Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Total testosterone levels are correlated to metabolic syndrome components

Abstract Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a constellation of interrelated risk factors of metabolic origin. Some studies suggest a possible link between low total testosterone (TT) levels and the presence of MetS. Aim: To analyze the strength and independence of associations between TT and MetS components in non-diabetic men. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 143 non-diabetic men older than 40 were analyzed. Main outcomes measure: Blood samples were collected to evaluate metabolic profile and TT levels. MetS was defined as the presence of three or more of the following characteristics: fasting blood glucose levels ≥ 100 mg/dL, triglyceride ≥ 150 mg/dL, HDL-c < 40 mg/dL, hypertension or blood pressure ≥ 130/85 mmHg, and waist girth > 102 cm. Results: Mean age of the study population was 61.5 ± 8.61 years old. MetS was present in 47.9% of the individuals. Thirty-four men had low TT and MetS was observed in 23 (70%) against 50 (46%) in those with normal TT (≥ 300 ng/dL) (OR 4.94, p < 0.01), adjusted to confounder’s factors. In multiple linear regression analysis, only waist circumference (Beta: −0.395; p = 0.03) and HDL-c (Beta: 0.19; p = 0.04) remained significantly correlated with TT levels. Conclusions: Low TT levels were associated with MetS diagnosis. Abdominal obesity was the MetS component independently correlated to low TT levels.
Bis[4-(4-chlorobenzoyl)-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-olato-κ2 O,O′]bis(methanol-κO)nickel(II)

The molecular structure of the neutral mononuclear title complex, [Ni(C17H12ClN2O2)2(CH3OH)2], is centrosymmetric. The NiII atom, which is located on an inversion center, is in a distorted octahedral coordination, defined by four O atoms from two ligands as well as two O atoms from two methanol molecules. Intermolecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds between the hydroxy group of methanol and a pyrazole N atom link the molecules, forming a two-dimensional network parallel to (100).
Biochemical Characterization of the Extracellular Phosphatases Produced by Phosphorus-Deprived Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

We have examined the extracellular phosphatases produced by the terrestrial green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in response to phosphorus deprivation. Phosphorus-deprived cells increase extracellular alkaline phosphatase activity 300-fold relative to unstarved cells. The alkaline phosphatases are released into the medium by cell-wall-deficient strains and by wild-type cells after treatment with autolysin, indicating that they are localized to the periplasm. Anion-exchange chromatography and analysis by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that there are two major inducible alkaline phosphatases. A calcium-dependent enzyme composed of 190-kD glycoprotein subunits accounts for 85 to 95% of the alkaline phosphatase activity. This phosphatase has optimal activity at pH 9.5 and a Km of 120 to 262 [mu]M for all physiological substrates tested, with the exception of phytic acid, which it cleaved with a 50-fold lower efficiency. An enzyme with optimal activity at pH 9 and no requirement for divalent cations accounts for 2 to 10% of the alkaline phosphatase activity. This phosphatase was only able to efficiently hydrolyze arylphosphates. The information reported here, in conjunction with the results of previous studies, defines the complement of extracellular phosphatases produced by phosphorus-deprived Chlamydomonas cells.
Control of visually guided behaviors

We propose an approach for modeling visually guided behaviors of agents which explore and navigate in unknown and partially known environments. Behaviors are modeled as finite state machines (FSM), where the states of the model correspond to particular continuous control strategies and the transitions between them are caused by events representing qualitative or asynchronous changes in the behavior evolution. In order to prevent conflicts in parallel execution of multiple behaviors we adopt the supervisory control theory of discrete Event System (DES). Modeling the participating processes using the DES framework allows us to capture often complex interactions between components of the system and synthesize the resulting supervisor, guaranteeing the overall controllability of the system at the discrete event level. In the real world agents have multiple options/paths for carrying out their task. Hence there is a need for selecting different control strategies based on efficiency and safety criteria. We have included in our formalism a measure of efficiency as the nominal cost (in our case, the traversal time) and a measure of safety at the risk cost (in our case, the inverse of the distance between the agent and obstacles). Experiments have been carried out testing the described formalism with one agent carrying out the task of avoiding an obstacle in its path while tracking a target. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-93-101. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn. edu/cis_reports/270 control of Visually Guided Behaviors MS-CIS-93-101 GRASP LAB 367 Jana Kogeckh Ruzena Bajcsy Max Mintz University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science Computer and Information Science Department Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389
Perceptions of the Losses Experienced by Custodial Grandmothers

