Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical Activity, Physical Fitness and Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome is recognized as one of the leading worldwide health problems, which is a constellation of metabolic risk factors that is associated with increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and myocardial infarction. Clustered metabolic risk factors include abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance, as standardized by the international criteria [1]. Evidence from observational epidemiological studies indicates that the metabolic risk factors begin early in life [2,3]. Childhood overweight and obesity are closely associated with insulin resistance, in which result the development of metabolic syndrome. The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome can be identified in children and adolescents. Obesity and insulin resistance may develop the metabolic syndrome during the early years of life and throughout in adulthood. In Finland, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome has increased dramatically over the past decades [4,5]. The benefits of physical activity and physical fitness on the health of the general population have been attested beyond dispute [6]. There is overwhelming evidence that participation in regular, moderate-intensity physical activity may be a preventive intervention of the metabolic syndrome and that activity of greater intensity may provide even greater benefit [7]. Remarkably, supervised exercise training in either aerobic exercise or resistance training may be an effective adjunctive treatment and produce significant functional benefits for individuals with the metabolic syndrome [8]. Physical activity and exercise are thus uniquely positioned to improve physical and psychosocial health and function by reducing the clustered metabolic risk and, in turn, by delaying or avoiding the onset of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, most of the studies have been cross-sectional, but a few have been longitudinal. The aim of this chapter is to outline physical activity and fitness to prevent or reduce the prevalence or incidence of metabolic syndrome among youth and adults. I start with the definition of physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength and proceed to a discussion of the role of physical activity and fitness on the metabolic syndrome. I will discuss the importance of physical activity and fitness as their primary sources of health information that affect the metabolic syndrome in both youth and adults. Special emphasis is given to the use of long-term physical activity as a possible means of effectively reducing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome.
Identifying Early Carboniferous bimodal volcanic rocks and geochemical characteristics in the Atengtao Mountain, Yili Block (Chinese western Tianshan)

The Early Carboniferous bimodal volcanic rocks are firstly recognized in the Atengtao Mountain, Yili Block (Chinese Western Tianshan). The bimodal volcanic rocks are composed of dominant rhyolite and subordinate basaltic andesite. The SiO2 contents of basaltic andesites span a range of 52.08 to 60.44 wt. %, whereas those of the rhyolites range from 72.50 to 76.78 wt. %, showing a sharp gap between 60.44 and 72.50 wt. % for SiO2 content. Zircon U–Pb dating of rhyolitic sample yielded crystallization age of 340 ± 6 Ma, which is interpreted as the extrusive age of the bimodal volcanic rocks. Basaltic andesite samples belong to the calc‐alkaline series, whereas rhyolites are peraluminous. The basaltic andesite samples display enrichment in LREE ((La/Yb)N = 3.16–6.27), and nearly no obvious Eu anomalies (δEu = 0.86–1.21), with relative enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (Rb, K, Sr, U) and depletion in high field strength elements (Nb, Ta). Compared to the basaltic andesites, the rhyolites show enriched LREE patterns ((La/Yb)N = 7.05–9.27) and significantly negative Eu anomalies (δEu = 0.36–0.62), with remarkably negative Nb, Ta, P, Ti, and Sr anomalies, which is consistent with A‐type granites. The rhyolites have positive εHf(t) values from 1.5 to 4.8 and TDM2(Hf) values from 1,036 to 1,247 Ma. The basaltic andesites are interpreted as resulting from partial melting of an enriched lithospheric mantle source that was metasomatized by subduction‐related components, whereas the rhyolites were derived from basaltic melt‐induced reworking of Proterozoic juvenile crustal material. Based on our data, and taking into account the regional geology, a model of back‐arc setting was proposed for the Early Carboniferous formation of the bimodal volcanic rocks in the Atengtao Mountain. Therefore, we suggest that the volcanic rocks were likely induced by the northward subduction of the South Tianshan Ocean. The subduction resulted in opening of a back‐arc basin in Atengtao Mountain, leading to upwelling of mantle that had produced the basaltic andesites. Moreover, this process provided heat to remelt the crustal materials and form the rhyolites.
Structural Model of Credit Risk : Hedging With Lévy Driven Processes

Empirical studies about structural models of credit risk show poor predictions of bond spreads. Within structural models framework Schaefer and Strebulaev [2008] studied the sensitivity of corporate bond returns to changes in equity value (hedge-ratios) assuming a normal distribution for bond returns. The aim of this paper is testing hedge-ratios on a different sample and in a more general context in order to take into account for extreme values. We consider USA fixed income straight bonds over a period of four years (from 2005 to 2009). Results obtained assuming normally distributed returns as in Schaefer and Strebulaev [2008] are compared with results obtained using Variance Gamma (VG) and Normal Inverse Gaussian distributions (NIG) to better capture extreme returns behaviour.
Generalized structures of N=1 vacua

