Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discrepancy between improvement of insulin sensitivity and that of arterial endothelial function in patients receiving antihypertensive medication

Objectives We evaluated whether the changes in the insulin sensitivity observed in hypertensive patients following treatment with an angiotensin II receptor blocker (candesartan) or calcium-channel antagonist (amlodipine) might be related to improvement of the endothelial function (END) and/or plasma level of high-sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) following such treatment. Methods and results Seventy-one hypertensive patients (age: 58 ± 10 years) without obvious target organ damage were allocated randomly to treatment with either candesartan at the dose of 8 mg/day or amlodipine at the dose of 5 mg/day. At the start and end of the 8-month treatment period, the homeostasis model assessment index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR index), plasma CRP and END, as assessed by changes in the forearm blood flow in reactive hyperemia, were determined. While significant improvement of END was observed in patients receiving either drug, only candesartan, but not amlodipine, also reduced the plasma CRP and HOMA-IR index (2.13 ± 1.92 → 1.53 ± 1.47, P < 0.05). In the patients receiving treatment with candesartan, stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that the percent change in the HOMA-IR index was significantly and independently correlated with that in the plasma CRP (beta = 0.38, P < 0.05), but not with that in END. Conclusion Improvement of the END alone by the antihypertensive medication might not entirely explain the improvement of the insulin sensitivity observed in these patients. Additional mechanisms may be involved, and the anti-inflammatory effects of the medication observed in patients treated with candesartan may also be related, at least in part, to the observed improvement of insulin sensitivity.
An Information-Theory-Based Feature Type Analysis for the Modeling of Statistical Parsing

The paper proposes an information-theory-based method for feature types analysis in probabilistic evaluation modelling for statistical parsing. The basic idea is that we use entropy and conditional entropy to measure whether a feature type grasps some of the information for syntactic structure prediction. Our experiment quantitatively analyzes several feature types' power for syntactic structure prediction and draws a series of interesting conclusions.
Vital Signs Are Not Associated with Self-Reported Acute Pain Intensity in the Emergency Department.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to ascertain the association between self-reported pain intensity and vital signs in both emergency department (ED) patients and a subgroup of patients with diagnosed conditions known to produce significant pain. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of real-time, archived data from an electronic medical record system at an urban teaching hospital and regional community hospital. We included consecutive ED patients ≥16 years old who had a self-reported pain intensity ≥1 as measured during triage, from March 2005 to December 2012. The primary outcome was vital signs for self-reported pain intensity levels (mild, moderate, severe) on an 11-point verbal numerical scale. Changes in pain intensity levels were also compared to variations in vital signs. Both analyses were repeated on a subgroup of patients with diagnosed conditions recognized to produce significant pain: fracture, dislocation, or renal colic. RESULTS We included 153,567 patients (mean age of 48.4±19.3 years; 55.5% women) triaged with pain (median intensity of 7/10±3). Of these, 8.9% of patients had diagnosed conditions recognized to produce significant pain. From the total sample, the difference between mild and severe pain categories was 2.7 beats/minutes (95% CI: 2.4-3.0) for heart rate and 0.13 mm Hg (95% CI: -0.26-0.52) for systolic blood pressure. These differences generated small effect sizes and were not clinically significant. Results were similar for patients who experienced changes in pain categories and for those conditions recognized to produce significant pain. CONCLUSION Health care professionals cannot use vital signs to estimate or substantiate self-reported pain intensity levels or changes over time.
Reuse of modular software with automated comment analysis

Presents an approach to software reuse based on automatic analysis of program comments. First, domain terms are extracted from the comments in a semi-automatic procedure. Those terms are then used in an off-the-shelf case-based reasoning (CBR) system as indices for software modules. Noun phrases extracted from comments in LINPACK (a widely distributed linear algebra package) form the basis of simple domain models for linear systems. The process of constructing a reuse system is broken into three steps. A file containing comments from all LINPACK routines is processed to yield a list of technical phrases. The second step involves building domain models based on an analysis of these technical phrases and then indexing cases according to these models. Finally, tools provided by the REMIND CBR shell are used to create a case library incorporating this domain knowledge. Early experiments described in the paper show that noun phrases automatically extracted from the comments can provide useful functional description of the routines. The resulting simple domain models are usually sufficient for software reuse applications. Finally, we found standard CBR technology to be a viable means of constructing compositional software reuse libraries. <<ETX>>
Load Balancing in the L P Norm

