Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulse pressure and progression of chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVES Pulse pressure (PP) is a predictor of adverse outcomes in patients on haemodialysis and with predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the relationship between PP and kidney disease progression is not clear in mild to moderate CKD, which this study aimed to investigate. METHODS CKD patients (n=329) were followed up for 172 +/- 93 days (mean +/- SD). The clinical characteristics at baseline were, age 64 +/- 17 years, 62% males, 27% diabetics, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 39 +/- 18 ml/min per 1.73 m2, systolic blood pressure (SBP) 141 +/- 24 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 76 +/- 12 mm Hg and PP 65 +/- 20 mm Hg. On follow-up, eGFR decreased (39 +/- 18 vs. 38+/-18 ml/min per 1.73 m2; p<0.01), SBP and PP improved (141 +/- 24 mm Hg vs. 133 +/- 19 mm Hg; p<0.001; and 65 +/- 20 mm Hg vs. 59+/-17 mm Hg; p<0.001), and DBP was unchanged. RESULTS Declining kidney function as assessed by eGFR was inversely related to baseline SBP (r=-0.15; p<0.01) and PP (r=-0.18; p<0.001), but no relationship with DBP was observed. During follow-up, baseline PP correlated with declining eGFR (r=-0.15; p<0.01) similar to SBP (r=-0.15; p<0.01), but DBP did not. Patients with declining eGFR had higher PP (69 +/- 20 mm Hg vs. 62 +/- 20 mm Hg; p<0.005), higher SBP (145 +/- 23 mm Hg vs. 138 +/- 25 mm Hg; p<0.05) but similar DBP (76 +/- 12 mm Hg vs. 76 +/- 12 mm Hg; p=0.8) compared with patients with stable eGFR. CONCLUSIONS Baseline PP was the only predictor of eGFR decline adjusted for age, baseline eGFR, diabetes, haemoglobin and use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers. PP >65 mm Hg was associated declining renal function (log rank chi-square; p<0.05). This study suggests that PP is a better predictor of adverse renal outcome even in mild to moderate CKD, than DBP or even SBP.
Brain blood flow changes in depressed patients treated with interpersonal psychotherapy or venlafaxine hydrochloride: preliminary findings.

BACKGROUND Functional brain imaging studies in major depression have suggested abnormalities of areas, including the frontal cortex, cingulate gyrus, basal ganglia, and temporal cortex. We hypothesized that venlafaxine hydrochloride and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) might each alter brain blood flow in some or all of these areas on sequential single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans. METHODS Twenty-eight men and women aged 30 to 53 years with a DSM-IV major depressive episode, a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) rating of 18 or higher, and antidepressant-naive for at least 6 months were studied. After baseline (99m)technetium-hexa-methyl-propylene-amine-oxime scan, 1-T magnetic resonance imaging, and psychometric ratings, patients were assigned to different treatments. Thirteen patients had 1-hour weekly sessions of IPT from the same supervised therapist (E.M.). Fifteen patients took 37.5 mg twice-daily of venlafaxine hydrochloride. Single-photon emission computed tomography scans and ratings were repeated at 6 weeks. RESULTS Both treatment groups improved substantially, more so with venlafaxine (mean [SD] HAM-D scores at pretreatment: IPT, 22.7 [2.7], and venlafaxine, 22.4 [3.1]; and posttreatment: IPT, 16.2 [7.1], and venlafaxine, 10.9 [8.6]). No patients had structural brain abnormalities. On analysis with statistical parametric mapping 96, the venlafaxine group showed right posterior temporal and right basal ganglia activation (P =.01), while the IPT group had limbic right posterior cingulate and right basal ganglia activation (P =.01). CONCLUSIONS This preliminary investigation has shown limbic blood flow increase with IPT yet not venlafaxine, while both treatments demonstrated increased basal ganglia blood flow. This was, however, a short trial with a small sample, no control group, and different symptom reduction in the 2 groups.
The contents of long-term memory and the emergence of knowledge

Through a review of the literature, this paper proposes arguments in favour of a multimodal, dynamic, functional, and situational conception of memory. Memory is assumed to contain traces that reflect past experiences. The properties of these experiences are considered to be distributed across multiple neuronal systems, which are responsible, in particular, for sensorimotor and emotional processing. Memory is dynamic because knowledge emerges almost continuously from the activation and integration of these multimodal components. Memory is functional and situational because knowledge emerges from the subject's activity in a given situation, that is from a type of resonance between the properties of the past experiences that have shaped the neuronal networks and the properties of present experiences.
Short-Term Benefit From Oral Vancomycin Treatment of Regressive-Onset Autism

