Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of the European Lactase Persistence Variant (LCT-13910 C>T Polymorphism) with Obesity in the Canary Islands

Background European lactose tolerance genotype (LCT -13910 C>T, rs4988234) has been positively associated to body mass indexes (BMI) in a meta-analysis of 31,720 individuals of northern and central European descent. A strong association of lactase persistence (LP) with BMI and obesity has also been traced in a Spanish Mediterranean population. The aim of this study was to analyze a potential association of LP compared to lactase non-persistence (LNP) with BMI in inhabitants of the Canary Islands of Spain using Mendelian randomization. Methods A representative, randomly sampled population of adults belonging to the Canary Islands Nutrition Survey (ENCA) in Spain, aged 18–75 years (n = 551), was genotyped for the LCT – 13910 C>T polymorphism. Milk consumption was assessed by a validated questionnaire. Anthropometric variables were directly measured. WHO classification of BMI was used. Results LP individuals were significantly more obese than LNP subjects (χ2 = 10.59; p<0.005). LP showed in a multivariate linear regression analysis showed a positive association of LP with BMI compared to LNP, (β = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.08–1.85, p = 0.033). In a multinomial logistic regression analysis normal range weight LP subjects showed an odds ratio for obesity of 2.41; 95%CI 1.39–418, (p = 0.002) compared to LNP. Conclusions The T-13910 of the allele LCT-13910 C>T polymorphism is positively associated with BMI. LP increases significantly the risk to develop obesity in the studied population. The LCT-13910 C>T polymorphism stands proxy for the lifetime exposure pattern, milk intake, that may increase susceptibility to obesity and to obesity related pathologies.
Ion Channel Subunit Expression Changes in Cardiac Purkinje Fibers: A Potential Role in Conduction Abnormalities Associated With Congestive Heart Failure

Purkinje fibers (PFs) play key roles in cardiac conduction and arrhythmogenesis. Congestive heart failure (CHF) causes well-characterized atrial and ventricular ion channel subunit expression changes, but effects on PF ion channel subunits are unknown. This study assessed changes in PF ion channel subunit expression (real-time PCR, immunoblot, immunohistochemistry), action potential properties, and conduction in dogs with ventricular tachypacing–induced CHF. CHF downregulated mRNA expression of subunits involved in action potential propagation (Nav1.5, by 56%; connexin [Cx]40, 66%; Cx43, 56%) and repolarization (Kv4.3, 43%, Kv3.4, 46%). No significant changes occurred in KChIP2, KvLQT1, ERG, or Kir3.1/3.4 mRNA. At the protein level, downregulation was seen for Nav1.5 (by 38%), Kv4.3 (42%), Kv3.4 (57%), Kir2.1 (26%), Cx40 (53%), and Cx43 (30%). Cx43 dephosphorylation was indicated by decreased larger molecular mass bands (pan-Cx43 antibody) and a 57% decrease in Ser368-phosphorylated Cx43 (phospho-specific antibody). Immunohistochemistry revealed reduced Cx40, Cx43, and phospho-Cx43 expression at intercalated disks. Action potential changes were consistent with observed decreases in ion channel subunits: CHF decreased phase 1 slope (by 56%), overshoot (by 32%), and phase 0 dV/dtmax (by 35%). Impulse propagation was slowed in PF false tendons: conduction velocity decreased significantly from 2.2±0.1 m/s (control) to 1.5±0.1 m/s (CHF). His-Purkinje conduction also slowed in vivo, with HV interval increasing from 35.5±1.2 (control) to 49.3±3.4 ms (CHF). These results indicate important effects of CHF on PF ion channel subunit expression. Alterations in subunits governing conduction properties may be particularly important, because CHF-induced impairments in Purkinje tissue conduction, which this study is the first to describe, could contribute significantly to dyssynchronous ventricular activation, a major determinant of prognosis in CHF-patients.
Physicochemical Characterization of Selected Rice (Oryza Sativa L.)Genotypes Based on Gel Consistency and Alkali Digestion

Quality assessment of rice genotypes involves physicochemical and sensory test. A physicochemical test relies on the rice chemical composition, cooking quality, gelatinization temperature and physical properties of cooked rice. The aim of this study was to determine the physicochemical characteristics of selected Kenyan and Tanzanian genotypes based on gel consistency and alkali digestion. Diverse classes of rice exist with different expression levels of gel consistency and alkali digestion. As these traits are major contributors to the eating and cooking quality traits, unscrupulous traders mix both low and high-grade rice hence making enormous profits from their sales. Minitab 17.0 software package was used to determine the means and the standard error of means of the gel consistency physicochemical test results while the alkali digestion values were determined based on the standard evaluation system by International Rice Research Institute. Majority of the genotypes had high alkali digestion. Based on the gel consistency test, the average GC values ranged from 31.50 mm in ITA 310 to 99.5 mm in IR 2793. Genotype BS 217 showed significant difference from Kilombero, IR 64, Kahogo, Saro 5, ITA 310, IR 54, Wahiwahi and BW 196. These results show that physicochemical characterization using the available test procedures can be effectively utilized in analysis of diversity in rice germplasm.
Anthropogenic sulfur dioxide emissions: 1850–2005

