Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender Specific Effects of Early-Life Events on Adult Lifespan

The idea of fetal origins o f adu lt d egenerative diseases and ea rly-life programming of lat e-life hea lth and survival is being actively discussed in the scientific literature. Can this new fascinating concept also be useful to understand (at least partially) the observed sex disparities in adult health and longevity? Are the long-lasting effects of early-life co nditions identical for both s exes, or , on the contrary, t hey are sex-specific? These questions stimulated us to conduct the present pilot exploratory study on the gender specificity of late-life health outcomes for early-life effects. In this study we addressed these scientific problems by studying the effects of early-life conditions o n a dult lifespan o f men and women separately, us ing the methodology of historical prospective study of extinct birth cohorts. In this study we found that sex differences in adult life span are modulated by early-life events and conditions. Specifically, we found that such variables as 1. father's age at person's conception, 2. maternal lifespan 3. month of birth, 4. birth order (first-born status) have a profound effects on adult lifespan (life expectancy at age 30) in females, but not in males. Daughters born to particularly young fathers (below 25 years) or old fathers (above 45 years) live significantly shorter lives, while sons are less affected by paternal age at conception. The dependence of progeny lifespan on maternal lifespan is non-linear with particularly steep slope for long-lived mothers (above 90 years) and female sex of the progeny. Women born in May or December live longer compared to those born in February or August, while male lifespan is less affected by the season of birth. The results of this pilot exploratory study justifies the need for further full-scale research project on gender-specific outcomes of early-life effects and conditions.
A PROM element based on salicide agglomeration of poly fuses in a CMOS logic process

A novel programmable element has been developed and evaluated for state of the art CMOS processes. This element is based on agglomeration of the Ti-silicide layer on top of poly fuses. Various aspects of this programmable device including characterization and optimization of physical and electrical aspects of the element, programming yield, and reliability have been studied. Development of a novel programming and sensing circuit is also included.
Capture of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Using Immunomagnetic Beads of Different Size and Antibody Conjugating Chemistry

Immunomagnetic beads (IMB) were synthesized using anti-Escherichia coli O157 antibodies and magnetic beads of two different sizes (1 μm and 2.6 to 2.8 μm) that contained a streptavidin coating, activated carboxyl groups or tosylated surfaces. The synthesized IMB, together with a commercially available IMB, were used to capture different strains of E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O157:NM. The E. coli capture was measured by the time resolved fluorescence (TRF) intensity using a sandwich assay which we have previously demonstrated of having a sensitivity of 1 CFU/g after 4.5 hour enrichment [1]. The analyses of measured TRF intensity and determined antibody surface concentration indicated that larger beads provided higher response signals than smaller beads and were more effective in capturing the target of interest in pure culture and ground beef. In addition, while each type of IMB showed different favorable capture of E. coli O157:H7, streptavidin-coated IMB elicited the highest response, on average. Streptavidin-coated IMB also provided an economic benefit, costing less than $0.50 per assay. The results could be used to guide the proper choice of IMB for applications in developing detection processes for E. coli O157:H7.
Statin Therapy and the Risk of Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Meta-Analysis of 31 Randomized Controlled Trials

Background and Purpose— Statin therapy decreases the risk of ischemic stroke. An increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) has been observed in some studies. To investigate this issue, we performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials using statins that reported ICH. Methods— We performed a literature search of Medline, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library through January 25, 2012, and identified additional randomized controlled trials by reviewing reference lists of retrieved studies and prior meta-analyses. All randomized controlled trials of statin therapy that reported ICH or hemorrhagic stroke were included. The primary outcome variable was ICH. Thirty-one randomized controlled trials were included. All analyses used random effects models and heterogeneity was not observed in any of the analyses. Results— A total of 91 588 subjects were included in the active group and 91 215 in the control group. There was no significant difference in incidence of ICH observed in the active treatment group versus control (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.88–1.32; P=0.47). ICH risk was not related to the degree of low-density lipoprotein reduction or achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Total stroke (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78–0.91; P<0.0001) and all-cause mortality (OR, 0.92; CI, 0.87–0.96; P=0.0007) were significantly reduced in the active therapy group. There was no evidence of publication bias. Conclusions— Active statin therapy was not associated with significant increase in ICH in this meta-analysis of 31 randomized controlled trials of statin therapy. A significant reduction in all stroke and all-cause mortality was observed with statin therapy.
Redundancy reduction: does it help associative classifiers?

