Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fasting or fear: disentangling the roles of predation risk and food deprivation in the nitrogen metabolism of consumers.

Predators can alter nutrient cycles simply by inducing stress in prey. This stress accelerates prey's protein catabolism, nitrogen waste production, and nitrogen cycling. Yet predators also reduce the feeding rates of their prey, inducing food deprivation that is expected to slow protein catabolism and nitrogen cycling. The physiology of prey under predation risk thus balances the influences of predation risk and food deprivation, and this balance is central to understanding the role of predators in nutrient cycles. We explored the separate and combined effects of predation risk and food deprivation on prey physiology and nutrient cycling by exposing guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to predation risk and food deprivation in a 2 × 2 design. We simulated predation risk using chemical cues from a natural predator of guppies, and we created food deprivation by rationing food availability. We measured guppy response as food consumption, growth, tissue energy density, tissue carbon:nitrogen, and nitrogen (N) excretion and assimilation. We found that N-linked physiological processes (N consumption, assimilation, excretion) were strongly affected by predation risk, independent of food consumption. Guppies excreted substantially less under predation risk than they did under food deprivation or control conditions. These results suggest that predation risk, per se, triggers physiological changes in guppies that increase N retention and decrease N excretion. We suggest that slower N metabolism under predation risk is an adaptive response that minimizes protein loss in the face of predictable, predator-induced food restriction. Notably, N metabolism shares common hormonal control with food seeking behavior, and we speculate that increased N retention is a direct and immediate result of reduced food seeking under predation risk. Contrary to predation-stress-based hypotheses for how predators affect nutrient cycling by prey, our result indicates that even short-term exposure to predators may decelerate, rather than accelerate, the speed of N cycling by suppressing N turnover by prey.
A 1.9‐GHz silicon‐on‐insulator CMOS stacked‐FET power amplifier with uniformly distributed voltage stresses

A 1.9‐GHz single‐stage differential stacked‐FET power amplifier with uniformly distributed voltage stresses was implemented using 0.32‐μm 2.8‐V thick‐oxide MOSFETs in a 0.18‐μm silicon‐on‐insulator CMOS process. The input cross‐coupled stacked‐FET topology was proposed to evenly distribute the voltage stresses among the stacked transistors, alleviating the breakdown and reliability issues of the stacked‐FET power amplifier in sub‐micrometer CMOS technology. With a 4‐V supply voltage, the proposed power amplifier with an integrated output coupled‐resonator balun showed a small‐signal gain of 17 dB, a saturated output power of 26.1 dBm, and a maximum power‐added efficiency of 41.5% at the operating frequency. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of eggshell quality and broiler breeder age on hatchability.

The effects of eggshell quality and breeder age were assessed on egg weight loss during incubation, fertility, hatchability, and embryonic mortality. The trials involved hatching eggs from three commercial broiler breeder flocks of the same strain but of different ages. The eggs were divided according to specific gravity into two groups, thin-shelled (< or = 1.080) and thick-shelled (> 1.080). Thin-shelled eggs displayed a greater increase in weight with breeder age and greater weight loss during incubation. Thick-shelled eggs showed an increased hatchability as a result of greater fertility and lower intermediate and late embryonic mortalities. Percentage of culls, pips, and rots were not related to shell thickness. Eggs from the younger flock had a higher weight loss during incubation irrespective of shell thickness. Hatchability and viability (hatchability of fertile eggs) were lower in the younger flock due to increased early and late embryonic mortalities. Fertility, culls, and pips were not affected by breeder age. The data may indicate the extent to which recent innovations in breeder management and in incubation technology have changed patterns of fertility and embryonic mortality.
The Zarankiewicz problem in 3‐partite graphs

Let F be a graph, k ≥ 2 be an integer, and write ex χ ≤ k ( n , F ) for the maximum number of edges in an n ‐vertex graph that is k ‐partite and has no subgraph isomorphic to F . The function ex χ ≤ 2 ( n , F ) has been studied by many researchers. Finding ex χ ≤ 2 ( n , K s , t ) is a special case of the Zarankiewicz problem. We prove an analog of the Kövári‐Sós‐Turán theorem for 3‐partite graphs by showing ex χ ≤ 3 ( n , K s , t ) ≤ 1 3 1 − 1 ∕ s t − 1 2 + o ( 1 ) 1 ∕ s n 2 − 1 ∕ s for 2 ≤ s ≤ t . Using Sidon sets constructed by Bose and Chowla, we prove that this upper bound is asymptotically best possible in the case that s = 2 and t ≥ 3 is odd, that is, ex χ ≤ 3 ( n , K 2 , 2 t + 1 ) = t 3 n 3 ∕ 2 + o ( n 3 ∕ 2 ) for t ≥ 1 . In the cases of K 2 , t and K 3 , 3 , we use a result of Allen, Keevash, Sudakov, and Verstraëte, to show that a similar upper bound holds for all k ≥ 3 and gives a better constant when s = t = 3 . Finally, we point out an interesting connection between difference families from design theory and ex χ ≤ 3 ( n , C 4 ) .
Review of quantitative multiscale imaging of breast cancer

