Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selective Hepatic Insulin Resistance, VLDL Overproduction, and Hypertriglyceridemia

Insulin plays a central role in regulating energy metabolism, including hepatic transport of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)–associated triglyceride. Hepatic hypersecretion of VLDL and consequent hypertriglyceridemia leads to lower circulating high-density lipoprotein levels and generation of small dense low-density lipoproteins characteristic of the dyslipidemia commonly observed in metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Physiological fluctuations of insulin modulate VLDL secretion, and insulin inhibition of VLDL secretion upon feeding may be the first pathway to become resistant in obesity that leads to VLDL hypersecretion. This review summarizes the role of insulin–related signaling pathways that determine hepatic VLDL production. Disruption in signaling pathways that reduce generation of the second messenger phosphatidylinositide (3,4,5) triphosphate downstream of activated phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase underlies the development of VLDL hypersecretion. As insulin resistance progresses, a number of pathways are altered that further augment VLDL hypersecretion, including hepatic inflammatory pathways. Insulin plays a complex role in regulating glucose metabolism, and it is not surprising that the role of insulin in VLDL and lipid metabolism will prove equally complex.
One-dimensional nanowires of pseudoboehmite (aluminum oxyhydroxide γ-AlOOH)

Significance Pseudoboehmite (PB) is a poorly crystallized variant of boehmite, but its crystal structure and morphology have not been clearly understood. In particular, PB gel crystals are formed in an aqueous solution, so the interface between the crystalline surface and water is of crucial importance for understanding its properties and growth mechanism. Here we report the detailed structures of fibrous PB crystals obtained from high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction patterns. Some of the fibers consist of only two layers of an Al–O octahedral double-sheet ribbon structure, which is really a 1D structure. The findings will broaden the understandings in classical but important fields of colloid science and clay mineralogy. We report the discovery of a 1D crystalline structure of aluminum oxyhydroxide. It was found in a commercial product of fibrous pseudoboehmite (PB), γ-AlOOH, synthesized easily with low cost. The thinnest fiber found was a ribbon-like structure of only two layers of an Al–O octahedral double sheet having a submicrometer length along its c axis and 0.68-nm thickness along its b axis. This thickness is only slightly larger than half of the lattice parameter of the b-axis unit cell of the boehmite crystal (b/2 = 0.61 nm). Moreover, interlayer splittings having an average width of 1 nm inside the fibrous PB are found. These wider interlayer spaces may have intercalation of water, which is suggested by density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The fibers appear to grow as almost isolated individual filaments in aqueous Al-hydroxide sols and the growth direction of fibrous PB is always along its c axis.
Arthroscopic Surgery or Physical Therapy for Patients With Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial With 2-Year Follow-up

Background: Arthroscopic hip surgery has risen 18-fold in the past decade; however, there is a dearth of clinical trials comparing surgery with nonoperative management. Purpose: To determine the comparative effectiveness of surgery and physical therapy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods: Patients were recruited from a large military hospital after referral to the orthopaedic surgery clinic and were eligible for surgery. Of 104 eligible patients, 80 elected to participate, and the majority were active-duty service members (91.3%). No patients withdrew because of adverse events. The authors randomly selected patients to undergo either arthroscopic hip surgery (surgery group) or physical therapy (rehabilitation group). Patients in the rehabilitation group began a 12-session supervised clinic program within 3 weeks, and patients in the surgery group were scheduled for the next available surgery at a mean of 4 months after enrollment. Patient-reported outcomes of pain, disability, and perception of improvement over a 2-year period were collected. The primary outcome was the Hip Outcome Score (HOS; range, 0-100 [lower scores indicating greater disability]; 2 subscales: activities of daily living and sport). Secondary measures included the International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33), Global Rating of Change (GRC), and return to work at 2 years. The primary analysis was on patients within their original randomization group. Results: Statistically significant improvements were seen in both groups on the HOS and iHOT-33, but the mean difference was not significant between the groups at 2 years (HOS activities of daily living, 3.8 [95% CI, –6.0 to 13.6]; HOS sport, 1.8 [95% CI, –11.2 to 14.7]; iHOT-33, 6.3 [95% CI, –6.1 to 18.7]). The median GRC across all patients was that they “felt about the same” (GRC = 0). Two patients assigned to the surgery group did not undergo surgery, and 28 patients in the rehabilitation group ended up undergoing surgery. A sensitivity analysis of “actual surgery” to “no surgery” did not change the outcome. Twenty (33.3%) patients who underwent surgery and 4 (33.3%) who did not undergo surgery were medically separated from military service at 2 years. Conclusion: There was no significant difference between the groups at 2 years. Most patients perceived little to no change in status at 2 years, and one-third of military patients were not medically fit for duty at 2 years. Limitations include a single hospital, a single surgeon, and a high rate of crossover. Registration: NCT01993615 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier)
Apriori Versions Based on MapReduce for Mining Frequent Patterns on Big Data

