Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influences on child fruit and vegetable intake: sociodemographic, parental and child factors in a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract Objective To examine the sociodemographic, parental and child factors that predict fruit and vegetable consumption in 7-year-old children. Design Diet was assessed using three 1d unweighed food diaries. The child’s daily fruit and vegetable consumption was calculated by summing the weight of each type of fruit, fruit juice and vegetable consumed. The various others factors measured were assessed by a questionnaire at different time points. Setting The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Subjects A total of 7285 children aged 7 years residing in the south-west of England during 1999–2000. Results Median daily fruit and vegetable consumption (201 g) was below the recommendations for this age group (320 g). Girls ate more fruit and vegetables per unit energy (30·3 g/MJ) than boys (26·7 g/MJ; P =< 0·001). The predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption were mostly similar. Fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with maternal consumption, maternal education status and parental rules about serving fruit/vegetables every day, food expenditure per person and whether the child was choosy about food. Vegetable consumption was also associated with the other characteristics of the child, such as whether the child enjoyed food and whether the child tried a variety of foods. Conclusions Children are not eating recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables, particularly boys. Consumption of fruit and vegetables appears to be influenced by parental rules about daily consumption and parental consumption and by the child’s choosiness. Parent’s actions could influence this. These findings may prove useful for those planning healthy eating campaigns for children.
The diameter of nanotubes formed on Ti-6Al-4V alloy controls the adhesion and differentiation of Saos-2 cells

Ti-6Al-4V-based nanotubes were prepared on a Ti-6Al-4V surface by anodic oxidation on 10 V, 20 V, and 30 V samples. The 10 V, 20 V, and 30 V samples and a control smooth Ti-6Al-4V sample were evaluated in terms of their chemical composition, diameter distribution, and cellular response. The surfaces of the 10 V, 20 V, and 30 V samples consisted of nanotubes of a relatively wide range of diameters that increased with the voltage. Saos-2 cells had a similar initial adhesion on all nanotube samples to the control Ti-6Al-4V sample, but it was lower than on glass. On day 3, the highest concentrations of both vinculin and talin measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and intensity of immunofluorescence staining were on 30 V nanotubes. On the other hand, the highest concentrations of ALP, type I collagen, and osteopontin were found on 10 V and 20 V samples. The final cellular densities on 10 V, 20 V, and 30 V samples were higher than on glass. Therefore, the controlled anodization of Ti-6Al-4V seems to be a useful tool for preparing nanostructured materials with desirable biological properties.
Megadroughts in North America: placing IPCC projections of hydroclimatic change in a long‐term palaeoclimate context

IPCC Assessment Report 4 model projections suggest that the subtropical dry zones of the world will both dry and expand poleward in the future due to greenhouse warming. The US Southwest is particularly vulnerable in this regard and model projections indicate a progressive drying there out to the end of the 21st century. At the same time, the USA has been in a state of drought over much of the West for about 10 years now. While severe, this turn of the century drought has not yet clearly exceeded the severity of two exceptional droughts in the 20th century. So while the coincidence between the turn of the century drought and projected drying in the Southwest is cause for concern, it is premature to claim that the model projections are correct. At the same time, great new insights into past drought variability over North America have been made through the development of the North American Drought Atlas from tree rings. Analyses of this drought atlas have revealed past megadroughts of unprecedented duration in the West, largely in the Medieval period about 1000 years ago. A vastly improved Living Blended Drought Atlas (LBDA) for North America now under development reveals these megadroughts in far greater detail. The LBDA indicates the occurrence of the same Medieval megadroughts in the West and similar‐scale megadroughts in the agriculturally and commercially important Mississippi Valley. Possible causes of these megadroughts and their implications for the future are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the Steady-State Distribution in the Homogeneous Ribosome Flow Model

