Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of renal recovery after acute renal failure

Purpose of reviewRecovery of renal function after acute renal failure is an important clinical determinant of patient morbidity. Herein, the epidemiology of renal recovery after acute renal failure will be described, along with potential predictive factors and interventions. Recent findingsRenal recovery has been variably defined, most often as recovery to independence from renal replacement therapy. A recent consensus definition for acute renal failure has been published and included provisions for defining renal recovery. Renal recovery to renal replacement therapy independence occurs in the majority by hospital discharge and peaks by 90 days. All of older age, female sex, co-morbid illnesses, especially chronic kidney disease, and late initiation of renal replacement therapy or conventional intermittent renal replacement therapy have been coupled with non-recovery. Analysis of the literature suggests several interventions may influence recovery. SummaryThe prognosis is generally good for recovery after acute renal failure. Most patients will be independent of renal replacement therapy by 90 days. Additional research is necessary, however, to understand recovery rates not only to independence from renal replacement therapy, but also to complete and partial recovery. Future studies need to consider the health economic implications for survival and non-recovery. Finally, questions on the role of various interventions require characterization in randomized controlled trials to determine how they may influence renal prognosis.
Probabilistic Transient Stability Constrained Optimal Power Flow for Power Systems With Multiple Correlated Uncertain Wind Generations

This paper proposes a novel probabilistic transient stability constrained optimal power flow (P-TSCOPF) model to simultaneously consider uncertainties and transient stability for power system preventive control. While detailed wind generator model with rotor flux magnitude and angle control strategy is used to describe the dynamic behaviors of wind generators, uncertain factors with correlations, such as probabilistic load injections, stochastic fault clearing time, and multiple correlated wind generations, are also included to form a representative P-TSCOPF model. A new GSO-PE approach, consisting of an improved group search optimization (GSO) and 2m + 1 point estimated (PE) method with Cholesky decomposition, is then designed to effectively solve this challenging P-TSCOPF problem. The proposed P-TSCOPF model and GSO-PE solution approach have been thoroughly tested on a modified New England 39-bus system with correlated uncertain wind generations. Comparative results with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations have confirmed the validity of the P-TSCOPF model and demonstrated the effectiveness of GSO-PE method.
Learning Dirichlet Processes from Partially Observed Groups

Motivated by the task of vernacular news analysis using known news topics from national news-papers, we study the task of topic analysis, where given source datasets with observed topics, data items from a target dataset need to be assigned either to observed source topics or to new ones. Using Hierarchical Dirichlet Processes for addressing this task imposes unnecessary and often inappropriate generative assumptions on the observed source topics. In this paper, we explore Dirichlet Processes with partially observed groups (POG-DP). POG-DP avoids modeling the given source topics. Instead, it directly models the conditional distribution of the target data as a mixture of a Dirichlet Process and the posterior distribution of a Hierarchical Dirichlet Process with known groups and topics. This introduces coupling between selection probabilities of all topics within a source, leading to effective identification of source topics. We further improve on this with a Combinatorial Dirichlet Process with partially observed groups (POG-CDP) that captures finer grained coupling between related topics by choosing intersections between sources. We evaluate our models in three different real-world applications. Using extensive experimentation, we compare against several baselines to show that our model performs significantly better in all three applications.
N-cadherin, NCAM, and integrins promote retinal neurite outgrowth on astrocytes in vitro

Retinal ganglion neurons extend axons that grow along astroglial cell surfaces in the developing optic pathway. To identify the molecules that may mediate axon extension in vivo, antibodies to neuronal cell surface proteins were tested for their effects on neurite outgrowth by embryonic chick retinal neurons cultured on astrocyte monolayers. Neurite outgrowth by retinal neurons from embryonic day 7 (E7) and E11 chick embryos depended on the function of a calcium-dependent cell adhesion molecule (N-cadherin) and beta 1-class integrin extracellular matrix receptors. The inhibitory effects of either antibody on process extension could not be accounted for by a reduction in the attachment of neurons to astrocytes. The role of a third cell adhesion molecule, NCAM, changed during development. Anti-NCAM had no detectable inhibitory effects on neurite outgrowth by E7 retinal neurons. In contrast, E11 retinal neurite outgrowth was strongly dependent on NCAM function. Thus, N-cadherin, integrins, and NCAM are likely to regulate axon extension in the optic pathway, and their relative importance varies with developmental age.
Drug use and Addiction: Evolutionary Perspective

Drug use creates a significant amount of harm in modern societies. From an evolutionary perspective, the pervasive use of drugs and the ongoing risk of drug addiction can be explained in terms of the action of drugs on evolved motivational–emotional systems. Addiction arises through interaction of these evolutionarily ancient systems, designed to promote the pursuit of natural rewards, and contemporary environments where purified and potent forms of drugs are readily available. This evolutionary analysis is extended to account for developmental patterns in problem drug use, and to explain the existence of behavioural addictions, such as problem gambling. The paper concludes by considering some of the clinical and public policy implications of the evolutionary perspective presented.
A fractional model of the border gateway protocol (BGP)

