Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender and Obesity Specific MicroRNA Expression in Adipose Tissue from Lean and Obese Pigs

Obesity is a complex condition that increases the risk of life threatening diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Studying the gene regulation of obesity is important for understanding the molecular mechanisms behind the obesity derived diseases and may lead to better intervention and treatment plans. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs regulating target mRNA by binding to their 3’UTR. They are involved in numerous biological processes and diseases, including obesity. In this study we use a mixed breed pig model designed for obesity studies to investigate differentially expressed miRNAs in subcutaneous adipose tissue by RNA sequencing (RNAseq). Both male and female pigs are included to explore gender differences. The RNAseq study shows that the most highly expressed miRNAs are in accordance with comparable studies in pigs and humans. A total of six miRNAs are differentially expressed in subcutaneous adipose tissue between the lean and obese group of pigs, and in addition gender specific significant differential expression is observed for a number of miRNAs. The differentially expressed miRNAs have been verified using qPCR. The results of these studies in general confirm the trends found by RNAseq. Mir-9 and mir-124a are significantly differentially expressed with large fold changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue between lean and obese pigs. Mir-9 is more highly expressed in the obese pigs with a fold change of 10 and a p-value < 0.001. Mir-124a is more highly expressed in the obese pigs with a fold change of 114 and a p-value < 0.001. In addition, mir-124a is significantly higher expressed in abdominal adipose tissue in male pigs with a fold change of 119 and a p-value < 0.05. Both miRNAs are also significantly higher expressed in the liver of obese male pigs where mir-124a has a fold change of 12 and mir-9 has a fold change of 1.6, both with p-values < 0.05.
Dietary patterns in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Publications from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children that used empirically derived dietary patterns were reviewed. The relationships of dietary patterns with socioeconomic background and childhood development were examined. Diet was assessed using food frequency questionnaires and food records. Three statistical methods were used: principal components analysis, cluster analysis, and reduced rank regression. Throughout childhood, children and parents have similar dietary patterns. The “health-conscious” and “traditional” patterns were associated with high intakes of fruits and/or vegetables and better nutrient profiles than the “processed” patterns. There was evidence of tracking in childhood diet, with the “health-conscious” patterns tracking most strongly, followed by the “processed” pattern. An “energy-dense, low-fiber, high-fat” dietary pattern was extracted using reduced rank regression; high scores on this pattern were associated with increasing adiposity. Maternal education was a strong determinant of pattern score or cluster membership; low educational attainment was associated with higher scores on processed, energy-dense patterns in both parents and children. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children has provided unique insights into the value of empirically derived dietary patterns and has demonstrated that they are a useful tool in nutritional epidemiology.
Understanding Pure Social Networks : Structure , Connectivity , and Patterns of Interests

In this paper, we attempt to better understand social networks, as they currently represent an alarming majority of all web site traffic. Specifically, we aim to measure the structure, connectivity, and patterns of interests that may emerge. We feel that better understanding such may not only lead to improving social networking sites, but could also lead to developing new personalized social applications and mediums, improving targeted marketing, and assisting in sociological research. Unlike most related research efforts, we concentrate on a pure social network–Facebook.com–in the sense that our medium of choice is one whose entire premise is based on developing social networks. This contrasts with many other loose social networks such as photo or video sharing sites (i.e. Flickr, PicasaWeb, YouTube, Google Video) which are primarily focused on providing featured content, but allow for social-network-like communities to form as a complemented feature. We developed a comprehensive crawler for Facebook. We attempt to accurately model the global structure of Facebook by focusing our crawl on the regional network of Los Angeles, California. We confirm that the vast majority of users are part of a large strongly connected component (SCC), whereby any user can reach any other user via 4.8 friendship hops on average. Moreover, we demonstrate that this is a lower-bound for regional networks, and that global connectivity on Facebook should be comparable. In addition, we show that the distribution of friendships adheres to the power-law property. We devise an efficient algorithm to find commonality of interests between all users, and show ∗This research is still in progress and more results will be added later †Chris’ tasks included research focus, crawling trials, and all writing; Chu-Cheng developed code for all experiments, which he also conducted, and was responsible for general research and management; Keenahn did the enormous task of writing the highly complex crawler–the crux to making this all possible that friends are almost twice as likely as non-friends to share common interests with one another. Last, as an added bonus to the research community, we will make our extensive crawling data publicly available to academia after we remove sensitive, personal data and obtaining web storage.
A Steganalysis Method Based On Quantization Attack

