Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social disadvantage and cardiovascular disease: development of an index and analysis of age, sex, and ethnicity effects.

BACKGROUND Social disadvantage is defined by adverse socio-economic characteristics and is distributed unequally by age, sex, and ethnicity. We studied the relationship between social disadvantage, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among men and women from diverse ethno-racial backgrounds. METHODS A total of 1227 men and women of South Asian, Chinese, Aboriginal, and European ancestry were randomly selected from four communities in Canada to undergo a health assessment. Socio-economic factors, conventional and novel CV risk factors, atherosclerosis, and CVD were measured. A social disadvantage index was generated and included employment status, income, and marital status. Social disadvantage was examined in relation to risk factors for CVD, atherosclerosis, and prevalent CVD. RESULTS Social disadvantage was higher among older people, women, and non-white ethnic groups. Cigarette smoking, glucose, overweight, abdominal obesity, and CRP were higher among individuals with higher social disadvantage, whereas systolic blood pressure, lipids, norepinephrine, and atherosclerosis were not. Social disadvantage is an independent predictor of CVD after adjustment for conventional and novel risk markers for CVD (OR for 1 point increase = 1.25; 95% CI 1.06-1.47). CONCLUSION The social disadvantage index combines social and economic exposures into a single continuous measure. Significant variation in social disadvantage by age, sex, and ethnic group exists. Increased social disadvantage is associated with an increased burden of some CV risk factors, and is an independently associated with CVD.
A comparative study up to 1024 bit Euclid's GCD algorithm FPGA implementation and synthesizing

In this paper, we are targeting Altera Cyclone IV FPGA family to design an efficient GCD (Greatest Common Divisor) coprocessor based on Euclid's method with variable datapath sizes. The design was synthesized using seven chip technologies in terms of maximum frequency and critical path delay of the coprocessor. As a result, the comparison between different FPGA devices shows that Xilinx devices XC7VH290T-2-HCG1155 as well as XC7K70T-2-FBG676 recorded the best values of maximum frequencies of243.934 MHz down to 39.94 MHz for 32 bit and 1024 bit datapaths, respectively. Finally, the comparison with previous designs illustrates that the proposed coprocessor design has a throughput efficiency of even two times faster than other designs. Hence, the proposed work will help the FPGA system designers to better utilize the hardware performance for many applications such as cryptosystems design.
Hydrogen Sulfide Mitigates Cardiac Remodeling During Myocardial Infarction via Improvement of Angiogenesis

Exogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) leads to down-regulation of inflammatory responses and provides myocardial protection during acute ischemia/reperfusion injury; however its role during chronic heart failure (CHF) due to myocardial infarction (MI) is yet to be unveiled. We previously reported that H2S inhibits antiangiogenic factors such, as endostatin and angiostatin, but a little is known about its effect on parstatin (a fragment of proteinase-activated receptor-1, PAR-1). We hypothesize that H2S inhibits parstatin formation and promotes VEGF activation, thus promoting angiogenesis and significantly limiting the extent of MI injury. To verify this hypothesis MI was created in 12 week-old male mice by ligation of left anterior descending artery (LAD). Sham surgery was performed except LAD ligation. After the surgery mice were treated with sodium hydrogen sulfide (30 μmol/l NaHS, a donor for H2S, in drinking water) for 4 weeks. The LV tissue was analyzed for VEGF, flk-1 and flt-1, endostatin, angiostatin and parstatin. The expression of VEGF, flk-1 and flt-1 were significantly increased in treated mice while the level of endostatin, angiostatin and parstatin were decreased compared to in untreated mice. The echocardiography in mice treated with H2S showed the improvement of heart function compared to in untreated mice. The X-ray and Doppler blood flow measurements showed enhancement of cardiac-angiogenesis in mice treated with H2S. This observed cytoprotection was associated with an inhibition of anti-angiogenic proteins and stimulation of angiogenic factors. We established that administration of H2S at the time of MI ameliorated infarct size and preserved LV function during development of MI in mice. These results suggest that H2S is cytoprotective and angioprotective during evolution of MI.
On Multi-User EXIT Chart Analysis Aided Turbo-Detected MBER Beamformer Designs

