Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-world insulin treatment persistence among patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate real-world treatment persistence among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) initiating treatment with insulin. METHODS Patient-level data were pooled from 3 previously published observational retrospective studies evaluating patients with T2DM who were previously on oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) and initiated with a basal analog insulin (insulin glargine or insulin detemir). Treatment persistence was defined as remaining on the study drug during the 1-year follow-up period without discontinuation or switching after study drug initiation. Analyses were conducted to identify baseline factors associated with persistence with insulin therapy and to estimate the association between insulin treatment persistence and patients' clinical and economic outcomes during the follow-up period. RESULTS A total of 4,804 patients with T2DM (insulin glargine: n = 4,172, insulin detemir: n = 632) were included. The average insulin persistence rate over the 1-year follow-up period was 65.0%. A significantly higher persistence rate was associated with older age, initiation with insulin glargine using either disposable pens or vial-and-syringe, and with baseline exenatide or sitagliptin use. Higher insulin treatment persistence was also associated with lower hemoglobin A1c (A1C) at follow-up, a greater reduction in A1C from baseline, and lower health care utilization. CONCLUSION In real-world settings, treatment persistence among patients with T2DM initiating basal insulin is influenced by the type of insulin and patient factors. Greater insulin treatment persistence is linked to improved clinical outcomes and reduced health care utilization.
Practical output tracking of nonlinear systems with uncontrollable unstable linearization

The paper focuses on the problem of having the output of nonlinear systems track a prescribed C/sup 1/ reference signal. It is proved that, under mild assumptions, global practical output tracking is achievable by smooth state feedback, although asymptotic output tracking is usually not possible (even locally) because the linearized system has uncontrollable modes whose eigenvalues are on the right half plane. Smooth feedback controllers which solve the problem of global practical output tracking are explicitly constructed, based on a modified 'adding a power integrator' approach. This feedback design method also leads to solutions to challenging benchmark control problems, including practical output tracking of an underactuated unstable two degrees of freedom mechanical system.
The spread of transgene expression at the site of gene construct injection

Seven 2‐day‐old golden retriever pups were given focal intramuscular injections of a first generation adenovirus–dystrophin minigene construct and adenovirus–β‐galactosidase construct as a 2:1 mixture into the left anterior tibial muscle. The spread of transgene expression within the anterior tibial muscle was compared with the spread of methylene blue dye after identical injection into the contralateral muscle. Transgene expression 5–7 days after intramuscular injection was shown to extend between 5.8 and 11.6 mm along the biopsied muscle length (range of biopsy lengths 11.1–12.2 mm). The level of transgene expression at 2–2.5‐mm intervals from the site of injection was significantly related to the distance from the site of injection (dystrophin, P = 0.009; β‐galactosidase, P = 0.015). The spread of methylene blue dye within the anterior tibial muscle ≤24 h after identical intramuscular injection demonstrated a similar pattern to the transgene expression, with dye staining measured between 5.5 and 8.5 mm along the muscle sample length (range of biopsy lengths 5.6–15.6 mm). The greatest transgene expression and dye staining was measured 2–2.5 mm proximal to the site of injection with a maximum of 23% of muscle fibers expressing the dystrophin transgene, 95.2% expressing the β‐galactosidase transgene, and 98% of the tissue section stained with methylene blue dye. These results suggest transgene expression after focal intramuscular injection is relatively localized around the site of injection. Further research is required to develop techniques that will provide transgene expression throughout the length and breadth of a muscle. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 24: 488–495, 2001.
Survey on Visualizing Dynamic, Weighted, and Directed Graphs in the Context of Data-Driven Journalism

Data journalists have to deal with complex heterogeneous data sources such as dynamic, directed, and weighted graphs. But there is a lack of suitable visualization tools for this specific domain and data structure. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of existing publications and web projects in this area by classifying the works in a systematic characterization that adapts existing characterizations for a focus on Data-Driven Journalism (DDJ). The survey highlights a lack of work in visualizing dynamic, directed, and weighted graphs, albeit individual aspects of dynamic graphs are well explored in the graph visualization literature. The results of this survey show that Sankey diagrams and chord diagrams occur frequently in web projects. A further popular method is the animated node-link diagram. The representation of a flow (directed and weighted) is typically illustrated as lines giving the direction of the relationship and width of lines showing the weight.
Pathological implications of iNOS expression in central white matter: an ex vivo study of optic nerves from rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

