Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The metabolic syndrome in older individuals: prevalence and prediction of cardiovascular events: the Cardiovascular Health Study.

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, a potent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), has not been adequately explored in older individuals. Moreover, two sets of criteria have been proposed for the definition of metabolic syndrome, one by the World Health Organization (WHO) and one by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATPIII). We therefore investigated the prevalence of this syndrome in a subgroup of older participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) who were free of CVD at baseline. We also compared the prognostic significance of the two definitions of the metabolic syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 2,175 subjects from the CHS who were free of CVD at baseline and not taking antihypertensive or lipid-lowering medications were studied. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was assessed with both the WHO and ATPIII criteria. The incidence of coronary or cerebrovascular disease was ascertained during a median follow-up time of 4.1 years. RESULTS Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 28.1% by ATPIII criteria and 21.0% by WHO criteria. The two sets of criteria provided concordant classification for 80.6% of participants. Multivariate Cox propotional hazard models showed that the metabolic syndrome defined with the ATPIII criteria, but not with the WHO criteria, was an independent predictor of coronary or cerebrovascular events and was associated with a 38% increased risk (hazard ratio 1.38 [95% CI 1.06-1.79], P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in older individuals is approximately 21-28% (depending on the definition used). The two sets of criteria have 80% concordance in classifying subjects. As defined by the ATPIII criteria, the metabolic syndrome yields independent prognostic information, even after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and the individual domains of the metabolic syndrome.
Assessment of silicon MOS and carbon nanotube FET performance limits using a general theory of ballistic transistors

A simple model for ballistic nanotransistors, which extends previous work by treating both the charge control and the quantum capacitance limits of MOSFET-like transistors, is presented. We apply this new model to MOSFET-like carbon nanotube FETs (CNTFETs) and to MOSFETs at the scaling limit. The device physics for operation at ballistic and quantum capacitance limits are explored. Based on the analysis of recently reported CNTFETs, we compare CNTFETs to MOSFETs. The potential performance advantages over Si that might be achieved at the scaling limit are established by using the new model.
Tensile Property of Submicrocrystalline Pure Fe Produced by HPT-Straining

The microstructure and the mechanical properties of pure Fe after HPT-straining at a rotation-speed of 0.2 rpm under a compression pressure of 5 GPa were investigated. The elongated grains with 300 nm thick and 600 nm long were observed at r = 1.5 mm away from the disk center regions after HPT-straining for 5 turns ( εeq = 45). The obtained Vickers microhardness in the submicrocrystalline Fe after 5 turns was around Hv 3.6 GPa. The engineering tensile strength and total elongation of the HPT-processed Fe for 10 turns were 1.9 GPa and 30 %. These facts suggest that HPT-straining leads to significant refinement of microstructure and increase in strength with good ductility.
Functional brain activation during arithmetic processing in females with fragile X syndrome is related to FMR1 protein expression

Arithmetic processing deficits in persons with fragile X Syndrome (fraX), the most common heritable cause of mental retardation, are well known. In this study, we characterize the neural underpinnings of these performance deficits using functional MRI. Given that a single gene defect (FMR1) is known to be responsible for this disorder, we also assess whether brain activation in arithmetic processing areas is related to amount of FMR1 protein expression (FMRP). Subjects included 16 females with fraX, and 16 female age‐matched controls. Subjects viewed arithmetic equations with two (1 + 3 = 4) or three (2 + 3 − 1 = 5) operands, and were asked to judge whether the results were correct or not. Subjects with fraX showed significant impairment in behavioral performance on the 3‐operand but not the 2‐operand arithmetic equations. Significant brain activation was observed bilaterally in the prefrontal and parietal cortices for unaffected subjects, and bilateral prefrontal and left angular gyrus for subjects with fraX, for both trial types. Subjects with fraX exhibited less overall activation than did unaffected subjects in both types of trials; and, unlike the unaffected group, did not show increased extent of activation in association with greater task difficulty. During the 3‐operand trials, activation in bilateral prefrontal and motor/premotor, and left supramarginal and angular gyri were positively correlated with FMRP, suggesting that decreased FMR1 protein expression underlies deficits in math performance in persons with fraX. More broadly, this investigation demonstrates a unique bridging of cognitive and molecular neuroscience and represents a useful approach for the study of brain development and function. Hum. Brain Mapping 16:206–218, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
High prevalence of MTHFR gene A1298C polymorphism in Lebanon.

