Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variations in HDL-carried miR-223 and miR-135a concentrations after consumption of dietary trans fat are associated with changes in blood lipid and inflammatory markers in healthy men - an exploratory study

ABSTRACT A high consumption of trans fatty acids (TFAs) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) have many cardioprotective properties and transport functional microRNAs (miRNAs) to recipient cells. We hypothesized that dietary TFAs modify the HDL-carried miRNA profile, therefore modulating its cardioprotective properties. We assessed whether consumption of dietary TFAs modifies HDL-carried miR-223-3p and miR-135a-3p concentration and the inter-relationship between diet-induced changes in HDL-carried miRNA concentration and CVD risk markers. In a double blind, randomized, crossover, controlled study, 9 men were fed each of 3 experimental isoenergetic diets: 1) High in industrial TFA (iTFA; 3.7% energy); 2) High in TFA from ruminants (rTFA; 3.7% energy); 3) Low in TFA (control; 0.8% energy) for 4 weeks each. HDLs were isolated by ultracentrifugation and miRNAs were quantified by RT-qPCR. Variations in HDL-miR-223-3p concentration were negatively correlated with variations in HDL-cholesterol after the iTFA diet (rs = 0.82; P = 0.007), and positively correlated with variations in C-reactive protein concentration after the rTFA diet (rs = 0.75; P = 0.020). Variations in HDL-miR-135a-3p concentration were positively correlated with variations in total triglyceride (TG) concentration following the iTFA diet (rs = −0.82; P = 0.007), and with variations in low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-TG concentration following the rTFA diet (rs = 0.83; P = 0.005), compared to the control diet. However, the consumption of dietary TFAs has no significant unidirectional impact on HDL-carried miR-223-3p and miR-135a-3p concentrations. Our results suggest that the variability in the HDL-carried miRNAs response to TFA intake, by being associated with variations in CVD risk factors, might reflect physiological changes in HDL functions.
Application of self-triggered control in power system excitation control

The periodic sampling strategy simplifies the analysis and implementation of generator excitation control in power system. However, it may lead to unreasonable distribution of the resources because the sampling frequency has to indicate the worst scenario of the system operation. The paper applies the self-triggered control algorithm to design the generator excitation controller of power system. The basic idea is that the next instants of time at which the control action is to be recomputed based on the current or last state measurement of system, and update of next control order is satisfied with the Lyapunov stability theory. At the same time the time complexity and space complexity of the self-triggered excitation controller of generator are also analyzed. Finally, the results of simulation show that this control strategy greatly reduced the CPU work load.
A Design-Oriented Characterization Framework for Decentralized, Distributed, Autonomous Systems: The Nano-Satellite Swarm Case

The design of autonomous operational schemes for distributed, decentralized systems is expected to bring multiple qualities to systems of this kind. One of their instances are Earth-observing swarms of nano-satellites, in which their collective function targets global performance figures. The design of autonomous operations can be modelled as a collective scheduling problem subject to resource constraints. There are many system-wide qualities of interest, such as resiliency, adaptability, responsiveness, among others, that need specific frameworks to characterize the proposed solutions. This paper presents one such design-oriented tool that can evaluate these autonomous organization schemes—potentially for large-scale and highly heterogeneous scenarios with dynamic contexts and multiple time-scales—and illustrates its usage in the evaluation of an autonomous nano-satellite swarm that collectively optimizes revisit times.
3-d fuzzy logic controller for spatially distributed dynamic systems: A tutorial

Three-dimensional fuzzy logic controller (3-D FLC) is a new fuzzy logic controller for spatially distributed dynamic systems. The goal of this tutorial is to wipe of the magic behind the FLC. This tutorial focuses on building an intuition for how and why 3-D FLC works. Additionally, recent development on 3-D FLC is presented. The hope is that by addressing both aspects, readers of all levels will be able to gain a better understanding of 3-D FLC as well as the when, the how and the why of applying the techniques.
Breaking Down Barriers to Effective Patient Care