Excessive nitric oxide (NO) production from the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been invoked as a causative factor in many neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis. This hypothesis has been supported by in vitro studies showing that glial iNOS expression results in toxic NO concentrations (near 1 µm). To investigate the relevance of such findings, experiments were carried out ex vivo on optic nerves from rats with exacerbated experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, a model of multiple sclerosis. The nerves displayed characteristic immunopathology and expression of iNOS in macrophages and/or microglia and there was overt axonal damage in localized regions of the optic chiasm. The resulting NO levels in the optic nerve were sufficient to cause activation of guanylyl cyclase‐coupled NO receptors, resulting in marked cGMP accumulation in axons throughout the nerve. Nevertheless, calibration of cGMP levels against those evoked by exogenous NO indicated that the nerves were not compromised metabolically and that their ambient NO concentration was only ≈ 1 nm. Consistent with this observation, electrophysiological tests indicated that there was no ongoing malfunctioning of the type that can be elicited by high exogenous NO concentrations. It is concluded that, with iNOS expressed in physiological locations and levels, the tissue levels of NO remain at concentrations far lower than those shown to have toxic effects, despite continuous NO synthesis. The fact that NO can rise to much higher levels in dispersed cultures in vitro may be attributable to a deficiency in NO inactivation in such preparations.
Correlation of phage type, biotype and source in strains of Salmonella typhimurium

Summary A series of 2092 cultures of Salmonella typhimurium isolated from human, animal and other sources in 57 countries were differentiated into 204 phage types and 19 primary and 147 full biotypes. Different biotypes belonged to the same phage type and different phage types to the same biotype, so the combination of typing methods differentiated strains more finely than either method alone: 574 different ‘phage type/biotypes’ were distinguished in 1937 cultures belonging to the 204 recognized phage types. The combination of biotyping with phage-typing was valuable in studying the phylogeny and spread of epidemic strains by distinguishing clones of different biotype within the same phage type and by confirming the relationship between cultures isolated from widely dispersed clones and that between cultures isolated before and after a clone had undergone variation in phage type, biotype, colicin type or antibiotic-sensitivity pattern. A widespread outbreak of infection with S. typhimurium phage type 141 in Scotland comprised independent dissemination of three clones of different biotypes, if, 9f and 31bd. During its epidemic spread in cattle in Britain between 1962 and 1969, another strain underwent variations in phage type (type 44 to type 29), biotype (type 26a to types 26d, 26bd, 26dgi, 26dz and 26i) and antibiotic sensitivity. A group of 275 non-fimbriate, non-inositol-fermenting and non-rhamnose fermenting (FIRN) strains, particularly associated with avian infections and thought to be clonal in origin, contained 27 phage types and 22 full biotypes in the primary biotypes 29–32.
Studies on an artificial trypsin inhibitor peptide derived from the mung bean trypsin inhibitor: chemical synthesis, refolding, and crystallographic analysis of its complex with trypsin.

The active fragment with Lys at the reactive site of mung bean trypsin inhibitor (MBILF) is composed of two peptide chains, A1 of 26 residues and A2 of 9 residues linked via two disulfide bonds. In the present study, a peptide of 22 residue comprising the sequence of chain A1 from position 3 to 24 was synthesized by the solid-phase method. This synthetic peptide with six Cys residues contains a reactive site at position Lys11I-Ser12I (I denotes an inhibitor residue). Air oxidation and HPLC purification resulted in two antitrypsin active components, SPC1 and SPC2. Neither SPC1 nor SPC2 can stoichiometrically inhibit trypsin. The Ki values of SPC1 and SPC2 are 1.2 x 10(-7) and 4.0 x 10(-8) M, respectively. The complexes of SPC1 and SPC2 with bovine beta-trypsin (BTRY) were crystallized by ammonium sulphate precipitation at pH 6.4 and 6.0, respectively. The two crystals have the same crystal form with space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and cell dimension of a = 63.2(2) A, b = 63.5(6) A, and c = 69.8(4) A. The crystal structure of one complex, SPC1-BTRY, was determined and refined at 2.2 A resolution to a final R-value of 19.2%. From the resulting electron density map, 9 residues of SPC1, from position 9I to 17I, were identified clearly and three-dimension atomic model of the 9-residue reactive loop formed by a disulfide bridge, Cys9I-Cys17I, was built. No electron density corresponding to the other 13 residues was observed in the present map. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Verapamil increases serum alkaline phosphatase in hypertensive patients

