Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased 1,5-anhydroglucitol predicts glycemic remission in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes treated with short-term intensive insulin therapy.

BACKGROUND Short-term intensive insulin therapy has been shown to induce long-term glycemic remission in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. However, predictors of remission are still uncertain. This study was conducted to evaluate whether changes of 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5AG) and fructosamine (FA) could be a predictor of remission. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Newly diagnosed drug-naive patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 64) were enrolled. After baseline assessments, continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) was administered in all patients until euglycemia was achieved and maintained for another 2 weeks. Patients were subsequently followed monthly for 3 months. 1,5AG and FA were measured before and after therapy and at 1-month follow-up. RESULTS After CSII, A1C and FA decreased from baseline, whereas 1,5AG increased. 1,5AG was higher at 1-month follow-up (11.5 ± 4.1 vs. 6.7 ± 2.8 mg/L, P<0.001), whereas FA was lower (273.1 ± 56.1 vs. 316.2 ± 39.3 μmol/L, P = 0.021) in the remission group. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that 1,5AG at 1-month follow-up rather than FA was an independent predictor of remission after adjusting for other confounders (odds ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15-2.12, P = 0.004). The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was 0.85 (95% CI 0.75-0.96, P<0.001). The optimal cutoff point for 1,5AG at 1-month follow-up was 8.9 mg/L (specificity, 83.3%; sensitivity, 78.6%). CONCLUSIONS Improvement of 1,5AG predicts maintenance of glycemic remission after intensive insulin therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Automated, self-aligned assembly of 12 fibers per nanophotonic chip with standard microelectronics assembly tooling

Silicon photonics technology aims to leverage microelectronic chip fabrication facilities to bring disruptive advancements in photonic circuits cost and complexity. However, the large scale deployment of silicon photonics is muted by the difficulty of cost-efficient and scalable, single-mode optical inputs and outputs. To disruptively improve on cost and scalability, we believe that the best approach is to enable existing high-throughput microelectronic packaging tools for single-mode photonic packaging. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate such approach with automated assembly of standard-fiber arrays to photonic chips. We identify the main challenges and solutions to enabling high-throughput pick-and-place tooling for single-mode photonic assembly. These include challenges with fiber handling, placement accuracy and limitations in movement complexity. We present a manufacturability assessment of the employed fiber-to-chip self-alignment. We show through Monte Carlo tolerance analysis an expected manufacturing re-alignment accuracy of <;1.3 um despite initial misalignments of up to ~40 um. We believe the approach proposed and demonstrated here can substantially improve on single-mode optical input and output cost and scalability.
Multivariate detection of hybridization using conifer terpenes II: Analysis of terpene inheritance patterns in Pseudotsuga menziesii F1 hybrids

The compositions of the volatile leaf oils of Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii and var. glauca and their hybrids were examined and utilized to examine multi-variate methods for the detection of hybridization. The first cross (coastal parent 226 x inland parent 267) produced four hybrids whose oils were much like the inland (var. glauca) parent, and 6 hybrids with composition more intermediate between the parents. Eleven of the terpenes were generally intermediate in the hybrids, whereas the other 15 terpenes were transgressive. Truncation of the terpene values to those of the maximum or minimum value of the parents improved PCO ordination using character weights of Fs from ANOVA. A second set of hybrids between coastal parent 517 x intermediate parent 521 yielded similar kinds of variation in the terpenes of the hybrids. Only 2 compounds were intermediate between parents whereas 8 terpenoids showed dominance with values like one of the parents. Nine of the terpenes and percent oil yield were transgressive to both parents. Using F weighting and truncation of transgressives, improved the ordination separating parents from hybrids. However, again, the hybrids were ordinated in two groups. Selecting a balanced set of discriminating terpenes, aided in ordination. In a study of natural field hybridization, the terpenes should be useful to classify the hybrids, but it may be difficult to accurately classify back-crossed or F2 individuals. Published on-line: www.phytologia. org Phytologia 95(1): 42-57 (Feb. 1, 2013).
Efficacy and Potential for Resistance Selection of Antipseudomonal Treatments in a Mouse Model of Lung Infection by Hypermutable Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT Hypermutable Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains are found with high frequency in the lungs of patients with chronic infections and are associated with high antibiotic resistance rates. The in vivo consequences of hypermutation for treatment in a mouse model of lung infection using strain PAO1 and its hypermutable derivative PAOΔmutS are investigated. Groups of 30 mice were treated for 3 days with humanized regimens of ciprofloxacin (CIP), tobramycin (TOB), CIP plus TOB, or placebo, and mortality, total lung bacterial load, and 4×- and 16×-MIC mutants were recorded. The rates of mutation and the initial in vivo frequencies of mutants (at the onset of treatment) were also estimated and the in vitro- and in vivo-selected mutants characterized. Since both strains had identical MICs, the same pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameters were obtained: area under the 24-h concentration-time curve (fAUC)/MIC = 385 for CIP and maximum concentration of drug in serum (fCmax)/MIC = 19 for TOB. Despite adequate PK/PD parameters, persistence of high bacterial numbers and amplification (50,000-fold) of resistant mutants (MexCD-OprJ hyperexpression) were documented with CIP treatment for PAOΔmutS, in contrast to complete resistance suppression for PAO1 (P < 0.01), showing that conventional PK/PD parameters may not be applicable to infections by hypermutable strains. On the other hand, the efficacy of TOB monotherapy in terms of mortality reduction and bacterial load was very low regardless of the strain but not due to resistance development, since mutants were not selected for PAO1 and were only modestly amplified for PAOΔmutS. Finally, the CIP-plus-TOB combination was synergistic, further reducing mortality and bacterial load and completely preventing resistance even for PAOΔmutS (P < 0.01 compared to monotherapy), showing that it is possible to suppress resistance selection in infections by hypermutable P. aeruginosa using appropriate combined regimens.
Room temperature alcohol sensors based on PANi/MWCNT composite thin film