Pattern mining is one of the most important tasks to extract meaningful and useful information from raw data. This task aims to extract item-sets that represent any type of homogeneity and regularity in data. Although many efficient algorithms have been developed in this regard, the growing interest in data has caused the performance of existing pattern mining techniques to be dropped. The goal of this paper is to propose new efficient pattern mining algorithms to work in big data. To this aim, a series of algorithms based on the MapReduce framework and the Hadoop open-source implementation have been proposed. The proposed algorithms can be divided into three main groups. First, two algorithms [Apriori MapReduce (AprioriMR) and iterative AprioriMR] with no pruning strategy are proposed, which extract any existing item-set in data. Second, two algorithms (space pruning AprioriMR and top AprioriMR) that prune the search space by means of the well-known anti-monotone property are proposed. Finally, a last algorithm (maximal AprioriMR) is also proposed for mining condensed representations of frequent patterns. To test the performance of the proposed algorithms, a varied collection of big data datasets have been considered, comprising up to ${3} {\cdot } { {10}}^{{{18}}}$ transactions and more than 5 million of distinct single-items. The experimental stage includes comparisons against highly efficient and well-known pattern mining algorithms. Results reveal the interest of applying MapReduce versions when complex problems are considered, and also the unsuitability of this paradigm when dealing with small data.
Measuring the cumulative effect of G force on aviator neck pain.

INTRODUCTION In many studies, high G force is thought to be the most important causal factor of aviator neck pain. However, most of the studies performed to date have compared neck pain of aviators exposed to high G force with that of aviators not so exposed or with that of the general population. As a result, neck pain for aviators exposed to high G force as it relates to G level is not yet well-known. METHODS The subjects were 1003 male aviators who were sent an anonymous questionnaire. Subject variables were information on physical characteristics, lifestyle, and flight characteristics, including information about exposed maximum G (Gmax). There were three dependent variables: whether the aviator had experienced neck pain, frequency of neck pain, and subjective severity of neck pain. RESULT With the multivariate analysis, amount of Gmax exposure (frequency or monthly duration of Gmax exposure) had a statistically significant positive relationship with all three dependent variable. BMI, flight hours in current aircraft, and posterior seat type had a meaningful positive relationship with experience of neck pain and subjective severity of neck pain. Other characteristics, including Gmax level, were not significantly related with any dependent variables. DISCUSSION These results suggest that G level could have a ceiling effect; in other words, above a certain G level, aviator neck pain risk does not increase. This means that amount of Gmax exposure becomes more influential on aviator neck pain than the level of Gmax.
Lipids and Fatty Acids of Nudibranch Mollusks: Potential Sources of Bioactive Compounds

