Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diet Quality, Measured by Fruit and Vegetable Intake, Predicts Weight Change in Young Women

This study investigates the relationship between diet quality and weight gain in young women. Young women (n = 4,287, with 1,356 women identified as plausible subsample aged 27.6 ± 1.5 years at baseline) sampled from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health study completed food frequency questionnaires in 2003, which were used to evaluate diet quality using three indices: Australian Recommended Food Score (ARFS), Australian Diet Quality Index (Aus-DQI), and Fruit and Vegetable Index (FAVI). Weight was self-reported in 2003 and 2009. Multivariate linear regression was used to examine the association between tertiles of each diet quality index and weight change from 2003 to 2009. The ARFS and FAVI were significant predictors of 6-year weight change in this group of young women, while Aus-DQI did not predict weight change (P > 0.05). In the fully adjusted model, those who were in the top tertile of the ARFS significantly gained lower weight gain compared with the lower tertile for the plausible TEI sub-sample (β = −1.6 kg (95% CI: −2.67 to −0.56), P = 0.003). In the fully adjustment model, young women were classified in the highest FAVI tertile and gained significantly less weight than those in the lowest tertile for the plausible TEI (β = −1.6 kg (95% CI: −2.4 to −0.3) P = 0.01). In conclusion, overall diet quality measured by the ARFS and the frequency and variety of fruit and vegetable consumption may predict long-term weight gain in young women. Therefore, health promotion programs encouraging frequent consumption of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables are warranted.
++Spicy

Recent results in schema-mapping and data-exchange research may be considered the starting point for a new generation of systems, capable of dealing with a significantly larger class of applications. In this paper we demonstrate the first of these second-generation systems, called ++Spicy. We introduce a number of scenarios from a variety of data management tasks, such as data fusion, data cleaning, and ETL, and show how, based on the system, schema mappings and data exchange techniques can be very effectively applied to these contexts. We compare ++Spicy to the previous generations of tools, to show that this is much-needed advancement in the field.
Biomechanical effects of intraocular pressure elevation on optic nerve/lamina cribrosa before and after peripapillary scleral collagen cross-linking.

PURPOSE To evaluate the biomechanical effect of intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation on the optic nerve/lamina cribrosa complex (ON/LC) and peripapillary sclera (PS) of porcine eyes before and after localized collagen cross-linking. METHODS Eighteen porcine globes were divided evenly into three groups. The optic nerves were transected to expose the ON/LC, and each globe was infused through an in-line pressure transducer for direct IOP control. Surface wave velocity, a nondestructive measure of tissue stiffness, was measured across the ON/LC and PS before and after collagen cross-linking at IOPs of 10 and 30 mm Hg (groups 1 and 2) and at each globe's preinflation IOP and 80 mm Hg (group 3). In group 3, papillary strain was measured by analyzing the displacement of fiducial marks immediately adjacent to the ON/LC by using digital photography. Cross-linking in group 1 was achieved with riboflavin-ultraviolet A (UVA) delivery to the entire ON/LC and PS and, in groups 2 and 3, with an annular sponge soaked in glutaraldehyde (GTA) and applied only to the PS. RESULTS Native PS was significantly stiffer than the ON/LC across all experiments. Before cross-linking, IOP elevation caused significant stiffening of both the ON/LC and PS. After cross-linking with either technique, IOP elevation stiffened the PS but not the ON/LC region. In group 3, papillary strain during IOP elevation was significantly reduced after PS cross-linking. CONCLUSIONS Stiffening of the peripapillary scleral ring reduces the biomechanical sensitivity of the ON/LC complex to IOP elevation and may represent a novel mechanism for neuroprotection in glaucoma.
Web Search Engine Evaluation Using Clickthrough Data and a User Model

Traditional search engine evaluation relies on a list of query document pairs along with a score reflecting the document relevance to the query. The score is generally a human assessment, but nothing is said explicitly about the actual user behavior. In this paper we illustrate with a toy model that once the user behavior is agreed upon, the human assessment can be eliminated and the engine performance can be evaluated based on the clickthrough data of past users.
Physiological Comparison of Roller Skating, Treadmill Running and Ergometer Cycling

