Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
True Interindividual Variability Exists in Postprandial Appetite Responses in Healthy Men But Is Not Moderated by the FTO Genotype

ABSTRACT Background After meal ingestion, a series of coordinated hormone responses occur concomitantly with changes in perceived appetite. It is not known whether interindividual variability in appetite exists in response to a meal. Objectives The aim of this study was to 1) assess the reproducibility of appetite responses to a meal; 2) quantify individual differences in responses; and 3) explore any moderating influence of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene. Methods Using a replicated crossover design, 18 healthy men (mean ± SD age: 28.5 ± 9.8 y; BMI: 27.0 ± 5.0 kg/m2) recruited according to FTO genotype (9 AA, 9 TT) completed 2 identical control and 2 identical standardized meal conditions (5025 kJ) in randomized sequences. Perceived appetite and plasma acylated ghrelin, total peptide YY (PYY), insulin, and glucose concentrations were measured before and after interventions as primary outcomes. Interindividual differences were explored using Pearson's product-moment correlations between the first and second replicates of the control-adjusted meal response. Within-participant covariate-adjusted linear mixed models were used to quantify participant-by-condition and genotype-by-condition interactions. Results The meal suppressed acylated ghrelin and appetite perceptions [standardized effect size (ES): 0.18–4.26] and elevated total PYY, insulin, and glucose (ES: 1.96–21.60). For all variables, SD of change scores was greater in the meal than in the control conditions. Moderate-to-large positive correlations were observed between the 2 replicates of control-adjusted meal responses for all variables (r = 0.44–0.86, P ≤ 0.070). Participant-by-condition interactions were present for all variables (P ≤ 0.056). FTO genotype-by-condition interactions were nonsignificant (P ≥ 0.19) and treatment effect differences between genotype groups were small (ES ≤ 0.27) for all appetite parameters. Conclusions Reproducibility of postprandial appetite responses is generally good. True interindividual variability is present beyond any random within-subject variation in healthy men but we detected no moderation by the FTO genotype. These findings highlight the importance of exploring individual differences in appetite for the prevention and treatment of obesity. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03771690.
Mestizos with systemic lupus erythematosus develop renal disease early while antimalarials retard its appearance: Data from a Latin American cohort

Objectives The objective of this paper is to assess the predictors of time-to-lupus renal disease in Latin American patients. Methods Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (n = 1480) from Grupo Latino Americano De Estudio de Lupus (GLADEL’s) longitudinal inception cohort were studied. Endpoint was ACR renal criterion development after SLE diagnosis (prevalent cases excluded). Renal disease predictors were examined by univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Antimalarials were considered time dependent in alternative analyses. Results Of the entire cohort, 265 patients (17.9%) developed renal disease after entering the cohort. Of them, 88 (33.2%) developed persistent proteinuria, 44 (16.6%) cellular casts and 133 (50.2%) both; 233 patients (87.9%) were women; mean (± SD) age at diagnosis was 28.0 (11.9) years; 12.2% were African-Latin Americans, 42.5% Mestizos, and 45.3% Caucasians (p = 0.0016). Mestizo ethnicity (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.19–2.17), hypertension (HR 3.99, 95% CI 3.02–5.26) and SLEDAI at diagnosis (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.06) were associated with a shorter time-to-renal disease occurrence; antimalarial use (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.43–0.77), older age at onset (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.85–0.95, for every five years) and photosensitivity (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.56–0.98) were associated with a longer time. Alternative model results were consistent with the antimalarial protective effect (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.50–0.99). Conclusions Our data strongly support the fact that Mestizo patients are at increased risk of developing renal disease early while antimalarials seem to delay the appearance of this SLE manifestation. These data have important implications for the treatment of these patients regardless of their geographic location.
A REDUCED STABILITY CONDITION FOR NONLINEAR RELAXATION TO CONSERVATION LAWS

