Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification and Characterization of the Role of the Circulating Metabolite 3-Carboxy-4-Methyl-5-Propyl-2-Furanpropanoic Acid (CMPF) in Diabetes

Both gestational diabetes (GDM) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are caused by a failure of the pancreatic beta cell to compensate for increased insulin demand. The underlying cause of this failure, particularly the rapid transition from prediabetes to diabetes, and between GDM and T2D is largely unknown. To identify circulating factors that may play a causal role in beta cell dysfunction we performed global metabolomics profiling on the plasma of GDM and T2D patients compared to normal glucose tolerant controls. We identified the furan fatty acid metabolite 3-carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropanoic acid (CMPF) as being highly elevated in diabetic plasma. In vivo and in vitro assays demonstrated that CMPF induces glucose intolerance by impairing glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS), suggesting CMPF may play a causal role in diabetes. Analysis of human patients showed that rapid elevation in CMPF is associated with a significantly increased risk of diabetes development, consistent with elevated CMPF being the “tipping point” in the progression from prediabetes to overt diabetes. The mechanism underlying this dysfunction involves increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in altered gene expression, inhibition of beta cell transcription factor activity, as well as uncoupling of glucose metabolism to ATP production, thus reducing insulin biosynthesis and
Towards a comprehensive understanding of patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator : A biopsychosocial approach

Background: Comorbidity burden has been linked to survival in patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), but no study has examined the influence on psychological wellbeing and health status. We examined the relationship between comorbidity burden and anxiety, depression, and health status in patients with an ICD during the first 12 months post implantation using a prospective study design. Methods: Consecutively implanted ICD patients (N=401; 78% men) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36) at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months post implantation. Data were analyzed using general linear mixed modeling repeated measures multivariable analysis of variance. Results: The mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score was 3.5 (±2.4). In adjusted analyses, comorbidity burden was significantly associated with depression (p=.003) and the physical health status domains of the SF-36 (physical functioning: p<.001; role limitations physical: p=.023; bodily pain: p=.004; and general health: p=.025) but not with anxiety (p=.62) and the mental health status domains of the SF-36 (all p>.05). Chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cerebrovascular disease and renal failure were the comorbidities with the most impact on depression and physical health status. Conclusions: Comorbidity burden was a significant predictor of poorer psychological well-being and physical health status in ICD patients the first 12 months post implantation. In the care and management of ICD patients, it is important to recognize the impact of comorbidity burden on patients’ mood and health status, and that adjunctive intervention may be warranted to enhance well-being. Comorbidity burden, emotional distress and health status | 39
Effect of Thiamine Repletion on Cardiac Fibrosis and Protein o-Glycosylation in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

Once diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, the risk of diseases, such as nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy and heart disease also increases. The complication of diabetes accompanying myocardial disorder is known as diabetic cardiomyopathy, which is characterized by ventricular dilation that is usually asymptomatic as diabetes progresses. Myocardial fibrosis is closely related to diastolic dysfunction. Thiamine (vitamin B1), an essential micronutrient, has been reported to attenuate diabetic complications and all diabetics may be lacking in thiamine. Thiamine is a coenzyme utilized at multiple steps of glucose metabolism. We believe that thiamine repletion under hyperglycemia might activate glucose oxidation and reduce the overflow of glucose to the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway of glucose metabolism with concomitant reduction of diabetic lesions. The aim of this article is to highlight the role of thiamine, an important factor that combats diabetic complications, especially diabetic cardiomyopathy and also elucidate its impact on O-glycosylated protein in diabetes. Finally, we discuss the ability of thiamine repletion to prevent metabolic syndrome and obesity, which are considered prediabetic states, as well as prediabetic cardiomyopathy.
Knowledge and Attitude of Physicians towards Human ImmunodeficiencyVirus Infection in a Tertiary Care Center

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus infection is a serious health issue. In 2014, around 36.9 million people were living with the human immunodeficiency virus worldwide. Saudis perceive AIDS as a moral disease. The gap between the proper attitude and knowledge of physicians and dentists about AIDS has adversely influenced the quality of HIV-related health care. Our target for this study is to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of physicians and dentists toward the human immunodeficiency virus infection in our society. Method: A cross-sectional study was designed to collect data using a self-administered, structured questionnaire from physicians and dentists. It was distributed among them on specific days and times in a tertiary care center located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results: The study included a total number of 201 physicians and dentists, of which 189 were physicians and 19 were dentists. Most of them (69%) are Saudis. Around 99% of the participants know that AIDS is viral in etiology. Around 127 (63%) of them know the estimated chance of transmitting HIV from a needle stick injury correctly. Also, all physicians and dentists believe that confidentiality is important for patients with AIDS. Approximately 36 (18%) think that AIDS is a curable disease. Conclusion: There is an acceptable level of information and knowledge about HIV infection among our physicians and dentists. However, regular educational assistance by specialists would be beneficial to improve the current perception. This result can give us some knowledge for further studies in order to advance HIV-related awareness among healthcare workers and the community.
Satellite-based sea ice thickness changes in the Laptev Sea from 2002 to 2017: comparison to mooring observations

