Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Variation in the Premature Aging Gene WRN: A Case-Control Study on Breast Cancer Susceptibility

The high risk of developing cancer seen in human genetic diseases that resemble accelerated aging provides support for a tumorigenic contribution of the mechanisms and genes responsible for regulating life span and aging. We therefore speculated that the WRN gene (encoding RECQL2, a DNA helicase), the germline mutation of which causes the progeroid disorder Werner syndrome, may be associated with breast tumorigenesis. This hypothesis was tested in this case-control study of 935 primary breast cancer patients and 1,545 healthy controls by examining single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in WRN. We were also interested in knowing whether any identified association between WRN and breast cancer was modified by reproductive risk factors reflecting susceptibility to estrogen exposure. Our hypothesis is that because estrogen is known to promote breast cancer development via its mitogenic effect leading to cell proliferation, and because WRN is an essential gene, as its suboptimal function leads to a severe decrease in proliferation, estrogen stimulation may have a protective effect on cells harboring variant WRN, allowing them to survive and proliferate for the prolonged period needed for tumor formation. Support for this hypothesis came from the following observations: (a) one SNP in WRN was significantly associated with breast cancer risk (P = 0.002); (b) haplotype and diplotype analyses, based on different combinations of multiple SNPs in WRN, revealed a strong association with breast cancer risk; (c) this association between risk and putative high-risk genotypes was stronger and more significant in women with a longer interval between menarche and first full-term pregnancy; and (d) the protective effect conferred by having a higher number of full-term pregnancy was only significant in women with homozygous or heterozygous wild-type WRN genotypes. This study provides support for the tumorigenic role of WRN in breast cancer development, suggesting that breast cancer can be driven by the aging associated with variant WRN, the tumorigenic contribution of which might be enhanced as a result of increased cell growth due to estrogen exposure. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(2):263–9)
Applications of Scheimpflug Imaging in Glaucoma Management: Current and Potential Applications

Scheimpflug photography is the basis for a variety of imaging devices that are highly versatile. The applications of Scheimpflug imaging are wide in scope, spanning from evaluation of corneal ectasia to quantifying density in nuclear sclerotic cataracts. The potential uses for Scheimpflug-based devices are expanding and a number of them are relevant in glaucoma. In particular, they can provide three-dimensional image reconstruction of the anterior segment which includes assessment of the iridocorneal angle. Photographic analyses allow also for a noncontact method of estimating central corneal thickness (CCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP), as well as the study of various corneal biomechanical properties, which may be useful for stratifying glaucoma risk.
Use of Autonomy-Supportive and Controlling Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Investigation in NCAA Division I Football

Grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), the coachathlete relationship model (Mageau & Vallerand, 2003) suggests that coaches can positively affect athletes’ basic psychological needs satisfaction and motivation through autonomy-supporting behavior. Yet, little research has explored coaches’ objective use of autonomy support or the personal and contextual demands associated with such interactions. The current study used a mixed-methods design to describe coaches’ utilization, perceived benefits of, and challenges to the provision of autonomy support during an NCAA football season. Participants were nine assistant coaches at a Division I university. Each coach was live-coded at one practice each week for the duration of the 12-game schedule. At midseason, participants received a report of the percentage of interactions in teaching, organization, cheering, autonomy support, and controlling behaviors, as well as recommendations for improvement. Coach-level RM-ANOVA results demonstrate.
Plasma levels of C-reactive protein after coronary stent implantation.

AIMS This study was designed to investigate the role of inflammation on the occurrence of angiographic restenosis 6 months after coronary stent implantation and the influence of different kinds of antithrombotic and antiplatelet strategies on inflammation. METHODS AND RESULTS In an open randomized trial, 40 consecutive patients were treated with aspirin (100 mg. day(-1)) and either ticlopidine (2x250 mg. day(-1)) (n=17), or phenprocoumon (INR 2.0-3.0) and dipyridamole (3x160 mg. day(-1)) (n=23) after successful elective coronary stent implantation. Plasma levels of C-reactive protein were determined one day before stent implantation and serially thereafter twice daily up to 120 h. C-reactive protein plasma levels increased significantly (P<0.0001) after stent implantation. Phenprocoumon and dipyridamole or ticlopidine had no effect on C-reactive protein plasma levels (P=0.51) or the occurrence of angiographic restenosis (P=0.48). C-reactive protein plasma levels were significantly higher in patients with lesion type C compared to types A or B (P=0.035), respectively. C-reactive protein plasma levels were significantly higher and mean shoulder levels occurred 48 h later in patients with restenosis compared to patients without restenosis after 6 months (P=0.038). CONCLUSIONS Elevated C-reactive protein plasma levels still persisting 96 h after stent implantation might reflect a prolonged inflammatory reaction to coronary stent implantation which might causally be involved in pathophysiological mechanisms leading to restenosis.
Quasi-optical and spatial power combining

