Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impairment of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2–angiotensin-(1-7)-Mas axis contributes to the acceleration of two-kidney, one-clip Goldblatt hypertension

Objective Recent studies have shown that the heptapeptide angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] exerts important vasoactive actions and can act as an endogenous physiological antagonist of angiotensin II (Ang II) within the renin–angiotensin system (RAS). The present study was performed to evaluate the effects, first, of chronic increases of Ang-(1-7) levels, second, of [7-D-Ala], an Ang-(1-7) receptor antagonist, and, third, of an angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) inhibitor on the course of hypertension and of renal function of the nonclipped kidney in two-kidney, one-clip (2K1C) Goldblatt hypertensive rats. Methods Blood pressure (BP) was monitored by radiotelemetry. Elevation of the effect of circulating Ang-(1-7) levels was achieved either by chronic subcutaneous infusion of Ang-(1-7) through osmotic minipumps or by employing transgenic rats that express an Ang-(1-7)-producing fusion protein [Ang-(1-7)TGR+/+] (and its control Ang-(1-7)TGR−/−). [7-D-Ala] was also infused subcutaneously and the ACE2 inhibitor was administrated in drinking water. On day 25 after clipping, rats were anesthetized and renal function was evaluated. Results Chronic infusion of Ang-(1-7) did not modify the course of 2K1C hypertension and did not alter renal function as compared with saline vehicle-infused 2K1C rats. Chronic infusion of [7-D-Ala] or treatment with the ACE2 inhibitor worsened the course of hypertension and elicited decreases in renal hemodynamics. [Ang-(1-7)TGR+/+] and [Ang-(1-7)TGR−/−] rats exhibited a similar course of hypertension. Conclusion The present data support the notion that Ang-(1-7) serves as an important endogenous vasodilator and natriuretic agent and its deficiency might contribute to the acceleration of 2K1C Goldblatt hypertension.
Learning from Maps: Visual Common Sense for Autonomous Driving

Today's autonomous vehicles rely extensively on high-definition 3D maps to navigate the environment. While this approach works well when these maps are completely up-to-date, safe autonomous vehicles must be able to corroborate the map's information via a real time sensor-based system. Our goal in this work is to develop a model for road layout inference given imagery from on-board cameras, without any reliance on high-definition maps. However, no sufficient dataset for training such a model exists. Here, we leverage the availability of standard navigation maps and corresponding street view images to construct an automatically labeled, large-scale dataset for this complex scene understanding problem. By matching road vectors and metadata from navigation maps with Google Street View images, we can assign ground truth road layout attributes (e.g., distance to an intersection, one-way vs. two-way street) to the images. We then train deep convolutional networks to predict these road layout attributes given a single monocular RGB image. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that our model learns to correctly infer the road attributes using only panoramas captured by car-mounted cameras as input. Additionally, our results indicate that this method may be suitable to the novel application of recommending safety improvements to infrastructure (e.g., suggesting an alternative speed limit for a street).
Cytomegalovirus Infection Reduces Telomere Length of the Circulating T Cell Pool

Short telomeres of circulating leukocytes are a risk factor for age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, but the exact mechanisms generating variations in telomere length are unknown. We hypothesized that induction of differentiated T cells during chronic CMV infection would affect T cell telomere length. To test this, we measured the amount of differentiated T cells and telomere length of lymphocytes during primary CMV infection as well as CMV-seropositive and -seronegative healthy individuals. After primary CMV infection, we observed an increase in highly differentiated cells that coincided with a steep drop in telomere length. Moreover, we found in a cohort of 159 healthy individuals that telomere shortening was more rapid in CMV-seropositive individuals and correlated with the amount of differentiated T cells in both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. Finally, we found that telomere length measured in blood leukocytes is correlated with lymphocyte telomere length. Thus, CMV infection induces a strong decrease in T cell telomere length, which can be explained by changes in the composition of the circulating lymphocyte pool.
Classification of the pre-settlement behaviour of barnacle cyprids

Barnacle cyprids exhibit a complex swimming and exploratory behaviour on surfaces and settlement is a consequence of extensive surface probing and selection of suitable settlement sites. In this work, the behaviour of cyprids in their pre-settlement phase was studied by three-dimensional video stereoscopy. With this technique, three-dimensional trajectories were obtained that were quantitatively analysed. The velocity during vertical sinking of cyprids of Balanus amphitrite was used with a modified form of Stokes' law to calculate their mean body density. Furthermore, a classification of the swimming patterns allowed the extension of existing models describing cyprid locomotion and swimming behaviour. The patterns were characterized with respect to their occurrence, transition between patterns and their velocity distribution, and motions were identified that led to surface contacts. This analysis provides a classification framework, which can assist future attempts to identify behavioural responses of cyprids to specific settlement cues.
Bmc Musculoskeletal Disorders Knee Complaints Vary with Age and Gender in the Adult Population. Population-based Reference Data for the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (koos)

