Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THERAPY OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Insulin initiation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: treatment guidelines, clinical evidence and patterns of use of basal vs premixed insulin analogues

This review addresses the apparent disconnect between international guideline recommendations, real-life clinical practice and the results of clinical trials, with regard to the initiation of insulin using basal (long-acting) or premixed insulin analogues in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). English language guidelines vary considerably with respect to recommended glycaemic targets, the selection of human vs analogue insulin, and choice of insulin regimen. Randomised trials directly comparing insulin initiation between basal and premixed analogues are scarce, and hard endpoint outcome data are inadequate. The evidence presented suggests that a major component of the HbA1c not being attained in every day clinical practice may be a result of factors that are not adequately addressed in forced titration trials of highly motivated patients, including failure to comply with complex treatment and monitoring regimens. Enforced intensification of unrealistic complex treatment regimens and glycaemic targets may theoretically worsen the psychological well-being in some patients. More simple and sustainable treatment regimens and guidelines are urgently needed. As for the use of insulin in T2D, there is limited evidence to convincingly support that initiation of insulin using basal insulin analogues is superior to initiation using premixed insulin analogues. While awaiting improved clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness data, practical guidance from national and international diabetes organisations should consider more carefully the importance of: i) being clear and consistent; and ii) the early implementation of sustainable and cost-effective insulin treatment regimens with an emphasis on optimising treatment ease of use and patient compliance.
Topic tracking using subject templates

Topic tracking, which starts from a few sample stories and ﬁnds all subsequent stories that discuss the same topic, is a new challenge for the text categorization task and makes a signiﬁcant contribution to the accessibility of information, such as archives of news, e-mails, and historical newspapers. Much previous research on topic tracking uses machine learning techniques. However, the small size of the training data, especially positive training stories, presents difﬁculties in training the parameters of the tracking sys-tem to produce optimal results. In this paper, we present a method for topic tracking using subject templates to select an optimal training set. The method was tested on the TV news which are the outputs of a speech recognizer, and the result shows the effectiveness of the method.
The Imbalance in Serum Concentration of Th-1- and Th-2-Derived Chemokines as One of the Factors Involved in Pathogenesis of Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease in which pathogenesis chemokines are partially involved. The aim of the paper was to assess the serum level of CXCL-9, CXCL-10, CXCL-11, CXCL-12, CCL-17, CCL-20, CCL-21, CCL-22, CCL-27, and IL-18 chosen in AD patients by ELISA assay. Forty patients (mean age 11.4 years old) with AD and 50 healthy controls were enrolled into the study. The patients and controls were divided into two age categories: under 10 years old (Group 1 and Control 1) and over 10 years old (Group 2 and Control 2). Significantly lower serum concentration of CXCL-9, CXCL-10, CCL-17, and IL-18 and higher concentration of CXCL-12 and CCL-27 were found in Group 1 when compared to Control 1. In Group 2 serum concentration of CXCL-12, CCL-17, CCL-22 was higher than in Control 2. The obtained results indicate the imbalance in chemokine serum levels in AD what suggests their role in the disease pathogenesis.
Time reversed lasing system for coherent perfect absorption based on switchable micromachined metamaterial mirrors

In this paper a time reversed lasing system for switchable coherent perfect absorption (CPA) is designed and demonstrated. The perfect absorption condition of the time reversed lasing is controlled by the micromachined metamaterial mirrors. In experiment, the peak absorption is measured to be larger than 97% which can be switched from 1.25 THz to 4.6 THz.
Paramedics’ Experiences and Coping Strategies When Encountering Critical Incidents

Paramedics frequently encounter critical incidents (CIs). Their emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to these encounters present them with a variety of difficulties on the way to, during, and after events. The aim of our study was to examine how paramedics working in a large emergency service organization in Israel experienced CIs and the coping strategies they used to deal with these experiences. We interviewed 15 paramedics from this organization. Through data analysis, we revealed two main themes: (1) between connection and detachment and (2) between control and lack of control of the situation. Paramedics, who connected with their feelings regarding the patient and/or the family in different CIs, as well as those who sensed a lack of control, experienced difficult and negative emotions. To achieve detachment, they used a variety of coping strategies. Those who experienced cognitive and functional control of the situation reported a positive and empowering experience.
The Impact of Online Social Networks on Health and Health Systems: A Scoping Review and Case Studies

