Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
JLA Association of Plasma Homocysteine Level and Arterial Stiffness in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: Plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is considered to be a marker of endothelial dysfunction and a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Arterial stiffness measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is not only a marker of vascular damage but a significant predictor of CVD. Previous studies about the effect of high plasma Hcy levels on arterial stiffness have yielded inconsistent results. We therefore assessed the association between Hcy and baPWV in a relatively large number of subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods: We retrospectively assessed plasma Hcy concentration and arterial stiffness in 1,477 Korean type 2 diabetic patients. Participants were also evaluated for plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), duration of DM, microvascular complications, lipid profile, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Arterial stiffness was measured noninvasively by baPWV. Results: Correlation analysis indicated a significant positive association between serum Hcy levels and baPWV (r=0.245, p<0.001). In a multiple linear regression analysis, the association between serum Hcy levels and baPWV was independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (standardized β=3.8, p=0.01). Conclusion: The results support the hypothesis that plasma Hcy levels are associated with arterial stiffness in patients with type 2 DM. Prospective studies are warranted to determine whether lowering serum Hcy level could reduce arterial stiffness and cardiovascular morbidity in type 2 DM.
Long-term effects of a very-low-carbohydrate weight loss diet compared with an isocaloric low-fat diet after 12 mo 1 – 4

Background: Long-term weight loss and cardiometabolic effects of a very-low-carbohydrate, high-saturated-fat diet (LC) and a highcarbohydrate, low-fat diet (LF) have not been evaluated under isocaloric conditions. Objective: The objective was to compare an energy-controlled LC diet with an LF diet at 1 y. Design: Men and women (n = 118) with abdominal obesity and at least one additional metabolic syndrome risk factor were randomly assigned to either an energy-restricted (’6–7 MJ) LC diet (4%, 35%, and 61% of energy as carbohydrate, protein, and fat, respectively) or an isocaloric LF diet (46%, 24%, and 30% of energy as carbohydrate, protein, and fat, respectively) for 1 y. Weight, body composition, and cardiometabolic risk markers were assessed. Results: Sixty-nine participants (59%) completed the trial: 33 in the LC group and 36 in the LF group. Both groups lost similar amounts of weight (LC:214.56 1.7 kg; LF:211.56 1.2 kg; P = 0.14, time · diet) and body fat (LC: 211.3 6 1.5 kg; LF: 29.4 6 1.2 kg; P = 0.30). Blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, and C-reactive protein decreased independently of diet composition. Compared with the LF group, the LC group had greater decreases in triglycerides (20.366 0.15 mmol/L; 95% CI:20.67,20.05 mmol/L; P = 0.011), increases in HDL cholesterol (0.23 6 0.09 mmol/L; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.40 mmol/L; P = 0.018) and LDL cholesterol (0.6 6 0.2 mmol/L; 95% CI: 0.2, 1.0 mmol/L; P = 0.001), and a greater but nonsignificant increase in apolipoprotein B (0.08 6 0.04 g/L; 95% CI: 20.004, 0.171 g/L; P = 0.17). Conclusions: Under planned isoenergetic conditions, as expected, both dietary patterns resulted in similar weight loss and changes in body composition. The LC diet may offer clinical benefits to obese persons with insulin resistance. However, the increase in LDL cholesterol with the LC diet suggests that this measure should be monitored. This trial was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry at http://www.anzctr. org.au as ACTR 12606000203550. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90:23–32.
Attenuation of the pressor responses to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation with intravenous dexmedetomidine versus magnesium sulphate under bispectral index-controlled anaesthesia: A placebo-controlled prospective randomised trial