Background: Self-reported knee complaints may vary with age and gender. Reference data from the adult population would help to better interpret the outcome of interventions due to knee complaints. The objectives of the present study were to describe the variation of self-reported knee pain, function and quality of life with age and gender in the adult population and to establish population-based reference data for the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS).
GAD2 on Chromosome 10p12 Is a Candidate Gene for Human Obesity

The gene GAD2 encoding the glutamic acid decarboxylase enzyme (GAD65) is a positional candidate gene for obesity on Chromosome 10p11–12, a susceptibility locus for morbid obesity in four independent ethnic populations. GAD65 catalyzes the formation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which interacts with neuropeptide Y in the paraventricular nucleus to contribute to stimulate food intake. A case-control study (575 morbidly obese and 646 control subjects) analyzing GAD2 variants identified both a protective haplotype, including the most frequent alleles of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) +61450 C>A and +83897 T>A (OR = 0.81, 95% CI [0.681–0.972], p = 0.0049) and an at-risk SNP (−243 A>G) for morbid obesity (OR = 1.3, 95% CI [1.053–1.585], p = 0.014). Furthermore, familial-based analyses confirmed the association with the obesity of SNP +61450 C>A and +83897 T>A haplotype (χ2 = 7.637, p = 0.02). In the murine insulinoma cell line βTC3, the G at-risk allele of SNP −243 A>G increased six times GAD2 promoter activity (p < 0.0001) and induced a 6-fold higher affinity for nuclear extracts. The −243 A>G SNP was associated with higher hunger scores (p = 0.007) and disinhibition scores (p = 0.028), as assessed by the Stunkard Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. As GAD2 is highly expressed in pancreatic β cells, we analyzed GAD65 antibody level as a marker of β-cell activity and of insulin secretion. In the control group, −243 A>G, +61450 C>A, and +83897 T>A SNPs were associated with lower GAD65 autoantibody levels (p values of 0.003, 0.047, and 0.006, respectively). SNP +83897 T>A was associated with lower fasting insulin and insulin secretion, as assessed by the HOMA-B% homeostasis model of β-cell function (p = 0.009 and 0.01, respectively). These data support the hypothesis of the orexigenic effect of GABA in humans and of a contribution of genes involved in GABA metabolism in the modulation of food intake and in the development of morbid obesity.
Fast computation of SimRank for static and dynamic information networks

Information networks are ubiquitous in many applications and analysis on such networks has attracted significant attention in the academic communities. One of the most important aspects of information network analysis is to measure similarity between nodes in a network. SimRank is a simple and influential measure of this kind, based on a solid theoretical "random surfer" model. Existing work computes SimRank similarity scores in an iterative mode. We argue that the iterative method can be infeasible and inefficient when, as in many real-world scenarios, the networks change dynamically and frequently. We envision non-iterative method to bridge the gap. It allows users not only to update the similarity scores incrementally, but also to derive similarity scores for an arbitrary subset of nodes. To enable the non-iterative computation, we propose to rewrite the SimRank equation into a non-iterative form by using the Kronecker product and vectorization operators. Based on this, we develop a family of novel approximate SimRank computation algorithms for static and dynamic information networks, and give their corresponding theoretical justification and analysis. The non-iterative method supports efficient processing of various node analysis including similarity tracking and centrality tracking on evolving information networks. The effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed methods are evaluated on synthetic and real data sets.
Embodied Conceptual Combination

Conceptual combination research investigates the processes involved in creating new meaning from old referents. It is therefore essential that embodied theories of cognition are able to explain this constructive ability and predict the resultant behavior. However, by failing to take an embodied or grounded view of the conceptual system, existing theories of conceptual combination cannot account for the role of perceptual, motor, and affective information in conceptual combination. In the present paper, we propose the embodied conceptual combination (ECCo) model to address this oversight. In ECCo, conceptual combination is the result of the interaction of the linguistic and simulation systems, such that linguistic distributional information guides or facilitates the combination process, but the new concept is fundamentally a situated, simulated entity. So, for example, a cactus beetle is represented as a multimodal simulation that includes visual (e.g., the shiny appearance of a beetle) and haptic (e.g., the prickliness of the cactus) information, all situated in the broader location of a desert environment under a hot sun, and with (at least for some people) an element of creepy-crawly revulsion. The ECCo theory differentiates interpretations according to whether the constituent concepts are destructively, or non-destructively, combined in the situated simulation. We compare ECCo to other theories of conceptual combination, and discuss how it accounts for classic effects in the literature.
Assessment of GPs' beliefs relating to the care of people with intellectual disabilities: A Taiwan-based, opportunity-guided approach

