Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lipoprotein(a) and Retinopathy in IDDM and NIDDM Patients

Retinopathy is a serious complication of diabetes whose pathophysiological mechanisms remain largely undefined. The frequent occurrence of capillary occlusion would suggest involvement of the fibrinolytic system and has prompted consideration of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)l as a risk factor, given its homology with plasminogen (1). Several studies have addressed the question, with contradictory conclusions (2-5). In this study, we examined the relationship between Lp(a) (quantified by enzyme immunoassay [6]) and retinopathy in a large group of IDDM (n = 149; 78 women, 71 men) and NIDDM (n = 358; 181 women, 177 men) patients. Retinopathy was present in 88 (59.1%) IDDM and 138 (38.5%) NIDDM patients (total 226, 44.6%), as defined by ophthalmoscopy and color photography; fluorescein angiography was performed only when clinically necessary. Patients were classified according to the presence or absence of diabetic retinal lesions (macroaneurysms, retinal hemorrhages, soft or hard exudates, new vessels, fibrous proliferation) (7,8). Patients with proteinuria or renal failure were excluded. Table 1 shows the demographic and clinical characteristics in the combined IDDM and NIDDM population as a function of retinopathy. Significant differences were evident between the two populations with respect to duration of diabetes, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and glycemic control. Lp(a) concentrations tended to be higher (nonsignificant) in the population, while there was no significant difference in the percentage of patients with Lp(a) ^30 mg/dl in the two populations (23.8% vs. 24.3%). Forward stepwise logistic analysis with retinopathy as the dependent variable revealed that age (odds ratio [OR] 0.965, P < 0.0001), hypertension (OR 2.17, P < 0.0021), duration of diabetes (OR 1.16, P < 0.0001), triglycerides (OR 2.20, P < 0.0006), and HDL cholesterol (OR 0.98, P < 0.0012) were independently associated with the complication. Other parameters also included in the model but that did not attain significance were sex, BMI, cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and type of diabetes as well as Lp(a) Table 1— Demographic and clinical characteristics of IDDM and NIDDM patients with (present) and without (absent) retinopathy
Is a Skilled Nursing Facility's Rehospitalization Rate a Valid Quality Measure?

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the observed differences in the risk-adjusted rehospitalization rates across skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) reflect true differences or merely differences in patient severity. SETTINGS Elderly Medicare beneficiaries newly admitted to an SNF following hospitalization. STUDY DESIGN We used 2009-2012 Medicare data to calculate SNFs' risk-adjusted rehospitalization rate. We then estimated the effect of these rehospitalization rates on the rehospitalization of incident patients in 2013, using an instrumental variable (IV) method and controlling for patient's demographic and clinical characteristics and residential zip code fixed effects. We used the number of empty beds in a patient's proximate SNFs during hospital discharge to create the IV. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The risk-adjusted rehospitalization rate varies widely; about one-quarter of the SNFs have a rehospitalization rate lower than 17 percent, and for one-quarter, it is higher than 23 percent. All the IV models result in a robust finding that an increase in a SNF's rehospitalization rate of 1 percentage point over the period 2009-2012 leads to an increase in a patient's likelihood of rehospitalization by 0.8 percentage points in 2013. CONCLUSIONS Treatment in SNFs with historically low rehospitalization causally reduces a patient's likelihood of rehospitalization. Observed differences in rehospitalization rates reflect true differences and are not an artifact of selection.
COMPONENTES DE RENDIMENTO DA CULTURA DA SOJA EM FUNÇÃO DA APLICAÇÃO DE NITROGÊNIO NO FLORESCIMENTO