In most cases symptoms of autism begin in early infancy. However, a subset of children appears to develop normally until a clear deterioration is observed. Many parents of children with "regressive"-onset autism have noted antecedent antibiotic exposure followed by chronic diarrhea. We speculated that, in a subgroup of children, disruption of indigenous gut flora might promote colonization by one or more neurotoxin-producing bacteria, contributing, at least in part, to their autistic symptomatology. To help test this hypothesis, 11 children with regressive-onset autism were recruited for an intervention trial using a minimally absorbed oral antibiotic. Entry criteria included antecedent broad-spectrum antimicrobial exposure followed by chronic persistent diarrhea, deterioration of previously acquired skills, and then autistic features. Short-term improvement was noted using multiple pre- and post-therapy evaluations. These included coded, paired videotapes scored by a clinical psychologist blinded to treatment status; these noted improvement in 8 of 10 children studied. Unfortunately, these gains had largely waned at follow-up. Although the protocol used is not suggested as useful therapy, these results indicate that a possible gut flora-brain connection warrants further investigation, as it might lead to greater pathophysiologic insight and meaningful prevention or treatment in a subset of children with autism. (J Child Neurol 2000;15:429-435).
Rigidity in Finite-Element Matrices: Sufficient Conditions for the Rigidity of Structures and Substructures

We present an algebraic theory of rigidity for finite-element matrices. The theory provides a formal algebraic definition of finite-element matrices; notions of rigidity of finite-element matrices and of mutual rigidity between two such matrices; and sufficient conditions for rigidity and mutual rigidity. We also present a novel sparsification technique, called fretsaw extension, for finite-element matrices. We show that this sparsification technique generates matrices that are mutually rigid with the original matrix. We also show that one particular construction algorithm for fretsaw extensions generates matrices that can be factored with essentially no fill. This algorithm can be used to construct preconditioners for finite-element matrices. Both our theory and our algorithms are applicable to a wide range of finite-element matrices, including matrices arising from finite-element discretizations of both scalar and vector partial differential equations (e.g., electrostatics and linear elasticity). Both the theory and the algorithms are purely algebraic-combinatorial. They manipulate only the element matrices and are oblivious to the geometry, the material properties, and the discretization details of the underlying continuous problem.
Survey on recent methodologies used for recommender system

Internet is an enormous store of links and web pages that provides huge information to users. The development rate of web is as about one million pages a day. Users' points are traced in web logs. Hence, its obvious that number of log files created is also large. This paper give information of Web usage mining which generally has three phases as first is preprocessing, next pattern detection and last pattern learning. Web log data is noisy and confusing, thus last two phases are essential. Traditional data processing system has bottleneck in knowledge storage and computing power. Use of Cloud may help us to reduce such issues in mining. _This paper will give information regarding different stages in Web Usage Mining and Problems with related recent advancement in this research area. Cloud Mining with Hadoop and Map Reduce is also introduced.
Attachment and mentalization and their association with child and adolescent eating pathology: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE Insecure attachment and mentalizing difficulties have been associated with eating pathology in adulthood. However, it is unclear whether eating pathology is associated with attachment or mentalization in children. The aim of this study is to systematically review the literature in this emerging field. METHOD Electronic databases were used to search for articles. RESULTS Twenty-two studies were identified. In the 15 studies investigating attachment, an association with eating pathology was found in all studies. Mentalizing difficulties and eating pathology were found to be correlated in the seven studies which examined their association. DISCUSSION In keeping with the adult literature, cross-sectional studies of children and adolescents consistently report associations with eating pathology. There is some evidence from prospective studies that insecure attachment may be a risk factor for the development of eating pathology in adolescence. The literature on mentalization and eating pathology suggests that adolescents with anorexia nervosa may have difficulties in recognizing emotions. Further research using clinical samples and well-validated measures of attachment and mentalization are required to shed further light on this area.
Oil Content, Fatty Acid Composition and Distributions of Vitamin-E-Active Compounds of Some Fruit Seed Oils

Oil content, fatty acid composition and the distribution of vitamin-E-active compounds of selected Turkish seeds that are typically by-products of the food processing industries (linseed, apricot, pear, fennel, peanut, apple, cotton, quince and chufa), were determined. The oil content of the samples ranged from 16.9 to 53.4 g/100 g. The dominating fatty acids were oleic acid (apricot seed oil, peanut oil, and chufa seed oil) in the range of 52.5 to 68.4 g/100 g and linoleic acid (pear seed oil, apple seed oil, cottonseed oil and quince seed oil) with 48.1 to 56.3 g/100 g, while in linseed oil mainly α-linolenic acid (53.2 g/100 g) and in fennel seed oil mainly 18:1 fatty acids (80.5 g/100 g) with petroselinic acid predominating. The total content of vitamin-E-active compounds ranged from 20.1 (fennel seed oil) to 96 mg/100 g (apple seed oil). The predominant isomers were established as α- and γ-tocopherol.
Autophagosome closure requires membrane scission

