Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Ecological Perspective on Diabetes Self-care Support, Self-management Behaviors, and Hemoglobin A1C Among Latinos

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the role of self, interpersonal (ie, family/friend), and organizational (ie, health care) support in performing diabetes-related self-management behaviors and hemoglobin A1C (A1C) levels among rural Latinos with type 2 diabetes. Methods Cross-sectional data from baseline interviews and medical records were used from a randomized controlled trial conducted in rural Southern California involving a clinic sample of Latinos with type 2 diabetes (N = 317). Self-management behaviors included fruit and vegetable intake, fat intake, physical activity, glucose monitoring, daily examination of feet, and medication adherence. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the relationships of sources of support with self-management behaviors and A1C. Results Higher levels of self-support were significantly associated with eating fruits and vegetables most days/week, eating high-fat foods few days/week, engaging in physical activity most days/week, daily feet examinations, and self-reported medication adherence. Self-support was also related to A1C. Family/friend support was significantly associated with eating fruits and vegetables and engaging in physical activity most days/week. Health care support was significantly associated with consuming fats most days/week. Conclusions Health care practitioners and future interventions should focus on improving individuals’ diabetes management behaviors, with the ultimate goal of promoting glycemic control. Eliciting family/friend support should be encouraged to promote fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity.
Student self-assessment in a paediatric objective structured clinical examination.

OBJECTIVE The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been recognized not only as a useful assessment tool but also as a valuable method of promoting student learning. Student self-assessment is also seen as a means of helping students recognize their strengths and weaknesses, understand the relevance of core learning objectives and to take more responsibility for each stage of their work The authors sought to evaluate the accuracy of medical student self-assessment of their performance in the paediatric clerkship OSCE and thus obtain preliminary data for use in programme strengthening. DESIGN AND METHODS A self-administered questionnaire was completed by successive groups of students immediately after the OSCE at the end of each clerkship rotation. Students assessed their performance at each station, using a performance rating scale. Performance data were summarized using descriptive and non-parametric tests. Basic statistical analysis of the Likert items was conducted by calculatingfrequencies, means and standard deviations. Regression analysis was used to correlate self-reported rating and actual performance in each station. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Eighty-one students (92%) completed the questionnaire. RESULTS Fifty-eight (72%) of the students achieved greater than minimum competence in their overall scores. Significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) between student self-rating and actual score was noted- among the following stations: technical skills, cardiovascular examination, assessment of dysmorphism, dermatology, communication and photographic interpretation stations. Students overestimated their performance in the gastrointestinal examination, radiological and arterial blood gas interpretation. Students underestimated their performance in the following: respiratory system, examination of the head, developmental and nutritional assessment. CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the perceived strengths and weaknesses in clinical competence and self-assessment skills and provide direction for programme training needs.
Mathematical modeling and optimization of bioreactors and liquid crystals