O Brasil vem se consolidando como um dos principais produtores mundiais de alimentos, sendo a soja, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, a principal cultura de graos cultivada no pais, e uma das grandes responsaveis pelo desempenho economico do agronegocio brasileiro. Seu cultivo se tornou viavel, em boa parte, devido a capacidade da especie de fixar o nitrogenio atmosferico para a sua nutricao, em associacao com bacterias fixadoras de nitrogenio. O incremento continuo da produtividade da soja, observado ao longo das duas ultimas decadas, e o reflexo do aprimoramento do sistema de producao de soja no Brasil, devido a avancos de ordem genetica, do controle de pragas e doencas e, sobretudo, ao uso eficiente de fertilizantes. O nitrogenio e o nutriente requerido em maior quantidade pela cultura da soja, pois os graos sao muito ricos em proteinas, apresentando um teor medio de 6,5% N. Atualmente muitos trabalhos tem sido desenvolvidos com relacao ao suprimento de nitrogenio, observando que a fixacao biologica isoladamente pode nao estar aportando a quantidade necessaria para que a planta expresse o seu potencial produtivo. Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o efeito de doses de nitrogenio aplicadas no florescimento da soja, e seus efeitos na altura das plantas, nos componentes do rendimento (numero de legumes por planta, numero de graos por legume e peso de mil graos) e na produtividade da cultura. O experimento foi conduzido na Fazenda Escada, localizada no municipio de Irineopolis SC, na safra 2012/2013, com a cultivar SYN 1163, sob sistema de plantio direto. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso com 5 tratamentos e 5 repeticoes, totalizando 25 parcelas de avaliacao. Quando a cultura da soja encontrava-se em pleno florescimento foi aplicado nitrogenio, tendo como fonte a ureia conforme os tratamentos a seguir: 1) controle - sem adubacao nitrogenada; 2) 22,5 kg ha-1 de N; 3) 45,0 kg ha-1 de N; 4) 67,5 kg ha-1 de N; 5) 90,0 kg ha-1 de N. Foi realizada analise de variância pelo teste F e, quando significativo, os dados foram submetidos a comparacao de medias pelo teste de Duncan, ao nivel de 5% de significância e regressao polinomial. Houve diferenca significativa entre os tratamentos somente para a variavel altura de plantas, sendo que a maior media (122,68cm) foi obtida com a dose de 45 kg ha-1 de N. Para os componentes de produtividade da cultura (numero de legumes por planta, numero de graos por legume e peso de mil sementes) nao houve diferenca significativa entre os tratamentos. Contudo foi observado aumento em todos os tratamentos com adubacao nitrogenada para o numero de legumes por planta em relacao ao controle. Ja no componente peso de 1000 sementes verificou-se aumento crescente no peso com as doses de 22,5, 45,0 e 67,5 kg ha-1 de N. Quanto a produtividade da soja, nao houve diferenca entre os tratamentos.
The connections between bipolar cells and photoreceptors in the retina of the domestic cat

An invaginating bipolar cell that has dendritic terminals forming the central elements of the cone triads is described for the retina of the cat. This type of bipolar contacts a minimum of four or five and a maximum of nine or ten cones. There is no evidence for a bipolar cell which contacts only one cone, i.e., a midget bipolar cell as in simians. There are flat bipolar cells that make superficial contacts with the bases of the cone pedicles and are postsynaptic to between 8 and 14 cones. One cone can be in contact with both an invaginating and a flat bipolar cell. There is evidence suggestive of two kinds of flat bipolars. A comparison is made between the bipolar connections in simians and the cat. The comparison is summarized in figures 29 and 30.
Strategy of Search and Refinement by GA in 2-D Photonic Crystals With Absolute PBG

The finite element method (FEM) and the genetic algorithm (GA) have been used to solve the inverse problem involving absolute photonic band gap (PBG) searching and optimization. Square and triangular lattices composed by Tellurium (anisotropic material) and air have been analyzed. In order to avoid the requirements of high computational efforts and resources needed in these kind of tasks, the PBGs have been computed only at key positions along the first region of Brillouin and we obtained absolute midgap ratio, considering PBGs between the TE 1-2 and TM 3-4 modes, of 18.00% and 23.49% for the square and triangular lattices, respectively.
What Does it Take to be a Star? - The Role of Performance and the Media for German Soccer Players