Background and Aims: Laryngoscopy and intubation cause sympathetic stimulation and arousal reactions. We evaluated the role of dexmedetomidine and magnesium sulphate on pressor responses to laryngoscopy and intubation as compared to placebo, when depth of anaesthesia was maintained at a constant bispectral index (BIS) range 40-50 (±5). Methods: One hundred and twenty patients were randomised to receive either dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg (Group DS), magnesium sulphate 30 mg/kg diluted in 100 ml saline (Group MS) or 100 ml normal saline (Group NS) 15 min before induction of anaesthesia in a double blind manner. After achieving BIS 40–50 (±5), laryngoscopy and intubation were performed. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were recorded pre-drug, after drug, at intubation, at intervals of 1 min till 5 min, then every 2 min till 10 min and every 10 min for 30 min. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test and one way analysis of variance Results: SBP, DBP and HR fell in the DS and MS groups. No significant changes in BP were seen in the NS group at induction and after intubation. HR rose in the NS group (P < 0.001) at induction from 86.35 ± 9.05 to 95.35 ± 11.60 at 2 min. Patients in DS and MS groups had significantly lower HR, SBP and DBP at laryngoscopy and intubation. Conclusion: At BIS levels 40-50 (±5) there was no pressor response to intubation in the NS Group. Dexmedetomidine and magnesium sulphate significantly reduced the heart rate and blood pressure from baseline.
Exploring the Relationship Between Immediacy Behaviors and Student Motivation in Engineering Classrooms: Immediacy as a Cause of Motivation

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMMEDIACY BEHAVIORS AND STUDENT MOTIVATION IN ENGINEERING CLASSROOMS: IMMEDIACY AS A CAUSE OF MOTIVATION ANDREA N. BARAHONA GUERRERO 2017 Instructor immediacy is an essential characteristic of effective instructors. Although instructional communication has done extensive research on the impact of immediacy behaviors on students, there is little available research observing immediacy behaviors as predictors of motivation on engineering students. As a result, this study examined the impact of engineering instructors’ use of immediacy behaviors on engineering students’ motivation. The results indicated that verbal immediacy predicted engineering student motivation. The thematic analysis revealed that when students perceived their instructors as helpful, students’ motivation to learn and ask more questions increased. The thematic analysis also observed that when instructors seemed unapproachable, students were less likely to engage with them. These findings present valuable insight for engineering educators on how their immediacy behaviors can both positively and negative affect student motivation and possible retention.
Draft 1 Curcumin Supplementation Ameliorated Vascular Dysfunction and Antioxidant Status in High Sucrose , High Fat Fed Rats

Complete List of Authors: Tsai, I-Jung ; Taipei Medical University, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences Chen, Chia-Wen; Taipei Medical University, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences Tsai, Shin-Yu ; Taipei Medical University, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences Wang, Pei-Yuan ; Taipei Medical University, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences Owaga, Eddy ; Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Institute of Food Bioresources Technology Hsieh, Rong-Hong; Taipei Medical University, School of Nutrition and Health Sciences
STUDYING TECHNOLOGICAL PRACTICES AT A LOCAL LEVEL: NEUTRON ACTIVATION AND PETROGRAPHIC ANALYSES OF EARLY CERAMIC PERIOD POTTERY IN CENTRAL CHILE*

We discuss neutron activation and petrographic analyses of domestic ceramics and some raw materials from five archaeological sites in the Valdivia de Paine locality, in Central Chile. During the time period studied, the area was occupied by small-scale horticultural groups with disperse and sedentary or semi-sedentary settlement patterns. The analyses indicate that diverse local raw material sources were used in pottery production, and shared by members of different co-residential units and between different cultural groups. The data indicate as many similarities as differences among the technological practices of pottery-producing groups who lived in spatial proximity. The results have implications for the understanding of pottery-producing communities at a local level, as well as small-scale groups in general.
The Effect of Immigration along the Distribution of Wages

This paper analyses the effect immigration has on wages of native workers. Unlike most previous work, we estimate wage effects along the distribution of wages. We derive a flexible empirical strategy that does not rely on pre-allocating immigrants to particular skill groups. In our empirical analysis, we demonstrate that immigrants downgrade considerably upon arrival. As for the effects on native wages, we find that immigration depresses wages below the 20th percentile of the wage distribution, but leads to slight wage increases in the upper part of the wage distribution. The overall wage effect of immigration is slightly positive. The positive wage effects we find are, although modest, too large to be explained by an immigration surplus. We suggest alternative explanations, based on the idea that immigrants are paid less than the value of what they contribute to production, generating therefore a surplus, and we assess the magnitude of these effects.
Disturbance from pond management obscures local and regional drivers of assemblages of primary producers

