Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insulin Secretion and Action in Subjects With Impaired Fasting Glucose and Impaired Glucose Tolerance

This study was conducted to observe changes in insulin secretion and insulin action in subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). A total of 319 subjects were studied with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were measured at baseline and every 30 min during the OGTT. Fifty-eight subjects also received a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp. Insulin sensitivity was calculated as the total glucose disposal (TGD) during the last 30 min of the clamp. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. Subjects with IFG had TGD similar to normal glucose-tolerant subjects, while subjects with IGT and combined IFG/IGT had significantly reduced TGD. HOMA-IR in subjects with IFG was similar to that in subjects with combined IFG/IGT and significantly higher than HOMA-IR in subjects with IGT or NGT. Insulin secretion, measured by the insulinogenic index (ΔI0–30/ΔG0–30) and by the ratio of the incremental area under the curve (AUC) of insulin to the incremental AUC of glucose (0–120 min), was reduced to the same extent in all three glucose-intolerant groups. When both measurements of β-cell function were adjusted for severity of insulin resistance, subjects with IGT and combined IFG/IGT had a significantly greater reduction in insulin secretion than subjects with IFG. Subjects with IGT and IFG have different metabolic characteristics. Differences in insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion may predict different rates of progression to type 2 diabetes and varying susceptibility to cardiovascular disease.
Toxicological evaluation of preservative-containing and preservative-free topical prostaglandin analogues on a three-dimensional-reconstituted corneal epithelium system

Aims Using an established three-dimensional (3D) toxicological model based on reconstituted human corneal epithelium (HCE), this study investigated the tolerability of four topical intraocular-pressure-lowering agents: the commercial solutions of benzalkonium chloride (BAC)-containing 0.005% latanoprost, 0.004% travoprost, 0.03% bimatoprost containing 0.02%, 0.015% and 0.005% BAC, respectively, and the preservative-free (PF) tafluprost. Solutions of 0.01% and 0.02% BAC alone were also evaluated for comparison. Methods The 3D-HCEs were treated with solutions for 24 h followed or not by a 24 h recovery period. We used a modified MTT (3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) procedure to assess cell viability in the HCE. Frozen sections of HCE were analysed using fluorescence microscopy for the evaluation of apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labelling), inflammation (ICAM-1) and proliferation (Ki67). Corneal epithelial tight junctions (occludin and tight junction protein 1 (zona occludens 1)) were also assessed by en face confocal microscopy in response to the different eye-drops. Results The MTT test revealed that the cytotoxicity of antiglaucoma eye-drops was primarily related to the concentration of their common BAC preservative (0.02% BAC-latanoprost>0.015% BAC-travoprost>0.005% BAC-bimatoprost). PF-tafluprost did not induce any obvious cytotoxicity, showed the least expression of inflammatory or apoptotic markers and revealed preservation of membrane immunostaining of tight junction proteins in comparison with BAC-containing solutions. Conclusion The toxicological model of the 3D reconstructed corneal epithelia model confirmed the ocular surface cytotoxicity of BAC-containing antiglaucomatous solutions. Compared with the formulations containing the toxic preservative BAC, PF-tafluprost was well tolerated without inducing significant corneal epithelium deterioration.
Coaching Individuals With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder at the College Level: A Single Case Study

Coaching college students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder empowers individuals to organize and execute their responsibilities, both in academia and in everyday life. With the assistance of a coach, individuals with ADHD can create structure and execute change by identifying strategies that circumvent their deficits in executive functioning. Given the increased risks facing college students with ADHD, coaching is a useful compliment to academic advising and intensive therapy. This study demonstrates coaching’s effectiveness by highlighting the experience of a single participant.
Costing ‘healthy’ food baskets in Australia – a systematic review of food price and affordability monitoring tools, protocols and methods

Abstract Objective To undertake a systematic review to determine similarities and differences in metrics and results between recently and/or currently used tools, protocols and methods for monitoring Australian healthy food prices and affordability. Design Electronic databases of peer-reviewed literature and online grey literature were systematically searched using the PRISMA approach for articles and reports relating to healthy food and diet price assessment tools, protocols, methods and results that utilised retail pricing. Setting National, state, regional and local areas of Australia from 1995 to 2015. Subjects Assessment tools, protocols and methods to measure the price of ‘healthy’ foods and diets. Results The search identified fifty-nine discrete surveys of ‘healthy’ food pricing incorporating six major food pricing tools (those used in multiple areas and time periods) and five minor food pricing tools (those used in a single survey area or time period). Analysis demonstrated methodological differences regarding: included foods; reference households; use of availability and/or quality measures; household income sources; store sampling methods; data collection protocols; analysis methods; and results. Conclusions ‘Healthy’ food price assessment methods used in Australia lack comparability across all metrics and most do not fully align with a ‘healthy’ diet as recommended by the current Australian Dietary Guidelines. None have been applied nationally. Assessment of the price, price differential and affordability of healthy (recommended) and current (unhealthy) diets would provide more robust and meaningful data to inform health and fiscal policy in Australia. The INFORMAS ‘optimal’ approach provides a potential framework for development of these methods.
The GTPase ARF1p Controls the Sequence-Specific Vacuolar Sorting Route to the Lytic Vacuole Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.010140.