We test existing superstar theories for the German soccer league. We use various measures for individual players’ performance and media presence to analyze whether performance and popularity can explain salaries and superstars in soccer. Moreover, we argue that quantile regression technique should be applied to analyze superstar phenomena instead of OLS used hitherto.
A fuller picture: evaluating an art therapy programme in a multidisciplinary mental health service

Art therapy has a long history in mental healthcare, but requires an enhanced evidence base in order to better identify its precise role in contemporary services. This paper describes an evaluation of an art therapy programme in an acute adult psychiatry admission unit in Ireland. A mixed method research design was used. Quantitative data were collected through a survey of 35 staff members and 11 service users. Qualitative data included free text comments collected in the survey and individual feedback from service users. Both methods aimed to assess the role of art therapy as part of a multidisciplinary mental health service. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data. Staff demonstrated overwhelming support for art therapy as one element within multidisciplinary services available to patients in the acute psychiatry setting, Qualitative feedback associated art therapy with improvements in quality of life and individual support, and emphasised its role as a non-verbal intervention, especially useful for those who find talking therapy difficult. Creative self-expression is valued by staff and service users as part of the recovery process. Recommendations arising from the research include continuing the art therapy service, expanding it to include patients under rehabilitation, provision of information and education sessions to staff, and further research to identify other potential long-term effects. The low response of staff and small sample in this study, however, must be noted as limitations to these findings.
Coproducts of Biofuel Industries in Value-Added Biomaterials Uses: A Move Towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy

World population is expected to grow nearly 9 billion in 2040 and eventually increases the global energy demand by 30% compared to current conception [1]. The issues related to increasing trend of crude oil cost, depleting source of fossil fuels and emerging threat on greenhouse gas emissions are leading the global energy sector to undergo a fundamental transformation towards renewable energy sources [1-2]. As the result, a main focus is motivated on renewable energy technologies that are based on solar, wind and biofuels. In transportation point of view, biofuels receive extensive attention due to their versatility in storage and refilling. Both bioethanol and biodiesel come together as biofuel currently produced from renewable resources through two different pathways. In some countries like Brazil, biofuels are produced and marketed at competitive cost compared to petroleum-based fuels employing existing technology [3-4]. They also carry following advantages comparing to petro fuels; (i) create significantly less pollu‐ tants (SOx and NOx), which also mitigates CO2 emission, (ii) biodegradable nature lead to the less environmental leak risk and (iii) provides better lubricant effect, which enhances the engine life [5]. In addition, these emerging biofuel technologies will be expected to create more economic benefits to agriculture sectors and new rural job opportunities. Moreover, biofuels are attrac‐ tive options for future energy demand since they can be produced domestically by many countries while the respective retail and consumer infrastructure needs minimum modifica‐ tion; so does the existing engine and fueling technology [6].
Conditional modification of behavior in Drosophila by targeted expression of a temperature-sensitive shibire allele in defined neurons.

Behavior is a manifestation of temporally and spatially defined neuronal activities. To understand how behavior is controlled by the nervous system, it is important to identify the neuronal substrates responsible for these activities, and to elucidate how they are integrated into a functional circuit. I introduce a novel and general method to conditionally perturb anatomically defined neurons in intact Drosophila. In this method, a temperature-sensitive allele of shibire (shi(ts1)) is overexpressed in neuronal subsets using the GAL4/UAS system. Because the shi gene product is essential for synaptic vesicle recycling, and shi(ts1) is semidominant, a simple temperature shift should lead to fast and reversible effects on synaptic transmission of shi(ts1) expressing neurons. When shi(ts1) expression was directed to cholinergic neurons, adult flies showed a dramatic response to the restrictive temperature, becoming motionless within 2 min at 30 degrees C. This temperature-induced paralysis was reversible. After being shifted back to the permissive temperature, they readily regained their activity and started to walk in 1 min. When shi(ts1) was expressed in photoreceptor cells, adults and larvae exhibited temperature-dependent blindness. These observations show that the GAL4/UAS system can be used to express shi(ts1) in a specific subset of neurons to cause temperature-dependent changes in behavior. Because this method allows perturbation of the neuronal activities rapidly and reversibly in a spatially and temporally restricted manner, it will be useful to study the functional significance of particular neuronal subsets in the behavior of intact animals.
Continuously moving table MRI with SENSE: Application in peripheral contrast enhanced MR angiography

