Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies

Abstract Objective Separate meta-analyses based on case–control and cohort studies have reported different results on the relationship between coffee consumption and colorectal cancer risk. To clarify the effect of coffee intake on colorectal cancer risk, we performed a meta-analysis based on both case–control and cohort studies. Design Review study. Setting We identified case–control and cohort studies related to coffee consumption and colorectal cancer risk listed on MEDLINE, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, EMBASE, Science Citation Index and PubMed (until May 2011). Subjects Research literature on the relationship between coffee consumption and colorectal cancer risk. Results Twenty-five case–control (15 522 cases) and sixteen cohort studies (10 443 cases) were included in the meta-analysis. Comparing the highest v. the lowest/non category of coffee consumption, the combined results from case–control studies showed a significant relationship with colorectal cancer (OR = 0·85, 95 % CI 0·75, 0·97) and colon cancer (OR = 0·79, 95 % CI 0·67, 0·95), but not rectal cancer (OR = 0·95, 95 % CI 0·79, 1·15). For cohort studies, there was a slight suggestion of an inverse association with colorectal cancer (relative ratio = 0·94; 95 % CI 0·88, 1·01) and colon cancer (OR = 0·93, 95 % CI 0·86, 1·01), rather than rectal cancer (OR = 0·98, 95 % CI 0·88, 1·09). In subgroup analyses using case–control studies, significant inverse associations were found in females for colorectal cancer and in Europe for colorectal and colon cancer, while the subgroup analyses of cohort studies found that coffee drinks substantially decreased risk of colon cancer only in Asian women. Conclusions Results from case–control studies suggest coffee consumption can significantly decrease the risks of colorectal cancer and colon cancer, especially in Europe and for females.
Stem/Progenitor Cell‐Like Properties of Desmoglein 3dim Cells in Primary and Immortalized Keratinocyte Lines

We showed previously that primary keratinocytes selected for low desmoglein 3 (Dsg3) expression levels exhibited increased colony‐forming efficiency and heightened proliferative potential relative to cells with higher Dsg3 expression levels, characteristics consistent with a more “stem/progenitor cell‐like” phenotype. Here, we have confirmed that Dsg3dim cells derived from cultured primary human adult keratinocytes have comparability with α6bri/CD71dim stem cells in terms of colony‐forming efficiency. Moreover, these Dsg3dim cells exhibit increased reconstituting ability in in vitro organotypic culture on de‐epidermalized dermis (DED); they are small, actively cycling cells, and they express elevated levels of various p63 isoforms. In parallel, using the two immortalized keratinocyte cell lines HaCaT and NTERT, we obtained essentially similar though occasionally different findings. Thus, reduced colony‐forming efficiency by Dsg3bri cells consistently was observed in both cell lines even though the cell cycle profile and levels of p63 isoforms in the bri and dim populations differed between these two cell lines. Dsg3dim cells from both immortalized lines produced thicker and better ordered hierarchical structural organization of reconstituted epidermis relative to Dsg3bri and sorted control cells. Dsg3dim HaCaT cells also show sebocyte‐like differentiation in the basal compartment of skin reconstituted after a 4‐week organotypic culture. No differences in percentages of side population cells (also a putative marker of stem cells) were detected between Dsg3dim and Dsg3bri populations. Taken together our data indicate that Dsg3dim populations from primary human adult keratinocytes and long‐term established keratinocyte lines possess certain stem/progenitor cell‐like properties, although the side population characteristic is not one of these features.
Faster secure two-party computation with less memory

Secure two-party computation is used as the basis for a large variety of privacy-preserving protocols, but often concerns about the low performance hinder the move away from non-private solutions. In this paper we present an improved implementation of Yao's garbled circuit protocol in the semi-honest adversaries setting which is up to 10 times faster than previous implementations. Our improvements include (1) the first multi-threaded implementation of the base oblivious transfers resulting in a speedup of a factor of two, (2) techniques for minimizing the memory footprint during oblivious transfer extensions and processing of circuits, (3) compilation of sub-circuits into files, and (4) caching of circuit descriptions and network packets. We implement improved circuit building blocks from the literature and present for the first time performance results for secure evaluation of the ultra-lightweight block cipher PRESENT within 7 ms online time.
Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

