Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of medical therapies on retinopathy progression in type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND We investigated whether intensive glycemic control, combination therapy for dyslipidemia, and intensive blood-pressure control would limit the progression of diabetic retinopathy in persons with type 2 diabetes. Previous data suggest that these systemic factors may be important in the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy. METHODS In a randomized trial, we enrolled 10,251 participants with type 2 diabetes who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease to receive either intensive or standard treatment for glycemia (target glycated hemoglobin level, <6.0% or 7.0 to 7.9%, respectively) and also for dyslipidemia (160 mg daily of fenofibrate plus simvastatin or placebo plus simvastatin) or for systolic blood-pressure control (target, <120 or <140 mm Hg). A subgroup of 2856 participants was evaluated for the effects of these interventions at 4 years on the progression of diabetic retinopathy by 3 or more steps on the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Severity Scale (as assessed from seven-field stereoscopic fundus photographs, with 17 possible steps and a higher number of steps indicating greater severity) or the development of diabetic retinopathy necessitating laser photocoagulation or vitrectomy. RESULTS At 4 years, the rates of progression of diabetic retinopathy were 7.3% with intensive glycemia treatment, versus 10.4% with standard therapy (adjusted odds ratio, 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.51 to 0.87; P=0.003); 6.5% with fenofibrate for intensive dyslipidemia therapy, versus 10.2% with placebo (adjusted odds ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.87; P=0.006); and 10.4% with intensive blood-pressure therapy, versus 8.8% with standard therapy (adjusted odds ratio, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.79; P=0.29). CONCLUSIONS Intensive glycemic control and intensive combination treatment of dyslipidemia, but not intensive blood-pressure control, reduced the rate of progression of diabetic retinopathy. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and others; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00000620 for the ACCORD study and NCT00542178 for the ACCORD Eye study.)
Spatial cognition and environmental descriptions

SICS The concept of spatial cognition or spatial ability captures several quite different cognitive functions. One way of cluster spatial tests, according to certain aspects of the spatial ability, will be presented. Difficulties in measuring or capturing different aspects of the spatial ability will also be discussed. Further this review describes issues concerning the acquisition and representation of spatial k n o w ledge. Finally there will a presentation of different environmental perspectives and spatial descriptions.
Research on Electronic Commerce KMS Based on Agent and Ontology

To extract value of knowledge, the multi-agent architecture of electronic commerce knowledge management system (KMS) based on agent and ontology has been introduced, which includes four major types of agent and one Function Knowledge Agency that deals with each stage of knowledge life cycle. In this architecture, Ontology is used to define a common vocabulary for agents to communicate with one another, and explicitly formalize the domain knowledge. To illustrate the architecture, a simulation work has been done and the results imply that the architecture provides a very efficient method to design electronic commerce KMS with the purposes of flexibility to apply tools, extensibility, and reusable ability of the software components. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the architecture of electronic commerce KMS, and the approach how Agent and Ontology support the electronic commerce KMS.
Responsible Property Investing

This paper was written for the principles for responsible investment project of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The UNEP FI is a global partnership between UNEP and the financial sector to understand the impacts of environmental and social considerations on financial performance. As recommended in this paper, the UNEP FI is organizing a Property Working Group (PWG) to further examine the issues discussed here. Information about the PWG can be obtained from the authors. Responsible property investing (RPI) means maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative social and environmental effects of property investing, consistent with fiduciary responsibilities. Our understanding of these issues has progressed a good deal over the decades due to work by the United Nations and others. Property markets are inextricably linked to urban problems and better management of both new and existing properties is needed to resolve them. The perception that RPI necessarily dilutes investment returns should be challenged. There is mounting evidence that RPI can be financially sound and socially beneficial. Leaders have emerged that are demonstrating its feasibility. Their activity should be considered as a basis for best practice guidelines. There is a need to develop metrics for comparing progress on RPI. We recommend: 1) establishing an RPI working group, 2) summarizing prior reports on urban issues, 3) identifying investment strategies that are profitable and responsive to the issues, 4) clarifying the financial effects of different responses and improving our means of measuring them, 5) identifying best practices, 6) adopting a rating system, 7) supporting RPI investment funds, and 8) recognizing leaders in the field.
The Structure of Ultrathin H-Passivated (112) Silicon Nanowires

We report on the atomic structure and energetics of H-passivated silicon nanowires that are oriented along the [112] crystallographic direction and have effective diameters of approximately 1 nm and below. Using a genetic algorithm structural optimization followed by ab initio density functional theory calculations, we find that at certain values of the hydrogen chemical potential the nanowires can take relatively stable (magic) structures with rectangular cross sections bounded by monohydride {110} and {111} facets with dihydride wire edges. Variations in the chemical potential of hydrogen alter the wire structures retrieved by the optimization, the most prominent example of this being that the {111} nanofacets acquire trihydride terminations instead of monohydride ones when the H chemical potential is raised. While the trihydride-passivated wires have already been experimentally observed, the magic-number monohydride-facetted wires found here may serve as useful predictions to be tested in the future.
Geriatric Conditions in Acutely Hospitalized Older Patients: Prevalence and One-Year Survival and Functional Decline