We have addressed the problem of image steganalysis that have been potentially subjected to steganographic algorithms, both within the passive warden and active warden frameworks. In actual practice, most techniques produce stego images that are perceptually identical to the cover images but exhibit statistical irregularities that distinguish them from cover images. Statistical steganalysis exploits these irregularities in order to provide the best discrimination between cover and stego images. Attacking the cover-images and stego-images using the quantization method, we can obtained statistically different from embedded-and-quantization attacked images and from quantization attacked-but-not-embedded sources. We have developed a technique based on one-class SVM for discriminating between cover-images and stego-images. Simulation results with the chosen feature set and well known watermarking and steganographic techniques indicate that our approach is able with reasonable accuracy to distinguish between cover and stego images.
Increase in glutamate/glutamine concentration in the medial prefrontal cortex during mental imagery: A combined functional mrs and fMRI study

Recent functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS) studies have shown changes in glutamate/glutamine (Glx) concentrations between resting‐state and active‐task conditions. However, the types of task used have been limited to sensory paradigms, and the regions from which Glx concentrations have been measured limited to sensory ones. This leaves open the question as to whether the same effect can be seen in higher‐order brain regions during cognitive tasks. Cortical midline structures, especially the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), have been suggested to be involved in various such cognitive tasks. We, therefore set out to use fMRS to investigate the dynamics of Glx concentrations in the MPFC between resting‐state and mental imagery task conditions. The auditory cortex was used as a control region. In addition, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to explore task‐related neural activity changes. The mental imagery task consisted of imagining swimming and was applied to a large sample of healthy participants (n = 46). The participants were all competitive swimmers, ensuring proficiency in mental‐swimming. Glx concentrations in the MPFC increased during the imagery task, as compared to resting‐state periods preceding and following the task. These increases mirror BOLD activity changes in the same region during the task. No changes in either Glx concentrations or BOLD activity were seen in the auditory cortex. These findings contribute to our understanding of the biochemical basis of generating or manipulating mental representations and the MPFC's role in this. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3204–3212, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Foreign Direct Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa and its Effects on Economic Growth of the Region

The objective of this paper is to analyze foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sub-Saharan Africa and examine its effects on economic growth of the region. Although, in absolute terms, FDI inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa have risen significantly over the recent three decades, the overall performance of the region in attracting FDI seems to be disappointing. FDI inflows into Sub-Saharan Africa spread unevenly across the region showing a high degree of concentration in a few countries. There is mixed evidence regarding FDI impact on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. As significant FDI activities in Africa are taking place in the mining sector, backward and forward linkages and spillover effects are very limited. Further efforts of Sub-Saharan Africa should focus on implementing wise development strategies. It could not only help to attract more FDI to the region, but also result in reducing the barriers to FDI effectiveness. The paper is based mainly on the analysis of the latest statistical data and theoretical and empirical findings from literature.
YIELD, QUALITY AND FEED COST EFFICIENCY OF MILK PRODUCED BY ANGLO-NUBIAN GOATS FED DIFFERENT MIXTURES OF NAPIER (Pennisetum purpureum) GRASS AND MALUNGGAY (Moringa oleifera)

The study evaluated which proportion of Napier grass and Malunggay diet is best in increasing milk quantity and quality of Anglo Nubian dairy goats and assessed the cost of producing goat’s milk in these animals. Six purebred and three upgraded Anglo-Nubian goats were distributed into three blocks according to breed and average weight and were subjected to a 60-day feeding period given the following treatment diets: Treatment 1 – 100% Napier grass; Treatment 2 – 70% Napier grass and 30% Malunggay; and Treatment 3 – 60% Napier grass and 40% Malunggay. All treatments received the same amount of concentrate as supplement. After the study, the average milk yield of the animals under Treatment 1 was 246.80 ml while Treatment 2 had 431.33 ml and Treatment 3 had 458.33 ml. The milk density was 26.46, temperature of 34.79oC and freezing point of -0.381oC. The milk contained 5.98% fat, 8.31% solids-non-fat, 2.74% lactose, and 4.76% protein. The diet which produced the highest milk yield in goats was the combination of 60% Napier grass and 40% Malunggay. As to the cost, the animals given 100% Napier grass plus concentrate had the lowest cost per liter of milk produced, followed by 40% Malunggay and 30% Malunggay.
Alcohol and the Community: A Systems Approach to Prevention