Summary Ponds have significant conservation value due to their potentially high contribution to local and regional diversity. However, most ponds are located in anthropogenically influenced areas, and their biodiversity is constantly threatened by human activities. Thus, knowledge of the effect of pond management on biodiversity is essential for designing effective conservation strategies. Here, we study the main drivers of diversity of three functional groups of primary producers (phytoplankton, filamentous green algae and submerged macrophytes) in 87 ponds distributed across a large region (c. 90000 km2) in Southern Spain. We hypothesised that spatial effects would increase with increasing propagule size. However, given the regional extent of the study, we anticipated that both spatial and environmental controls would be significant. We determined α-, β- and γ-components of biodiversity for each functional group and pond type (embankment ponds, excavated ponds and artificial ponds) and assessed the influence of environmental and spatial drivers on diversity with generalised additive models (GAMs). Redundancy analyses (RDAs) with variation partitioning were used to determine the relative contribution of environmental and spatial predictors of the community assembly. Spatial variables were calculated by applying distance-based Moran's eigenvector maps (db-MEM). Both α- and β-diversities of phytoplankton and filamentous green algae varied significantly with pond type. Generally, environmental predictors of diversity were more important than spatial variables. Assemblage structure was controlled by water chemistry and eutrophication, with a marked influence of pond type. Spatial variables included broad-scale variation for the three groups of primary producers, which were also strongly influenced by the management regime. Limited management activities, as occurs at embankment ponds, promoted the local richness of phytoplankton and contributed importantly to the regional diversity of macrophytes. Moreover, the relative contribution of environmental and spatial variables was similar between embankment ponds and natural ecosystems, that is, dispersal limitation increasing with propagule size. Excavated and artificial ponds also contributed importantly to regional diversity by enhancing phytoplankton and filamentous green algal β-diversity. However, spatial patterns in the latter pond type did not meet our expectations, most likely due to the intensive disturbance from pond management hampering the development of macrophytes.
OF IODINE DEFICIENCY AND ANAEMIA AMONG 2-10 YEAR- OLD GHANAIAN CHILDREN

Children are the most nutritionally vulnerable group of society as children are dependants and they are also at a critical stage of the growing process. They need adequate vitamin A, zinc, iron and iodine for their development and school performance. Most often iron deficiency causes anaemia with resultant fatigue and low work capacity. Studies comprehensively assessed dietary intakes of nutrients among Ghanaian children but there is not enough data available on the biochemical assessment of the micronutrient status of Ghanaian children. Therefore, the study provided the first primary data on the prevalence of vitamin A, zinc, iron, iodine deficiency and anaemia among underprivileged 2 – 10 years Ghanaian children in Okwenya village of the Manya-Krobo District. The study was a cross-sectional study carried out among 101 children. Fasting blood sample was collected from each child and used to determine vitamin A, serum zinc and hemoglobin concentration. Urine sample was collected from each of the participants early in the morning and that was used to determine the participant’s urinary iodine concentration. Dietary intake data were collected with the 24-hour recalls method on two non consecutive days. and The findings showed A is the need for a nutritional intervention programme to improve the iodine, anaemia, vitamin A and general nutritional status of the children of Okwenya village.
Association of Subtle Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction with Elevated Cardiac Troponin T in Asymptomatic Hemodialysis Patients with Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