Alcohol gas sensors based on composite thin film of polyaniline (PANi) with multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) have been prepared using spin coating technique. PANi was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline using ammonium persulfate in hydrochloric (HCl) medium. The PANi was doped with MWCNT in presence of NMP by solution mixing method and spun on aluminum interdigitated electrodes. The as-deposited thin film was converted into conducting form using HCl doping process. The formation and morphology of PANi/MWCNT composite thin films were analyzed with UV/VIS spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. Their electrical and gas response characteristic was measured under vapors of methanol, ethanol and acetone at room temperature. The results demonstrate that PANi/MWCNT composite thin film exhibit the highest sensitivity to methanol and the lowest to acetone. Their responses show good recovery time and high selectivity for alcohol vapors.
An Approximation of the Riccati Equation in Large-Scale Systems With Application to Adaptive Optics

The problem of finding linear optimal controllers and estimators, like linear quadratic regulators or Kalman filters (KFs), is solved by means of a matrix Riccati equation. A bottleneck of such an approach is that the numerical solvers for this equation are computationally intensive for systems with a high number of states, making it difficult if not impossible to apply optimal (minimum-variance) control and/or estimation methods to large-scale systems. A specific example is adaptive optics (AO) system for the next generation of extremely large telescopes, for which the number of states to be estimated by a KF is in the order of the tens of thousands, making the numerical solution of the Riccati equations problematic. In this paper, we show that for a special class of state-space systems, the discrete-time algebraic Riccati equation can be simplified with an approximation which leads to a closed-form solution, which can be computed more quickly and used as an alternative to standard numerical solvers. The class of systems for which this approximation holds includes a class of models widely employed in AO, namely autoregressive (AR) models of order 1 or 2 (AR1 and AR2). We verify a posteriori the accuracy and applicability of the proposed solution.
Applying "Lasso" Regression to Predict Future Visual Field Progression in Glaucoma Patients.

PURPOSE We evaluated the usefulness of various regression models, including least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression, to predict future visual field (VF) progression in glaucoma patients. METHODS Series of 10 VFs (Humphrey Field Analyzer 24-2 SITA-standard) from each of 513 eyes in 324 open-angle glaucoma patients, obtained in 4.9 ± 1.3 years (mean ± SD), were investigated. For each patient, the mean of all total deviation values (mTD) in the 10th VF was predicted using varying numbers of prior VFs (ranging from the first three VFs to all previous VFs) by applying ordinary least squares linear regression (OLSLR), M-estimator robust regression (M-robust), MM-estimator robust regression (MM-robust), skipped regression (Skipped), deepest regression (Deepest), and Lasso regression. Absolute prediction errors then were compared. RESULTS With OLSLR, prediction error varied between 5.7 ± 6.1 (using the first three VFs) and 1.2 ± 1.1 dB (using all nine previous VFs). Prediction accuracy was not significantly improved with M-robust, MM-robust, Skipped, or Deepest regression in almost all VF series; however, a significantly smaller prediction error was obtained with Lasso regression even with a small number of VFs (using first 3 VFs, 2.0 ± 2.2; using all nine previous VFs, 1.2 ± 1.1 dB). CONCLUSIONS Prediction errors using OLSLR are large when only a small number of VFs are included in the regression. Lasso regression offers much more accurate predictions, especially in short VF series.
The Semantic Spaces of Child-Directed Speech, Child Speech and Adult-directed Speech: A Manifold Perspective