The molecular diversity of chemical compounds found in marine animals offers a good chance for the discovery of novel bioactive compounds of unique structures and diverse biological activities. Nudibranch mollusks, which are not protected by a shell and produce chemicals for various ecological uses, including defense against predators, have attracted great interest for their lipid composition. Lipid analysis of eight nudibranch species revealed dominant phospholipids, sterols and monoalkyldiacylglycerols. Among polar lipids, 1-alkenyl-2-acyl glycerophospholipids (plasmalogens) and ceramide-aminoethyl phosphonates were found in the mollusks. The fatty acid compositions of the nudibranchs differed greatly from those of other marine gastropods and exhibited a wide diversity: very long chain fatty acids known as demospongic acids, a series of non-methylene-interrupted fatty acids, including unusual 21:2∆7,13, and an abundance of various odd and branched fatty acids typical of bacteria. Symbiotic bacteria revealed in some species of nudibranchs participate presumably in the production of some compounds serving as a chemical defense for the mollusks. The unique fatty acid composition of the nudibranchs is determined by food supply, inherent biosynthetic activities and intracellular symbiotic microorganisms. The potential of nudibranchs as a source of biologically active lipids and fatty acids is also discussed.
Can Verbalization Remedy the Theory of Mind Deficit in Schizophrenia?

Several studies provide convincing evidence of a specific deficit in the theory of mind (ToM) in some patients with schizophrenia. This ToM deficit consists of an inability to attribute relevant mental states to others, and studies suggest it has to be regarded as functional and remediable through the use of reinforced context processing. To investigate this, the present study compares the performances of 25 schizophrenics and 25 matched controls in a task exploring ToM before and after the introduction of verbal material into the task, initially conceived as nonverbal. All the controls and half of the schizophrenic subjects who did not initially perform at the best level remediated with verbalization, while 9 of the schizophrenics exhibited no remediation. These poor performers are characterized by a longer duration of illness. The cognitive plasticity and the characteristics of patients who do/do not remediate are discussed in the light of findings obtained with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The clinical implication of these results is important since they suggest that some patients would benefit from cognitive rehabilitation in terms of their ability to attribute relevant mental states to others.
An Improved Control Scheme for Power Sharing between Distributed Power Converters in Islanded AC Microgrids

Power sharing in islanded AC microgrids is a growing area of interest for researchers. Droop control methods are basic de-centralized methods of power sharing between power converter nodes in an islanded AC microgrid. However, these methods have certain drawbacks including the need for a secondary control layer to correct deviations in voltage and frequency caused by droop action in primary power sharing control loop. Alternatively, multiagent consensus based control methods utilize localized controls at each converter node such that all nodes work to reach a consensus upon required parameters through communication based sharing of measured values. However, using these methods, reactive power sharing is not satisfactorily achieved. Moreover, the control response tends to be slower and in-accurate. This paper proposes a distributed consensus based control scheme to ensure proportional sharing of both active and reactive power between distributed converters in an islanded AC microgrid, whilst also restoring voltage and frequency to their nominal values. Effectiveness of the proposed method has been verified through simulation studies in MATLAB Sim power systems.
Bioimpedance assessment of hypohydration.

PURPOSE This study examined the utility of bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) for assessing total body water (TBW) changes associated with moderate (6-7% TBW), hypertonic (HH), and isotonic (IH) hypohydration. METHODS The TBW of nine men was measured using BIS (TBWBIS) when euhydrated (EU) and during HH and IH. These measurements were compared with TBW measurements obtained using isotope dilution (deuterium oxide; TBWD20) during EU, and the estimated TBWD20 during hypohydration calculated from body weight change. RESULTS Body weight loss was similar (P > 0.05) for HH (3.4 +/- 0.7 kg) and IH (2.9 +/- 0.7 kg). Plasma osmolality was higher (P < 0.05) on HH (292 +/- 4 mOsmol x kg(-1)) than EU (280 +/- 4 mOsmol x kg(-1)) and IH (284 +/- 3 mOsmol x kg(-1)), and higher (P < 0.05) during IH than EU. The measurements reflected a similar decrease (P < 0.05) in TBW during HH (TBWD20: 45.4 +/- 7.3 L, TBWBIS: 42.2 +/- 5.1 L) and IH (TBWD20: 45.8 +/- 7.5 L, TBWBIS: 42.0 +/- 4.9 L), compared with EU (TBWD20: 48.8 +/- 7.5 L, TBWBIS: 44.3 +/- 5.0 L), but TBWD20 was consistently higher (3.9 +/- 4.0 L, P < 0.05) than TBWBIS during all tests. TBWD20 and TBWBIS were correlated (P < 0.05) during EU (r = 0.87), HH (r = 0.84), and IH (r = 0.84). The change in TBW from EU during HH was greater (P < 0.05) for TBWD20 (3.5 +/- 0.8 L) than TBWBIS (2.1 +/- 0.9 L), but during IH the change in TBW reflected by TBWD20 (3.0 +/- 0.6 L) and TBWBIS (2.3 +/- 0.8 L) did not differ. The change in TBWD20 and TBWBIS between EU and hypohydration was correlated for HH (r = 0.77, P < 0.05), but not IH. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that BIS is sufficiently sensitive to detect moderate hypohydration; however, the resolution of this technique diminished with isotonic fluid loss.
Therapeutic Response to Paroxetine in Major Depressive Disorder Predicted by DNA Methylation