This paper studies the mutual information transfer characteristics of a novel iterative soft interference cancellation (SIC) aided beamforming receiver communicating over both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and multipath slow fading channels. Based on the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart technique, we investigate the convergence behavior of an iterative minimum bit error rate (MBER) multiuser detection (MUD) scheme as a function of both the system parameters and channel conditions in comparison to the SIC aided minimum mean square error (SIC-MMSE) MUD. Our simulation results show that the EXIT chart analysis is sufficiently accurate for the MBER MUD. Quantitatively, a two-antenna system was capable of supporting up to K=6 users at Eb/Na=3dB, even when their angular separation was relatively low, potentially below 20deg.
A New Non-Pterodactyloid Pterosaur from the Late Jurassic of Southern Germany

Background The ‘Solnhofen Limestone’ beds of the Southern Franconian Alb, Bavaria, southern Germany, have for centuries yielded important pterosaur specimens, most notably of the genera Pterodactylus and Rhamphorhynchus. Here we describe a new genus of non-pterodactyloid pterosaur based on an extremely well preserved fossil of a young juvenile: Bellubrunnus rothgaengeri (gen. et sp. nov.). Methodology/Principal Findings The specimen was examined firsthand by all authors. Additional investigation and photography under UV light to reveal details of the bones not easily seen under normal lighting regimes was completed. Conclusions/Significance This taxon heralds from a newly explored locality that is older than the classic Solnhofen beds. While similar to Rhamphorhynchus, the new taxon differs in the number of teeth, shape of the humerus and femur, and limb proportions. Unlike other derived non-pterodacytyloids, Bellubrunnus lacks elongate chevrons and zygapophyses in the tail, and unlike all other known pterosaurs, the wingtips are curved anteriorly, potentially giving it a unique flight profile.
Free radical scavenging inhibits STAT phosphorylation following in vivo ischemia/reperfusion injury

The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family are latent transcription factors involved in a variety of signal transduction pathways, including cell death cascades. STAT1 has been shown to have a crucial role in regulating cardiac cell apoptosis in the myocardium exposed to ischemia/ reperfusion (I/R) injury. The free radical scavenger, tempol, is known to have cardioprotective properties, although little is known about the molecular mechanism(s) by which it acts. In the present study, we assessed the levels of phosphorylated STAT1 and STAT3 and examined whether tempol was able to affect STAT activation after in vivo cardiac I/R injury. We observed a reperfusion time‐dependent increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3 at residues 701 and 705, respectively. Here we show for the first time that tempol dramatically reduced STAT1 and 3 phosphorylation. The reduction in STAT1 and 3 phosphorylation was accompanied by a concomitant decrease in cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. To verify the role of STAT1 in modulating the cardioprotective effect of tempol, rats were injected with the STAT1 activator, IFN‐γ, and tempol during I/R injury. We found that the presence of IFN‐γ abrogated the protective effects of tempol, suggesting that the protective effects of tempol may partly operate by decreasing the phosphorylation of STAT1. This study demonstrates that careful dissection of the molecular mechanisms that underpin I/R injury may reveal cardioprotective targets for future therapy. —McCormick, J,. Barry, S. P., Sivarajah, A. , Stefanutti, G. , Townsend, P. A. , Lawrence, K. M. , Eaton, S. , Knight, R. A. , Thiemermann, C. , Latchman, D. S. , Stephanou, A. Free radical scavenging inhibits stat phosphorylation following in vivo ischemia/reperfusion injury. FASEB J. 20, E1404 –E1410 (2006)
Potential Precursors of Comorbidity: Examining how Emotions, Parental Psychopathology, and Family Functioning Relate to Depressive Symptoms in Young Anxious Children