An integration of SENSitivity Encoding (SENSE) with continuously moving table (CMT) MRI for extended field‐of‐view (FOV) acquisitions is described. In this work, the approach in which receiver coils are attached to the object and move in synchrony with the scanner table is considered. Technical issues dealing with the implementation of SENSE‐CMT are addressed, including coil calibration, correction for non‐uniform magnetic gradients, and specific reconstruction steps. An explanation of combining SENSE with gradient non‐linearity correction is given, as the latter becomes necessary in CMT acquisitions where a large sampling FOV is used. It is hypothesized that SENSE can provide at least a 2‐fold improvement in lateral spatial resolution compared to non‐accelerated CMT acquisitions. The hypothesis is tested in phantoms, where the effectiveness of both SENSE and gradient non‐linearity correction to improve spatial resolution is shown. The SENSE‐CMT technique is further demonstrated in vivo with contrast‐enhanced MR angiography of the peripheral vasculature. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Transthyretin‐derived amyloid deposition on the gastric mucosa in domino recipients of familial amyloid polyneuropathy liver

Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) is a form of hereditary generalized amyloidosis. Liver tissue explanted from FAP patients has normal structure and function, except for the production of amyloidogenic variant transthyretin (TTR), and domino liver transplantation (DLT) using grafts from FAP patients was first performed in 1995. FAP symptoms usually develop in genetically determined individuals after the age of 20, but it is difficult to estimate when FAP symptoms will appear in domino recipients. Concerning this problem, histological findings showing amyloid deposition have recently been obtained in a few domino recipients of FAP livers. This study investigated the presence of de novo amyloid deposition in the gastroduodenal mucosa of domino recipients transplanted at our institution. Biopsy of gastroduodenal mucosa was carried out in 5 recipients of FAP livers and TTR‐derived amyloid deposits were detected in 2 patients, both of whom had undergone DLT 47 months previously. In FAP liver recipients, de novo systemic amyloid deposition may begin much sooner than previously supposed. Therefore, careful follow‐up of domino recipients of FAP livers is required. Liver Transpl, 2006. © 2006 AASLD.
Logical labeling of Arabic newspapers using artificial neural nets

Logical structure analysis is an important phase in the process of document image understanding. In this paper we propose a learning-based method to label logical components on Arabic newspaper documents. The labeling is driven by artificial neural nets. Each one is specialized in a document class. The first prototype of LUNET has been tested on a set of Arabic newspapers of three document classes. Some promising experimental results are reported.
Involved-field radiotherapy for advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma.

BACKGROUND The use of involved-field radiotherapy after chemotherapy for advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma is controversial. METHODS We randomly assigned patients with previously untreated stage III or IV Hodgkin's lymphoma who were in complete remission after hybrid chemotherapy with mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone, doxorubicin, bleomycin, and vinblastine (MOPP-ABV) to receive either no further treatment or involved-field radiotherapy. Radiotherapy consisted of 24 Gy to all initially involved nodal areas and 16 to 24 Gy to all initially involved extranodal sites. Patients in partial remission were treated with 30 Gy to nodal areas and 18 to 24 Gy to extranodal sites. RESULTS Of 739 patients, 421 had a complete remission; 161 of these patients were assigned to no further treatment, and 172 to involved-field radiotherapy. The median follow-up was 79 months. The five-year event-free survival rate was 84 percent in the group that did not receive radiotherapy and 79 percent in the group that received involved-field radiotherapy (P=0.35). The five-year overall survival rates were 91 and 85 percent, respectively (P=0.07). Among the 250 patients in partial remission after chemotherapy, the five-year event-free and overall survival rates were 79 and 87 percent, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Involved-field radiotherapy did not improve the outcome in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma who had a complete remission after MOPP-ABV chemotherapy. Radiotherapy may benefit patients with a partial response after chemotherapy.
Children's Motivation in Elementary Physical Education: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract The present study examined relationships among variables drawn from achievement goal theory and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice as well as mean level changes of these variables over time in elementary physical education. Participants (N = 207) completed questionnaires over a 2-year period: once while in the second and fourth grades and again when they were in the third and fifth grades. Results indicated that achievement goals, expectancy-related beliefs, and subjective task values were related to one another and were predictive of children's intention for future participation in physical education. Children's subjective task values of physical education decreased over time. Children in Cohort 1 (across second to third grades) generally had stronger motivation for learning in physical education than children in Cohort 2 (across fourth to fifth grades). Findings suggest the importance of integrating achievement goal theory and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice in understanding student motivation.
Development of a Universal Intimin Antiserum and PCR Primers