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence societal perceptions of grandparents who have become custodians of their grandchildren. Over 1200 adult volunteers evaluated a randomly assigned scenario describing a grandparent raising a grandchild, where scenarios varied in terms of grandchild gender, grandparent ethnicity, the presence/absence of grandchild problems, and the reason for the assumption of the grandparent caregiving role. Subjects rated scenarios according to the extent to which they thought the custodial grandparent was experiencing a variety of losses. Overall, perceptions of loss were greater for grandmothers whose grandchild was experiencing an emotional/ behavioral problem, and for those grandmothers whose grandchild had been abandoned or abused, or whose adult child had died, been incarcerated, or abused drugs. Due to an interaction between ethnicity and reason for role assumption, however, those findings are best interpreted in the context of the ethnicity of the grandparent. Depending on the context, respondents were less sensitive to losses suffered by Hispanic, African American, or Caucasian grandmothers. These data suggest that ethnicity of the grandparent and reason for assuming the custodial role affect the degree to which people are sensitive to the losses that custodial grandparents experience. These differences are likely to affect the extent to which others publicly acknowledge the grief of custodial grandparents. Moreover, ethnic stereotypes may interfere with an equitable allocation of social support for, and services to, grandparent caregivers. In this light, researchers should continue to study these disparities, as they are likely to affect the adjustment of grandparents to the custodial role.
Resource Creation and Evaluation for Multilingual Sentiment Analysis in Social Media Texts

This paper presents an evaluation of the use of machine translation to obtain and employ data for training multilingual sentiment classifiers. We show that the use of machine translated data obtained similar results as the use of native-speaker translations of the same data. Additionally, our evaluations pinpoint to the fact that the use of multilingual data, including that obtained through machine translation, leads to improved results in sentiment classification. Finally, we show that the performance of the sentiment classifiers built on machine translated data can be improved using original data from the target language and that even a small amount of such texts can lead to significant growth in the classification performance.
Using VMM-based sensors to monitor honeypots

Virtual Machine Monitors (VMMs) are a common tool for implementing honeypots. In this paper we examine the implementation of a VMM-based intrusion detection and monitoring system for collecting information about attacks on honeypots. We document and evaluate three designs we have implemented on two open-source virtualization platforms: User-Mode Linux and Xen. Our results show that our designs give the monitor good visibility into the system and thus, a small number of monitoring sensors can detect a large number of intrusions. In a three month period, we were able to detect five different attacks, as well as collect and try 46 more exploits on our honeypots. All attacks were detected with only two monitoring sensors. We found that the performance overhead for monitoring such intrusions is independent of which events are being monitored, but depends entirely on the number of monitoring events and the underlying monitoring implementation. The performance overhead can be significantly improved by implementing the monitor directly in the privileged code of the VMM, though at the cost of increasing the size of the trusted computing base of the system.
Correlations between the structural and functional characteristics of neurons in the superficial laminae and the hamster's superior colliculus

Intracellular recording, receptive field mapping, and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) injection techniques were used to determine the structural and functional characteristics of neurons in the superficial laminae (stratum griseum superficiale and stratum opticum) of the hamster's superior colliculus (SC). Fifty-nine neurons (from 38 different hamsters) were successfully characterized, injected with HRP, and recovered. Of these, 8 were marginal cells, 14 had stellate morphology, 10 had narrow, vertically oriented dendritic trees, 12 had wide, vertically oriented dendritic arbors, and 8 were horizontal cells. Seven neurons had somatodendritic morphologies which did not fall into any of these groups. Overall, the distribution of receptive field properties for these cells matched that obtained in previous extracellular recordings from the superficial SC laminae in this species (Chalupa, L.M., and R.W. Rhoades (1977) J. Physiol. (Lond.) 270: 595–626; Chalupa, L.M. and R.W. Rhoades (1978) J. Physiol. (Lond.) 274: 571–592). There were significant correlations between receptive field properties and morphology. Sixty-four percent of the stellate cells and 75% of the marginal cells were directionally selective. Only 17% of the other cell types exhibited this response property. In addition, only 36% of the stellate cells and 25% of the marginal neurons were discharged by stationary, flashed spots. Eighty-one percent of the other recovered cells gave reliable responses to such stimuli. Stellate and marginal cells could also be differentiated from the other cell types on the basis of speed selectivity. Only 29% of the stellate and 13% of the marginal cells responded to stimulus speeds in excess of 20 degrees/sec. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Spectral Sparsification of Graphs