Abstract. In rats, verapamil decreases intestinal absorption of calcium, increases serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), and induces osteopenia. In this prospective study, verapamil 80‐120 mg three times daily was given for 2 months to 20 patients with hypertension, and the effects on calcium homeostasis were recorded. This dose of verapamil significantly reduced supine systolic and diastolic blood pressure (±SD) from 158/100 ± 9/8 mmHg to 146/89 ± 14/8 mmHg (P=0.001). Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) increased significantly from 2.77 ± 1.06 μkat l−1 to 3.19 ± 1.22 μkat l−1 (P=0.004), and isoenzymes of ALP of skeletal origin appeared after verapamil treatment. The excretion of sodium in the urine increased (Na/creatinine ratio 8.95 ± 6.01 before and 13.16 ± 8.26 after verapamil; P=0.04), while the excretion of calcium, phosphate and potassium was not changed. PTH was slightly increased at the end of verapamil treatment (1.09 ± 0.54 vs. 0.98 ± 0.74 μg l−1; P=0.07), and s‐1,25(OH)2D3 was also somewhat increased (22.3 ± 14.4 vs. 17.6 ± 4.9 ng l−1; P=0.26). Serum Ca was not affected by verapamil (before verapamil 2.43 ± 0.11 mmol l−1, after verapamil 2.40 ± 0.12 mmol l−1; P=0.28). The increase in serum ALP demonstrates that verapamil affects bone cell metabolism in man. This effect could be secondary to the enhancement of PTH secretion.
The AP 2 / ERF Domain Transcription Factor ORA 59 Integrates Jasmonic Acid and Ethylene Signals in Plant Defense 1 [ W ]

Plant defense against pathogens depends on the action of several endogenously produced hormones, including jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene. In certain defense responses, JA and ethylene signaling pathways synergize to activate a specific set of defense genes. Here, we describe the role of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (AP2/ ERF) domain transcription factor ORA59 in JA and ethylene signaling and in defense. JAand ethylene-responsive expression of several defense genes, including PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 (PDF1.2), depended on ORA59. As a result, overexpression of ORA59 caused increased resistance against the fungus Botrytis cinerea, whereas ORA59-silenced plants were more susceptible. Several AP2/ERF domain transcription factors have been suggested to be positive regulators of PDF1.2 gene expression based on overexpression in stably transformed plants. Using two different transient overexpression approaches, we found that only ORA59 and ERF1 were able to activate PDF1.2 gene expression, in contrast to the related proteins AtERF1 and AtERF2. Our results demonstrate that ORA59 is an essential integrator of the JA and ethylene signal transduction pathways and thereby provide new insight into the nature of the molecular components involved in the cross talk between these two hormones.
Early song‐deprivation affects the expression of protein kinase C in the song control nuclei of the zebra finch during a sensitive period of song learning

MALE zebra finches learn to imitate a tutor's song through auditory and motor learning during a sensitive period. The molecular aspects of auditory-dependent learning was investigated using protein kinase C (PKC) as a molecular marker for synaptic plasticity. We found a transient increase in the expression of PKC in the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA) during a sensitive period. Furthermore, both early deafening by cochlea removal and song deprivation inhibited the increase of PKC enzyme activity. The results strongly suggest that PKC is an important enzyme related to the synaptic plasticity of RA neurons during a sensitive period of song learning in the zebra finch.
Significance of instants of significant excitation for source modeling