Abstract. The gridded sea ice thickness (SIT) climate data record (CDR) produced by the European Space Agency (ESA) Sea Ice Climate Change Initiative Phase 2 (CCI-2) is the longest available, Arctic-wide SIT record covering the period from 2002 to 2017. SIT data are based on radar altimetry measurements of sea ice freeboard from the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) and CryoSat-2 (CS2). The CCI-2 SIT has previously been validated with in situ observations from drilling, airborne remote sensing, electromagnetic (EM) measurements and upward-looking sonars (ULSs) from multiple ice-covered regions of the Arctic. Here we present the Laptev Sea CCI-2 SIT record from 2002 to 2017 and use newly acquired ULS and upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) sea ice draft (VAL) data for validation of the gridded CCI-2 and additional satellite SIT products. The ULS and ADCP time series provide the first long-term satellite SIT validation data set from this important source region of sea ice in the Transpolar Drift. The comparison of VAL sea ice draft data with gridded monthly mean and orbit trajectory CCI-2 data, as well as merged CryoSat-2–SMOS (CS2SMOS) sea ice draft, shows that the agreement between the satellite and VAL draft data strongly depends on the thickness of the sampled ice. Rather than providing mean sea ice draft, the considered satellite products provide modal sea ice draft in the Laptev Sea. Ice drafts thinner than 0.7 m are overestimated, while drafts thicker than approximately 1.3 m are increasingly underestimated by all satellite products investigated for this study. The tendency of the satellite SIT products to better agree with modal sea ice draft and underestimate thicker ice needs to be considered for all past and future investigations into SIT changes in this important region. The performance of the CCI-2 SIT CDR is considered stable over time; however, observed trends in gridded CCI-2 SIT are strongly influenced by the uncertainties of ENVISAT and CS2 and the comparably short investigation period.
Particle swarm optimisation in nonlinear model predictive control; comprehensive simulation study for two selected problems

Direct model predictive control applications for nonlinear systems can result in non-convex minimisation problems, which is additionally complicated if systems are non-minimum phase. In this paper, the Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) is applied for these global minimisation problems and tested on two selected nonlinear systems. Obtained results show that, in comparison to the sequential quadratic programming method, PSO is less vulnerable to local minima, and, with appropriate parameters, provides superior quality in nonlinear predictive control. The main results concerning PSO application show that the higher number of particles, comparing to the number of iterations, provides improved accuracy with limited computational burden; this way up to reduction of a proposed quality index is obtained preserving unchanged time of calculations. The performance is also boosted when after several iterations of the algorithm greater emphasis is put on the local search, which is achieved by appropriate learning factors and inertia weight.
Multifaceted analysis of training and testing convolutional neural networks for protein secondary structure prediction

Protein secondary structure prediction remains a vital topic with improving accuracy and broad applications. By using deep learning algorithms, prediction methods not relying on structure templates were recently reported to reach as high as 87% accuracy on 3 labels (helix, sheet or coil). Due to lack of a widely accepted standard in secondary structure predictor development and evaluation, a fair comparison of predictors is challenging. A detailed examination of factors that contribute to higher accuracy is also lacking. In this paper, we present: (1) a new test set, Test2018, consisting of proteins from structures released in 2018 with less than 25% similar to any protein published before 2018; (2) a 4-layer convolutional neural network, SecNet, with an input window of ±14 amino acids which was trained on proteins less than 25% identical to proteins in Test2018 and the commonly used CB513 test set; (3) a detailed ablation study where we reverse one algorithmic choice at a time in SecNet and evaluate the effect on the prediction accuracy; (4) new 4- and 5-label prediction alphabets that may be more practical for tertiary structure prediction methods. The 3-label accuracy of the leading predictors on both Test2018 and CB513 is 81-82%, while SecNet’s accuracy is 84% for both sets. The ablation study of different factors (evolutionary information, neural network architecture, and training hyper-parameters) suggests the best accuracy results are achieved with good choices for each of them while the neural network architecture is not as critical as long as it is not too simple. Protocols for generating and using unbiased test, validation, and training sets are provided. Our data sets, including input features and assigned labels, and SecNet software including third-party dependencies and databases, are downloadable from dunbrack.fccc. edu/ss and github.com/sh-maxim/ss.
User Mobile Payment Behavior Using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): Study of "Dana" E-Wallet Users