Series editor's preface Acknowledgements 1. The community system of alcohol use and alcohol problems 2. Consumption system 3. Retail sales subsystem: alcohol availability and promotion 4. Formal regulation and control subsystem: rules, administration and enforcement 5. Social norms subsystem: community values and social influences that affect drinking 6. Legal sanctions subsystem: prohibited uses of alcohol 7. Social, economic and health consequences subsystem: community identification of and responses to alcohol problems 8. Community-level alcohol problem prevention References Index.
Fiscal Sustainability of Japan: A Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Approach

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fiscal sustainability of Japan by applying a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to the Japanese economy. By introducing intermediation costs into the model, we succeed in explaining the observed relationship between the interest and GDP growth rates, which is crucial in testing for sustainability. When the projected real growth rate is 2.5%, the average real interest rate becomes 2.57%, and the debt-to-GDP ratio gradually increases stochastically so that government debt is not sustainable. To recover sustainability, the primary surplus must be 0.2% of GDP.
The Evolution of the Housing Market and its Socioeconomic Impacts in the Post‐Reform People's Republic of China: A Survey of the Literature

The development of the housing market in the People's Republic of China is not only a major component of Chinese economic growth but also has wide-ranging influential impacts on Chinese society. A burgeoning number of papers have examined the housing market in the postreform People's Republic of China from various perspectives. This paper aims to provide a thorough survey of the key literature in the field and then supply a complete picture of the dynamics of the housing market in the People's Republic of China. To assess the functional efficiency of this nascent market, we pay particular attention to the literature that is related to the academic debate over the Chinese housing bubble issue. The structure and operation of the housing market is another major concern in this paper. Finally, we summarize the key insights of the literature that we surveyed, note research gaps in the literature, and discuss further research directions in this field.
Informed Trading and the Pricing of Good and Bad Private Information in the Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns

Informed Trading and the Pricing of Good and Bad Private Information in the Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns We decompose PIN, the Probability of Informed Trading, into components that capture informed trading on good news (PIN G) and on bad news (PIN B), and provide new evidence that PIN and its components capture informed trading around quarterly earnings announcements. Our principal result concerns asymmetry in the pricing of the two PIN components: we find that the return premium for PIN B is large and highly significant, while that for PIN G is much smaller and is statistically insignificant. JEL Classification: G12
Alumni & Tenured Participants in MOOCs: Analysis of Two Years of MOOC Discussion Channel Activity

This study investigates chat room data from a massive open online course (MOOC) that has been organized several times since January 2012. What makes the organization unique is that the chat room has always remained the same, allowing past participants to mingle with the new course takers. Participants who have previously attended the course have started to support the novices, voluntarily taking the role of mentors, while at the same time also learning themselves. Two and a half years of chat logs and interviews show that it is possible that a community consisting of previous and current participants emerges naturally. Furthermore, there are plenty of students that unconditionally help others, even when they themselves no longer attend the course. Our observations suggest that communities of practice emerge naturally around the chat rooms of MOOCs.
Fluorescent Lyα Emission from the High-Redshift Intergalactic Medium

We combine a high-resolution hydro simulation of the ΛCDM cosmology with two radiative transfer schemes (for continuum and line radiation) to predict the properties, spectra, and spatial distribution of fluorescent Lyα emission at z ~ 3. We focus on line radiation produced by recombinations in the dense intergalactic medium ionized by UV photons. In particular, we consider both a uniform background and the case in which gas clouds are illuminated by a nearby quasar. We find that the emission from optically thick regions is substantially less than predicted from the widely used static, plane-parallel model. The effects induced by a realistic velocity field and by the complex geometric structure of the emitting regions are discussed in detail. We make predictions for the expected brightness and size distributions of the fluorescent sources. Our results account for recent null detections and can be used to plan new observational campaigns both in the field (to measure the intensity of the diffuse UV background) and in the proximity of bright quasars (to understand the origin of high column density absorbers).
Improvisation facilitates divergent thinking and creativity: Realizing a benefit of primary school arts education

The benefit of arts education for cultural engagement, wider academic achievement, and as a contributor to the creative economy is a subject of significant debate. In the present work, we focus on the potential for simple, arts-based improvisation activities to enhance divergent thinking skills and creativity in primary school-age children. In the first experiment, we compare the effect of children taking part in an improvised versus nonimprovised dance class on their subsequent performance on the Instances Task (Wallach & Kogan, 1965) and on a creative “toy” design task. In a second experiment, children took part in verbal and acting improvisation games or in matched control games before completing figural activity 1 of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1974). In both experiments, we found that children who took part in the improvisation interventions showed better divergent thinking and creativity after the intervention. Our findings suggest that simple, arts-based improvisation interventions could have domain-general benefits for creative cognition processes. Furthermore, they indicate one way in which simply making better use of existing arts education provision could provide a cost-effective way to increase creativity-relevant skills in primary schoolchildren. We consider putative mechanisms for the improvisation effects and specify directions for future work.
Effects of perturbations on accuracy of arm movements

