Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between common mental disorder and obesity over the adult life course

Background Prospective data on the association between common mental disorders and obesity are scarce, and the impact of ageing on this association is poorly understood. Aims To examine the association between common mental disorders and obesity (body mass index 30 kg/m2) across the adult life course. Method The participants, 6820 men and 3346 women, aged 35–55 were screened four times during a 19-year follow-up (the Whitehall II study). Each screening included measurements of mental disorders (the General Health Questionnaire), weight and height. Results The excess risk of obesity in the presence of mental disorders increased with age (P = 0.004). The estimated proportion of people who were obese was 5.7% at age 40 both in the presence and absence of mental disorders, but the corresponding figures were 34.6% and 27.1% at age 70. The excess risk did not vary by gender or according to ethnic group or socioeconomic position. Conclusions The association between common mental disorders and obesity becomes stronger at older ages.
New roles for Nanos in neural cell fate determination revealed by studies in a cnidarian

Summary Nanos is a pan-metazoan germline marker, important for germ cell development and maintenance. In flies, Nanos also acts in posterior and neural development, but these functions have not been demonstrated experimentally in other animals. Using the cnidarian Hydractinia we have uncovered novel roles for Nanos in neural cell fate determination. Ectopic expression of Nanos2 increased the numbers of embryonic stinging cell progenitors, but decreased the numbers of neurons. Downregulation of Nanos2 had the opposite effect. Furthermore, Nanos2 blocked maturation of committed, post-mitotic nematoblasts. Hence, Nanos2 acts as a switch between two differentiation pathways, increasing the numbers of nematoblasts at the expense of neuroblasts, but preventing nematocyte maturation. Nanos2 ectopic expression also caused patterning defects, but these were not associated with deregulation of Wnt signaling, showing that the basic anterior-posterior polarity remained intact, and suggesting that numerical imbalance between nematocytes and neurons might have caused these defects, affecting axial patterning only indirectly. We propose that the functions of Nanos in germ cells and in neural development are evolutionarily conserved, but its role in posterior patterning is an insect or arthropod innovation.
Where Are the Baryons?

New high-resolution, large-scale cosmological hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulations of a standard cold dark matter model (with a cosmological constant) are utilized to predict the distribution of baryons at the present and at moderate redshift. It is found that the average temperature of baryons is an increasing function of time, with most of the baryons at the present time having a temperature in the range of 105-107 K. Thus not only is the universe dominated by dark matter, but more than one-half of the normal matter is yet to be detected. Detection of this warm/hot gas poses an observational challenge, which requires sensitive EUV and X-ray satellites. Signatures include a soft cosmic X-ray background, apparent warm components in hot clusters due to both intrinsic warm intracluster and intercluster gas projected onto clusters along the line of sight, absorption lines in X-ray and UV quasar spectra [e.g., O VI (1032, 1038) A lines, O VII 574 eV line], strong emission lines (e.g., O VIII 653 eV line), and low-redshift, broad, low column density Lyα absorption lines. We estimate that approximately one-fourth of the extragalactic soft X-ray background (at 0.7 keV) arises from the warm/hot gas, half of it coming from z<0.65, and three-quarters coming from z<1.00, so the source regions should be identifiable on deep optical images.
Virtual reality, haptics and post-stroke rehabilitation in practical therapy

We address the question of usefulness of virtual reality based rehabilitation equipment in practical therapy, by letting experienced therapists explore one such equipment during six months in their regular practice under natural circumstances. By protocols, questionnaires and focus group interviews we collect data regarding which activities they considered useful, why these are useful and what might improve usefulness of such activities, based on the therapists’ professional judgement and experiences. This resulted in a set of purposeful activities, identified values for therapeutic work, and design guidelines. The conclusion is that such equipment has benefits beyond real life training, that variation in content and difficulty levels is a key quality for wide suitability and that the combination of challenging cognitive activities which encourage motor training was considered particularly useful.
Mechanics of graphene bubbles

Pressurized graphene bubbles have been observed in experiments, which can be used to determine the mechanical and adhesive properties of graphene. A nonlinear plate theory is adapted to describe the deformation of a graphene monolayer subject to lateral loads, where the bending moduli of monolayer graphene are independent of the in-plane Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. A numerical method is developed to solve the nonlinear equations for circular graphene bubbles, and the results are compared to approximate solutions by analytical methods based on membrane and linear plate theories. The adhesion energy of mechanically exfoliated graphene on silicon oxide is extracted from two reported data sets. The strain distribution of the graphene bubbles and transport of gas molecules among the bubbles are discussed. Moreover, the effect of van der Waals interactions between graphene and its underlying substrate is analyzed, including large-scale interaction for nanoscale graphene bubbles subject to relatively low pressures.
An autoregulatory enhancer controls mammary-specific STAT5 functions

Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs) are principal transcription factors downstream of cytokine receptors. Although STAT5A is expressed in most tissues it remains to be understood why its premier, non-redundant functions are restricted to prolactin-induced mammary gland development and function. We report that the ubiquitously expressed Stat5a/b locus is subject to additional lineage-specific transcriptional control in mammary epithelium. Genome-wide surveys of epigenetic status and transcription factor occupancy uncovered a putative mammary-specific enhancer within the intergenic sequences separating the two Stat5 genes. This region exhibited several hallmarks of genomic enhancers, including DNaseI hypersensitivity, H3K27 acetylation and binding by GR, NFIB, ELF5 and MED1. Mammary-specific STAT5 binding was obtained at two canonical STAT5 binding motifs. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing was used to delete these sites in mice and determine their biological function. Mutant animals exhibited an 80% reduction of Stat5 levels in mammary epithelium and a concomitant reduction of STAT5-dependent gene expression. Transcriptome analysis identified a class of mammary-restricted genes that was particularly dependent on high STAT5 levels as a result of the intergenic enhancer. Taken together, the mammary-specific enhancer enables a positive feedback circuit that contributes to the remarkable abundance of STAT5 and, in turn, to the efficacy of STAT5-dependent mammary physiology.
Distributed Damage Estimation for Prognostics based on Structural Model Decomposition

Model-based prognostics approaches capture system knowledge in the form of physics-based models of components, and how they fail. These methods consist of a damage estimation phase, in which the health state of a component is estimated, and a prediction phase, in which the health state is projected forward in time to determine end of life. However, the damage estimation problem is often multi-dimensional and computationally intensive. We propose a model decomposition approach adapted from the diagnosis community, called possible conflicts, in order to both improve the computational efficiency of damage estimation, and formulate a damage estimation approach that is inherently distributed. Local state estimates are combined into a global state estimate from which prediction is performed. Using a centrifugal pump as a case study, we perform a number of simulation-based experiments to demonstrate the approach.
Attention-modulated Alpha-band Oscillations Protect against Intrusion of Irrelevant Information

Combining high-density scalp EEG recordings with a sensitive analog measure of STM's fidelity, we characterized the temporal dynamics of intentional ignoring and related those dynamics to the intrusion of task-irrelevant information. On each trial of the task, two study Gabors were briefly presented in succession. A green or red disc preceding each Gabor signified whether that Gabor should be remembered or ignored, respectively. With cue–stimulus intervals of 300, 600, or 900 msec presented in separate sessions, we found that the onset of posterior, prestimulus alpha oscillations varied with the length of the interval. Although stimulus onset time was entirely predictable, the longer the cue–stimulus interval, the earlier the increase in prestimulus alpha power. However, the alpha-band modulation was not simply locked to the cue offset. The temporal envelopes of posterior alpha-band modulation were strikingly similar for both cued attending and cued ignoring and differed only in magnitude. This similarity suggests that cued attending includes suppression of task-irrelevant, spatial processing. Supporting the view that alpha-band oscillations represent inhibition, our graded measure of recall revealed that, when the stimulus to be ignored appears second in the sequence, peristimulus alpha power predicted the degree to which that irrelevant stimulus distorted subsequent recall of the stimulus that was to be remembered. These results demonstrate that timely deployment of attention-related alpha-band oscillations can aid STM by filtering out task-irrelevant information.
Intestinal microflora and gastrointestinal adaptation in the rat in response to non-digestible dietary polysaccharides

1. A comparison was made of the effect of a fibre-free diet and diets containing non-digestible polysaccharides on rat caecal and colonic physiology and microflora. 2. All polysaccharide-containing diets led to enlargement of the caecum and colon, associated with increased weight of contents, and of tissue. Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) had the most marked effect and animals given this also had watery faeces. 3. The density of bacteria in the caecum and colon varied significantly with diet and the proportion of aerobic bacteria in the flora was increased by the CMC diet. 4. In vitro, CMC and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose were poorly fermented. 5. There was a high correlation (caecum r 0.93; colon r 0.94) between tissue weight and wet weight of organ contents but no correlation with bacterial density, number of bacteria per organ, moisture content or short-chain fatty acid content. 6. It is concluded that caecal and colonic enlargement is due to tissue hypertrophy in response to increased bulk of contents, irrespective of the nature of that bulk which varies with diet; it is unlikely that short-chain fatty acids or other microbial metabolites are the stimulus for the trophic response seen when non-digestible dietary polysaccharides are fed to rats.
Clinical and Virological Factors Associated with Viremia in Pandemic Influenza A/H1N1/2009 Virus Infection