We introduce a new notion of graph sparsification based on spectral similarity of graph Laplacians: spectral sparsification requires that the Laplacian quadratic form of the sparsifier approximate that of the original. This is equivalent to saying that the Laplacian of the sparsifier is a good preconditioner for the Laplacian of the original. We prove that every graph has a spectral sparsifier of nearly linear size. Moreover, we present an algorithm that produces spectral sparsifiers in time $O(m\log^{c}m)$, where $m$ is the number of edges in the original graph and $c$ is some absolute constant. This construction is a key component of a nearly linear time algorithm for solving linear equations in diagonally dominant matrices. Our sparsification algorithm makes use of a nearly linear time algorithm for graph partitioning that satisfies a strong guarantee: if the partition it outputs is very unbalanced, then the larger part is contained in a subgraph of high conductance.
Gamma glutamyl transferase activity is Independently associated with oxidative stress rather than SYNTAX score

Abstract Background. Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) is involved in the pathophysiologic process of coronary atherosclerosis. GGT activity plays a role in the catabolism of glutathione which is known as one of the major antioxidants. However, there is a lack of research on direct examination of relevance between serum GGT activity with systemic oxidative stress. Objectives. We aimed to investigate the relationship between GGT activity with systemic oxidative stress markers and the extent and complexity of coronary artery disease (CAD) assessed with SYNTAX score in stable CAD. Methods. Measurements were obtained from 359 patients with stable CAD (Mean age = 57.7 ± 10.1 years). The patients were divided into two groups according to the median GGT level (GGT < median group < 22 and GGT > median group ≥ 22). Angiography was performed and SYNTAX score was calculated in all patients. Oxidative stress markers (total oxidant status [TOS], total antioxidant capacity [TAC] and oxidative stress index [OSI]) were measured in all patients. Results. While SYNTAX score and oxidative stress markers such as TOS and OSI have been increased, TAC was decreased in GGT > median group compared with GGT < median group (p < 0.05, for all). GGT activity was independently associated with diabetes (β = 0.106, p = 0.015) and OSI (β = 0.556, p < 0.001) in multiple linear regression analysis. However, the independent association between GGT activity and SYNTAX score was not found in present study (β = 0.063, p = 0.238). Conclusion. In stable CAD, increased GGT activity within the normal range is associated with increased oxidative stress rather than increased extent and complexity of CAD.
Nasolacrimal obstruction and facial bone histopathology in craniodiaphyseal dysplasia.

glaucoma. It is now recognised to comprise the diagnostic triad of a diffusely flat anterior chamber, high intraocular pressure, and aqueous pooling that is sometimes visible in or in front of the anterior vitreous. Malignant glaucoma is notoriously difficult to treat and carries a generally poor prognosis for long term control of intraocular pressure. It is thought to involve the mechanisms of ciliolenticular block of aqueQus flow leading to the misdirection of aqueous posteriorly into, or in front of, the vitreous gel leading to the characteristic diffuse shallowing of the anterior chamber accompanied by an often precipitous rise in intraocular pressure. Medical treatment alone is rarely successful in establishing control of the IOP.23 Pars plana vitrectomy has been used in the surgical management of malignant glaucoma with some definite but limited success in phakic as well as pseudophakic eyes.45 However, when malignant glaucoma develops in pseudophakic eyes (with posterior chamber IOLs) there exists an additional treatment option of Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy and/or vitreolysis26 which can be effective in arresting the spiralling rise in IOP by redirecting aqueous flow anteriorly thereby avoiding the need for acute surgical intervention with its inevitably higher morbidity. The same reasoning can be applied to aphakic eyes that have an intact posterior capsule, with similar chances of a successful outcome.
A 2DLDA Based Algorithm for Real Time Vehicle Type Recognition

Vehicle type recognition generally refers to identifying the make and model of vehicles through collected images or other information. This paper presents a Two-Dimensional Linear Discriminant Analysis (2DLDA) based algorithm for real time vehicle type recognition. The algorithm is initiated by extracting a region of interest (ROI) relative to the located license plate, and then robust features obtained by performing 2DLDA on the gradients of ROI are used for recognition. Experimental results show that the algorithm can achieve high recognition accuracy (94.7%) and that it is not sensitive to variations of vehicle colors and light conditions. The computational complexity is low so that the algorithm can be implanted in real time.
A computational analysis of motor synergies by dynamic response decomposition