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the interdomain routing protocol used to exchange routing information between Autonomous Systems (ASes) in the internet today. While intradomain routing protocols such as RIP are basically distributed algorithms for solving shortest path problems, the graph theoretic problem that BGP is trying to solve is called the stable paths problem (SPP). Unfortunately, unlike shortest path problems, it has been shown that instances of SPP can fail to have a solution and so BGP can fail to converge. We define a fractional version of SPP and show that all such instances of fractional SPP have solutions. We also show that while these solutions exist they are not necessarily half-integral.
Familial partial lipodystrophy: a monogenic form of the insulin resistance syndrome.

Dunnigan-type familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD; OMIM 151660) is a rare monogenic form of insulin resistance characterized by loss of subcutaneous fat from the extremities, trunk, and gluteal region. FPLD recapitulates the main metabolic attributes of the insulin resistance syndrome, including central obesity, hyperinsulinemia, glucose intolerance and diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Through the use of focused DNA sequencing of positional candidate genes on chromosome 1q21, we discovered that FPLD results from mutations in LMNA (R482Q; OMIM 150330.0010), which is the gene that encodes nuclear lamins A and C. By stratifying members of extended FPLD pedigrees according to LMNA genotype, we found that hyperinsulinemia is present early in the course of the disease and that dyslipidemia (characterized by high triglycerides and depressed HDL cholesterol) precedes the development of glucose abnormalities. Plasma leptin is also markedly reduced in subjects with FPLD due to mutant LMNA. The findings in FPLD indicate that defective structure of the nuclear envelope produces a phenotype of insulin resistance. The findings may have relevance for common insulin resistance and for drug-associated lipodystrophies, whose molecular basis is unknown at present.
Encoding of near-range spatial information by descending interneurons in the stick insect antennal mechanosensory pathway.

Much like mammals use their whiskers, insects use their antennae for tactile near-range orientation during locomotion. Stick insects rapidly transfer spatial information about antennal touch location to the front legs, allowing for aimed reach-to-grasp movements. This adaptive behavior requires a spatial coordinate transformation from "antennal contact space" to "leg posture space. " Therefore, a neural pathway must convey proprioceptive and tactile information about antennal posture and contact site to thoracic motor networks. Here we analyze proprioceptive encoding properties of descending interneurons (DINs) that convey information about antennal posture and movement to the thoracic ganglia. On the basis of response properties of 110 DINs to imposed movement of the distal antennal joint, we distinguish five functional DIN groups according to their sensitivity to three parameters: movement direction, movement velocity, and antennal joint angle. These groups are simple position-sensitive DINs, which signal the antennal joint angle; dynamic position-sensitive DINs, which signal the joint angle with strong dependence on movement; unspecific movement-sensitive DINs, which signal movement but not the velocity, position, or direction of movement; and ON- and OFF-type velocity-sensitive DINs. The activity of the latter two groups is increased/attenuated during antennal movement, with the spike rate increasing/decreasing linearly with antennal joint angle velocity. Some movement-sensitive DINs convey spikes to the thorax within 11 ms, suggesting a rapid, direct pathway from antennal mechanosensory to thoracic motor networks. We discuss how the population of DINs could provide the neural basis for the intersegmental spatial coordinate transfer between a touch sensor of the head and thoracic motor networks.
Instruments to tailor care of people with type 2 diabetes.