Background: Increased cardiac troponin T (cTnT) concentrations are associated with a poor prognosis in end-stage renal disease (ESRO) patients. However, the impact of increased cTnT levels on left ventricular (LV) function is not well understood. Therefore, our study focused on LV function in asymptomatic hemodialysis patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and elevated cTnT levels.Methods: Asymptomatic ESRD patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis, with LVEF ≧ 50%, underwent echocardiographic examination and further testing to determine serum cTnT, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and albumin levels. Subjects were then stratified into one of two groups based on the cTnT level, with a cutoff value of 0.04ng/mL.Results: There were no significant differences in gender, age, LVEF, systolic myocardial velocity, and the prevalence of comorbidities (except diabetes mellitus) between these two groups. Patients in the high cTnT group (≧ 0.04ng/mL) presented with higher hsCRP levels than patients in the low cTnT group (1.50士0.35mg/dL vs. 0.59士0.62mg/dL, p = 0.02). Additionally, reduced global LV peak systolic longitudinal strain (GLS) developed in the high cTnT group compared with the low group (-17.1:1: 3.7% vs. -19.4:1: 3.5%, P = 0.004). The deteriorated GLS was an independent factor correlated with higher cTnT levels in asymptomatic hemodialysis patients with preserved LVEF (p=0.013, 95% CI = 0.71-0.96). Conclusion: Patients in the high cTnT group presented with higher levels of hsCRP and more reduced GLS than those in the low cTnT group, and reduced GLS was the independent factor of elevated cTnT level. Consequently, we concluded that those asymptomatic hemodialysis patients with elevated cTnT concentrations had LV systolic dysfunction.
Conjugate Flow and Heat Transfer of Turbine Cascades

Heat transfer design of HPT airfoils is a challenging work. HPT usually requires much cooling air to guarantee its life and durability, but that will affect thermal efficiency of turbine and fuel consumption of engine[1]. The amount of blade cooling air depends on the prediction accuracy of temperature field around turbine airfoil surface, which is related to the prediction accuracy of temperature field in laminar-turbulent transition region. The laminar-turbulent transition is very important in modern turbine design. On suction side of turbine airfoil, the flow is relaminarized under the significant negative pressure gradient. In succession, when the relaminarized flow meets enough large positive pressure gradient, laminar-turbulent transition appears. In transition region, the mechanisms of flow and heat transfer are complicated, so it is hard to simulate the region. Methods of conjugate flow and heat transfer analysis have been discussed extensively. In 1995, Bohn[2] simulated the heat transfer along Mark II[3] cascade using a two-dimensional (2D) conjugate method at the transonic condition (the exit isentropic Mach number is 1.04). In his simulation, the turbulence model used was Baldwin-Lomax model. The result was that the max difference between the predicted temperature along the cascade and the test data was not larger than 15K. The method was also used to simulate C3X[3] turbine cascade at 2D boundary conditions by Bohn[4], and a good agreement between the prediction results and the test data was gotten. Bohn also published a paper[5] in which Mark II turbine cascade with thermal barrier coatings was calculated in 2D cases. The ZrO2 coatings with a thickness of 0.125mm bonded a 0.06mm MCrA1Y layer were applied. There were two configurations of the coatings. The problems and the influence of coatings on the thermal efficiency were solved by the same solver and evaluated. On the basis, the 3D numerical investigation of conjugate flow and heat transfer about Mark II with thermal barrier coating was done[6]. The uncoated vane was also used to validate the 3D method. The influence of the reduced cooling fluid mass flow on the thermal stresses was discussed in detail. York[7] used 3D conjugate method to simulate C3X turbine cascade. Because no transition model was used, the simulated external HTC (EHTC) at the leading edge stagnation point and laminar region had low precision. Facchini[8] made another 3D conjugate heat transfer simulation of C3X, however there was an obvious difference of HTC between simulation results and experimental data. Sheng[9] researched 3D conjugate flow and heat transfer
Adoption of Telemedicine among Health Care Services: The Strategic Adoption

Telemedicine adoption has developed significantly over the last few decades; this study argued that organization role, government role, and collaborative platform improve telemedicine transfer and performance adoption thus enhancing organizational learning, patient satisfaction, and efficiency&effectiveness. Furthermore, this study will help in understanding the impact of strategic telemedicine adoption on organizational culture and socio- economics in Jordan as well. Questionnaire survey method was used to collect primary data from the health care organizations in Jordan that use telemedicine. A research model and its associate hypotheses are proposed and empirically tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand fitting conceptual model.
Fault Detection and Isolation of Multi-Agent Systems via Complex Laplacian

