Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 in acute renal hypoperfusion

SUMMARY: Although acute renal ischaemia alters the production of various paracrines, there has been little investigation examining the role of intrarenal vasoactive substances. In the present study, we investigated the role of intrarenal nitric oxide and prostaglandins in modulating the acute renal hypoperfusion‐induced alterations in renal function. After a 90% clipping of the left renal artery for 60 min, the clip was released, and the renal haemodynamics and sodium excretion were evaluated in both clipped and non‐clipped kidneys of anaesthetized dogs. Furthermore, the changes in renal contents of nitrate/nitrite (NOx) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were assessed by using the renal microdialysis technique. The release of the clipping elicited a gradual recovery of renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate, and a sustained increase in fractional sodium excretion (FENa) in the clipped kidney. Renal interstitial NOx was reduced in both the cortex (from 8.2 ± 1.1 to 2.5 ± 0.3 µmol/L, P < 0.01) and medulla (from 10.1 ± 0.9 to 3.1 ± 0.2 µmol/L, P < 0.01), but the levels gradually elevated after declamping. The treatment with nitro‐l‐arginine methylester only modestly impaired the recovery of renal plasma flow (RPF; at hour 4) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR; at hours 3 and 4 after declamping), without affecting FENa. Conversely, the renal PGE2 levels increased prominently upon the onset of ischaemia (medulla, from 149 ± 19 to 378 ± 39 pg/mL, P < 0.01; cortex, from 107 ± 13 to 302 ± 34 pg/mL, P < 0.01). Furthermore, the pretreatment with a non‐specific cyclo‐oxygenase (COX) inhibitor, sulpyrine, and a COX‐2‐specific inhibitor, NS398, prominently inhibited the increases in FENa induced by the acute renal arterial clipping in a similar manner. In conclusion, in acute renal hypoperfusion, nitric oxide (NO) plays a permissive role in the recovery of the renal haemodynamics. In contrast, sustained increases in renal PGE2 in both clipped and non‐clipped kidneys indicate that the COX‐2‐mediated PGE2 contributes importantly to the failure of the sodium reabsorption in response to acute renal hypoperfusion.
A Profit Maximization Scheme With Guaranteed Quality Of Service In Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has become more popular in terms of providing resources and services to the costumers. In cloud service provider perspective profit is one of the most important consideration. Profit can be determined by the configuration of cloud service platform under given market demand. At present single long term renting scheme is used which has some of the drawbacks like resource wastage, no guaranteed service quality. To overcome these drawbacks, in this paper we are proposing a double resource renting scheme. A double resource renting scheme is the combination of short-term renting and long-term renting aiming at resolving the existing issues. Secondly, service system is assumed as M/M/m+D queuing model and the performance indicators are also analyzed. Here the waiting time(D) is not fixed like the existing system. Thirdly, a profit maximization problem is formulated for the double renting scheme and solved to obtain optimized configuration of cloud platform. Finally, a series of calculations are conducted to compare the profit of our proposed scheme with that of existing scheme. Obtained results specify that our proposed scheme not only guarantee the quality of all requests but also generated profit more than the existing system.
The Role of Incentives in the Public Sector: Issues and Evidence

Using incentive pay to improve public sector efficiency is an important component of the UK Government's public service modernisation agenda. In this paper, we review the important issues in performance pay in the public sector, and summarise the evidence on its effects. We consider how optimal incentives for public sector workers may differ from those in the private sector, and if so, what types of incentives are more appropriate for the public sector. We investigate the reasons for the infrequent use of explicit incentives in the public sector. We summarise evidence of particular relevance to the public sector, on issues such as the impact on output of incentive pay schemes, gaming and dysfunctional behaviour, multiple principals, intrinsic motivation and team-work. Finally, we comment on the design of new policies being introduced in the UK public sector in the light of the theoretical arguments and the evidence.
Early diagnosis of resistant pathogens

