Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Race / Ethnic Differences in Carotid Stiffness and Diameter Using PROC GLM

Race/ethnic differences in the dilatation and stiffening of the carotid artery are unknown. These differences might be modified by age, an important vascular risk factor. Carotid diameters were assessed by ultrasound in 1116 subjects from the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS). Multivariate linear regression models were performed using PROC GLM (SAS ® 9.2) to determine the relationship between race/ethnicity and carotid arterial stiffness (STIFF), and between race/ethnicity and carotid diastolic diameter (DDIAM). PROC UNIVARIATE was used to test for normality assumptions. Interactions between race/ethnicity and age for STIFF and for DDIAM were also assessed. After multivariate adjustment for age, gender, body-mass index, hypertension, diabetes, LDL, HDL, and presence of carotid plaque, Hispanics had a lower DDIAM (p<0.05) compared to whites. However, a significant interaction between age and race/ethnicity was observed for both outcomes. Age was associated with increased DDIAM in Hispanics only (p<0.0001). Stiffness increased with age in Hispanics (p<0.0001) and Blacks (p<0.03) but not among whites. This association was maintained in the fully adjusted model, which included pack/years smoking.
Defining the Conformational Features of Anchorless, Poorly Neuroinvasive Prions

Infectious prions cause diverse clinical signs and form an extraordinary range of structures, from amorphous aggregates to fibrils. How the conformation of a prion dictates the disease phenotype remains unclear. Mice expressing GPI-anchorless or GPI-anchored prion protein exposed to the same infectious prion develop fibrillar or nonfibrillar aggregates, respectively, and show a striking divergence in the disease pathogenesis. To better understand how a prion's physical properties govern the pathogenesis, infectious anchorless prions were passaged in mice expressing anchorless prion protein and the resulting prions were biochemically characterized. Serial passage of anchorless prions led to a significant decrease in the incubation period to terminal disease and altered the biochemical properties, consistent with a transmission barrier effect. After an intraperitoneal exposure, anchorless prions were only weakly neuroinvasive, as prion plaques rarely occurred in the brain yet were abundant in extracerebral sites such as heart and adipose tissue. Anchorless prions consistently showed very high stability in chaotropes or when heated in SDS, and were highly resistant to enzyme digestion. Consistent with the results in mice, anchorless prions from a human patient were also highly stable in chaotropes. These findings reveal that anchorless prions consist of fibrillar and highly stable conformers. The additional finding from our group and others that both anchorless and anchored prion fibrils are poorly neuroinvasive strengthens the hypothesis that a fibrillar prion structure impedes efficient CNS invasion.
Investigating the association between polymorphisms in connective tissue growth factor and susceptibility to colon carcinoma

There have been numerous studies on the gene expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in colorectal cancer, however very few have investigated polymorphisms in this gene. The present study aimed to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CTGF gene are associated with a higher susceptibility to colon cancer and/or an invasive tumor growth pattern. The CTGF gene was genotyped for seven SNPs (rs6918698, rs1931002, rs9493150, rs12526196, rs12527705, rs9399005 and rs12527379) by pyrosequencing. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples (n=112) from patients diagnosed with colon carcinoma, and an equal number of blood samples from healthy controls, were selected for genomic DNA extraction. The complexity index was measured using images of tumor samples (n=64) stained for cytokeratin-8. The images were analyzed and correlated with the identified CTGF SNPs and clinicopathological parameters of the patients, including age, gender, tumor penetration, lymph node metastasis, systemic metastasis, differentiation and localization of tumor. It was demonstrated that the frequency of the SNP rs6918698 GG genotype was significantly associated (P=0.05) with an increased risk of colon cancer, as compared with the GC and CC genotypes. The other six SNPs (rs1931002, rs9493150, rs12526196, rs12527705, rs9399005 and rs12527379) exhibited no significant difference in the genotype and allele frequencies between patients diagnosed with colon carcinoma and the normal healthy population. A trend was observed between genotype variation at rs6918698 and the complexity index (P=0.052). The complexity index and genotypes for any of the studied SNPs were not significantly correlated with clinical or pathological parameters of the patients. These results indicate that the rs6918698 GG genotype is associated with an increased risk of developing colon carcinoma, and genetic variations at the rs6918698 are associated with the growth pattern of the tumor. The present results may facilitate the identification of potential biomarkers of the disease in addition to drug targets.
Prevention of UV-Induced Skin Damages by 11,14,17-Eicosatrienoic Acid in Hairless Mice In Vivo