BACKGROUND Mutations in the 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene could reduce the enzyme activity and lead to hyperhomocysteinemia, a condition that has been associated with several vascular conditions, in particular, coronary artery disease and deep vein thrombosis. AIM The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of the two most common polymorphisms, C677T and A1298C, which have not been well studied in the Lebanese population. METHODS We randomly selected 205 healthy individuals originating from different Lebanese provinces and religious communities. The CVD StripAssay was used to test for MTHFR gene polymorphisms. RESULTS We found that for C677T, the prevalence of C/C, C/T, and T/T genotypes was 65.3%, 30.8%, and 3.9%, respectively, with an overall carrier rate of 34.6% and allelic frequency of 0.19. However, the A1298C genotypic prevalence of A/C, A/A, and C/C was 50.2%, 25.9%, and 23.9%, respectively, with an overall carrier rate of 74.14% and an allelic frequency of 0.49. CONCLUSIONS Compared to all other populations reported so far, the Lebanese population harbors the highest prevalence of the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism. This is an important finding to be followed in terms of clinical significance and sheds light on an additional unique genetic feature in this community.
Pathology of Takayasu arteritis: A brief review

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a chronic idiopathic and granulomatous vasculitis, manifesting mainly as a panaortitis. Autoimmune cell-mediated immunity is probably responsible for the disease. The inflammation commences from the adventitia and progresses to the intima and leads to, both in adults and children, segmental stenosis, occlusion, dilatation, and/or aneurysm formation. This review focuses briefly on the etiopathogenesis, and describes the pathological and clinical features in adults and children.
Streaming Multicast Video over Software-Defined Networks

Many of the video streaming applications in today's Internet involve the distribution of content from a CDN source to a large population of interested clients. However, widespread support of IP multicast is unavailable due to technical and economical reasons, leaving the floor to application layer multicast which introduces excessive delays for the clients and increased traffic load for the network. This paper is concerned with the introduction of an SDN-based framework that allows the network controller to not only deploy IP multicast between a source and subscribers, but also control, via a simple northbound interface, the distributed set of sources where multiple-description coded (MDC) video content is available. We observe that for medium to heavy network loads, relative to the state-of-the-art, the SDN-based streaming multicast video framework increases the PSNR of the received video significantly, from a level that is practically unwatchable to one that has good quality.
Inference with normal-gamma prior distributions in regression problems

This paper considers the efiects of placing an absolutely continuous prior distribution on the regression coe-cients of a linear model. We show that the posterior expectation is a matrix-shrunken version of the least squares estimate where the shrinkage matrix depends on the derivatives of the prior predictive den- sity of the least squares estimate. The special case of the normal-gamma prior, which generalizes the Bayesian Lasso (Park and Casella 2008), is studied in depth. We discuss the prior interpretation and the posterior efiects of hyperparameter choice and suggest a data-dependent default prior. Simulations and a chemomet- ric example are used to compare the performance of the normal-gamma and the Bayesian Lasso in terms of out-of-sample predictive performance.
The interdependent roles of Ca2+ and cAMP in axon guidance

Axon guidance is a fundamental process in the developing and regenerating nervous system that is necessary for accurate neuronal wiring and proper brain function. Two of the most important second messengers in axon guidance are Ca2+ and cAMP. Recently experimental and theoretical studies have uncovered a Ca2+‐ and cAMP‐dependent mechanism for switching between attraction and repulsion. Here, we review this process and related Ca2+ and cAMP interactions, the mechanisms by which necessary intracellular calcium elevations are created, and the pathways, which effect attractive and repulsive responses to the switch. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 75: 402–410, 2015
A second prepilin peptidase gene in Escherichia coli K‐12

Escherichia coli K‐12 strains grown at 37°C or 42°C, but not at 30°C, process the precursors of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae type IV pilin PilE and the Klebsiella oxytoca type IV pseudopilin PulG in a manner reminiscent of the prepilin peptidase‐dependent processing of these proteins that occurs in these bacteria. Processing of prePulG in Escherichia coli requires a glycine at position −1, as does processing by the cognate prepilin peptidase (PulO), and is unaffected by mutations that inactivate several non‐specific proteases. These data suggested that E. coli K‐12 has a functional prepilin peptidase, despite the fact that it does not itself appear to express either type IV pilin or pseudopilin genes under the conditions that allow prePilE and prePulG processing. The E. coli K‐12 genome contains two genes encoding proteins with significant sequence similarity to prepilin peptidases: gspO at minute 74.5 and pppA (f310c) at minute 67 on the genetic map. We have previously obtained evidence that gspO encodes an active enzyme but is not transcribed. pppA was cloned and shown to code for a functional prepilin peptidase capable of processing typical prepilin peptidase substrates. Inactivation of pppA eliminated the endogenous, thermoinducible prepilin peptidase activity. PppA was able to replace PulO prepilin peptidase in a pullulanase secretion system reconstituted in E. coli when expressed from high‐copy‐number plasmids but not when present in a single chromosomal copy. The analysis of pppA–lacZ fusions indicated that pppA expression was very low and regulated by the growth temperature at the level of translation, in agreement with the observed temperature dependence of PppA activity. Polymerase chain reaction and Southern hybridization analyses revealed the presence of the pppA gene in 12 out of 15 E. coli isolates.
Localization of Phosphatidylserine Binding Sites to Structural Domains of Factor Xa *