Interaction through online social networks potentially results in the contestation of prevailing ideas about health and health care, and to mass protest where health is put at risk or health care provision is wanting. Through a review of the academic literature and case studies of four social networking health sites (PatientsLikeMe, Mumsnet, Treatment Action Campaign, and My Pro Ana), we establish the extent to which this phenomenon is documented, seek evidence of the prevalence and character of health‐related networks, and explore their structure, function, participants, and impact, seeking to understand how they came into being and how they sustain themselves. Results indicate mass protest is not arising from these established health‐related networking platforms. There is evidence of changes in policy following campaigning activity prompted by experiences shared through social networking such as improved National Health Service care for miscarriage (a Mumsnet campaign). Platform owners and managers have considerable power to shape these campaigns. Social networking is also influencing health policy indirectly through increasing awareness and so demand for health care. Transient social networking about health on platforms such as Twitter were not included as case studies but may be where the most radical or destabilizing influence on health care policy might arise.
A trainable generator for recommendations in multimodal dialog

As the complexity of spoken dialogue systems has increased, there has been increasing interest in spoken language generation (SLG). SLG promises portability across application domains and dialogue situations through the development of applicationindependent linguistic modules. However in practice, rulebased SLGs often have to be tuned to the application. Recently, a number of research groups have been developing hybrid methods for spoken language generation, combining general linguistic modules with methods for training parameters for particular applications. This paper describes the use of boosting to train a sentence planner to generate recommendations for restaurants in MATCH, a multimodal dialogue system providing entertainment information for New York.
Pierce's Disease of Grapevines: Isolation of the Causal Bacterium

A Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium has been consistently isolated from grapevines with Pierce's disease. Grapevines inoculated with the bacterium developed Pierce's disease, and the bacterium was reisolated from the plants. The bacterium was serologically and ultrastructurally indistinguishable from the one in naturally infected plants, and also indistinguishable from a bacterium isolated from almonds with almond leaf scorch disease.
Developmental gene regulatory network architecture across 500 million years of echinoderm evolution

Evolutionary change in morphological features must depend on architectural reorganization of developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs), just as true conservation of morphological features must imply retention of ancestral developmental GRN features. Key elements of the provisional GRN for embryonic endomesoderm development in the sea urchin are here compared with those operating in embryos of a distantly related echinoderm, a starfish. These animals diverged from their common ancestor 520-480 million years ago. Their endomesodermal fate maps are similar, except that sea urchins generate a skeletogenic cell lineage that produces a prominent skeleton lacking entirely in starfish larvae. A relevant set of regulatory genes was isolated from the starfish Asterina miniata, their expression patterns determined, and effects on the other genes of perturbing the expression of each were demonstrated. A three-gene feedback loop that is a fundamental feature of the sea urchin GRN for endoderm specification is found in almost identical form in the starfish: a detailed element of GRN architecture has been retained since the Cambrian Period in both echinoderm lineages. The significance of this retention is highlighted by the observation of numerous specific differences in the GRN connections as well. A regulatory gene used to drive skeletogenesis in the sea urchin is used entirely differently in the starfish, where it responds to endomesodermal inputs that do not affect it in the sea urchin embryo. Evolutionary changes in the GRNs since divergence are limited sharply to certain cis-regulatory elements, whereas others have persisted unaltered.
Feature Engineering in the NLI Shared Task 2013: Charles University Submission Report

Our goal is to predict the first language (L1) of English essays’s authors with the help of the TOEFL11 corpus where L1, prompts (topics) and proficiency levels are provided. Thus we approach this task as a classification task employing machine learning methods. Out of key concepts of machine learning, we focus on feature engineering. We design features across all the L1 languages not making use of knowledge of prompt and proficiency level. During system development, we experimented with various techniques for feature filtering and combination optimized with respect to the notion of mutual information and information gain. We trained four different SVM models and combined them through majority voting achieving accuracy 72.5%.
Endotoxaemia in Haemodialysis: A Novel Factor in Erythropoetin Resistance?

Background/Objectives Translocated endotoxin derived from intestinal bacteria is a driver of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. Severe endotoxaemia is an underappreciated, but characteristic finding in haemodialysis (HD) patients, and appears to be driven by acute repetitive dialysis induced circulatory stress. Resistance to erythropoietin (EPO) has been identified as a predictor of mortality risk, and associated with inflammation and malnutrition. This study aims to explore the potential link between previously unrecognised endotoxaemia and EPO Resistance Index (ERI) in HD patients. Methodology/Principal Findings 50 established HD patients were studied at a routine dialysis session. Data collection included weight, BMI, ultrafiltration volume, weekly EPO dose, and blood sampling pre and post HD. ERI was calculated as ratio of total weekly EPO dose to body weight (U/kg) to haemoglobin level (g/dL). Mean haemoglobin (Hb) was 11.3±1.3 g/dL with a median EPO dose of 10,000 [IQR 7,500–20,000] u/wk and ERI of 13.7 [IQR 6.9–23.3] ((U/Kg)/(g/dL)). Mean pre-HD serum ET levels were significantly elevated at 0.69±0.30 EU/ml. Natural logarithm (Ln) of ERI correlated to predialysis ET levels (r = 0.324, p = 0.03) with a trend towards association with hsCRP (r = 0.280, p = 0.07). Ln ERI correlated with ultrafiltration volume, a driver of circulatory stress (r = 0.295, p = 0.046), previously identified to be associated with increased intradialytic endotoxin translocation. Both serum ET and ultrafiltration volume corrected for body weight were independently associated with Ln ERI in multivariable analysis. Conclusions This study suggests that endotoxaemia is a significant factor in setting levels of EPO requirement. It raises the possibility that elevated EPO doses may in part merely be identifying patients subjected to significant circulatory stress and suffering the myriad of negative biological consequences arising from sustained systemic exposure to endotoxin.
PhenoBlocks: Phenotype Comparison Visualizations