We have studied the transport of soluble cargo molecules by inhibiting specific transport steps to and from the Golgi apparatus. Inhibition of export from the Golgi via coexpression of a dominant-negative GTP-restricted ARF1 mutant (Q71L) inhibits the secretion of α-amylase and simultaneously induces the secretion of the vacuolar protein phytepsin to the culture medium. By contrast, specific inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum export via overexpression of Sec12p or coexpression of a GTP-restricted form of Sar1p inhibits the anterograde transport of either cargo molecule in a similar manner. Increased secretion of the vacuolar protein was not observed after incubation with the drug brefeldin A or after coexpression of the GDP-restricted mutant of ARF1 (T31N). Therefore, the differential effect of inducing the secretion of one cargo molecule while inhibiting the secretion of another is dependent on the GTP hydrolysis by ARF1p and is not caused by a general inhibition of Golgi-derived COPI vesicle traffic. Moreover, we demonstrate that GTP-restricted ARF1-stimulated secretion is observed only for cargo molecules that are expected to be sorted in a BP80-dependent manner, exhibiting sequence-specific, context-independent, vacuolar sorting signals. Induced secretion of proteins carrying C-terminal vacuolar sorting signals was not observed. This finding suggests that ARF1p influences the BP80-mediated transport route to the vacuole in addition to transport steps of the default secretory pathway to the cell surface.
Use of asenapine in clinical practice for the management of bipolar mania

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental illness associated with high levels of somatic morbidity, comorbidity and mortality. Treatment guidelines for bipolar mania generally recommend initiating first-line therapy with a second-generation antipsychotic or mood stabiliser, either alone or in combination. Asenapine is a second-generation antipsychotic with a unique receptor binding profile, licensed for the treatment of manic episodes in adults with bipolar I disorder. ‘Real-world’ data are needed to complement evidence from clinical trials, in order to provide clinicians with pragmatic information regarding the likely risks and benefits of using a new agent in clinical practice. Evidence from real-world case reports demonstrates that – as in clinical trials – asenapine is effective in treating mania and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder, whether used as monotherapy or in combination with a mood stabiliser. It has a rapid onset of antimanic effect and an early improvement is associated with treatment outcome. Asenapine also shows promise in controlling depressive symptoms and clinically challenging mixed states. Asenapine has a favourable tolerability profile, compared with other first-line agents, having a minimal impact on weight and metabolic parameters. Asenapine should be considered a first-line treatment option for adults with bipolar I disorder.
Effects of pituitary hormones on the prostate

Although essential, androgens alone are not sufficient to induce normal growth and functionality of the prostate. Nonandrogenic hormones must also be involved in the proliferation of the prostate cancer cells which do not respond to antiandrogenic therapy and which thus become androgen‐independent. Prolactin, but also growth hormone and luteinizing hormone, are potentially able to act on both normal and abnormal prostatic cells.
Activity of Adenosine Deaminase and Adenylate Deaminase on Adenosine and 2', 3'-Isopropylidene Adenosine: Role of the Protecting Group at Different pH Values

The deamination rate of 2',3'-isopropylidene adenosine catalyzed by adenosine deaminase (ADA) from calf intestine and adenylate deaminase (AMPDA) from Aspergillus species has been evaluated and compared with that of the enzymatic reactions of adenosine, to elucidate the influence of the protecting group on ezyme activity.
Tele-Medical Applications in Home-Based Health Care

Tele-home-care systems are becoming more important for patients and society at large. Despite some surveys focusing on medical devices interoperability used on home-care systems, electronic measurements in rehabilitation, configuration of body area networks, a survey and taxonomy of enabling technologies for tele-home-care systems does not exist. This paper presents a survey and taxonomy of the design approaches. The discussion of open issues and suggestions for further research are detailed in this paper.
The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for syndromal and subsyndromal common DSM-IV axis I and all axis II disorders.