ABSTRACT Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) constitute a significant risk to human health worldwide. A hallmark of both pathogens is their ability to produce characteristic attaching-and-effacing (A/E) lesions in intestinal epithelial cells. Genes encoding A/E lesion formation map to a chromosomal pathogenicity island termed the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE). Intimin, an LEE-encoded bacterial adhesion molecule, mediates the intimate bacterium-host cell interaction characteristic of A/E lesions. On the basis of characterization of the C-terminal 280-amino-acid cell binding domain of intimin (Int280661–939), four distinct Int280 types (types α, β, γ, and δ) have been identified. Importantly, Int280α and Int280β antisera specifically recognized their respective intimin types. Using a conserved region of the intimin molecule (Int388–667) and primers synthesized to generate the recombinant Int388–667, we have now generated universal intimin antiserum and PCR primers that are reactive with the different intimin types expressed by both human and animal A/E lesion-forming strains. Use of immunogold electron microscopy to visualize intimin on the surfaces of EPEC and EHEC strains revealed, in general, a uniform distribution on the bacterial cell surface. However, a filamentous staining pattern was observed with a few strains expressing intimin γ. Cloning of the intimin eae gene from one such strain (strain ICC57) into strain CVD206, an EPEC strain which harbors a null deletion in eae, produced a uniform intimin staining pattern indicating that, if the filamentous staining pattern defines a filamentous form of intimin γ, it is dependent upon the genetic background of the strain and is not a feature of the intimin molecule.
Institut für theoretische Physik b baryon masses from lattice QCD: computation of propagators and correlation functions

I compute correlation functions corresponding to the Λb and the Ωb baryon with Wilson twisted mass lattice QCD with 2 flavors of sea quarks. To that end I will derive an expression for the correlation function that can be evaluated numerically on a computer. In contrast to a recent work [1, 2], where stochastic timeslice propagators have been used, I will use the point source method to generate the light quark propagators. I will discuss the results of my computation and will compare them to the results of [1, 2] Zusammenfassung Ich berechne die Korrelationsfunktionen, die den Baryonen Λb und Ωb entsprechen, mithilfe der ”twisted Mass lattice QCD”mit 2 flavors von See-Quarks. Dazu leite ich einen Ausdruck für die Korrelationsfunktion her, der mit einem Computer numerisch ausgewertet werden kann. Im Gegensatz zu der früheren Arbeit [1, 2], in der stochastische ”timeslicePropagatoren benutzt wurden, benutze ich die ”point source”Methode zur Erzeugung der Propagatoren der leichten Quarks. Anschliessend werde ich meine Ergebnisse vorstellen und sie mit den Ergebnissen aus [1, 2] vergleichen
Turning Modes of Production Inside Out

Marxist theory has by now largely abandoned the (seriously flawed) notion of the ‘mode of production’, but doing so has only encouraged a trend to abandon much of what was radical about it and naturalize capitalist categories. This article argues a better conceived notion of a mode of production - one that recognizes the primacy of human production, and hence a more sophisticated notion of materialism - might still have something to show us: notably, that capitalism, or at least industrial capitalism, has far more in common with, and is historically more closely linked with, chattel slavery than most of us had ever imagined.