In the load balancing problem, there is a set of servers, and jobs arrive sequentially. Each job can be run on some subset of the servers, and must be assigned to one of them in an online fashion. Traditionally, the assignment of jobs to servers is measured by the L 1 norm; in other words, an assignment of jobs to servers is quantiied by the maximum load assigned to any server. In this measure the performance of the greedy load balancing algorithm may be a logarithmic factor higher than optimal 3]. In many applications, the L 1 norm is not a suitable way to measure how well the jobs are balanced. If each job sees a delay that is proportional to the number of jobs on its server, then the average delay among all jobs is proportional to the sum of the squares of the numbers of jobs assigned to the servers. Minimizing the average delay is equivalent to minimizing the Euclidean (or L 2) norm. For any xed p, 1 p < 1, we show that the greedy algorithm performs within a constant factor of optimal with respect to the L p norm. The constant grows linearly with p but does not depend on the size of the problem, i.e., the number of servers and jobs.
Radiocarbon constraints on the Holocene flood deposits of the Ning‐Zhen Mountains, lower Yangtze River area of China

Lying athwart both the temperate and subtropical zones, the Ning‐Zhen Mountains are particularly prone to extreme floods in the summer months when cold fronts collide with the subtropics‐derived warm airmasses. The Holocene flood deposits in the region may provide a long‐term perspective on hydrographical change and its palaeoclimatic implications. Radiocarbon dates on carbonised wood preserved in flooding sediments reveal that the region has experienced a number of catastrophic floods throughout the middle Holocene. These extreme flooding events cluster into three periods: (i) 9200–8200 cal. yr BP, (ii) 7600–5800 cal. yr BP and (iii) 5200–4000 cal. yr BP, corresponding to the times when the East Asian monsoon has been intensified under warm conditions. The significant falls in flooding frequency around 8200 cal. yr BP, 5800 cal. yr BP and 4000 cal. yr BP may have resulted from substantial reduction in regional precipitation, probably associated with meridional displacement of the planetary frontal system. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Abundance of Multiple High-Risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infections Found in Cervical Cells Analyzed by Use of an Ultrasensitive HPV Genotyping Assay

ABSTRACT PCR methods enable the detection of a large variety of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes that infect the anogenital tract. However, PCR with consensus primers, general primers, and, to a lesser extent, broad-spectrum primers may underrepresent the true prevalence of HPV, especially the true prevalence of multiple infections. We compared the rate of HPV positivity determined by a broad-spectrum PCR with primers BSGP5+ and BSGP6+ (BS-PCR) coupled to an established bead-based multiplex HPV genotyping (MPG) assay with the rate of HPV positivity determined by a multiplex PCR with type-specific primers (TS-PCR) coupled to a newly developed MPG assay for 735 selected cervical scraping samples. While the primers used for the BS-PCR are located within the L1 region of the HPV genome, the primers used for the TS-PCR target the E7 gene. The overall rates of positivity for the 19 HPV types included in both assays were 60.9% and 72.2% by the BS-PCR and the TS-PCR, respectively, and the two assays found multiple infections in 34.8% and 58.0% of the specimens, respectively. Both HPV detection assays allowed the semiquantitative detection of HPV types and identified the same dominant HPV type in 66.6% of the multiple infections. In conclusion, the TS-PCR-MPG assay significantly increased the rate of detection of HPV DNA and the number of infections with multiple HPV types detected and demonstrated that the prevalence of low-copy-number HPV infections in the anogenital tract may be strongly underestimated by conventional HPV amplification methods, especially in cases of multiple infections. As a consequence, PCR-TS-MPG appears to be highly suited for analysis of the significance of multiple infections in the development of cervical cancer and for the study the natural history and the latency of HPV.
A study on different control schemes to achieve sustainability in microgird

Quick advancements in the field of Energy utilization and production has been the key issue. The clean environment and green energy utilization for power production has remained the main point of attention. Low noise, longer and cheaper energy production costs has drawn the attention. But the intermittence in green energy production via these natural resources is the restriction in producing high efficiency and reliability in energy production. Different control schemes have been developed and many hierarchical structures have been proposed to achieve balanced energy from the renewable energy resources. These control schemes alter and addresses different issues in different ways to achieve sustainability but still the sustainability is the issue to be achieved. In this paper we have selected some recent control schemes in for to control the microgrids and finally presented a comparative analysis based on the schemes proposed.
Heavy metal capture by autochthonous yeasts from a volcanic influenced environment of Patagonia