OBJECTIVE The authors sought to clarify the structure of the genetic and environmental risk factors for 22 DSM-IV disorders: 12 common axis I disorders and all 10 axis II disorders. METHOD The authors examined syndromal and subsyndromal axis I diagnoses and five categories reflecting number of endorsed criteria for axis II disorders in 2,111 personally interviewed young adult members of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health Twin Panel. RESULTS Four correlated genetic factors were identified: axis I internalizing, axis II internalizing, axis I externalizing, and axis II externalizing. Factors 1 and 2 and factors 3 and 4 were moderately correlated, supporting the importance of the internalizing-externalizing distinction. Five disorders had substantial loadings on two factors: borderline personality disorder (factors 3 and 4), somatoform disorder (factors 1 and 2), paranoid and dependent personality disorders (factors 2 and 4), and eating disorders (factors 1 and 4). Three correlated environmental factors were identified: axis II disorders, axis I internalizing disorders, and externalizing disorders versus anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS Common axis I and II psychiatric disorders have a coherent underlying genetic structure that reflects two major dimensions: internalizing versus externalizing, and axis I versus axis II. The underlying structure of environmental influences is quite different. The organization of common psychiatric disorders into coherent groups results largely from genetic, not environmental, factors. These results should be interpreted in the context of unavoidable limitations of current statistical methods applied to this number of diagnostic categories.
Increased Risk of Hospitalization for Heart Failure with Newly Prescribed Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors and Pioglitazone Using the Korean Health Insurance Claims Database

Background We assessed the association of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP4i) with hospitalization for heart failure (HF) using the Korean Health Insurance claims database. Methods We collected data on newly prescribed sitagliptin, vildagliptin, and pioglitazone between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2012 (mean follow-up of 336.8 days) to 935,519 patients with diabetes (518,614 males and 416,905 females) aged 40 to 79 years (mean age of 59.4 years). Results During the study, 998 patients were hospitalized for primary HF (115.7 per 100,000 patient-years). The incidence rate of hospitalization for HF was 117.7 per 100,000 per patient-years among patients on pioglitazone, 105.7 for sitagliptin, and 135.8 for vildagliptin. The hospitalization rate for HF was greatest in the first 30 days after starting the medication, which corresponded to a significantly higher incidence at days 0 to 30 compared with days 31 to 360 for all three drugs. The hazard ratios were 1.85 (pioglitazone), 2.00 (sitagliptin), and 1.79 (vildagliptin). The incidence of hospitalization for HF did not differ between the drugs for any time period. Conclusion This study showed an increase in hospitalization for HF in the initial 30 days of the DPP4i and pioglitazone compared with the subsequent follow-up period. However, the differences between the drugs were not significant.
Doğum Eyleminde Bir Uygulama Pratiği: Umblikal Kord Klempleme

Aim: Midwives applications that clamping the umbilical cord at birth and determine the impact of these practices on neonatal bilirubin levels and hematocrit have been made as a cross-sectional observational study. Material and Methods: 101 women and their babies, suitable for this research were selected among those who accepted to participate and admitted to for normal delivery to the Afsin State Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic between November 2012 and March 2013. The researcher filled the observation and findings forms by recording the method and timing of umbilical cord clamping of each midwife during delivery. The hematocrit and biluribin values of the newborn were measured and recorded in both the first six hours (first follow-up) and the third day (second follow-up) after delivery. The data were evaluated through the tests of Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, Wilcoxon Signed Rank. Results: At the end of the research, it was determined that midwives behaviors to method of holding the newborn, timing and method of umbilical cord clamping during delivery varied (p<0.001). During 63.4% of the deliveries babies were holden below the perineum, during 95.0% of the deliveries umblical cords were clamped by the mothers and during 92.1% of the deliveries umblical cords were milked. It was determined that midwives’ behaviors regarding the method of holding the newborn, timing and method of umblical cord clamping didn’t have any effects on the first and second follow-up hematocrit and bilirubin values. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study showed the presence of different clinical practice among the midwives, regarding the holding of the newborn, method and timing of umbilical cord clamping after birth. Besides, it was demonstrated that the "milking" of umbilical cord and clamping of the umbilical cord closest to mother had a beneficial effect on neonatal second hematocrit values, without any significant increment to hyperbilirubinemia risk.
Authenticated hash tables

Hash tables are fundamental data structures that optimally answer membership queries. Suppose a client stores n elements in a hash table that is outsourced at a remote server so that the client can save space or achieve load balancing. Authenticating the hash table functionality, i.e., verifying the correctness of queries answered by the server and ensuring the integrity of the stored data, is crucial because the server, lying outside the administrative control of the client, can be malicious. We design efficient and secure protocols for optimally authenticating membership queries on hash tables: for any fixed constants 0 < ε < 1 and κ > 1/ε, the server can provide a proof of integrity of the answer to a (non-)membership query in constant time, requiring O(nε/logκε--1 n) time to treat updates, yet keeping the communication and verification costs constant. This is the first construction for authenticating a hash table with constant query cost and sublinear update cost. Our solution employs the RSA accumulator in a nested way over the stored data, strictly improving upon previous accumulator-based solutions. Our construction applies to two concrete data authentication models and lends itself to a scheme that achieves different trade-offs---namely, constant update time and O(nε/logκε n) query time for fixed ε > 0 and κ > 0. An experimental evaluation of our solution shows very good scalability.
Improved polarization-mode-dispersion tolerance in duobinary transmission

Polarization-mode-dispersion tolerance of a low-pass filter duobinary modulation format is investigated. With the optimum residual dispersion, the optical signal-to-noise ratio penalty at a differential group delay of 40 ps is measured to be 1 dB (at BER=6/spl times/10/sup -5/): 1.5 dB less than that without residual dispersion in a 10.7-Gb/s duobinary transmission. Numerical simulations show reasonable agreement with the experimental results.
Mechanisms in essential hypertension.

