Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Hyponatremia, Renal Dysfunction, and Other Electrolyte Abnormalities Among Runners Before and After Completing a Marathon or Half Marathon

Background: Prior reports on metabolic derangements observed in distance running frequently have small sample sizes, lack prerace laboratory measures, and report sodium as the sole measure. Hypothesis: Metabolic abnormalities—hyponatremia, hypokalemia, renal dysfunction, hemoconcentration—are frequent after completing a full or half marathon. Clinically significant changes occur in these laboratory values after race completion. Study Design: Observational, cross-sectional study. Methods: Consenting marathon and half marathon racers completed a survey as well as finger stick blood sampling on race day of the National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer (Jacksonville, Florida, February 2008). Parallel blood measures were obtained before and after race completion (prerace, n = 161; postrace, n = 195). Results: The prevalence of prerace and postrace hyponatremia was 8 of 161 (5.0%) and 16 of 195 (8.2%), respectively. Hypokalemia was not present prerace but was present in 1 runner postrace (1 of 195). Renal dysfunction occurred prerace in 14 of 161 (8.7%) and postrace in 83 of 195 (42.6%). Among those with postrace renal dysfunction, 45.8% (38 of 83) were classified as moderate or severe. Hemoconcentration was present in 2 of 161 (1.2%) prerace and 6 of 195 (3.1%) postrace. The mean changes in laboratory values were (postrace minus prerace): sodium, 1.6 mmol/L; potassium, −0.2 mmol/L; blood urea nitrogen, 2.8 mg/dL; creatinine, 0.2 mg/dL; and hemoglobin, 0.3 g/dL for 149 pairs (except blood urea nitrogen, n = 147 pairs). Changes were significant for all comparisons (P < 0.01) except potassium (P = 0.08) and hemoglobin (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Metabolic abnormalities are common among endurance racers, and they may be present prerace, including hyponatremia. The clinical significance of these findings is unknown. Clinical relevance: It is unclear which runners are at risk for developing clinically important metabolic derangements. Participating in prolonged endurance exercise appears to be safe in the majority of racers.
Flatness and Orientation Signature for Modeling and Matching 3D Objects

This paper proposes a new technique for modeling and matching three-dimensional rigid objects by encoding the fluctuation of the surface and the variation of its normal around an oriented point on the surface as the surface expands. The surface of the object is encoded into two two-dimensional curves as the surface signature on each point, and then the collection of the signatures are used to model and match the object. The signatures implicitly encode the curvature and symmetry of the surface around an oriented point. This modeling technique is robust to scale, orientation, noise, patch resolution, occlusion, and cluttering.
Piezoelectric Converter for Wind Energy Harvesting

This paper presents wind energy harvesting using piezoelectric material. The method includes a proposed topology which utilizes multiple inputs for a DC-DC converter. The new topology is derived from a standard buck topology but allows for sourcing from multiple inputs either independently or simultaneously. The purpose of this topology is to take advantage of several sources of energy harvesting from renewable sources, and specifically aimed at piezoelectric wind harvesting. This paper derives the general transfer function for the new topology and provides simulations for various cases to show proof of concept. Results from computer simulations demonstrate the potential and benefits that the proposed topology offers for harvesting wind energy using piezoelectric.
HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections among Men Who Have Sex with Men Recruited by RDS in Buenos Aires, Argentina: High HIV and HPV Infection