Objective: Past research indicates that comorbid anxiety and depression in youth is associated with greater functional impairment than anxiety alone. To elucidate those factors which may increase vulnerability to depressive disorders, the current study examined several clinical correlates (i.e., feelings ratings, parental psychopathology symptoms, and family functioning) of comorbid depressive symptoms in young anxious children. Method: Sixty-eight children, aged 6 to 10 years (M = 9.06, SD = 1.10), and caregivers completed measures assessing child depressive symptoms. Furthermore, children completed self reports of anxiety symptoms, feelings ratings, and family functioning, while caregivers completed self reports of psychopathology symptoms and family functioning. Predictors of child depressive symptoms were examined separately for girls and boys. Results: In females, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for anxiety, higher sadness and lower positive feelings accounted for 30% of variance in child-reported depressive symptoms. Further analyses indicated that child-reported overall family dysfunction moderated the relationship between positive feelings and depressive symptoms, such that high family dysfunction increased the risk of depressive symptoms in females with low positive emotions. In males, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for anxiety, higher negative/hostile feelings and childreported overall family dysfunction accounted for 19% of variance in child-reported depressive symptoms. Further analyses of family functioning in males revealed that child-reported family cohesion and conflict were negatively and positively correlated, respectively, with depressive
Adverse Effects of Fullerenes on Endothelial Cells: Fullerenol C60(OH)24 Induced Tissue Factor and ICAM-1 Membrane Expression and Caused Apoptosis In Vitro.

We studied the effects of a C 60 water suspension at 4 µg/mL (nC 60 ) and the water soluble fullerenol C 60 (OH) 24 at fi nal concentrations of 1 100 µg/mL on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in culture. We found that a 24 hr treatment of HUVECs with C 60 (OH) 24 at 100 µg/mL signifi cantly increased cell surface expression of ICAM-1(CD54) (67 ± 4% CD54 + cells vs. 19 ± 2 % CD54 + cells in control; p 0.001). In addition, this treat- ment induced the expression of tissue factor (CD142) on HUVECs (54 ± 20% CD142 + cells vs 4 ± 2% CD142 + cells in control; p = 0.008) and increased exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS)
Structuring a research infrastructure: A study of the rise and fall of a large-scale distributed biobank facility

This study analyses the perceived key interests, importance, influences and participation of different actors in harmonizing the processes and mechanisms of a distributed research infrastructure. It investigates the EU-funded initiative, BioBanking and Molecular Resource Infrastructure in Sweden (BBMRI.se), which seeks to harmonize the biobanking standards. The study interviews multiple actors involved throughout the development process. Their responses are analysed via a framework based on the IIED Stakeholder Power Analysis Tool. The BBMRI.se formation was facilitated by two parallel processes, with domestic and European/foreign origin, with leading scientists becoming ‘National Champions’. The respondents joined the organization under the premise that it would be a collaborative endeavour, but they were disappointed to learn the deliberative elements were more prevalent. In conclusion, the resulting autonomous structure caused disarray, while also fuelling interpersonal differences, ultimately leading to the closure of the infrastructure. Hence, it is necessary to clearly identify potential collaborative and deliberative elements already at the outset while also securing wider forms of communication between the participating actors, when establishing distributed research infrastructures. Moreover, while prior literature suggests that research infrastructures counteracts fragmentation, these results illustrate that this is not the case for this distributed research infrastructure.
Mode of Administration, Retrospective Recall and the Validity of Vote Reports

