Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Racial and ethnic differences in weight management behavior by weight perception status.

OBJECTIVE To examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between weight perception and weight management behaviors among overweight and obese adults. PARTICIPANTS The study examined a nationally representative sample of 11,319 non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American overweight and obese adults aged > or = 20 years from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. DESIGN Body mass index (BMI, defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was used to categorize overweight (25 < or = BMI < 30) and obesity (BMI > or = 30). Measured height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Subjects reported self-perception of weight status (correct perception and misperception) and weight management behaviors over the previous 12 months (trying to lose weight, trying not to gain weight, and having a desired weight goal). Weight perception stratified logistic regression was used to model odds of weight management behavior by race/ethnicity. RESULTS Among overweight and obese non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Mexican American adults, correct weight perception was positively associated with weight management behavior. In multiple logistic regression models, overweight non-Hispanic Blacks with a weight misperception were less likely to have tried to lose weight (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = .7; 95% confidence interval [Cl] = .5,1.0) or to have tried not to gain weight (aOR = .7; 95% CI = .5,1.0) compared to overweight non-Hispanic Whites with a weight misperception. Among the obese with a misperception, non-Hispanic Blacks were less likely to desire to weigh less compared to non-Hispanic Whites (aOR = .5; 95% CI = .3,.9). CONCLUSIONS Weight perception was associated with weight management behaviors, and this relationship varied by race/ethnicity. Weight perception may need to be addressed among overweight and obese individuals to increase appropriate weight management behaviors, particularly among minority communities.
Pink and Dude Chefs: Effectiveness of an After-School Nutrition Knowledge and Culinary Skills Program for Middle School Students to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly. edu/theses/1946 Date of Award 6-2018 Degree Name MS in Nutrition Department Food Science and Nutrition Advisor Aydin Nazmi Abstract The rate of overweight and obesity among adolescents aged 12-19 years has more than tripled since 1980, and disproportionately impacts low-income and marginalized populations. Reduction in adolescent obesity rates may result in decreased health risks, decrease healthcare costs, and increased quality of life. Effective intervention methods for adolescent participants have incorporated nutrition knowledge and culinary skill building into afterschool programs. This study examines whether building knowledge, skills, and confidence through a culinary intervention can improve adolescent participants’ choices of healthful foods through increased fruit and vegetable intake.
A molecular mechanism underlying gustatory memory trace for an association in the insular cortex

Events separated in time are associatively learned in trace conditioning, recruiting more neuronal circuits and molecular mechanisms than in delay conditioning. However, it remains unknown whether a given sensory memory trace is being maintained as a unitary item to associate. Here, we used conditioned taste aversion learning in the rat model, wherein animals associate a novel taste with visceral nausea, and demonstrate that there are two parallel memory traces of a novel taste: a short-duration robust trace, lasting approximately 3 hr, and a parallel long-duration weak one, lasting up to 8 hr, and dependent on the strong trace for its formation. Moreover, only the early robust trace is maintained by a NMDAR-dependent CaMKII- AMPAR pathway in the insular cortex. These findings suggest that a memory trace undergoes rapid modifications, and that the mechanisms underlying trace associative learning differ when items in the memory are experienced at different time points. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.07582. 001
Use of Payment Technology: A Perspective Based on Theory of Consumption Value

Drawing on the theory of consumption value, this research-in-progress strives to provide a theoretical explanation of payment technology use by investigating the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of different consumption values associated with a certain payment technology and their choice to use the technology. We conducted the study in the context of Denmark, a Northern European country, with three well established payment technologies: cash, payment cards, and Internet banking. Following a focus group of identifying and defining four types of consumption values associated with each payment technology, a survey was then conducted by a national statistics agency in the country. Preliminary results have shown that different consumption values matter for the use of different payment technologies. The findings will potentially contribute to a better understanding of consumer payment behavior, as well as the debate on moving towards a cashless society.
Human Cytomegalovirus Immediate-Early 1 Protein Rewires Upstream STAT3 to Downstream STAT1 Signaling Switching an IL6-Type to an IFNγ-Like Response