Background The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HIV and other STIs, among MSM from Buenos Aires (2007–2009). Methods Responding Driven Sampling was used for recruitment of MSM. Participants completed a structured web-based survey and provided biological samples. Results A total of 496 MSM were studied for HIV, HBV, HCV, and T pallidum infections. Chlamydia and HPV diagnoses were only performed in 98 and 109 participants, respectively. Prevalence of HIV was 17.3%, HBV 22.9%, HCV 7.5%, T pallidum 20.5%, HPV 83.5%, and C trachomatis 1.7%. In the year prior to the evaluation, 71% of the participants had had sex with men and/or trans and women (MMW) while 29% had not had sex with women (MM). Comparing MM to MMW, prevalence of HIV (30.7% vs. 11.9%, p<0.001), HBV (36.4% vs. 17.8%, p<0.001), T pallidum (32.1% vs. 15.7%, p<0.001), and HPV (88.3% vs. 70.4%, p = 0.039) were significantly higher among MM, whereas no significant differences were found for HCV and C trachomatis. The MM group had also significantly higher HIV incidence (5.60 vs. 4.28 per 100 persons-year, p = 0.032). HPV genotypes 16, 6, and 11 were the most frequently found; 40.7% of the MSM had more than one genotype and one high risk genotype was detected in 43.6% of participants. Conclusions Both MM and MMW are at high risk of infection for HIV and other STIs. Rates of HIV, HBV, T pallidum and HPV infections are higher in the MM group.
Cellular and Molecular Basis of Heterogeneity in Contractile Performance of Human Muscles

Human skeletal muscles are able to fulfil very different mechanical tasks. The basis of this ability can be found in the existence of different fibre types which can be activated selectively by the nervous system in relation to the required performance. The study of single muscle fibres dissected from biopsy samples has allowed to characterize contractile performance in relation to molecular composition. In particular the presence of distinct myosin isoforms dictates the rate of ATP hydrolysis and the shortening velocity, whereas the presence of specific isoforms of regulatory proteins modulates the ability to respond to activator calcium. Proteins of the sarcoplasmic reticulum and of the plasma membrane determine the excitability and duration of the contractile cycle (contraction speed). Abundance of mitochondria and activity of enzymes of the glycolytic pathway determine the metabolic power of the fibres and from the balance between rate of energy consumption and rate of energy production the resistance to fatigue is determined. In this short review the major determinants of the contractile and energetic properties of human fibres will be considered and the way the nervous system can exploit them to optimize the contractile performance will be discussed.
Metalloproteinase Disintegrins ADAM8 and ADAM19 Are Highly Regulated in Human Primary Brain Tumors and their Expression Levels and Activities Are Associated with Invasiveness

Patients with primary brain tumors have bleak prognoses and there is an urgent desire to identify new markers for sensitive diagnosis and new therapeutic targets for effective treatment. A family of proteins, the disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAMs or adamalysins), are cell surface and extracellular multidomain proteins implicated in cell-cell signaling, cell adhesion, and cell migration. Their putative biological and pathological roles make them candidates for promoting tumor growth and malignancy. We investigated the expression levels of 12 cerebrally expressed ADAM genes in human primary brain tumors (astrocytoma WHO grade I-III, glioblastoma WHO grade IV, oligoastrocytoma WHO grade II and III, oligodendroglioma WHO grade II and III, ependymoma WHO grade II and III, and primitive neuroectodermal tumor WHO grade IV) using real-time PCR. The mRNAs of the five ADAMs 8, 12, 15, 17, and 19 were significantly upregulated. The ADAM8 and ADAM19 proteins were mainly located in tumor cells and in some tumors in endothelia of blood vessels. In brain tumor tissue, ADAM8 and ADAM19 undergo activation by prodomain removal resulting in active proteases. By using specific peptide substrates for ADAM8 and ADAM19, respectively, we demonstrated that the proteases exert enhanced proteolytic activity in those tumor specimens with the highest expression levels. In addition, expression levels and the protease activities of ADAM8 and ADAM19 correlated with invasive activity of glioma cells, indicating that ADAM8 and ADAM19 may play a significant role in tumor invasion that may be detrimental to patients survival.
Multidimensional Architectures for Functional Optical Devices