A central biological process in all living organisms is gene translation. Developing a deeper understanding of this complex process may have ramifications to almost every biomedical discipline. Reuveni et al. recently proposed a new computational model of gene translation called the Ribosome Flow Model (RFM). In this paper, we consider a particular case of this model, called the Homogeneous Ribosome Flow Model (HRFM). From a biological viewpoint, this corresponds to the case where the transition rates of all the coding sequence codons are identical. This regime has been suggested recently based on experiments in mouse embryonic cells. We consider the steady-state distribution of the HRFM. We provide formulas that relate the different parameters of the model in steady state. We prove the following properties: 1) the ribosomal density profile is monotonically decreasing along the coding sequence; 2) the ribosomal density at each codon monotonically increases with the initiation rate; and 3) for a constant initiation rate, the translation rate monotonically decreases with the length of the coding sequence. In addition, we analyze the translation rate of the HRFM at the limit of very high and very low initiation rate, and provide explicit formulas for the translation rate in these two cases. We discuss the relationship between these theoretical results and biological findings on the translation process.
The risk of new-onset diabetes in antidepressant users – A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Antidepressant Drugs (ADs) are among the most commonly prescribed medications in developed countries. The available epidemiological evidence suggests an association between AD use and higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, some methodological issues make the interpretation of these results difficult. Moreover, very recent studies provided conflicting results. Given the high prevalence of both diabetes and AD use in many countries, clarifying whether this association is causal is of extreme relevance for the public health. The aim of the present study is to provide an up-to-date evaluation of the evidence in support of a causal role of ADs in inducing diabetes. Methods and findings A systematic literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies in MEDLINE (PubMed), PsycINFO, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA) through 31st December 2016. Only studies assessing the incidence of new-onset diabetes in subjects treated with ADs were included. Results were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. Moreover, we extensively reviewed the role of the different sources of bias that have been proposed to explain the association between AD and diabetes. Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria. In the meta-analysis, the association between AD use and diabetes was still evident after the inclusion of the recent negative studies [pooled relative risk = 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.19–1.35; p<0.001]. None of the biases proposed by previous authors seemed able to fully explain the observed association. Conclusions This updated meta-analysis confirms the association between AD use and incident diabetes. It still remains a matter of debate whether single ADs exert a different effect on the risk of diabetes. Given the possible heterogeneity, we suggest that a classification of ADs according to their pharmacological profiles could be useful in better elucidating the nature of this association.
Purification and characterization of bovine profilin II. Actin, poly(L-proline) and inositolphospholipid binding.

We purified profilin from bovine brain and were able to separate the two isoforms present in this tissue. Since functional characteristics for profilin II are lacking, we assayed the actin, the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and the poly(L-proline) binding properties of this isoform. Profilin II binds actin with a similar affinity to that of profilin I, although it inhibits actin polymerization more strongly than profilin I under non-equilibrium conditions. Profilin II also binds the anionic phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. Profilin II binds to poly(L-proline) more strongly than does profilin I; this is especially evident at more acidic pH values. This difference is explained by an amino acid exchange in the carboxy-terminal part of the protein which has been implicated in poly(L-proline) binding [Björkegren, C. , Rozycki, M. , Schutt, C. , Lindberg, U. & Karlsson, R. (1993) FEBS Lett. 333, 123-126; Metzler, W. , Bell, A. , Ernst, E. , Lavoie, T. & Mueller, L. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 369, 4620-4625].
Learner Autonomy: Learning from the Student's Voice.

L'autonomie de l'apprenant en langues est definie comme etant le role actif et la prise de responsabilite auxquels l'etudiant s'engage dans son apprentissage ; elle depend de l'attitude de l'etudiant lui-meme. Differents styles d'enseignement peuvent promouvoir cette autonomie. La relation eleve/enseignant est primordiale et l'attitude de l'enseignant peut se reveler fondamentale dans le developpement de l'autonomie de l'etudiant. Des entretiens menes aupres d'etudiants universitaires japonais apprenant l'anglais langue etrangere permet a l'A. de nous eclairer sur les strategies mises en place par les etudiants dans la construction de leur autonomie
Analysis of the genetic diversity of Candida isolates obtained from diabetic patients and kidney transplant recipients

Yeasts of the genus Candida have high genetic variability and are the most common opportunistic pathogenic fungi in humans. In this study, we evaluated the genetic diversity among 120 isolates of Candida spp. obtained from diabetic patients, kidney transplant recipients and patients without any immune deficiencies from Paraná state, Brazil. The analysis was performed using the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region and a partial sequence of 28S rDNA. In the phylogenetic analysis, we observed a consistent separation of the species C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. metapsilosis and C. orthopsilosis, however with low intraspecific variability. In the analysis of the C. albicans species, two clades were formed. Clade A included the largest number of isolates (91.2%) and the majority of isolates from GenBank (71.4%). The phylogenetic analysis showed low intraspecific genetic diversity, and the genetic polymorphisms between C. albicans isolates were similar to genetic divergence found in other studies performed with isolates from Brazil. This low genetic diversity of isolates can be explained by the geographic proximity of the patients evaluated. It was observed that yeast colonisation was highest in renal transplant recipients and diabetic patients and that C. albicans was the species most frequently isolated.
Electromyographic decoding of response to command in disorders of consciousness