This study was undertaken to determine the metabolic and cardiorespiratory differences between treadmill running, ergometer cycling and roller skating in top level roller skaters. The subjects performed 3 discontinuous graded tests until exhaustion. The protocol was established so that heart rate kinetics during exercise were similar in all the tests. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), maximal heart rate and exercise time to exhaustion were higher during running (p < 0.05) than during cycling. Blood lactate during submaximal and maximal running exercise was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than during cycling or roller skating. There were no differences between cycling and roller skating in any of the variables studied. These results seem to suggest that, compared with running, VO2max during cycling is limited more by local muscle fatigue than by cardiac factors. The similar response found during roller skating and cycling supports the concept that cycloergometer testing is a valid simple laboratory test for testing physical fitness in top level roller skaters.
Perfect Quantum Error Correction Code

We present a quantum error correction code which protects a qubit of information against general one qubit errors which maybe caused by the interaction with the environment. To accomplish this, we encode the original state by distributing quantum information over five qubits, the minimal number required for this task. We give a simple circuit which takes the initial state with four extra qubits in the state |0> to the encoded state. The circuit can be converted into a decoding one by simply running it backward. Reading the extra four qubits at the decoder's output we learn which one of the sixteen alternatives (no error plus all fifteen possible 1-bit errors) was realized. The original state of the encoded qubit can then be restored by a simple unitary transformation.
Comparing the Degree of Exothermic Polymerization in Commonly Used Acrylic and Provisional Composite Resins for Intraoral Appliances

The use of dental acrylics and composite resins in veterinary dentistry has become widespread. However, their use is not without potential complications. All acrylics and composite resins produce an exothermic reaction during the polymerization process. The aim of the current study was to evaluate thermal conduction during the polymerization reaction of each material to offer clinical guidelines when choosing a material with particular consideration for the significant volumes typically used. Results showed that methylmethacrylate based resins generated a significantly higher degree of heat during polymerization. Bis-acryl based composite resins generated a significantly lower degree of heat during polymerization, making them the material of choice to potentially minimize thermal injury to the dentin-pulp complex. It is the responsibility of the clinician to become aware of all materials available, and to have an understanding of their properties to guide them in making sound clinical judgments.
DEMOGRAPHIC DIMENSION OF SUBURBANIZATION IN UKRAINE IN THE LIGHT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

Suburbanization is the most typical process that defines the development of urbanized areas in Central and Eastern Europe. However, in Ukraine, except for the largest cities, suburbanization processes seems to be underestimated. This paper is trying to estimate the actual extent of suburbanization in Ukraine, find out the relationship between the city size and the development of suburbanization, as well as evaluate successfulness of the common urban evolution theories in explanation of empirical evidence from one of the largest Eastern European countries. Analysis is based on the data on migration dynamics in urban cores, peri-urban areas and hinterlands of 66 cities with a population of over 40.000 located in 22 regions of Ukraine. It was found out that suburbanization processes in Ukraine are extremely widespread and define general course of current urban dynamics. Migration growth of peri-urban area comparing with main city and hinterland is observed in majority of studied cities (68%), including all cities with population over 100.000. The dependence of the stage of urban evolution from the city size appears to be rather statistical than absolute. In general, larger population corresponds with the further progression of cities in their evolutionary path and, consequently, with greater probability of suburbanization as the main or additional process. Despite of some regional specifics and irregularities, we may see a high correlation between identified stages of urban evolution and common theoretical models. Verification of these conclusions can be done through further in-depth research of certain cases.
Predicting Neuropsychological Development from Skull Imaging

