved in urovirulence in the mouse model of ascending UTI. Our results provide evidence to support their roles as urovirulence factors in human UTIs. In addition, the newly identified UTI-associated genes were mainly found in members of phylogenetic groups B2 and/or D.
The management of high seas fisheries

The intergovernmental United Nations Conference on Highly Migratory and Straddling Stocks, initiated in 1993 and finished in 1995, addressed the conservation and management of fishery resources located both within the coastal state 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the adjacent high seas. These types of marine resources continue to be a source for international conflicts and debates. The original United Nations Law of the Sea of 1982 failed to address transboundary fisheries in a proper way. In particular, the agreement did not recognize the emergence of the complicated “straddling stock” issue. In the new United Nations Law of the Sea agreement of 1995, a consensus was reached that the management of the straddling and highly migratory fish stocks should be carried out through regional fisheries management organizations. We present a review of the straddling stock issues in the international agreement emerging from the negotiations within the United Nations. The review is contrasted with and clarified by game theoretic analyses. We also discuss one international fishery exemplifying the case, the Norwegian spring‐spawning herring. The main conclusion is that the local problems, faced during the stage of setting up regional fisheries organizations for the management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, are expected to be much more complicated and difficult to solve as compared to the cases of “shared fish stocks”. In the current paper, we present two reasons for this increased complexity. The first is the larger number of players as compared to the case of “shared fish stocks” and the second is the possibility of new members entering the regional fisheries organizations.
The influence of viewing eye on pseudoneglect magnitude

Various factors influence the degree of leftward error (pseudoneglect) that typifies the performance of normal individuals in line bisection tasks. This experiment reveals that the eye through which stimuli are viewed also exerts a modulating influence on spatial attention, as indexed by significant alterations in the magnitude of pseudoneglect. Using a forced-choice tachistoscopic line bisection protocol, 24 participants (12 male; 12 female) bisected horizontally oriented lines (22.6° w × 0.39° h) presented to central vision in 3 conditions: left uniocular viewing (L), right uniocular viewing (R), and binocular viewing (B). Perceived line midpoint, a measure of bisection accuracy, deviated significantly leftward of veridical ( p < .05) in all viewing conditions, confirming a tonic asymmetry of visuospatial attention in normal young observers. In addition, a significant influence of viewing condition was found (p < .05) where pseudoneglect was greatest in the L condition, followed by the B and R conditions, respectively. Analysis of the slopes of the psychometric functions revealed significantly greater bisection precision in the binocular versus uniocular viewing conditions (p < .05). The results are interpreted to suggest that phasic effects on spatial attention can be produced by uniocular viewing via asymmetric retinotectal projections. The results are consistent with activation–orientation theories of attentional asymmetry. (JINS, 2001, 7, 391–395.)
The CaMK4/CREB/IRS-2 Cascade Stimulates Proliferation and Inhibits Apoptosis of β-Cells

Progressive reduction in β-cell mass is responsible for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and alteration in insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS-2) abundance plays a critical role in this process. IRS-2 expression is stimulated by the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) and we recently demonstrated that Ca2+/calmodulin dependent kinase 4 (CaMK4) is upstream of CREB activation in β-cells. This study investigated whether CaMK4 is also a potential target to increase β-cell mass through CREB-mediated IRS-2 expression, by quantifying mouse MIN6 β-cell proliferation and apoptosis following IRS-2 knockdown, CaMKs inhibition and alterations in CaMK4 and CREB expression. Expression of constitutively active CaMK4 (ΔCaMK4) and CREB (CREBDIEDLM) significantly stimulated β-cell proliferation and survival. In contrast, expression of their corresponding dominant negative forms (ΔK75ECaMK4 and CREBM1) and silencing of IRS-2 increased apoptosis and reduced β-cell division. Moreover, CREBDIEDLM and CREBM1 expression completely abolished the effects of ΔK75ECaMK4 and of ΔCaMK4, respectively. Our results indicate that CaMK4 regulates β-cell proliferation and apoptosis in a CREB-dependent manner and that CaMK4-induced IRS-2 expression is important in these processes.
Random coding bound for E-capacity region of the broadcast channel with two confidential messages

