Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Selective Migration Patterns Among Smokers and Nonsmokers on Geographical Inequalities in Health

The research reported here uses New Zealand data on smoking behavior that were collected in the 1981, 1996, and 2006 national censuses. Evaluation of the extent to which differential migration patterns among smokers, former smokers, and nonsmokers contributed toward geographical inequalities in health in New Zealand suggests that the effect of selective migration appears to be significant over the long term. This effect includes the arrival of large numbers of nonsmokers from abroad to the most affluent parts of New Zealand. The recording of these events and the high quality of the census in New Zealand provides evidence of one key mechanism whereby geographical inequalities in health between areas can be greatly exacerbated across a country—differential migration by health status. This assertion has important implications for studies monitoring spatial inequalities in health over time, and research investigating “place effects” on health.
The Effects of Temperature and Growth Phase on the Lipidomes of Sulfolobus islandicus and Sulfolobus tokodaii

The functionality of the plasma membrane is essential for all organisms. Adaption to high growth temperatures imposes challenges and Bacteria, Eukarya, and Archaea have developed several mechanisms to cope with these. Hyperthermophilic archaea have earlier been shown to synthesize tetraether membrane lipids with an increased number of cyclopentane moieties at higher growth temperatures. Here we used shotgun lipidomics to study this effect as well as the influence of growth phase on the lipidomes of Sulfolobus islandicus and Sulfolobus tokodaii for the first time. Both species were cultivated at three different temperatures, with samples withdrawn during lag, exponential, and stationary phases. Three abundant tetraether lipid classes and one diether lipid class were monitored. Beside the expected increase in the number of cyclopentane moieties with higher temperature in both archaea, we observed previously unreported changes in the average cyclization of the membrane lipids throughout growth. The average number of cyclopentane moieties showed a significant dip in exponential phase, an observation that might help to resolve the currently debated biosynthesis pathway of tetraether lipids.
Reversal of hypercoagulability in patients with HCV‐related cirrhosis after treatment with direct‐acting antivirals

The long‐term impact of sustained virological response (SVR) after direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs) on the hypercoagulability associated with HCV cirrhosis is unknown. We longitudinally evaluated the effect of DAAs treatment on cirrhotic coagulopathy.
Motor Load-Dependent Assembly of the Bacterial Flagellar 2013

It is becoming clear that the bacterial flagellar motor output is important not only for bacterial locomotion but also for mediating the transition from liquid to surface living. The output of the flagellar motor changes with the mechanical load placed on it by the external environment: at a higher load, the motor runs more slowly and produces higher torque. Here we show that the number of torque-generating units bound to the flagellar motor also depends on the external mechanical load, with fewer stators at lower loads. Stalled motors contained at least as many stators as rotating motors at high load, indicating that rotation is unnecessary for stator binding. Mutant stators incapable of generating torque could not be detected around the motor. We speculate that a component of the bacterial flagellar motor senses external load and mediates the strength of stator binding to the rest of the motor. IMPORTANCE The transition between liquid living and surface living is important in the life cycles of many bacteria. In this paper, we describe how the flagellar motor, used by bacteria for locomotion through liquid media and across solid surfaces, is capable of adjusting the number of bound stator units to better suit the external load conditions. By stalling motors using external magnetic fields, we also show that rotation is not required for maintenance of stators around the motor; instead, torque production is the essential factor for motor stability. These new results, in addition to previous data, lead us to hypothesize that the motor stators function as mechanosensors as well as functioning as torque-generating units. Received 22 July 2013 Accepted 23 July 2013 Published 20 August 2013 Citation Tipping MJ, Delalez NJ, Lim R, Berry RM, Armitage JP. 2013. Load-dependent assembly of the bacterial flagellar motor. mBio 4(4):e00551-13. doi:10.1128/mBio.00551-
Development of a Model for Albumin Priming in Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Bypass Circuits

Albumin is a plasma protein that is present in the native circulation of all humans, and plays a critical role in maintaining blood pressure through the colloid osmotic pressure (COP) it exerts within blood vessels. During cardiothoracic surgery, it is common practice to add albumin to the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit prime in an attempt to reduce the drop in colloid osmotic pressure of the circulation. While this is inarguably important, a universal protocol for finding the appropriate amount of albumin to add does not exist. The purpose of this project was to develop a model for the addition of albumin in the cardiopulmonary bypass circuits of pediatric patients, based on theoretical calculations and current clinical evidence. This project began with an investigation as to the relationship between outcomes and albumin concentration in a cardiopulmonary bypass prime solution. Literature was reviewed that was both current and relevant to pediatrics, cardiopulmonary bypass circuit priming, albumin, colloid osmotic pressure, and edema. After a thorough exploration of the literature and accompanying data, it was evident that the need for an appropriate albumin concentration was supported, and the development of such a protocol for it was pursued. The end result of this project produced a set of equations, built into a spreadsheetbased calculator, that could be integrated into the practice of pediatric perfusion to determine the appropriate amount of albumin to be added into the cardiopulmonary bypass prime. The implementation of the equations and calculator is expected to result in better outcomes of the pediatric population after cardiothoracic surgery.
<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Space Deep Learning for Accelerated MRI