Purpose. This study was designed to investigate general practitioners' (GPs) beliefs about the perceived importance of their role in, and their satisfaction with, providing healthcare to people with intellectual disabilities. The identification of healthcare issues with potential for improvement was assessed using gap analysis and an opportunity-guided method. Method. A cross-sectional census survey by a mail-structured questionnaire recruited 331 GPs (response rate = 16%) who provided information on healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities in 2006 in Taiwan. Results. The results indicated that GPs considered their role in providing healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities to be important (mean score 7.2 – 8.3). However, the respondents generally did not feel satisfied (mean score 4.6 – 5.5) with their achievements in treating patients with intellectual disabilities. We found that the gender and educational level of the respondents were statistically correlated to the perceived importance they considered their work to have, while the factors of age, medical practice setting and training experience in intellectual disability were statistically correlated to GPs' perceived satisfaction in providing healthcare to people with intellectual disabilities (p < 0.05). Those healthcare issues of ‘training and experience in intellectual disability’, ‘multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral cooperation’, ‘adequate competence in disability diagnosis’, ‘genetic consulting services’, ‘duty of disease prevention and health promotion’, and ‘adequate medical consultation time’ were the five most promising areas to be improved in healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities according to the opportunity-guided analysis. Conclusions. This study highlights that health professionals need to examine carefully healthcare issues pertaining to people with ID, and that much more effort is required to develop appropriate healthcare policies based on the opportunity-guided health issues identified here.
Locating causes of program failures

Which is the defect that causes a software failure? By comparing the program states of a failing and a passing run, we can identify the state differences that cause the failure. However, these state differences can occur all over the program run. Therefore, we focus in space on those variables and values that are relevant for the failure, and in time on those moments where cause transitions occur - moments where new relevant variables begin being failure causes: "Initially, variable argc was 3; therefore, at shell-sort(), variable a[2] was 0, and therefore, the program failed. " In our evaluation, cause transitions locate the failure-inducing defect twice as well as the best methods known so far.
A model of a reputation system for incentive engineering

Reputation systems are used to provide incentives for cooperation among participants of, and generally help to se cure, peer-to-peer networks. In this paper, a survey of such syste ms is provided followed by the description of a model of a reputati on framework that can capture the phenomenon of peer nodes misrepresenting reputations for malicious or selfish reasons. For special case, the model is shown to converge in mean to reputatio ns that “reveal” the true propensity of peer nodes to cooperate. The paper concludes with a simulation study that considers weig hted voting, hierarchical trust groups and misrepresentations.
Reduced expression of the small leucine-rich proteoglycans, lumican, and decorin is associated with poor outcome in node-negative invasive breast cancer.

PURPOSE To examine the prognostic significance of lumican and decorin, two abundant small leucine-rich proteoglycans in breast tissue stroma. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Lumican and decorin expression was examined in a cohort of 140 invasive breast carcinomas by Western blot analysis. All cases were axillary lymph node-negative and treated by adjuvant endocrine therapy. RESULTS Lumican and decorin expression was highly correlated (r = 0.45, P < 0.0001), but although low levels of lumican were associated with large tumor size (P = 0.0496), negative estrogen receptor (P = 0.0024) and progesterone receptor status (P = 0.0116), and increased host inflammatory response (P = 0.0077), low decorin levels were associated only with large tumor size (P = 0.0496). However, using univariate analysis, low levels of lumican and decorin were both associated with a shorter time to progression (P = 0.0013 and 0.0262) and poorer survival (P = 0.001 and 0.0076). In multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model, low decorin was also shown to be an independent predictive factor for recurrence (hazard ratio 2.25: 95% confidence interval 1-5, P = 0.047) and survival (hazard ratio 3.39: 95% confidence interval 1.2-9.6, P = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that low levels of small leucine-rich proteoglycans in breast tumors may be associated with a worse prognosis in lymph node-negative invasive breast carcinomas and warrant further study with larger patient cohorts.
Distant Speculators and Asset Bubbles in the Housing Market

