Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coronary-artery calcification in young adults with end-stage renal disease who are undergoing dialysis.

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease is common in older adults with end-stage renal disease who are undergoing regular dialysis, but little is known about the prevalence and extent of cardiovascular disease in children and young adults with end-stage renal disease. METHODS We used electron-beam computed tomography (CT) to screen for coronary-artery calcification in 39 young patients with end-stage renal disease who were undergoing dialysis (mean [+/-SD] age, 19+/-7 years; range, 7 to 30) and 60 normal subjects 20 to 30 years of age. In those with evidence of calcification on CT scanning, we determined its extent. The results were correlated with the patients' clinical characteristics, serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations, and other biochemical variables. RESULTS None of the 23 patients who were younger than 20 years of age had evidence of coronary-artery calcification, but it was present in 14 of the 16 patients who were 20 to 30 years old. Among those with calcification, the mean calcification score was 1157+/-1996, and the median score was 297. By contrast, only 3 of the 60 normal subjects had calcification. As compared with the patients without coronary-artery calcification, those with calcification were older (26+/-3 vs. 15+/-5 years, P<0.001) and had been undergoing dialysis for a longer period (14+/-5 vs. 4+/-4 years, P< 0.001). The mean serum phosphorus concentration, the mean calcium-phosphorus ion product in serum, and the daily intake of calcium were higher among the patients with coronary-artery calcification. Among 10 patients with calcification who underwent follow-up CT scanning, the calcification score nearly doubled (from 125+/-104 to 249+/-216, P=0.02) over a mean period of 20+/-3 months. CONCLUSIONS Coronary-artery calcification is common and progressive in young adults with end-stage renal disease who are undergoing dialysis.
Using Haptic Technology for Education in Chemistry

In recent years the field of haptic and gesture studies is expanding and improvements are being made by developing, testing and refining devices along with software to give a sense of touch or to use gestures to interact and "feel" three dimensional virtual objects. Such technologies have a significant role to play in education. The uses of modern devices based on gesture or haptic technologies and their applications in chemistry education, for example, may provide a platform to the students to better comprehend ideas about several chemical subjects. This paper covers the fundamentals of such technologies, studies a few commonly used devices, and concludes with the current use in education. A brief description of an educational gesture-based system for chemistry experiment simulations and molecular visualization is presented in this paper. It also describes some didactic scenarios and discusses current results and future works.
Characteristics of Non-Opioid Substance Misusers Among Patients Enrolling in Opioid Treatment Programs: A Latent Class Analysis

Using latent class analysis, this study examined the pattern of non-opioid substance misuse among 19,101 enrollees into 85 opioid treatment programs. The most frequent non-opioid drugs were cannabis, anti-anxiety medications, and cocaine. Four non-opioid drug use latent classes were identified: low-use (73%), prescription drug use (16%), marijuana and cocaine use (8.5%), and poly-drug use (2.5%). Compared to the low-use class, participants in the other classes were more likely to be female, Caucasian, use tobacco, have chronic pain, and use prescription opioids either with or without heroin. Recognition of characteristics derived from these classes can improve opioid treatment program services.
Biochemical and histologic findings in experimental pyelonephritis due to Ureaplasma urealyticum

Ureaplasma urealyticum has previously been shown to be capable of persisting in the rat kidney for up to 6 months following a single reflux challenge. We examined kidney tissue from infected animals for evidence of renal damage by using standard cytochemical and immunoenzyme methods. We also monitored changes in renal function during a 6-month study period with standard biochemical assays of plasma and urine. Histologic examination showed tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and a mononuclear infiltrate in proportion to ureaplasma counts from renal tissue. The most severe damage was accompanied by hyaline cast formation within tubules which gave rise to the typical thyroidlike appearance of chronic pyelonephritis involving conventional urinary pathogens. Macroscopic renal scarring occurred in some animals. Although damage to the renal medulla was moderate to severe, only minor changes were seen in the cortex, and glomeruli were invariably spared. Biochemical tests of renal function showed similar changes in infected and uninfected animals during the study period. Interstitial inflammation was characterized by a mononuclear cell infiltrate in which polymorphonuclear leukocytes were not conspicuous. It is evident that U. urealyticum is capable of producing chronic pyelonephritis in the rat after a single reflux challenge. The results of this study have obvious implications for the pathogenicity of these bacteria in human pyelonephritis.
Robust Bayesian decision theory applied to optimal dosage