Infections with organisms that are resistant to various anti-microbial agents pose a serious challenge to effective management of infections. Resistance to antimicrobial agents, which may be intrinsic or acquired, has been noted in a wide variety of microorganisms causing human infections. These include resistance to antiviral agents in HIV, HBV, CMV and influenza virus, anti-parasitic agents in Plasmodium falciparum, anti-fungal agents in certain Candida species and MDR (multidrug-resistant) tuberculosis. It is however, the problem of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections (caused by MRSA, VRE, ESBL/AmpC/metallo-β lactamase producers and colistin-resistant Gram-negative bacilli) that has become a cause of major concern in clinical settings. Infections with these organisms can increase morbidity, mortality, increase the cost of therapy and increase the duration of hospitalization. The objective of this article is to review the question how early diagnosis of these infections, affects the overall management of infected or colonized patients, with regard to antimicrobial therapy.
Clinical Features, DYT1 Mutation Screening and Genotype-Phenotype Correlation in Patients with Dystonia from Iran

Objective: To test Iranian patients with primary torsion dystonia to determine the frequency of 904–906 del GAG mutation in the DYT1 (TOR1A) gene and to investigate the genotype-phenotype association for this disease. Subjects and Methods: Sixty-three patients with primary dystonia were investigated. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and these samples were subjected to PCR-sequencing for exon 5 of the DYT1 gene. Results: Of the 63 patients, 10 (15.9%) carried the triplet GAG deletion mutation; this is a high DYT1-positive rate in comparison with other populations and the type of dystonia in this positive group was generalized in all except 1. In our patients, limbs were the most severely involved site at the time of onset and in most cases it developed to generalized form. The majority of DYT1-positive cases showed higher leg onset (5 patients, 62.5%) in comparison with higher arm onset in negative patients (20 patients, 50%). Also, the progression to generalized dystonia in DYT1-positive patients was significantly higher than in DYT1-negative patients. The mean age at onset was 8.6 ± 1.6 years (7–12 years) in DYT1-positive patients, while mean age at onset in patients with no GAG deletion mutation was higher (15.7 ± 11.5 years). Conclusions: The DYT1 904–906 del GAG mutation is responsible for some of Iranian dystonia patients, and screening for the DYT1 deletion is significant in cases with the generalized type of primary dystonia. Also, patients with leg or arm onset at a younger age are more likely to be DYT1-positive among primary torsion dystonia cases.
Taxonomy for Personalized Recommendation Service

The amount of information in the world is increasing far more quickly than our ability to process it. Recommender systems are used by e-commerce sites to suggest products to their customers and to provide consumers with information to help them determine which products to purchase. In this paper, in a higher level, we analyze current personalized recommendation from two respects, respectively recommendation task and criteria for recommendation. Based on these analyses, a complete taxonomy on recommendation is build. Through the taxonomy, research routine and challenge in the future are identified.
Corporal Punishment, Maternal Warmth, and Child Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study in Eight Countries

Two key tasks facing parents across cultures are managing children's behaviors (and misbehaviors) and conveying love and affection. Previous research has found that corporal punishment generally is related to worse child adjustment, whereas parental warmth is related to better child adjustment. This study examined whether the association between corporal punishment and child adjustment problems (anxiety and aggression) is moderated by maternal warmth in a diverse set of countries that vary in a number of sociodemographic and psychological ways. Interviews were conducted with 7- to 10-year-old children (N = 1,196; 51% girls) and their mothers in 8 countries: China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. Follow-up interviews were conducted 1 and 2 years later. Corporal punishment was related to increases, and maternal warmth was related to decreases, in children's anxiety and aggression over time; however, these associations varied somewhat across groups. Maternal warmth moderated the effect of corporal punishment in some countries, with increases in anxiety over time for children whose mothers were high in both warmth and corporal punishment. The findings illustrate the overall association between corporal punishment and child anxiety and aggression as well as patterns specific to particular countries. Results suggest that clinicians across countries should advise parents against using corporal punishment, even in the context of parent–child relationships that are otherwise warm, and should assist parents in finding other ways to manage children's behaviors.
Systematic design space exploration for customisable multi-processor architectures