The discrete memoryless broadcast channel with two independent confidential messages (BC-2CM) involves three sources, one encoder and two receivers. A common message is sent to both receivers and each private message is transmitted to the intended receiver, while keeping the other receiver as ignorant of it as possible. The level of ignorance is measured by the equivocation rate. We derived a random coding bound for E-capacity region of the BC-2CM. When error probability exponents are going to zero, this bound converges to the inner bound of the capacity region of the BC-2CM obtained by Xu, Cao and Chen.
Microvascular Dysfunction Is Associated With a Higher Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective—Recent data support the hypothesis that microvascular dysfunction may be a potential mechanism in the development of insulin resistance. We examined the association of microvascular dysfunction with incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and impaired glucose metabolism by reviewing the literature and conducting a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies on this topic. Methods and Results—We searched Medline and Embase for articles published up to October 2011. Prospective cohort studies that focused on microvascular measurements in participants free of T2DM at baseline were included. Pooled relative risks were calculated using random effects models. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. These studies focused on T2DM or impaired fasting glucose, not on impaired glucose tolerance. The pooled relative risks for incident T2DM (3846 cases) was 1.25 (95% confidence interval, 1.15; 1.36) per 1 SD greater microvascular dysfunction when all estimates of microvascular dysfunction were combined. In analyses of single estimates of microvascular dysfunction, the pooled relative risks for incident T2DM was 1.49 (1.36; 1.64) per 1 SD higher plasma soluble E-selectin levels; 1.21(1.11; 1.31) per 1 SD higher plasma soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 levels; 1.48 (1.03; 2.12) per 1 SD lower response to acetylcholine-mediated peripheral vascular reactivity; 1.18 (1.08; 1.29) per 1 SD lower retinal arteriole-to-venule ratio; and 1.43 (1.33; 1.54) per 1 logarithmically transformed unit higher albumin-to-creatinine ratio. In addition, the pooled relative risks for incident impaired fasting glucose (409 cases) was 1.15 (1.01–1.31) per 1 SD greater retinal venular diameters. Conclusion—These data indicate that various estimates of microvascular dysfunction were associated with incident T2DM and, possibly, impaired fasting glucose, suggesting a role for the microcirculation in the pathogenesis of T2DM.
Directed Cortical Information Flow during Human Object Recognition: Analyzing Induced EEG Gamma-Band Responses in Brain's Source Space

The increase of induced gamma-band responses (iGBRs; oscillations >30 Hz) elicited by familiar (meaningful) objects is well established in electroencephalogram (EEG) research. This frequency-specific change at distinct locations is thought to indicate the dynamic formation of local neuronal assemblies during the activation of cortical object representations. As analytically power increase is just a property of a single location, phase-synchrony was introduced to investigate the formation of large-scale networks between spatially distant brain sites. However, classical phase-synchrony reveals symmetric, pair-wise correlations and is not suited to uncover the directionality of interactions. Here, we investigated the neural mechanism of visual object processing by means of directional coupling analysis going beyond recording sites, but rather assessing the directionality of oscillatory interactions between brain areas directly. This study is the first to identify the directionality of oscillatory brain interactions in source space during human object recognition and suggests that familiar, but not unfamiliar, objects engage widespread reciprocal information flow. Directionality of cortical information-flow was calculated based upon an established Granger-Causality coupling-measure (partial-directed coherence; PDC) using autoregressive modeling. To enable comparison with previous coupling studies lacking directional information, phase-locking analysis was applied, using wavelet-based signal decompositions. Both, autoregressive modeling and wavelet analysis, revealed an augmentation of iGBRs during the presentation of familiar objects relative to unfamiliar controls, which was localized to inferior-temporal, superior-parietal and frontal brain areas by means of distributed source reconstruction. The multivariate analysis of PDC evaluated each possible direction of brain interaction and revealed widespread reciprocal information-transfer during familiar object processing. In contrast, unfamiliar objects entailed a sparse number of only unidirectional connections converging to parietal areas. Considering the directionality of brain interactions, the current results might indicate that successful activation of object representations is realized through reciprocal (feed-forward and feed-backward) information-transfer of oscillatory connections between distant, functionally specific brain areas.
Elevated serum lactoferrin and neopterin are associated with postoperative infectious complications in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury

Introduction Several studies have shown that lactoferrin (LF) and neopterin (NT) are correlated with infection. The aim of this study is to determine whether serum levels of LF and NT are associated with postoperative infectious complications in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury. Material and methods A total of 268 patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury who underwent spinal surgery were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of LF, NT, and C-reactive protein (CRP), in addition to white blood cell count (WBC) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), were measured preoperatively and 24 h postoperatively. Results In total, 22 of 268 patients (8.2%) developed postoperative infectious complications. The levels of serum LF, NT, and CRP were significantly higher in the infected patients than in the non-infected patients. No significant differences were observed in postoperative WBC count and ESR between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that LF (OR: 1.004 (1.002–1.007)), NT (OR: 1.137 (1.054–1.227)), and CRP (OR: 1.023 (1.002–1.044)) were significantly associated with the presence of postoperative infectious complications. The area under receiver operating characteristic curves for LF, NT, and CRP was 0.709, 0.779, and 0.629, respectively. Conclusions Elevated serum concentrations of LF and NT are associated with early infection after surgery. Compared to CRP, elevated levels of LF and NT are better indicators for predicting postoperative infectious complications in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury.
Soil salinity mapping utilizing sentinel-2 and neural networks

Soil salinity is the most important soil property that affects the agriculture productivity. Periodical monitoring of its status is considered a crucial factor in the selection of appropriate agricultural practices to attain a sustainable production. The availability of remote sensing data processed by a somewhat novel method such as artificial neural networks (ANN) offer a potential solution that could easily and affordably replace the in-site monitoring methods. The aim of this work is to use high spectral resolution Sentinel-2 (S2) data for soil salinity prediction utilizing neural networks. The study evaluated three approaches in processing the S2 data for inclusion in the artificial neural network for soil salinity prediction. These approaches included S2 spectral reflectance data, spectral indices and principal component analysis (PCA) of the S2 data. The results revealed that a combination of these approaches including the reflectance data of band 11(shortwave infrared band) of S2, the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) and the second PCA (dominated by the near infrared band) gave the best performance when used as input when designing the artificial neural networks to predict the soil salinity. The overall accuracy of this approach has a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.94 between the actual and predicted soil salinity.
Characteristics, Outcome, and Care of Stroke Associated With Atrial Fibrillation in Europe: Data From a Multicenter Multinational Hospital–Based Registry (The European Community Stroke Project)

Background and Purpose — The role of atrial fibrillation (AF) as a determinant of stroke outcome is not well established. Studies focusing on this topic relied on relatively small samples of patients, scarcely representative of the older age groups. We aimed at evaluating clinical characteristics, care, and outcome of stroke associated with AF in a large European sample. Methods — In a European Concerted Action involving 7 countries, 4462 patients hospitalized for first-in-a-lifetime stroke were evaluated for demographics, risk factors, clinical presentation, resource use, and 3-month survival, disability (Barthel Index), and handicap (Rankin scale). Results — AF was present in 803 patients (18.0%). AF patients, compared with those without AF, were older, were more frequently female, and more often had experienced a previous myocardial infarction; they were less often diabetics, alcohol consumers, and smokers (all P <0.001). At 3 months, 32.8% of the AF patients were dead compared with 19.9% of the non-AF patients (P <0.001). With control for baseline variables, AF increased by almost 50% the probability of remaining disabled (multivariate odds ratio 1.43, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.80) or handicapped (multivariate odds ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.02). Before stroke, only 8.4% of AF patients were on anticoagulants. The chance of being anticoagulated was reduced by 4% per year of increasing age. AF patients underwent CT scan and other diagnostic procedures less frequently and received less physiotherapy or occupational therapy. Conclusions — Stroke associated with AF has a poor prognosis in terms of death and function. Prevention and care of stroke with AF is a major challenge for European health systems.
Redshift Evolution of the Stellar Populations in Elliptical Galaxies