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are known to play important roles in various physiological and pathological processes. Recent studies have shown that some omega-3 (ω-3) PUFAs, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and dodecahexaenoic acid (DHA), have protective effects on acute and chronic UV-induced changes. However, the effects of other ω-3 PUFAs including 11,14,17-eicosatrienoic acid (20:3) (ETA) on UV-induced skin damages are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the cutaneous photoprotective effects of ETA in hairless mice in vivo. Female HR-1 hairless mice were topically treated with vehicle (ethanol:polyethylene glycol=30:70) only, 0.1% ETA, or 1% ETA once a day for 3 successive days after one time UV irradiation (200 mJ/cm2) on dorsal skins. Skin biopsy was carried out on the fourth day (72 hr after UV irradiation). We found that topical treatment with ETA attenuated UV-induced epidermal and dermal thickness and infiltration of inflammatory cells, and impairment of skin barrier function. In addition, ETA suppressed the expression of IL-1β, COX-2, and MMP-13 induced by UV irradiation. Our results show that the topical application of ETA protects against UV-induced skin damage in hairless mice and suggest that ETA can be a potential agent for preventing and/or treating UV-induced inflammation and photoaging.
Power tuning HPC jobs on power-constrained systems

As we approach the exascale era, power has become a primary bottleneck. The US Department of Energy has set a power constraint of 20MW on each exascale machine. To be able achieve one exaflop under this constraint, it is necessary that we use power intelligently to maximize performance under a power constraint. Most production-level parallel applications that run on a supercomputer are tightly-coupled parallel applications. A naϊve approach of enforcing a power constraint for a parallel job would be to divide the job's power budget uniformly across all the processors. However, previous work has shown that a power capped job suffers from performance variation of otherwise identical processors leading to overall sub-optimal performance. We propose a 2-level hierarchical variation-aware approach of managing power at machine-level. At the macro level, PPartition partitions a machine's power budget across jobs to assign a power budget to each job running on the system such that the machine never exceeds its power budget. At the micro level, PTune makes job-centric decisions by taking the performance variation into account. For every moldable job, PTune determines the optimal number of processors, the selection of processors and the distribution of the job's power budget across them, with the goal of maximizing the job's performance under its power budget. Experiments show that, at the micro level, PTune achieves a performance improvement of up to 29% compared to a naϊve approach. PTune does not lead to any performance degradation, yet frees up almost 40% of the processors for the same performance as that of the naϊve approach under a hard power bound. At the macro level, PPartition is able to achieve a throughput improvement of 5-35% compared to uniform power distribution.
X-linked Recessive Distal Myopathy With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Caused by a Novel Mutation in the FHL1 Gene

FHL1 gene mutations are associated with reducing body myopathy, X-linked myopathy with postural muscle atrophy, scapuloperoneal myopathy, Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, and isolated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We describe a boy with a family history consistent with X-linked distal myopathy/cardiomyopathy. The boy first presented at age 14 years and was found to have distal wasting and weakness. Echocardiogram revealed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Muscle biopsy showed a vacuolar pathology with no reducing bodies. Sequencing of FHL1 revealed a novel hemizygous c.764G>C missense mutation in exon 8. This is the first report of a predominantly distal myopathy with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurring secondary to an FHL1 mutation.
Presence of CD8+ T Cells in the Ectocervical Mucosa Correlates with Genital Viral Shedding in HIV-Infected Women despite a Low Prevalence of HIV RNA–Expressing Cells in the Tissue

The female genital tract is a portal of entry for sexual HIV transmission and a possible viral reservoir. In this study, the ectocervical CD8+ T cell distribution was explored in situ and was related to expression of CD3 and HLA-DR and presence of HIV RNA. For this purpose, ectocervical tissue samples and genital secretions were collected from HIV-seropositive (HIV+) Kenyan female sex workers (FSWs) (n = 20), HIV-seronegative (HIV−) FSWs (n = 17), and HIV− lower-risk women (n = 21). Cell markers were assessed by in situ staining and by quantitative PCR. HIV RNA expression in tissue was analyzed by in situ hybridization, and viral shedding was assessed by quantitative PCR. The HIV+FSW group had a higher amount of total cells and CD8+, CD3+, and HLA-DR+ cells compared with the HIV−FSW group and HIV− lower-risk women. The majority of CD8+ cells were CD3+ T cells, and the numbers of CD8+ cells correlated significantly with plasma and cervical viral load. HIV RNA expression in situ was found in 4 of the 20 HIV+FSW women but did not correlate with cervical or plasma viral load. Thus, the HIV+ women displayed high numbers of CD8+, CD3+, and HLA-DR+ cells, as well as a limited number of HIV RNA+ cells, in their ectocervical mucosa; hence, this localization cannot be neglected as a potential viral reservoir. The elevated levels of CD8+ T cells may play a role in the immunopathogenesis of HIV in the female genital tract.
VENETA: Serverless Friend-of-Friend Detection in Mobile Social Networking

