Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High serum chemerin level in CKD patients is related to kidney function, but not to its adipose tissue overproduction

Abstract Chemerin is an adipokine modulating inflammatory response and affecting glucose and lipid metabolism. These disturbances are common in CKD. The aim of the study was: (a) to evaluate circulating chemerin level at different stages of CKD; (b) to measure subcutaneous adipose tissue chemerin gene expression; (c) to estimate the efficiency of renal replacement therapy in serum chemerin removal. 187 patients were included into the study: a) 58 patients with CKD; (b) 29 patients on hemodialysis; (c) 20 patients after kidney transplantation. 80 subjects constituted control group. Serum chemerin concentration was estimated by ELISA. The adipose tissue chemerin mRNA level was measured by RT-qPCR. The mean serum chemerin concentration in CKD patients was 70% higher than in the control group (122.9 ± 33.7 vs. 72.6 ± 20.7 ng/mL; p < 0.001) and it negatively correlated with eGFR (r = −0.71, p < 0.001). The equally high plasma chemerin level was found in HD patients and a HD session decreased it markedly (115.7 ± 17.6 vs. 101.5 ± 16.4 ng/mL; p < 0.001). Only successful kidney transplantation allowed it to get down to the values noted in controls (74.8 ± 16.0 vs. 72.6 ± 20.7 ng/mL; n.s.). The level of subcutaneous adipose tissue chemerin mRNA in CKD patients was not different than in patients of the control group. The study demonstrates that elevated serum chemerin concentration in CKD patients: (a) is related to kidney function, but not to increased chemerin production by subcutaneous adipose tissue, and (b) it can be efficiently corrected by hemodialysis treatment and normalized by kidney transplantation.
A multi-cell cascaded power amplifier

A multi-cell cascaded power amplifier with a high output voltage capability, wide load range and high bandwidth is presented in this paper. The cascaded power amplifier is formed by combining a low-voltage linear power amplifier in series with multiple inverter cells. Therefore the cascaded power amplifier combines the advantages of a linear power amplifier with the advantages of a switched mode power amplifier. A high output voltage and bandwidth of 20kHz is achievable using very simple modulation and feedback control design. The dc voltages for the inverter cells and linear power amplifier are provided by an isolated, bidirectional dc-dc resonant converter. The dimensioning and physical structure of a 1.2kW, plusmn400V cascaded amplifier is given, and shows that a compact, flat system design is possible. Finally, digital simulation results verify the theoretical analysis of the amplifier
Continuous vancomycin in a pediatric cystic fibrosis patient

Continuous vancomycin has been previously reported to maximize antimicrobial activity while avoiding toxicities associated with dose escalation, but the efficacy of this dosing strategy has not been reported. This case report describes the successful use of continuous vancomycin, including improvement in lung function and avoidance of nephrotoxicity, demonstrated in a pediatric cystic fibrosis (CF) patient with MRSA.
An Adaptive Observer Design for $n+1$ Coupled Linear Hyperbolic PDEs Based on Swapping

In this paper, we use swapping design filters to bring systems of n+1 partial differential equations of the hyperbolic type to static form. Standard parameter identification laws can then be applied to estimate unknown parameters in the boundary conditions. Proof of boundedness of the adaptive laws are offered, and the results are demonstrated in simulations.
Advanced glycation end-products and skin autofluorescence in end-stage renal disease: a review