We characterize = 1 vacua of type-II theories in terms of generalized complex structure on the internal manifold M. The structure group of T(M)⊕T*(M) being SU(3) × SU(3) implies the existence of two pure spinors Φ1 and Φ2. The conditions for preserving = 1 supersymmetry turn out to be simple generalizations of equations that have appeared in the context of = 2 and topological strings. They are (d+H∧)Φ1 = 0 and (d+H∧)Φ2 = FRR. The equation for the first pure spinor implies that the internal space is a twisted generalized Calabi-Yau manifold of a hybrid complex-symplectic type, while the RR-fields serve as an integrability defect for the second.
Murine models of asthma

In vivo animal models can offer valuable information on several aspects of asthma pathogenesis and treatment. The mouse is increasingly used in these models, mainly because this species allows for the application in vivo of a broad range of immunological tools, including gene deletion technology. Mice, therefore, seem particularly useful to further elucidate factors influencing the response to inhaled allergens. Examples include: the role of immunoregulatory mechanisms that protect against T‐helper cell type 2 cell development; the trafficking of T‐cells; and the contribution of the innate immunity. However, as for other animal species, murine models also have limitations. Mice do not spontaneously develop asthma and no model mimics the entire asthma phenotype. Instead, mice should be used to model specific traits of the human disease. The present task force report draws attention to specific aspects of lung structure and function that need to be borne in mind when developing such models and interpreting the results. In particular, efforts should be made to develop models that mimic the lung function changes characteristic of asthma as closely as possible. A large section of this report is therefore devoted to an overview of airway function and its measurement in mice.
The Corepressor CTBP2 Is a Coactivator of Retinoic Acid Receptor/Retinoid X Receptor in Retinoic Acid Signaling

ABSTRACT Retinoids play key roles in development, differentiation, and homeostasis through regulation of specific target genes by the retinoic acid receptor/retinoid X receptor (RAR/RXR) nuclear receptor complex. Corepressors and coactivators contribute to its transcriptional control by creating the appropriate chromatin environment, but the precise composition of these nuclear receptor complexes remains to be elucidated. Using an RNA interference-based genetic screen in mouse F9 cells, we identified the transcriptional corepressor CTBP2 (C-terminal binding protein 2) as a coactivator critically required for retinoic acid (RA)-induced transcription. CTBP2 suppression by RNA interference confers resistance to RA-induced differentiation in diverse murine and human cells. Mechanistically, we find that CTBP2 associates with RAR/RXR at RA target gene promoters and is essential for their transactivation in response to RA. We show that CTBP2 is indispensable to create a chromatin environment conducive for RAR/RXR-mediated transcription by recruiting the histone acetyltransferase p300. Our data reveal an unexpected function of the corepressor CTBP2 as a coactivator for RAR/RXR in RA signaling.
Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor, microvascular hyperpermeability, and angiogenesis.

VPF/VEGF is a multifunctional cytokine that contributes to angiogenesis by both direct and indirect mechanisms. On the one hand, VPF/VEGF stimulates the ECs lining nearby microvessels to proliferate, to migrate, and to alter their pattern of gene expression. On the other hand, VPF/VEGF renders these same microvascular ECs hyperpermeable so that they spill plasma proteins into the extravascular space, leading to the clotting of extravasated fibrinogen with deposition of a fibrin gel. Extravascular fibrin serves as a provisional matrix that favors and supports the ingrowth of new blood vessels and other mesenchymal cells that generate mature, vascularized stroma. These same principles apply in tumors, in several examples of non-neoplastic pathology, and in physiological processes that involve angiogenesis and new stroma generation. In all of these examples, microvascular hyperpermeability and the introduction of a provisional, plasma-derived matrix precede and accompany the onset of EC division and new blood vessel formation. It would seem, therefore, that tumors have "borrowed" fundamental mechanisms that developed in multicellular organisms for purposes of tissue defense, renewal, and repair. VPF/VEGF, therefore has taught us something new about angiogenesis; namely, that vascular hyperpermeability and consequent plasma protein extravasation are important, perhaps essential, elements in its generation. However, this finding raises a paradox. While VPF/VEGF induces vascular hyperpermeability, other potent angiogenic factors apparently do not, at least in subtoxic concentrations that are more than sufficient to induce angiogenesis. Nonetheless, wherever angiogenesis has been studied, the newly generated vessels have been found to be hyperpermeable. How, therefore, do angiogenic factors other than VPF/VEGF lead to the formation of new and leaky blood vessels? We do not as yet have a complete answer to this question. One possibility is that at least some angiogenic factors mediate their effect by inducing or stimulating the expression of VPF/VEGF. In fact, there is already one clear example of this. TGF-alpha is a potent angiogenic factor but does not itself increase microvascular permeability. However, TGF-alpha strikingly upregulates VPF/VEGF expression in cultured keratinocytes and is thought to be responsible, at least in part, for the overexpression of VPF/VEGF in psoriasis. Moreover, overexpression of TGF-alpha, along with that of the EGF receptor with which it interacts, is characteristic of many malignant tumors, raising the possibility that TGF-alpha acts to stimulate VPF/VEGF expression in other types of epithelial cells and in this manner induces angiogenesis. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Chapter 1: The Economics of Social Networks