OBJECTIVE The metabolic syndrome is associated with a high risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and Hispanics in the United States have higher rates than do other ethnic groups. We assessed the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its individual components in Puerto Rican adults. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study that used a probability cluster design to select a sample of households of the San Juan metropolitan area from 2005 through 2007. A total of 859 persons aged 21-79 years completed a face-to-face interview, blood pressure and waist circumference measurements, and blood sampling. Our primary outcome measure was metabolic syndrome as defined by the updated NCEP-ATP criteria. RESULTS Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 43.3%; 45.3% for men and 42.2% for women (P>.05). Prevalence significantly rose with age, from 12.8% among participants aged 21-29 years to 58.2% for participants aged 70-79 years (P<.001). Corresponding increases in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in both men and women were also observed; the prevalence peaked in men aged 50-59 years (62.6%) and in women aged 70-79 years (65.2%). Elevated glucose (49.8%) and abdominal obesity (49.0%) were the most common components of the metabolic syndrome, followed by elevated blood pressure (46.1%), reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (46.0%), and elevated triglycerides (31.3%). Substantial variations were found between men and women in the prevalence of individual components. CONCLUSIONS Puerto Ricans have a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. This health disparity has implications for diabetes and cardiovascular prevention programs.
HISTOCOMPATIBILITY-LINKED IMMUNE RESPONSE GENE FUNCTION IN GUINEA PIGS

A number of autosomal dominant immune response (IR) genes have been identified in both mice and guinea pigs. These IR genes have been shown to be linked to the major histocompatibility antigens of the species and to be functionally expressed primarily in T lymphocytes. In order to more fully understand the relationship between IR genes, histocompatibility antigens, and immune recognition, the effect of specific alloantisera on lymphocyte stimulation induced by antigens under control of IR genes was examined. Using lymphocytes from strain 2 or strain 13 animals, the in vitro proliferative responses both to antigens which are known to be under genetic control (DNP-GL in strain 2 guinea pigs and GT in strain 13 guinea pigs) and to an antigen which is not known to be under genetic control (PPD) were inhibited to a similar degree and to a much greater extent than the response to phytohemagglutinin. However, when cells from F1 (2 x 13) animals are used, the alloantisera markedly inhibit only the response which is linked to the histocompatibility antigens against which the serum is directed. Thus, the anti-2 serum inhibited the response to DNP-GL but not to GT; the anti-13 serum inhibited the response to GT but did not affect DNP-GL response. The inhibitory activity of the alloantisera could not be removed by absorption with gamma globulin of the opposite strain. It can be concluded from these observations that immune response genes produce a cell surface-associated product and that this product plays a role in the mechanism of antigen recognition by the T lymphocyte. The mechanisms by which alloantisera block this process of antigenic recognition is not resolved nor is the relationship between the IR gene product and the antigen-binding receptor of the T lymphocyte. The approach described here offers a powerful tool for the resolution of these problems.
Security-capacity trade-off in large wireless networks using keyless secrecy

We investigate the scalability of a class of algorithms that exploit the dynamics of wireless fading channels to achieve secret communication in a large wireless network of <i>n</i> randomly located nodes. We describe a construction in which nodes transmit <i>artificial noise</i> to suppress eavesdroppers whose locations are unknown and ensure secrecy of messages transported across the network. Under a model in which eavesdroppers operate independently and under appropriate conditions on the achievable per-node throughput Ψ(<i>n</i>), we show that the network can tolerate Ω((1⁄√<i>n</i>(<i>n</i>))<sup>2<i>c</i></sup>) eavesdroppers while ensuring that the aggregate rate at which eavesdroppers intercept packets goes to 0, where <i>c</i> is a constant such that 0 < <i>c</i> < 1. The result clearly establishes a trade-off between the achievable throughput and the allowable number of eavesdroppers. Under a collaborating eavesdropper model and a similar constraint on the eavesdropper throughput, we show that the network can tolerate a single eavesdropper with Ω((ln 1⁄√<i>n</i>(<i>n</i>))<sup>1<i>ε</i></sup>) antennas, ∀ε > 0. We also establish sufficient conditions on the number of eavesdroppers to achieve a non-zero throughput in our construction.
#FluxFlow: Visual Analysis of Anomalous Information Spreading on Social Media

We present FluxFlow, an interactive visual analysis system for revealing and analyzing anomalous information spreading in social media. Everyday, millions of messages are created, commented, and shared by people on social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook. This provides valuable data for researchers and practitioners in many application domains, such as marketing, to inform decision-making. Distilling valuable social signals from the huge crowd's messages, however, is challenging, due to the heterogeneous and dynamic crowd behaviors. The challenge is rooted in data analysts' capability of discerning the anomalous information behaviors, such as the spreading of rumors or misinformation, from the rest that are more conventional patterns, such as popular topics and newsworthy events, in a timely fashion. FluxFlow incorporates advanced machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies, and offers a set of novel visualization designs for presenting the detected threads for deeper analysis. We evaluated FluxFlow with real datasets containing the Twitter feeds captured during significant events such as Hurricane Sandy. Through quantitative measurements of the algorithmic performance and qualitative interviews with domain experts, the results show that the back-end anomaly detection model is effective in identifying anomalous retweeting threads, and its front-end interactive visualizations are intuitive and useful for analysts to discover insights in data and comprehend the underlying analytical model.
Subjectively measured ejaculation latency time and its association with different sexual activities while controlling for age and relationship length.