The theme for the 2018 ASCPT Annual Meeting is “Breaking Down Barriers to Effective Patient Care. ” This theme refers to the essential contributions of clinical pharmacology to the development of today's discovery into tomorrow's medicine. The various subdisciplines within clinical pharmacology serve to move molecules through the various stages of drug development and also refine or expand use of the drug postapproval. The wide range of topics covered by the 2018 Annual Meeting scientific program demonstrates the breadth of clinical pharmacology's impact. Because of new methods being developed to identify drug targets, medicines are being developed for patients with rare diseases. Biomarkers and diagnostic tools are advancing the development of drugs for neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and many other diseases. Preclinical data are playing a key role in informing the quantitative clinical pharmacology of drugs, especially antimicrobials, and animal efficacy data are pivotal for drugs that are developed and approved under the animal rule. The use of pharmacogenomics, model‐based drug development, informatics, and identification and evaluation of subgroups are key topics. With our focus on the patient, the Annual Meeting, and this issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, will highlight the many innovative ways that current clinical pharmacology investigations are attempting to dissolve barriers to effective patient care.
Topic modelling enriched LSTM models for the detection of novel and emerging named entities from social media

Named entity recognition techniques have achieved impressive performance on well-known datasets of canonical texts. However, the detection of emerging and rare entity from user generated noisy text such as tweets, online reviews and forum discussions still remains a challenging task. In this paper, we report our study on the detection of unusual, previously unseen entities from social media. Based on the WNUT2017 shared task datasets, we explore an approach that combines LDA topic modelling with LSTM deep learning on word level and character level embeddings. The LDA topic modelling generates topic representation for each post which is used as a feature for each word in the post. The deep learning components consist of two-layer bidirectional LSTM and a CRF output layer. A large amount of experiments was conducted to understand the effects of the different modelling components and improve system performance. Our latest results reached a best performance level of F1 value at 45.30 on entities and 43.86 on surface forms, a significant improvement over the WNUT2017 best performer with F1 scored at 41.86 on entities and 40.24 on surface forms.
Acute health care and Australia's ethnic people.

At some stage, people of non-English speaking background (NESB) living in Australia will require acute health care. This in itself is not particularly remarkable or problematic; however, as the mainstream services available to the community are essentially monocultural (i.e. reflect the domination of Anglo-Australian cultural values), it is questionable as to whether the unique needs of Australia's culturally diverse people are being met. The discussion will focus on some of the problems encountered by people of NESB and/or culturally different backgrounds in acute health care services. Nursing as a profession defends rigorously the notions of holistic and morally accountable nursing practice. For my part, it is difficult to accept that unacceptable nursing attitudes and practices toward patients of culturally different backgrounds have been tolerated by the nursing profession--not least, in its failure to correct them, and by virtue of its silence which has, until recently, tacitly validated them. While it might be said that the case studies presented here are few and limited, I am sad to say that there are many other similar examples (see Johnstone & Kanitsaki 1991a, Kanitsaki 1989a, 1983, Parsons 1990). Certainly these cases 'speak for themselves' in depicting a range of unacceptable nursing behaviours.
The Reasons for the Current Upsurge in Memory

The invention relates to the catalytic treatment of a gas oil feed stock, distilling between 150 DEG and 530 DEG C. , in a reactor zone whose temperature is comprised between 200 DEG and 500 DEG C. , the pressure is comprised between 15 and 80 bars and containing a hydrogen form zeolite as catalyst, in the presence of a quantity of isobutane representing from 5 to 100% of said feed stock. The process is particularly suitable for the improvement of the filtration temperature limit of the gas oils.
Public Debt Dynamics in Selected OECD Countries: The Role of Fiscal Stabilisation and Monetary Policy