We consider multidimensional hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with relaxation, together with their associated limit systems. A strong stability condition for such asymptotics has been introduced by Chen, Levermore and Liu, namely the existence of an entropy extension. We propose here a new stability condition, the reduced stability condition, which is weaker than the previous one, but still has the property to imply the subcharacteristic or interlacing conditions, and the dissipativity of the leading term in the Chapman–Enskog expansion. This reduced stability condition has the advantage of involving only the submanifold of equilibria, or maxwellians, so that it is much easier to check than the entropy extension condition. Our condition generalizes the one introduced by the author in the case of kinetic, i.e. diagonal semilinear relaxation. We provide an adapted stability analysis in the context of approximate Riemann solvers obtained via relaxation systems.
Characterization of Central Inhibitory Muscarinic Autoreceptors by the Use of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Knock-Out Mice

Forebrain muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (mAChRs; M1-M5) are predicted to play important roles in many fundamental central functions, including higher cognitive processes and modulation of extrapyramidal motor activity. Synaptic ACh levels are known to be regulated by the activity of presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors mediating inhibition of ACh release. Primarily because of the use of ligands with limited receptor subtype selectivity, classical pharmacological studies have led to conflicting results regarding the identity of the mAChR subtypes mediating this activity in different areas of the brain. To investigate the molecular identity of hippocampal, cortical, and striatal inhibitory muscarinic autoreceptors in a more direct manner, we used genetically altered mice lacking functional M2 and/or M4 mAChRs [knock-out (KO) mice]. After labeling of cellular ACh pools with [3H]choline, potassium-stimulated [3H]ACh release was measured in superfused brain slices, either in the absence or the presence of muscarinic drugs. The nonsubtype-selective muscarinic agonist, oxotremorine (0.1–10 μm), inhibited potassium-stimulated [3H]ACh release in hippocampal, cortical, and striatal slices prepared from wild-type mice by up to 80%. This activity was totally abolished in tissues prepared from M2–M4 receptor double KO mice. Strikingly, release studies with brain slices from M2 and M4 receptor single KO mice indicated that autoinhibition of ACh release is mediated primarily by the M2 receptor in hippocampus and cerebral cortex, but predominantly by the M4 receptor in the striatum. These results, together with additional receptor localization studies, support the novel concept that autoinhibition of ACh release involves different mAChRs in different regions of the brain.
Central corneal thickness changes following manual small incision cataract surgery versus phacoemulsification for white cataract

Aim: To assess the central corneal thickness (CCT) and endothelial cell loss after manual small-incision cataract surgery and phacoemulsification in patients with white cataract. Material and methods: This is a comparative, prospective, non-randomized study on 42 patients with white cataract, who underwent cataract surgery. The patients were divided into manual small-incision cataract surgery (21 eyes, MSICS group) and phacoemulsification cataract surgery group (21 eyes, phaco group). The endothelial cell density (ECD), central cornea thickness (CCT), and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) were evaluated at 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks, and 3 months postoperatively. The results of 20 cases of nuclear sclerosis grade II-III (LOCS III) who underwent phacoemulsification by the same surgeon were also compared. Propensity scoring was used to adjust for confounding by selection bias. Results: The CCT increased after surgery in both groups. The thickness was greater in the phaco group on first day postoperatively (73 µ increase in MSICS group and 138 µ in phaco group, p=0.008) and it returned to preoperative levels 1 month postoperatively. The endothelial cell loss was lower in the MSICS group at 3 months postoperatively (11.8% in MSICS group and 15.8% in phaco group, p=0.111). The CDVA was not different in both groups at 1 week and 4 weeks postoperatively (p>0.05). Conclusions: Manual small-incision cataract surgery for white cataract provided less central corneal thickness changes compared to conventional phacoemulsification. Abbreviations: CCT = central corneal thickness; ECD = endothelial cell density; CDVA = corrected distance visual acuity; APT = absolute phacoemulsification time; EPT = effective phacoemulsification time; MSICS = Manual small-incision cataract surgery in white cataract; Phaco II = Phacoemulsification in white cataract; Phaco I = phacoemulsification in NS 2 + Cataract; Phaco = Phacoemulsification in white cataract; APACRS = Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
Apparent horizons, black hole entropy and loop quantum gravity