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially in its end stage, is marked by extremely high cardiovascular rates of morbidity and mortality; hemodialysis patients have a five-fold shorter life expectancy than healthy subjects of the same age. In CKD the metabolic products that accumulate in the body are so-called uremic toxins. These include advanced glycation end-products (AGE). AGE levels are markedly increased in CKD patients not only because of impaired excretion but also because of increased production. AGE formation has initially been described as a non-enzymatic reaction between proteins and glucose in the so-called Maillard reaction, but they are also more rapidly formed during oxidative stress and subsequent formation of reactive carbonyl compounds like (methyl)glyoxal. AGE accumulate in tissue where they cross-link with proteins, e.g., collagen, inducing tissue stiffening of blood vessels and skin. They may also interact with receptor of AGE (RAGE) and other receptors, which lead to activation of intracellular transduction mechanisms resulting in cytokine release and further tissue damage in CKD. The accumulation of AGE in the skin can be measured non-invasively using autofluorescence. The skin autofluorescence is a strong marker of cardiovascular mortality in CKD. The focus of this review is on the role of tissue and plasma AGE, and of skin autofluorescence as a proxy of tissue AGE accumulation, in the increase in cardiovascular disease in end stage renal disease (ESRD). This review will also present the possibility of reducing the AGE accumulation in ESRD patients using the following five methods: 1) use of low AGE peritoneal dialysis solutions; 2) use of advanced hemodialysis techniques; 3) use of AGE reducing drugs; 4) optimizing the nutrition of hemodialysis patients; and 5) renal transplantation.
Emergence of broadband Rayleigh waves from correlations of the ambient seismic noise

We demonstrate that the coherent information about the Earth structure can be extracted from the ambient seismic noise. We compute cross‐correlations of vertical component records of several days of seismic noise at different pairs of stations separated by distances from about one hundred to more than two thousand kilometers. Coherent broadband dispersive wavetrains clearly emerge with group velocities similar to those predicted from the global Rayleigh‐wave tomographic maps that have been constrained using ballistic surface waves. Those results show that coherent Rayleigh waves can be extracted from the ambient seismic noise and that their dispersion characteristics can be measured in a broad range of periods. This provides a source for new types of surface‐wave measurements that can be obtained for numerous paths that could not be sampled with the ballistic waves and, therefore, can significantly improve the resolution of seismic images.
A Privacy Data-Oriented Hierarchical MapReduce Programming Model

To realize privacy data protection efficiently in hybrid cloud service, a hierarchical control architecture based multi-cluster MapReduce programming model (the Hierarchical MapReduce Model,HMR) is presented. Under this hierarchical control architecture, data isolation and placement among private cloud and public clouds according to the data privacy characteristic is implemented by the control center in private cloud. And then, to perform the corresponding distributed parallel computation correctly under the multi-clusters mode that is different to the conventional single-cluster mode, the Map-Reduce-GlobalReduce three stage scheduling process is designed. Limiting the computation about privacy data in private cloud while outsourcing the computation about non-privacy data to public clouds as much as possible, HMR reaches the performance of both security and low cost. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i8. 308 3
Diversité des interactions trophiques à l'interface microorganismes - microcrustacés dans une zone littorale à macrophytes : conséquences sur le transfert des acides gras essentiels

Les zones littorales a macrophytes ont un role fonctionnel important dans les hydrosystemes fluviaux. Outre leur forte productivite, ces milieux se caracterisent egalement par une forte biodiversite. Cependant, les liens pouvant exister entre heterogeneite spatiale, biodiversite et flux de matiere restent encore peu connus. En milieu aquatique, les microcrustaces representent un maillon clef entre les microorganismes eucaryotes, qui sont les principaux producteurs d’acide gras polyinsatures (AGPI), et le compartiment piscicole. Dans ce travail de these, nous avons donc cherche a savoir comment la diversite des cladoceres rencontree dans une zone littorale a macrophytes pouvait affecter le transfert des AGPI dans les reseaux trophiques. L’approche vers laquelle s’est oriente ce travail combine a la fois des etudes menees en milieu controle, permettant des experiences de nutrition, ainsi que des etudes menees en milieu naturel. Cette double approche permet de faciliter l’interpretation des resultats issus des analyses lipidiques, isotopiques et isotopiques de composes specifiques. Nos resultats montrent ainsi qu’il n’existe pas de variabilite dans les capacites d’accumulation et de bioconversion des AGPI chez les cladoceres coexistant dans une zone littorale a macrophytes. D’apres ces resultats, il semble donc que le principal facteur influencant la variabilite des transferts d’AGPI vers le compartiment piscicole soit la strategie alimentaire et le compartiment trophique exploite par les differentes especes de microcrustaces. En effet, outre le seston, notre etude montre que certaines especes de cladoceres rencontrees en zone littorale sont capables d’exploiter l’epiphyton et le neuston. Les analyses lipidiques mettent de plus en evidence, que la diversite des compartiments trophiques exploites s’accompagne d’une variabilite d’apports en AGPI. Dans notre etude, l’epiphyton est ainsi significativement plus concentre en AGPI que le seston. A l’interface air-eau, le neuston se caracterise de plus, par une forte accumulation de matiere organique d’origine allochtone qui, dans le cas d’une pluie de pollen, represente une source de carbone et d’AGPI non negligeable pour certaines especes de microcrustaces. Dans les zones littorales a macrophytes, la complementarite des especes de cladoceres entraine donc une utilisation plus complete des ressources. La diversite des compartiments trophiques, associee a la diversite des microcrustaces, permet donc probablement une optimisation du transfert des AGPI vers les niveaux trophiques superieurs.
Raining frogs: An education for sustainability project