The annihilating filter-based low-rank Hankel matrix approach (ALOHA) is one of the state-of-the-art compressed sensing approaches that directly interpolates the missing <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-space data using low-rank Hankel matrix completion. The success of ALOHA is due to the concise signal representation in the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-space domain, thanks to the duality between structured low-rankness in the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-space domain and the image domain sparsity. Inspired by the recent mathematical discovery that links convolutional neural networks to Hankel matrix decomposition using data-driven framelet basis, here we propose a fully data-driven deep learning algorithm for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-space interpolation. Our network can be also easily applied to non-Cartesian <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-space trajectories by simply adding an additional regridding layer. Extensive numerical experiments show that the proposed deep learning method consistently outperforms the existing image-domain deep learning approaches.
The effect of individualised sprint training in elite female team sport athletes: A pilot study

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate whether an individualised sprint-training program was more effective in improving sprint performance in elite team-sport players compared to a generalised sprint-training program. Seventeen elite female handball players (23 ± 3 y, 177 ± 7 cm, 73 ± 6 kg) performed two weekly sprint training sessions over eight weeks in addition to their regular handball practice. An individualised training group (ITG, n = 9) performed a targeted sprint-training program based on their horizontal force-velocity profile from the pre-training test. Within ITG, players displaying the lowest, highest and mid-level force-velocity slope values relative to body mass were assigned to a resisted, an assisted or a mixed sprint-training program (resisted sprinting in the first half and assisted sprinting in the second half of the intervention period), respectively. A control group (CG, n = 8) performed a generalised sprint-training program. Both groups improved 30-m sprint performance by ~1% (small effect) and maximal velocity sprinting by ~2% (moderate effect). Trivial or small effect magnitudes were observed for mechanical outputs related to horizontal force- or power production. All between-group differences were trivial. In conclusion, individualised sprint-training was no more effective in improving sprint performance than a generalised sprint-training program.
Effectiveness of different interventions in public nurseries based on food and nutrition education: promoting breast-feeding and healthy complementary feeding

Abstract Objective Food practices in the early years of life are important to form healthy eating habits; therefore, it is essential for the caregivers of infants to receive appropriate guidance. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of different nutritional interventions on complementary feeding practices in municipal nurseries. Design Non-randomized controlled intervention study with education professionals and parents of infants (<2 years). Participants were divided into: control group (CG), standard food and nutrition education in writing; and intervention group (IG), the same information as the CG and face-to-face meetings (professionals, 8 h; parents, 5 h). Changes in professionals’ knowledge on the subject and alterations in parents’ beliefs, attitudes and intentions were assessed using questionnaires before and after the educational activities. Setting Ten public nurseries in Nova Lima, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2015. Subjects Ninety professionals (fifty in CG; forty in IG) and 169 parents (ninety-seven in CG; seventy-two in IG). Results After the intervention, there was a significant increase in the mean number of correct responses given by professionals in the IG (12·2 v. 10·7; P=0·001). In addition, there were improvements among the parents of the IG in relation to beliefs (soups and broths do not nourish my child: P=0·012), attitudes (offer meat from the sixth month: P=0·032) and intentions (do not offer soups and broths: P=0·003; offer vegetables: P=0·018; offer meat: P<0·001). Conclusions Face-to-face nutritional intervention had a significantly greater effect on the parameters evaluated, indicating the importance of adequate guidance in childcare services to support the introduction of complementary feeding.
Quercetin Inhibits the Migration and Invasion of HCCLM3 Cells by Suppressing the Expression of p-Akt1, Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMP) MMP-2, and MMP-9

Background Quercetin is a natural bioactive flavonoid that is present in a wide variety of vegetables and fruits and exhibits a promising anti-metastasis property in various human cancer cells. However, the effect of quercetin on human HCCLM3 cells is unclear. Material/Methods In the current study, a wound-healing assay was performed using quercetin-treated HCCLM3 cells to further explore whether quercetin affects the motility of human HCCLM3 cells. Transwell assay was used to explore the potential effect of quercetin in HCCLM3 cells on cell migration and cell invasion. Western blotting analysis was used to explore the expression of p-Akt1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in quercetin-treated HCCLM3 cells. Results The wound-healing time was delayed in quercetin-treated HCCLM3 cells, and the ability to migrate and invade was inhibited in quercetin-treated human HCCLM3 cells. Moreover, the protein levels of p-Akt1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 were down-regulated in quercetin-treated HCCLM3 cells, as detected by Western blotting. Conclusions Our data show that quercetin attenuated cell migration and invasion by suppressing the protein levels of p-Akt1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in HCCLM3 cells.
Prevention of recurrent bleeding in cirrhotics with recent variceal hemorrhage: Prospective, randomized comparison of propranolol and sclerotherapy