Background: Antidepressants have variable therapeutic effects, depending on genetic and environmental factors. Approximately 30% of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients do not respond significantly to antidepressants such as paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). However, the biological mechanisms behind this phenomenon are mostly unknown. Here, we examined the role of patients' epigenetic background in SSRI efficacy. Methods: Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of the peripheral blood of Japanese MDD patients was performed by using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Results: We compared the results of the 10 patients who best responded to paroxetine (BR) with the 10 worst responders (WR), and found 623 CpG sites with a >10% difference in DNA methylation level. Among them, 218 sites were nominally significant between BR and WR (p < 0.05), and 2 sites (cg00594917 and cg07260927) were significantly different after false discovery rate (FDR) correction (q < 0.05). The methylation difference was greatest at cg00594917, located in the first exon of the PPFIA4 gene, which codes for liprin-α (p = 0.00012). Hierarchical cluster analysis of 23 CpG sites in the PPFIA4 gene distinguished BR and WR, except for 1 WR patient. The cg07260927 site was located in the 5′UTR of the heparin sulfate-glucosamine 3-sulfotransferase 1 (HS3ST1) gene (p = 0.00013). Hierarchical cluster analysis of 28 CpG sites in HS3ST1 distinguished BR and WR, except for 1 WR and 2 BR patients. Conclusion: Our results suggest that patients' DNA methylation profile at specific genes such as PPFIA4 and HS3ST1 is associated with individual variations in therapeutic responses to paroxetine.
Title Potent PPARα Activator Derived from Tomato Juice , 13-oxo-9 , 11-Octadecadienoic Acid , Decreases Plasma and Hepatic Triglyceride in Obese Diabetic Mice

Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for development of several obesity-related diseases. The peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor a (PPARa) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates energy metabolism. Previously, we reported that 9-oxo-10,12-octadecadienoic acid (9-oxo-ODA) is presented in fresh tomato fruits and acts as a PPARa agonist. In addition to 9-oxo-ODA, we developed that 13-oxo-9,11-octadecadienoic acid (13-oxo-ODA), which is an isomer of 9-oxoODA, is present only in tomato juice. In this study, we explored the possibility that 13-oxo-ODA acts as a PPARa agonist in vitro and whether its effect ameliorates dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis in vivo. In vitro luciferase assay experiments revealed that 13-oxo-ODA significantly induced PPARa activation; moreover, the luciferase activity of 13-oxo-ODA was stronger than that of 9-oxo-ODA and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a precursor of 13-oxo-ODA and is well-known as a potent PPARa activator. In addition to in vitro experiment, treatment with 13-oxo-ODA decreased the levels of plasma and hepatic triglycerides in obese KK-Ay mice fed a high-fat diet. In conclusion, our findings indicate that 13-oxo-ODA act as a potent PPARa agonist, suggesting a possibility to improve obesity-induced dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis. Citation: Kim Y-i, Hirai S, Goto T, Ohyane C, Takahashi H, et al. (2012) Potent PPARa Activator Derived from Tomato Juice, 13-oxo-9,11-Octadecadienoic Acid, Decreases Plasma and Hepatic Triglyceride in Obese Diabetic Mice. PLoS ONE 7(2): e31317. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0031317 Editor: Matej Oresic, Governmental Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finland Received July 26, 2011; Accepted January 5, 2012; Published February , 2012 Copyright: 2012 Kim et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by Research and Development Projects for Application in Promoting New Policies Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Japan, by the Research and Development Program for New Bio-industry Initiatives, Japan, and by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (22228001 and 22380075). No additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: CK, TF, and SI are currently employed by the commercial company Nippon Del Monte Co., Ltd. CK, TF, and SI were non-commercially involved in this study. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS ONE polices on sharing data and materials. * E-mail: fat@kais.kyoto-u.ac. jp
Bone Strength Estimated by Micro‐Finite Element Analysis (µFEA) Is Heritable and Shares Genetic Predisposition With Areal BMD: The Framingham Study