Since 1995 the school education sector has been a dominant focus for education for sustainability (EfS) in Australia (Tilbury, Coleman, & Garlick, 2005, p. 1). The commencement of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI) in 2003, with its whole school approach, dramatically increased this focus (Department of Education and Training, 2005b). The pilot for the Western Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (WA SSI) commenced in 2005 (Department of Education and Training, 2005b). A small independent school, located in the Perth metropolitan area, was one of the twenty schools that participated in the WA SSI pilot. This paper will report on one project that was conducted at this school as part of the WA SSI.
Descriptive epidemiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: new evidence and unsolved issues

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a relatively rare disease with a reported population incidence of between 1.5 and 2.5 per 100 000 per year. Over the past 10 years, the design of ALS epidemiological studies has evolved to focus on a prospective, population based methodology, employing the El Escorial criteria and multiple sources of data to ensure complete case ascertainment. Five such studies, based in Europe and North America, have been published and show remarkably consistent incidence figures among their respective Caucasian populations. Population based studies have been useful in defining clinical characteristics and prognostic indicators in ALS. However, many epidemiological questions remain that cannot be resolved by any of the existing population based datasets. The working hypotheses is that ALS, like other chronic diseases, is a complex genetic condition, and the relative contributions of individual environmental and genetic factors are likely to be relatively small. Larger studies are required to characterise risks and identify subpopulations that might be suitable for further study. This current paper outlines the contribution of the various population based registers, identifies the limitations of the existing datasets and proposes a mechanism to improve the future design and output of descriptive epidemiological studies.
A 590MDE/s semi-global matching processor with lossless data compression

A tile-based semi-global matching (SGM) processor with lossless data compression is proposed. The 8×8 tile-base processing and the P2-less data compression can reduce the external memory access by 85% without any change in the processing result. In addition, the P2-less data compression can decrease on-chip SRAM size by 50%. Implemented in 65nm CMOS technology, the 6.3mm2 chip consumes 288mW and supports 590MDE/s (million disparity estimation per second) when processing 640×360 resolution with 64-disparity range at 40fps real-time operation.
A Preliminary Investigation in Using Pohlia Nutans and Larix Decidua as Biomonitors of Air Pollution by the Coke Industry in Walbrzych (SW Poland)

Concentrations of accumulated heavy metals were compared between the terrestrial bryophyte Pohlia nutans and needles and bark of Larix decidua collected on a dump situated in the vicinity of coke- and sulphuric acid-producing factories and a municipal thermal-electric power station. The dump consisted of heavily polluted mine and smelter wastes located near Walbrzych (southwestern Poland). The plant samples were compared with material of the same species from the control site. in the examined area needles and bark can be considered as suitable biomonitors for atmospheric pollution for Co, Cu, Ni and Pb. Bioac cumulation abilities of Pb in P. nutans and L. decidua needles and Ni in P. nutans and L. decidua bark were similar. Compared to each other needles were better accumulators of Ni and the moss P. nutans was a better accumulator of Co and Cu . P. nutans was a better accumulator of Co, Cu and Pb compared to bark.
Protesters as “Passionate Economists”