A systematic approach to design space exploration of customisable options for multi-processor architectures is presented. This approach is used to explore a parameterisable system model as a part of a novel exploration tool. Architecture trends are analysed through the variation of prefabrication choice of number of processing elements (PEs) and cache size. Of note, is the relationship between multi-threading and off-chip memory access. This is shown to reduce performance by up to five times for a decimation case study. From the analysis of architecture trends, a post-fabrication choice of processing pattern is shown to provide up to three times improvement for a negligible area cost. In verification, the system model mimics the performance of sample graphics processors. This is achieved with a run time of only five minutes for a decimation case study with a model setup of eight processing elements and 16 KB cache.
Layout-aware sizing of analog ICs using floorplan & routing estimates for parasitic extraction

The design of analog integrated circuits (ICs) is characterized by time-consuming and non-systematic iterations between electrical and physical design steps in order to achieve successful post-layout designs. This paper presents an innovative methodology for automatic optimization-based sizing of analog ICs that takes into consideration complete layout-related data for both circuit's geometric requirements, which are obtained from the real-time in-loop floorplan packing, and circuits' electrical performance that is evaluated using circuit simulator and considering accurate layout parasitic estimates. In order to boost the parasitic extraction efficiency, the need for expensive detailed layout generation, as found in previous state-of-the-art layout-aware sizing approaches, is here circumvented. However, the interconnect parasitic capacitances that are major contributors to performance degradation and on-die signal integrity problems, must be accurately accounted for. Therefore, an empirical-based parasitic extraction is performed on an early-stage layout obtained from the floorplan, computing the optimal electromigration-aware wiring topology and shortest rectilinear paths in-loop, without the need for detailed routing. Finally, the methodology is demonstrated for the UMC 130nm design process using well-known analog building blocks proving the generality, accuracy and fast execution of the proposed approach.
HED: Handling environmental dynamics in indoor WiFi fingerprint localization

This paper presents a novel WLAN-based indoor localization algorithm (i.e., HED) to combat the environmental dynamics by tolerating the sequence disorders caused by AP (access point) changes, while harvesting from the bursting number of available wireless resources. Via extensive real-world experiments lasting for over 6 months, we show the superiority of our HED algorithm in terms of accuracy and complexity over two state-of-the-art solutions that are also designed to resist the dynamics, i.e., FreeLoc and LCS (Longest Common Subsequences). Moreover, experimental results not only confirm the benefits brought by environmental dynamics, but also provide valuable investigations and hand-on experiences on the real-world localization system.
Evaluation of a pragmatic exercise rehabilitation programme in chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND Physical activity has the potential to positively impact upon aerobic and functional ability, and the quality of life of all chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients independent of the stage of the disease process. Physical activity is recommended in a number of national CKD guidelines, but its incorporation into routine care has been slow. The translation of research-led physical activity programmes into an established procedure appears to be a particular obstacle. This study included 263 patients, consecutively referred over a 4-year period, to a pragmatic 12-week renal rehabilitation (RR) programme delivered within a National Health Service (NHS). METHODS One hundred and thirty-one patients were assessed and started the RR programme. Anxiety and depression were measured using the hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) scale. The self-reported level of fitness was measured with the Duke's activity status index (DASI), and exercise capacity was assessed with the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT), sit-to-stand transfers in 60 s (STS60), timed up and go (TUAG) and stair-climb descent (SCD) tests. All measures were assessed at baseline and at 12 weeks. Attendance and completion of the RR programme were recorded for all patients. RESULTS There were significant improvements in exercise capacity and functional ability ranging from 21 to 44%, and significant improvements in anxiety (15%) and depression (29%) in the 77 patients who completed the RR programme. The self-reported level of fitness was found to be significantly associated with completion (P = 0.01), with older participants showing a trend towards being more likely to complete (P= 0.07). Fifty-four patients, out of the 131 patients who commenced the RR programme, failed to complete 12 or more of the 24 scheduled sessions. Patients requiring haemodialysis (HD) treatment constituted the largest number of dropouts/non-completers (49%) in the study. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that a pragmatically constructed, NHS-delivered exercise-based RR can substantially improve both physical function and mental well-being for the wide range of CKD patients who regularly participated (55%). Compliance/adherence data indicate that this type of rehabilitation programme is particularly well received by pre-dialysis (PD) CKD and post-transplantation patients.
Gait Variability Is Associated with Subclinical Brain Vascular Abnormalities in High-Functioning Older Adults