We give a model for constructing an utility function u(θ,d) in a dose prescription problem. θ and d denote respectively the patient state of health and the dose. The construction of u is based on the conditional probabilities of several variables. These probabilities are described by logistic models. Obviously, u is only an approximation of the true utility function and that is why we investigate the sensitivity of the final decision with respect to the utility function. We construct a class of utility functions from u and approximate the set of all Bayes actions associated to that class. Then, we measure the sensitivity as the greatest difference between the expected utilities of two Bayes actions. Finally, we apply these results to weighing up a chemotherapy treatment of lung cancer. This application emphasizes the importance of measuring robustness through the utility of decisions rather than the decisions themselves. Copyright© 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutational Status and Brain Metastases in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Introduction Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in non–small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) may be more common in patients with brain metastases. Previous studies, however, did not adjust for effects of confounding variables. Methods This retrospective study included 1,522 consecutive patients with NSCLC, whose tumors were diagnosed and tested for EGFR mutations at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha, NE) and Tata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai, India). Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify any association between EGFR status and clinical factors. Results EGFR mutations were more common in females than males (38.7% v 24.8%), Asians than whites (31.3% v 13.4%), nonsmokers than smokers (40.2% v 14.6%), alcohol nonconsumers than users (32.4% v 15.8%), adenocarcinoma than other histology types (32.7% v 10.3%), and patients with brain metastases than extracranial or no metastases (39.4% v 29.8% v 15.1%; P < .001 for all comparisons). There was a higher likelihood of an EGFR mutation among patients with brain metastases (odds ratio, 1.8; P < .001). The median overall survival (OS) was 19.8 months. Patients with brain metastases had a shorter median OS (15 v 20.6 months; P = .02). However, in the cohort of EGFR mutation–positive patients, there was no difference in median OS between patients with and without brain metastases (20.8 v 25.1 months; P = .11). Conclusion There is a nearly two-fold higher incidence of EGFR mutations in NSCLC among patients with brain metastases at diagnosis. EGFR mutations did not predict for outcomes from brain metastases.
The fast and the furious: introducing strategic management using an experiential approach

This paper outlines an exercise designed to preview primary strategic elements through an in-class team-based experiential exercise. It discusses the outcomes from postgraduate classes and describes an organisation structure variant presented to an undergraduate class. The paper illustrates how instructors can use the exercise as presented, can adapt the narrative context to fit their course requirements, or develop their own exercise. The exercise served as an effective vehicle to preview course content, begin structured interactions among students, open a dialogue between students and instructors and to create a participative and interactive climate. The exercise, instructions and material lists are presented.
Efficient cell-free production of olfactory receptors: Detergent optimization, structure, and ligand binding analyses

High-level production of membrane proteins, particularly of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in heterologous cell systems encounters a number of difficulties from their inherent hydrophobicity in their transmembrane domains, which frequently cause protein aggregation and cytotoxicity and thus reduce the protein yield. Recent advances in cell-free protein synthesis circumvent those problems to produce membrane proteins with a yield sometimes exceeding the cell-based approach. Here, we report cell-free production of a human olfactory receptor 17-4 (hOR17-4) using the wheat germ extract. Using the simple method, we also successful produced two additional olfactory receptors. To obtain soluble olfactory receptors and to increase yield, we directly added different detergents in varying concentrations to the cell-free reaction. To identify a purification buffer system that maintained the receptor in a nonaggregated form, we developed a method that uses small-volume size-exclusion column chromatography combined with rapid and sensitive dot-blot detection. Different buffer components including salt concentration, various detergents and detergent concentration, and reducing agent and its concentrations were evaluated for their ability to maintain the cell-free produced protein stable and nonaggregated. The purified olfactory receptor displays a typical a α-helical CD spectrum. Surface plasmon resonance measurements were used to show binding of a known ligand undecanal to hOR17-4. Our approach to produce a high yield of purified olfactory receptor is a milestone toward obtaining a large quantity of olfactory receptors for designing bionic sensors. Furthermore, this simple approach may be broadly useful not only for other classes of GPCRs but also for other membrane proteins.
Modulation of Gene Activity in Androgen-Induced Sex Reversal in the Garden Lizard, Calotes versicolor