The human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) major immediate-early 1 protein (IE1) is best known for activating transcription to facilitate viral replication. Here we present transcriptome data indicating that IE1 is as significant a repressor as it is an activator of host gene expression. Human cells induced to express IE1 exhibit global repression of IL6- and oncostatin M-responsive STAT3 target genes. This repression is followed by STAT1 phosphorylation and activation of STAT1 target genes normally induced by IFNγ. The observed repression and subsequent activation are both mediated through the same region (amino acids 410 to 445) in the C-terminal domain of IE1, and this region serves as a binding site for STAT3. Depletion of STAT3 phenocopies the STAT1-dependent IFNγ-like response to IE1. In contrast, depletion of the IL6 receptor (IL6ST) or the STAT kinase JAK1 prevents this response. Accordingly, treatment with IL6 leads to prolonged STAT1 instead of STAT3 activation in wild-type IE1 expressing cells, but not in cells expressing a mutant protein (IE1dl410-420) deficient for STAT3 binding. A very similar STAT1-directed response to IL6 is also present in cells infected with a wild-type or revertant hCMV, but not an IE1dl410-420 mutant virus, and this response results in restricted viral replication. We conclude that IE1 is sufficient and necessary to rewire upstream IL6-type to downstream IFNγ-like signaling, two pathways linked to opposing actions, resulting in repressed STAT3- and activated STAT1-responsive genes. These findings relate transcriptional repressor and activator functions of IE1 and suggest unexpected outcomes relevant to viral pathogenesis in response to cytokines or growth factors that signal through the IL6ST-JAK1-STAT3 axis in hCMV-infected cells. Our results also reveal that IE1, a protein considered to be a key activator of the hCMV productive cycle, has an unanticipated role in tempering viral replication.
Forecasting Tuberculosis Incidence in Iran Using Box-Jenkins Models

Background: Predicting the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) plays an important role in planning health control strategies for the future, developing intervention programs and allocating resources. Objectives: The present longitudinal study estimated the incidence of tuberculosis in 2014 using Box-Jenkins methods. Materials and Methods: Monthly data of tuberculosis cases recorded in the surveillance system of Iran tuberculosis control program from 2005 till 2011 was used. Data was reviewed regarding normality, variance equality and stationary conditions. The parameters p, d and q and P, D and Q were determined, and different models were examined. Based on the lowest levels of AIC and BIC, the most suitable model was selected among the models whose overall adequacy was confirmed. Results: During 84 months, 63568 TB patients were recorded. The average was 756.8 (SD = 11.9) TB cases a month. SARIMA (0,1,1)(0,1,1)12 with the lowest level of AIC (12.78) was selected as the most adequate model for prediction. It was predicted that the total nationwide TB cases for 2014 will be about 16.75 per 100,000 people. Conclusions: Regarding the cyclic pattern of TB recorded cases, Box-Jenkins and SARIMA models are suitable for predicting its prevalence in future. Moreover, prediction results show an increasing trend of TB cases in Iran.
The Role of Regional Milieux in Rural Economic Development Literature Review Report

This project seeks to explain why some regions within the Northern Periphery display a greater degree of " economic vitality " despite being subject to broadly similar geographic and structural disadvantages to those of surrounding areas. This is primarily to be achieved by comparing matched pairs of study regions, similar in resource endowment, but displaying contrasting characteristics in terms of economic activity. The term " Economic Vitality " was chosen to describe the rather nebulous characteristic which distinguishes the study regions. It could perhaps best be conceived as the opposite of " lagging " or " fragile ". This report seeks to present an overview of the recent literature relating to " economic vitality " both as a general concept, and in terms of patterns which may be identified in the Northern Periphery. It begins (Section II) with a discussion of the concept of " economic vitality " , the role of " regional milieux " , and innovation processes. This is followed (Section III) by a brief review of literature relating to variations of economic vitality within the Northern Periphery, including a summary of the results of the Statistical Mapping and Regional Perceptions Survey tasks carried out by the project team. The following four sections (IX-VII) take the form of a more detailed consideration of the conceptual and theoretical issues raised by recent literature relating to regional milieux. Each of these takes a different disciplinary standpoint, to draw out the implications for the case study analysis to be carried out in the second half of the project, and concludes with a set of working hypotheses. Andrew K Copus " Economic vitality " has much in common with several other terms frequently used in the context of rural/regional development. These include " regional competitiveness " , " sustainability " , " growth " , and " development ". Economic vitality would generally be associated with competitiveness, although the focus of the former is on the relationship between local economic activity and local " levels of living " , whereas the latter compares the area's economic performance to that of other regions. Regional competitiveness is essentially an economic concept, and it will therefore be discussed more fully in Section 5 of this report. " Sustainability " is a very broad concept, with a chameleon-like ability to assume different meanings in different contexts. It can be used in a socioeconomic sense, where …
EVIDENCE FOR CHRONIC STRESS IN CAPTIVE BUT NOT FREE-RANGING CHEETAHS (ACINONYX JUBATUS) BASED ON ADRENAL MORPHOLOGY AND FUNCTION