Background: Gait variability is an index of how much gait parameters, such as step length, change from one step to the next. Gait variability increases with age and in individuals affected by cortical and subcortical neurodegenerative conditions, and it is associated with falls and incident mobility disability. The brain anatomical correlates of gait variability have not been studied in high-functioning community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Gait variability and brain MRIs were assessed in a cohort of 331 men and women (mean age = 78.3 years) free from stroke, dementia or Parkinson’s disease. Gait variability was computed for spatial parameters (step length and step width) and for temporal parameters (stance time). Subclinical brain vascular abnormalities were measured on brain MRIs as infarcts and white matter hyperintensities. Results: Greater variability of step length was associated with greater prevalence of infarcts, including infarcts in the basal ganglia, and with greater white matter hyperintensities severity, independent of age, gender, cognitive function and cardiovascular disease. Weaker associations were found between the other variability measures and the MRI measures. Conclusion: In this group of older adults free from neurodegenerative diseases, a greater variability of step length was associated with greater burden of subclinical brain vascular abnormalities as defined by MRI.
Associations between Dietary Fiber Intake in Infancy and Cardiometabolic Health at School Age: The Generation R Study

Dietary fiber (DF) intake may be beneficial for cardiometabolic health. However, whether this already occurs in early childhood is unclear. We investigated associations between DF intake in infancy and cardiometabolic health in childhood among 2032 children participating in a population-based cohort in The Netherlands. Information on DF intake at a median age of 12.9 months was collected using a food-frequency questionnaire. DF was adjusted for energy intake using the residual method. At age 6 years, body fat percentage, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, insulin, triglycerides, and blood pressure were assessed and expressed in age- and sex-specific standard deviation scores (SDS). These five factors were combined into a cardiometabolic risk factor score. In models adjusted for several parental and child covariates, a higher DF intake was associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk factor score. When we examined individual cardiometabolic factors, we observed that a 1 g/day higher energy-adjusted DF intake was associated with 0.026 SDS higher HDL-cholesterol (95% CI 0.009, 0.042), and 0.020 SDS lower triglycerides (95% CI −0.037, −0.003), but not with body fat, insulin, or blood pressure. Results were similar for DF with and without adjustment for energy intake. Our findings suggest that higher DF intake in infancy may be associated with better cardiometabolic health in later childhood.
The future of AI and human flexibility