Survey respondents have consistently been found to overreport their participation in political elections. Lots of research has been done about the sociodemographic correlates of vote overreporting, but only a few studies analyzed determinants which survey researchers have under their control in order to reduce the problem. Theoretical explanations have assumed memory failure and social desirability bias to explain overreporting. Taking these explanations as a starting point, we tested firstly whether asking retrospective questions about the participation in elections which date back longer in time leads to more overreporting. The second hypothesis is that ensured response privacy eliminates the need for positive self-presentation and thus reduces overreporting. Using data from a field experiment, we found that when already a substantial time has elapsed between the election under consideration and the survey interview, increasing this time lag does not increase the probability of vote reports. This was however the case when the data was collected interviewerrather than self-administered. Thus, using an administration mode which ensures response privacy successfully reduces vote overreporting.
The Pcdp1 complex coordinates the activity of dynein isoforms to produce wild-type ciliary motility

The C1d projection of the central apparatus includes Pcdp1 and is required for ciliary motility. A combination of structural and functional studies shows that C1d is required for coordination of dynein activity on specific doublets and differentially affects the activity of both the outer and inner dynein arms.
BEYOND PRINCIPAL-AGENT GOVERNANCE : EXPERIMENTALIST ORGANIZATIONS , LEARNING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The success of LPF, like the success of similar populist movements that preceded it in Austria, France, Switzerland and elsewhere, raises grave questions about the legitimacy of democratic inputs to public decision making and the efficacy of public action however decided. At the very least these successes signal an impaired responsiveness of the democratic state to its electorate: a democratic deficit. Coming at a time of economic well being, shifts in party allegiance of a magnitude not seen since the 1920s are thus widely and rightly seen as extending beyond democratic criticism of this or that incumbent government into a protest against the way contemporary representative democracy works. The causes of this democratic distress are many. But there is substantial agreement that an important source of the protest is disappointment with the way government provides public goods such as education, health care, public security, and with the regulatory rules regarding, for example, the environment, to which civil society actors must respond (Van den Brink 2002). Among politicians of many political colors and in the high reaches of the civil service there is further agreement that government fails at these tasks because it tries to solve too many public problems directly, and too often with rigid, bureaucratic methods: The state fails to deliver in key areas where sustained public engagement is necessary, even while meddling wastefully in matters where it is not. These failures, it is further claimed, are especially burdensome for increasingly diverse and vulnerable social groups. As government is manifestly less able today than in recent decades to protect the vulnerable against the insecurity associated with market economies by social insurance, it must assure solidarity by providing those particular forms of education and other services that enable citizens, as
Visual body perception: Towards identifying objective markers of body image disturbance in brain and behaviour

Previous research has shown that the brain processes bodies distinctively from other stimuli. Little research however, has addressed whether visual body perception is modulated by the observer’s conscious experience of their own body (body image). This thesis was therefore dedicated to investigating the relationship between body image disturbance and visual body perception, with the aim of identifying potential objective markers of body image disturbance in brain and behaviour. Initially, the suitability of headless body stimuli was assessed and electroencephalogram (EEG) was employed in order to evaluate the stability of early occipito-parietal (P1, N1) and fronto-central (VPP) visual event-related potentials (ERPs), including body-sensitive effects. A series of studies were then designed to investigate behavioural configural processing mechanisms and the early temporal dynamics of visual body perception (P1, N1, VPP), including the perception of own- and other- identity, in women with and without a history of disorders characterised by body image disturbance, such as eating disorders (EDs) and/or body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Results confirmed the suitability of headless body stimuli, and of early visual ERP responses and their associated body-sensitivity for investigating visual body processing mechanisms. Further to this, ED participants, not controls, were found to elicit a rapid P1-N1 complex as well as gender-sensitive N1/VPP responses to other women’s bodies; effects which were associated with ED symptomatology. Moreover, results indicated rapid atypical gender-sensitive identity perception in those with EDs/BDD. Finally, behavioural evidence for configural body processing disturbance was found in those recovering from EDs and BDD, as well as in adolescents ‘at risk’ of developing such disorders. It is thus concluded that processes indicative of visual body perception, in both brain and behaviour, present atypically in women who have experienced EDs/BDD. Importantly, rapid visual ERP responses, as well as early gender-sensitive ERP effects, appear to be potential neural markers of ED symptomatology.
Ticagrelor promotes atherosclerotic plaque stability in a mouse model of advanced atherosclerosis