The differential diagnosis of hereditary disorders is a challenging task for clinicians due to the heterogeneity of phenotypes that can be observed in patients. Existing clinical tools are often text-based and do not emphasize consistency, completeness, or granularity of phenotype reporting. This can impede clinical diagnosis and limit their utility to genetics researchers. Herein, we present PhenoBlocks, a novel visual analytics tool that supports the comparison of phenotypes between patients, or between a patient and the hallmark features of a disorder. An informal evaluation of PhenoBlocks with expert clinicians suggested that the visualization effectively guides the process of differential diagnosis and could reinforce the importance of complete, granular phenotypic reporting.
TanGeoMS: Tangible Geospatial Modeling System

We present TanGeoMS, a tangible geospatial modeling visualization system that couples a laser scanner, projector, and a flexible physical three-dimensional model with a standard geospatial information system (GIS) to create a tangible user interface for terrain data. TanGeoMS projects an image of real-world data onto a physical terrain model. Users can alter the topography of the model by modifying the clay surface or placing additional objects on the surface. The modified model is captured by an overhead laser scanner then imported into a GIS for analysis and simulation of real-world processes. The results are projected back onto the surface of the model providing feedback on the impact of the modifications on terrain parameters and simulated processes. Interaction with a physical model is highly intuitive, allowing users to base initial design decisions on geospatial data, test the impact of these decisions in GIS simulations, and use the feedback to improve their design. We demonstrate the system on three applications: investigating runoff management within a watershed, assessing the impact of storm surge on barrier islands, and exploring landscape rehabilitation in military training areas.
Terrain-Based Information Fusion and Inference

A key prerequisite for higher-level fusion is the use of context to disambiguate and interpret sensed data and guide data collection. For ground operations terrain information supplies an important context. The layout of terrain is a determining factor in arraying of forces, both friendly and enemy, and the structuring of Courses of Action (COAs). For example, key terrain, such as a bridge over an un-fordable river, or terrain that allows observation of the opposing forces line of advance, is likely to give a big military advantage to the force that holds it. Combining information about terrain features with hypotheses about enemy assets can lead to inferences about possible avenues of approach, areas that provide cover and concealment, areas that are vulnerable to enemy observation, or choke points. Key terrain identifies areas where intelligence collection effort should be focused. In addition, if force movements are observed, terrain features give additional information with respect to the intent of enemy forces that have been observed on the move, thus confirming or disconfirming hypotheses about enemy intent. Currently, intelligence officers manually combine terrain-based information, information about the tactical significance of certain terrain features as well as information regarding enemy assets and doctrine to form hypotheses about the disposition of enemy forces and enemy intent. In this paper, we present a set of algorithms and implemented tools for automating terrain based information fusion and inference. The products of automated terrain analysis are currently being validated using analysis of the same terrain produced by human intelligence officers.
Pseudorandom generators for combinatorial shapes

We construct pseudorandom generators for <i>combinatorial shapes</i>, which substantially generalize combinatorial rectangles, ε-biased spaces, 0/1 halfspaces, and 0/1 modular sums. A function f:[m]<sup>n</sup> -> {0,1} is an (m,n)-combinatorial shape if there exist sets A<sub>1</sub>,. ,A<sub>n</sub> ⊆ [m] and a symmetric function h:{0,1}<sup>n</sup> -> {0,1} such that f(x<sub>1</sub>,.,x<sub>n</sub>) = h(1<sub>A<sub>1</sub></sub>(x<sub>1</sub>),. ,1<sub>A<sub>n</sub></sub>(x<sub>n</sub>)). Our generator uses seed length O(log m + log n + log<sup>2</sup>(1/ε)) to get error ε. When m = 2, this gives the first generator of seed length O(log n) which fools all weight-based tests, meaning that the distribution of the weight of any subset is ε-close to the appropriate binomial distribution in statistical distance. For our proof we give a simple lemma which allows us to convert closeness in Kolmogorov (cdf) distance to closeness in statistical distance. As a corollary of our technique, we give an alternative proof of a powerful variant of the classical central limit theorem showing convergence in statistical distance, instead of the usual Kolmogorov distance.
A Novel Neuro Fuzzy Approach to Human Emotion Determination