Binding of short chain phosphatidylserine (C6PS) enhances the proteolytic activity of factor Xa by 60-fold (Koppaka, V., Wang, J., Banerjee, M., and Lentz, B. R. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 7482–7491). In the present study, we locate three C6PS binding sites to different domains of factor Xa using a combination of activity, circular dichroism, fluorescence, and equilibrium dialysis measurements on proteolytic and biosynthetic fragments of factor Xa. Our results demonstrate that the structural responses of human and bovine factor Xa to C6PS binding are somewhat different. Despite this difference, data obtained with fragments from both human and bovine factor Xa are consistent with a common hypothesis for the location of C6PS binding sites to different structural domains. First, the γ-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) domain binds C6PS only in the absence of Ca2+ (k d ∼ 1 mm), although this PS site does not influence the functional response of factor Xa. Second, a Ca2+-dependent binding site is in the epidermal growth factor domains (EGFNC) that are linked by Ca2+ and C6PS binding to the Gla domain. This site appears to be the lipid regulatory site of factor Xa. Third, a Ca2+-requiring site seems to be in the EGFC-catalytic domain. This site appears not to be a lipid regulatory site but rather to share residues with the substrate recognition site. Finally, the full functional response to C6PS requires linkage of the Gla, EGFNC, and catalytic domains in the presence of Ca2+, meaning that PS regulation of factor Xa involves linkage between widely separated parts of the protein.
AMPK Signaling Involvement for the Repression of the IL-1β-Induced Group IIA Secretory Phospholipase A2 Expression in VSMCs

Secretory Phospholipase A2 of type IIA (sPLA2 IIA) plays a crucial role in the production of lipid mediators by amplifying the neointimal inflammatory context of the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), especially during atherogenesis. Phenformin, a biguanide family member, by its anti-inflammatory properties presents potential for promoting beneficial effects upon vascular cells, however its impact upon the IL-1β-induced sPLA2 gene expression has not been deeply investigated so far. The present study was designed to determine the relationship between phenformin coupling AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) function and the molecular mechanism by which the sPLA2 IIA expression was modulated in VSMCs. Here we find that 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribonucleotide (AICAR) treatment strongly repressed IL-1β-induced sPLA2 expression at least at the transcriptional level. Our study reveals that phenformin elicited a dose-dependent inhibition of the sPLA2 IIA expression and transient overexpression experiments of constitutively active AMPK demonstrate clearly that AMPK signaling is involved in the transcriptional inhibition of sPLA2-IIA gene expression. Furthermore, although the expression of the transcriptional repressor B-cell lymphoma-6 protein (BCL-6) was markedly enhanced by phenformin and AICAR, the repression of sPLA2 gene occurs through a mechanism independent of BCL-6 DNA binding site. In addition we show that activation of AMPK limits IL-1β-induced NF-κB pathway activation. Our results indicate that BCL-6, once activated by AMPK, functions as a competitor of the IL-1β induced NF-κB transcription complex. Our findings provide insights on a new anti-inflammatory pathway linking phenformin, AMPK and molecular control of sPLA2 IIA gene expression in VSMCs.
Is Love Colorblind? Political Orientation and Interracial Romantic Desire

The present research examined the association of political orientation with ingroup favoritism in two live romantic contexts. In Study 1, White participants had sequential interactions with both a White and Black confederate and reported their romantic desire for each. In Study 2, both White and Black participants speed-dated multiple potential romantic partners and reported whether they would be interested in meeting each speed-dating partner again. In both studies, White participants' political conservatism positively predicted the strength of the ingroup-favoring bias: White conservatives were less likely than White liberals to desire Black (interracial) relative to White potential romantic partners. In contrast, Black participants' political conservatism negatively predicted the strength of the ingroup-favoring bias: Consistent with system-justification theory, Black conservatives were more likely than Black liberals to desire White (interracial) relative to Black potential romantic partners. Political orientation may be a key factor that influences the initiation of interracial romantic relationships.
Correlation analysis of the clinicopathological features of glioma and expression of p 53 and VEGF