Manfred Kochen was educated at MIT with a B.S. in Science (1950) and at Columbia University in New York, where he received an MA in 1951 and a Ph.D. in 1955 in Applied Mathematics. Since 1972 he has been Professor of Information Science, with a joint appointment as Adjunct Professor of Computers and Information Systems at the Graduate School of Business Administration and as Research Scientist at the Mental Health Research Institute. His major research interests are in problems of representation of knowledge that could help people cope with a greater variety of tasks in more effective ways as well as in organization of knowledge. He is the author or editor of six books, including Information for Action , he has over 150 scientific papers in technical journals or books, including three on the process of referee-selection and peer review. In 1974 he was awarded the Award of Merit by the American Society for Information Science. He was also named National Lecturer by the Association for Computing Machinery. He has been an editor of the Journal of the ACM, of Behavioral Science and is on the editorial boards of several international journals. He has been very active in the American Society for Information Science. He is increasingly interested in all aspects of 'Coping with Social Complexity', which is the title of the section of Human Systems Management that he is responsible for as managing editor. He also has a long-term interest in the process of doing science, of which journal publication comprises the later stages. He is therefore receptive to and interested in good 'new ideas for innovations in the publication process leading toward improved papers and particularly toward helping authors to improve the quality of manuscripts they produce in the first place.
Organization of the Escherichia coli K-12 gene cluster responsible for production of the extracellular polysaccharide colanic acid

Colanic acid (CA) is an extracellular polysaccharide produced by most Escherichia coli strains as well as by other species of the family Enterobacteriaceae. We have determined the sequence of a 23-kb segment of the E. coli K-12 chromosome which includes the cluster of genes necessary for production of CA. The CA cluster comprises 19 genes. Two other sequenced genes (orf1.3 and galF), which are situated between the CA cluster and the O-antigen cluster, were shown to be unnecessary for CA production. The CA cluster includes genes for synthesis of GDP-L-fucose, one of the precursors of CA, and the gene for one of the enzymes in this pathway (GDP-D-mannose 4,6-dehydratase) was identified by biochemical assay. Six of the inferred proteins show sequence similarity to glycosyl transferases, and two others have sequence similarity to acetyl transferases. Another gene (wzx) is predicted to encode a protein with multiple transmembrane segments and may function in export of the CA repeat unit from the cytoplasm into the periplasm in a process analogous to O-unit export. The first three genes of the cluster are predicted to encode an outer membrane lipoprotein, a phosphatase, and an inner membrane protein with an ATP-binding domain. Since homologs of these genes are found in other extracellular polysaccharide gene clusters, they may have a common function, such as export of polysaccharide from the cell.
DNA barcoding of the Luristan newt (Neurergus kaiseri) in south-western Iran

The Luristan newt (Neurerguskaiseri) is an endemic and vulnerable species to the southern Zagros Mountains of Iran, inhabiting streams and ponds in open woodlands, dominated by oak tree (Quercus brantii). In the current study, 20 specimens of the Luristan newt were collected and sequenced for a 651bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1). Sequence divergence values varied from 0.0% to 2.8%. The phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of two distinct clades and a clear divergence between Northern and Southern populations. The genetic variation among the two clades was significant (FST = 0.95, P < 0.001). Five haplotypes were observed among N. kaiseri sequences, of which two haplotypes were found in the Northern populations and the other three haplotypes in the Southern populations. None of the haplotypes was shared between the two clades. The distinction of Northern and Southern populations may be due to the rough topography of its habitats and the low dispersal ability of the Luristan newt.
Divergent roles of ApoER2 and Vldlr in the migration of cortical neurons

Reelin, its lipoprotein receptors [very low density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr) and apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2; also known as Lrp8)], and the cytoplasmic adaptor protein disabled 1 (Dab1) are important for the correct formation of layers in the cerebral cortex. Reeler mice lacking the reelin protein show altered radial neuronal migration resulting in an inversion of cortical layers. ApoER2 Vldlr double-knockout mutants and Dab1 mutants show a reeler-like phenotype, whereas milder phenotypes are found if only one of the two lipoprotein receptors for reelin is absent. However, the precise role of the individual reelin receptors in neuronal migration remained unclear. In the study reported here, we performed fate mapping of newly generated cortical neurons in single and double receptor mutants using bromodeoxyuridine-labeling and layer-specific markers. We present evidence for divergent roles of the two reelin receptors Vldlr and ApoER2, with Vldlr mediating a stop signal for migrating neurons and ApoER2 being essential for the migration of late generated neocortical neurons.