Quasi-optical power-combining techniques have been developed to address fundamental limitations in solid-state devices and circuits. These techniques have been applied to oscillators, amplifiers, frequency-conversion components, and control circuits. This paper surveys progress in the development of quasi-optical array systems operating in the microwave and millimeter-wave regime, focusing primarily on the progress in power amplifiers.
Strategic Open Routing in Service Networks

We study the behavior of strategic customers in an open-routing service network with multiple stations. When a customer enters the network, she is free to choose the sequence of stations that she visits, with the objective of minimizing her expected total system time. For the two-station game with deterministic service times, we prove that the game is supermodular. By applying the supermodularity result, we observe that strategic customers "herd," i.e., in equilibrium all customers choose the same route. We then identify a broad class of learning rules --- which includes both fictitious play and Cournot best-response --- that converges to herding in finite time. We also find that the herding behavior is prevalent in many other open-routing service networks, including those with stochastic service times and those with more than two stations.
Competition and strategy in electronic marketplaces

Electronic marketplaces are evolving in both business to business, and business to consumer contexts. Although the initial hype surrounding all types of marketplaces appears to have overstated their short-term impact, established companies across all types of industrial sectors are entering into collaborative, industry-wide initiatives to agree common technical and trading standards to improve the effectiveness of the interactions between buyers and suppliers on a global scale. An overview of contemporary developments is presented, and common patterns across different sectors are identified. Two case studies of business and retail markets are analysed. It is shown that the nature of relationships is complex and multifaceted, and differences in product-market characteristics, relationship strategies and market structure affect the design of information flows and common industry-wide business processes.
The Centromere Paradox: Stable Inheritance with Rapidly Evolving DNA

Every eukaryotic chromosome has a centromere, the locus responsible for poleward movement at mitosis and meiosis. Although conventional loci are specified by their DNA sequences, current evidence favors a chromatin-based inheritance mechanism for centromeres. The chromosome segregation machinery is highly conserved across all eukaryotes, but the DNA and protein components specific to centromeric chromatin are evolving rapidly. Incompatibilities between rapidly evolving centromeric components may be responsible for both the organization of centromeric regions and the reproductive isolation of emerging species.
Antioxidant Enzymes Regulate Reactive Oxygen Species during Pod Elongation in Pisum sativum and Brassica chinensis

Previous research has focused on the involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell wall loosening and cell extension in plant vegetative growth, but few studies have investigated ROS functions specifically in plant reproductive organs. In this study, ROS levels and antioxidant enzyme activities were assessed in Pisum sativum and Brassica chinensis pods at five developmental stages. In juvenile pods, the high levels of O2 . − and.OH indicates that they had functions in cell wall loosening and cell elongation. In later developmental stages, high levels of.OH were also related to increases in cell wall thickness in lignified tissues. Throughout pod development, most of the O2 . − was detected on plasma membranes of parenchyma cells and outer epidermis cells of the mesocarp, while most of the H2O2 was detected on plasma membranes of most cells throughout the mesocarp. This suggests that these sites are presumably the locations of ROS generation. The antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) apparently contributed to ROS accumulation in pod wall tissues. Furthermore, specifically SOD and POD were found to be associated with pod growth through the regulation of ROS generation and transformation. Throughout pod development, O2 . − decreases were associated with increased SOD activity, while changes in H2O2 accumulation were associated with changes in CAT and POD activities. Additionally, high POD activity may contribute to the generation of.OH in the early development of pods. It is concluded that the ROS are produced in different sites of plasma membranes with the regulation of antioxidant enzymes, and that substantial ROS generation and accumulation are evident in cell elongation and cell wall loosening in pod wall cells.
Insulin glulisine provides improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE Insulin glulisine is a novel analog of human insulin designed for use as a rapid-acting insulin. This study compared the safety and efficacy of glulisine with regular human insulin (RHI) in combination with NPH insulin. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In total, 876 relatively well-controlled patients with type 2 diabetes (mean HbA1c 7.55%) were randomized and treated with glulisine/NPH (n = 435) or RHI/NPH (n = 441) for up to 26 weeks in this randomized, multicenter, multinational, open-label, parallel-group study. Subjects were allowed to continue the same dose of prestudy regimens of oral antidiabetic agent (OAD) therapy (unless hypoglycemia necessitated a dose change). RESULTS A slightly greater reduction from baseline to end point of HbA1c was seen in the glulisine group versus RHI (-0.46 vs. -0.30% with RHI; P = 0.0029). Also, at end point, lower postbreakfast (156 vs. 162 mg/dl [8.66 vs. 9.02 mmol/l]; P < 0.05) and postdinner (154 vs. 163 mg/dl [8.54 vs. 9.05 mmol/l]; P < 0.05) blood glucose levels were noted. Symptomatic hypoglycemia (overall, nocturnal, and severe) and weight gain were comparable between the two treatment groups. There were no between-group differences in baseline-to-end point changes in insulin dose. CONCLUSIONS Twice-daily glulisine associated with NPH can provide small improvements in glycemic control compared with RHI in patients with type 2 diabetes who are already relatively well controlled on insulin alone or insulin plus OADs. The clinical relevance of such a difference remains to be established.
Interaction of electrically evoked activity with intrinsic dynamics of cultured cortical networks with and without functional fast GABAergic synaptic transmission