Abstract. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and ranks second in terms of overall cancer deaths. One of the difficulties associated with treating breast cancer is that it is a heterogeneous disease with variations in benign and pathologic tissue composition, which contributes to disease development, progression, and treatment response. Many of these phenotypes are uncharacterized and their presence is difficult to detect, in part due to the sparsity of methods to correlate information between the cellular microscale and the whole-breast macroscale. Quantitative multiscale imaging of the breast is an emerging field concerned with the development of imaging technology that can characterize anatomic, functional, and molecular information across different resolutions and fields of view. It involves a diverse collection of imaging modalities, which touch large sections of the breast imaging research community. Prospective studies have shown promising results, but there are several challenges, ranging from basic physics and engineering to data processing and quantification, that must be met to bring the field to maturity. This paper presents some of the challenges that investigators face, reviews currently used multiscale imaging methods for preclinical imaging, and discusses the potential of these methods for clinical breast imaging.
Effects of a Carob-Pod-Derived Sweetener on Glucose Metabolism

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a higher incidence of cardiovascular (CV) events. The ingestion of high-glycemic index (GI) diets, specially sweetened beverage consumption, has been associated with the development of T2DM and CV disease. Objective: We investigated the effects of the intake of a sweetened beverage, obtained from natural carbohydrates containing pinitol (PEB) compared to a sucrose-enriched beverage (SEB) in the context of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes. Methods: The study was divided in three different phases: (1) a discovery phase where the plasma proteomic profile was investigated by 2-DE (two-dimensional electrophoresis) followed by mass spectrometry (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight—MALDI-TOF/TOF) in healthy and IGT volunteers; (2) a verification phase where the potential mechanisms behind the observed protein changes were investigated in the discovery cohort and in an additional group of T2DM volunteers; and (3) the results were validated in a proof-of-concept interventional study in an animal model of diabetic rats with complementary methodologies. Results: Six weeks of pinitol-enriched beverage (PEB) intake induced a significant increase in two proteins involved in the insulin secretion pathway, insulin-like growth factor acid labile subunit (IGF1BP-ALS; 1.3-fold increase; P = 0.200) and complement C4A (1.83-fold increase; P = 0.007) in IGT subjects but not in healthy volunteers. Changes in C4A were also found in the serum samples of Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats after four weeks of PEB intake compared to basal levels (P = 0.042). In addition, an increased expression of the glucose transporter-2 (GLUT2) gene was observed in the jejunum (P = 0.003) of inositol-supplemented rats when compared to sucrose supplementation. This change was correlated with the observed change in C4A (P = 0.002). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the substitution of a common sugar source, such as sucrose, by a naturally-based, pinitol-enriched beverage induces changes in the insulin secretion pathway that could help to reduce blood glucose levels by protecting β-cells and by stimulating the insulin secretion pathway. This mechanism of action could have a relevant role in the prevention of insulin resistance and diabetes progression.
Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

BACKGROUND Regulatory guidance specifies the need to establish cardiovascular safety of new diabetes therapies in patients with type 2 diabetes in order to rule out excess cardiovascular risk. The cardiovascular effects of semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 analogue with an extended half-life of approximately 1 week, in type 2 diabetes are unknown. METHODS We randomly assigned 3297 patients with type 2 diabetes who were on a standard-care regimen to receive once-weekly semaglutide (0.5 mg or 1.0 mg) or placebo for 104 weeks. The primary composite outcome was the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. We hypothesized that semaglutide would be noninferior to placebo for the primary outcome. The noninferiority margin was 1.8 for the upper boundary of the 95% confidence interval of the hazard ratio. RESULTS At baseline, 2735 of the patients (83.0%) had established cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or both. The primary outcome occurred in 108 of 1648 patients (6.6%) in the semaglutide group and in 146 of 1649 patients (8.9%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58 to 0.95; P<0.001 for noninferiority). Nonfatal myocardial infarction occurred in 2.9% of the patients receiving semaglutide and in 3.9% of those receiving placebo (hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.51 to 1.08; P=0.12); nonfatal stroke occurred in 1.6% and 2.7%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.99; P=0.04). Rates of death from cardiovascular causes were similar in the two groups. Rates of new or worsening nephropathy were lower in the semaglutide group, but rates of retinopathy complications (vitreous hemorrhage, blindness, or conditions requiring treatment with an intravitreal agent or photocoagulation) were significantly higher (hazard ratio, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.11 to 2.78; P=0.02). Fewer serious adverse events occurred in the semaglutide group, although more patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events, mainly gastrointestinal. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes who were at high cardiovascular risk, the rate of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke was significantly lower among patients receiving semaglutide than among those receiving placebo, an outcome that confirmed the noninferiority of semaglutide. (Funded by Novo Nordisk; SUSTAIN-6 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01720446 .).
Acceleration of complex algorithms on a fast reconfigurable embedded system on Spartan-3