How do bubbles form? Beginning with the work of Black (1986) and De Long et al. (1991), many authors have conjectured that the trading behavior of overconfident or uninformed speculators can destabilize financial markets and create bubbles. According to these models, other traders may not be able to restore equilibrium because of limits to arbitrage such as capital constraints, informational frictions, or a limited supply of tradable shares.1 Real estate researchers have also long puzzled over the ine ciency of housing prices,2 and several papers specifically point to the possible role of second house buyers in inflating house prices during the recent boom.3 In order to test whether or not some combination of speculative trading and arbitrageur constraints generates a bubble, an economist must confront three key challenges: first, identify a group of overconfident or uninformed speculators; second, show that an increase in the trading volume of these speculators predicts future mispricing; and third, demonstrate that Alex Chinco: Finance Department; New York University Stern School of Business. email: alexchinco@gmail.com. Chris Mayer: Columbia Business School and NBER; Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. email: cm310@columbia.edu. Daniel Hubbard, Laura Vincent and James Witkin provided dedicated research assistance. We are grateful for Dataquick, 1010data and an anonymous firm for providing data and assistance that were crucial for this project. 1See Shleifer and Vishny (1997), Scheinkman and Xiong (2003), and Ofek and Richardson (2003) respectively. 2See the seminal paper by Case and Shiller (1989) as well as a recent survey Mayer (2010) for a discussion of the literature on housing bubbles. 3See Bayer et al. (2011), Haughwout et al. (2011), and Li and Gao (2012).
The Genetic Basis of Natural Variation in Seed Size and Seed Number and Their Trade-Off Using Arabidopsis thaliana MAGIC Lines

Offspring number and size are key traits determining an individual’s fitness and a crop’s yield. Yet, extensive natural variation within species is observed for these traits. Such variation is typically explained by trade-offs between fecundity and quality, for which an optimal solution is environmentally dependent. Understanding the genetic basis of seed size and number, as well as any possible genetic constraints preventing the maximization of both, is crucial from both an evolutionary and applied perspective. We investigated the genetic basis of natural variation in seed size and number using a set of Arabidopsis thaliana multiparent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) lines. We also tested whether life history affects seed size, number, and their trade-off. We found that both seed size and seed number are affected by a large number of mostly nonoverlapping QTL, suggesting that seed size and seed number can evolve independently. The allele that increases seed size at most identified QTL is from the same natural accession, indicating past occurrence of directional selection for seed size. Although a significant trade-off between seed size and number is observed, its expression depends on life-history characteristics, and generally explains little variance. We conclude that the trade-off between seed size and number might have a minor role in explaining the maintenance of variation in seed size and number, and that seed size could be a valid target for selection.
Microtensile Specimen Attachment and Shape—Finite Element Analysis

Microtensile bond strength values are influenced by specimen shape and attachment method to the gripping device during testing. We hypothesized that stress distribution inside the testing specimen is affected by microtensile specimen shape and attachment method. Rectangular, hourglass-, and dumbbell-shaped specimens, all with a 1 mm2 cross-sectional testing region, were modeled as indirect ceramic restorations luted to dentin. Three specimen attachments were investigated: (1) posterior surface; (2) posterior, superior, and lateral surfaces; and (3) all surfaces. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out according to von Mises’ criteria. Stress analysis showed a direct correlation between attachment modes and stress distribution, with shear stresses observed in models with less surface attachment. Increasing the number of faces for specimen attachment to the metallic gripping device resulted in a more homogeneous and regular distribution of stress, with tensile stress concentrated at the adhesive interface. Dumbbell-shaped specimens showed improved stress distribution compared with rectangular and hourglass-shaped specimens.
Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Polymorphisms in Carcinogen-Metabolizing and DNA Repair Enzymes in a Population with Aflatoxin Exposure and Hepatitis B Virus Endemicity

High rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in The Gambia, West Africa, are primarily due to a high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection and heavy aflatoxin exposure via groundnut consumption. We investigated genetic polymorphisms in carcinogen-metabolizing (GSTM1, GSTT1, HYL1*2) and DNA repair (XRCC1) enzymes in a hospital-based case-control study. Incident HCC cases (n = 216) were compared with frequency-matched controls (n = 408) with no clinically apparent liver disease. Although the prevalence of variant genotypes was generally low, in multivariable analysis (adjusting for demographic factors, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and TP53 status), the GSTM1-null genotype [odds ratio (OR), 2.45; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.21-4.95] and the heterozygote XRCC1-399 AG genotype (OR, 3.18; 95% CI, 1.35-7.51) were significantly associated with HCC. A weak association of the HYL1*2 polymorphism with HCC was observed but did not reach statistical significance. GSTT1 was not associated with HCC. The risk for HCC with null GSTM1 was most prominent among those with the highest groundnut consumption (OR, 4.67; 95% CI, 1.45-15.1) and was not evident among those with less than the mean groundnut intake (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.20-2.02). Among participants who had all three suspected aflatoxin-related high-risk genotypes [GSTM1 null, HLY1*2 (HY/HH), and XRCC1 (AG/GG)], a significant 15-fold increased risk of HCC was observed albeit with imprecise estimates (OR, 14.7; 95% CI, 1.27-169). Our findings suggest that genetic modulation of carcinogen metabolism and DNA repair can alter susceptibility to HCC and that these effects may be modified by environmental factors.