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the signiﬁcance of instants of signiﬁcant excitation for source modeling. In-stants of signiﬁcant excitation correspond to the glottal closure, glottal opening, onset of burst, frication and a small number of excitation instants around them. The speech signal is processed independently by zero frequency ﬁltering (ZFF) to obtain epochs. The epochs are used as anchor points for extracting the instants of signiﬁcant excitation from different representations of speech. The different representations include sequence of strength weighted epochs, small range of samples around epochs from the linear prediction (LP) residual, Hilbert envelope (HE) of LP residual and the cosine of phase sequence. The strength weighted epoch sequence generates speech which is intelligible, but synthetic in nature. By considering a small region of instants of signiﬁcant excitation around the epochs, the naturalness of synthesized speech increases signiﬁcantly.
Antagonistic effect of Vitamin E on the efficacy of artesunate against Plasmodium berghei infection in mice

Theeffect of antioxidant (Vitamin E) on the efficacy of Artesunate was investigated using Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Fifty (50) adult albino mice weighing between 15-25g were used for this study. There were five groups of ten animals each per group. Group I was the normal control group without the parasite and untreated, group II was infected with malaria parasite and 0.9% normal saline was administered, group III was infected with the parasite and treated with artesunate, group IV was infected with the parasaite and vitamin E was administered and group V was infected with the parasite and combination of artesunate and vitamin E were administered. Parasitaemia level and haematocrit (PCV) were monitored upon the administration of antimalaria drug - artesunate, vitamin E, normal saline and combination therapy of both vitamin E and artesunate. The life span of the infected mice was found to be between the 7 and the 10 day post inoculation, while the LD of the parasite was 156626.2 parasite/μl of blood. Artesunate was observed to rapidly clear the parasite with parasitaemia level of 21632.4 ± 513.3 parasite/μl on the 6 day, 11209.9 ± 363.7 parasite/μl on the 7 day, 1359.7 ± 14.3 parasite/μl on the 8 day, 7.8 ± 2.4 parasite/μl on the 9 day and zero parasitaemia on the 10 day. The effect of artesunate was significantly reduced when co-administered with vitamin E (p (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 10: 51 – 57, January 2007) Keywords: Plasmodium berghei, Parasitaemia, Artesunate, Vitamin E, mice.
IMPORTANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ESSENTIAL OIL OF PAKISTANIAN ACORUS CALAMUS LINN., AS A BIOPESTICIDE

The Pakistanian Acorus calamus (Fam.: Araceae) is locally found (Nasir, 1978) in Chitral, Peshawar, Jhelum valley, Thalawan valley, Mandi and Kashmir. The common name of A. calamus is sweet flag. It is found in marshy places and along the river banks from 600-2000m. The rootstock (modified stem) commonly called as rhizome, is medicinal and yields an essential oil used in the manufacture of soap, cosmetics and in the liquor industry. It is also used as medicine for stomach complaints, snake bite, as an insect repellent and for remittent fevers. The essential oil of A. calamus is volatile (Aromatic) and contains acorenone, β-gyrjunene, Isoshyobunine, β-asarone, Calamendiol, α-selinene, α-calacorene, Calamusenone, Camphene and Shyobunone as main active ingredients. In the present paper the essential oil of A. calamus was tested against dengue fever virus vector mosquito Ae. aegypti larvae (late 3 rd instar) The LC50 was found to be 1250ppm by WHO-method, (Anon., 1970). The IGR effects were observed on lower i.e. 150, 300, 450, 600 and 750ppm dose. The abnormalities were increased with the increase of dose. Phytotoxicity on cotton crop was recorded @ 1.5 litre/acre, whereas no phytotoxicity was recorded on mango tree and coconut plants upto the dose of 2 litres/acre. While 70-90% control of mango hoppers on mango trees in Mirpurkhas Sindh and rhinoceros beetles on coconut plants in Hub, Balochistan was recorded. Anti-fungal activity was recorded on cuts and wounds on sheep in Hub, Balochistan. The acorus oil prevents the cuts and wounds from fungal growth and the cuts & wounds heal up rapidly as compared to control. Systematic control of root knot nematode was also recorded in cotton and brinjal plants by using 0.25% solution of calamus oil, given to the infected plants. The scale insects were also controlled by the same systematic method by using 0.5% dilution to the infected cotton plants. The control of mealy bugs on cotton, brinjal and Abutilon indicum was achieved by spray method using 0.5% solution, repeated weekly for one month in Sindh and Balochistan. Beside this the different aspects of acorus oil activity and suggestions for implementation as biopesticide in agriculture and health sector with special reference to Pakistan have been discussed in detail.
Why Communication Is Crucial: Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Safer Sexual Communication and Condom Use