Complex algorithms usually require several computation stages. Many embedded microprocessors have not enough computational performance to resolve these algorithms in a reasonable time, so dedicated coprocessors accelerate them although the main drawback is the area devoted to them. A reconfigurable coprocessor can drastically reduce the area, since it accommodates a set of coprocessors whose execution is multiplexed on time, although the reconfiguration speed reduces the overall system performance. Although self-reconfigurable systems are possible on Spartan-3 FPGAs, it requires a hard design task due to the lack of software and hardware support available on higher-cost families. This paper describes the architecture of a fast self-reconfigurable embedded system mapped on Spartan-3, used as computation platform to solve a complex algorithm, such as the image-processing carried out in a fingerprint biometric algorithm. In order to reduce the reconfiguration time, the system uses our custom-made memory and reconfiguration controllers. Moreover, the dynamic coprocessor can access directly to external memory through our memory controller to improve processing time.
Effects of Intensive Blood Pressure Treatment on Acute Kidney Injury Events in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT).

BACKGROUND Treating to a lower blood pressure (BP) may increase acute kidney injury (AKI) events. STUDY DESIGN Data for AKI resulting in or during hospitalization or emergency department visits were collected as part of the serious adverse events reporting process of the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). SETTING & PARTICIPANTS 9,361 participants 50 years or older with 1 or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease. INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomly assigned to a systolic BP target of <120 (intensive arm) or <140mmHg (standard arm). OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS Primary outcome was the number of adjudicated AKI events. Secondary outcomes included severity of AKI and degree of recovery of kidney function after an AKI event. Baseline creatinine concentration was defined as the most recent SPRINT outpatient creatinine value before the date of the AKI event. RESULTS There were 179 participants with AKI events in the intensive arm and 109 in the standard arm (3.8% vs 2.3%; HR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.30-2.10; P<0.001). Of 288 participants with an AKI event, 248 (86.1%) had a single AKI event during the trial. Based on modified KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) criteria for severity of AKI, the number of AKI events in the intensive versus standard arm by KDIGO stage was 128 (58.5%) versus 81 (62.8%) for AKI stage 1, 42 (19.2%) versus 18 (14.0%) for AKI stage 2, and 42 (19.2%) versus 25 (19.4%) for AKI stage 3 (P=0.5). For participants with sufficient data, complete or partial resolution of AKI was seen for 169 (90.4%) and 9 (4.8%) of 187 AKI events in the intensive arm and 86 (86.9%) and 4 (4.0%) of 99 AKI events in the standard arm, respectively. LIMITATIONS Trial results are not generalizable to patients with diabetes mellitus or without risk factors for cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS More intensive BP lowering resulted in more frequent episodes of AKI. Most cases were mild and most participants had complete recovery of kidney function. TRIAL REGISTRATION Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with study number NCT01206062.
A survey of methods used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the United States

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to animal and human health worldwide, requiring a collaborative, holistic approach. The U.S. Government has developed a national strategy to address antimicrobial resistance, with one component being to monitor antimicrobial resistance in agricultural settings. We developed a survey to collect information about antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) from the veterinary diagnostic laboratory community in the United States, assessing current practices and technologies and determining how AST information is shared. Of the 132 surveys administered, 52 (39%) were returned. Overall, responding laboratories conducted susceptibility tests on 98,788 bacterial isolates in 2014, with Escherichia coli being the most common pathogen tested across all animal species. The 2 most common AST methods employed were the disk diffusion method (71%) and the Sensititre platform broth microdilution system (59%). Laboratories primarily used the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) VET-01 standard (69%) and the automatically calculated interpretations provided by the commercial AST systems (61%) for interpreting their AST data. Only 22% of laboratories published AST data on a periodic basis, usually via annual reports published on the laboratory’s website or through peer-reviewed journals for specific pathogens. Our results confirm that disk diffusion and broth microdilution remain the standard AST methods employed by U.S. veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and that CLSI standards are commonly used for interpreting AST results. This information will help determine the most efficient standardized methodology for future surveillance. Furthermore, the current infrastructure within laboratories, once harmonized, will help provide a mechanism for conducting national surveillance programs.
Ultra-Reliable Communication in 5G mmWave Networks: A Risk-Sensitive Approach