Child-directed speech (CDS) is a talking style adopted by caregivers when they talk to toddlers (Snow, 1995). We consider the role of distributional semantic features of CDS in language acquisition. We view semantic structure as a manifold on which words lie. We compare the semantic structure of verbs in CDS to the semantic structure of child speech (CS) and adult-directed speech (ADS) by measuring how easy it is to align the manifolds. We find that it is easier to align verbs in CS to CDS than to align CS to ADS, suggesting that the semantic structure of CDS is reflected in child productions. We also find, by measuring verbs vertex degrees in a semantic graph, that a mixed initialized set of verbs with high degrees and medium degrees has the best performance among all alignments, suggesting that both semantic generality and diversity may be important for developing semantic representations.
Loss coefficient characterisation for high frequency, high flux density, electrical machine applications

This paper forms part of a broader study on the design of an unconventional, high speed, switched reluctance machine (SRM), for automotive traction applications making use of soft magnetic composite (SMC) material. The aim is to have this machine operate at a fundamental frequency of up to 4 kHz. Another characteristic is that switched reluctance machines tend to be operated in deep saturation a lot. Furthermore, the flux waveforms of these machine are non-sinusoidal in nature. Due to the expected high core loss, the main aim of the study in this paper is to accurately characterise the loss coefficients experimentally for eventual use in finite element (FE) analysis. The need for these experiments comes from the fact that very limited data is supplied by most manufacturers, especially at high frequencies and flux densities.
Isolation of Mutations Affecting the Development of Freezing Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh

We screened for mutations deleterious to the freezing tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. ecotype Columbia. Tolerance was assayed by the vigor and regrowth of intact plants after cold acclimation and freezing. From a chemically mutagenized population, we obtained 13 lines of mutants with highly penetrant phenotypes. In 5 of these, freezing sensitivity was attributable to chilling injury sustained during cold acclimation, but in the remaining 8 lines, the absence of injury prior to freezing suggested that they were affected specifically in the development of freezing tolerance. In backcrosses, freezing sensitivity from each line segregated as a single nuclear mutation. Complementation tests indicated that the 8 lines contained mutations in 7 different genes. The mutants' freezing sensitivity was also detectable in the leakage of electrolytes from frozen leaves. However, 1 mutant line that displayed a strong phenotype at the whole-plant level showed a relatively weak phenotype by the electrolyte leakage assay.
The Effect of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) Groats Addition to the Lard Diet on Antioxidant Parameters of Plasma and Selected Tissues in Wistar Rats

Recent studies demonstrated that high-fat diet increases oxidative stress in plasma and in a variety of tissues. Many researchers have been looking for natural products, which can reverse the effect of high fat diet. Recently, buckwheat is becoming common ingredient in functional food because of it properties. In study on buckwheat, it is known that, this plant plays roles as anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive. Nevertheless still little is known about buckwheat groats. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of addition of buckwheat groats to the fat diet (30% lard), on some antioxidant and oxidant stress parameters in plasma and selected tissues in Wistar rats. The experiment was carried out with three months old male Wistar rats ca. 250g of body weight fed for 5 weeks with either a high-fat (30% of lard) diet or control diet, with or without addition of buckwheat groats. In plasma biochemistry and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes were measured selected tissues: glutathione peroxidase (GPX), catalase (CAT) and the levels of total and reduced glutathione (GSH), free thiol groups (pSH), antioxidant potential of plasma (FRAP) and oxidant stress indices - proteins carbonyl groups (CO) and malonyldialdehyde concentration (MDA). Activity of catalase (CAT) in plasma of rats was significantly increased in buckwheat groats groups and activity of GPx3 in plasma of rats was decreased in buckwheat groups as compared to control group. The reduced glutathione (GSH) in plasma of rats was significantly increased and protein CO was significantly decreased in buckwheat groups as compared to controls. The lowered concentration of GSH was found in serum of rats fed buckwheat groats addition but it accompanied in 7-fold increase in reduced-to-oxidized glutatione ratio, significant increase in HDL and decrease in nonHDL concentration. Conclusions: Buckwheat groats indicate a beneficial effect in inhibiting protein and lipid peroxidation in rats and improved lipid profile. These results suggest that buckwheat groats exert a significant antioxidant potential and may be used as normal food constituent to ameliorate the oxidant-induced damage in organism. Keywords—Antioxidant, buckwheat, high-fat diet, rats.
International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group criteria for pediatric multiple sclerosis and immune-mediated central nervous system demyelinating disorders: revisions to the 2007 definitions

Background: There has been tremendous growth in research in pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and immune mediated central nervous system demyelinating disorders since operational definitions for these conditions were first proposed in 2007. Further, the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group (IPMSSG), which proposed the criteria, has expanded substantially in membership and in its international scope. Objective: The purpose of this review is to revise the 2007 definitions in order to incorporate advances in delineating the clinical and neuroradiologic features of these disorders. Methods: Through a consensus process, in which input was sought from the 150 members of the Study Group, criteria were drafted, revised and finalized. Final approval was sought through a web survey. Results: Revised criteria are proposed for pediatric acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, pediatric clinically isolated syndrome, pediatric neuromyelitis optica and pediatric MS. These criteria were approved by 93% or more of the 56 Study Group members who responded to the final survey. Conclusions: These definitions are proposed for clinical and research purposes. Their utility will depend on the outcomes of their application in prospective research.
Effective Elastic Modulus of Structured Adhesives: From Biology to Biomimetics