Background To study the prevalence of eighteen geriatric conditions in older patients at admission, their reporting rate in discharge summaries and the impact of these conditions on mortality and functional decline one year after admission. Method A prospective multicenter cohort study conducted between 2006 and 2008 in two tertiary university teaching hospitals and one regional teaching hospital in the Netherlands. Patients of 65 years and older, acutely admitted and hospitalized for at least 48 hours, were invited to participate. Eighteen geriatric conditions were assessed at hospital admission, and outcomes (mortality, functional decline) were assessed one year after admission. Results 639 patients were included, with a mean age of 78 years. IADL impairment (83%), polypharmacy (61%), mobility difficulty (59%), high levels of primary caregiver burden (53%), and malnutrition (52%) were most prevalent. Except for polypharmacy and cognitive impairment, the reporting rate of the geriatric conditions in discharge summaries was less than 50%. One year after admission, 35% had died and 33% suffered from functional decline. A high Charlson comorbidity index score, presence of malnutrition, high fall risk, presence of delirium and premorbid IADL impairment were associated with mortality and overall poor outcome (mortality or functional decline). Obesity lowered the risk for mortality. Conclusion Geriatric conditions were highly prevalent and associated with poor health outcomes after admission. Early recognition of these conditions in acutely hospitalized older patients and improving the handover to the general practitioner could lead to better health outcomes and reduce the burden of hospital admission for older patients.
Applying deep learning to classify pornographic images and videos

It is no secret that pornographic material is now a one-click-away from everyone, including children and minors. General social media networks are striving to isolate adult images and videos from normal ones. Intelligent image analysis methods can help to automatically detect and isolate questionable images in media. Unfortunately, these methods require vast experience to design the classifier including one or more of the popular computer vision feature descriptors. We propose to build a classifier based on one of the recently flourishing deep learning techniques. Convolutional neural networks contain many layers for both automatic features extraction and classification. The benefit is an easier system to build (no need for hand-crafting features and classifiers). Additionally, our experiments show that it is even more accurate than the state of the art methods on the most recent benchmark dataset.
Pregnane-X-Receptor Controls Hepatic Glucuronidation During Pregnancy and Neonatal Development in Humanized UGT1 Mice

In humanized UDP glucuronosyltransferase‐1 (hUGT1) mice that express the entire UGT1 locus, the maternal hepatic UGT1A genes are dramatically induced 12‐14 days after conception. Steroid induction of the UGT1A1 gene indicates that xenobiotic sensors, such as the pregnane X receptor (PXR) and constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), may underlie the induction process. In contrast, neonatal hUGT1 mice display severe hyperbilirubinemia, with limited expression of the UGT1A genes. This study identifies PXR as both a positive and negative regulator of the UGT1A1 gene. Pregnancy hormones, in particular the glucocorticoids, target PXR as a positive regulator of human glucuronidation. Employing reverse genetics, where PXR has been genetically deleted, hUGT1/Pxr−/− mice show limited induction of the liver UGT1A genes during pregnancy, whereas the exact opposite occurs in newborn mice. Neonatal hUGT1 mice show delayed expression of hepatic UGT1A1 and are severely hyperbilirubinemic. However, in hUGT1/Pxr−/− mice, hyperbilirubinemia is greatly reduced due to induction of hepatic UGT1A1. Thus, PXR serves to repress UGT1A1 gene expression during development. Transcriptional silencing of the UGT1A1 gene was relieved in neonatal hUGT1 hepatocytes through interruption of PXR by small interfering RNA. Conclusion: PXR is a key regulator of pregnancy induced glucuronidation capacity in addition to modulating the severity of neonatal jaundice. (HEPATOLOGY 2012)
The dynamics of rapid fracture: instabilities, nonlinearities and length scales