This paper studies the problem of fault detection and isolation (FDI) for multi-agent systems (MAS) via complex Laplacian subject to actuator faults. Using simple and linear interaction rules related to complex Laplacian, a planar formation of agents in the plane is achieved. The communication network is a directed, and yet connected graph with a fixed topology. The loss of symmetry in the digraph Laplacian matrix is also considered. Both the partial actuator effectiveness and the actuator bias faults are taken into account. For this purpose, a virtual agent whose dynamics structure is identical to that of the leader agent is introduced to determine the center of the planar formation. The FDI scheme requires no additional fault isolation model which is an essential part in the traditional FDI scheme. Finally, numerical example results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Review History: Received: 9 May 2016 Revised: 24 September 2016 Accepted: 3 October 2016 Available Online: 6 October 2016
Gas of elastic quantum strings in 2+1 dimensions : Finite temperatures

Motivated by the stripes of the high-${T}_{c}$ cuprates the problem was introduced recently of a system of free elastic quantum strings interacting via a hard-core condition embedded in $2+1$ dimensions. At zero temperature this system is always a solid due to ``quantum-entropic'' (or ``kinetic'') interactions which dominate at long wavelengths. The high-temperature limit of this problem corresponds with thermally meandering elastic lines in two dimensions and this system is well known to be dominated by literal entropic interactions. Here we analyze in detail what happens in between zero and high temperature. We identify a ``renormalized classical'' intermediate regime where the on-string fluctuations have become predominantly quantum mechanical. Surprisingly, the entropic interactions keep their high-temperature nature in this regime. At a low, but finite temperature the quantum-mechanical kinetic interactions take over rather suddenly. Despite their origin in long-wavelength quantum fluctuations these are not affected by thermal fluctuations when temperature is low enough.
Thin inorganic barrier coatings for packaging materials

Thin Al2O3 coatings were deposited at a low temperature of 80 °C for screening purposes on various uncoated papers, polymer-coated papers and boards and plain polymer films using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The work demonstrated that such ALD-grown Al2O3 coatings efficiently enhance the gas barrier performance of the studied porous and non-porous materials towards oxygen and water vapor. For a comparison of different thin film deposition methods, ALD, electron beam evaporation, magnetron sputtering and a sol-gel method were used to deposit thin Al2O3 coatings at 100 °C onto two selected commercial board grades coated with synthetic and biodegradable polymers. This was done in order to find feasible methods to produce gas barrier layers. With each technique the barrier performance was improved. However, among the techniques tested the ALD was found to be most suitable. Our results moreover revealed that biodegradable polylactic-acid-coated paperboard with a 25 nm thick layer of Al2O3 grown by the ALD on top of it showed promising barrier characteristics against water vapor and oxygen.
Trends Suicide Undetermined Deaths Among Youths and Young Adults in Latin America Comparison with the 10 Major Developed Countries : A Source of Hidden Suicides ?

In Latin American (LA) and the major developed countries’ (MDC) suicide and undetermined deaths are analyzed as methods of suicide and the number of undetermined deaths are similar, possibly containing hidden suicides. The goal was to test the likelihood that LA cultural attitudes lead to higher undetermined rates and more hidden suicides. We used 3-year WHO average mortality data to compare LA and MDC mortality by age and gender, and χ2 tests to examine any differences. In 13 LA countries younger-aged (15–34) men and women’s suicides were higher than all-age rates, and undetermined deaths exceeded the suicide rates. Nine LA countries had significantly more undetermined younger-aged male deaths than females. Sixteen of 18 LA countries had significantly higher undetermined death rates than the MDC. LA younger-aged malefs24 146s differential suicide: Undetermined rates indicated they may contain substantial numbers of hidden suicides. Inadvertently, cultural attitudes to suicide may hinder prevention.