Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Natural history of glucose tolerance, beta-cell function and peripheral insulin sensitivity in cystic fibrosis patients with fasting euglycemia.

OBJECTIVE The loss of pancreatic beta-cells is thought to be one of the principal causes of diabetes mellitus (DM) in cystic fibrosis (CF), but the role of peripheral insulin resistance (IR) in the pathogenesis of DM in CF remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether eventual changes of glucose tolerance (GT) over time were associated with modifications of insulin secretion or sensitivity. METHODS Plasma glucose and insulin responses to an oral GT test (OGTT) were investigated and reinvestigated 13 Years later in 14 CF patients with initial and persistent fasting euglycemia and no history of insulin treatment. Insulin sensitivity (IS) at both tests was assessed on the basis of insulin and glucose levels both in the fasting state and during OGTTs. RESULTS From the 1st to the 2nd OGTT: (a) the prevalence of DM responses significantly increased; (b) the areas beneath the respective glucose and insulin curves significantly increased and decreased respectively; (c) IR and IS indices decreased and increased respectively, even in the patients who developed DM; (d) pulmonary function significantly worsened in the entire series, especially in the patients who developed DM. CONCLUSIONS (i) the natural history of glyco-metabolic status in CF is characterized by deteriorating GT over time; (ii) insulinopenia plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of GT worsening; (iii) IR does not play any significant part in the pathogenesis of DM development; (iv) deterioration of lung function tests is more severe in the subjects who develop DM over time.
The Nature of Developmental Stages

A theoretical analysis of the nature of developmental stages is presented. A formal model of the relationship of knowing is outlined from which developmental stages, egocentrism, and vertical decalage can be derived as logically necessary consequences. A number of implications of the model for the nature of developmental stages are discussed, and it is noted that these implications show several important divergences from Piaget. The underlying model of knowing is illustrated, primarily with respect to imagery.
Retina is structured to process an excess of darkness in natural scenes

Retinal ganglion cells that respond selectively to a dark spot on a brighter background (OFF cells) have smaller dendritic fields than their ON counterparts and are more numerous. OFF cells also branch more densely, and thus collect more synapses per visual angle. That the retina devotes more resources to processing dark contrasts predicts that natural images contain more dark information. We confirm this across a range of spatial scales and trace the origin of this phenomenon to the statistical structure of natural scenes. We show that the optimal mosaics for encoding natural images are also asymmetric, with OFF elements smaller and more numerous, matching retinal structure. Finally, the concentration of synapses within a dendritic field matches the information content, suggesting a simple principle to connect a concrete fact of neuroanatomy with the abstract concept of information: equal synapses for equal bits.
Regularized Non-Negative Matrix Factorization for Identifying Differentially Expressed Genes and Clustering Samples: A Survey

Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF), a classical method for dimensionality reduction, has been applied in many fields. It is based on the idea that negative numbers are physically meaningless in various data-processing tasks. Apart from its contribution to conventional data analysis, the recent overwhelming interest in NMF is due to its newly discovered ability to solve challenging data mining and machine learning problems, especially in relation to gene expression data. This survey paper mainly focuses on research examining the application of NMF to identify differentially expressed genes and to cluster samples, and the main NMF models, properties, principles, and algorithms with its various generalizations, extensions, and modifications are summarized. The experimental results demonstrate the performance of the various NMF algorithms in identifying differentially expressed genes and clustering samples.
Astragaloside IV Attenuates Complement Membranous Attack Complex Induced Podocyte Injury Through the MAPK Pathway

Membranous nephropathy (MN) is the most common cause of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in adults and the cause is known to be due to the injury of podocytes located in the glomeruli. Astragalus membranaceus has been used for the treatment of patients with MN in China for a long time. The beneficial effect of Astragalus membranaceus on proteinuria of patients with MN has been well documented. However, the mechanism of astragalus membranaceu in alleviation of MN is still not completely understood. Therefore, in the current study, we employed a podocyte injury model induced by complement membranous attack complex to examine the mechanism of astragalus membraneceus in the treatment of MN. We found that complement membranous attack complex could increase lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release from podocytes and astragaloside IV (AS‐IV) could prevent LDH release from podocytes in a time‐ and dose‐dependent pattern. Moreover, AS‐IV restored podocyte morphology and cytoskeleton loss induced by complement membranous attack complex. Furthermore, AS‐IV was able to reduce phosphorylation of JNK and ERK1/2 induced by complement membranous attack complex. In conclusion, the mechanism of Astragalus membranaceus in the treatment of MN may be related to its attenuation of podocyte injury through regulation of cytoskeleton and mitogen activated protein kinase. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The influence of hydration on the conformation of lysozyme studied by solid‐state 13C‐nmr spectroscopy