The failure of materials and interfaces is mediated by cracks, almost singular dissipative structures that propagate at velocities approaching the speed of sound. Crack initiation and subsequent propagation—the dynamic process of fracture—couples a wide range of time and length scales. Crack dynamics challenge our understanding of the fundamental physics processes that take place in the extreme conditions within the almost singular region where material failure occurs. Here, we first briefly review the classic approach to dynamic fracture, namely linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), and discuss its successes and limitations. We show how, on the one hand, recent experiments performed on straight cracks propagating in soft brittle materials have quantitatively confirmed the predictions of this theory to an unprecedented degree. On the other hand, these experiments show how LEFM breaks down as the singular region at the tip of a crack is approached. This breakdown naturally leads to a new theoretical framework coined ‘weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics’, where weak elastic nonlinearities are incorporated. The stronger singularity predicted by this theory gives rise to a new and intrinsic length scale, ℓnl. These predictions are verified in detail through direct measurements. We then theoretically and experimentally review how the emergence of ℓnl is linked to a new equation for crack motion, which predicts the existence of a high-speed oscillatory crack instability whose wavelength is determined by ℓnl. We conclude by delineating outstanding challenges in the field.
INDICATIONS ON THE HIGGS-BOSON MASS FROM THE LEP DATA

We update our previous analysis on the Higgs mass mh and the QCD coupling αs(=αs(Mz)) by using the LEP data after the 1995 Winter Conferences. For mt= 180 GeV we find evidence for a rather large value of the Higgs mass in the range 500–1000 GeV, in agreement with the indications from the W mass.
Declines in littoral species richness across both spatial and temporal nutrient gradients: a palaeolimnological study of two taxonomic groups

SUMMARY 1. Using a palaeolimnological approach in shallow lakes, we quantified the species richness responses of diatoms and Cladocera to phosphorus enrichment. We also examined differences in species richness responses between littoral and pelagic assemblages of our focal communities. To address both spatial and temporal relationships, our study includes an analysis of both surface sediments from 40 lakes and of a lake sediment record spanning c. 120 years. The objective of our study was to determine whether similar species richness patterns occurred across trophic levels, as well as along spatial and temporal gradients. 2. We found that both diatom and Cladocera species richness estimates significantly declined with increasing phosphorus across space and through time. When the assemblages were subdivided according to known habitat preferences, littoral biodiversity maintained a negative trend, whereas pelagic species richness tended to show no relationship with phosphorus. 3. Negative productivity–diversity patterns have been observed across almost all palaeolimnological studies that span large productivity gradients. This congruence in patterns is most likely due to the similarity in data collection methods and in focal communities studied. The contrasting responses between littoral and pelagic assemblages may be explained by the differences in physical habitat and the pool of taxa in each of these environments. Consistent with the literature, we found statistical support for the idea that littoral diversity declines could be explained by an interaction between macrophytes and nutrients along strong trophic gradients. The general lack of a diversity response in our pelagic assemblages could be attributable to the limited pool of subfossil taxa. The response of the pelagic diatom could also be related to their broad range of nutrient tolerances. 4. The observed negative response of species richness to phosphorus enrichment, particularly in the littoral assemblages, has implications for ecosystems functioning because communities with reduced biodiversity often are less resilient to anthropogenic change.
Rebuilding Social Organization in Low-income Neighborhoods: The Influence of Habitat for Humanity

Research has linked neighborhoods of concentrated poverty with high crime, low employment, poor health, and low educational achievement. Because of these linkages, federal housing policy over the past few decades has often tried to “deconcentrate” or disperse the poor from these neighborhoods into more affluent neighborhoods with the hope that better institutions and better neighbors will motivate these families to improve their lives. However research on large mobility programs such as Gautreaux and Moving to Opportunity (MTO), has found mostly mixed results and criticized the programs for having a small impact. Race and income have also proven to be significant barriers to low-income residents realizing the benefits of their new neighborhoods. These shortcomings have led to renewed interest in neighborhood revitalization efforts through federal policy. However, the mixed-income neighborhoods sought in many of these programs still assume that low-income residents utilize more affluent neighbors as role models to better their lives. This research instead examines the influence of residents who are similar in race and income to their neighbors, but motivated to better their lives. This investigation hypothesizes that Habitat for Humanity families are more motivated to better their lives than their neighbors because of Habitat’s selection criteria and because they have completed the process of becoming a Habitat homeowner. The theory also suggests that Habitat homeowners have a positive effect on their neighbors, and their neighborhood. This effect is measured through components of social organization. The dissertation takes advantage of the Making Connections survey sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as well as qualitative interviews,
Height pairings, exceptional zeros and Rubin's Formula: The multiplicative group

A BSTRACT . In this paper we prove a formula, much in the spirit of one due to Rubin, which expresses the leading coefﬁcients of various p -adic L -functions in the presence of an exceptional zero in terms of Neková ˇ r’s p -adic height pairings on his extended Selmer groups. In a particular case, the Rubin-style formula we prove recovers a p -adic Kronecker limit formula. In a disjoint case, we observe that our computations with Neková ˇ r’s heights agree with the Ferrero-Greenberg formula (more generally, Gross’ conjectural formula) for the leading coefﬁcient of the Kubota-Leopoldt p -adic L -function (resp., the Deligne-Ribet p -adic L -function) at s = 0 .
Evidence for the Intense Exchange of MazG in Marine Cyanophages by Horizontal Gene Transfer