Craniosynostosis is a serious and common pediatric disease caused by the premature fusion of sutures of the skull. Although studies have shown an increase in risk for cognitive deficits in patients with isolated craniosynostosis, the causal basis for this association is still unclear. It is hypothesized that an abnormally shaped skull produces a secondary deformation of the brain that results in the disruption of normal neuropsychological development. In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis of our newly developed shape descriptors in an attempt to understand the impact of skull deformations on neurobehavior. In particular, we show that our scaphocephaly severity indices and symbolic shape signatures are predictive of mental ability and psychomotor functions, respectively, which suggests the possibility that secondary deformation could influence neuro-developmental status
Mutational analysis of primary central nervous system lymphoma

Little is known about the genomic basis of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) tumorigenesis. To investigate the mutational profile of PCNSL, we analyzed nine paired tumor and germline DNA samples from PCNSL patients by high throughput exome sequencing. Eight genes of interest have been further investigated by focused resequencing in 28 additional PCNSL tumors to better estimate their incidence. Our study identified recurrent somatic mutations in 37 genes, some involved in key signaling pathways such as NFKB, B cell differentiation and cell cycle control. Focused resequencing in the larger cohort revealed high mutation rates for genes already described as mutated in PCNSL such as MYD88 (38%), CD79B (30%), PIM1 (22%) and TBL1XR1 (19%) and for genes not previously reported to be involved in PCNSL tumorigenesis such as ETV6 (16%), IRF4 (14%), IRF2BP2 (11%) and EBF1 (11%). Of note, only 3 somatically acquired SNVs were annotated in the COSMIC database. Our results demonstrate a high genetic heterogeneity of PCNSL and mutational pattern similarities with extracerebral diffuse large B cell lymphomas, particularly of the activated B-cell (ABC) subtype, suggesting shared underlying biological mechanisms. The present study provides new insights into the mutational profile of PCNSL and potential targets for therapeutic strategies.
A SiGe frequency quadrupler for M-QAM carrier recovery

In this paper a frequency quadrupler circuit, integrated with a commercially available SiGe HBT technology (fT/fmax¿80/90 GHz) is presented. The quadrupler consists of two Gilbert cell mixers stacked as squarers. The measured maximum conversion gain is 0.6 dB for an input level of -9 dBm. The circuit is optimized for M-QAM carrier recovery, and the performance was tested by applying QPSK and 16QAM modulated signals with 4 Gbit/s data rate at the input. Both experimental and simulated results are presented. The fully integrated chip is operated from a single 2.5V DC supply and draws 22.3 mA current.
Attitude: a concept analysis.

This paper presents a concept analysis conducted as a beginning step to developing research on nurses' attitudes toward advancing formal education. A literature review, conducted by the author, confirmed that the term attitude is used prolifically in nursing research; however, the findings were inconclusive as to a definition and the attributes of an "attitude. " Often this concept was either not defined or vaguely defined. Few operational definitions, required for accurate measurement of a concept, were found. An adequate definition and understanding of a concept is required for critical reflection and utilization of the term and development of measurement procedures.
Elastic Properties of Jet-Grouted Ground and Applications

Elastic Properties of Jet-Grouted Ground and Applications. (May 2012) Benjamin Laurent Juge, B.A., Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Chloe Arson With the development of urban areas and the constant need to change or improve the existing structures, a need for creative and less destructive soil reinforcement processes has occurred. Jet-grouting is one possible ground improvement technique. The behavior of the soil improved by jet-grouting is still not well understood. In this thesis, the mechanical behavior of the injected soil is modeled in order to determine the different parameters needed for the engineering design of a soil reinforcement based on jet-grouting. At first several models are presented in order to determine the extent of the injected zone within the soil mass, based on engineering parameters (cement poroelastic properties, injection rate). A model based on an energetic balance is proposed to compute the lower bound of the injection radius. The second part of the thesis focuses on the characterization of the uniaxial compressive strength of the soilcrete created in the injected area determined in the first part. Three different methods have been adapted to the problem. A hollow sphere model has been calibrated against published data. After calibration, both Eshelby’s and averaging methods proved to provide results close to the reference data. The last part of this report presents numerical studies of the pile and of a group of piles. The study of the group of piles focuses on the effect of arching between soilcrete columns to reduce the vertical settlements due to urban tunneling at the surface. It appears that the values
New and improved: modeling versions to improve app recommendation