This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that the magnitude of perturbation-induced disruption of active movement depends upon the size of the active movement, with small movements being more disrupted than large ones. Human subjects performed pronating or supinating arm movements of 3 degrees, 10 degrees, and 30 degrees in a discrete visual tracking task. When the movements were briefly stopped or reversed, the resultant errors in trajectory and static position (expressed relative to the movement size) were greater for small as compared to large movements. These findings demonstrate that peripheral kinesthetic disturbances modify movement trajectory and end point error, with small movements being more affected than large movements.
In vitro drug resistance profiles of adult versus childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

The difference in the current cure rates between adult and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) may be caused by differences in drug resistance. Earlier studies showed that in vitro cellular drug resistance is a strong independent adverse risk factor in childhood ALL. Knowledge about cellular drug resistance in adult ALL is still limited. The present study compared the in vitro drug resistance profiles of 23 adult ALL patients with that of 395 childhood ALL patients. The lymphoblasts were tested by the MTT assay. The group of adult ALL samples was significantly more resistant to cytosine arabinoside, l‐asparaginase, daunorubicin, dexamethasone and prednisolone. The resistance ratio (RR) was highest for prednisolone (31·7‐fold) followed by dexamethasone (6·9‐fold), l‐asparaginase (6·1‐fold), cytosine arabinoside (2·9‐fold), daunorubicin (2·5‐fold) and vincristine (2·2‐fold). Lymphoblasts from adult patients were not more resistant to mercaptopurine, thioguanine, 4‐HOO‐ifosfamide, mitoxantrone and teniposide. There were no significant differences in drug resistance between adult T‐cell (T‐) ALL (n = 11) and adult common/pre‐B‐cell (B‐) ALL (n = 10). Additionally, adult T‐ALL did not differ from childhood T‐ALL (n = 69). There were significant differences between adult common/pre‐B‐ALL and childhood common/pre‐B‐ALL (n = 310) for prednisolone (RR = 302, P = 0·008), dexamethasone (RR = 20·9, P = 0·017) and daunorubicin (RR = 2·7, P = 0·009). Lymphoblasts from adults proved to be relatively resistant to drugs commonly used in therapy. This might contribute to the difference in outcome between children and adults with ALL.
The Effects of Religion and Denomination on Earnings and the Returns to Human Capital

The effects of religious and denominational background on earnings and the returns to human capital are examined. When religious differences are constrained to be additive, apart from a Jewish differential, there is virtually no evidence that religious or denominational background affects earnings. This contrasts with Greeley's claims of sizable Catholic advantage. In separate earnings regressions we find that the marginal returns to Catholics from college education exceed those to similar Protestants. This offsets the disadvantage of lower precollege returns. Earnings differences between Protestant denominations appear to reflect the sorting of Protestants into denominations according to schooling and income.
Limitations of PLL simulation: hidden oscillations in SPICE analysis

Nonlinear analysis of the phase-locked loop (PLL) circuits is a challenging task. In classic engineering literature simplified mathematical models and simulation are widely used for its study. In this work the limitations of classic engineering analysis are demonstrated, e.g., hidden oscillations cannot be found by simulation. It is shown that simple simulation in SPICE and MATLAB may lead to wrong conclusions concerning the operability of PLL-based circuits.
Citizens, context, and choice : how context shapes citizens' electoral choices

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Citizens, Context, and Choice PART II: ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION 2. Electoral Supply and Voter Turnout 3. The Influence of Party and Electoral Systems on Campaign Engagement PART III: ELECTORAL CHOICE 4. The Role of Party Policy Positions in the Operation of Democracy 5. Left-Right Orientations, Context, and Voting Choices 6. Follow the Party or Follow the Leader? Candidate Evaluations, Party Evaluations and Macropolitical Context 7. Context, Political Information, and Performance Voting 8. Strategic Defection Across Elections, Parties, and Voters PART IV: ELECTORAL CHOICE AND REPRESENTATION 9. Party Polarization and the Ideological Congruence of Governments 10. Electoral Supply, Median Voters, and Feelings of Representation in Democracies PART V: CONCLUSION 11. Nested Voters: Citizen Choices Embedded in Political Contexts Appendix: Macro Level Data Index