En esta tesis se han aplicado diversas herramientas matematicas con el objetivo de estudiar dos fenomenos diferentes en el ambito de los fluidos. Los modelos matematicos propuestos para ambos problemas estan principalmente basados en Ecuaciones Diferenciales Ordinarias y Ecuaciones en Derivadas Parciales. Para llevar a cabo el analisis matematico de los modelos propuestos, hemos estudiado la existencia y unicidad de solucion, junto con resultados de no negatividad y acotacion, utilizando entre otros el Teorema de Punto Fijo de Schauder y tecnicas variacionales. Hemos realizado un analisis dimensional de los modelos resultantes, el cual nos ha dado una pista de las escalas temporales caracteristicas de los procesos y ha facilitado la reduccion del numero de parametros de los modelos. En aquellos casos en los que los modelos resultantes se veian afectados por la presencia de parametros o bien muy grandes o bien muy pequenos, hemos obtenido soluciones aproximadas del modelo aplicando tecnicas de analisis asintotico. Ademas, se ha estudiado el comportamiento asintotico de los modelos, desarrollando el analisis de estabilidad de los estados estacionarios via metodos de linealizacion. Finalmente, hemos definido dos problemas de optimizacion y los hemos abordado utilizando un Algoritmo Genetico Hibrido. Descontaminacion de agua utilizando reactores biologicos Con el objetivo de afrontar de forma precisa el problema de descontaminacion de agua, primero hemos tratado de entender el comportamiento de un biorreactor continuo, un tanque donde tienen lugar reacciones biologicas, que puede ser utilizado para tratar agua contaminada. En el Capitulo 1 se introducen algunos conceptos basicos en la teoria de biorreactores, y se repasan resultados previos relacionados con el uso de biorreactores en procesos de descontaminacion de agua. En el Capitulo 2 se proponen dos modelos diferentes, los cuales describen respectivamente el comportamiento de biorreactores mezclados y no mezclados. Se ha realizado un analisis matematico de ambos modelos, el cual ha proporcionado informacion util sobre la dinamica del biorreactor, por ejemplo, sobre la estabilidad de los diferentes estados estacionarios. Una vez entendido el funcionamiento del biorreactor, en el Capitulo 3 se han estudiado dos problemas de optimizacion en los que se utiliza un biorreactor para descontaminar agua residual. El primer problema pretende minimizar el tiempo necesario para limpiar un recurso hidrico conectado a un biorreactor continuo.
Comment guider le travail de normalisation terminologique

La normalisation d'un reseau terminologique est une etape importante de la construction d'ontologies dans la methode Terminae ou simplement pour la construction de thesaurus. Nous montrons comment ce travail de normalisation peut etre guide par des criteres de pertinence relatifs au domaine et au discours analyse.
Matrizen- und zustandsraumreduzierende Verfahren zur Leistungsbewertung großer stochastischer Petrinetze

The generation of state spaces for discrete-state models, such as stochastic Petri nets, is a necessary step for many types of studies, like the numerical analysis of the underlying Markov chain. For large stochastic Petri net models, as they typically arise from real systems, the enormous state spaces make their analysis tedious, if not impossible. This is known as the state space explosion problem. Moreover, large state spaces entail the manipulation of large matrices. The dimension of the quadratic matrix, required for the numerical analysis, corresponds to the size of the state space. In order to cope with related problems, this thesis investigates methods which reduce the sizes of the involved state spaces and matrices. The proposed techniques allow to analyze significantly larger models as compared to conventional approaches. Along the theoretical elaboration various examples illustrate the applicability and limits of the introduced procedures. The heart of this thesis is a new aggregation method. The process of aggregation transforms a large complex model into a smaller simpler one. A suitable aggregation method has to preserve important characteristics of the original model. For a consistent model in this sense, these characteristics must include both structural and time-dependent properties. Several structural properties are introduced in this thesis, together with procedures to compute them efficiently. A proof for the consitency of the aggregation method with respect to the structural properties is given. Preservation of time-dependent characteristics during the aggregation has received only little attention in research activities. This thesis presents novel, graphbased techniques to aggregate frequently occurring Petri net structures into a single marking-dependent timed transition. The resulting models with drastically reduced state spaces deliver approximate – in many cases even exact – values for important measures like mean values, throughputs, etc. In general, this approach does not require iterations as often used in other aggregation/decomposition methods. These methods usually adjust different aggregated versions of the original model based on selected measures in an iterative and expensive manner. In fact, the specific feature of the novel techniques allows to integrate them into known iterative methods. The resulting acceleration is demonstrated in an application example. Furthermore, a series of experiments plumbs the practicability of the aggregation techniques presented in this thesis.
Topoisomerase Mutations in Trovafloxacin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT A total of 201 Staphylococcus aureus isolates were surveyed for susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and trovafloxacin. Of 66 methicillin-resistant isolates, 89% were ciprofloxacin resistant and 6% were also trovafloxacin resistant. Trovafloxacin-resistant strains had unusual patterns of quinoline resistance mutations in DNA topoisomerase genes, including two mutations in the A subunit (encoded by grlA) of topoisomerase IV.
China ’ s Domestic Debts . Will They Interfere with Financial Sector Liberalization and WTO Commitments ? Issues and Strategies