Existing recommender systems usually model items as static -- unchanging in attributes, description, and features. However, in domains such as mobile apps, a version update may provide substantial changes to an app as updates, reflected by an increment in its version number, may attract a consumer's interest for a previously unappealing version. Version descriptions constitute an important recommendation evidence source as well as a basis for understanding the rationale for a recommendation. We present a novel framework that incorporates features distilled from version descriptions into app recommendation. We use a semi-supervised topic model to construct a representation of an app's version as a set of latent topics from version metadata and textual descriptions. We then discriminate the topics based on genre information and weight them on a per-user basis to generate a version-sensitive ranked list of apps for a target user. Incorporating our version features with state-of-the-art individual and hybrid recommendation techniques significantly improves recommendation quality. An important advantage of our method is that it targets particular versions of apps, allowing previously disfavored apps to be recommended when user-relevant features are added.
Cardiovascular Effects of Aldosterone: Insight From Adult Carriers of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Mutations

Background—High plasma aldosterone has deleterious cardiovascular effects that are independent of blood pressure, but the role of the mineralocorticoid receptor remains unclear. Renal pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 is a rare autosomal-dominant disease caused by NR3C2 loss-of-function mutations, which is characterized by renal salt loss and compensatory high renin and aldo secretion. We aimed to assess the cardiovascular outcomes in adults carrying NR3C2 mutations. Methods and Results—In this case-control study, 39 NR3C2 mutation carriers were compared with sex- and age-paired noncarriers. Patients underwent cardiac and vascular ultrasound, cardiac MRI with gadolinium injection, measurement of pulse wave velocity, extracellular water, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure, and autonomous nervous system activity. Mutation carriers showed increased aldo and renin plasma levels (4.5- and 1.6-fold, respectively; P<0.0001), together with increased salt appetite (1.8-fold; P=0.002), with normal extracellular water and blood pressure, and no autonomous nervous system activation. Cardiac and vascular parameters were not significantly different between mutation carriers and noncarriers (no left ventricular remodeling or fibrosis, normal left ventricular systolic function, and aorta stiffness). Tissue Doppler showed better diastolic left ventricular function in mutation carriers (e′, P=0.001; E/e′, P=0.003). Mutation carriers had significantly more frequent history of slow body weight recovery at birth, symptomatic hypotension, and miscarriage in women. Conclusions—Despite life-long increase in plasma aldosterone and renin levels, no adverse cardiovascular outcome occurred in pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1, but rather an improved diastolic left ventricular function. This suggests that the cardiovascular consequences of aldosterone excess require full mineralocorticoid receptor signaling. Clinical Trial Registration—http://www.clinicaltrials. gov; unique identifier: NCT00646828.
Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics It’s SHO Time! Short-Sale Price-Tests and Market Quality

We examine the effects of the SEC mandated temporary suspension of short-sale price-tests for a set of Pilot securities. While short-selling activity increased both for NYSE and NASDAQ-listed Pilot stocks, returns and volatility at the daily level are unaffected. NYSE-listed Pilot stocks experience more symmetric trading patterns and a slight increase in spreads and intraday volatility after the suspension while there is a smaller effect on market quality for NASDAQlisted Pilot stocks. The results suggest that the effect of the price-tests on market quality can largely be attributed to the distortions in order flow created by the price-tests in the first place. Therefore, we believe that the price-tests can safely be permanently suspended. First Draft: October 25, 2005 This Draft: August 14, 2007
Dendrimers Bind Antioxidant Polyphenols and cisPlatin Drug