In recent work on black hole entropy in non-perturbative quantum gravity, an action for the black hole sector of the phase space is introduced and (partially) quantized. We give a number of observations on this and related works. In particular we show that (I) the entropy calculation applies without change to generally covariant theories having no black hole solutions, (II) the phase space constraint used to select the black hole sector is not the apparent horizon equation, which is the natural phase space constraint separating trapped and untrapped regions on an initial data surface, and (III) there appears to be at least one other phase space constraint which leads to the conclusion that the entropy associated with a bounding two-dimensional surface is proportional to its area.
Alternatives to single character entry and dwell time selection on eye typing

Eye typing could provide motor disabled people a reliable method of communication given that the text entry speed of current interfaces can be increased to allow for fluent communication. There are two reasons for the relatively slow text entry: dwell time selection requires waiting a certain time, and single character entry limits the maximum entry speed. We adopted a typing interface based on hierarchical pie menus, pEYEwrite [Urbina and Huckauf 2007] and included bigram text entry with one single pie iteration. Therefore, we introduced three different bigram building strategies. Moreover, we combined dwell time selection with selection by borders, providing an alternative selection method and extra functionality. In a longitudinal study we compared participants performance during character-by-character text entry with bigram entry and with text entry with bigrams derived by word prediction. Data showed large advantages of the new entry methods over single character text entry in speed and accuracy. Participants preferred selecting by borders, which allowed them faster selections than the dwell time method.
Depictions of Mental Disorder in Mainstream American Film 1988-2010

iv Dedication.vi Acknowledgement.vii List of Tables.xi Chapter I: Introduction.1 Purpose of the Study.1 Research Questions.4 Relevancy of Study.5 Definition of Terms.9 Delimitations and Limitations.11 Summary.13 Chapter II: Review of the Literature.15 History of Madness.15 Iconography of Madness.24 Social Construction of Reality and Media Depictions.34 Filmic Depictions of Mental Disorder.41 Chapter III: Methodology.48 Qualitative Research Paradigm.48 Research Methods.50 Purposeful Sample.54 Procedures.59
Distributive Effects of Forest Service Attempts to Maintain Community Stability

A BSTRACT . Community stability is an objective of USDA Forest Service timber sales. This paper examines that objective, and the success the Forest Service can have in attaining it, through its intended maintenance of a constant volume timber harvest schedule. We apply a three-factor, two-sector modified general equilibrium model with empirical evidence from the timber-based counties of western Montana. Departure from a market responsive timber policy can have positive impacts on the wood products sector, but the net effects on the local community are very small. The costs to the public treasury of pursuing such a policy dwarf these small community benefits. FOR. %I. 37(1):245-260.
Spatial distribution and habitat characterisation of Anopheles larvae along the Kenyan coast.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES A study was conducted to characterise larval habitats and to determine spatial heterogeneity of the Anopheles mosquito larvae. The study was conducted from May to June 1999 in nine villages along the Kenyan coast. METHODS Aquatic habitats were sampled by use of standard dipping technique. The habitats were characterised based on size, pH, distance to the nearest house, coverage of canopy, surface debris, algae and emergent plants, turbidity, substrate, and habitat type. RESULTS A total of 110 aquatic habitats like stream pools (n=10); puddles (n=65); tire tracks (n=5); ponds (n=5) and swamps (n=25) were sampled in nine villages located in three districts of the Kenyan coast. A total of 7,263 Anopheles mosquito larvae were collected, 63.9% were early instars and 36.1% were late instars. Morphological identification of the III and IV instar larvae by use of microscopy yielded 90.66% (n=2377) Anopheles gambiae Complex, 0.88% (n=23) An. funestus, An. coustani 7.63% (n=200), An. rivulorum 0.42% (n=11), An. pharoensis 0.19% (n=5), An. swahilicus 0.08% (n=2), An. wilsoni 0.04% (n=1) and 0.11% (n=3) were unidentified. A subset of the An. gambiae Complex larvae identified morphologically, was further analysed using rDNA-PCR technique resulting in 68.22% (n=1290) An. gambiae s.s. , 7.93% (n=150) An. arabiensis and 23.85% (n=451) An. merus. Multiple logistic regression model showed that emergent plants (p = 0.019), and floating debris (p = 0.038) were the best predictors of An. gambiae larval abundance in these habitats. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION Habitat type, floating debris and emergent plants were found to be the key factors determining the presence of Anopheles larvae in the habitats. For effective larval control, the type of habitat should be considered and most productive habitat type be given a priority in the mosquito abatement programme.
Evaluating a query framework for software evolution data