AIM This paper is a report of a study conducted to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention for people with type 2 diabetes based on self-completed instruments to identify particular areas of self-care needs. BACKGROUND Diabetes is a demanding disease which requires self-care. Instruments that identify self-care needs or factors affecting self-care can be helpful to detect level of self-care, distress or knowledge among individuals with diabetes. METHODS Participants were randomized into intervention (n = 28) or control groups (n = 25). Both groups answered five validated instruments three times, at baseline and after 3 and 6 months, and biological measurements were conducted simultaneously. The intervention was based on an empowerment approach. The study started in November 2005 and lasted until March 2007. FINDINGS There was no statistically significant difference between groups in level of glycated haemoglobin postintervention as it reduced statistically significantly in both groups between baseline and 3 months but increased again after 6 months. There was no statistically significant difference between groups in body mass index reduction; the intervention group achieved a statistically significant body mass index reduction but this was unchanged in the control group. No statistically significant differences between groups were found in scores for empowerment, well-being and distress. There was a statistically significant difference between groups in knowledge postintervention. CONCLUSION Use of instruments to identify self-care needs can enable patient-tailored care as it allows direct focusing on issues that are challenging and of relevance for each individual. It seems to be feasible to use the telephone to conduct an empowering educational intervention after one meeting.
Potential Antioxidant Effects of Zinc and Chromium Supplementation in People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: To determine the effects of combined zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) supplementation on oxidative stress and glucose homeostasis of people with type 2 diabetes. Design: Tunisian adult subjects with HbA1C >7.5% were supplemented for 6 months with 30 mg/d of Zn as Zn gluconate or 400 μg/d of Cr as Cr pidolate or combined Zn/Cr supplementation or placebo. The effects of supplementation on plasma zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), urinary Zn, Cr, plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Se glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in red blood cells, blood lipids and lipoproteins, HbA1C and fasting glucose were measured at the beginning of the study and after six months. Results: At the beginning of the study, more than 30% of the subjects may have been Zn deficient with plasma Zn values less than 10.7 μmol/L, whereas levels of plasma Cu, Se and antioxidant RBC enzyme activities were in the normal ranges. Following supplementation, there were significant decreases of plasma TBARS in the Cr (13.6%), Zn (13.6%) and Zn/Cr (18.2%) groups with no significant changes in the placebo group. The value for the TBARS of the control healthy Tunisian subjects was 2.08 ± 0.04 μmol/L and that of the Tunisian subjects with diabetes was 3.32 ± 0.05 μmol/L. This difference of 1.24 μmol/L between the control group and the subjects with diabetes was reduced from 36% to 50% in the three supplemented groups. Supplementation did not modify significantly HbA1C nor glucose homeostasis. No adverse effects of Zn supplementation were observed on Cu status, HDL cholesterol nor interactions in Zn or Cr. Conclusions: These data suggest the potential beneficial antioxidant effects of the individual and combined supplementation of Zn and Cr in people with type 2 DM. These results are particularly important in light of the deleterious consequences of oxidative stress in people with diabetes.
Philosophy and the Practice of Bayesian Statistics in the Social Sciences

We view Bayesian data analysis-the iterative process of model building, posterior inference, and model checking-as fitting well within an error-statistics or hypothetico-deductive philosophy of science, with posterior inference playing the role of " normal science, " model checking allowing falsification, and model building providing the potential for progress in normal science (for small changes in a model) or scientific revolutions (for larger re-evaluations). Our practical experience and corresponding philosophy differs in from usual presentations of the philosophy of statistics in two ways. First, we consider posterior probabilities to be a form of scientific measurement rather than as subjective statements of belief. Second, we perform Bayesian model checking by comparing predictions to observed data (in a generalization of classical statistical hypothesis testing), rather than by attempting to compute posterior probabilities of competing models. This chapter presents our own perspective on the philosophy of Bayesian statistics, based on our idiosyncratic readings of the philosophical literature and, more importantly, our experiences doing applied statistics in the social sciences and elsewhere. Think of this as two statistical practitioners' perspective on philosophical and foundational concerns. What we bring to the table are our substantive claims about actual social science research, and we attempt to explain those practices here. We are motivated to write this chapter out of dissatisfaction with what we perceive as the standard view of the philosophical foundations of Bayesian statistics. Here's what we take as the standard view:-Bayesian inference-" inverse probability "-is subjective and inductive, learning about the general from the particular. The expression p(H|y) says it all: the Bayesian learns the probability that a hypothesis H is true, given data. In the conventional view, this is completely different from classical frequentist statistics which is based on null hypothesis testing, that is, falsification. Agency for partial support of this work. 2 The original Figure 1 had some errors. We inserted a corrected version on 12 June 2011. 3 The so-called Bayesian hypothesis test, in which a null hypothesis H 0 and an alternative hypothesis H 1 are created, and then one computed their relative posterior probabilities, p(H 0 |y)/p(H 1 |y), is an attempt to reproduce the aims of hypothesis testing in an inductive framework that is not based on falsification. For reasons we discuss in the present article, we do not think the Bayesian hypothesis test as described here makes much sense—it turns out to be completely sensitive to aspects of …
Evidence for microtubule subunit addition to the distal end of mitotic structures in vitro

HeLa cells blocked in metaphase with 0.04 micrograms/ml of the microtubule poison nocodazole were shown to contain large numbers of microtubules with typical mitotic organization but no cenriole. Lysis of nocodazole-poisoned cells in a microtubule reassembly buffer containing 0.5 M PIPES, 2.5% dimethyl sulfoxide, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM MgCl2, 1 mM GTP, 1% Triton X-165, 0.5% sodium deoxycholate, 0.2% SDS, pH 6.9, preserved metaphase aster structures 5 micrograms in diameter surrounded only by a thin, fibrous cell remnant. Inclusion of 2 mg/ml porcine brain microtubule protein in the lysis buffer produced asters up to 20 micrometers in diameter with a birefringent retardation of 5-6 nm. In these large asters the central microtubules had normal morphology, but peripheral microtubules were clearly abnormal. Our interpretation is that in high PIPES lysis buffer, exogenous brain tubulin adds to the distal ends of preexisting aster microtubules to form abnormal microtubules. This observation supports the assumptions made by Borisy and by Summers and Kirschner in their interpretation of growth experiments to determine the microtubule polarity in mitotic structures.
Does the Child Behavior Checklist Reveal Psychopathological Profiles of Children With Focal Unilateral Cortical Lesions?