WTO membership increases the urgency of many domestic reforms, particularly in the financial sector. China’s contingent and implicit domestic debts are very large and still growing. Most are related to the country’s economic transition. The approach that was taken by the government’s four Asset Management Companies to non-performing loan clean-up in 1999 and 2000 is questionable and should not be repeated. State banks should play a larger role in absorbing their own accumulated losses. China should leverage its external financial strength for domestic financial cleanup. The exchange rate may appreciate which would be helpful in this process. A large and growing proportion of state assets is held in the form of non-tradable shares in partially privatized state companies. To protect the solvency of the government, many of these shares will have to be made tradable and sold in the next 5-10 years. Further strengthening of the fiscal system along with rapid and sound development of domestic capital markets is essential. Breaking-up some or all of the four large state-owned commercial banks into smaller units would facilitate their restructuring and eventual privatization. China may slip in the implementation of some WTO commitments, because the timetables for adjustment in the financial sector are extremely tight.
Viral cyclins

Cyclins are regulatory subunits of the cyclin‐dependent protein kinases (CDKs). Members of this serine–threonine kinase family regulate the progression of cells through the division cycle. Until some years ago, cyclins were presumed to be encoded exclusively by eukaryotic cells. However, sequencing in 1996 of a simian herpesvirus, the herpesvirus saimiri, uncovered an open reading frame with sequence similarity to cellular cyclins. What at the time was a surprise for virologists and cell biologists alike, has become an accepted occurrence now. Eight different cyclin‐encoding viruses have been described to date. One of them is the recently discovered human herpesvirus 8 (KSHV) suspected to cause Kaposi's sarcoma and certain B cell‐lymphoproliferations in man. The significance of virus‐encoded cyclins in the viral life cycle is currently unclear. However, the link between specific cellular cyclins and cancer suggests that virus‐encoded cyclins could be involved in oncogenic events associated with these cyclin‐encoding viruses. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A high-performance five-level single-phase inverter using repetitive control and state feedback

In this paper, a novel single-phase five-level inverter is presented to alleviate harmonic components of the output voltage. To keep the output voltage being sinusoidal and to have the high dynamic performance, the paper present a control scheme based on repetitive control with the feedback of the capacitor current. In order to expediently observe the capacitor current, the author uses a dimensionality reduction observer. As we can see from the simulation and the experiment results, the circuit of the inverter is simple, and the output waveform is perfect; even when the load is nonlinear, the waveform just distorts a little
Beta-adrenergic receptors: astrocytic localization in the adult visual cortex and their relation to catecholamine axon terminals as revealed by electron microscopic immunocytochemistry