Shocks to monetary and fiscal policy have played a major role in public debt developments since the mid 1970s. According to the applied VAR approach, together these shocks explained, on average, about half of the forecast error variation in the debt to GDP ratio while the share of shocks to GDP growth was close to 30 percent. Instead, shocks to inflation and the debt ratio itself played in most cases a minor role. However, the inflation shocks were vital in initiating the public debt problems as the increase in actual inflation and particularly the persistence of high inflation expectations in the 1980s led to a prolonged period of high real interest rates. This gave rise to ‘some unpleasant fiscal arithmetic’ which aggravated debt problems. In most countries fiscal policy has aimed at correcting the deterioration of fiscal balances, but the progress has in most cases been slow and delayed. Nevertheless, all individual country VARs are stable in the period under consideration. Finally, contrary to general beliefs, in the global financial markets of present day inflation makes debt problems worse through its adverse impact on interest rates.
Observer-based discrete-time sliding mode throttle control for drive-by-wire operation of a racing motorcycle engine

In this brief, the problem of designing a drive-by-wire throttle control system for a high-performance motorcycle engine is considered. Given the characteristics of the electromechanical system to be controlled, an observer-based, discrete-time sliding mode (DTSM) servo controller with integral action is adopted. The controller is designed on the basis of an identified model of the system, whose states are estimated by means of a state observer. Different state observer structures are analyzed, and it is shown that the main characteristics of standard state-feedback-based sliding mode control systems are preserved. A theoretical analysis is also presented showing that a separation principle holds, so that the state observer and the DTSM controller can be designed independently. The performances of the designed controller are illustrated by reporting the results of tests performed on track with a racing motorcycle.
Beetroot Increases Muscle Performance and Oxygenation During Sustained Isometric Exercise, but Does Not Alter Muscle Oxidative Efficiency and Microvascular Reactivity at Rest

ABSTRACT Objective: To examine the effects of beetroot juice (BRJ) on (i) in vivo skeletal muscle O2 consumption (mVO2) and microvascular reactivity at rest and (ii) muscle performance, muscle oxygenation, and mVO2 during sustained isometric handgrip exercise (IHG). Methods: Sixteen young males consumed, randomly, a nitrate-rich (8.1 mmol BRJnitrate) or nitrate-depleted (BRJplacebo) BRJ. After 2.5 hours, they performed an occlusion-reperfusion maneuver at rest, a 3-minute sustained IHG, and a sustained IHG to exhaustion with arterial occlusion. Changes in muscle oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb), microvascular red blood cell content (tHb), and mVO2 were measured using near-infrared spectroscopy. Force output was recorded. Results: During occlusion, the O2Hb decline did not differ between BRJnitrate and BRJplacebo (magnitude: −30.3 ± 1.6 vs. −31.1 ± 1.5 ΔμΜ; slope: −0.107 ± 0.007 vs. −0.111 ± 0.007 μΜ second−1). During reperfusion, all microvascular reactivity indices were not altered after BRJnitrate (e.g., O2Hbslope: 1.584 ± 0.093 vs. 1.556 ± 0.072 μΜ second−1). During the second and third minute of IHG, O2Hb and tHb were higher in BRJnitrate versus BRJplacebo (p < 0.05), and force output was higher during the third minute (10.8 ± 0.7 vs. 9.5 ± 1.2 kg; p < 0.05); HHb did not differ between trials. In IHG with arterial occlusion, BRJnitrate prolonged the time to fatigue (94.1 ± 5.8 vs. 80.1 ± 3.3 seconds; p < 0.01), with no effects on O2Hb decline (O2Hbslope: −0.226 ± 0.015 vs. −0.230 ± 0.026 μΜ s−1) and mVO2 (14.1 ± 1.0 vs. 14.3 ± 1.6 μmol l−1 minute−1). Conclusion: Acute BRJ ingestion in moderately trained individuals (i) did not alter in vivo skeletal muscle microvascular reactivity (index of microvascular function at rest) and basal oxidative efficiency, (ii) increased muscle oxygenation during IHG (possibly via enhanced O2 delivery), and (iii) provided ergogenic benefits during sustained IHG with no effects on muscle oxidative efficiency. The ergogenic effects of BRJ appeared independent of its tissue perfusion benefits.
Hippocampal mossy fiber long‐term depression in Grm2/3 double knockout mice