Micro- and nano-hierarchical structures (lamellae, setae, branches, and spatulae) on the toe pads of many animals play key roles for generating strong but reversible adhesion for locomotion. The hierarchical structure possesses significantly reduced, effective elastic modulus (Eeff), as compared to the inherent elastic modulus (Einh) of the corresponding biological material (and therefore contributes to a better compliance with the counterpart surface). Learning from nature, three types of hierarchical structures (namely self-similar pillar structure, lamella–pillar hybrid structure, and porous structure) have been developed and investigated.
Evolutionary speed limited by water in arid Australia

The covariation of biodiversity with climate is a fundamental pattern in nature. However, despite the ubiquity of this relationship, a consensus on the ultimate cause remains elusive. The evolutionary speed hypothesis posits direct mechanistic links between ambient temperature, the tempo of micro-evolution and, ultimately, species richness. Previous research has demonstrated faster rates of molecular evolution in warmer climates for a broad range of poikilothermic and homeothermic organisms, in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. In terrestrial systems, species richness increases with both temperature and water availability and the interaction of those terms: productivity. However, the influence of water availability as an independent variable on micro-evolutionary processes has not been examined previously. Here, using methodology that limits the potentially confounding role of cladogenetic and demographic processes, we report, to our knowledge, the first evidence that woody plants living in the arid Australian Outback are evolving more slowly than related species growing at similar latitudes in moist habitats on the mesic continental margins. These results support a modified evolutionary speed explanation for the relationship between the water-energy balance and plant diversity patterns.
Relationships among common measures of student performance and scores on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination.

OBJECTIVE To determine relationships among several common measures of performance prior to and during veterinary school (ie, Graduate Record Examination [GRE] scores, undergraduate grade point average [UGPA], Qualifying Examination [QE] scores, overall grade point average during veterinary school [VGPA], and scores for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination [NAVLE]). DESIGN Longitudinal retrospective study. SAMPLE POPULATION 192 students from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine and 152 students from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. PROCEDURES Student UGPA, VGPA, and GRE score data were gathered during the normal admissions and academic processes. The QE was administered as a low-stakes examination at both institutions for the purposes of curricular assessment. Scores on the NAVLE were provided with student permission by the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Path analysis was used to explore hypothesized relationships among variables. RESULTS GRE scores and UGPA predicted NAVLE scores indirectly through QE scores and VGPA, whereas QE scores and VGPA directly predicted NAVLE scores. The resulting models explained 58% to 62% of the variance in NAVLE scores, with QE score being the strongest predictor. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that for veterinary school students, GRE scores, UGPA, VGPA, and QE scores could be used to predict scores on the NAVLE. This suggests that these measures could prove useful to veterinary schools when admitting students or preparing them for the NAVLE.
An augmented Lagrangian trust region method for equality constrained optimization

In this paper we propose an augmented Lagrangian trust region method for equality constrained optimization. Different from standard augmented Lagrangian methods which minimize the augmented Lagrangian function for fixed Lagrange multiplier and penalty parameter at each iteration, the proposed method tries to minimize its second-order approximation function. We propose a new strategy for adjusting the penalty parameter. With adaptive update of Lagrange multipliers, we prove the global convergence of the proposed method. Numerical results on test problems from the CUTEr collection are also reported.
Automating standard intelligence tests.

Standard intelligence tests are a method of assessment which are widely used. Critics of such tests point out that they are time-consuming to administer and that the attitude of the administrator may affect the testee's performance.This paper describes a unit, based on a slide projector, that will administer multiple-choice tests automatically. The logic, incorporated in the control unit, scores the tests and displays the results.The equipment has been demonstrated to be convenient and reliable in use and the results shown to be entirely comparable with the usual book method of administration.
Health-Related Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Older Whites and African Americans

Objective: This study assesses structural and functional characteristics of Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) domains using community-based samples of older Whites and African Americans. Although the eight domains of the SF-36 have by convention been collapsed into two summary categories— physical health and mental health—the authors examine a three-factor model including physical health, mental health, and general well-being. They hypothesized that the general well-being factor would be a mediator between physical and mental health in both groups. Method: Analyses using structural equation modeling provide support for the approach. Results: In both White and African American samples, the three-factor model demonstrated a better fit than the two-factor model. Also, in both groups, general well-being mediated the relationship between physical health and mental health. Discussion: Findings suggest that general well-being serves as an intervening step between physical and mental health in both White and African American older adults.