Psychopathological profiles were investigated in children with focal unilateral radiologically documented cortical lesions (15 right lesions and 22 left lesions). The 8 clinical subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist Parent Form (CBCL-P) and the Internalizing and Externalizing subscales were the dependent measures. The Internalizing and Externalizing scores did not dissociate as a function of lesion side. There were more Internalizing than Externalizing symptoms. Only the Attention Problems subscale yielded a significant difference as a function of lesion side; children with left lesions unexpectedly presented more problems. No significant differences were observed as a function of frontal versus nonfrontal lesion site, gender, or neurological variables on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) subscales. Although sensitive to the presence of a focal lesion, the CBCL-P scarcely or misleadingly reflects any of the characteristics of focal unilateral cortical lesions in children. As suggested by the literature, most of the CBCL elevations in children with brain lesions could derive from the parent's and child's emotional response to any threatening medical condition.
Trade-off analysis of multi topology routing based IP fast reroute mechanisms

To seamlessly support real-time services such as voice and video over next generation IP networks, routers must continue their forwarding tasks in case of link/node failures by limiting the service disruption time to sub-100 ms. IETF Routing Area Working Group (RTGWG) has been working on standardizing IP Fast Reroute (IPFRR) methods with a complete alternate path coverage. In this paper, a trade-off analysis of Multi Topology Routing (MTR) based IPFRR technologies targeting full coverage, namely Multiple Routing Configurations (MRC) and Maximally Redundant Trees (MRT), are presented. We implemented a comprehensive analysis tool to evaluate the performance of MRC and MRT mechanisms on various synthetic network topologies. The performance results show that MRT's alternative path lengths are not scalable with respect to the network size and density while the alternative path lengths of MRC only slightly change as the network size and density vary. We believe that this is an important scalability result providing a guidance in the selection of MTR-based IPFRR mechanism for improving the availability in ISP networks.
Dummynet and Forward Error Correction

In this paper we present a couple of tools developed by the author on FreeBSD, and available from the author's Web page in source format. The first one, called dummynet, is a tool designed for the performance evaluation of network protocols and applications. Despite its original design goal, there has been a lot of interest on using dummynet as a bandwidth manager in network servers. dummynet simulates the effect of finite queues, bandwidth limitations, and queueing delays, and is embedded in the protocol stack of the host, allowing even complex experiments to be run on a single machine, using existing applications and protocol implementations. The second tool is a software implementation of an erasure code especially suited for use in network protocols. Erasure codes are used in Forward Error Correction (FEC) techniques to reduce or remove the need for retransmissions in presence of communiction errors. FEC has been rarely used in network protocols, because of the encoding/decoding overhead, and also because the underlying theory of error correcting codes is generally not well known to network researchers. In this paper we discuss the theory behind a simple erasure code, and provide performance data to show that the encoding/decoding overhead is acceptable for many applications even on low-end machines.
Conformational change of single-stranded RNAs induced by liposome binding

The interaction between single-stranded RNAs and liposomes was studied using UV, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Circular Dichroism spectroscopy (CD). The effect of the surface characteristics of liposomes, which were composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) and modified with cholesterol (Ch) or 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane (DOTAP), on the liposome–RNA interaction was investigated. The fluorescence of 6-(p-toluidino)naphthalene-2-sulfonate (TNS) embedded in the liposome surface (ε = 30–40) was decreased in the presence of tRNA, suggesting that single-stranded tRNA could bind onto the liposome. The dehydration of –PO2− –, guanine (G) and cytosine (C) of tRNA molecules in the presence of liposomes suggested both an electrostatic interaction (phosphate backbone of tRNA and trimethylammonium group of POPC, DOTAP) and a hydrophobic interaction (guanine or cytosine of tRNA and aliphatic tail of lipid). The tRNA conformation on the liposome was determined by CD spectroscopy. POPC/Ch (70/30) maintained tRNA conformation without any denaturation, while POPC/DOTAP(70/30) drastically denatured it. The mRNA translation was evaluated in an Escherichia coli cell-free translation system. POPC/Ch(70/30) enhanced expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) (116%) while POPC/DOTAP(70/30) inhibited (37%), suggesting that the conformation of RNAs was closely related to the translation efficiency. Therefore, single-stranded RNAs could bind to liposomal membranes through electrostatic and hydrophobic attraction, after which conformational changes were induced depending on the liposome characteristics.