The modulation of neuronal activity by means of electrical stimulation is a successful therapeutic approach for patients suffering from a variety of central nervous system disorders. Prototypic networks formed by cultured cortical neurons represent an important model system to gain general insights in the input–output relationships of neuronal tissue. These networks undergo a multitude of developmental changes during their maturation, such as the excitatory–inhibitory shift of the neurotransmitter GABA. Very few studies have addressed how the output properties to a given stimulus change with ongoing development. Here, we investigate input–output relationships of cultured cortical networks by probing cultures with and without functional GABAAergic synaptic transmission with a set of stimulation paradigms at various stages of maturation. On the cellular level, low stimulation rates (<15 Hz) led to reliable neuronal responses; higher rates were increasingly ineffective. Similarly, on the network level, lowest stimulation rates (<0.1 Hz) lead to maximal output rates at all ages, indicating a network wide refractory period after each stimulus. In cultures aged 3 weeks and older, a gradual recovery of the network excitability within tens of milliseconds was in contrast to an abrupt recovery after about 5 s in cultures with absent GABAAergic synaptic transmission. In these GABA deficient cultures evoked responses were prolonged and had multiple discharges. Furthermore, the network excitability changed periodically, with a very slow spontaneous change of the overall network activity in the minute range, which was not observed in cultures with absent GABAAergic synaptic transmission. The electrically evoked activity of cultured cortical networks, therefore, is governed by at least two potentially interacting mechanisms: A refractory period in the order of a few seconds and a very slow GABA dependent oscillation of the network excitability.
The Role of Management Commitment in Determining the Success of a Behavioural Safety Intervention

Abstract Behavioural safety interventions were implemented in 26 building sites across the United kingdom and quantitative safety data collected for some 24 items grouped into four categories: access to heights; scaffolding; personal protective equipment PPE and housekeeping. In addition behavioural measures of site management commitment, facilitator/observer performance and goal-setting quality were taken over the full duration of the research. All three of these measures were found to correlate positively with improved safety performance. Management commitment was the most significant. Further regression analysis suggested that management commitment was the underlying causal factor in all of these relationships and that both quality of goal-setting and facilitator performance were greatly influenced and significantly determined by management commitment levels.
Completely invariant Julia sets of polynomial semigroups

Let G be a semigroup of rational functions of degree at least two, under composition of functions. Suppose that G contains two polynomials with non-equal Julia sets. We prove that the smallest closed subset of the Riemann sphere which contains at least three points and is completely invariant under each element of G, is the sphere itself.
Managing Customer Services: Human Resource Practices, Turnover, and Sales Growth

This study examines the relationship between human resource practices, employee quit rates, and organizational performance by drawing on a unique nationally representative sample of 354 customer service and sales establishments in the telecommunications industry. Multivariate analyses show that quit rates are lower and sales growth is higher in establishments that emphasize high skills, employee participation in decision-making and in teams, and HR incentives such as high relative pay and employment security. Quit rates partially mediate the relationship between human resource practices and sales growth. These relationships also are moderated by the customer segment that frontline employees serve.
Decentralized Control of Connectivity for Multi-Agent Systems

In this paper we propose a decentralized algorithm to increase the connectivity of a multi-agent system. The connectivity property of the multi-agent system is quantified through the second smallest eigenvalue of the state dependent Laplacian of the proximity graph of agents. An exponential decay model is used to characterize the connection between agents. A supergradient algorithm is then used in conjunction with a recently developed decentralized algorithm for eigenvector computation to maximize the second smallest eigenvalue of the Laplacian of the proximity graph. A potential based control law is utilized to achieve the distances dictated by the supergradient algorithm. The algorithm is completely decentralized, where each agent receives information only from its neighbors, and uses this information to update its control law at each step of the iteration. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm
Financial Distress Prediction Based on Decision Tree Models