Objective There is increasing evidence supporting the role of platelets in atherosclerotic vascular disease. The G-protein-coupled receptor P2Y12 is a central mediator of platelet activation and aggregation but has also been linked to platelet-independent vascular disease. Ticagrelor is an oral P2Y12 antagonist that is used as a standard treatment in patients after acute myocardial infarction. However, the effects of ticagrelor on advanced atherosclerosis have not been investigated. Materials and methods Twenty-week-old apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice received standard chow or standard chow supplemented with 0.15% ticagrelor (approximately 270 mg/kg/day) for 25 weeks. The lesion area was evaluated in the aortic sinus by Movat’s pentachrome staining and lesion composition, thickness of the fibrous cap, and size of the necrotic core evaluated by morphometry. RAW 264.7 macrophages were serum starved and treated with ticagrelor in vitro for the detection and quantification of apoptosis. In addition, oxLDL uptake in RAW 264.7 macrophages was evaluated. Results A trend toward the reduction of total lesion size was detected. However, data did not reach the levels of significance (control, n=11, 565,881 μm2 [interquartile range {IQR} 454,778–603,925 μm2] versus ticagrelor, n=13, 462,595 μm2 [IQR 379,740–546,037 μm2]; P=0.1). A significant reduction in the relative area of the necrotic core (control, n=11, 0.46 [IQR 0.4–0.51] versus ticagrelor, n=13, 0.34 [IQR 0.31–0.39]; P=0.008), and a significant increase in fibrous caps thickness (control, n=11, 3.7 μm [IQR 3.4–4.2 μm] versus ticagrelor, n=13, 4.7 [IQR 4.3–5.5 μm], P=0.04) were seen in ticagrelor-treated mice. In vitro studies demonstrated a reduction in apoptotic RAW 264.7 macrophages (control 0.07±0.03 versus ticagrelor 0.03±0.03; P=0.0002) when incubated with ticagrelor. Uptake of oxLDL in RAW 264.7 was significantly reduced when treated with ticagrelor (control 9.2 [IQR 5.3–12.9] versus ticagrelor 6.4 [IQR 2.5–9.5], P=0.02). Conclusion The present study demonstrates for the first time a plaque-stabilizing effect of ticagrelor in a model of advanced vascular disease, potentially induced by a reduction of oxLDL uptake or an inhibition of apoptosis as seen in vitro.
Dynamics of the unique trait of personality: blood’s glutamate in response to methylphenidate and conditioning

The Unique Personality Trait Theory (UPTT) postulates that glutamate is the most significant biological substrate of personality. In this study, the analysis of personality dynamics by glutamate’s reactivity to one dose of a stimulant drug, the methylphenidate, is performed. Moreover, the conditioned dynamics of drug effects by using the self-regulation therapy is also studied. An ABC single case experimental design with replication with two subjects has been performed. In the three phases each subject fills the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) of the MAACL each 15 minutes (17 registers for each phase). Sensation seeking is considered as an acceptable approximation for the measurement of the unique trait. Blood samples were obtained each one hour (5 samples for each phase). The first phase was the base-line, while for the second phase both subjects consumed 20 mg of methylphenidate. For the third phase, subject 1 consumed 40 mg of methylphenidate and subject 2 applied the self-regulation therapy to reproduce the drug effect. The results confirm an inverted U curve as dynamical pattern of the blood concentration of glutamate as a response to one dose of methylphenidate. In addition, individual differences between the two subjects have been observed; concretely, tolerance effect for subject 1 and sensitizing effect for subject 2 in phase C have been observed. The conditioning effect on the plasma glutamate increase was observed in subject 2 by application of the self-regulation therapy. This outcome can be interpreted as an effect of “personality conditioning” and it opens considerable implications for the future understanding of personality and its therapeutic modification.