The Guggenheim Foundation, and the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences for financial support. I am very grateful to collaborators on networks projects, who have helped me learn about social networks and the fascinating questions they present; and who are inexorably tied to the views I take herein. So I thank (in chronological order),
Impact of a Pharmaceutical Care Program on Liver Transplant Patients’ Compliance With Immunosuppressive Medication: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Trial Using Electronic Monitoring

Introduction. Compliance with immunosuppressive therapy plays a major role in the long-term success of organ transplantation. Thus, strategies to promote compliance in posttransplant care are of particular interest. At the pharmacy department of the University Hospital Mainz, a program for pharmaceutical care of organ transplant patients has been developed for the first time ever. The main objective of the presented study was to examine the influence of this program on liver transplant patients’ compliance with immunosuppressive therapy. Methods. To measure compliance, medication event monitoring systems were used. Dosing compliance (DC) was calculated for each patient and the mean DC was compared between the two groups. Further direct and indirect methods of measuring compliance served to confirm the electronic compliance data. Results. Pharmaceutical care of liver transplant patients led to a significant increase in compliance with the immunosuppressive therapy. The mean DC of the intervention group was 90%±6% compared with 81%±12% in the control group (P=0.015). Only two patients (10%) in the intervention group and nine patients (43%) in the control group showed a DC less than 80% (P=0.032). Furthermore, patients in the intervention group were more likely to achieve target blood levels. Conclusion. Patients who received pharmaceutical care with traditional patient care showed significantly better compliance with their immunosuppressive medication than patients who received only traditional patient care. Pharmaceutical care proved to be an effective intervention that should be implemented in posttransplant care.
The genome and surface proteome of Capnocytophaga canimorsus reveal a key role of glycan foraging systems in host glycoproteins deglycosylation

Capnocytophaga canimorsus are commensal Gram‐negative bacteria from dog's mouth that cause rare but dramatic septicaemia in humans. C. canimorsus have the unusual property to feed on cultured mammalian cells, including phagocytes, by harvesting the glycan moiety of cellular glycoproteins. To understand the mechanism behind this unusual property, the genome of strain Cc5 was sequenced and analysed. In addition, Cc5 bacteria were cultivated onto HEK 293 cells and the surface proteome was determined. The genome was found to encode many lipoproteins encoded within 13 polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) typical of the Flavobacteria–Bacteroides group. PULs encode surface exposed feeding complexes resembling the archetypal starch utilization system (Sus). The products of at least nine PULs were detected among the surface proteome and eight of them represented more than half of the total peptides detected from the surface proteome. Systematic deletions of the 13 PULs revealed that half of these Sus‐like complexes contributed to growth on animal cells. The complex encoded by PUL5, one of the most abundant ones, was involved in foraging glycans from glycoproteins. It was essential for growth on cells and contributed to survival in mice. It thus represents a fitness factor during infection.
Boron nitride nanowalls: low-temperature plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition synthesis and optical properties

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanowalls (BNNWs) were synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from a borazine (B3N3H6) and ammonia (NH3) gas mixture at a low temperature range of 400 °C–600 °C on GaAs(100) substrates. The effect of the synthesis temperature on the structure and surface morphology of h-BN films was investigated. The length and thickness of the h-BN nanowalls were in the ranges of 50–200 nm and 15–30 nm, respectively. Transmission electron microscope images showed the obtained BNNWs were composed of layered non-equiaxed h-BN nanocrystallites 5–10 nm in size. The parallel-aligned h-BN layers as an interfacial layer were observed between the film and GaAs(100) substrate. BNNWs demonstrate strong blue light emission, high transparency (>90%) both in visible and infrared spectral regions and are promising for optical applications. The present results enable a convenient growth of BNNWs at low temperatures.
Long-Term Plasticity Is Proportional to Theta-Activity