Analyses of experimental data acquired from humans and other vertebrates have suggested that motor commands may emerge from the combination of a limited set of modules. While many studies have focused on physiological aspects of this modularity, in this paper we propose an investigation of its theoretical foundations. We consider the problem of controlling a planar kinematic chain, and we restrict the admissible actuations to linear combinations of a small set of torque profiles (i.e., motor synergies). This scheme is equivalent to the time-varying synergy model, and it is formalized by means of the dynamic response decomposition (DRD). DRD is a general method to generate open-loop controllers for a dynamical system to solve desired tasks, and it can also be used to synthesize effective motor synergies. We show that a control architecture based on synergies can greatly reduce the dimensionality of the control problem, while keeping a good performance level. Our results suggest that in order to realize an effective and low-dimensional controller, synergies should embed features of both the desired tasks and the system dynamics. These characteristics can be achieved by defining synergies as solutions to a representative set of task instances. The required number of synergies increases with the complexity of the desired tasks. However, a possible strategy to keep the number of synergies low is to construct solutions to complex tasks by concatenating synergy-based actuations associated to simple point-to-point movements, with a limited loss of performance. Ultimately, this work supports the feasibility of controlling a non-linear dynamical systems by linear combinations of basic actuations, and illustrates the fundamental relationship between synergies, desired tasks and system dynamics.
Tracheal stricture following tracheostomy

Six cases of tracheal obstruction following tracheostomy are described in which surgical intervention was necessary. These occurred in a series of 104 tracheostomies. In adults the strictures have occurred at the site of pressure of the tracheostomy tube cuff. Management has been by excision of the stricture with end-to-end reconstruction. Tracheal narrowing in children has been of a different type, occurring at stomal level, and management has been more difficult.
The mediating role of place identity in the relationship between residents’ perceptions of heritage tourism and place attachment: the Macau youth experience

Ever since Macau became a World Heritage city, there is a growing body of research on Macau heritage tourism. However, the study on Macau residents’ place identity (PI) and place attachment (PA) amid heritage tourism development has yet to be explored. Owing to this, the current study explores the mediating role of PI on the relationship between heritage tourism perceptions and PA.
Soft contract verification

Behavioral software contracts are a widely used mechanism for governing the flow of values between components. However, run-time monitoring and enforcement of contracts imposes significant overhead and delays discovery of faulty components to run-time. To overcome these issues, we present soft contract verification, which aims to statically prove either complete or partial contract correctness of components, written in an untyped, higher-order language with first-class contracts. Our approach uses higher-order symbolic execution, leveraging contracts as a source of symbolic values including unknown behavioral values, and employs an updatable heap of contract invariants to reason about flow-sensitive facts. We prove the symbolic execution soundly approximates the dynamic semantics and that verified programs can't be blamed. The approach is able to analyze first-class contracts, recursive data structures, unknown functions, and control-flow-sensitive refinements of values, which are all idiomatic in dynamic languages. It makes effective use of an off-the-shelf solver to decide problems without heavy encodings. The approach is competitive with a wide range of existing tools - including type systems, flow analyzers, and model checkers - on their own benchmarks.
Rethinking the Learning of Belief Network Probabilities

Belief networks are a powerful tool for knowledge discovery that provide concise, understandable probabilistic models of data. There are methods grounded in probability theory to incrementally update the relationships described by the belief network when new information is seen, to perform complex inferences over any set of variables in the data, to incorporate domain expertise and prior knowledge into the model, and to automatically learn the model from data. This paper concentrates on part of the belief network induction problem, that of learning the quantitative structure (the conditional probabilities), given the qualitative structure. In particular, the current practice of rote learning the probabilities in belief networks can be significantly improved upon. We advance the idea of applying any learning algorithm to the task of conditional probability learning in belief networks, discuss potential benefits, and show results of applying neural networks and other algorithms to a medium sized car insurance belief network. The results demonstrate from 10 to 100% improvements in model error rates over the current approaches.
Distribution of Substance P Receptor (Neurokinin-1 Receptor) in Normal Ovine Lung and During the Progression of Bronchopneumonia in Sheep

Substance P contributes to the physiological homeostasis of pulmonary airways and vasculature. During pneumonia, alterations in substance P production and receptor expression can influence bronchoconstriction and vascular perfusion. The distribution of substance P receptor [neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R)] in lungs of normal sheep and sheep with acute (1 day), subacute (15 days), and chronic (45 days) bronchopneumonia caused by Mannheimia haemolytica was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Three rabbit polyclonal antibodies generated to the same cytosolic C-terminal portion of NK-1R (residues 393-407) were tested. NK-1R immunoreactivity was traced in digital images and quantified with IPLAB software. There were no significant differences in NK-1R protein density between normal and infected lambs. Antibody 1 had the broadest distribution and intensity, and stained alveolar septae, smooth muscle cells of airways and vessels, epithelial cells of airways and alveoli, and submucosal glands. When all animals from the study were included, there was a trend towards decreased NK-1R immunoreactivity over time. The work suggests that (a) the density of NK-1R does not change during progression of bacterial (M. haemolytica) bronchopneumonia, (b) NK-1R is widely distributed in ovine lung and decreases with age, and (c) antibodies to the same NK-1R cytosolic region can vary in specificity and affinity.