The number of classification rules discovered in associative classification is typically quite large. In addition, these rules contain redundant information since classification rules are obtained from mined frequent itemsets and the latter are known to be repetitive. In this paper we investigate through an empirical study the performance of associative classifiers when the classification rules are generated from frequent, closed and maximal itemsets. We show that maximal itemsets substantially reduce the number of classification rules without jeopardizing the accuracy of the classifier. Our extensive analysis demonstrates that the performance remains stable and even improves in some cases. Our analysis using cost curves also provides recommendations on when it is appropriate to remove redundancy in frequent itemsets.
Binding and transepithelial transport of immunoglobulins by intestinal M cells: demonstration using monoclonal IgA antibodies against enteric viral proteins

M cells of intestinal epithelia overlying lymphoid follicles endocytose luminal macromolecules and microorganisms and deliver them to underlying lymphoid tissue. The effect of luminal secretory IgA antibodies on adherence and transepithelial transport of antigens and microorganisms by M cells is unknown. We have studied the interaction of monoclonal IgA antibodies directed against specific enteric viruses, or the hapten trinitrophenyl (TNP), with M cells. To produce monospecific IgA antibodies against mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) and reovirus type 1, Peyer's patch cells from mucosally immunized mice were fused with myeloma cells, generating hybridomas that secreted virus-specific IgA antibodies in monomeric and polymeric forms. One of two anti-MMTV IgA antibodies specifically bound the viral surface glycoprotein gp52, and 3 of 10 antireovirus IgA antibodies immunoprecipitated sigma 3 and mu lc surface proteins. 35S-labeled IgA antibodies injected intravenously into rats were recovered in bile as higher molecular weight species, suggesting that secretory component had been added on passage through the liver. Radiolabeled or colloidal gold-conjugated mouse IgA was injected into mouse, rat, and rabbit intestinal loops containing Peyer's patches. Light microscopic autoradiography and EM showed that all IgA antibodies (antivirus or anti-TNP) bound to M cell luminal membranes and were transported in vesicles across M cells. IgA-gold binding was inhibited by excess unlabeled IgA, indicating that binding was specific. IgG-gold also adhered to M cells and excess unlabeled IgG inhibited IgA-gold binding; thus binding was not isotype-specific. Immune complexes consisting of monoclonal anti-TNP IgA and TNP-ferritin adhered selectively to M cell membranes, while TNP-ferritin alone did not. These results suggest that selective adherence of luminal antibody to M cells may facilitate delivery of virus-antibody complexes to mucosal lymphoid tissue, enhancing subsequent secretory immune responses or facilitating viral invasion.
Volume loss versus gravity: new concepts in facial aging

Purpose of reviewThe earliest techniques of facial rejuvenation have been continuously adapted to reflect changes in the understanding of the aging face. Significant, paradigm-shifting advances in this understanding have been made in recent years which have allowed application of specific therapeutic modalities, resulting in dramatically improved results over those achieved with traditional facial rejuvenation. Recent findingsPioneering work by several authors has shown that gravity is not the sole determinant of the aging face. These authors have demonstrated that volume loss, including that of soft tissue and bone, is at least equally important in the pathogenesis of the stigmata of aging. Rejuvenative techniques developed to reverse these atrophic changes have exhibited outstanding results. The consequence is an increasing emphasis on the use of volume restoration procedures to address the aging face. SummaryRecent improvements in the understanding of the facial aging process have brought about newly refined techniques for facial rejuvenation, ushering in a new era of plastic surgery for the aging face which is being manifested by increasingly natural results.
Connection to culture by indigenous children and young people in out-of-home care in Australia

Given the relatively large numbers of Indigenous children and young people in out-of-home care in Australia, and the fact that one third across the country are not placed according to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, it is important to ensure that those in care maintain contact with their families and cultural community to satisfy their basic human rights, and to contribute to identity formation and lifelong support. To explore the extent to which this is happening at present, 296 Indigenous children and young people aged 10-18 years from all states and territories were surveyed to determine the strength of their connection to culture, and to identify mechanisms that might facilitate this connection, including the level of cultural support planning and contact with family members. Findings revealed that 31% did not feel connected to culture, while only 14% reported being aware of a personal cultural support plan, in spite of the possession of such a plan being a requirement of the National Standards in Out-of-Home Care introduced in 2011. Knowledge of family story was found to be a major factor in predicting strength of connection to culture, as were support from carers and frequency of contact with father. Contact with siblings was found to be negatively associated with connection to culture, possibly because of competing time interests; with limited free time, periods spent with siblings, which has a high priority in young persons' lives, is time not available for other pursuits. Based on these findings, it is argued that those responsible for Indigenous children and young people in out-of-home care must do more to ensure that these young people understand the long-term importance of being part of their culture and, if the young people wish, do everything possible to help them maintain that connection.
Ancestral Causal Inference