Abstract. Sulfur aerosols impact human health, ecosystems, agriculture, and global and regional climate. A new annual estimate of anthropogenic global and regional sulfur dioxide emissions has been constructed spanning the period 1850–2005 using a bottom-up mass balance method, calibrated to country-level inventory data. Global emissions peaked in the early 1970s and decreased until 2000, with an increase in recent years due to increased emissions in China, international shipping, and developing countries in general. An uncertainty analysis was conducted including both random and systemic uncertainties. The overall global uncertainty in sulfur dioxide emissions is relatively small, but regional uncertainties ranged up to 30%. The largest contributors to uncertainty at present are emissions from China and international shipping. Emissions were distributed on a 0.5° grid by sector for use in coordinated climate model experiments.
The Nephrotic Syndrome: An Unusual Case of Multiple Embolic Events

The nephrotic syndrome is an unusual cause of the hypercoaguable state and thromboembolic complications. Here we report the case of a 42-year-old woman with nephrotic syndrome who presented with a pulseless lower extremity and a midpole renal infarct requiring urgent embolectomy of the leg. During her embolic evaluation, she was found to have an intracardiac thrombus. Over the course of her hospitalization, she developed a pulseless upper extremity and required an embolectomy of her arm. We believe that this represents the first case report of a patient with nephrotic syndrome, intracardiac thrombus, and evidence of embolization to 3 sites: kidney, arm, and leg.
The Role of Serum Lactate in the Acute Care Setting

Acute care services are increasingly faced with the double burden of high patient acuity and limited resources. Early identification of patients who are sick or who have the potential to deteriorate rapidly is crucial so that these resources may be allocated to those in greatest need. Traditional measures of illness and end points of resuscitation, such as vital signs, often fail to identify occult hypoperfusion with certain disease processes associated with high morbidity and mortality. Thus, biochemical markers that may predict illness earlier are becoming more relevant. We present a review of the evidence behind use of the serum lactate level in this setting.
Biped robot walking using gravity-compensated inverted pendulum mode and computed torque control

This paper proposes a model called the gravity-compensated inverted pendulum mode (GCIPM) to generate a biped locomotion pattern that is similar to the one generated by the linear inverted pendulum mode, but accommodates the free leg dynamics based upon its predetermined trajectory. When the biped locomotion based upon the linear inverted pendulum mode is applied to real biped robots, the stability of the robot is disturbed due to the fact that the neglected dynamics of free legs is not actually negligible, moving the ZMP (zero moment point) away from the presumed fixed point. The GCIPM includes the effect of the dynamics of the free leg in a simple manner This paper also presents a control method for biped robots based upon the computed torque. Simulation results show that the biped robot is more stable with the walking pattern generated by the proposed method combined with the controller than with the one by the inverted pendulum mode.
Influence of Beam Conditions and Energy for SEE Testing

The effects of heavy-ion test conditions and beam energy on device response are investigated. These effects are illustrated with two types of test vehicles: SRAMs and power MOSFETs. In addition, GEANT4 simulations have also been performed to better understand the results. Testing to high fluence levels is required to detect rare events. This increases the probability of nuclear interactions. This is typically the case for power MOSFETs, which are tested at high fluences for single event burnout or gate rupture detection, and for single-event-upset (SEU) measurement in SRAMs below the direct ionization threshold. Differences between various test conditions (e.g., “in air” or vacuum irradiations, with or without degraders) are also explored. Nuclear interactions with any materials in the beam's path can increase the number of high collected charge events potentially impacting the experimental results. A “species” effect has been observed in the power MOSFET devices examined in this work. When the beam energy increases, the single-event-burnout (SEB) voltage is constant, such that the SEB voltage is determined only by the species of the ion beam. The species effect is shown to be due to high collected charge events induced by nuclear interactions, which can lead to premature SEB. If a device is sensitive to the species effect, the worst-case test conditions will be for the heaviest ion species, which can produce the largest linear-energy-transfer (LET) secondaries. SRAMs can also be sensitive to the species effect below the direct ionization threshold LET. For the devices used in this work, the worst-case energy for SEU characterization is $\sim 10'{\rm s}~{\rm MeV/u}$ where the species dominates the device response. In the 10's MeV/u range the heaviest species result in the largest cross sections. However, at very high energies (100's MeV/u), the species is not the dominant parameter because of differences in the population of secondaries created by nuclear interactions. At very high energies the SEU cross section below the direct ionization threshold LET decreases by several orders of magnitude compared to 10's MeV/u SEU data. The results of this work emphasize that there is no such thing as an “ideal” test facility. Nevertheless, these results can be used by experimenters to optimize the integrity of their results for given test conditions.
The Causal Inference of Cortical Neural Networks during Music Improvisations