Heavy metals at elevated concentrations are a major threat to agricultural and human health. Typically, human activities tend to release these metals to the environment in aqueous solutions, generating high levels of pollution due to the mobility of the heavy metals. The aim of the present work was to assess heavy metal tolerance in yeasts isolated from Río Agrio − Lake Caviahue volcanic acidic aquatic environment and to evaluate the capacity of selected strains to capture metals in acidic culture media conditions. The ability of three yeast species, Cryptococcus agrionensis, Cryptococcus sp. 2, and Coniochaeta fodinicola, to tolerate and capture metals in live cultures has been evaluated. These three yeast species showed high tolerance to low pH and elevated concentrations of metals, thus implying their autochthonous status. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for growth obtained for these isolates showed elevated tolerance to the six heavy metals evaluated and were significantly higher than those registered for other microorganisms. C. agrionensis was able to capture 15.80 mg (g biomass)−1 of Cu2+ (MIC: 0.22 g L−1), Cryptococcus sp. 2 was able to capture 36.25 and 65.28 mg (g biomass)−1 of Ni2+ and Zn2+, respectively (MIC: 0.56 and 1.68, respectively), and C. fodinicola was able to capture 67.11 mg (g biomass)−1 of Zn2+ (MIC: 3.75). This work reported the ability of yeasts to capture metals in acidic conditions for the first time. We hope that it represents the step‐stone for future researches in the ability and metabolism of yeasts form acidic aquatic environment related to metal tolerance and capture.
Repeated Intratracheal Instillation of PM10 Induces Lipid Reshaping in Lung Parenchyma and in Extra-Pulmonary Tissues

Adverse health effects of air pollution attributed mainly to airborne particulate matter have been well documented in the last couple of decades. Short term exposure, referring to a few hours exposure, to high ambient PM10 concentration is linked to increased hospitalization rates for cardiovascular events, typically 24 h after air pollution peaks. Particulate matter exposure is related to pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, with increased oxidative stress and inflammatory status. Previously, we have demonstrated that repeated intratracheal instillation of PM10sum in BALB/c mice leads to respiratory tract inflammation, creating in lung a condition which could potentially evolve in a systemic toxic reaction. Additionally, plasma membrane and tissue lipids are easily affected by oxidative stress and directly correlated with inflammatory products. With this aim, in the present investigation using the same model, we analyzed the toxic potential of PM10sum exposure on lipid plasma membrane composition, lipid peroxidation and the mechanisms of cells protection in multiple organs such as lung, heart, liver and brain. Obtained results indicated that PM10 exposure led to lung lipid reshaping, in particular phospholipid and cholesterol content increases; concomitantly, the generation of oxidative stress caused lipid peroxidation. In liver we found significant changes in lipid content, mainly due to an increase of phosphatidylcholine, and in total fatty acid composition with a more pronounced level of docosahexaenoic acid; these changes were statistically correlated to lung molecular markers. Heart and brain were similarly affected; heart was significantly enriched in triglycerides in half of the PM10sum treated mice. These results demonstrated a direct involvement of PM10sum in affecting lipid metabolism and oxidative stress in peripheral tissues that might be related to the serious systemic air-pollution effects on human health.
An integer linear programming (ILP)-based optimization for finding the optimal independent sets in wireless ad hoc networks

In wireless ad hoc networks, one of the most important issues impacting performance is wireless interference between adjacent nodes. Such interference problem has often been approached to find independent sets in a topological graph. In general, the topological graph have exponentially many independent sets and and thus it is very difficult to find the optimal independent sets for high performance. It is known that this problem belongs to the class of NP-hard problems. To deal with this problem, heuristic methods such as greedy algorithm, local search and genetic algorithm have been usually used. Such heuristics are useful to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution, however they do not guarantee the optimality of the solution found. In this paper, we develop a linearization technique to transform the nonlinear equations into linear ones. Then, we propose a novel integer linear programming (ILP)-based optimization design not only to properly find the optimal independent sets, but also to appropriately schedule wireless nodes for high performance. Based on the priority of the multiple objectives, our design is presented as a two-stage problem and optimizes the system sequentially. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization design.
Approximation Algorithms for Directed Steiner Tree Problems