Genetic factors contribute to the risk of bone fractures, partly because of effects on bone strength. High‐resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR‐pQCT) estimates bone strength using micro‐finite element analysis (µFEA). The goal of this study was to investigate if the bone failure load estimated by HR‐pQCT‐based µFEA is heritable and to what extent it shares genetic regulation with areal bone mineral density (aBMD). Bone microarchitecture was measured by HR‐pQCT at the ultradistal tibia and ultradistal radius in adults from the Framingham Heart Study (n = 1087, mean age 72 years; 57% women). Radial and tibial failure load in compression were estimated by µFEA. Femoral neck (FN) and ultradistal forearm (UD) aBMD were measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA). Heritability (h2) of failure load and aBMD and genetic correlations between them was estimated adjusting for covariates (age and sex). Failure load values at the non‐weight‐bearing ultradistal radius and at the weight‐bearing ultradistal tibia were highly correlated (r = 0.906; p < 0.001). Estimates of h2 adjusted for covariates were 0.522 for the radius and 0.497 for the tibia. Additional adjustment for height did not impact on the h2 results, but adjustment for aBMD at the UD and FN somewhat decreased h2 point estimates: 0.222 and 0.380 for radius and tibia, respectively. In bivariate analysis, there was a high phenotypic and genetic correlation between covariate‐adjusted failure load at the radius and UD aBMD (ρP = 0.826, ρG = 0.954, respectively), whereas environmental correlations were lower (ρE = 0.696), all highly significant (p < 0.001). Similar correlations were observed between tibial failure load and femoral neck aBMD (ρP = 0.577, ρG = 0.703, both p < 0.001; ρE = 0.432, p < 0.05). These data from adult members of families from a population‐based cohort suggest that bone strength of distal extremities estimated by micro‐finite element analysis is heritable and shares some genetic composition with areal BMD, regardless of the skeletal site. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
The Prevalence of Major Depression–PTSD Comorbidity among ICU Survivors in Five General Hospitals of Athens: A Cross-sectional Study

Recent progress in medicine and technology has produced a significant increase in the survival rate of critically ill patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbidity among patients after discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) and to compare it with patients who were discharged from the internal or surgical department. The study was conducted in five general hospitals in the greater Athens area. The sample of the research was composed of 198 patients. The point prevalence of major depression for ICU patients was 32.3%, while for non-ICU patients, it was 19.8%. In this study, 11.6% of the sample was found to meet the criteria for both major depression and PTSD. Early recognition and treatment of major depression and PTSD in critically ill patients could contribute to improved quality of life.
Deep convolutional neural network based unmanned surface vehicle maneuvering

The level of automated unmanned surface vehicle is always dependent on human interactions. An automated collision avoidance approach is proposed which is based on the visual system in order to improve it. Deep convolutional neural network (CNN) is a popular deep neural network for pattern recognition. Three types of encounter scenes are created and recorded which are used as the CNN training samples. The maneuver operations of these samples are conforming to the COLREGs rules. The CNN can predict the maneuvering operation according to the input scene as crewman after the training of CNN, and the central control system can take measures to avoid collision. Different simulations are taken to testify the validity of this approach.