Constraint-based causal discovery from limited data is a notoriously difficult challenge due to the many borderline independence test decisions. Several approaches to improve the reliability of the predictions by exploiting redundancy in the independence information have been proposed recently. Though promising, existing approaches can still be greatly improved in terms of accuracy and scalability. We present a novel method that reduces the combinatorial explosion of the search space by using a more coarse-grained representation of causal information, drastically reducing computation time. Additionally, we propose a method to score causal predictions based on their confidence. Crucially, our implementation also allows one to easily combine observational and interventional data and to incorporate various types of available background knowledge. We prove soundness and asymptotic consistency of our method and demonstrate that it can outperform the state-of-the-art on synthetic data, achieving a speedup of several orders of magnitude. We illustrate its practical feasibility by applying it on a challenging protein data set.
On the Performance of Interference-Aware Cognitive Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper we analyze the effects of channel availability on channel access delay and service probability of cognitive networks using a modified IEEE 802.11 Media Access Control Protocol (MAC). For the designed cognitive network, cognitive communication is limited by the interference imposed on primary users. We determine the probability of accessing the channel under Rayleigh fading condition for this opportunistic network. We then use this probability to determine the embedded Markov model of the cognitive nodes. We use this Markov model to determine the average channel access delay, and service rate of cognitive nodes. Both simulation and analytical results are presented to access the system performance.
Colouring and breaking sticks: random distributions and heterogeneous clustering

We begin by reviewing some probabilistic results about the Dirichlet Process and its close relatives, focussing on their implications for statistical modelling and analysis. We then introduce a class of simple mixture models in which clusters are of different `colours', with statistical characteristics that are constant within colours, but different between colours. Thus cluster identities are exchangeable only within colours. The basic form of our model is a variant on the familiar Dirichlet process, and we find that much of the standard modelling and computational machinery associated with the Dirichlet process may be readily adapted to our generalisation. The methodology is illustrated with an application to the partially-parametric clustering of gene expression profiles.
Xylitol as a prophylaxis for acute otitis media: Systematic review

Abstract A systematic review was conducted to evaluate evidence regarding xylitol, a sugar alcohol, as a prophylaxis for acute otitis media (AOM) in children. The authors searched PubMed and other databases to identify evidence. Criteria for included studies were: appear in English-language, peer-reviewed journals; at least quasi-experimental designs; use xylitol; and present outcome data. The authors completed evaluation forms for the included studies at all phases of the review. The authors reviewed 1479 titles and excluded 1435. Abstracts and full texts were reviewed for the remaining 44; four randomized controlled trials met inclusion criteria. Xylitol was a generally well accepted prophylaxis for AOM with few side effects when administered via chewing gum or syrup at 10 g/day given five times daily. Meta-analysis revealed significant treatment effects (Risk ratio = 0.68; 95% confidence interval = 0.57 to 0.83). Xylitol can be a prophylaxis for AOM, but warrants further study, especially of vehicles other than chewing gum for young children, and information is needed regarding cost, duration of administration required, and expected long-term effects. Sumario Se llevó a cabo una revisión sistemática para evaluar la(s) evidencia(s) sobre el Xylitol, un alcohol de azúcar, como profiláctico para la otitis media aguda en niños (AOM). Los autores buscaron en PubMed y en otras bases de datos para identificar las evidencias. Los criterios para incluir los estudios fueron: que apareciera en idioma inglés, en revistas revisadas por científicos de la misma disciplina con un diseño al menos quasi experimental; con uso de Xylitol y con resultados. Los autores completaron las formas de evaluación para los estudios incluidos en todas las fases de la revisión. Los autores revisaron 1479 títulos y excluyeron 1435. Se revisaron sumarios y artículos completos de los 44 restantes; cuatro ensayos clínicos aleatorios controlados cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. En general el Xylitol fue bien tolerado en la profilaxis de la AOM con pocos efectos colaterales cuando se administró en goma de mascar o sirope a dosis de 10g/día en cinco tomas. El meta-análisis reveló efectos terapéuticos significativos (tasa de riesgo de 0.68; intervalo de confianza del 95% 0.57 a 0.83) El Xiylitol puede ser una profilaxia para la AOM, pero se requieren más estudios, especialmente acerca de otros vehículos distintos a la goma de mascar para niños pequeños, y es necesaria mayor información sobre los costos, la duración requerida y los efectos esperados a largo plazo.
A web-based group decision support system for the selection and evaluation of educational multimedia

Multimedia is now a relatively mature field, having advanced over more than two decades. The combination of text, images, videos, animations, etc. in both presentational and conversational form is now a standard part of most computer applications, web-based and stand-alone alike. As such, Educational Multimedia (EMM) can be a great tool to improve teaching and learning. However, EMM selection and evaluation for higher education is a complex and interdisciplinary problem characterised by uncertainty, dynamics, explicit and implicit knowledge and constraints, and involvement of different stakeholders. In this work, we use a domain-based web oriented Group Decision Support System (GDSS) for the selection and continuous evaluation of EMM for educational providers. We investigate the viability of developing and validating a web-based GDSS, integrated with knowledge management (KM) and instructional design, as a support tool to overcome the difficulties in the selection and evaluation of EMM. The proposed solution manages and supports the six phases of planning, intelligence, design, choice, implementation, and evaluation. In addition to design and implementation, performance evaluation is also presented using data collected from experts, instructors, and EMM producers. The results reveal that the proposed solution can successfully help educational consumers in selecting and evaluating EMM.
The Application of Data Mining for Direct Marketing