Objective: To propose a new methodology based on single-trial analysis for detecting residual response to command with EMG in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), overcoming the issue of trial dependency and decreasing the influence of a patient's fluctuation of vigilance or arousal over time on diagnostic accuracy. Methods: Forty-five patients with DOC (18 with vegetative/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome [VS/UWS], 22 in a minimally conscious state [MCS], 3 who emerged from MCS [EMCS], and 2 with locked-in syndrome [LIS]) and 20 healthy controls were included in the study. Patients were randomly instructed to either move their left or right hand or listen to a control command (“It is a sunny day”) while EMG activity was recorded on both arms. Results: Differential EMG activity was detected in all MCS cases displaying reproducible response to command at bedside on multiple assessments, even though only 6 of the 14 individuals presented a behavioral response to command on the day of the EMG assessment. An EMG response was also detected in all EMCS and LIS patients, and 2 MCS patients showing nonreflexive movements without command following at the bedside. None of the VS/UWS presented a response to command with this method. Conclusions: This method allowed us to reliably distinguish between different levels of consciousness and could potentially help decrease diagnostic errors in patients with motor impairment but presenting residual motor activity.
Treatment of Chronic Tension-Type Headache with Botulinum Toxin: a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Dear sir Padberg, Bruijn, de Haan and Tavy submitted an article for publication on the treatment of chronic tension-type headache with botulinum toxin (1). I would like to underline the results of their study. Although the randomized treatment population was small ( n = 19), they concluded that there was no significant difference in the patients’ assessment of improvement after 4, 8 and 12 weeks and that botulinum toxin was not proven effective in the treatment of chronic tension-type headache. Interestingly, Ashina published a review on the neurobiology of chronic tension-type headache (2), and he states: ‘To explore a possible role of neuropeptides in chronic tension-type headache, Ashina and colleagues measured plasma levels of CGRP and SP, NPY and VIP in the cranial and peripheral circulation of patients and controls. These studies showed that plasma levels of CGRP, SP, NPY, and VIP are normal in both cranial and peripheral circulation of those patients . Findings of normal CGRP are particularly important because they are clearly different from previous studies in migraine patients with elevated levels of CGRP’. Also, Durham, Cady and Cady published on the regulation of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) secretion from trigeminal nerve cells by botulinum toxin type A: implication for migraine therapy (3). Their conclusions were the following: ‘these data provide the first evidence that botulinum toxin type A can directly decrease the amount of calcitonin gene-related peptide released from trigeminal neurones. The results suggest that the effectiveness of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of migraine may be due in part to its ability to repress calcitonin gene-related peptide release from activated sensory neurones’. In fact, Evers et al. published a review of the studies performed with botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of headache from 1994 to 2002 (4). When considering studies in migraine, four studies where published with a total of 312 patients, two of these studies where placebo controlled with a total of 179 patients and the conclusion of these studies showed a significant decrease in the frequency and intensity of the headaches. Four studies where published on the use of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of migraine patients with chronic daily headache, totalling 218 patients. One of these studies was placebo controlled with 56 patients and the conclusion of this study was a significant reduction in headache severity. Blumenfeld collected data in a retrospective study with more than 260 patients treated with botulinum toxin type A and concluded that for migraine patients the results where significant (5). Boudreau collected data in a retrospective study of more than 236 patients and came to the same conclusions; if the patients are well selected and an appropriate technique is used the results may be significant. It would be of interest to perform a study on migraine patients, while monitoring the level of peripheral CGRP, while under treatment with botulinum toxin type A.
Back to the Future: Learning Shape Models from 3D CAD Data

Recognizing 3D objects from arbitrary view points is one of the most fundamental problems in computer vision. A major challenge lies in the transition between the 3D geometry of objects and 2D representations that can be robustly matched to natural images. Most approaches thus rely on 2D natural images either as the sole source of training data for building an implicit 3D representation, or by enriching 3D models with natural image features. In this paper, we go back to the ideas from the early days of computer vision, by using 3D object models as the only source of information for building a multi-view object class detector. In particular, we use these models for learning 2D shape that can be robustly matched to 2D natural images. Our experiments confirm the validity of our approach, which outperforms current state-of-the-art techniques on a multi-view detection data set.
Highly prevalent putative quadruplex sequence motifs in human DNA

We report here the results of a systematic search for the existence and prevalence of potential intramolecular G-quadruplex forming sequences in the human genome. We have also examined the tendency for particular sequences of ‘loop’ regions to occur in particular positions with respect to the G-tracts in a quadruplex. Using arithmetic ratio and probability techniques we have discovered frequent and systematic occurrence of certain sequence types, the most prominent being a potential quadruplex containing CCTGT in the first ‘loop’ position. Being able to highlight types of potential quadruplex sequences in G-rich regions is an important step in searching for biologically relevant sequences and finding their function.
Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Particulate Matter and Dry Deposition Flux in the Cuihu Wetland of Beijing