Background Positive detection of viral RNA in blood and other non-respiratory specimens occurs in severe human influenza A/H5N1 viral infection but is not known to occur commonly in seasonal human influenza infection. Recently, viral RNA was detected in the blood of patients suffering from severe pandemic influenza A/H1N1/2009 viral infection, although the significance of viremia had not been previously studied. Our study aims to explore the clinical and virological factors associated with pandemic influenza A/H1N1/2009 viremia and to determine its clinical significance. Methodology/Principal Findings Clinical data of patients admitted to hospitals in Hong Kong between May 2009 and April 2010 and tested positive for pandemic influenza A/H1N1/2009 was collected. Viral RNA was detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) targeting the matrix (M) and HA genes of pandemic influenza A/H1N1/2009 virus from the following specimens: nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA), endotracheal aspirate (ETA), blood, stool and rectal swab. Stool and/ or rectal swab was obtained only if the patient complained of any gastrointestinal symptoms. A total of 139 patients were included in the study, with viral RNA being detected in the blood of 14 patients by RT-PCR. The occurrence of viremia was strongly associated with a severe clinical presentation and a higher mortality rate, although the latter association was not statistically significant. D222G/N quasispecies were observed in 90% of the blood samples. Conclusion Presence of pandemic influenza A/H1N1/2009 viremia is an indicator of disease severity and strongly associated with D222G/N mutation in the viral hemagglutinin protein.
Micromechanics of sand grain failure and sand compaction

While there exists a considerable body of theoretical and experimental work regarding the time-independent compaction and compaction creep behaviour of sands under near-surface and upper-crustal conditions where brittle processes are important, a number of important questions remain unanswered. In particular, the brittle failure behaviour of single sand grains is poorly understood at the microphysical level, and previous experimental studies performed on sand aggregates have not systematically investigated the effect of applied stress, grain size and chemical environment on either time-independent compaction or compaction creep behaviour. In addition, theoretical models for compaction of sands by time-independent grain scale cracking lack a true micromechanistic basis and no microphysical models have been developed for compaction of sands by timedependent grain scale cracking. The present study is concerned with the development of a fundamental understanding of the micromechanical processes controlling the compaction behaviour of sands under conditions favouring brittle and elastic phenomena. The approach adopted involves theoretical and experimental investigations into the failure behaviour of single sand grains and into the compaction behaviour of sand aggregates, and addresses both time-dependent and time-independent processes. The results help provide the understanding of the fundamental processes operating during sand grain failure and sand compaction needed for on-going progress towards micromechanically based constitutive relations suitable for modelling natural and man-induced deformations of both sands and sandstones.
Effects of a 2.5-mg silver acetate lozenge on initial and long-term smoking cessation.

BACKGROUND Silver acetate over-the-counter products, such as gum, lozenge, and spray, produce an aversive metallic taste when combined with cigarette smoke. Hence, they hold promise of serving as an effective smoking deterrent, one that may be used on a self-help basis. PROCEDURE Five hundred adult smokers, male and female, were assigned randomly to one of two experimental conditions, 2.5-mg silver acetate lozenge and placebo lozenge. A double-blind study of the effects of a 2.5-mg silver acetate lozenge on initial (3 weeks) and long-term (12 months) smoking cessation was carried out. RESULTS About 90% of the subjects (n = 500) reported using the lozenge (silver acetate or placebo) for smoking cessation, and they used about five lozenges per day. Over 70% of the quitters (n = 70) reported using the lozenge on an as-needed basis for relapse prevention. The overall objectively verified quit rates for subjects assigned to the silver acetate and placebo conditions at Visit 3 (3 weeks) were 17% (n = 42) and 11% (n = 28), respectively, a difference which approached statistical significance (P = 0.071). When the analysis was restricted to subjects who used the product, a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) in initial smoking cessation emerged (26%, n = 37 vs 16%, n = 23) for subjects assigned to the silver acetate and placebo conditions. At 12 months follow-up, 26% (n = 11) of initial quitters in the silver acetate condition and 32% (n = 9) of the quitters in the placebo condition were abstinent. This difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The study demonstrated modest efficacy for the effect of the 2.5-mg silver acetate lozenge on initial smoking cessation for the subset of subjects who used the product as recommended. We failed to demonstrate efficacy of the lozenge for long-term relapse prevention. Additional research on the efficacy of the 2.5-mg silver acetate lozenge and long-term abstinence in general appears warranted.
Distribution of Graupel and Hail With Size

Abstract Observations have been made on the size and concentration of graupel and hail occurring in untreated convective cloud systems over the High Plains of the United States. From these data, an average graupel and hail distribution has been generated. The comparison of this . ,ize spectrum with data from other studies, along with the implications to hail detection and hail suppression, is also discussed.
Antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of geopropolis from stingless bee Melipona scutellaris