In this letter, we investigate the problem of providing gigabit wireless access with reliable communication in 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-output networks. In contrast to the classical network design based on average metrics, we propose a distributed risk-sensitive reinforcement learning-based framework to jointly optimize the beamwidth and transmit power, while taking into account the sensitivity of mmWave links due to blockage. Numerical results show that our proposed algorithm achieves more than 9 Gbps of user throughput with a guaranteed probability of 90%, whereas the baselines guarantee less than 7.5 Gbps. More importantly, there exists a rate-reliability-network density tradeoff, in which as the user density increases from 16 to 96 per km2, the fraction of users that achieves 4 Gbps is reduced by 11.61% and 39.11% in the proposed and the baseline models, respectively.
Particle trajectory control with the use of different carrier gases

The quality of a coating that has been formed by plasma spraying is highly dependent on the path and the velocities of the particles being sprayed. Changing the flow rate of the carrier gas can have a strong effect on the trajectories and velocities of the particles. Very little research has been done on the effects of the carrier gas on the plasma spray process. Argon is the most commonly used carrier gas in an argon-helium plasma torch. Different gases will have different characteristics, such as enthalpy, thermal conductivity and specific heat. How these differences affect the spray process needs to be understood to improve the system. In this research, the influence of various carrier gases on the plasma jet, particle behavior and coating quality are investigated. Argon, helium and nitrogen have been used for comparison. The coating characteristics that are considered include coating thickness distribution, porosity and unmelted particle distribution. The particle trajectories and velocities, the luminous jet geometries and the plasma jet fluctuations are also compared by using the LaserStrobe{trademark} Vision system and computerized image analysis.
Psychometric Properties of the Glaucoma Treatment Compliance Assessment Tool (GTCAT) in a Brazilian Population

Purpose: To determine the psychometric properties of a reduced version of the Glaucoma Treatment Compliance Assessment Tool (GTCAT), which was translated to Brazilian Portuguese. Patients and Methods: We translated into Portuguese the GTCAT using validated techniques and administered it to a group of glaucoma patients using at least 1 ocular hypotensive eye drop medication. We used principal components analysis to determine construct validity, Rasch analysis, and Cronbach &agr; for internal consistency reliability, frequency analysis for floor and ceiling effects, and Spearman &rgr; for test-retest reliability. Results: We included 76 glaucoma patients. Principal component analysis loaded 14 questions into 7 components that were consistent with the Health Belief Model. The components were related to “barriers due to lack of drops,” “self-efficacy,” “experience of negative effects of the disease,” “well-being,” “general glaucoma knowledge,” “glaucoma symptoms,” and “cues-to-action. ” No statements had floor or ceiling effects, and all statements had acceptable test-retest reliability. Components had internal consistency Cronbach &agr; reliability between 0.125 and 0.794. and average Spearman &rgr; reliability was 0.73, ranging from 0.44 to 1.00. According to Rasch analysis, the mean (±SD) of the person measures was 0.24±0.15 logits, person separation index was 0.58, and person reliability 0.25. Conclusions: The Portuguese-translated version of the GTCAT showed acceptable psychometric properties. With further refinement, clinicians and researchers could use it to better investigate glaucoma adherence issues in the Brazilian population.
Dyspnea and Hyperinflation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Impact on Physical Activity

Dyspnea, the sensation of difficult or labored breathing, is the most common symptom in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the primary symptom that limits physical activity in more advanced disease. [1][1] According to the American Thoracic Society, dyspnea may be measured according to
Model-Based Probabilistic Pursuit via Inverse Reinforcement Learning

We address the integrated prediction, planning, and control problem that enables a single follower robot (the photographer) to quickly re-establish visual contact with a moving target (the subject) that has escaped the follower's field of view. We deal with this scenario, which reactive controllers are typically ill-equipped to handle, by making plausible predictions about the long- and short-term behavior of the target, and planning pursuit paths that will maximize the chance of seeing the target again. At the core of our pursuit method is the use of predictive models of target behavior, which help narrow down the set of possible future locations of the target to a few discrete hypotheses, as well as the use of combinatorial search in physical space to check those hypotheses efficiently. We model target behavior in terms of a learned navigation reward function, using Inverse Reinforcement Learning, based on semantic terrain features of satellite maps. Our pursuit algorithm continuously predicts the latent destination of the target and its position in the future, and relies on efficient graph representation and search methods in order to navigate to locations at which the target is most likely to be seen at an anticipated time. We perform extensive evaluation of our predictive pursuit algorithm over multiple satellite maps, thousands of simulation scenarios, against state-of-the art MDP and POMDP solvers. We show that our method significantly outperforms them by exploiting domain-specific knowledge, while being able to run in real-time.