Recently, mobile social software has become an active area of research and development. A multitude of systems have been proposed over the past years that try to follow the success of their Internet bound equivalents. Many mobile solutions try to augment the functionality of existing platforms with location awareness. The price for mobility, however, is typically either the lack of the popular friendship exploration features or the costs involved to access a central server required for this functionality. In this paper, we try to address this issue by introducing a decentralized method that is able to explore the social neighborhood of a user by detecting friends of friends. Rather than only exploiting information about the users of the system, the method relies on real friends, and adequately addresses the arising privacy issues. Moreover, we present VENETA, a mobile social networking platform which, among other features, implements our novel friend of friend detection algorithm.
Epidemiology of human avian influenza in Indonesia, 2005-2009: a descriptive analysis

Aim The study set out to better understand the epidemiology, natural history, therapeutic management and outcomes associated with confirmed human cases of Avian Influenza (AI) in Indonesia. Methods This observational study utilized data from 93 cases with laboratory-confirmed H5N1 Influenza between September 2005 and August 2009. Cases were identified through records obtained from the Ministry of Health, as well as the Provincial health office and district health office records. Categorical data were analyzed with frequency tables, chi-square tests, and relative risks, and continuous data were analyzed using univariate statistics and Wilcoxon tests. Results Most subjects (54%) first presented to a physician’s office or clinic. All of the subjects were hospitalized, and the vast majority (85%) had respiratory symptoms as their predominant symptom at presentation. There was no clear association of any of these case characteristics with survival. Cases with direct poultry exposure were 2.8 times more likely to receive oseltamivir treatment than those without direct exposure (RR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.44 – 5.78). While the overall number of survivors was small, cases with documented oseltamivir treatment were approximately 24% more likely to survive than cases for which oseltamivir treatment was not documented (RR 1.24; 95% CI: 0.34-4.58). In oseltamivir treated cases, the median time from symptom onset to start of antiviral treatment was 2.5 days in survivors compared to 7.0 days for those who died. Fatality, therefore, may be related to delay in initiation of treatment after presentation. Conclusions The data suggest that early treatment with the antiviral drug oseltamivir may play an important role in survival. However, a low clinical suspicion of disease likely remains an important impediment to early diagnosis. Therefore, a clear policy for the protocol of early diagnosis & treatment of febrile illness including influenza is necessary. (Med J Indones 2010; 19:64-70) Keywords: human avian influenza, antiviral drugs, oseltamivir, survival, Indonesia
Gravitational shock waves for Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes.

The metrics of gravitational shock waves for a Schwarzschild black hole in ordinary coordinates and for a Kerr black hole in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates are derived. The Kerr metric is discussed for two cases: the case of a Kerr black hole moving parallel to the rotational axis, and moving perpendicular to the rotational axis. Then, two properties from the derived metrics are investigated: the shift of a null coordinate and the refraction angle crossing the gravitational shock wave. Astrophysical applications for these metrics are discussed in short.
Asymptotic behavior of some statistics in Ewens random permutations

The purpose of this article is to present a general method to find limiting laws for some renormalized statistics on random permutations. The model of random permutations considered here is Ewens sampling model, which generalizes uniform random permutations. Under this model, we describe the asymptotic behavior of some statistics, including the number of occurrences of any dashed pattern. Our approach is based on the method of moments and relies on the following intuition: two events involving the images of different integers are almost independent.
Indoor-Breeding of Aedes albopictus in Northern Peninsular Malaysia and Its Potential Epidemiological Implications

Background The mosquito Ae. albopictus is usually adapted to the peri-domestic environment and typically breeds outdoors. However, we observed its larvae in most containers within homes in northern peninsular Malaysia. To anticipate the epidemiological implications of this indoor-breeding, we assessed some fitness traits affecting vectorial capacity during colonization process. Specifically, we examined whether Ae. albopictus exhibits increased survival, gonotrophic activity and fecundity due to the potential increase in blood feeding opportunities. Methodology/Principal Findings In a series of experiments involving outdoors and indoors breeding populations, we found that Ae. albopictus lives longer in the indoor environment. We also observed increased nighttime biting activity and lifetime fecundity in indoor/domestic adapted females, although they were similar to recently colonized females in body size. Conclusion/Significance Taken together these data suggest that accommodation of Ae. albopictus to indoor/domestic environment may increase its lifespan, blood feeding success, nuisance and thus vectorial capacity (both in terms of increased vector-host contacts and vector population density). These changes in the breeding behavior of Ae. albopictus, a potential vector of several human pathogens including dengue viruses, require special attention.
Parse Table Composition : Separate Compilation and Binary Extensibility of Grammars