Background: Geopropolis is a resin collected by native stingless bee, containing soil and wax. Studies concerning their biological activity and chemical composition are scarce. This work evaluated the influence of Ethanolic Extract of Geopropolis (EEGP) from Melipona scutellaris, and its bioactive fraction against important clinical microorganisms as well as their in vitro citotoxity and chemical profile. Methods: The antimicrobial activity was examined by determining the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) on six bacteria strains and the ability to inhibit biofilm adherence by Streptococcus mutans. Total growth inhibition (TGI) concentration was chosen to assay antiproliferative activity on normal and tumoral cell lines. Chemical composition of geopropolis was accessed by reverse phase/high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity was examined by determining the minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations on six bacteria strains and the ability to inhibit biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans. Total growth inhibition concentration was chosen to assay antiproliferative activity. Chemical composition of geopropolis was accessed by RP-HPLC and CG-MS. Results: EEGP significantly inhibited the Staphylococcus aureus strains and S. mutans growth at low concentrations and its hexane fraction (HF) had shown highest antibacterial activity. Further, both EEGP and HF inhibited the biofilm formation of S. mutans (p<0.05) and showed selectivity against human tumoral cell lines, however only HF demonstrated activity at low concentrations. Chemical analyses suggest absence of flavonoids and presence of benzophenones as major compounds. Conclusions: Geopropolis from Melipona scutellaris presents interesting antimicrobial, anti-biofilm and antiproliferative activities. Further, the characteristics evidenced by
Patterns of Sources and Sinks in the Complex Ginzburg-Landau Equation with Zero Linear Dispersion

The complex Ginzburg–Landau equation with zero linear dispersion occurs in a wide variety of contexts as the modulation equation near the supercritical onset of a homogeneous oscillation. The analysis of its coherent structures is therefore of great interest. Its fundamental spatiotemporal pattern is wavetrains, which are spatially periodic solutions moving with constant speed (also known as periodic travelling waves and plane waves). In the past decade interfaces separating regions with different wavetrains have been studied in detail, as they occur both in simulations and in real experiments. The basic interface types are sources and sinks, distinguished by the signs of the opposing group velocities of the adjacent wavetrains. In this paper we study existence conditions for propagating patterns composed of sources and sinks. Our analysis is based on a formal asymptotic expansion in the limit of large source-sink separation and small speed of propagation. The main results concern the possible relative lo.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the preferred approach in cirrhosis: a nationwide, population-based study.

BACKGROUND/AIM To assess the impact of open versus laparoscopic surgery in cirrhotic patients undergoing a cholecystectomy using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). METHODS All patients with cirrhosis who underwent a cholecystectomy (open or laparoscopic) between 2003 and 2006 were queried from the NIS. Associated complications including infection, transfusion, reoperation, liver failure and mortality were determined. RESULTS A total of 3240 patients with cirrhosis underwent a cholecystectomy: 383 patients underwent an open cholecystectomy (OC) whereas 2857 patients underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), which included 412 patients converted (LCC) from a LC to an OC. Post-operative infection was higher in OC as opposed to a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (TLC) or LCC (3.5% versus 0.7% versus 0.2%, P < 0.0001). The need for a blood transfusion was significantly higher in the OC and LCC groups as compared with the TLC group (19.2% versus 14.4% versus 6.2%, P < 0.0001). Reoperation was more frequent after OC or LCC versus TLC (1.5% versus 2.5% versus 0.8%, P = 0.007). In-hospital mortality was higher after OC as compared with TLC and LCC (8.3% versus 1.3% versus 1.4%, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION Patients with cirrhosis have increased in-hospital morbidity and mortality after an open as opposed to a laparoscopic or conversion to an open cholecystectomy. LC should be the preferred initial approach in cirrhotic patients.
Ranking the Importance Level of Intermediaries to a Criminal using a Reliance Measure

Recent research on finding important intermediate nodes in a network suspected to contain criminal activity is highly dependent on network centrality values. Betweenness centrality, for example, is widely used to rank the nodes that act as brokers in the shortest paths connecting all source and all the end nodes in a network. However both the shortest path node betweenness and the linearly scaled betweenness can only show rankings for all the nodes in a network. In this paper we explore the mathematical concept of pair-dependency on intermediate nodes, adapting the concept to criminal relationships and introducing a new source-intermediate reliance measure. To illustrate our measure, we apply it to rank the nodes in the Enron email dataset and the Noordin Top Terrorist networks. We compare the reliance ranking with Google PageRank, Markov centrality as well as betweenness centrality and show that a criminal investigation using the reliance measure, will lead to a different prioritisation in terms of possible people to investigate. While the ranking for the Noordin Top terrorist network nodes yields more extreme differences than for the Enron email transaction network, in the latter the reliance values for the set of finance managers immediately identified another employee convicted of money laundering.