Glioma is a common type of brain and neurological cancer with high degree of malignancy. Expression of p53 has been found in a variety of tumor cells and VEGF has been associated with the angiogenesis in cancers. In this study, the expressions of p53 and VEGF in glioma were examined. The relationship between clinicopathological features of glioma and the expression profiles of p53 and VEGF was analyzed. Levels of p53 and VEGF in the serum of glioma patients were detected by ELISA. Immunohistochemical staining was used to measure the protein expressions of p53 and VEGF. The correlation between the changes of p53 and VEGF and clinical pathological features of glioma was analyzed. The expression levels of P53 and VEGF in glioma group were significantly higher than that in the control group before surgery. The expression levels of P53 and VEGF in glioma group were significantly reduced after surgery, compared with those before surgery (P < 0.05). In glioma group, p53 positive rate was 73.3% and VEGF positive rate was 76.7%, which were significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues or control group (P < 0.05). Expression of p53 was positively correlated with the expression of VEGF (P < 0.05). The expression levels of P53 and VEGF were correlated with pathological type of glioma, WHO classification, distant metastasis, and survival time (P < 0.05), but not age, sex, or PS score (P > 0.05). The expression levels of P53 and VEGF were up-regulated in both the serum and tumor tissues of glioma patients. The expression levels of P53 and VEGF were correlated with the pathological type of glioma, WHO classification, distant metastasis, and survival time, suggesting they might play a pivotal role in the development of glioma.
Inhibition of Lung Carcinogenesis and Effects on Angiogenesis and Apoptosis in A/J Mice by Oral Administration of Green Tea

Oral administration of tea (Camellia sinensis) has been shown to inhibit the formation and growth of several tumor types in animal models. The present study investigated the effects of treatment with different concentrations of green tea on 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung tumorigenesis in female A/J mice. Two days after a single dose of NNK (100 mg/kg body weight, i.p.), the mice were given 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6% green tea solution (1, 2, 4, and 6 g of tea solids, respectively, dissolved in 1 l of water), 0.02% caffeine, or water as the sole source of drinking fluid until the termination of the experiment. Only the treatment with 0.6% tea preparation significantly reduced lung tumor multiplicity (mean ± SE, 6.07 ± 0.77 vs. 8.60 ± 0.50 tumors per mouse, P = 0.018). Treatment with 0.6% tea also inhibited angiogenesis, as indicated by the lower microvessel density (number of blood vessels/mm2) based on immunostaining for the von Willebrand factor antigen (81.9 ± 9.5 vs. 129.4 ± 8.2, P = 0.0018) and anti-CD31 antibody staining (465.3 ± 61.4 vs. 657.1 ± 43.6, P = 0.0012). Significantly lower vascular endothelial growth factor immunostaining scores were also observed in the 0.6% tea-treated group (0.98 ± 0.17 vs. 1.43 ± 0.07, P = 0.006). The apoptosis index was significantly higher in lung adenomas from 0.6% tea-treated mice based on morphological analysis of cell apoptosis (2.51 ± 0.18% vs. 1.57 ± 0.11%, P = 0.00005), and the result was further confirmed using the TUNEL method. Inhibition of angiogenesis and the induction of apoptosis by green tea may be closely related to the inhibition of pulmonary carcinogenesis.
Determining the Properties and Evolution of Red Galaxies from the Quasar Luminosity Function

We study the link between quasars and the red galaxy population using a model for self-regulated growth of supermassive black holes in gas-rich galaxy mergers. Using a model for quasar evolution motivated by hydrodynamic merger simulations, we deconvolve the observed quasar luminosity function at various redshifts to determine the rate of formation of black holes of a given final mass. Identifying quasar activity with the formation of spheroids in the framework of the merger hypothesis, this implies a corresponding rate of formation of spheroids with given properties as a function of redshift. This allows us to predict, for the red galaxy population, the distribution of galaxy velocity dispersions; mass functions; star formation rates; luminosity functions in many observed wave bands (NUV, U, B, V, R, I, J, H, K); the total red galaxy number, mass, and luminosity densities; color distributions as a function of magnitude and velocity dispersion for several different wave bands; the distribution of mass-to-light ratios versus mass; luminosity-size relations; and the typical ages and distribution of ages (formation redshifts) as a function of mass and luminosity. For each of these quantities, we predict the evolution from redshift z = 0-6. Each of our predictions agrees well with existing observations, without the addition of tunable parameters; the essential observational inputs come from the observed quasar luminosity function. These predictions are skewed by several orders of magnitude if we adopt simpler, traditional models of quasar lifetimes instead of the more complicated evolution implied by our simulations.
The H.264/AVC Video Coding Standard

T he H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding standard (H.264/AVC) is the newest video coding standard jointly developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). H.264/AVC has achieved a significant improvement in compression performance compared to prior standards, and it provides a network-friendly representation of the video that addresses both conversational (video telephony) and nonconversational (storage, broadcast, or streaming) applications. This article provides a description of the structure, technology, performance, and resources of H.264/AVC, which is referred to formally as ITU-T Recommendation H.264 and ISO/IEC 14496-10 (MPEG-4 Part 10).