Preprint of paper published in: Software Language Engineering, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5452, 2009; doi:10.1007/978-3-642-00434-6_6 Module systems, separate compilation, deployment of binary components, and dynamic linking have enjoyed wide acceptance in programming languages and systems. In contrast, the syntax of languages is usually defined in a non-modular way, cannot be compiled separately, cannot easily be combined with the syntax of other languages, and cannot be deployed as a component for later composition. Grammar formalisms that do support modules use whole program compilation. Current extensible compilers focus on source-level extensibility, which requires users to compile the compiler with a specific configuration of extensions. A compound parser needs to be generated for every combination of extensions. The generation of parse tables is expensive, which is a particular problem when the composition configuration is not fixed to enable users to choose language extensions. In this paper we introduce an algorithm for parse table composition to support separate compilation of grammars to parse table components. Parse table components can be composed (linked) efficiently at runtime, i.e. just before parsing. While the worst-case time complexity of parse table composition is exponential (like the complexity of parse table generation itself), for realistic language combination scenarios involving grammars for real languages, our parse table composition algorithm is an order of magnitude faster than computation of the parse table for the combined grammars.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Facebook: A Splashy Combination?

Literature widely explores Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Online Social Networks and consumer behavior individually. However, research linking them has been scarce. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect of CSR information provided through Facebook on consumers’ brand image and purchase intention, considering the role of consumer´s product involvement. A fictitious brand profile “Splash Citrus” was designed for an online experiment conducted with participants from two countries, Colombia and the Netherlands, studying the effect of the stimulus, communication channel, Facebook versus Video commercial, on purchase intention and brand image. There was evidence that participants receiving CSR information through Facebook have a higher Brand image than participants receiving information through a video commercial. This effect on brand image appears particularly in higher product involved participants. Cross-cultural values did not affect these relationships. CSR and Facebook thus seem a splashy combination allowing managers to implement innovative strategies to achieve financial, social, and, environmental sustainability.
Dexamethasone and BCAA Failed to Modulate Muscle Mass and mTOR Signaling in GH-Deficient Rats

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and IGF-I, the secretion of which is stimulated by growth hormone (GH), prevent muscle atrophy. mTOR plays a pivotal role in the protective actions of BCAA and IGF-1. The pathway by which BCAA activates mTOR is different from that of IGF-1, which suggests that BCAA and GH work independently. We tried to examine whether BCAA exerts a protective effect against dexamethasone (Dex)-induced muscle atrophy independently of GH using GH-deficient spontaneous dwarf rats (SDRs). Unexpectedly, Dex did not induce muscle atrophy assessed by the measurement of cross-sectional area (CSA) of the muscle fibers and did not increase atrogin-1, MuRF1 and REDD1 expressions, which are activated during protein degradation. Glucocorticoid (GR) mRNA levels were higher in SDRs compared to GH-treated SDRs, indicating that the low expression of GR is not the reason of the defect of Dex’s action in SDRs. BCAA did not stimulate the phosphorylation of p70S6K or 4E-BP1, which stimulate protein synthesis. BCAA did not decrease the mRNA level of atrogin-1 or MuRF1. These findings suggested that Dex failed to modulate muscle mass and that BCAA was unable to activate mTOR in SDRs because these phosphorylations of p70S6K and 4E-BP1 and the reductions of these mRNAs are regulated by mTOR. In contrast, after GH supplementation, these responses to Dex were normalized and muscle fiber CSA was decreased by Dex. BCAA prevented the Dex-induced decrease in CSA. BCAA increased the phosphorylation of p70S6K and decreased the Dex-induced elevations of atrogin-1 and Bnip3 mRNAs. However, the amount of mTORC1 components including mTOR was not decreased in the SDRs compared to the normal rats. These findings suggest that GH increases mTORC1 activity but not its content to recover the action of BCAA in SDRs and that GH is required for actions of Dex and BCAA in muscles.
Do Motives to Undertake Physical Activity Relate to Physical Activity in Adolescent Boys and Girls?

Low levels of physical activity (PA) during adolescence contribute to obesity and poor health outcomes in adolescence, and these associations endure into adulthood. The aim of this study was to assess the associations between motives for PA and the level of PA among adolescent boys and girls. We obtained data regarding motives for PA and frequency of PA in 2010 via the Health Behavior in School-aged Children cross-sectional study in the Czech and Slovak Republics (n = 9018, mean age = 13.6, 49% boys). Respondents answered questions about their motives for PA and the frequency of their PA. Motives for PA were assessed using 13 items, which were structured in four groups. We explored the association between the motives for PA and sufficient PA using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for age, and separately for boys and girls. “Good child” motives and Achievement motives were significantly associated with sufficient PA among both boys and girls. Health motives were associated with sufficient PA only among boys, and Social motives were associated with sufficient PA only among girls. Motives for PA were associated with the level of PA, and this association was partially gender dependent. These gender differences should be considered in interventions focusing on enhancement of PA.