13C proton decoupled cross‐polarization magic‐angle spinning nmr spectra of lysozyme are reported as a function of hydration. Increases in hydration level enhance the resolution of the spectra, particularly in the aliphatic region, but has no significant effect on either the rotating frame proton spin–lattice relaxation time or the cross‐relaxation time. The enhancement in spectral resolution with hydration is attributed to a decrease in the distribution of isotropic chemical shifts, which reflects a decrease in the distribution of conformational states sampled by the protein. Changes in the distribution of isotropic chemical shifts occur after the addition of water to the charged groups as coverage of the polar side chains and peptide groups takes place. The onset of this behavior occurs at a hydration level of about, 0.1–0.2 g water/g protein and is largely complete at about 0.3 g water/g protein, the same hydration range where changes in the heat capacity are observed. That hydrogen exchange of buried protons can occur at hydration levels significantly lower than those at which changes in the distribution of conformational states are first observed suggests that some motions that mediate exchange are already present in the dry protein. The preservation of efficient dipolar coupling indicates that the conformational rearrangements that do‐occur on hydration are small and do not involve any significant overall expansion of free volume or weakening of interactions that would increase the reorientational freedom of protein groups. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A detailed router for hierarchical FPGAs based on simulated evolution

This paper presents a new detialed router for the hierarchical field programmable gate arrays (H-FPGAs). The optimal objectives of proposed routing algorithm are improving the time consumption of routing procedure (minimizing the running time of algorithm), and at the same time make great effort to decrease the wire length and critical path delay. Initially, nets are routed sequentially according to their criticalities. Then, to achieve optimization targets, the nets violating routablity constrains are resolved iteratively by a rip-up and rerouting router using the simulated evolution optimization technique, where each net will be evaluated via a rip-up priority function consisting of the timing part and the congestion part, and then compared to a random number to decide if it will be ripped and rerouted. An experimental result under commercial H-FPGA shows that our router can have about 26% improvement on the time-consumption and 0.45% reduction on total wire length when compared with a modified VPR.
Teaching garbage collection without implementing compiler or interpreters

Given the widespread use of memory-safe languages, students must understand garbage collection well. Following a constructivist philosophy, an effective approach would be to have them implement garbage collectors. Unfortunately, a full implementation depends on substantial knowledge of compilers and runtime systems, which many courses do not cover or cannot assume. This paper presents an instructive approach to teaching GC, where students implement it atop a simplified stack and heap. Our approach eliminates enormous curricular dependencies while preserving the essence of GC algorithms. We take pains to enable testability, comprehensibility, and facilitates debugging. Our approach has been successfully classroom-tested for several years at several institutions.
PAPS-Reductase from Escherichia coli: Characterization of the Enzyme as Probe for Thioredoxins

Abstract PAPS-reductase from Escherichia coli was em ployed to detect thioredoxins from pro- and eukaryotic organisms. A simple method for the isolation of this enzyme and properties of the enzymatic assay were described. A comparison betw een thioredoxins detected by the PAPS-reductase and the Fructose-bisphosphatase or NADP malate dehydrogenase was used to assess the validity of the test. The high cross-reactivity of the bacterial enzyme was useful in the purification of heterologous thioredoxins from spinach, Synechococcus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Episodic air pollution is associated with increased DNA fragmentation in human sperm without other changes in semen quality.

BACKGROUND This study examined potential associations between exposure to episodes of air pollution and alterations in semen quality. The air pollution, resulting from combustion of coal for industry and home heating in the Teplice district of the Czech Republic, was much higher during the winter than at other times of year with peaks exceeding US air quality standards. METHODS Young men from Teplice were sampled up to seven times over 2 years allowing evaluation of semen quality after periods of exposure to both low and high air pollution. Routine semen analysis (sperm concentration, motility and morphology) and tests for sperm aneuploidy and chromatin integrity were performed, comparing measurements within each subject. Exposure was classified as high or low based on data from ambient air pollution monitoring. RESULTS Using repeated measures analysis, a significant association was found between exposure to periods of high air pollution (at or above the upper limit of US air quality standards) and the percentage of sperm with DNA fragmentation according to sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). Other semen measures were not associated with air pollution. CONCLUSION Exposure to intermittent air pollution may result in sperm DNA damage and thereby increase the rates of male-mediated infertility, miscarriage, and other adverse reproductive outcomes.
Family Placement Schemes Offering Long-term Care for Adults with Learning Disabilities: A review of the evaluation literature