It has long been recognized that noradrenaline, the most abundant catecholamine within the visual cortex, plays important roles in modulating the sensitivity of cortical neurons to visual stimuli. However, whether or not these noradrenaline effects are confined to a discrete synaptic specialization or mediated by diffuse modulation of a group of synapses has remained an issue open for debate. The aim of this study was to examine the cellular basis for noradrenaline action within the visual cortex of adult rats and cats. To this end, I used electron microscopic immunocytochemistry to examine the relationship between (1) catecholamine axon terminals and beta-adrenergic receptors (beta AR), which, together, may define the effective sphere of noradrenaline modulation; and then (2) these putative sites for catecholamine modulation and axospinous asymmetric junctions where excitatory neurotransmission is likely to dominate. Antibodies against beta AR were used at light and electron microscopic levels on the visual cortex of rat and cat. Rat visual cortex was also labeled simultaneously for beta AR and the catecholamine-synthesizing enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), to determine the ultrastructural relationships between catecholamine terminals and beta AR. Immunoperoxidase labeling revealed that beta AR404, a polyclonal antibody directed against the C-terminal tail of hamster lung beta AR (beta 2-type), recognized astrocytic processes predominantly. In contrast, beta AR248, a polyclonal antibody directed against the third cytoplasmic loop, recognized neuronal perikarya as observed in previous studies. Dual labeling for beta AR404 and TH revealed that catecholamine axon terminals that contained numerous vesicles formed direct contacts with astrocytic processes exhibiting beta AR404 immunoreactivity. However, some catecholamine axon terminals that lacked dense clusters of vesicles were positioned away from beta AR404- immunoreactive astrocytes. Frequently, beta AR-immunoreactive astrocytic processes surrounded asymmetric axospinous junctions while also contacting catecholamine axon terminals. These observations support the possibility that, through activation of astrocytic beta AR, noradrenaline modulates astrocytic uptake mechanism for excitatory amino acids, such as L-glutamate. Astrocytic beta AR might also define the effective sphere of catecholamine modulation through alterations in the morphology of distal astrocytic processes and the permeability of gap junctions formed between astrocytes.
Iodide Oxidation by a Novel Multicopper Oxidase from 2 α-Proteobacterium Strain Q1 3 4 Running title : Bacterial iodide-oxidizing enzyme 5

AEM00084-12 (Revised) 1 Iodide Oxidation by a Novel Multicopper Oxidase from 2 α-Proteobacterium Strain Q-1 3 4 Running title: Bacterial iodide-oxidizing enzyme 5 Mio Suzuki, Yoshifumi Eda, Shiaki Ohsawa, Yu Kanesaki, Hirofumi 6 Yoshikawa, Kan Tanaka, Yasuyuki Muramatsu, Jun Yoshikawa, Ikuo Sato, 7 Takaaki Fujii, and Seigo Amachi 8 9 Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, 648 Matsudo, Matsudo City, Chiba 10 271-8510, Genome Research Center, NODAI Research Institute, Tokyo University of 11 Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8502, Department of 12 Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 13 156-8502, Chemical Resources Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-R1-29 14 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503, and Department of Chemistry, Gakushuin 15 University, Mejiro 1-5-1, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-8588, Japan. 16 Copyright © 2012, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.00084-12 AEM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 23 March 2012
La focalisation prosodique dans la parole interprétée en français

La focalisation prosodique designe le soulignement d’un constituant dans un enonce au moyen de differentes ressources prosodiques, en particulier l’accentuation et l’intonation. Plusieurs fonctions sont attribuees a la focalisation : le marquage des differentes categories de focus, ainsi que des fonctions emphatiques (ici appelees insistance et expressivite). Cette these a pour principal but de savoir si la focalisation et ses fonctions presentent des proprietes specifiques dans le phonogenre de la parole interpretee, c’est-a-dire l’oralisation d’un texte ecrit memorise au prealable par le locuteur (generalement un comedien). Cette question presente un interet pour la linguistique et la phonetique a plusieurs titres. Tout d’abord, les differences de realisation prosodique entre les fonctions de la focalisation sont encore mal connues. Par ailleurs, peu d’etudes ont ete consacrees aux caracteristiques prosodiques de la parole interpretee. Enfin, notre these presente un apport sur le plan methodologique a travers le protocole relativement novateur de ses deux experiences. Dans une experience de production, des locuteurs ont reproduit des conversations spontanees en parole lue et en parole interpretee. Un groupe d’experts en prosodie a ensuite releve les occurrences de focalisation dans le corpus et a effectue une classification fonctionnelle de ces occurrences. Nous avons egalement mene une experience de perception afin de comparer la realisation des fonctions de la focalisation independamment du phonogenre. Malgre un taux d’accord entre experts relativement faible (ce qui souleve plusieurs questions methodologiques et theoriques), nos analyses revelent plusieurs resultats originaux. La frequence d’occurrence de la focalisation est la plus elevee en parole interpretee, suivie de la parole lue. Ce resultat confirme notre prediction et suggere que la parole interpretee est un phonogenre favorable a l’etude de la focalisation. Une forte relation est observee entre la fonction d’insistance et le trait d’accentuation initiale, ce qui confirme de nombreuses etudes precedentes. Le phonogenre se revele en revanche avoir tres peu d’influence sur la realisation de la focalisation et de ses fonctions. Ce resultat est du selon nous a un manque de donnees et au fait que certains traits prosodiques n’ont pas ete pris en compte dans l’analyse.
Ultra-narrow bandwidth filters based on highly dispersive metamaterial basic cells