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)is highly endangered because of loss of habitat in the wild and failure to thrive in captivity. Cheetahs in zoos reproduce poorly and have high prevalences of unusual diseases that cause morbidity and mortality. These diseases are rarely observed in free-ranging cheetahs but have been documented in cheetahs that have been captured and held in captive settings either temporarily or permanently. Because captivity may be stressful for this species and stress is suspected as contributing to poor health and reproduction, this study aimed to measure chronic stress by comparing baseline concentrations of fecal corticoid metabolites and adrenal gland morphology between captive and free-ranging cheetahs. Additionally, concentrations of estradiol and testosterone metabolites were quantified to determine whether concentrations of gonadal steroids correlated with corticoid concentration and to assure that corticosteroids in the free-ranging samples were not altered by environmental conditions. Concentrations of fecal corticoids, estradiol, and testosterone were quantified by radioimmunoassay in 20 free-ranging and 20 captive cheetahs from samples collected between 1994 and 1999. Concentrations of baseline fecal corticoids were significantly higher (p=0.005) in captive cheetahs (196.08±36.20 ng/g dry feces) than free-ranging cheetahs (71.40±14.35 ng/g dry feces). Testosterone concentrations were lower in captive male cheetahs (9.09±2.84 ng/g dry feces) than in free-ranging cheetahs (34.52±12.11 ng/g dry feces), which suggests suppression by elevated corticoids in the captive males. Evidence for similar suppression of estradiol concentrations in females was not present. Adrenal corticomedullary ratios were determined on midsagittal sections of adrenal glands from 13 free-ranging and 13 captive cheetahs obtained between 1991 and 2002. The degree of vacuolation of cortical cells in the zona fasciculata was graded for each animal. Corticomedullary ratios were larger (p=0.05) in captive cheetahs; however, there was no difference (p=0.31) in the degree of corticocyte vacuolation between the two populations. These data provide both morphologic and functional evidence suggestive of chronic stress in captive cheetahs. Further research into the role of hypercortisolemia in the pathogenesis of the reproductive abnormalities and unusual diseases of captive cheetahs is needed.
ANALYTICALAND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF TRADE POLICY EFFECTS OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION: IMPLICATIONS FORAFRICA

Extensive research and analysis usually highlight the following causes for Africa's economic problems: adverse geographic and demographic conditions, low rates of domestic savings, endemic poverty, excessive dependence on a few agricultural commodities, lack of institutional transparency, lack of market openness and liberalization, terms oftrade and other external shocks, macroeconomic policy weaknesses, structural policy failures, weaknesses in governance, political instability and conflicts. Recent imperatives brought on by globalization of trade and investment, and the formation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) so as to gain greater access to markets and improve trade competitiveness, have necessitated the formation of an African Union. However, African countries need to learn from more successful reformers and existing RTAs about the process, sequencing and the efficacy of integration efforts. The combined effects of identified factors resulting from an RTA are expected to provide opportunities to expand trade, pool resources for investment, enlarge local markets, and industrialize more efficiently by taking advantage ofthe scale ofproduction that large markets afford. In this paper, we review some recent theoretical arguments and provide certain empirical evidence in support of lessons learnt from the implementation of RTAs around the world. First Africa's trade policy challenges are discussed. Second, research findings on key trade theory and policy considerations that are influenced by RTAs are comprehensively reviewed. Then implications from lessons learnt are derived for Africa's emerging challenge in seeking to create an RTA. Since most national markets in Africa are simply too small and/or inadequate to sustain large-scale economic operations, lessons learnt are that economic integration must be viewed as important for utilizing Africa's human and physical potential, instituting credible policies, and for realizing its prime objectives of accelerating economic growth and reducing poverty. RTAs can result in economic growth, through attracting human and capital resources, and technology to transform economies, increase trade creation, expand economies of scale, reduce the cost of doing business, and promote peace and security. Africa can build on lessons learnt from existing sub-regional and bilateral arrangements in order to sustain its emerging regional economic integration. Creating a single regional market can eventually enhance Africa's economic efficiency. Regional trade agreements can help countries build on their comparative advantages, sharpen their industrial efficiency, and act as a springboard to integrate into the global economy. It can also help strengthen the political commitment to an open economy, improve technical, management and negotiation skills and competence, educate the public and more actively engage the business community. This will build credibility for Africa's best reformers in the eyes of the world and, hopefully, reward them with greater access to markets.
Augmented reality: which augmentation for which reality?

In this paper, we first present a brief review of approaches used for studying and designing Augmented Reality (AR) systems. The variety of approaches and definitions in AR requires classification. We define two intrinsic characteristics of AR systems, task focus and nature of augmentation. Based on these two characteristics, we identify four classes of AR systems. In addition our OP-a-S notation provides a complementary characterization method based on interaction. Using OP-a-S, an AR system is modeled as a set of components that communicate with each other. One crucial type of OP-a-S component is the Adapter that establishes a bridge between the real world and the virtual world. By defining a classification scheme, we aim at providing a better understanding of the paradigm of AR and at laying the foundations of future design principles according to the class of systems.
A gradient-like variational Bayesian approach for joint image super-resolution and source separation, application to astrophysical map-making