In recent years, the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization has caused serious environmental pollution, especially particulate pollution. As the “Earth’s kidneys,” wetland plays a significant role in improving the environmental quality and adjusting the climate. To study how wetlands work in this aspect, from the early autumn of 2014 to 2015, we implemented a study to measure the PM concentration and chemical composition at three heights (1.5, 6, and 10 m) during different periods (dry, normal water, and wet periods) in the Cuihu wetland park in Beijing for analyzing the dry deposition flux and the effect of meteorological factors on the concentration. Results indicated that (1) the diurnal variations of the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations at the three heights were similar in that the highest concentration occurred at night and the lowest occurred at noon, and the daytime concentration was lower than that at night; (2) the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations also varied between different periods that wet period > normal water period > wet period, and the concentration at different heights during different periods varied. In general, the lowest concentration occurred at 10 m during the dry and normal water periods, and the highest concentration occurred at 1.5 m during the wet period. (3) SO42−, NO3−, and Cl− are the dominant constituents of PM2.5, accounting for 42.22, 12.6, and 21.56%, respectively; (4) the dry depositions of PM2.5 and PM10 at 10 m were higher than those at 6 m, and the deposition during the dry period was higher than those during the wet and normal water periods. In addition, the deposition during the night-time was higher than that during the daytime. Moreover, meteorological factors affected the deposition, the temperature and wind speed being negatively correlated with the deposition flux and the humidity being positively correlated. (5) The PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were influenced by meteorological factors. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were negatively correlated with temperature and wind speed but positively correlated with relative humidity.
PowerDrive: a fast, canonical POWER estimator for DRIVing synthEsis

The computational complexity of a probability based combinational power metric lies in the creation of a BDD for each node in the circuit. We formalize the problem of finding an intermediate support set which controls the size of BDD. We propose an exact algorithm to solve it. We also propose an heuristic solution, PowerDrive, for estimating the power of large circuits. Apart from being more accurate and several times faster than methods by H. Choi and S.H. Hwang (1997) and B. Kapoor (1994), PowerDrive possesses the unique quality of being canonical and of constant complexity, a very desirable quality for a power metric guiding a synthesis tool. Finally, the proposed power metric was able to guide the synthesis tool (S. Roy et al., 1998) to optimize large circuits which could not be synthesized by POSE (S. Imam and M. Pedram, 1995), thus proving the effectiveness of our power metric.
Optimal Dynamic Point Selection for Power Minimization in Multiuser Downlink CoMP

This paper examines a coordinated multi-point transmission/reception system where multiple base-stations (BSs) employ coordinated beamforming to serve multiple mobile-stations (MSs). Under the dynamic point selection mode, each MS can be assigned to only one BS at any time. This paper then presents a solution framework to optimize the BS associations and coordinated beamformers for all MSs. With target signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios at the MSs, the design objective is to minimize either the weighted sum transmit power or the per-BS transmit power margin. Since the original optimization problems contain binary variables indicating the BS associations, finding their optimal solutions is a challenging task. To circumvent this difficulty, we first relax the original problems into new optimization problems by expanding their constraint sets. Based on the nonconvex quadratic constrained quadratic programming framework, we show that these relaxed problems can be solved optimally. Interestingly, with the first design objective, the obtained solution from the relaxed problem is also optimal to the original problem. With the second design objective, a suboptimal solution to the original problem is then proposed, based on the obtained solution from the relaxed problem. Simulation results show that the resulting jointly optimal BS association and beamforming design significantly outperforms fixed BS association schemes.
The roles of commitment and attributions on uninvolved partner responses to imagined sexual infidelity

Johnson, Courtney Beth. Ph.D., Purdue University, August 2013. The Roles of Commitment and Attributions on Uninvolved Partner Responses to Imagined Partner Infidelity. Major Professor: Kevin L. Rand. This study examined the roles of commitment and attributions in uninvolved partner responses to imagined sexual infidelity. Undergraduate students (N = 298) in dating relationships participated in a hypothetical sexual infidelity scenario in which they imagined their romantic partner engaged in sexual intercourse with someone else. Measured-variable path analysis was used to evaluate the predictive ability of commitment and attributions on negative emotional responses and predicted relationship continuation. The hypothesized conceptual model demonstrated poor fit to sample data. Through exploratory model building, an alternative model was generated that demonstrated good fit to sample data. A subset of commitment, investment, predicted negative affect. In addition, attributions predicted predictions of relationship continuation. Negative emotional responses were highly endorsed on a validated measure for emotional responses, the PANAS-X (Watson & Clark, 1994). Further, study findings highlight the importance of the use of a compliance check in assessing successful participant completion of imagined infidelity scenario. Unique study contributions include directions for further conceptual model development for this area of research as well as support for the use of compliance checks and careful selection of infidelity