With the steady advances in tooling to support software engineering, mastering all the features of modern IDEs, version control systems, and project trackers is becoming increasingly difficult. Answering even the most common developer questions can be surprisingly tedious and difficult. In this article we present a user study with 35 subjects to evaluate our quasi-natural language interface that provides access to various facets of the evolution of a software system but requires almost zero learning effort. Our approach is tightly woven into the Eclipse IDE and allows developers to answer questions related to source code, development history, or bug and issue management. The results of our evaluation show that our query interface can outperform classical software engineering tools in terms of correctness, while yielding significant time savings to its users and greatly advancing the state of the art in terms of usability and learnability.
Peripheral and central fat changes in subjects randomized to abacavir-lamivudine or tenofovir-emtricitabine with atazanavir-ritonavir or efavirenz: ACTG Study A5224s.

BACKGROUND We compare the effect of 4 different antiretroviral regimens on limb and visceral fat. METHODS A5224s was a substudy of A5202, a trial of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected, treatment-naive subjects randomized to blinded abacavir-lamivudine (ABC-3TC) or tenofovir DF-emtricitabine (TDF-FTC) with open-label efavirenz (EFV) or atazanavir-ritonavir (ATV-r). The primary endpoint was the presence of lipoatrophy (≥ 10% loss of limb fat) at week 96 by intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Secondary endpoints included changes in limb and visceral fat. Statistical tests included linear regression, binomial, two-sample t test, and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS A5224s enrolled 269 subjects; 85% were male, and 47% were white non-Hispanic. The subjects had a median baseline HIV-1 RNA level of 4.6 log(10) copies/mL, a median age of 38 years, a median CD4+ cell count of 233 cells/μL, median limb fat of 7.4 kg, median visceral adipose tissue (VAT) of 84.1 cm(2), and VAT: total adipose tissue (TAT) ratio of 0.31. At week 96, estimated prevalence of lipoatrophy (upper 95% confidence interval [CI]) was 18% (25%) for ABC-3TC and 15% (22%) for TDF-FTC (P = .70); this was not significantly less than the hypothesized 15% for both (P ≥ .55 for both). The secondary as-treated (AT) analysis showed similar results. At week 96, the estimated mean percentage change from baseline in VAT was higher for the ATV-r group than for the EFV group (26.6% vs 12.4%; P = .090 in ITT analysis and 30.0% vs 14.5%; P = .10 in AT analysis); however, the percentage change in VAT:TAT was similar by ITT and AT analysis (P ≥ .60 for both). Results were similar for absolute changes in VAT and VAT:TAT. CONCLUSIONS ABC-3TC- and TDF-FTC-based regimens increased limb and visceral fat at week 96, with a similar prevalence of lipoatrophy. Compared to the EFV group, subjects assigned to ATV-r had a trend towards higher mean percentage increase in VAT. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT00118898.
Investigation of an Alternating-Current Bridge for the Measurement of Core Losses in Ferromagnetic Materials at High Flux Densities