Materials exhibiting multidimensional structure with characteristic lengths ranging from the nanometer to the micrometer scale have extraordinary potential for emerging optical applications based on the regulation of light–matter interactions via the mesoscale organization of matter. As the structural dimensionality increases, the opportunities for controlling light–matter interactions become increasingly diverse and powerful. Recent advances in multidimensional structures have been demonstrated that serve as the basis for three‐dimensional photonic‐bandgap materials, metamaterials, optical cloaks, highly efficient low‐cost solar cells, and chemical and biological sensors. In this Review, the state‐of‐the‐art design and fabrication of multidimensional architectures for functional optical devices are covered and the next steps for this important field are described.
Essays in applied microeconomic theory : crime and defence

The first part of this thesis is concerned with tax competition when the tax receipts fund an anti-crime measure. Both the capital and criminals are mobile between two jurisdictions. The resulting pure strategy Nash equilibrium tax rates are distorted from the optimal tax by the equilibrium migration response of the rich; if positive at the equilibrium then tax competition will result in taxes that are too high whilst if it is negative taxes will be too low compared to the optimum. The best response functions of the model are tested using data from England and Wales. The possibility that they engage in tax competition cannot be ruled out. It is possible for a central government to devolve tax raising powers without the distortion occurring if they can impose an optimal sanction. This, though, is independent of the harm caused by the crime and could be politically difficult to introduce. The second part looks at the Ministry of Defence’s procurement policy since 1985. The role of competition has increased but scant attention was played to the trade-off between maximising the benefits of current competition and obtaining future competition. The Ministry of Defence always chose to take the benefits in the short term arguing any loss of competition merely eliminated excess capacity which the Ministry of Defence would no longer have to pay for. Whilst the empirics suggest this is true during the 1990s, the problems encountered on the Type 45 project at the start of the millennium demonstrate the difficulties they have in procuring given the limited number of domestic firms they can contract with. An alternative mechanism of directed buys, with recourse to a competitive market off the equilibrium path, is suggested as a way in which the Ministry of Defence can preserve competition into the future.
Role of the Amino Terminus in Voltage Gating and Junctional 11 Rectification of Shaking

47 48 Rectifying electrical synapses are rare gap junctions that favor transmission of signals in one 49 direction. Such synapses have been identified in neural systems, including those mediating rapid 50 escape responses of arthropods. In the Drosophila Giant Fiber System, adjacent cells express 51 and contribute different transcript variants of the innexin Shaking B resulting in heterotypic gap 52 junctions with rectifying properties. When expressed exogenously, variants Shaking B Lethal 53 (ShakBL) and Shaking B neural + 16 (ShakBN16) form heterotypic junctions that gate 54 asymmetrically in response to transjunctional voltage. To determine whether the amino terminus 55 confers properties of gating and rectification, amino terminal domains were exchanged between 56 ShakBL and ShakBN16 creating chimeric proteins SBL NTN16 and SBN16 NTL. The 57 properties were analyzed in paired Xenopus oocytes. Our results suggest that the amino terminus 58 plays an important role in establishing rectifying properties inherent to heterotypic junctions 59 composed of ShakBL and ShakBN16. ShakBL/SBL NTN16 junctions behaved similarly to 60 ShakBL/ShakBN16 junctions, gating in response to transjunctional voltage of one polarity and 61 inducing a highly asymmetric conductance-voltage relationship. However, the amino terminus 62 did not act independently to confer sensitivity to transjunctional voltage. The complementary 63 pairing ShakBN16/SBN16 NTL displayed little sensitivity to voltage of either polarity, and in 64 homotypic pairings SBL NTN16 was strongly gated by transjunctional voltage. We propose a 65 model where the amino terminus induces gating only when matched with an accommodating 66 innexin body. 67 68
^muzicode$: Composing and Performing Musical Codes

We present muzicodes, an approach to incorporating machine-readable 'codes' into music that allows the performer and/or composer to flexibly define what constitutes a code, and to perform around it. These codes can then act as triggers, for example to control an accompaniment or visuals during a performance. The codes can form an integral part of the music (composition and/or performance), and may be more or less obviously present. This creates a rich space of playful interaction with a system that recognises and responds to the codes. Our proof of concept implementation works with audio or MIDI as input. Muzicodes are represented textually and regular expressions are used to flexibly define them. We present two contrasting demonstration applications and summarise the findings from two workshops with potential users which highlight opportunities and challenges, especially in relation to specifying and matching codes and playing and performing with the system.
A TWO-STEP IN-CLASS SOURCE CODE PLAGIARISM DETECTION METHOD UTILIZING IMPROVED CM ALGORITHM AND