Group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2, encoded by Grm2, and mGluR3, encoded by Grm3) are inhibitory autoreceptors that negatively modulate the adenylate cyclase signaling cascade. Within the hippocampus, mGluR2 is believed to play a key role in the induction of long‐term depression (LTD) at mossy fiber‐CA3 synapses. Here, we used Grm2/3 double knockout (dko) mice to investigate to what extent group II mGluRs are necessary for mossy fiber LTD. Surprisingly, we found that these mice displayed prominent mossy fiber LTD. However, the induction of this form of LTD was sensitive to the external Ca2+ concentration. Mossy fiber LTD in Grm2/3 dko mice was indistinguishable from that in wild‐type mice at 4 mM Ca2+, but largely absent at 2 mM external Ca2+. Mossy fiber LTD in Grm2/3 dko mice was not blocked by the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist D‐AP5, confirming that the observed response did not reflect NMDA receptor‐dependent LTD in contaminating associational‐commissural fibers, and enabling us to use the NMDA receptor‐mediated EPSC to monitor mossy fiber LTD. Using whole‐cell recordings, we demonstrated that LTD of the NMDA receptor‐mediated EPSC in Grm2/3 dko mice was not affected by intracellular application of BAPTA and CsF to block postsynaptic Ca2+ and G‐protein‐mediated effects. This presynaptic LTD was, however, blocked by the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist, NBQX. Thus, an activity‐dependent, external Ca2+ concentration‐sensitive form of mossy fiber LTD can be induced in Grm2/3 dko mice. Two mGluR antagonists also failed to block mossy fiber LTD under 4 mM conditions in wild‐type mice, strengthening the conclusion that group II mGluRs are not obligatory for mossy fiber LTD. Synapse, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
GTL regression: a linear model with skewed and thick-tailed disturbances

Abstract A maximum likelihood estimator of a linear regression model is efficient relative to the customary Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimator when disturbances are skewed and/or thick-tailed. In order to model skewed and thick-tailed disturbances, we specify a highly flexible Generalized Tukey Lambda (GTL) distribution that can closely mimic many other unimodal distributions. The GTL-based maximum likelihood regression estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. A Monte Carlo study demonstrates the potential gains of this GTL-based estimator over the OLS estimator, and as a real-life application, an analysis of speeding tickets illustrates how GTL regression might modify standard OLS estimation results. For the applied data analyst, an LM test statistic is suggested as a straightforward post-estimation diagnostic of whether the standard OLS regression approach is suitable for the data at hand. Stata do-files are provided to perform the OLS post-estimation LM test and to implement GTL regression models.
Land and labor reallocation in pre-modern Japan: a case of a northeastern village in 1720-1870

In agricultural societies, adjusting land and labor according to changes of labor endowment that result from family life cycle events is premised on making full use of resources for each farming household and for the economy as a whole. This paper examines how and how well households in pre-modern Japan reallocated land and labor, using a population register covering 150 years from 1720–1870 for a village in the Tohoku region. We find that households reacted to equalize their production factors; land-scarce households tended to acquire or rent-in land and out-migrate their kin members, while land-abundant households tended to release or rent-out land, in-migrate kin members, or employ non-kin members. Estimates suggest that more than 80% of the surplus or deficit area of land was resolved if the household rented or "sold" land. We discuss a potential underlying mechanism; namely, that the village's collective responsibility for tax payment (murauke) motivated both individual households and the village as a whole to reallocate land and labor for the efficient use of resources.
Scalable Uniform Graph Sampling by Local Computation

We address the problem of obtaining by local computation a sample of a graph such that the vertices are sampled uniformly. The presented solution uses a Markov chain to combine a rapidly mixing random walk that does not reach a uniform distribution with a slow-mixing walk that does. The resulting chain mixes at a notably faster rate than the standard uniform random walk and can be simulated exactly using only local information.
Economic Stress and the Secondary Sex Ratio: Ireland, Iceland, Greece and Latvia