To explain the psychology behind individuals’ motivation to participate in collective action against collective disadvantage (e.g., protest marches), the authors introduce a dynamic dual pathway model of approach coping that integrates many common explanations of collective action (i.e., group identity, unfairness, anger, social support, and efficacy). It conceptualizes collective action as the outcome of two distinct processes: emotion-focused and problem-focused approach coping. The former revolves around the experience of group-based anger (based in appraised external blame for unfair collective disadvantage). The latter revolves around beliefs in the group’s efficacy (based in appraised instrumental coping potential for social change). The model is the first to make explicit the dynamic nature of collective action by explaining how undertaking collective action leads to the reappraisal of collective disadvantage, thus inspiring future collective action. The authors review empirical support for the model, discuss its theoretical and practical implications, and identify directions for future research and application.
Spatial correlation of hemodynamic changes related to interictal epileptic discharges with electric and magnetic source imaging

Blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) signal changes at the time of interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs) identify their associated vascular/hemodynamic responses. BOLD activations and deactivations can be found within the epileptogenic zone but also at a distance. Source imaging identifies electric (ESI) and magnetic (MSI) sources of IEDs, with the advantage of a higher temporal resolution. Therefore, the objective of our study was to evaluate the spatial concordance between ESI/MSI and BOLD responses for similar IEDs.
Structured Inverse Modeling in Parabolic Diffusion Problems

Often, the unknown diffusivity in diffusive processes is structured by piecewise constant patches. This paper is devoted to efficient methods for the determination of such structured diffusion parameters by exploiting shape calculus. A novel shape gradient is derived in parabolic processes. Furthermore, quasi-Newton techniques are used in order to accelerate shape gradient based iterations in shape space. Numerical investigations support the theoretical results.
Hypolipidemic Effects of Cake from Butyrylated Arrowroot Starch

VOL. 2, NO. 10, Nov 2012 ISSN 2225-7217 ARPN Journal of Science and Technology ©2011-2012. All rights reserved. Hypolipidemic Effects of Cake from Butyrylated Arrowroot Starch Damat Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Jl. Raya Tlogomas No. 246 Malang, Indonesia 65144 damatumm@yahoo.co.id ABSTRACT The research was conducted to determine hypolipidemic effects of cake from butyrylated arrowroot starch (BAS). The research was conducted using complete randomized design (CRD) consisting of one simple factor: the proportion of cake from BAS. The study was conducted by using 36 Sprague Dawley rats. The mice adapted for 6 days. On 6th day conducted lipid profile analysis and grouping of the mice, so that each group had an average triglyceride level of the same. Rats were divided into 6 groups, each group consisting of 6 tails. Starting on 7th day rats were fed according to the treatment, which consists of 6 levels, which AIN93 standard feed, the feed of the cake from BAS: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. Feed the treatment given for 28 days. The results showed that feeding 100% of the cake from BAS quite effective to reduce the concentration of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and increase HDL cholesterol concentrations Sprague Dawley rats. The largest decrease occurred in the proportion of feeding cake from BAS 100%, respectively at 23.61; 23.02, and 9.71% for cholesterol total, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared with the standard feeding, while the levels of HDL cholesterol actually increased by 4.23%. Keywords: Hypolipidemic effect, resistant starch, butyrylated arrowroot starch, cake
Solving kinematic redundancy with impedance control: a class of integrable pseudoinverses

