Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
More evidence to support "outsourcing" of diabetes care.

In the January issue of Diabetes Care , there were three articles that provided additional support for “outsourcing” diabetes care to improve outcome measures (1). In the first (2), individual, self-planned, intensive programs were established in 19 community health centers. Most health centers performed at least 30 different interventions during the year. The most common ones were to 1 ) provide a diabetes flow sheet (100%), 2 ) collaborate with community organizations that represented the health center’s population (89%), 3 ) provide a patient self-management or goal sheet to track his or her progress (63%), 4 ) redesign the delivery system to include group cluster visits (63%), and 5 ) use computer information systems to follow-up on examination and laboratory data (37%). A comparison of the results in 989 …
Receiver block design for ultrawideband applications

This paper presents a direct-conversion receiver block design for ultrawideband applications. Implemented in 0.18 μ m CMOS technology, the receiver combines switch, LNA, down-mixer, LPF, VGA. The RF block, switch, LNA, and down-mixer are operating across the frequency range of 3~5 GHz. The analog block, LPF and VGA are working across cutoff frequency range about 260 MHz. The power dissipation of direct-conversion CMOS receiver block including switch is 106.4 mW at 1.8 V voltage supply.
Concussion Symptoms and Neurocognitive Performance of High School and College Athletes Who Incur Multiple Concussions

Background: Multiple concussions have been associated with prolonged symptoms, recovery time, and risk for future concussions. However, very few studies have examined the effect of multiple concussions on neurocognitive performance and the recently revised symptom clusters using a large database. Purpose: To examine concussed athletes with a history of 0, 1, 2, or ≥3 concussions on neurocognitive performance and the recently revised symptom clusters. Study Design: Cohort study (prognosis); Level of evidence, 2. Methods: The independent variables were concussion group (0, 1, 2, and ≥3 concussions) and time (baseline, 3 days, and 8 days). The dependent variables were neurocognitive test scores as measured by the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) neurocognitive test battery (verbal and visual memory, processing speed, and reaction time) and 4 concussion symptom clusters (migraine-cognitive-fatigue, affective, somatic, and sleep). All concussed athletes (n = 596) were administered the ImPACT test at a mean 2.67 ± 1.98 and 7.95 ± 4.46 days after injury. A series of 4 (concussion group) × 3 (time) repeated-measures analyses of covariance (age = covariate) were performed on ImPACT composite scores and symptom clusters. Results: Concussed athletes with ≥3 concussions were still impaired 8 days after a concussion compared with baseline scores on verbal memory (P < .001), reaction time (P < .001), and migraine-cognitive-fatigue symptoms (P < .001). There were no significant findings on the remaining dependent variables. Conclusion: Concussed athletes with a history of ≥3 concussions take longer to recover than athletes with 1 or no previous concussion. Future research should concentrate on validating the new symptom clusters on multiple concussed athletes, examining longer recovery times (ie, >8 days) among athletes with multiple concussions.
How the lower oesophageal sphincter affects submucosal oesophageal varices.

Oesophageal varices are found in the submucosa of the lower oesophageal sphincter (L.E.S.). Portagraphic studies after vasopressin administration showed occlusion of submucosal oesophageal varices and distension of the para-oesophageal veins. Oesophagography and endoscopy after administration of anticholinergics showed considerable dilatation of the submucosal oesophageal varices. Because vasopressin increases, and anticholinergics decrease, L.E. S. pressure it is suggested that L.E. S. pressure is an important factor in the development of submucosal oesophageal varices.
Long-Term Effects of Presurgical Infant Orthopedics in Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate: A Systematic Review

Objective This study aimed to assess the scientific evidence on the efficiency of presurgical infant orthopedic appliances in patients with cleft lip and palate to shed light on a specific, contemporary discussion of whether the appliances have long-term advantages with respect to treatment outcomes. Design A systematic review. Method Two literature surveys from the five electronic databases were performed with a 1-month interval. Randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials (controls had no presurgical infant orthopedics) that had follow-up periods of a minimum of 6 years were included in the study. The exceptions to the follow-up limit were studies related to feeding and parent satisfaction. Results Of the 319 articles retrieved in the literature surveys, 12 were qualified for the final analysis. The level of evidence of these articles ranged from 1b to 4. Eight randomized controlled trials and four controlled clinical trials were available on eight treatment outcomes. The longest follow-up period of the randomized controlled trials was 6 years. No randomized controlled trials were found on active presurgical infant orthopedic appliances and on nasoalveolar molding appliances. Conclusions Based on the results, presurgical infant orthopedic appliances have no long-term positive effects on seven of the eight studied treatment outcomes in patients with cleft lip and palate. More randomized controlled trials need to be done to have evidence regarding the effects of presurgical infant orthopedics in different surgical protocols. Also, the encouraging results about the effect of nasolaveolar molding appliances on nasal symmetry have to be supported by future randomized controlled trials.
Bloodstream Form-specific Up-regulation of Silent VSG Expression Sites and Procyclin in Trypanosoma brucei after Inhibition of DNA Synthesis or DNA Damage*