The Steiner tree problem which is known to be NP-Complete is the following. Given a weighted undirected graph G = (V;E), and a set X V of terminals, the objective is to nd a tree of minimum cost which connects all the terminals. If the graph is directed, in addition to X, we are given a root r 2 V , and the objective is to nd a minimum cost arborescence which connects the root to each of the terminals. In the Generalized Steiner tree problem, we are given a set X of pairs of vertices, and the goal is to nd a subgraph of minimum cost such that each pair in X is connected. In the undirected case, constant factor algorithms are known for both the versions [11, 14, 17, 1, 15], but essentially no approximation algorithms were known for these problems in the directed case, other than the trivial O(k)-approximations. We obtain the rst non-trivial approximation algorithms for both problems in general directed graphs. For the Directed Steiner tree problem, we design a family of algorithms that achieve an approximation ratio of O(k ) in time O(kn ) for any xed > 0, where k is the number of terminals. For the Directed Generalized Steiner tree problem, we give an algorithm that achieves an approximation ratio of O(k log k), where k is the number of pairs of vertices that are to be connected. Related problems including the Group Steiner tree problem, the Node Weighted Steiner tree problem and several others can be reduced in an approximation preserving fashion to the problems we solve, giving the rst non-trivial approximations to those as well. For the Directed Steiner tree problem, a result similar to ours has been obtained independently in [6] by To-yat Cheung, Zuo Dai and Ming Li of the Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong. Supported by an ARO MURI Grant DAAH04-96-1-0007 and NSF Award CCR-9357849, with matching funds from IBM, Schlumberger Foundation, Shell Foundation, and Xerox Corporation. Supported by an ARO MURI Grant DAAH04-96-1-0007 and NSF Award CCR-9357849, with matching funds from IBM, Schlumberger Foundation, Shell Foundation, and Xerox Corporation. Supported by ARO Grant DAAH04-95-1-0121 and NSF Grant CCR9304971 Supported by an ARO MURI Grant DAAH04-96-1-0007 and NSF Award CCR-9357849, with matching funds from IBM, Schlumberger Foundation, Shell Foundation, and Xerox Corporation.
The Electrical Conductivity of Transition Metals

1— In a recent paper certain property of the transition metals Ni, Pd, and Pt and of their alloys with Cu, Ag, and Au have been discussed from the point of view of the electron theory of metals based on quantum mechanics. In particular, a qualitative explanation was given of the relatively high electrical resistance of the transition metals. It was shown from an examination of the experimental evidence that the conduction electrons in these metals have wave functions derived mainly from s states just as in Cu, Ag, and Au, and that the effective number of conduction electrons is not much less than in the noble metals. On the other hand, the mean free path is much smaller, because under the influence other the lattice vibrations the conduction electrons may make transitions to the unoccupied d states, and the probability of these transitions is several times greater than the probability of ordinary scattering. Since the unoccupied d states are responsible for the ferromagnetism or high paramagnetism of the transition elements, there is a direct connexion between the magnetic properties and the electrical conductivity. The purpose of this paper is as follows: in 2, 3, and 4 we develop a formal theory of conductivity for metals, such as the tradition metals, where two Brillouin zone are of importance for the conductivity; in 5 we apply the theory to show why, at high temperatures, the temperature coefficient of the paramagnetic metals Pd and Pt falls below the normal value; and in 6 we discuss the resistance of ferromagnetic metals, and show in 7 qualitatively why constantan (Cu-Ni) has zero temperature coefficient at room temperature.
Knowledge Sharing, Social Relationships, and Contextual Performance: The Moderating Influence of Information Technology Competence

A firm's core competitiveness results primarily from its ability to innovate. Knowledge sharing plays an important role in promoting sustained innovation. This research examines two factors that enable employee knowledge sharing. Using responses from a questionnaire that was distributed to professionals in a research and development (R&D) department of a Chinese commercial elevator firm, the investigation examines whether social relationships and contextual performance influence knowledge sharing through the moderating effect of employee IT competence. Study findings reveal that social relationships—which include both the degree of centrality of the employee's social network and frequency of interpersonal interaction—and employee contextual performance have a significant positive impact on knowledge sharing. This association, however, is found to be positively moderated by employee IT competence. The findings provide managerial and future research insights pertaining to promoting knowledge sharing by enhancing employee social relationships, rewarding contextual performance, and providing regular IT training for employees.
Novel Coplanar EBG Low Pass Filter

The traditional coplanar electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure is analyzed. The method is studied to lower the center frequency and broaden the bandwidth in this paper. A novel structure of U-bridged EBG power plane is proposed. The simulation and test results show that the bandwidth of the new structure is 4.32GHz, and the lower side cutofi frequency is at 380MHz with the stopband depth at i40dB. The elimination of simultaneous switching noise (SSN) as this kind of U-bridged coplanar EBG structure is more efiective below 1GHz. In addition, the eye diagram of the structure is analyzed. The degradation of the maximum eye open and the maximum eye width on the structure is about 1.2% and 5.7%, respectively. Finally, the IR-drop and dc resistance is accurately investigated through 3-D simulations.