Source code plagiarism is becoming one of the most serious problems in academia. There have been many proposed methods that attempt to detect source code plagiarism in programming classes. Most of them extract algorithmic features from the source code and measure the similarity between them. These methods show high levels of accuracy in evaluation experiments, and however, it is concerning that the similarity detected by the methods might not be caused by plagiarism. As a result, we propose a method called the CM Algorithm, which utilizes a student’s coding style, the way the student writes source code, to check whether the source code submitted by the student was produced by him/her. In this paper, we propose a combined method that measures the similarity between source codes by using SIM [7], one of the well-known in-class source code plagiarism detection systems, and then checks the outputs of SIM against our improved CM Algorithm. The new method is expected to reduce false positives in plagiarism detection systems. This paper also gives a detailed explanation of the improved CM Algorithm, which assumes fluctuations in the source code produced by a student’s coding style.
The receptive-expressive gap in bilingual children with and without primary language impairment.

PURPOSE In this study, the authors examined the magnitude of the discrepancy between standardized measures of receptive and expressive semantic knowledge, known as a receptive-expressive gap, for bilingual children with and without primary language impairment (PLI). METHOD Spanish and English measures of semantic knowledge were administered to 37 Spanish-English bilingual 7- to 10-year old children with PLI and to 37 Spanish-English bilingual peers with typical development (TD). Parents and teachers completed questionnaires that yielded day-by-day and hour-by-hour information regarding children's exposure to and use of Spanish and English. RESULTS Children with PLI had significantly larger discrepancies between receptive and expressive semantics standard scores than their bilingual peers with TD. The receptive-expressive gap for children with PLI was predicted by current English experience, whereas the best predictor for children with TD was cumulative English experience. CONCLUSIONS As a preliminary explanation, underspecified phonological representations due to bilingual children's divided language input as well as differences in their languages' phonological systems may result in a discrepancy between standardized measures of receptive and expressive semantic knowledge. This discrepancy is greater for bilingual children with PLI because of the additional difficulty these children have in processing phonetic information. Future research is required to understand these underlying processes.
The Cochlear Amplifier is a Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator

A companion paper (Bell, 2001) formulated a model of the cochlea as a surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator. This supporting paper seeks to give a working account of the sensing elements in the ear and how they operate together to create a SAW resonator. A key feature of any such device is that the interdigital transducers alternate in polarity, an arrangement ideal for launching and detecting surface waves. Translated to the ear, the three rows of outer hair cells (OHCs) are conjectured to be the interdigital transducers. In the simplest (degenerate) SAW resonator, only a single set of three electrodes is required to create resonance between the fingers, a situation presumed to apply in the cochlea, where OHC2 is assumed to respond in antiphase to OHC1 and 3. The antiphasic response is not to displacement, but to intracochlear fluid pressure. An examination of the literature interprets OHCs as responding directly to pressure via their cell bodies, and two populations, with opposite response polarities, are observed. Whether an OHC behaves in one way or the other depends on its membrane potential and turgor pressure, so it is conjectured that OHC1/3 operate at a membrane potential of about 70 mV, whereas in OHC2 it is about 50 mV. At low sound pressure levels, two mechanisms for creating an electrical response in OHCs are identified: one involves the piezoelectric response of the OHC wall to pressure, the other a transient sodium current which acts as a biological transistor to amplify the transducer voltage.
Shifts in Privacy Concerns