The African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei transcribes the active variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) gene from one of about 20 VSG expression sites (ESs). In order to study ES control, we made reporter lines with a green fluorescent protein gene inserted behind the promoter of different ESs. We attempted to disrupt the silencing machinery, and we used fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis for the rapid and sensitive detection of ES up-regulation. We find that a range of treatments that either block nuclear DNA synthesis, like aphidicolin, or modify DNA-like cisplatin and 1-methyl-3-nitro-1-nitrosoguanidine results in up-regulation of silent ESs. Aphidicolin treatment was the most effective, with almost 80% of the cells expressing green fluorescent protein from a silent ES. All of these treatments blocked the cells in S phase. In contrast, a range of toxic chemicals had little or no effect on expression. These included berenil and pentamidine, which selectively cleave the mitochondrial kinetoplast DNA, the metabolic inhibitors suramin and difluoromethylornithine, and the mitotic inhibitor rhizoxin. Up-regulation also affected other RNA polymerase I (pol I) transcription units, as procyclin genes were also up-regulated after cells were treated with either aphidicolin or DNA-modifying agents. Strikingly, this up-regulation of silent pol I transcription units was bloodstream form-specific and was not observed in insect form T. brucei. We postulate that the redistribution of a limiting bloodstream form-specific factor involved in both silencing and DNA repair results in the derepression of normally silenced pol I transcription units after DNA damage.
In vitro repair of synthetic ionizing radiation-induced multiply damaged DNA sites.

When ionizing radiation traverses a DNA molecule, a combination of two or more base damages, sites of base loss or single strand breaks can be produced within 1-4 nm on opposite DNA strands, forming a multiply damaged site (MDS). In this study, we reconstituted the base excision repair system to examine the processing of a simple MDS containing the base damage, 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), or an abasic (AP) site, situated in close opposition to a single strand break, and asked if a double strand break could be formed. The single strand break, a nucleotide gap containing 3' and 5' phosphate groups, was positioned one, three or six nucleotides 5' or 3' to the damage in the complementary DNA strand. Escherichia coli formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (Fpg), which recognizes both 8-oxoG and AP sites, was able to cleave the 8-oxoG or AP site-containing strand when the strand break was positioned three or six nucleotides away 5' or 3' on the opposing strand. When the strand break was positioned one nucleotide away, the target lesion was a poor substrate for Fpg. Binding studies using a reduced AP (rAP) site in the strand opposite the gap, indicated that Fpg binding was greatly inhibited when the gap was one nucleotide 5' or 3' to the rAP site. To complete the repair of the MDS containing 8-oxoG opposite a single strand break, endonuclease IV DNA polymerase I and Escherichia coli DNA ligase are required to remove 3' phosphate termini, insert the "missing" nucleotide, and ligate the nicks, respectively. In the absence of Fpg, repair of the single strand break by endonuclease IV, DNA polymerase I and DNA ligase occurred and was not greatly affected by the 8-oxoG on the opposite strand. However, the DNA strand containing the single strand break was not ligated if Fpg was present and removed the opposing 8-oxoG. Examination of the complete repair reaction products from this reaction following electrophoresis through a non-denaturing gel, indicated that a double strand break was produced. Repair of the single strand break did occur in the presence of Fpg if the gap was one nucleotide away. Hence, in the in vitro reconstituted system, repair of the MDS did not occur prior to cleavage of the 8-oxoG by Fpg if the opposing single strand break was situated three or six nucleotides away, converting these otherwise repairable lesions into a potentially lethal double strand break.
Skeletonization of Ribbon-Like Shapes Based on a New Wavelet Function

A wavelet-based scheme to extract skeleton of Ribbon-like shape is proposed in this paper, where a novel wavelet function plays a key role in this scheme, which possesses three significant characteristics, namely, 1) the position of the local maximum moduli of the wavelet transform with respect to the Ribbon-like shape is independent of the gray-levels of the image. 2) When the appropriate scale of the wavelet transform is selected, the local maximum moduli of the wavelet transform of the Ribbon-like shape produce two new parallel contours, which are located symmetrically at two sides of the original one and have the same topological and geometric properties as that of the original shape. 3) The distance between these two parallel contours equals to the scale of the wavelet transform, which is independent of the width of the shape. This new scheme consists of two phases: 1) Generation of wavelet skeleton-based on the desirable properties of the new wavelet function, symmetry analyses of the maximum moduli of the wavelet transform is described. Midpoints of all pairs of contour elements can be connected to generate a skeleton of the shape, which is defined as wavelet skeleton. 2) Modification of the wavelet skeleton. Thereafter, a set of techniques are utilized for modifying the artifacts of the primary wavelet skeleton. The corresponding algorithm is also developed in this paper. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme is capable of extracting exactly the skeleton of the Ribbon-like shape with different width as well as different gray-levels. The skeleton representation is robust against noise and affine transformation.
Distinct Contribution of Working Memory and Social Comprehension Failures in Neuropsychological Impairment in Schizophrenia