ABSTRACT This paper reviews evaluation studies of family placement schemes offering long-term care for adults with learning disabilities in Britain. The model is widely used, but there is very little research describing such schemes. It is suggested that evaluation is made difficult because the goals of placement schemes for people with learning disabilities are not made clear in the literature. A theoretical structure for evaluation based upon an ecological view of quality of life is suggested and research is reviewed within this model. Where possible, comparisons are made to American literature on similar models of care.
Campaigns for Moving Research Into Practice

ten by Doug Carnine from the University of Oregon. It is a cliche to say that a prominent professional needs no introduction, but this is certainly the case with Dr. Carnine. His contributions to the field, particularly in instructional methodology, have been immeasurable. Numerous best practices in the field in direct instruction, curricular modifications, and content instruction for older students derive from his outstanding work. In this Perspective, he challenges us to accept the responsibility of moving education forward by doing more than paying lip service to the translation of research into practice . &mdash; EAP
Passivity-based Object-Level Impedance Control for a Multifingered Hand

Holding an object and manipulating it in 6D is a key application for multifingered robot hands. In the past many algorithms were proposed based on a weighted pseudoinverse of the grasp map combined with an internal force control. The majority of these algorithms require robust contact detection/tracking and switching controllers. Employing the virtual object introduced by Stramigioli we present an object-level control law. We define a novel virtual object frame based on the robot hand configuration. Our control law takes a desired object frame and desired grasping forces as input, it is passive, has an intuitive physical meaning, and stability is even given in case a finger looses contact with the object. A damping design as a function of the desired object stiffness and the combined hand-object inertia is presented. The performance of the controller is proven in two experiments implemented on the DLR Hand II
LEDGF: a leukemia-specific target.

In this issue of Blood, El Ashkar et al1 reveal that the lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF) protein is a key therapeutic target by showing that it is essential for leukemia, but not normal hematopoiesis. Such context-dependent information is important for the development of new targeted therapies.
A Novel Approach to Search a Node in MANET

Traditional sensor network environment have making the group and optimization method between nodes. But it is a not enough in MANET environment that consists of many wireless devices and various wired or wireless protocols. So, we propose a Novel Approach to Search a node in MANET based on TORA. We show our proposed scheme's architecture and algorithm. Our proposed scheme shows more efficient to search a middle node. But we have a more research that how can make experiment result to more easy and verify the result in various simulate environments.
Gamete Traits Influence the Variance in Reproductive Success, the Intensity of Sexual Selection, and the Outcome of Sexual Conflict among Congeneric Sea Urchins

Abstract Sea-urchin species differ in susceptibility to sperm limitation and polyspermy, but the influences of gamete traits on reproductive variance, sexual selection, and sexual conflict are unknown. I compared male and female reproductive success of two congeners at natural densities in the sea. The eggs of the species occurring at higher densities, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, require higher sperm concentrations for fertilization but are more resistant to polyspermy compared to S. franciscanus. Both species show high variance in male fertilization success at all densities and high variance in female success at low densities, but they differ in female variance at high densities, where only S. franciscanus shows high female variance. The intensity of sexual selection based on Bateman gradients is high in males of both species, variable in S. franciscanus females, and low in S. purpuratus females. Strongylocentrotus franciscanus females experience sexual selection at low densities and sexual conflict at high densities. Strongylocentrotus purpuratus may rarely experience sperm limitation and may have evolved to ameliorate sexual conflict. This reduces the variance in female fertilization, providing females with more control over fertilization. Sperm availability influences sexual selection directly by determining sperm–egg encounter probabilities and indirectly through selection on gamete traits that alter reproductive variances.
On the Enhanced Interstellar Scattering toward B1849+005

This paper reports new Very Large Array (VLA) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the extragalactic source B1849+005 (Galactic coordinates ℓ = 33.°44, b = +0.°21) at frequencies between 0.33 and 15 GHz and the reanalysis of archival VLA observations at 0.33, 1.5, and 4.9 GHz. The structure of this source is complex, confirming previous suggestions, but interstellar scattering dominates the structure of the central component at least to 15 GHz. An analysis of the phase structure functions of the interferometric visibilities shows the density fluctuations along this line of sight to be anisotropic (axial ratio = 1.3) with a frequency-independent position angle and having an inner scale of roughly a few hundred kilometers. The anisotropies occur on length scales of order 1015 cm (D/5 kpc), which within the context of certain magnetohydrodynamic turbulence theories indicates the length scale on which the kinetic and magnetic energy densities are comparable. A conservative upper limit on the velocity of the scattering material is 1800 km s-1, based on the lack of changes in the shapes of the 0.33 GHz images. In the 0.33 GHz field of view, there are a number of other sources that might also be heavily scattered, which would suggest that there are large changes in the scattering strength on lines of sight separated by a degree or less. Both B1849+005 and PSR B1849+00 are highly scattered, and they are separated by only 13'. If the lines of sight are affected by the same "clump" of scattering material, it must be at least 2.3 kpc distant. However, a detailed attempt to account for the scattering observables toward these sources (angular broadening of the extragalactic source, pulse broadening of the pulsar, and upper limits on the angular broadening of the pulsar) does not produce a self-consistent set of parameters for a clump that can reproduce all three measured scattering observables. A clump of Hα emission, possibly associated with the H II region G33.418-0.004, lies between these two lines of sight, but it seems unable to account for all of the required excess scattering.
The caspase-3–p120-RasGAP module generates a NF-κB repressor in response to cellular stress