Problems arising when kinematically redundant manipulators are controlled using the Jacobian pseudoinverse are related to the nonintegrability of the standard pseudoinverse. The authors present a class of pseudoinverse which have the property of being integrable within any simply connected nonsingular region of the workspace. Integrability is obtained by deriving the equations which describe an externally imposed motion with the hypothesis that a compliance function is associated with each degree of freedom of the manipulator. The result is a weighted pseudoinverse containing a term which accounts for the nonlinear features of the forward kinematics. The relation of this integrable pseudoinverse to the standard Moore-Penrose and weighted pseudoinverses are discussed. <<ETX>>
Voronoi-Based Potentially Visible Set and Visibility Query Algorithms

In this paper, we propose the concept of Voronoi-based potentially visible set, called V\text underscore PVS, to facilitate the visibility computation. Given a polygon $P$, we first compute the Voronoi diagram of $P$, i.e., $\text{VD}(P)$. Then we refine $\text{VD}(P)$ into $\text{VD}(P')$, so that $\text{VD}(P')$ only contains triangular or quadrangular cells. For each Voronoi edge, a V\text underscore PVS is computed, which stores the visibility information of the Voronoi vertices and critical points on the edge. Based on the V\text underscore PVS, we can fast query the visibility polygons of an arbitrary point, a segment or a trajectory, a region, and a moving point using a uniform data structure.
Structural characteristics of polysaccharides that induce protection against intra-abdominal abscess formation

Bacteroides fragilis is the anaerobe most commonly isolated from clinical cases of intra-abdominal sepsis. In a rodent model of this disease process, intraperitoneal injection of the capsular polysaccharide complex (CPC) from B. fragilis provokes abscess formation, while subcutaneous administration of this complex confers protection against B. fragilis-induced intra-abdominal abscesses. The CPC consists of two discrete polysaccharides, polysaccharides A and B (PS A and PS B), each possessing oppositely charged structural groups critical to the ability of these carbohydrates to induce the formation of abscesses. Other bacterial polysaccharides that possess oppositely charged groups (such as the group antigen or capsular polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 1 strains) also exhibited potent abscess-inducing capabilities. We report here that positively and negatively charged groups on polysaccharides are also essential for inducing protection against abscess formation. Vaccination of rats with B. fragilis PS A, PS B, or the S. pneumoniae type 1 capsule protected against intra-abdominal abscesses subsequent to intraperitoneal challenge with each of these polysaccharides. Chemical conversion of the free amino or carboxyl groups on PS A to uncharged N-acetyl or hydroxymethyl groups, respectively, abrogated the ability of this polymer to confer protection against polysaccharide-mediated abscess formation. Adoptive transfer of splenic T cells from polysaccharide-vaccinated rats to naive animals demonstrated that T cells mediated this protective activity. T cells transferred from animals vaccinated with a polysaccharide repeating unit (Salmonella typhi Vi antigen) that normally contains one carboxyl group but was chemically converted to a polymer that possesses both free amino and carboxyl groups (accomplished by de-N-acetylating the Vi antigen) protected naive T-cell recipients against polysaccharide-induced abscesses. These results demonstrate that a distinct structural motif associated with the B. fragilis polysaccharides is necessary for induction of protective immunity against abscess formation associated with intra-abdominal sepsis. However, protection is not antigen specific in a traditional sense. Rather, the protective ability of these structurally dissimilar polysaccharides is conferred by, and perhaps specific for, a motif of oppositely charged groups.
Distributed scheduling in multi-hop multi-band cognitive radio networks utilizing potential fields

A novel distributed scheduling method for minimizing packet routing delays in multi-hop multi-band cognitive radio networks is proposed. The proposed scheduling method exploits spectral awareness in the form of spatial potential fields that characterize sources of interference as repulsive forces and packet destinations as attractive forces. The proposed scheduling protocol operates in four phases, during which the secondary users exchange control information with their 1-hop neighbors. Extensive computer simulations in both static and dynamic environments are presented. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared against its centralized counterpart as well as a distributed scheme using exponential backoff. The proposed method offers an excellent tradeoff between complexity and performance and is very suitable for large mobile cognitive networks.