This study aims to determine the effect perceived usefulness on Mobile Payment and perceived ease of use. This research uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire data collection tool. Population of this study is the graduate students of the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia with a total sample of 100 students, a quota sampling method applied. Hypotheses of “DANA” application analyzed by using multiple regression analysis. The findings in this study indicate that perceived easefulness and perceived ease of use had a positive and significant effect on mobile payment.
Understanding Whole-Plant Nonstructural Carbohydrate Storage in a Changing World

Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) play a critical role in plant physiology and metabolism. They serve as building blocks for growth, fuel for respiration, and solutes for cellular regulation, but they can also be stored in the form of sugars and starch, with allocation timescales spanning minutes to decades. When stored, this reserve acts as a “food pantry” that enables sessile, long-lived plants to survive during unfavorable environmental conditions when their ability to make new NSCs is impaired. While there is growing evidence linking NSCs with stress tolerance and survival, critical questions about the size of the carbohydrate “food pantry” and how quickly it is used up and replenished remain unresolved. This knowledge gap hinders our ability to predict plant resilience to biotic and abiotic stress in a changing world, which has broader implications for understanding both short-term and long-term C storage and cycling at the whole-plant and ecosystem levels. In Chapter 1, I compared carbohydrate storage in temperate species at Harvard Forest (Petersham, MA) to determine the size and seasonal dynamics of whole-tree NSC reserves over the course of a year. These field-based NSC data were then scaled up to the forest ecosystem level and compared to estimates from commonly used ecosystem and land surface models. In Chapter 2, I built upon this work by characterizing the radial patterns in the concentration and age of NSCs within organs to gain insight into the availability of NSC reserves. In Chapter 3, I combined a long-term warming experiment with C-CO2 pulse labeling and compound-specific isotope analysis to trace sugars throughout whole-trees in the field (Richmond,
Life-Cycle Portfolio Choice with Imperfect Predictors

We study quantitatively how uncertainty in expected stock return predictability affects life-cycle portfolio choice and wealth accumulation in the presence of undiversifiable labor income risk. Households filter information about future expected returns from observed predictors and realized stock returns. Therefore, optimal portfolio choice does not only depend on financial wealth and age, as in more traditional life-cycle models. Counterfactuals demonstrate the magnitude of portfolio demand changes that depend on perceptions about underlying expected returns. On average, life-cycle asset allocation becomes more conservative than models with either i.i. d. stock returns, or clearer signals about expected stock returns.
Indicador global de adhesión a las mejores prácticas de gobierno corporativo: sociedades anónimas bursátiles mexicanas

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="177"><p class="xl35">Propósito:</p><p class="xl35"> </p></td><td valign="top" width="426"><p class="xl35">Este artículo ofrece indicadores de adhesión a las prácticas de Gobierno Corporativo (GC) en México que permiten monitorear el cumplimiento de ordenamientos comunes de las Sociedades Anónimas Bursátiles (SAB) mexicanas. </p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="177"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Diseño/Metodología/Enfoque:</p></td><td valign="top" width="426"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Empleamos Análisis de Componentes Principales y Análisis Factorial Exploratorio para obtener indicadores de GC. La muestra proviene de las respuestas provistas por las SAB al cuestionario de adhesión al Código de Mejores Prácticas Corporativas en el periodo 2010-2016. </p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="177"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Hallazgos:</p></td><td valign="top" width="426"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Se extraen trece factores compuestos, no correlacionados entre sí, que miden la calidad y grado de adhesión de las empresas y los sectores a las mejores prácticas de GC Estos factores muestran la posición relativa de cada empresa, así como su dinámica temporal. </p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="177"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Implicaciones prácticas:</p></td><td valign="top" width="426"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Los indicadores propuestos permiten al analista determinar el grado de cumplimiento de GC en distintas dimensiones: administración estratégica, administración de riesgos, auditorías, operaciones con partes relacionadas, consejo de administración, entre otras prácticas y funciones societarias. </p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="177"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">Originalidad:</p></td><td valign="top" width="426"><p class="xl35"> </p><p class="xl35">No existen en la literatura o en la práctica de GC en México, indicadores de desempeño y cumplimiento a las prácticas de GC empleadas de manera sistemática para comparar el desempeño relativo y temporal de las empresas y los sectores. El Indicador Global de Adhesión a las mejores Prácticas de Gobierno Corporativo (ADHECORP) y los trece indicadores compuestos propuestos en este estudio cubren esta brecha práctica y permiten potenciar la investigación sobre diversos temas de GC en México. </p></td></tr></tbody></table>
Cross-Cultural Chronotypes: Educating Medical Students in America, Malaysia and the UAE