We present an EEG study of two music improvisation experiments. Professional musicians with high level of improvisation skills were asked to perform music either according to notes (composed music) or in improvisation. Each piece of music was performed in two different modes: strict mode and “let-go” mode. Synchronized EEG data was measured from both musicians and listeners. We used one of the most reliable causality measures: conditional Mutual Information from Mixed Embedding (MIME), to analyze directed correlations between different EEG channels, which was combined with network theory to construct both intra-brain and cross-brain networks. Differences were identified in intra-brain neural networks between composed music and improvisation and between strict mode and “let-go” mode. Particular brain regions such as frontal, parietal and temporal regions were found to play a key role in differentiating the brain activities between different playing conditions. By comparing the level of degree centralities in intra-brain neural networks, we found a difference between the response of musicians and the listeners when comparing the different playing conditions.
Factors influencing uptake of HIV care and treatment among children in South Africa – a qualitative study of caregivers and clinic staff

Abstract Despite antiretroviral therapy rollout in South Africa, fewer children than expected are accessing HIV care services. Our objectives were to describe barriers and facilitators of uptake of HIV care among children. Our study involved six private-sector clinics which provide HIV care free-of-charge in and around Gauteng province, South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted in July 2008 with 21 caregivers of HIV-infected children attending these clinics, 21 clinic staff members and three lead members of staff from affiliated care centres. Many children were only tested for HIV after being recurrently unwell. The main facility-related barriers reported were long queues, negative staff attitudes, missed testing opportunities at healthcare facilities and provider difficulties with paediatric counselling and venesection. Caregivers reported lack of money for transport, food and treatments for opportunistic infections, poor access to welfare grants and lack of coordination amongst multiple caregivers. Misperceptions about HIV, maternal guilt and fear of negative repercussions from disclosure were common. Reported facilitators included measures implemented by clinics to help with transport, support from family and day-care centres/orphanages, and seeing children's health improve on treatment. Participants felt that better public knowledge about HIV would facilitate uptake. Poverty and the implications of children's HIV infection for their families underlie many of these factors. Some staff-related and practical issues may be addressed by improved training and simple measures employed at clinics. However, changing caregiver attitudes may require interventions at both individual and societal levels. Healthcare providers should actively promote HIV testing and care-seeking for children.
"Virtual" Health Care Organizations and the Challenges of Improving Quality

This article examines the challenges of improving health care quality continuously within and across "virtual" provider organizations such as independent practice associations and physician-hospital organizations. It draws on recent research and theory about interorganizational networks in other fields to develop recommendations for securing physicians' commitment to quality improvement strategies in today's health care environment.
Lessons from Emergence of A/Goose/Guangdong/1996‐Like H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses and Recent Influenza Surveillance Efforts in Southern China

Southern China is proposed as an influenza epicentre. At least two of the three pandemics in the last century, including 1957 and 1968 influenza pandemics, originated from this area. In 1996, A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 (H5N1), the precursor of currently circulating highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) was identified in farmed geese in southern China. These H5N1 HPAIVs have been spread across Asia, Europe and Africa and poses a continuous threat to both animal and human health. However, how and where this H5N1 HPAIV emerged are not fully understood. In the past decade, many influenza surveillance efforts have been carried out in southern China, and our understanding of the genetic diversity of non‐human influenza A viruses in this area has been much better than ever. Here, the historical and first‐hand experimental data on A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996(H5N1)‐like HPAIVs are reviewed within the context of the findings from recent surveillance efforts on H5N1 HPAIVs and other non‐human influenza A viruses. Such a retrospective recapitulation suggests that long‐term and systematic surveillance programmes should continue to be implemented in southern China that the wet markets on the animal–human interface shall be the priority area and that the surveillance on the animal species bridging the interface between wildlife and domestic animal populations and the interface between the aquatics and territories shall be the strengthened.
Cling: A Memory Allocator to Mitigate Dangling Pointers