Two narrow pass-band filters with an out-of-band rejection in excess of 30 dB was designed for an operation in the C-band (operating frequency @ 4.5 GHz). These potential performances were achieved by cascading three double-split ring resonator cells magnetically coupled to a coplanar waveguide line and six shunt wires placed between the central strip and the ground metal layers. This configuration, directly inspired from the so-called metamaterial technology, takes advantage of the high dispersion induced by a negative magnetic response via the resonators and of a negative permittivity effect via the shunt wires. The design of the basic cell was achieved by a proper engineering of the plasma frequencies of the electrical and magnetic systems. In a second stage, the optimization of the out-of-band rejection, while preserving the narrow band, was carried out by optimizing the dimension of the SRR's aiming at the overlap of individual responses.
Arthroscopic loose body removal after hip fracture dislocation: experiences in 7 cases.

OBJECTIVE The aims of the present study were to describe the technique of hip arthroscopy for osteochondral loose body removal after posterior hip dislocation and report its preliminary results. MATERIAL AND METHOD We reported consecutive patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for osteochondral fragment after sustaining fracture-dislocations. Seven patients who sustained traumatic hip dislocation with incarcerated osteochondral were included in this study. All patients had standard AP pelvis x-rays and 3D-CT scans. After closed reduction, all patients underwent hip arthroscopy in which loose bodies were removed and labral pathology debrided. RESULTS The mean follow-up was 15.7 months. The average Harris Hip Score was 89.8. No patient developed any of the complications commonly associated with arthrotomy including avascular necrosis, heterotopic ossification, and nerve injury. CONCLUSION Arthroscopic treatment of intra-articular loose bodies after hip fracture-dislocations allows excellent visualization of the joint and facilitated straightforward removal of the fragment.
Lowering radiation exposure in CT angiography using automated tube potential selection and optimized iodine delivery rate.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a radiation dose reduction strategy for CT angiography by the combination of higher iodine delivery rate and automated tube potential selection with adjusted reference values for tube current-exposure time product, as well as to measure the impact of this approach on image quality. SUBJECTS AND METHODS One hundred consecutive patients underwent high-pitch CT angiography of the thorax and abdomen using either 90 mL of iomeprol 300 (n = 44, protocol A) or 90 mL of iomeprol 400 (n = 56, protocol B) at the same flow rate. Automated tube potential selection was used with reference tube current-time products of 330 mAs and 250 mAs for protocols A and B, respectively. Twenty vascular segments were analyzed for attenuation and image noise by two readers. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated for all segments. The dose-length product (DLP) was documented to calculate effective dose and was compared between protocols both globally and for body mass index (BMI) subgroups. RESULTS There were no differences in sex, height, weight, or BMI between both groups. Images from patients scanned with protocol B showed higher levels of image noise but also higher signal in all vascular segments. As a result, there were no differences in SNR between both groups. Conversely, CNR was significantly higher for almost all vascular segments in the group scanned using protocol B. Furthermore, DLP was significantly lower when protocol B was used, particularly in patients with a BMI of less than 30. CONCLUSION In CT angiography, a combination of higher iodine delivery rate and automated tube potential selection with adjusted reference values for the tube current-time product allows reductions in radiation dose by approximately 30% without compromising image quality.