Background Theta rhythm in the hippocampal formation is a main feature of exploratory behaviour and is believed to enable the encoding of new spatial information and the modification of synaptic weights. Cyclic changes of dentate gyrus excitability during theta rhythm are related to its function, but whether theta epochs per se are able to alter network properties of dentate gyrus for long time-periods is still poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings We used low-frequency stimulation protocols that amplify the power of endogenous theta oscillations, in order to estimate the plasticity effect of endogenous theta oscillations on a population level. We found that stimulation-induced augmentation of the theta rhythm is linked to a subsequent increase of neuronal excitability and decrease of the synaptic response. This EPSP-to-Spike uncoupling is related to an increased postsynaptic spiking on the positive phases of theta frequency oscillations. Parallel increase of the field EPSP slope and the population spike occurs only after concurrent pre- and postsynaptic activation. Furthermore, we observed that long-term potentiation (>24 h) occurs in the dentate gyrus of freely behaving adult rats after phasic activity of entorhinal afferents in the theta-frequency range. This plasticity is proportional to the field bursting activity of granule cells during the stimulation, and may comprise a key step in spatial information transfer. Long-term potentiation of the synaptic component occurs only when the afferent stimulus precedes the evoked population burst, and is input-specific. Conclusions/Significance Our data confirm the role of the dentate gyrus in filtering information to the subsequent network during the activated state of the hippocampus.
Analysis of Synaptotagmin, SV2, and Rab3 Expression in Cortical Glutamatergic and GABAergic Axon Terminals

We investigated whether cortical glutamatergic and GABAergic release machineries can be differentiated on the basis of the nature and amount of proteins they express, by performing a quantitative analysis of the degree of co-localization of synaptotagmin (SYT) 1 and 2, synaptic vesicle protein 2 (SV2) A and B, and Rab3a and c in VGLUT1+, VGLUT2+, and VGAT+ terminals and synaptic vesicles (SVs) in rat cerebral cortex. Co-localization studies showed that VGLUT1 puncta had high levels of SV2A and B and of Rab3c, intermediate levels of SYT1, and low levels of SYT2 and Rab3c; VGLUT2 puncta exhibited intermediate levels of all presynaptic proteins studied; whereas vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) puncta had high levels of SV2A and SYT2, intermediate levels of SYT1, Rab3a, and Rab3c, and low levels of SV2B. Since SV2B is reportedly expressed by glutamatergic neurons and we observed SV2B expression in VGAT puncta, we performed electron microscopic studies and found SV2B positive axon terminals forming symmetric synapses. Immunoisolation studies showed that the expression levels of the protein isoforms varied in the three populations of SVs. Expression of SYT1 was highest in VGLUT1–SVs, while SYT2 expression was similar in the three SV groups. Expression of SV2A was similarly high in all three SV populations, except for SV2B levels that were very low in VGAT SVs. Finally, Rab3a levels were similar in the three SV groups, while Rab3c levels were highest in VGLUT1–SVs. These quantitative results extend our previous studies on the differential expression of presynaptic proteins involved in neurotransmitter release in GABAergic and glutamatergic terminals and indicate that heterogeneity of the respective release machineries can be generated by the differential complement of SV proteins involved in distinct stages of the release process.
Effect of posterior gingival smile on the perception of smile esthetics

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the influence of posterior gummy smile on the perception of smile esthetics by orthodontists, general-dentists and laypersons. Study Design: A frontal photograph of a smile with normal gum exposure was chosen and manipulated digitally using Adobe Photoshop C3 to generate three further images with posterior gum exposure of 4, 6 and 8mm. These four images were assessed by the three evaluator groups: orthodontists (n=40), general-dentists (n=40) and laypersons (n=40). Both orthodontists and dentists had at least ten years professional experience and laypersons were aged between 40-50 years. The proportion of men to women was 20:20 in each group. Evaluators awarded a score to the smile esthetics of each image: 1=acceptable, 2=moderately acceptable, 3=unacceptable. Afterwards, each evaluator placed the four images in order of esthetic preference. Results: No significant differences (p>0.05) were detected between the three evaluator groups for the photo without posterior gummy smile. The perception of smile esthetics for a the 4mm posterior gummy smile (median for orthodontists=2, general-dentists= 1, laypersons=1), the 6mm (median for orthodontists=2, general-dentists=1, laypersons=1) and the 8mm (median for orthodontists=3, general-dentists=2, laypersons=2) was significantly different between orthodontists and the other two evaluator groups (p<0.0017). The three evaluator groups coincided in placing the image with the 6mm gum exposure in first place in order of esthetic preference. Conclusions: Posterior gummy smile influences the perception of smile esthetics more negatively among orthodontists than the rest of the groups. Key words:Aesthetics, gummy smile back, orthodontists, dentists, laypersons.
Estimating Cost Savings from Early Cancer Diagnosis

We estimate treatment cost-savings from early cancer diagnosis. For breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers and melanoma, which account for more than 50% of new incidences projected in 2017, we combine published cancer treatment cost estimates by stage with incidence rates by stage at diagnosis. We extrapolate to other cancer sites by using estimated national expenditures and incidence rates. A rough estimate for the U.S. national annual treatment cost-savings from early cancer diagnosis is in 11 digits. Using this estimate and cost-neutrality, we also estimate a rough upper bound on the cost of a routine early cancer screening test.