During the intracellular process of macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy), a membrane-bound organelle, the autophagosome, is generated de novo. The remodeling of the autophagic membrane during the life cycle of the organelle is a complex multistep process and involves several changes in the topology of the autophagic membrane. Here, we focus on the final step of autophagosome formation, the closure of the phagophore, during which the inner and outer autophagic membranes become separate entities. We argue that this topological membrane transformation is a membrane scission event. Surprisingly, not a single recent review describes this substep as membrane scission (or membrane fission). In contrast, a number of publications imply that membrane fusion is involved. We discuss the potential sources for misinterpretation and recommend to consistent use of the unambiguous term “membrane scission. ”
Reliability issues associated with operating voltage constraints in advanced SiGe HBTs

The paper addresses many aspects of the relationship between operating voltage constraints and reliability issues in SiGe HBTs, examining breakdown-related instabilities as they relate to technology generation, device geometry, bias configuration, and operating current density. New definitions for breakdown voltage, adopted from standard measurements, are presented. Practical design and reliability implications of breakdown are explored through careful measurement and simulation using quasi-3D compact models. Overall, SiGe HBTs; biased in common-base configuration and driven by constant emitter current, are shown to possess higher stable operating voltage limits than those biased in a common-emitter configuration and driven by constant base current. However, biasing beyond the determined "safe-operating-area" can result in impedance matching and linearity issues at lower currents and significant increases in hot-carrier degradation at higher currents, and must be carefully considered from a circuit design perspective.
Time trends over five decades, and recent geographical variation, in rates of childhood squint surgery in England

Aims To study trends in rates of childhood squint surgery in England over five decades, and to study recent geographical variation in England. Methods Use of routine hospital statistics to analyse trends in squint surgery in the Oxford record linkage study area 1963–2010, and England 1968–2010; analysis of geographical variation in England 1999–2010. All rates, numerators and population denominators were restricted to people aged under 15 years. Results The study included 519 089 admissions for operations on squint. Annual admission rates for squint surgery in England fell from 188.8 episodes per 100 000 population (95% CI 180.9 to 196.8) in 1968 to 64.1 (62.4 to 65.7) episodes per 100 000 population in 2010. A similar decline was seen in the Oxford region, from 213.2 (181.3 to 245.2) episodes per 100 000 population in 1963 to 61.3 (54.8 to 67.9) episodes in 2010. There was wide variation across local authorities in annual rates of squint surgery from 28.2 (95% CI 22.7 to 34.8) admissions per 100 000 population to 138.6 (123.0 to 155.7) admissions per 100 000, a 4.9-fold difference between areas with the highest and lowest rates. Conclusions Squint surgery rates have decreased substantially over time. The current wide geographical variation in rates raises questions about whether this scale of variation is clinically warranted, whether it reflects variation in needs for surgery and patient/parental choice, whether it is a result of inequalities in the availability of ophthalmic services, or whether it results from variation between clinicians in clinical decision making about the likely benefits of squint surgery.
The MARES Platform: Support for Transactional and Fault-tolerant Execution of Mobile Agent-based Applications

Support for transactional behaviour and fault tolerant executions of mobile agent-based applications is a fundamental issue in the development of mobile agent systems. We are developing the MARES platform, which supports the modelling of mobile agent-based applications as distributed transactions. The executions of mobile agent-based transactions on top of the MARES platform are fault-tolerant, in the sense that if the location in the distributed environment where a part of a global transaction is being executed becomes faulty for a long time, the system performs a recovery procedure to resume the execution of that part of the transaction at another location. In this paper we present the transaction model used in the MARES platform, we outline the interface for modelling mobile agent-based transactions, and we discuss alternatives for implementing mobile agent fault tolerance that increase the level of flexibility for modelling reliable mobile agent-based applications when compared with previously proposed approaches.
Phoneme Discrimination in Schizophrenia

Summary Ear differences on a task involving a simple phonetic judgement were investigated in schizophrenic subjects using both healthy normal and depressed patient control groups. A deficit in phonemic differentiation was demonstrated and appeared to be specific to the schizophrenic group. The result is interpreted as supporting the hypothesis of a central dysfunction lateralized to the left hemisphere in schizophrenia.
Structural and productivity shift of industries in Slovakia and Czech Republic: A comparative study

The objective of this paper was to explore the labor productivity growth and employment changes, thereby describing structural changes in the economies of Slovakia and Czech Republic in the time span of 1996–2016. As the main research method we chose shift-share analysis. The decomposition of the method identified the factors behind structural changes. The results shown that during the study period, the main driver of labor productivity in both economies was the upgrade of productivity itself within the industries (the socalled “within effect”). Slovakia was able to outpace Czech Republic in case of industrial production, agriculture and professional services. Employment had been evolving in both economies differently, particularly, Slovakia recorded the drop in employment in the sector of industrial production, whereas Czech Republic did not. Both economies have recorded labor switch from the primary sector to the services sector or to manufacturing. Overall taken, despite of very similar natural and geographic conditions, same political integration trends, and also similar economic background, perhaps due to the influence of sovereign policies and institutions, these two economies have been evolving differently.
Cat admissions to RSPCA shelters in Queensland, Australia: description of cats and risk factors for euthanasia after entry.