Neuropsychological impairment represents a core characteristic of schizophrenia, but its underlying components have yet to be clearly established. Using a comprehensive battery of standardized measures of intelligence, declarative episodic memory, and executive function, we hypothesized that the variance in neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia may reflect at least 2 distinct sources related to failures of (a) the central executive division of working memory and (b) social comprehension. In comparison to age-matched controls, patients with schizophrenia showed not only overall reduced scores on Wechsler intelligence and memory scales and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) of executive function, but they also demonstrated different patterns of performance for each of these tests. Hierarchical regression revealed executive attentional control, measured by Trails B performance speed, and social comprehension, measured by Wechsler IQ Comprehension and Picture Arrangement subtests, each accounted for a unique and specific proportion of variance in test scores for the patient group, even when controlling for general intelligence. Failures in social comprehension and executive attentional control may account for distinct sources of variance in the neuropsychological impairment of schizophrenia.
Counterfactual Thinking and the Episodic System

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium1. IntroductionWhen something bad happens, we often think howthings could have turned out differently (e.g., “If I hadset my alarm, I would not have missed my appoint-ment.”). Imagining an alternative reality, which couldhave replaced the actual one, is called counterfactualthinking. Counterfactual thoughts inﬂuence our feel-ings and thoughts about certain past events or actions.They also inform us how to prevent the past from re-peating itself [5]. Therefore, counterfactual thinking isheavily intertwined with both past and future episodicthoughts.Recent neurological studies show that episodic pastand future thinking share several areas in the brain,which reﬂect common memory and social processes.A ﬁrst set of areas is directly engaged by a variety ofmemory processes. Episodic memory (i.e., about spe-ciﬁc events) activates the precuneus (PC) and nearbyareas, including the retrosplenial cortex and the pos-terior cingulate cortex [4,9]. Semantic memory (i.e.,general world knowledge)recruits the middle temporalgyrus (MTG) and also the temporal pole (TP), whichplays, among other functions, an important role in rep-resenting social semantic concepts [6]. Relational pro-cessing in memory and the creation of new memorytraces engages the (para-) hippocampus (HC [1]). A second set of areas is involved in social cognition:thinking about the mind of oneself or other persons(mentalizing). According to Van Overwalle [10] men-talizing about temporary goals, intentions or desiresof self or other persons activates the temporo-parietaljunction (TPJ); while inferring more long-term social
Factor VIII concentrate prepared from blood donors stimulated by intranasal administration of a vasopressin analogue

With an interval of eight weeks between collections, blood was drawn twice from 120 blood donors. At one of the donations, 0.25 ml of synthetic vasopressin, (DDAVP, 1300 micrograms/ml), was administered intranasally 60 minutes prior to collection of the blood. No drug was given at the other donation. The yield of factor VIII clotting activity (VIII:C) and factor VIII antigen (VIIIR:Ag) was compared in blood drawn from the treated and untreated donors. To prevent degradation of VIII:C by fibrinolysis, tranexamic acid was added to the plasma from treated donors immediately after separation from the red blood cells. Plasma from treated donors and the derived Cohn fraction I‐O contained approximately twice as much VIII:C as plasma and fraction I‐O from untreated control donors. The concentration of VIIIR: Ag was also increased in fraction I‐O made from plasma from treated donors, however to a lesser degree. The in vivo properties of factor VIII concentrates made from each group of donors were studied. Half‐life in plasma and recovery of VIII:C were identical. Thus, intranasal synthetic vasopressin may be used to increase the yield of VIII:C in production of factor VIII concentrates.
Relationship of pseudopod extension to chemotactic hormone‐induced actin polymerization in amoeboid cells

Aggregation‐competent amoeboid cells of Dictyostelium discoideum are chemotactic toward cAMP. Video microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to quantitate changes in cell morphology and locomotion during uniform upshifts in the concentration of cAMP. These studies demonstrate that morphological and motile responses to cAMP are sufficiently synchronous within a cell population to allow relevant biochemical analyses to be performed on large numbers of cells.
MECHANICAL WORK IN RUNNING.