1. There are two basic interdependent mechanisms responsible for the development of essential hypertension. One is a defect in the catecholamine storage complex resulting in a small store and the other an increase in the sodium concentration in vascular smooth muscle. The former, in our view, is the basic hereditary defect although its exact chemical nature remains to be elucidated. The latter is produced by several factors including increased vasoconstriction itself, increased ingestion of salt, etc. 2. Increased vascular reactivity in essential hypertension may be the result of the small 1-norepinephrine (NE) store. If tissue sodium is sufficiently increased, it can contribute further to the increased responsiveness. Increased sympathetic nerve discharge, as produced by anxiety, compounds the difficulties in this context by producing further vasoconstriction, greater decrease in NE stores and more sodium accumulation, whereas in normotensive subjects, modulating factors are sufficient to absorb such impact. 3. There is some evidence that angiotensin II (AT) may enter the NE storage pool. If it does, the increased AT pool may account for the slow turnover of AT in essential hypertension. Serum angiotensinase activity, however, is apparently augmented by a greater than normal amount of AT in the body of the hypertensive subject. The AT is not sufficiently increased to produce much direct vasoconstriction but may act on tissue sodium via a direct effect on the kidney and also via stimulation of aldosterone production by the adrenal cortex.
Transparent Security-Sensitive Process Protection via VMM-Based Process Shadowing

Ensuring the correctness of security sensitive application running on a potentially malicious operating system is an open problem. Existing approaches for protecting a sensitive process are either losing deployment transparency or lack of the inter-process communication ability for the protected process. In this paper, we present a novel approach called shadow process execution (SPE), which can provide security sensitive applications with executing integrity. With the help of virtualization layer, SPE shadows the sensitive application in a separate virtual machine (VM), which significantly removes the complex and potentially malicious software stack from trusted computing base (TCB). At the same time, SPE maintains dynamic runtime protection without application source code. Finally we demonstrate the feasibility of SPE by designing and implementing a prototype system based on KVM hypervisor. And we show the transparent and dynamic feature of SPE by running and protecting a real world encryption utility program.
Enzymatic Dysfunction of Mitochondrial Complex I of the Candida albicans goa1 Mutant Is Associated with Increased Reactive Oxidants and Cell Death

ABSTRACT We have previously shown that deletion of GOA1 (growth and oxidant adaptation) of Candida albicans results in a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP synthesis, increased sensitivity to oxidants and killing by human neutrophils, and avirulence in a systemic model of candidiasis. We established that translocation of Goa1p to mitochondria occurred during peroxide stress. In this report, we show that the goa1Δ (GOA31), compared to the wild type (WT) and a gene-reconstituted (GOA32) strain, exhibits sensitivity to inhibitors of the classical respiratory chain (CRC), including especially rotenone (complex I [CI]) and salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM), an inhibitor of the alternative oxidase pathway (AOX), while potassium cyanide (KCN; CIV) causes a partial inhibition of respiration. In the presence of SHAM, however, GOA31 has an enhanced respiration, which we attribute to the parallel respiratory (PAR) pathway and alternative NADH dehydrogenases. Interestingly, deletion of GOA1 also results in a decrease in transcription of the alternative oxidase gene AOX1 in untreated cells as well as negligible AOX1 and AOX2 transcription in peroxide-treated cells. To explain the rotenone sensitivity, we measured enzyme activities of complexes I to IV (CI to CIV) and observed a major loss of CI activity in GOA31 but not in control strains. Enzymatic data of CI were supported by blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN-PAGE) experiments which demonstrated less CI protein and reduced enzyme activity. The consequence of a defective CI in GOA31 is an increase in reactive oxidant species (ROS), loss of chronological aging, and programmed cell death ([PCD] apoptosis) in vitro compared to control strains. The increase in PCD was indicated by an increase in caspase activity and DNA fragmentation in GOA31. Thus, GOA1 is required for a functional CI and partially for the AOX pathway; loss of GOA1 compromises cell survival. Further, the loss of chronological aging is new to studies of Candida species and may offer an insight into therapies to control these pathogens. Our observation of increased ROS production associated with a defective CI and PCD is reminiscent of mitochondrial studies of patients with some types of neurodegenerative diseases where CI and/or CIII dysfunctions lead to increased ROS and apoptosis.