Predicting Corporation's financial distress accurately and efficiently is very important for banks, investors, enterprises and regulatory authorities. This paper analyzes the use of decision tree for corporate financial distress prediction. Linear models, although simple and easy to interpret, require statistical assumptions which may be unrealistic; meanwhile, neural networks are usually too complicated to comprehend. Decision tree, as one of the most efficient data mining methods, is not only able to discriminate patterns which are not linearly separable, but also can be easily understood. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed to select dilation and translation parameters that yield a decision tree classifier with good parsimony characteristics. The models are built in a case study involving both failed and continuing Chinese listed firms in the period of 2003-2005. The results, supported by a test study, show that decision trees may be a valid model to predict listed firms' financial distress in China.
Discrete and Continuous Sparse Recovery Methods and Their Applications

OF THE DISSERTATION Discrete and Continuous Sparse Recovery Methods and Their Applications by Zhao Tan Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2015 Professor Arye Nehorai, Chair Low dimensional signal processing has drawn an increasingly broad amount of attention in the past decade, because prior information about a low-dimensional space can be exploited to aid in the recovery of the signal of interest. Among all the different forms of low dimensionality, in this dissertation we focus on the synthesis and analysis models of sparse recovery. This dissertation comprises two major topics. For the first topic, we discuss the synthesis model of sparse recovery and consider the dictionary mismatches in the model. We further introduce a continuous sparse recovery to eliminate the existing off-grid mismatches for DOA estimation. In the second topic, we focus on the analysis model, with an emphasis on efficient algorithms and performance analysis. In considering the sparse recovery method with structured dictionary mismatches for the synthesis model, we exploit the joint sparsity between the mismatch parameters and original sparse signal. We demonstrate that by exploiting this information, we can obtain a robust reconstruction under mild conditions on the sensing matrix. This model is very useful for radar and passive array applications. We propose several efficient algorithms to solve the ix joint sparse recovery problem. Using numerical examples, we demonstrate that our proposed algorithms outperform several methods in the literature. We further extend the mismatch model to a continuous sparse model, using the mathematical theory of super resolution. Statistical analysis shows the robustness of the proposed algorithm. A number-detection algorithm is also proposed for the co-prime arrays. By using numerical examples, we show that continuous sparse recovery further improves the DOA estimation accuracy, over both the joint sparse method and also MUSIC with spatial smoothing. In the second topic, we visit the corresponding analysis model of sparse recovery. Instead of assuming a sparse decomposition of the original signal, the analysis model focuses on the existence of a linear transformation which can make the original signal sparse. In this work we use a monotone version of the fast iterative shrinkagethresholding algorithm (MFISTA) to yield efficient algorithms to solve the sparse recovery. We examine two widely used relaxation techniques, namely smoothing and decomposition, to relax the optimization. We show that although these two techniques are equivalent in their objective functions, the smoothing technique converges faster than the decomposition technique. We also compute the performance guarantee for the analysis model when a LASSO type of reconstruction is performed. By using numerical examples, we are able to show that the proposed algorithm is more efficient than other state of the art algorithms.
The First Direct Measurements of Surface Magnetic Fields on Very Low Mass Stars

We present the first direct magnetic field measurements on M dwarfs cooler than spectral class M4.5. Utilizing a new method based on the FeH band near 1 μm, we categorize the integrated surface magnetic flux as low (well under 1 kG), intermediate (between 1 and about 2.5 kG), or strong (greater than about 3 kG) for a set of more than 20 stars ranging from M2 down to M9. Along with the field, we also measure the rotational broadening (v sin i) and Hα emission strength. Our goal is to advance the understanding of how dynamo field production varies with stellar parameters for very low mass stars, how the field and emission activity are related, and whether there is a connection between the rotation and magnetic flux. We find that fields are produced throughout the M dwarfs. In the mid-M stars, there is a clear connection between slow rotation and weak fields. In the late-M stars, rotation is always measurable, and the strongest fields are associated with with the most rapid rotators. Interestingly, these very cool rapid rotators appear to have the largest magnetic flux in the whole sample (greater than in the classical dMe stars). Hα emission is found to be a good proxy for magnetic fields, although the relation between the fractional emission and the magnetic flux varies with effective temperature. The drop-off in this fractional emission near the bottom of the main sequence is not accompanied by a drop-off in magnetic flux. It is clear that the methodology we have developed can be further applied to discover more about the behavior of magnetic dynamos and activity in cool and fully convective objects.