In this work, a new unsupervised Bayesian method for joint image super-resolution and component separation is introduced. More precisely, we are interested in super-resolution for astrophysical map-making and separation between extended and point emissions. This is tackled as an inverse problem in a Bayesian framework, where a Markovian model is used as a prior for the extended emission and a student's t-distribution is attributed for the point sources component. All model and noise parameters are unknown, therefore we chose to estimate them jointly with the images. Nevertheless, both Joint Maximum A Posteriori (JMAP) and Posterior Mean (PM) estimators are intractable. Hence, we propose to approximate the true posterior by free-form separable distribution using a gradient-like variational Bayesian approach, which allows a joint update of the shape parameters of the approximating marginals. Applications on simulated and real datasets, obtained from Herschel space observatory, show a good quality of reconstruction. Furthermore, compared to conventional methods, our method gives a higher resolution while conserving photometery and reducing noise.
Analyses of Genotypes and Phenotypes of Ten Chinese Patients with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome by Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification and Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization

Background: Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a contiguous gene syndrome that is typically caused by a deletion of the distal portion of the short arm of chromosome 4. However, there are few reports about the features of Chinese WHS patients. This study aimed to characterize the clinical and molecular cytogenetic features of Chinese WHS patients using the combination of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and array comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH). Methods: Clinical information was collected from ten patients with WHS. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of the patients. The deletions were analyzed by MLPA and array CGH. Results: All patients exhibited the core clinical symptoms of WHS, including severe growth delay, a Greek warrior helmet facial appearance, differing degrees of intellectual disability, and epilepsy or electroencephalogram anomalies. The 4p deletions ranged from 2.62 Mb to 17.25 Mb in size and included LETM1, WHSC1, and FGFR3. Conclusions: The combined use of MLPA and array CGH is an effective and specific means to diagnose WHS and allows for the precise identification of the breakpoints and sizes of deletions. The deletion of genes in the WHS candidate region is closely correlated with the core WHS phenotype.
Tensor Decomposition via Joint Matrix Schur Decomposition

We describe an approach to tensor decomposition that involves extracting a set of observable matrices from the tensor and applying an approximate joint Schur decomposition on those matrices, and we establish the corresponding first-order perturbation bounds. We develop a novel iterative Gauss-Newton algorithm for joint matrix Schur decomposition, which minimizes a nonconvex objective over the manifold of orthogonal matrices, and which is guaranteed to converge to a global optimum under certain conditions. We empirically demonstrate that our algorithm is faster and at least as accurate and robust than state-of-the-art algorithms for this problem.
Supply Chain Dynamics and Channel Efficiency in Durable Product Pricing and Distribution

This study extends the single-period vertical price interaction in a manufacturer--retailer dyad to a multiperiod setting. A manufacturer distributes a durable product through an exclusive retailer to an exhaustible population of consumers with heterogeneous reservation prices. In each period, the manufacturer and retailer in turn set wholesale and retail prices, respectively, and customers with valuation above the retail price adopt the product at a constant (hazard) rate. We derive the open-loop, feedback, and myopic equilibria for this dynamic pricing game and compare it to the centralized solution. Although in an integrated supply chain a forward-looking dynamic pricing strategy is always desirable, we show that this is not the case in a decentralized setting, because of vertical competition. Our main result is that both supply chain entities are better off in the long run when they ignore the impact of current prices on future demand and focus on immediate-term profits. A numerical study confirms that this insight is robust under various supply-and demand-side effects. We use the channel efficiency corresponding to various pricing rules to further derive insights into decisions on decentralization and disintermediation.
Loss of virus-specific T-cell responses in HCV exposed uninfected injection drug users with drug rehabilitation.

INTRODUCTION Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific T lymphocyte responses have been demonstrated in peripheral blood from injection drug users (IDUs) persistently HCV antibody and RNA negative despite high-risk behavior. We have termed these apparently HCV resistant cases "Exposed Uninfecteds" (EUs), and have studied the evolution of T-cell responses to determine if they are protective in nature. METHODS Twenty-one EU cases were studied using a questionnaire to ascertain injecting behavior details. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from whole blood and an interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay used to detect T-cell responses to a panel of HCV proteins. EU cases were subdivided by injecting drug patterns into (1) cases in rehabilitation who stopped injecting, (2) prisoners (infrequent/noninjectors), and (3) cases who continued to inject. RESULTS EUs continuing to inject had significantly stronger (P < .01) and more frequent (P < .05) HCV-specific IFN-γ ELISPOT responses than controls or noninjecting EUs. EUs in rehabilitation lost their T-cell responses during follow-up, while those continuing to inject maintained them. CONCLUSIONS HCV-specific T-cell responses in EU cases wane within months of cessation of injection drug use. Maintenance of these T-cell responses appears to be dependent on continuing HCV exposure through injection drug use.