OBJECTIVE A lack of information limits understanding of the excess cat problem and development of effective management strategies. This study describes cats entering Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Queensland shelters and identifies risk factors for euthanasia. METHODS Data for cats entering relevant shelters (July 2006-June 2008) were obtained from the RSPCA's electronic database. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors for euthanasia. RESULTS Of 33,736 cats admitted, 46% were adult cats (≥3 months) and 54% were kittens (<3 months). The most common reason for admission was stray (54%), followed by owner surrender (44%). Euthanasia was the most common outcome (65%), followed by adoption (30%). The odds of euthanasia were lower for kittens and for cats that were desexed prior to admission. Of the strays, 8% had been desexed. For cats of similar age, sex, desexed and feral status, stray cats were more likely to be adopted than owner-surrenders. CONCLUSIONS Strategies are needed to reduce numbers of cats admitted and euthanased. Given the high proportion of admissions that were kittens, reducing the incidence of delayed sterilisation of owned cats may be an important strategy for reducing the number of unwanted kittens. Many cats admitted as strays were rehomable, but given the high proportion of admissions that are strays, further research on stray populations is needed. Future studies of cats entering shelters would be enhanced if data collection definitions, categories and methods were standardised.
Dissecting the M Phase–specific Phosphorylation of Serine–Proline or Threonine–Proline Motifs

Mitotic induction tightly associates with increased reactivity to mitotic phosphoprotein antibody MPM-2. Here we report that phosphorylation of TP motifs surrounded by hydrophobic residues at the −1 and +1 positions plays a dominant role in M phase–associated MPM-2 reactivity. The majority of these motifs are not phosphorylated by mitotic Cdk or MAPK.
Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types : Induction of Transformation by a Desoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III ” ( 1944 ) by

In 1944, Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty published an article in which they concluded that genes [8], or molecules that dictate how organisms develop, are made of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. The article is titled “Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types: Induction of Transformation by a Desoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III,” hereafter “Transformation. ” The authors isolated, purified, and characterized genes [8] within bacteria and found evidence that those genes [8] were made of DNA and not protein. Though scientists were initially skeptical that genes [8] were made of DNA, they later recognized that the data reported in “Transformation” were clear evidence that DNA was genetic material, a revelation that furthered research about how organisms grow, develop, and pass on traits to offspring.
An Improved Method for GPS-Based Network Position Location in Forests

In this paper we present a technique for improving the location performance based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for networks of nodes in harsh environments and demonstrate its efficacy via a combination of simulations and measurements in forests. The technique relies on the use of Ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to measure time-of-flight (TOF) and consequently the range between nodes to improve localization in harsh forest environments. Specifically, we create a system of range equations based on network connectivity and solve this system of non-linear equations using a Least-Squares Non-Linear optimization technique using any available GPS information as the initial estimate. Based on our simulations and measurements, the improved technique results in a localization accuracy in forests that is on par with clear-field reference GPS measurements.
Peptide–peptoid hybrids based on (1–11)‐parathyroid hormone analogs

A series of peptide–peptoid hybrids, containing N‐substituted glycines, were synthesized based on the H‐Aib‐Val‐Aib‐Glu‐Ile‐Gln‐Leu‐Nle‐His‐Gln‐Har‐NH2 (Har = Homoarginine) as the parent parathyroid hormone (1–11) analog. The compounds were pharmacologically characterized in their agonistic activity at the parathyroid hormone 1 receptor. Copyright © 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pulsed laser deposition of antimicrobial silver coating on Ormocer® microneedles

One promising option for transdermal delivery of protein- and nucleic acid-based pharmacologic agents involves the use of microneedles. However, microneedle-generated pores may allow microorganisms to penetrate the stratum corneum layer of the epidermis and cause local or systemic infection. In this study, microneedles with antimicrobial functionality were fabricated using two-photon polymerization–micromolding and pulsed laser deposition. The antibacterial activity of the silver-coated organically modified ceramic (Ormocer®) microneedles was demonstrated using an agar diffusion assay. Human epidermal keratinocyte viability on the Ormocer® surfaces coated with silver was similar to that on uncoated Ormocer® surfaces. This study indicates that coating microneedles with silver thin films using pulsed laser deposition is a useful and novel approach for creating microneedles with antimicrobial functionality.