ABSTRACT The nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) transcription factor is a master regulator of inflammation. Short-term NF-κB activation is generally beneficial. However, sustained NF-κB might be detrimental, directly causing apoptosis of cells or leading to a persistent damaging inflammatory response. NF-κB activity in stressed cells needs therefore to be controlled for homeostasis maintenance. In mildly stressed cells, caspase-3 cleaves p120 RasGAP, also known as RASA1, into an N-terminal fragment, which we call fragment N. We show here that this fragment is a potent NF-κB inhibitor. Fragment N decreases the transcriptional activity of NF-κB by promoting its export from the nucleus. Cells unable to generate fragment N displayed increased NF-κB activation upon stress. Knock-in mice expressing an uncleavable p120 RasGAP mutant showed exaggerated NF-κB activation when their epidermis was treated with anthralin, a drug used for the treatment of psoriasis. Our study provides biochemical and genetic evidence of the importance of the caspase-3–p120-RasGAP stress-sensing module in the control of stress-induced NF-κB activation. Summary: Mild caspase activation in cells subjected to non-lethal doses of stress generates an N-terminal p120 RasGAP fragment that inhibits NF-κB activity.
Ectopic PDX-1 Expression Directly Reprograms Human Keratinocytes along Pancreatic Insulin-Producing Cells Fate

Background Cellular differentiation and lineage commitment have previously been considered irreversible processes. However, recent studies have indicated that differentiated adult cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency and, in some cases, directly into alternate committed lineages. However, although pluripotent cells can be induced in numerous somatic cell sources, it was thought that inducing alternate committed lineages is primarily only possible in cells of developmentally related tissues. Here, we challenge this view and analyze whether direct adult cell reprogramming to alternate committed lineages can cross the boundaries of distinct developmental germ layers. Methodology/Principal Findings We ectopically expressed non-integrating pancreatic differentiation factors in ectoderm-derived human keratinocytes to determine whether these factors could directly induce endoderm-derived pancreatic lineage and β-cell-like function. We found that PDX-1 and to a lesser extent other pancreatic transcription factors, could rapidly and specifically activate pancreatic lineage and β-cell-like functional characteristics in ectoderm-derived human keratinocytes. Human keratinocytes transdifferentiated along the β cell lineage produced processed and secreted insulin in response to elevated glucose concentrations. Using irreversible lineage tracing for KRT-5 promoter activity, we present supporting evidence that insulin-positive cells induced by ectopic PDX-1 expression are generated in ectoderm derived keratinocytes. Conclusions/Significance These findings constitute the first demonstration of human ectoderm cells to endoderm derived pancreatic cells transdifferentiation. The study represents a proof of concept which suggests that transcription factors induced reprogramming is wider and more general developmental process than initially considered. These results expanded the arsenal of adult cells that can be used as a cell source for generating functional endocrine pancreatic cells. Directly reprogramming somatic cells into alternate desired tissues has important implications in developing patient-specific, regenerative medicine approaches.
Low-dose computed tomography image denoising based on joint wavelet and sparse representation

Image denoising and signal enhancement are the most challenging issues in low dose computed tomography (CT) imaging. Sparse representational methods have shown initial promise for these applications. In this work we present a wavelet based sparse representation denoising technique utilizing dictionary learning and clustering. By using wavelets we extract the most suitable features in the images to obtain accurate dictionary atoms for the denoising algorithm. To achieve improved results we also lower the number of clusters which reduces computational complexity. In addition, a single image noise level estimation is developed to update the cluster centers in higher PSNRs. Our results along with the computational efficiency of the proposed algorithm clearly demonstrates the improvement of the proposed algorithm over other clustering based sparse representation (CSR) and K-SVD methods.
Recent advances in pulse oximetry

Conventional pulse oximetry uses two wavelengths of light (red and infrared) transmitted through a finger and a photodetector to analyze arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Recent advances in pulse oximetry include: extended analysis of the photo plethysmographic waveform; use of multiple wavelengths of light to quantify methemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin content in blood; and use of electronic processes to improve pulse oximeter signal processing during conditions of low signal-to-noise ratio. These advances have opened new clinical applications for pulse oximeters that will have an impact on patient monitoring and management.