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: Ample data demonstrates that sleep deprivation leads to impaired functioning including cognitive performance, memory and fine motor skills. Medical students represent a professional sector in which optimizing cognitive performance and functioning is critical from a personal, public health and safety perspective. Aims: To characterize chronotypes of an international cohort of medical students and determine if chronotype is affected by demographics or latitude. Samples: 328 students from medical schools in the United States (US), Malaysia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) were assessed for differences in chronotype and sleep habits. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study from medical schools in the US, Malaysia and UAE between 2013 and 2015. Results: There was a significant difference in mean waking times for Malaysian students who reported awakening earlier than US or UAE students. Malaysian students were most likely to feel their best earlier in the day and consider themselves a “morning type. ” UAE students were more likely to do “hard physical work” later in the day, followed by US and Malaysian. On average, US students were less likely to shift their bedtime later if they had no commitments the next day. Overall, mean chronotype score was “neither” type for all three groups however the Malaysian group showed a significant preference for morning hours in some individual questions. Conclusion: Medical student sleep patterns vary internationally but chronotype may not. Improving sleep education globally, with awareness of the effects of chronotype, could ultimately result in improved sleep awareness, potentially influencing physician wellbeing, patient care and safety.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT GREEN ZONE UTILIZATION IN HOSPITAL

ABSTRACT Introduction: In hospital, emergency departments are highly utilized by patients. Overcrowding, congestion and long waiting time were among the issues highlighted resulting from it. In Selangor, there has been a steady increase in utilization of emergency department of government hospitals over the past five (5) years. Utilization of green zone was the highest in these hospitals. Being a department that provides a comprehensive emergency service and provides easy access for the community, issues of appropriateness utilization arise. This study aims to determine the level of appropriateness of green zone utilization by patients attending Emergency Department in Serdang Hospital and factors influencing its utilization. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Emergency Department of Serdang Hospital. Sample size of green zone adult patients were obtained by systematic random sampling. Emergency Medicine and Trauma Services Policy Malaysia 2012 were used to classify patients to appropriate and inappropriate utilization of green zone. Pre-tested self-administered questionnaire were used to interview patients. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression used to analyse the data collected. Data analysis conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 and p value significant at <0.05. Result: There were 793 (90.7%) patients in this study. It was found that level of appropriateness utilization in green zone emergency department was 83.6% appropriate and 16.4% was inappropriate. Median age of patients were 29 years old (IQR ± 25 th , 75 th ; 23, 40). Majority were Malays (74%). The results of chi-square test indicated that there were significant association between marital status ( p =0.032), patients attending emergency department because treatment cost is cheap ( p =0.025), emergency department operates 24 hours ( p =0.045) and time of patient presentation to emergency department ( p =0.001). From the study, the multivariate results revealed that the odds of married patients (AOR=1.481, 95% CI: 1.008, 2.174) to utilize the emergency department were higher than not married patients, the odds of patients utilize emergency department not because of the cheap treatment (AOR=1.614, 95% CI: 1.073, 2.469) was almost two times more and lastly the odds of utilization after office hours were two times more than during office hours (AOR=2.117, 95% CI: 1.388, 3.227). Conclusion: The study revealed majority of patients utilized green zone appropriately. Married patient, patient attend emergency department not because treatment cost is cheap and patient attending after office hour were significantly associated with appropriateness utilization of emergency department. Further study needed to determine the cause and effect relationship. Keywords: Emergency department, utilization, appropriateness, green zone.
Gradient stability of high-order BDF methods and some applications

It is well-known that the backward differentiation formulae (BDF) of order 1, 2 and 3 are gradient stable. This means that when such a method is used for the time discretization of a gradient flow, the associated discrete dynamical system exhibit properties similar to the continuous case, such as the existence of a Lyapunov functional. By means of a Lojasiewicz–Simon inequality, we prove convergence to equilibrium for the 3-step BDF scheme applied to the Allen–Cahn equation with an analytic nonlinearity. By introducing a notion of quadratic-stability, we also show that the BDF methods of order 4 and 5 are gradient stable, and that the k-step BDF schemes are not gradient stable for . Some numerical simulations illustrate the theoretical results.