INTRODUCTION Recently, attempts to formulate valid and suitable definitions for (different subcategories of) premature ejaculation have resulted in substantial progress in the pursuit to gain knowledge about ejaculatory function. However, the association between ejaculatory dysfunction and different types of sexual activities has yet to be thoroughly investigated, and (due to conflicting results between studies) the potential effects of age and relationship length still need to be taken into account. AIM The aim of this study is to investigate the associations of age, relationship length, frequency of different sexual activities, and different modes of achieving ejaculation with self-reported ejaculation latency time. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The main outcome is establishing associations between age, relationship length, self-reported ejaculation latency time, and frequency of different kinds of sexual activities and different modes of achieving ejaculation (such as achieving ejaculation through oral or vaginal sex). METHODS Statistical analyses of data on age, relationship length, self-reported ejaculation latency time, and frequency of different sexual activities and different modes of achieving ejaculation were conducted on a population-based sample of 3,189 males aged 18-48 years (mean = 29.9 years, standard deviation = 6.94). RESULTS Age and relationship length were significantly negatively associated with self-reported ejaculation latency time. Frequency of different kinds of sexual behavior generally had a positive association with self-reported ejaculation latency time, as had different modes of achieving ejaculation. CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the need for more extensive studies on and increased knowledge of different aspects of ejaculatory function before a valid and suitable definition for premature ejaculation can be formulated.
Marginal Returns to Schooling and Education Policy Change in Japan

The authors analyze the optimal reserve price in a second price auction when there are N types of bidders whose valuations are drawn from different distribution functions. The seller cannot determine the specific type of each bidder. First, the authors show that the number of bidders affects the reserve price. Second, they give the sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of the optimal reserve price. Third, the authors find that if a bidder is replaced by a stronger bidder, the optimal reserve price may decrease. Finally, they give sufficient conditions that ensure the seller will not use a reserve price; hence, the auction will be efficient.
Identification of reciprocally regulated gene modules in regenerating dorsal root ganglion neurons and activated peripheral or central nervous system glia

Differential gene expression in the rat after injury of dorsal root ganglion neurons in vivo, and simulation injury of Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes in vitro was analyzed using high‐density cDNA microarrays. The analyses were carried out to study the genetic basis of peripheral nerve regeneration, and to compare gene regulation in glia of the central (oligodendrocyte) and peripheral (Schwann cell) nervous systems. The genes showing significant differential regulation in the three study groups represented all aspects of cellular metabolism. However, two unexpected observations were made. Firstly, a number of identical genes were differentially regulated in activated Schwann cells, activated oligodendrocytes and regenerating DRG neurons. Specifically, a group of 113 out of 210 genes that were down‐regulated in Schwann cells upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment, were identical to genes up‐regulated in the injured, regenerating DRG. Furthermore, a group of 53 out of 71 genes that were down‐regulated in interferon gamma (IFN‐γ)/LPS‐activated oligodendrocytes, were identical to genes up‐regulated in the DRG neurons. Finally, 22 genes were common to these three groups, i.e., down‐regulated in activated oligodendrocytes, down‐regulated in activated Schwann cells, and up‐regulated in regenerating DRG neurons. Secondly, a group of 16 cell‐cycle and proliferation‐related genes were up‐regulated in the DRG following sciatic nerve crush, despite the absence of cells undergoing mitosis in the DRG, or any significant presence of apoptosis‐related gene expression. Therefore, it appears that in these three cell types, large sets of genes are reciprocally regulated upon injury and/or activation. This suggests that the activation of the injury‐related gene expression program in cell derivatives of the neuroectoderm involves, in part, highly conserved genetic elements. J. Cell. Biochem. 88: 970–985, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Combined First and Second Order Total Variation Inpainting using Split Bregman

In this article we discuss the implementation of the combined first and second order total varia- tion inpainting that was introduced by Papafitsoros and Schonlieb. We describe the algorithm we use (split Bregman) in detail, and we give some examples that indicate the difference between pure first and pure second order total variation inpainting. Source Code We provide a source code for the algorithm written in C and an online demonstration, accessible on the article web page http://dx.doi. org/10.5201/ipol.2013. 40.
Speed Regulator of Diesel-Generator Based on Model Free Adaptive Control