Facial expression is the most natural and instinctive means for human beings to communicate with each other Automatic analysis of human facial expression remains a very challenging area of research in computer vision and machine learning. In this paper, a novel human emotion detection is proposed based on well-known local binary pattern (LBP) and a newly developed feature matrix. Facial feature is extracted using LBP. A unique feature matrix is then combined to apply to Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System to generate five facial expression models, namely, happy, sad, angry, disgust and surprise. A number of experiments are carried out on facial expression determination with different LBP techniques by varying the number of points and radius of neighbourhood to JAFFE face database. The proposed system achieves very high accuracy with LBP(16,2) which has outperformed most of the existing methods.
Neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent stress reactivity

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher levels of life stress, which in turn affect stress physiology. SES is related to basal cortisol and diurnal change, but it is not clear if SES is associated with cortisol reactivity to stress. To address this question, we examined the relationship between two indices of SES, parental education and concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, and the cortisol reactivity of African–American adolescents to a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). We found that concentrated disadvantage was associated with cortisol reactivity and this relationship was moderated by gender, such that higher concentrated disadvantage predicted higher cortisol reactivity and steeper recovery in boys but not in girls. Parental education, alone or as moderated by gender, did not predict reactivity or recovery, while neither education nor concentrated disadvantage predicted estimates of baseline cortisol. This finding is consistent with animal literature showing differential vulnerability, by gender, to the effects of adverse early experience on stress regulation and the differential effects of neighborhood disadvantage in adolescent males and females. This suggests that the mechanisms underlying SES differences in brain development and particularly reactivity to environmental stressors may vary across genders.
On Behavioral Subtyping and Completeness

Behavioral subtyping forces objects of subtypes to behave in the same way as objects of supertypes. It is often favored over standard subtyping because it provides a means to obtain a modular program logic. Relative completeness is a formal property of a Hoare logic that ensures that any failed attempt to verify the correctness of a program is not caused by a weakness of its Hoare rules. In this paper, we argue that the standard relative completeness notion is too stringent for program logics that are based on behavioral subtyping. Subsequently, we propose two novel and complementary completeness notions that can be employed to assess the strength of program logics that rely on behavioral subtyping.
Quantitative analysis of carotid plaque vasa vasorum by CEUS and correlation with histology after endarterectomy.

BACKGROUND Intraplaque neovascularization and vasa vasorum (VV) proliferation contribute in the progression and rupture of atherosclerotic lesions. Contrast enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) has been reported to attain data regarding intraplaque neovessels and VV. However, whether the detection of microbubbles by CEUS within atherosclerotic plaques truly represents microvessels is a point of concern. We aimed to evaluate stable and unstable carotid artery plaque (CAP) VV pattern by CEUS and its correlation with histology and immunochemistry. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with CAP scheduled for plaque endarterectomy were enrolled. CAP was initially identified by conventional ultrasonography and subsequently CEUS (harmonic ultrasound imaging with simultaneous intravenous contrast agent injection) was performed. The recorded image loops were evaluated by a semi-automated method. Plaque specimens were excised and underwent histological and immunochemical (for CD34, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, CD68 and CD3 antibodies) analysis. RESULTS Fourteen patients (67.6 ± 10.2 years, 10 males) with a 86.9 ± 11.5 % degree of carotid artery stenosis were evaluated. Histology showed that half of the plaques were unstable. Enhancement of plaque brightness on CEUS was significant for both stable and unstable plaque subgroups (p = 0.018 for both). Immunochemistry showed that microvessels, as assessed by CD34 antibody, were more dense in unstable vs. stable plaques (36.6 ± 17.4 vs. 13.0 ± 7.2 respectively, p = 0.002). However, correlation between plaque brigthness enhancement on CEUS and microvessel density was significant only for stable (r = 0.800, p = 0.031) plaques. CONCLUSIONS The identification of brightness enhacement during CEUS in carotid atherosclerotic plaques may not always reflect the presence of VV.
Mortality and the length of dialysis.

"Mortality and Duration of Hemodialysis Treatment" by Held et al, 1 presented elsewhere in this issue, is noteworthy for three distinct reasons. Clinical nephrologists will be interested in the statistically robust association between short dialysis time and increased patient mortality. Other practitioners and researchers should note the value of retrospective analyses of large databases in revealing clinical relationships that may not be apparent through smaller, prospective clinical trials. Finally, social policy analysts ignore, at their peril, the demonstration of causal relationships among payment policy, clinical practice, and clinical outcome. The annual mortality rate among US dialysis patients increased steadily from 20.1% in 1983 to 24.3% in 1988, and is clearly the highest among developed nations. 2,3 At the same time, average treatment length has been decreasing. The National Cooperative Dialysis Study, a small but highly controlled prospective trial, showed that short dialysis length was a significant predictor of patient morbidity,