The Indian garden lizard, Calotes versicolor, an apparently non-chromosomal sex determination (CSD), non-temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) species, represents a unique category of reptiles where male hormone-treated embryos emerge as males. The present paper traces the modulation of gene activity in the embryonic gonad following dihydrotestosterone (DHT) administration on day 8 of embryonic development. Expression of CvAR, CvWnt4, CvDmrt1 and CvSox9 genes has been studied in the mesonephros gonadal complex (MGC) 2 and 6 days after the treatment by RT-PCR and real-time qPCR. In the treated (30 µg/egg) embryos (sacrificed 48 h after treatment), CvAR was expressed in almost all the MGCs in contrast to its dimorphic expression in controls. CvWnt4, the autosomal ovary-specific gene, which has only basal level of expression in controls, was further down-regulated in the treated embryos. The dimorphic expression pattern of the male-specific CvSox9 and CvDmrt1 does not deviate from that seen in controls, suggesting that it acts upstream of CvAR. It appears that in C. versicolor, the primary sex determining switch for testis is essentially genetic (CvSox9 and CvDmrt1), but the genetic pathway of ovary differentiation, which is initiated later in development, is flexible enough to be modulated by hormones, as in other TSD and genetic sex determination (GSD) reptiles. One of the mechanisms of this flexibility, it appears, could be silencing of the ovary-inducing genes by the male hormones.
From Monuments to Miniatures: Emergence of Stamps and Related Image-bearing Objects during the Neolithic

In southwest Asia, the emphasis on architecture and burial ritual, which was instrumental in the construction of place-bound identities during the Early Neolithic (c. 10,000–7000 cal. bc), shifted toward an emphasis on miniature portable objects, such as figurines, stamps and ceramics, during the Later Neolithic (c. 7000–5000 cal. bc). Through a focus on stamps, this article argues that the appearance and proliferation of image-bearing portable objects is related to a new understanding of identities around emergent concepts of ‘house’ and ‘community’, which reordered the terms of social affiliation as well as difference and hierarchy at various scales. In terms of an iconographical approach, stamp imagery shows some affinities with the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic themes of the Early Neolithic; however, the majority of the Later Neolithic stamp imagery is composed of highly abstract types that cannot immediately be associated with the themes of the Early Neolithic. A close examination would indicate that these abstract types were also reproduced by manipulating ancestral imagery. It would also appear that certain types of images were employed on certain types of objects, such as ceramics and figurines, in increasingly structured ways. Arguably, these seemingly different object classes are an outcome of a seamless historical discourse of raw materials, images and forms, continuously shifting the conceptualization of self and society. It is in this context that stamps may be treated as figurines of a highly abstract, highly crafted and highly standardized nature. While the clay figurines appropriated social identities in the domestic sphere, stamps and ceramics were instrumental in linking multiple scales of identity formation, from personal to communal. Reconsidering the material shift from the Early to Late Neolithic, I suggest that the spreading regulation of appropriating body and food was central in the construction of a convergent politics of reproduction around the concepts of ‘house’.
Disjunctive Normal Shape Boltzmann Machine

Shape Boltzmann machine (a type of Deep Boltzmann machine) is a powerful tool for shape modelling; however, has some drawbacks in representation of local shape parts. Disjunctive Normal Shape Model (DNSM) is a strong shape model that can effectively represent local parts of objects. In this paper, we propose a new shape model based on Shape Boltzmann Machine and Disjunctive Normal Shape Model which we call Disjunctive Normal Shape Boltzmann Machine (DNSBM). DNSBM learns binary distributions of shapes by taking both local and global shape constraints into account using a type of Deep Boltzmann Machine. The samples generated using DNSBM look realistic. Moreover, DNSBM is capable of generating novel samples that differ from training examples by exploiting the local shape representation capability of DNSM. We demonstrate the performance of DNSBM for shape completion on two different data sets in which exploitation of local shape parts is important for capturing the statistical variability of the underlying shape distributions. Experimental results show that DNSBM is a strong model for representing shapes that are composed of local parts.
Quantifying the Gains of Compressive Sensing for Telemetering Applications

In this paper we study a new streaming Compressive Sensing (CS) technique that aims to replace high speed Analog to Digital Converters (ADC) for certain classes of signals and reduce the artifacts that arise from block processing when conventional CS is applied to continuous signals. We compare the performance of both streaming and block processing methods on several types of signals and quantify the signal reconstruction quality when packet loss is applied to the transmitted sampled data.
Mechanisms underlying nano-sized air-pollution-mediated progression of atherosclerosis: carbon black causes cytotoxic injury/inflammation and inhibits cell growth in vascular endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies indicate a significant link between exposure to environmental air pollution and mortality and morbidity from ischemic heart disease. Because nanoparticles can translocate into blood circulation, the present study aimed to clarify their direct effects on human vascular endothelial cells (ECs). METHODS AND RESULTS Human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) were treated with carbon black (CB), a component of diesel exhaust particles, for 24 h. CB induced cytotoxic morphological changes such as cytosolic vacuole formation, cell disorientation and decreased density. Lactate dehydrogenase assay revealed that CB induced cytotoxic injury in both the cells and plasma membranes. Proliferation assay showed that CB inhibited cell growth. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 but not vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 was induced by CB. CB reduced the expressions of connexin37 and endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase. Microarray analysis revealed the induction of pro-inflammatory molecules by CB. CONCLUSIONS The present results demonstrate for the first time that CB directly affects the endothelium, causing cytotoxic injury, inflammatory responses, and inhibition of cell growth. As EC injury/inflammation and membrane disintegration are related to the initiation of atherosclerosis, and NO is anti-atherogenic and anti-thrombogenic, the direct effects of nanoparticles on ECs may represent one mechanism behind environmental air pollution-mediated atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease.
Sensitivity study of a polarization imaging-based target detection system