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively synthesize the growing literature on the relationship between safer sexual communication (SSC) among sexual partners and condom use, and to systematically examine a number of conceptual and methodological moderators of this relationship. Data from 53 articles published in 27 journals met criteria for the study. Fifty-five independent effect sizes coded from samples totaling N = 18,529 were meta-analyzed. Results indicate that the mean sample-size weighted effect size of the SSC-condom use relation was r = . 22, and a number of conceptual variables were found to moderate this relationship. Specifically, communication about condom use (r = .25) and sexual history (r = .23) had significantly (p < .05) larger effect sizes than communication about safer sex (r = .18). In addition, SSC measures operationalized differently had significantly (p < .05) different effect sizes. From largest to smallest, these were behavioral format (r = .29), intentional format (r = .18), and self-efficacy format (r = .13). Measures that tried to assess persuasion attempts as compared with informational exchanges were not found to have significantly different effect sizes (p > .05). Further, methodological moderators tended to be unrelated to effect size. Implications for the future study of safer sexual communication as well as the importance of emphasizing communication skills in HIV preventive interventions are discussed.
Comparison of belief propagation and graph-cut approaches for contextual classification of 3D lidar point cloud data

In this paper, we focus on the classification of lidar point cloud data acquired via mobile laser scanning, whereby the classification relies on a context model based on a Conditional Random Field (CRF). We present two approximate inference algorithms based on belief propagation, as well as a graph-cut-based approach not yet applied in this context. To demonstrate the performance of our approach, we present the classification results derived for a standard benchmark dataset. These results clearly indicate that the graph-cut-based method is able to retrieve a labeling of higher likelihood in only a fraction of the time needed for the other approaches. The higher likelihood, in turn, translates into a significant gain in the accuracy of the obtained classification.
The Amino-terminal GAF Domain of Azotobacter vinelandii NifA Binds 2-Oxoglutarate to Resist Inhibition by NifL under Nitrogen-limiting Conditions*

The expression of genes required for the synthesis of molybdenum nitrogenase in Azotobacter vinelandii is controlled by the NifL-NifA transcriptional regulatory complex in response to nitrogen, carbon, and redox status. Activation of nif gene expression by the transcriptional activator NifA is inhibited by direct protein-protein interaction with NifL under conditions unfavorable for nitrogen fixation. We have recently shown that the NifL-NifA system responds directly to physiological concentrations of 2-oxoglutarate, resulting in relief of NifA activity from inhibition by NifL under conditions when fixed nitrogen is limiting. The inhibitory activity of NifL is restored under conditions of excess combined nitrogen through the binding of the signal transduction protein Av GlnK to the carboxyl-terminal domain of NifL. The amino-terminal domain of NifA comprises a GAF domain implicated in the regulatory response to NifL. A truncated form of NifA lacking this domain is not responsive to 2-oxoglutarate in the presence of NifL, suggesting that the GAF domain is required for the response to this ligand. Using isothermal titration calorimetry, we demonstrate stoichiometric binding of 2-oxoglutarate to both the isolated GAF domain and the full-length A. vinelandii NifA protein with a dissociation constant of ∼60 μm. Limited proteolysis experiments indicate that the binding of 2-oxoglutarate increases the susceptibility of the GAF domain to trypsin digestion and also prevents NifL from protecting these cleavage sites. However, protection by NifL is restored when the non-modified (non-uridylylated) form of Av GlnK is also present. Our results suggest that the binding of 2-oxoglutarate to the GAF domain of NifA may induce a conformational change that prevents inhibition by NifL under conditions when fixed nitrogen is limiting.