This paper explores how digitization and the associated use of customer data have affected the evolution of consumer privacy concerns. We measure privacy concerns by reluctance to disclose income in an online marketing research survey. Using over three million responses over eight years, our data show: (1) Refusals to reveal information have risen over time, (2) Older people are less likely to reveal information, and (3) The difference between older and younger people has increased over time. Our results suggest that the trends over time are partly due to broadening perceptions of the contexts in which privacy is relevant.
Laboratory Methods for Assessing Experts' and Novices' Knowledge

Introduction Expertise, by definition, refers to the manifestation of skills and understanding resulting from the accumulation of a large body of knowledge. This implies that in order to understand how experts perform and why they are more capable than non-experts, we must understand the representation of their knowledge, that is, how their knowledge is organized or structured, and how their representations might differ from those of novices. For example, if a child who is fascinated with dinosaurs and has learned a lot about them correctly infers attributes about some dinosaurs that was new to them by reasoning analogically to some known dinosaurs (e.g., the shape of teeth for carnivores versus vegetarians), we would not conclude that the “expert” child has a more powerful analogical reasoning strategy. Instead, we would conclude that such a global or domain-general reasoning strategy is available to all children, but that novice children might reason analogically to some other familiar domain, such as animals (rather than dinosaurs), as our data have shown (Chi, Hutchinson, & Robin, 1989). Thus, the analogies of domain-novice are less powerful not necessarily because they lack adequate analogical reasoning strategies, although they may, but because they lack the appropriate domain knowledge from which analogies can be drawn. Thus, in this framework, a critical locus of proficiency lies in the representation of their domain knowledge.
Heterotrimeric G Protein Subunit Gγ13 Is Critical to Olfaction

The activation of G-protein-coupled olfactory receptors on the olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) triggers a signaling cascade, which is mediated by a heterotrimeric G-protein consisting of α, β, and γ subunits. Although its α subunit, Gαolf, has been identified and well characterized, the identities of its β and γ subunits and their function in olfactory signal transduction, however, have not been well established yet. We, and others, have found the expression of Gγ13 in the olfactory epithelium, particularly in the cilia of the OSNs. In this study, we generated a conditional gene knock-out mouse line to specifically nullify Gγ13 expression in the olfactory marker protein-expressing OSNs. Immunohistochemical and Western blot results showed that Gγ13 subunit was indeed eliminated in the mutant mice's olfactory epithelium. Intriguingly, Gαolf, β1 subunits, Ric-8B and CEP290 proteins, were also absent in the epithelium whereas the presence of the effector enzyme adenylyl cyclase III remained largely unaltered. Electro-olfactogram studies showed that the mutant animals had greatly reduced responses to a battery of odorants including three presumable pheromones. Behavioral tests indicated that the mutant mice had a remarkably reduced ability to perform an odor-guided search task although their motivation and agility seemed normal. Our results indicate that Gαolf exclusively forms a functional heterotrimeric G-protein with Gβ1 and Gγ13 in OSNs, mediating olfactory signal transduction. The identification of the olfactory G-protein's βγ moiety has provided a novel approach to understanding the feedback regulation of olfactory signal transduction pathways as well as the control of subcellular structures of OSNs.
On Planning And Exploration In Non-Discrete Environments

The application of reinforcement learning to control problems has received considerable attention in the last few years And86, Bar89, Sut84]. In general there are two principles to solve reinforcement learning problems: direct and indirect techniques, both having their advantages and disadvantages. We present a system that combines both methods TML91, TML90]. By interaction with an unknown environment a world model is progressively constructed using the backpropagation algorithm. For optimizing actions with respect to future reinforcement planning is applied in two steps: An experience network proposes a plan which is subsequently optimized by gradient descent with a chain of model networks. While operating in a goal-oriented manner due to the planning process the experience network is trained. Its accumulating experience is fed back into the planning process in form of initial plans, such that planning can be gradually reduced. In order to ensure complete system identiication, a competence network is trained to predict the accuracy of the model. This network enables purposeful exploration of the world. The appropriateness of this approach to reinforcement learning is demonstrated by three diierent control experiments, namely a target tracking, a robotics and a pole balancing task.