Polarization detection has become a useful complement to traditional optical detection techniques because of its robustness to ambient disturbances. However the uncertainties of sensitive factors such as observation geometry and imaging band limit the practical use of polarization imaging in target detection. To study its sensitivity, two target detection experiments of stealth and camouflage tank models under sand and grass background are conducted. Results show that, the Q component calculated by the differential operation of 0° and 90° polarized images provides the largest polarization contrast between target and background than other components. Finally the optimal configuration of polarization imaging-based target detection system is determined and verified by measuring polarization contrast of Q component under different azimuth and inclination of light source and camera, as well as four imaging bands within visible spectrum.
Beyond topology: coevolution of structure and flux in metabolic networks

Interactions between the structure of a metabolic network and its functional properties underlie its evolutionary diversification, but the mechanism by which such interactions arise remains elusive. Particularly unclear is whether metabolic fluxes that determine the concentrations of compounds produced by a metabolic network, are causally linked to a network's structure or emerge independently of it. A direct empirical study of populations where both structural and functional properties vary among individuals’ metabolic networks is required to establish whether changes in structure affect the distribution of metabolic flux. In a population of house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), we reconstructed full carotenoid metabolic networks for 442 individuals and uncovered 11 structural variants of this network with different compounds and reactions. We examined the consequences of this structural diversity for the concentrations of plumage‐bound carotenoids produced by flux in these networks. We found that concentrations of metabolically derived, but not dietary carotenoids, depended on network structure. Flux was partitioned similarly among compounds in individuals of the same network structure: within each network, compound concentrations were closely correlated. The highest among‐individual variation in flux occurred in networks with the strongest among‐compound correlations, suggesting that changes in the magnitude, but not the distribution of flux, underlie individual differences in compound concentrations on a static network structure. These findings indicate that the distribution of flux in carotenoid metabolism closely follows network structure. Thus, evolutionary diversification and local adaptations in carotenoid metabolism may depend more on the gain or loss of enzymatic reactions than on changes in flux within a network structure.
Predictors of persistent postsurgical pain following total knee arthroplasty: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Background: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a commonly performed procedure, primarily when knee joints have been damaged by progressive arthritis; however, over 20% of surgical patients develop persistent postsurgical pain (PPSP). We plan to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of factors associated with the development of PPSP following TKA. Methods: We will include peer-reviewed cohort or case–control studies that explore, in an adjusted model, factors associated with the development of PPSP after TKA. We will identify eligible studies, in any language, by a systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and PsycINFO, from inception of each database. Pairs of reviewers will, independently and in duplicate, screen titles and abstracts of identified citations, review the full texts of potentially eligible studies, and extract information from eligible studies. When possible, we will pool estimates of association for all independent variables reported by more than one study and report both an adjusted odds ratio and the absolute risk increase and associated 95% confidence intervals (Cis). We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to summarize the quality of evidence for all meta-analyses as high, moderate, low, or very low. Discussion: Our results will facilitate identification of patients at risk for the development of PPSP following TKA, highlight promising predictors for further study, and help guide the design of interventional studies to improve prognosis of high-risk patients.
How Russia's Internet Research Agency Built its Disinformation Campaign

In this article we analyse features of the information influence operations run by the St. Petersburg based Internet Research Agency, targeted at Europe. Informed by publicly available ‘open source’ data, the analysis delineates three key tactics that underpinned their disinformation campaign: account buying; ‘follower fishing’; and narrative switching. Both individually and collectively these were designed to build the reach, impact and influence of the ideologically loaded messages that social media account operators authored and amplified. The particular value of the analysis is that whilst a lot of recent public and political attention has focussed upon Kremlin backed disinformation in respect of the 2016 United States presidential election, far less work has addressed their European activities.