Introduction: Male live births occur slightly in excess of female live births at a ratio of approximately 0.515 (male/total births). Stress has been shown to reduce M/F, including stress engendered by contracting economies. This study was carried out in order to ascertain whether the economic depression caused by the Eurozone recession at the end of the previous decade influenced M/F in the European countries most heavily affected, namely Iceland, Ireland, Greece and Latvia. Methods: Annual data on male and female live births were obtained directly from the World Health Organisation except for Latvia which was obtained from Eurostat. Quarterly data for Ireland was obtained from the Irish Central Statistics Office. Results: There were no significant changes in M/F except in Ireland which showed a sharp and highly significant dip in 2007 due to a fall in M/F in the last quarter only (p<0.0001). Discussion: Darwinian evolution should encourage species to adapt to changing circumstances by altering the odds of having a child of a specific gender. Parents without stress and in good condition should produce sons since these are theoretically capable of producing more offspring, and viceversa. The findings for Ireland support the contention that economic stress is also capable of depressing M/F. Original Research Article Grech; IJTDH, 5(4): 252-259, 2015; Article no.IJTDH. 2015.028 253
Under-diagnosis of mood disorders in Canada

Aims. Under-diagnosis of mood disorders occurs worldwide. In this study, we characterized and compared Canadians with symptoms compatible with a mood disorder by diagnosis status; and described the associated health impacts, use of health services and perceived need for care. Methods. Respondents to the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey – Mental Health, a nationally representative sample of Canadians age ≥15 years were assessed for symptoms compatible with mood disorders based on a Canadian adaptation of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (n = 23 504). Descriptive and multivariate regression analyses were performed. Results. In 2012, an estimated 5.4% (1.5 million) Canadians aged 15 years and older reported symptoms compatible with a mood disorder, of which only half reported having been professionally diagnosed. The undiagnosed individuals were more likely to be younger (mean age: 36.2 v. 41.8), to be single (49.5 v. 32.7%), to have less than a post-secondary graduation (49.8 v. 41.1%) and to have no physical co-morbidities (56.4 v. 35.7%), and less likely to be part of the two lower income quintiles (49.6 v. 62.7%) compared with those with a previous diagnosis. Upon controlling for all socio-demographic and health characteristics, the associations with age and marital status disappeared. While those with a previous diagnosis reported significantly greater health impacts and were more likely to have consulted a health professional for their emotional and mental health problems in the previous 12 months compared with those undiagnosed (79.4 v. 31.0%), about a third of both groups reported that their health care needs were only partially met or not met at all. Conclusions. Mood disorders are prevalent and can profoundly impact the life of those affected, however, their diagnosis remains suboptimal and health care use falls short of apparent needs. Improvements in mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviours and diagnosis are needed. In light of the heterogeneity of mood disorders in terms of symptoms severity, impacts and prognosis, interventions must be tailored accordingly.
Making a Personal Difference: Communications in Healthcare

Health communications (HC) is a fast-growing, potent branch of communications. Previous studies on various health contexts, from diabetes to cancer, note the importance of HC in influencing positive clinical outcomes. Phase-I of a longitudinal study extends understanding of the HC process. Using primarily bivariate correlations, it confirms positive associations between a major learning intervention (an HC PG certificate)on perceptions of a practitioner’s communications effectiveness as demonstrated by a five-indicator model of consequent communications behaviours. It also finds, via regression analysis, that practitioner knowledge transfer and return-on-investment reporting are the most influential behaviours.
Improved maximum frequency estimation with application to instantaneous mean frequency estimation of surface electromyography

The purpose of this study was to improve the maximum-frequency estimation. Three methods to estimate the maximum frequency of a bandlimited signal with additive white noise were compared. Two existing methods, the threshold-crossing method (TCM) and the hybrid method, were modified for time-frequency representations. A novel approach, the running-block threshold method (RBTM), was introduced. Based on calculation of detection probability (sensitivity) the RBTM improved the maximum-frequency estimate as compared with the TCM. The maximum-frequency estimation methods were also used to determine the integration interval for instantaneous mean-frequency (IMNF) estimation from synthesized surface electromyography containing white noise. Results showed that the IMNF estimate was improved by using any of the three methods and that the RBTM gave the best IMNF estimate.