Use-after-free vulnerabilities exploiting so-called dangling pointers to deallocated objects are just as dangerous as buffer overflows: they may enable arbitrary code execution. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art defenses against use-after-free vulnerabilities require compiler support, pervasive source code modifications, or incur high performance overheads. This paper presents and evaluates Cling, a memory allocator designed to thwart these attacks at runtime. Cling utilizes more address space, a plentiful resource on modern machines, to prevent type-unsafe address space reuse among objects of different types. It infers type information about allocated objects at runtime by inspecting the call stack of memory allocation routines. Cling disrupts a large class of attacks against use-after-free vulnerabilities, notably including those hijacking the C++ virtual function dispatch mechanism, with low CPU and physical memory overhead even for allocation intensive applications.
Public Interest vs. Interest Groups: Allowance Allocation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme

This paper presents a political-economy analysis of allowance allocation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). A common-agency model suggests that a politicalsupport maximizing government considers the preferences of sectoral interest groups besides public interest when allocating emissions permits. In the stylized model, industries represented by more powerful lobby groups face a lower regulatory burden, which for sufficiently high lobbying power leads to an inefficient emissions regulation. An empirical analysis of the first trading phase of the EU ETS corroborates our theoretical prediction for a cross-section of German firms, but also shows that the political-economy determinants of permit allocation depend on firm characteristics. We find that large carbon emitters that were heavily exposed to emissions regulation and simultaneously represented by powerful interest groups received higher levels of emissions allowances. In contrast, industrial lobbying power stand-alone or threats of potential worker layoffs did not exert a significant influence on the EU ETS allocation process.
Neural correlations enable invariant coding and perception of natural stimuli in weakly electric fish

Neural representations of behaviorally relevant stimulus features displaying invariance with respect to different contexts are essential for perception. However, the mechanisms mediating their emergence and subsequent refinement remain poorly understood in general. Here, we demonstrate that correlated neural activity allows for the emergence of an invariant representation of natural communication stimuli that is further refined across successive stages of processing in the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. Importantly, different patterns of input resulting from the same natural communication stimulus occurring in different contexts all gave rise to similar behavioral responses. Our results thus reveal how a generic neural circuit performs an elegant computation that mediates the emergence and refinement of an invariant neural representation of natural stimuli that most likely constitutes a neural correlate of perception. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.12993. 001
Tissue clearing for confocal imaging of native and bio-artificial skeletal muscle

Abstract Novel clearing techniques have revolutionized three-dimensional confocal imaging of the brain without the need for physical tissue sectioning. We evaluated three clearing methods, ScaleA2, ClearT2, and 3DISCO for visualizing native and tissue engineered muscle by confocal microscopy. We found that ClearT2 treatment improved the depth of visualization of immunohistochemical staining slightly, but did not improve depth of visualization of endogenous green fluorescent protein (GFP). ScaleA2 preserved endogenous GFP signal better and permitted significantly deeper GFP imaging, but it was incompatible with tropomyosin immunohistochemical staining. 3DISCO treatment preserved both endogenous GFP and immunohistochemical staining, and permitted significantly deeper imaging. Clearing time for the 3DISCO procedure is short compared to ScaleA2 and ClearT2. We suggest that 3DISCO is the preferable clearing method for native and tissue engineered skeletal muscle tissue.
Unsupervised mode detection in cyber-physical systems using variable order Markov models

Sequential data generated from various sources in a multi-mode industrial production system provides valuable information on the current mode of the system and enables one to build a model for each individual operating mode. Using these models in a multi-mode system, one may distinguish modes of the system and, furthermore, detect whether the current mode is a (normal or faulty) mode known from historical data, or a new mode. In this work, we model each individual mode by a probabilistic suffix tree (PST) used to implement variable order Markov models (VOMMs) and propose a novel unsupervised PST matching algorithm that compares the tree models by a matching cost once they are constructed. The matching cost we define comprises of a subsequence dissimilarity cost and a probability cost. Our tree matching method enables to compare two PSTs in linear time by one concurrent top-down pass. We use this matching cost as a similarity measure for k-medoid clustering and cluster PSTs obtained from system modes according to their matching costs. The overall approach yields promising results for unsupervised identification of modes on data obtained from of a physical factory demonstrator. Notably we can distinguish modes on two levels of granularity, both corresponding to human expert labels, with a RAND score of up to 73 % compared to a baseline of at most 42 %.
Preferential attachment of communities: The same principle, but a higher level

The graph of communities is a network emerging above the level of individual nodes in the hierarchical organisation of a complex system. In this graph the nodes correspond to communities (highly interconnected subgraphs, also called modules or clusters), and the links refer to members shared by two communities. Our analysis indicates that the development of this modular structure is driven by preferential attachment, in complete analogy with the growth of the underlying network of nodes. We study how the links between communities are born in a growing co-authorship network, and introduce a simple model for the dynamics of overlapping communities.