Velocity dispersions σ and Mg absorption line strengths Mgb have been measured for a sample of 16 ellipticals in three clusters at a redshift of 0.37. Like local cluster ellipticals, these objects show a correlation between Mgb and σ. However, at any given σ, the mean Mgb of the ellipticals at z = 0.37 is weaker than the mean Mgb of their local relatives in the Coma and Virgo clusters. The Mgb weakening is smallest for the most luminous ellipticals and larger for the fainter objects. This is unambiguous evidence for small but significant passive evolution of the stellar populations of elliptical galaxies with redshift. It requires that the bulk of the stars in cluster ellipticals has formed at z > 2. The most luminous objects may even have formed at z > 4. The Mgb-σ test is a very reliable estimator for the evolution of old stellar populations because it is virtually independent from the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and from the metallicities of the galaxies. Furthermore, the influence of selection effects is minimal. Consistent with the weakening of Mgb we find evidence for a B-band luminosity evolution of about 0.5 ± 0.1 mag at z = 0.37 from the Faber-Jackson relation. The combined information about the evolution of Mgb and luminosity allows us to constrain both the slope of the IMF in ellipticals and the cosmological deceleration parameter q0. Our present measurements are compatible with a standard Salpeter IMF and a q0 of 0.5 ± 0.5.
Comprehensive connectivity of the mouse main olfactory bulb: analysis and online digital atlas

We introduce the first open resource for mouse olfactory connectivity data produced as part of the Mouse Connectome Project (MCP) at UCLA. The MCP aims to assemble a whole-brain connectivity atlas for the C57Bl/6J mouse using a double coinjection tracing method. Each coinjection consists of one anterograde and one retrograde tracer, which affords the advantage of simultaneously identifying efferent and afferent pathways and directly identifying reciprocal connectivity of injection sites. The systematic application of double coinjections potentially reveals interaction stations between injections and allows for the study of connectivity at the network level. To facilitate use of the data, raw images are made publicly accessible through our online interactive visualization tool, the iConnectome, where users can view and annotate the high-resolution, multi-fluorescent connectivity data (www.MouseConnectome.org). Systematic double coinjections were made into different regions of the main olfactory bulb (MOB) and data from 18 MOB cases (~72 pathways; 36 efferent/36 afferent) currently are available to view in iConnectome within their corresponding atlas level and their own bright-field cytoarchitectural background. Additional MOB injections and injections of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), and other olfactory cortical areas gradually will be made available. Analysis of connections from different regions of the MOB revealed a novel, topographically arranged MOB projection roadmap, demonstrated disparate MOB connectivity with anterior versus posterior piriform cortical area (PIR), and exposed some novel aspects of well-established cortical olfactory projections.
A Study of the Effect on Trust and Attitude with Online Shopping

While on-line shopping is considered as a special type of e-service, the adoption rate of this service in Taiwan has been paid attention recently. The initial adoption of on-line shopping is the important driving force to further influence the use and continued use of this service. The model of Trust and technology acceptance model (TAM) in Gefen et al. [1] has been well studied in on-line shopping and showed that understanding both the Internet technology and trust issue is important in determining behavioral intention to use. The model of Trust in Wu and Chen [2] has been well discussed the consumer intention in on-lion tax. An extension of Trust and Attitude with TAM model would be in more comprehensive manner to understand behavioral intention to use online shopping. Furthermore, a large sample survey is used to empirically examine this framework. Keywords-trust; attitude; technology acceptance model (TAM)