The conventional model of diesel engine-generator control system used for automatic power station control is crucially extended to include speed, frequency and load. An on-line speed regulator for diesel engine power station was developed based on model free adaptive (MFA) controller. The proposed speed control strategy in this work consists of a main speed loop and a feed forward load loop. The control algorithm is organised in MFA controller which operates on a standard speed error signal and a power signal. The simulation results show that this speed governor system could operate stably, and all performances are quite well both at static state and at dynamic state.
Inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis in cultured fibroblasts by D003, a mixture of very long chain saturated fatty acids.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of D003, a mixture of very long chain saturated fatty acids isolated and purified from sugar cane wax, on cholesterol biosynthesis in cultured fibroblasts. Cholesterol biosynthesis is regulated through feedback regulation of at least two sequentially acting enzymes, 3-hydroxy-3-methyl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) synthase and reductase. They are up-regulated when sterol levels fall and down-regulated when sterol levels rise. The exposure of cultured fibroblasts to a lipid-depleted medium (LDM) and D003 (0.05-50 microg ml(-1)) for 12 h inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, cholesterol biosynthesis from 14C-labelled acetate (33-68%). The addition of D003 at concentrations inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis from labelled acetate significantly decreased incorporation of radioactivity from 3H2O into sterols, but not from 14C-mevalonate. These data indicate that D003 inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis by interfering with early steps of cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. We reasoned that D003 acts directly on HMG-CoA reductase, the main regulatory enzyme of cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. However, when enzyme activity was measured in cell extracts in the presence of various concentrations of D003 (0.5-50 microg ml(-1)), reductase activity was not inhibited. Thus, there was no evidence for a competitive or non-competitive inhibition of enzyme activity by D003. Treatment with D003 significantly suppressed (68%) the enzyme up-regulation when cells were cultured in LDM, which suggests a depression of de novo synthesis of HMG-CoA reductase and/or a stimulation of its degradation. However, since the suppressive action of D003 on cholesterol biosynthesis was observed in metabolic conditions under which synthase up-regulation was also enhanced, we cannot rule out a possible effect of D003 on HMG-CoA synthase. Thus, further studies are needed to clarify the precise mechanism of the inhibitory effect of D003 on cholesterol biosynthesis.
Focused comprehensive, quantitative, functionally based echocardiographic evaluation in the critical care unit is feasible and impacts care.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether comprehensive quantitative echocardiogram could be used as a resuscitation tool in critically ill surgical patients and to assess its effect on patient care. DESIGN Prospective observational. SETTING The Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care Units of the University of Maryland Medical Center. PATIENTS Critically ill trauma and surgical patients. INTERVENTIONS The Focused Rapid Echocardiographic Evaluation (FREE), an abbreviated version of a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiogram, which is under an approved protocol, was performed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Over a 30-month period, 791 FREEs were performed on 659 patients. The mean patient age was 60 (±17) years. Ninety-one percent were intubated and 80% were postoperative. Ejection fraction was reported for 95%, and cardiac index was reported for 89% of FREE studies. Right heart function was assessed for 94%. Measures of volume status--internal left ventricular diameter, inferior vena cava diameter, diameter change, and stroke volume variation--were reported for 88%, 79%, 75%, and 89% of patients, respectively. The FREE was judged to be useful by the consulting primary care team for 95% of patients, and altered the plan of care for 57%. The most common change was administration of a fluid bolus (43%), followed by change from an original prestudy plan to one of monitoring (24%), diuresis (23%), addition/titration of an inotropic agent (19%), and/or addition/titration of a vasoconstrictor (8%). CONCLUSIONS The FREE is feasible and alters care in the intensive care unit by providing clinical data not otherwise available at the bedside. Further studies are warranted to assess the impact of comprehensive echocardiogram-directed resuscitation on patient outcomes.
Epstein-Barr Virus and Cancer

EBV was the first human virus to be directly implicated in carcinogenesis. It infects >90% of the world’s population. Although most humans coexist with the virus without serious sequelae, a small proportion will develop tumors. Normal host populations can have vastly different susceptibility to EBV-related tumors as demonstrated by geographical and immunological variations in the prevalence of these cancers. EBV has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Burkitt’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and lymphomas, as well as leiomyosarcomas arising in immunocompromised individuals. The presence of this virus has also been associated with epithelial malignancies arising in the gastric region and the breast, although some of this work remains in dispute. EBV uses its viral proteins, the actions of which mimic several growth factors, transcription factors, and antiapoptotic factors, to usurp control of the cellular pathways that regulate diverse homeostatic cellular functions. Recent advances in antiviral therapeutics, application of monoclonal antibodies, and generation of EBV-specific CTLs are beginning to show promise in the treatment of EBV-related disorders.
A Priori Error Estimates for Finite Element Discretizations of Parabolic Optimization Problems with Pointwise State Constraints in Time

In this paper, we consider an optimal control problem which is governed by a linear parabolic equation and is subject to state constraints pointwise in time. Optimal order error estimates are developed for a space-time finite element discretization of this problem. Numerical examples confirm the theoretical results. As a by-product of our analysis, we derive a new regularity result for the optimal control.