Most Data mining Algorithms and Tools when applied to Industrial problems such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) are useful in pointing out Customers who are likely attritors and customers who are Loyal, but they require human experts to post process the discovered knowledge manually for Campaigning [1][5]. This separation of the data mining and campaign management software introduces considerable inefficiency and opens the door for human errors. Tightly integrating the two disciplines presents an opportunity for companies to gain competitive advantage [6]. In this Paper we proposes an application implemented in Java to integrate data mining and Campaign management Software. Decision tree Algorithm C4.5 to build Data mining model by taking inputs from a database to predict customer behaviour such as Loyal and Unloyal. This is the reality of business today that, It is far more expensive to win back a customer after they have left than it is to keep them satisfied in the first place[6]. This application deliverers timely, pertinent, and coordinated messages and value propositions (offers or gifts perceived as valuable) to the Unloyal customer. It also calculates the net profit after these promotions. In this paper we considered Training data for Online mobile phones store.
Do You Enjoy Having More than Others? Survey Evidence of Positional Goods

Although conventional economic theory proposes that only the absolute levels of income and consumption matter for people’s utility, there is much evidence that relative concerns are often important. This paper uses a survey-experimental method to measure people’s perceptions of the degree to which such concerns matter, i.e. the degree of positionality. Based on a representative sample in Sweden, income and cars are found to be highly positional, on average. This is in contrast to leisure and car safety, which may even be completely non-positional.
A unique alkaline pH-regulated and fatty acid-activated tandem pore domain potassium channel (K2P) from a marine sponge

SUMMARY A cDNA encoding a potassium channel of the two-pore domain family (K2P, KCNK) of leak channels was cloned from the marine sponge Amphimedon queenslandica. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that AquK2P cannot be placed into any of the established functional groups of mammalian K2P channels. We used the Xenopus oocyte expression system, a two-electrode voltage clamp and inside-out patch clamp electrophysiology to determine the physiological properties of AquK2P. In whole cells, non-inactivating, voltage-independent, outwardly rectifying K+ currents were generated by external application of micromolar concentrations of arachidonic acid (AA; EC50 ∼30 μmol l–1), when applied in an alkaline solution (≥pH 8.0). Prior activation of channels facilitated the pH-regulated, AA-dependent activation of AquK2P but external pH changes alone did not activate the channels. Unlike certain mammalian fatty-acid-activated K2P channels, the sponge K2P channel was not activated by temperature and was insensitive to osmotically induced membrane distortion. In inside-out patch recordings, alkalinization of the internal pH (pKa 8.18) activated the AquK2P channels independently of AA and also facilitated activation by internally applied AA. The gating of the sponge K2P channel suggests that voltage-independent outward rectification and sensitivity to pH and AA are ancient and fundamental properties of animal K2P channels. In addition, the membrane potential of some poriferan cells may be dynamically regulated by pH and AA.
Quantitative Analysis of the Effective Functional Structure in Yeast Glycolysis

The understanding of the effective functionality that governs the enzymatic self-organized processes in cellular conditions is a crucial topic in the post-genomic era. In recent studies, Transfer Entropy has been proposed as a rigorous, robust and self-consistent method for the causal quantification of the functional information flow among nonlinear processes. Here, in order to quantify the functional connectivity for the glycolytic enzymes in dissipative conditions we have analyzed different catalytic patterns using the technique of Transfer Entropy. The data were obtained by means of a yeast glycolytic model formed by three delay differential equations where the enzymatic rate equations of the irreversible stages have been explicitly considered. These enzymatic activity functions were previously modeled and tested experimentally by other different groups. The results show the emergence of a new kind of dynamical functional structure, characterized by changing connectivity flows and a metabolic invariant that constrains the activity of the irreversible enzymes. In addition to the classical topological structure characterized by the specific location of enzymes, substrates, products and feedback-regulatory metabolites, an effective functional structure emerges in the modeled glycolytic system, which is dynamical and characterized by notable variations of the functional interactions. The dynamical structure also exhibits a metabolic invariant which constrains the functional attributes of the enzymes. Finally, in accordance with the classical biochemical studies, our numerical analysis reveals in a quantitative manner that the enzyme phosphofructokinase is the key-core of the metabolic system, behaving for all conditions as the main source of the effective causal flows in yeast glycolysis.