The external and internal mechanical work in running has been measured through various procedures. Different from walking, in running the work due to the forward speed changes (variation of kinetic energy) and to the vertical displacement of the center of gravity (variation of potential energy), throughout the step cycle, are substantially in phase. The external work performed per kilometer is independent of speed, amounting to 0.25 kcal/kg km. The total mechanical work amounts to about 0.40–0.50 kcal/kg km. The efficiency in running has been calculated as about 40–50%: such a high value involves a contribution of a substantial amount of energy delivered at a very low cost; this appears to be identified as elastic recoil energy from the stretched contracted muscle and amounts to about half the energy spent in running. A mechanical model is given for the walking and running processes. mechanics of locomotion; kinetic and potential energy during step cycle; elasticity of contracted muscle; mechanical models.
Immune responsiveness of the bovine host to repeated low-level infestations with Dermacentor andersoni.

The effects of low level infestations with adult Dermacentor andersoni (Stiles) on the immune responsiveness of Bos taurus cows and calves were examined. Exposure regimen consisted of one to four ten-day infestations, each with ten female and five male ticks. Tick feedings were separated by ten-day tick-free periods. Antibody responsiveness to infestation differed for cows and calves, calves uniformly displaying precipitating antibodies to D. andersoni salivary gland antigen (SGA) after all infestations. Most of the cows displayed precipitating antibodies before and after the first infestation, but by the end of the second infestation most cows had lost detectable precipitating antibodies to SGA. All tick-exposed cows and calves gave significant immediate and delayed reactions when skin-tested with SGA. Peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from cows and calves at the termination of a third and fourth infestation reacted in vitro in an antigen-specific manner to SGA, indicating the presence of an antigen-r.
Transforming Tourism Destinations' Marketing Strategies by Understanding Tourists' Satisfaction

Tourism propels the growth of a country’s economy and gives rise to other service industries such as accommodation, food and beverages, retail trade, and transportation industries. With trends in travel and tourism pointing to tourists seeking novelty experience according to TripAdvisor, the objective of this paper is to identify factors influencing the intentions of tourists to a destination, taking into account the characteristics of tourists, by means of a systematic literature review (SLR). Collectively, 17 factors were identified from a total of 77 studies. Satisfaction, destination attraction, and loyalty are the three most investigated factors, while perceived behaviour control, psychological well-being, and religious are the three least investigated factors that affect the behavioural intentions of tourists to a destination. This SLR is instrumental in later part of the research in discovering whether there exist differences between a model developed based on factors identified via content analysis with a model discovered upon mining of data. The coalesced perspective of content analysis and data mining is essential in serving as a guide to practitioners or destination marketing organisation (DMO) in the formulation of marketing strategies to promote tourism destinations in accordance with their intended audience.
Comparison of switched Ethernet architectures models

The objective of this work is to model a switched Ethernet architecture in order to be able to evaluate the end to end delays. The major interest is to apply these results in an industrial or technical context, where the communications are strongly time-constrained. In this paper, we have chosen the network calculus theory, because it enables a good representation of the exchanges between the equipment which are connected to the network, and also to determine the maximum end to end delays. This paper describes several models of the switching function, in order to identify the better one, regarding some tests achieved by using a network simulation tool.
A novel packing algorithm for sparse crossbar FPGA architectures

The cluster-based FPGA can significantly improve timing and routability. Packing is introduced in the CAD flow to pack logic elements into clusters. In order to reduce unnecessary connectivity within a cluster, sparse crossbar FPGA architectures are under investigation. This paper proposes a novel packing algorithm using direct graph searching method and connection gain function. Experimental results show that half populated crossbar FPGA architecture achieves 7% area improvement compared to fully populated counterpart with only 3% number of external nets overhead.
Seasonal Variations in Circadian Rhythms Persist in Gonadectomized Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels

Circadian wheel-running activity was monitored in intact and gonadectomized female and male golden-mantled ground squirrels maintained in a 14L:10D photoperiod at 21 °C. Marked advances in phase angle of activity onset and increases in the duration of the daily active phase occurred each year in intact animals coincident with the phase of reproductive activity. Surprisingly, long-term gonadectomized squirrels of both sexes manifested similar seasonal changes in the circadian system. Seasonal circadian variations in locomotor activity are generated by a circannual clock independent from and not influenced by concurrent changes in secretion of gonadal hormones.
Periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic localized solutions of the quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation.

We discuss time-dependent spatially localized solutions of the quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation applicable near a weakly inverted bifurcation to traveling waves. We find that there are---in addition to the stationary pulses reported previously---stable localized solutions that are periodic, quasiperiodic, or even chaotic in time. An intuitive picture for the stability of these time-dependent localized solutions is presented and the novelty of these phenomena in comparison to localized solutions arising for exactly integrable systems is emphasized.