Background S-PM2 is a phage capable of infecting strains of unicellular cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Synechococcus. S-PM2, like other myoviruses infecting marine cyanobacteria, encodes a number of bacterial-like genes. Amongst these genes is one encoding a MazG homologue that is hypothesized to be involved in the adaption of the infected host for production of progeny phage. Methodology/Principal Findings This study focuses on establishing the occurrence of mazG homologues in other cyanophages isolated from different oceanic locations. Degenerate PCR primers were designed using the mazG gene of S-PM2. The mazG gene was found to be widely distributed and highly conserved among Synechococcus myoviruses and podoviruses from diverse oceanic provinces. Conclusions/Significance This study provides evidence of a globally connected cyanophage gene pool, the cyanophage mazG gene having a small effective population size indicative of rapid lateral gene transfer despite being present in a substantial fraction of cyanophage. The Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus phage mazG genes do not cluster with the host mazG gene, suggesting that their primary hosts are not the source of the mazG gene.
Isolation and Characterization of a Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 16 β-Agarase from a Mangrove Soil Metagenomic Library

A mangrove soil metagenomic library was constructed and a β-agarase gene designated as AgaML was isolated by functional screening. The gene encoded for a 659-amino-acids polypeptide with an estimated molecular mass of 71.6 kDa. The deduced polypeptide sequences of AgaML showed the highest identity of 73% with the glycoside hydrolase family 16 β-agarase from Microbulbifer agarilyticus in the GenBank database. AgaML was cloned and highly expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The purified recombinant protein, AgaML, showed optimal activity at 50 °C and pH 7.0. The kinetic parameters of Km and Vmax values toward agarose were 4.6 mg·mL−1 and 967.5 μM·min−1·mg−1, respectively. AgaML hydrolyzed the β-1,4-glycosidic linkages of agar to generate neoagarotetraose (NA4) and neoagarohexaose (NA6) as the main products. These characteristics suggest that AgaML has potential application in cosmetic, pharmaceuticals and food industries.
Role of variable region gene expression and environmental selection in determining the antiphosphorylcholine B cell repertoire

To evaluate the role of environmental selective processes, as opposed to variable region gene expression, in the determination of B cell repertoire expression, we have assessed the phosphorylcholine (PC)- specific repertoire of precursor cells that remain in bone marrow cell populations after the removal of surface immunoglobulin (sIg)-bearing cells. Such cells are assumed to represent a stage in B cell maturation before the expression of sIg, and thus at a time when they have not as yet interfaced with environmental influences that operate through sIg receptors such as antigenic stimulation, tolerance, or antiidiotypic regulation. The repertoire as expressed in these cells, therefore, should reflect the readout of immunoglobulin variable region genes as they are expressed in progenitors to B cells. The results of these studies indicate that, as in mature primary B cell pools of BALB/c mice, the majority of PC-responsive sIg- bone marrow cells are of the T15 clonotype. Thus, environmental selective mechanisms would not appear to be required for the high frequency of B cells of the T15 idiotype in the primary B cell repertoire of BALB/c mice. Analysis of the sIg- bone marrow cells in (CBA/N X BALB/c)F1 male mice demonstrated that the deficit of PC-responsive mature B cells, which is a characteristic of this murine strain, must occur after receptor expression, since a normal frequency of PC-responsive and T15- expressing cells is present in their sIg- bone marrow population. Finally, these same mice were used to obtain bone marrow cell preparations from individual leg bones, so as to permit an analysis of the occurrence of T15+ and T15- clonotypes within individual bone marrow populations. The findings from these studies indicate that T15+ B cells occur as a high frequency event within bone marrow generative cell pools. Furthermore, bone marrow populations that are positive for PC-responsive precursor cells often display multiple copies of such precursor cells that are exclusively either T15+ or T15-. This finding indicates that clonal expansion of cells within the B cell lineage apparently occurs before immunoglobulin receptor acquisition.
Un estudio de las participaciones accionariales de los bancos en las empresas españolas

En este trabajo se estudia el impacto de las participaciones accionariales de los bancos en las empresas espanolas. Los resultados indican que los bancos ejercen sus derechos de control sobre las decisiones de la empresa: son inversores activos, cuyos intereses parecen estar alineados con los de otros propietarios. Este control se refleja en un mayor valor de mercado de los derechos de accionistas y acreedores sobre los flujos de caja de la empresa, en un menor coste de la financiacion para las empresas participadas, y en como las empresas solucionan los problemas de liquidez (se acentua el proceso desinversor y disminuye la probabilidad de que se acuerde con los acreedores una extension del plazo del exigible).