Synthetic polymers of a specific shape and size play major role in drug delivery systems. Dendrimers are unique synthetic macromolecules of nanometer dimensions with a highly branched structure and globular shape with potential applications in gene and drug delivery. We examine the interaction of several dendrimers of different compositions mPEG-PAMAM (G3), mPEG-PAMAM (G4) and PAMAM (G4) with hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs cisplatin, resveratrol, genistein and curcumin at physiological conditions. FTIR and UV-visible spectroscopic methods as well as molecular modeling were used to analyse drug binding mode, the binding constant and the effects of drug complexation on dendrimer stability and conformation. Structural analysis showed that cisplatin binds dendrimers in hydrophilic mode via Pt cation and polymer terminal NH2 groups, while curcumin, genistein and resveratrol are located mainly in the cavities binding through both hydrophobic and hydrophilic contacts. The overall binding constants of durg-dendrimers are ranging from 102 M−1 to 103 M−1. The affinity of dendrimer binding was PAMAM-G4>mPEG-PAMAM-G4>mPEG-PAMAM-G3, while the order of drug-polymer stability was curcumin>cisplatin>genistein>resveratrol. Molecular modeling showed larger stability for genisten-PAMAM-G4 (ΔG = −4.75 kcal/mol) than curcumin-PAMAM-G4 ((ΔG = −4.53 kcal/mol) and resveratrol-PAMAM-G4 ((ΔG = −4.39 kcal/mol). Dendrimers might act as carriers to transport hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs.
Simultaneous observations of tropospheric turbulence from radiosondes using Thorpe analysis and the VHF MU radar

This paper deals with the detection and quantification of refractivity turbulence in the troposphere from radiosonde and very high frequency (VHF) band radar data. Balloon data processing methods based on Thorpe sorting and recently developed by Wilson et al. (2010, 2011, and 2013) can be applied for a direct identification of turbulent layers from the in situ profiles. The VHF band mid and upper atmosphere radar (MUR) can be operated in range‐imaging mode for detecting and monitoring turbulent layers at high time and range resolutions (of the order of 10 s and a few tens of meters, respectively). For cross validating the techniques, concurrent MUR and RS92‐SGP Vaisala radiosonde observations were made at the Shigaraki Middle and Upper atmosphere (MU) observatory (34.85°N, 136.15°E; Japan) during a field campaign of 3 weeks in September 2011. The radar signature, in terms of echo power and aspect ratio, of the turbulent layers identified from balloon data analyses is investigated from case studies and statistics. The deep (> ~100 m) layers are very often associated with echo power maxima and weak aspect ratios suggesting that the same events of isotropic turbulence were detected by both instruments. Some others are associated with relative minima of isotropic echo power, possibly indicating a later stage of turbulence. The ranges of strong aspect ratios are generally not associated with turbulent events in the balloon data supporting the hypothesis that anisotropic turbulence is not the cause of vertically enhanced radar echoes. Quantitative comparisons are made between radar echo power and refractive index constant structure Cn2 estimated from temperature variance and additional parameters in the selected layers. Despite a large scatter between the radar and balloon estimates, the results are statistically significant (correlation coefficients ~0.5–0.88) even when the causes of systematic decrease with height of Cn2 (humidity and density) are removed. Our studies therefore demonstrate that radar and balloon observations of turbulence are consistent between each other and that new insights on tropospheric turbulence can be obtained by the two techniques as stand‐alone systems.
Efficient frequent item counting in multi-core hardware

The increasing number of cores and the rich instruction sets of modern hardware are opening up new opportunities for optimizing many traditional data mining tasks. In this paper we demonstrate how to speed up the performance of the computation of frequent items by almost one order of magnitude over the best published results by matching the algorithm to the underlying hardware architecture. We start with the observation that frequent item counting, like other data mining tasks, assumes certain amount of skew in the data. We exploit this skew to design a new algorithm that uses a pre-filtering stage that can be implemented in a highly efficient manner through SIMD instructions. Using pipelining, we then combine this pre-filtering stage with a conventional frequent item algorithm (Space-Saving) that will process the remainder of the data. The resulting operator can be parallelized with a small number of cores, leading to a parallel implementation that does not suffer any of the overheads of existing parallel solutions when querying the results and offers significantly higher throughput.