The use of bridge methods for measuring core losses in ferromagnetic materials has generally been restricted to measurements at low flux density. However, accurate values can be obtained at higher flux densities if they are corrected by the application of a term derived from the harmonic components of the exciting current. This correction term is obtained by considering the ferromagnetic material to absorb energy from current and voltage at the fundamental frequency and to return energy to the circuit at harmonic frequencies.
Cumulative Progress in Language Models for Information Retrieval

The improvements to ad-hoc IR systems over the last decades have been recently criticized as illusionary and based on incorrect baseline comparisons. In this paper several improvements to the LM approach to IR are combined and evaluated: Pitman-Yor Process smoothing, TF-IDF feature weighting and modelbased feedback. The increases in ranking quality are significant and cumulative over the standard baselines of Dirichlet Prior and 2-stage Smoothing, when evaluated across 13 standard ad-hoc retrieval datasets. The combination of the improvements is shown to improve the Mean Average Precision over the datasets by 17.1% relative. Furthermore, the considered improvements can be easily implemented with little additional computation to existing LM retrieval systems. On the basis of the results it is suggested that LM research for IR should move towards using stronger baseline models.
How To Tell What Political Processes People Want? Measuring Citizens’ Process Preferences in Surveys

This paper focuses on the operationalization of citizens’ preferences concerning how political decisions should be made. Recent research suggests that process preferences are a relevant predictor of the level of confidence citizens have in political institutions. However, there is no standardized scale for the measurement of such preferences. Hence, the aim of this paper is to present the development and validation of a multi-dimensional scale measuring citizens’ preferences concerning political decision-making processes. Based on existing research, a theoretical derived model with three dimensions and 16 indicators is tested. Those items were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in structural equation modeling (SEM) and validated on another independent sample. The results indicate that process preferences consist of three factors: consensus-orientation, competition, and the efficiency of political decision-making processes. Moreover, further studies confirmed the cultural equivalence of the scale and its invariance as regards two different objects of assessment (parliament, government).
On the Global CLF Stabilization of Systems with Polytopic Control Value Sets

Abstract Our main purpose in this paper is to address the problem of the global asymptotic stabilization of affine systems with control value sets given by polytopes U with 0 ∈ int U . An important polytope is the m -dimensional hyperbox U =[-r − 1 , r + 1 ]×…×[-r − m , r + m ], with -r ± m > 0. Working along the line of Artstein-Sontag's control Lyapunov function (CLF) approach, we study the conditions that a feedback control of the form u ( x ) = ( u 1 ,…, u m ), with uj(x) = ϕj(x)w j (x), should satisfy in order to be admissible (continuous and taking its values in a polytope U ) and globally asymptotically stabilize a system, provided an appropriate CLF is known.
Genre-Based Approach To Teaching Speaking Of Descriptive Text (A Case Study At A Rural Junior High School In South West Nusa, Indonesia)

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of Genre Based Approach in teaching students’ speaking of descriptive text and to investigate the improvement, if any, of junior high school students in their speaking of descriptive genre. To achieve those purposes, both quantitative and qualitative research were utilized. Specifically, one post-test only quasi-experimental design was chosen to achieve the first aim, while case study was utilized to answer the second research purpose. To collect the data, non-participant observations and students’ speaking test were conducted. The data from observation were then analyzed using inductive analysis while the students’ speaking test was proceed using statistical calculation through t-test and also analyzed using the genre framework analysis of descriptive text. The result reveals that GBA is effective to develop students’ speaking descriptive text and the improvement of students is seen from the social function, text organization and linguistic features of the text. Additionally, this study suggests that EFL teachers use GBA to teach other types of text. Keywords: Descriptive text,Genre Based Approach