To compare the efficacy of endoscopic paravariceal sclerotherapy and oral propranolol in the prevention of recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding, 78 cirrhotic patients were randomly assigned to either treatment after an endoscopically proven bleed from esophageal varices. After randomization, but before treatment had been started, a total of eight patients had to be withdrawn from the study due to early rebleeding (requiring emergency sclerotherapy) or violations of the protocol. Among the 70 patients analyzed (36 sclerotherapy, 34 propranolol), both treatment groups were comparable with respect to demographic, clinical and laboratory data. The groups also did not differ with respect to continued alcohol intake. Sclerotherapy was performed twice weekly using 1% polidocanol as the sclerosing agent until the varices were eradicated or well‐covered by fibrous tissue. Propranolol was given twice daily at a dose reducing the resting heart rate by 25% (60 to 320 mg per day; mean ± SD = 161 ± 80 mg per day). Patients were followed for up to 2 years with visits at 3 monthly intervals (mean follow‐up = sclerotherapy, 14 months; propranolol, 9.2 months). Life table analysis of patients without rebleeding from nonvariceal sites revealed a tendency in favor of propranolol; however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. No significant difference was observed between sclerotherapy and propranolol in the proportion of patients rebleeding from esophageal varices or from all sources of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Furthermore, survival was similar in both treatment groups. A small esophageal perforation due to sclerotherapy was observed in one patient, and one propranolol patient had to discontinue the medication due to severe bradycardia. Other complications of sclerotherapy and side effects of propranolol were minor. Propranolol reduced variceal size significantly within 3 months of treatment. No such decrease was observed in a subgroup of patients who rebled under propranolol, and in the untreated control group of an ongoing trial of prophylactic sclerotherapy. We conclude that propranolol and sclerotherapy are of comparable value in preventing recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding in cirrhotics.
Ebstein´s Anomaly Associated with Left Heart Malformations: Presentation of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Ebstein´s anomaly is a rare congenital cardiac malformation. This anomaly is seen as part of a generalized disturbance in the development of the right ventricle and, in some cases, of the left ventricle. Case presentation: We present two adult women with this anomaly; both with mitral valve regurgitation, one of them with prolapse of the anterior leaflet and the other one with cleft of the anterior mitral leaflet, and the last one have also bicuspid aortic valve, aortic coarctation, persistence of ductus arteriosus and ostium secundum atrial septal defect. Conclusion: The non-invasive imaging techniques such as echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging play a very important role in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of these patients. An understanding of the morphological and functional details of Ebstein‘s anomaly is the most important point for the correct interpretation of the noninvasive images and adequate clinical judgment. Finally, it is mandatory to assess the left cavities of the heart in all patients with Ebsteins anomaly, in order to establish a complete evaluation.
Effects of Heat Exposure and 3% Dehydration Achieved Via Hot Water Immersion on Repeated Cycle Sprint Performance

Kraft, JA, Green, JM, Bishop, PA, Richardson, MT, Neggers, YH, and Leeper, JD. Effects of heat exposure and 3% dehydration achieved via hot water immersion on repeated cycle sprint performance. J Strength Cond Res 25(3): 778-786, 2011-This study examined effects of heat exposure with and without dehydration on repeated anaerobic cycling. Males (n = 10) completed 3 trials: control (CT), water-bath heat exposure (∼39°C) to 3% dehydration (with fluid replacement) (HE), and similar heat exposure to 3% dehydration (DEHY). Hematocrit increased significantly from pre to postheat immersion in both HE and DEHY. Participants performed 6 × 15s cycle sprints (30s active recovery). Mean Power (MP) was significantly lower vs. CT (596 ± 66 W) for DEHY (569 ± 72 W), and the difference approached significance for HE (582 ± 76 W, p = 0.07). Peak Power (PP) was significantly lower vs. CT (900 ± 117 W) for HE (870 ± 128 W) and approached significance for DEHY (857 ± 145 W, p = 0.07). Postsprint ratings of perceived exertion was higher during DEHY (6.4 ± 2.0) and HE (6.3 ± 1.6) than CT (5.7 ± 2.1). Combined heat and dehydration impaired MP and PP (decrements greatest in later bouts) with HE performance intermediate to CT and DEHY.
Diffusion tensor MRI of the healthy brachial plexus

Introduction Diffusion Tensor MRI (DT-MRI) is a promising tool for the evaluation of brachial plexus pathology. Therefore, we introduce and evaluate a fast DT-MRI protocol (8min33s scanning with 5–10 min postprocessing time) for the brachial plexus. Materials and methods Thirty healthy volunteers within three age-groups (18–35, 36–55, and > 56) received DT-MRI of the brachial-plexus twice. Means of fractional-anisotropy (FA), mean-diffusivity (MD), axial-diffusivity (AD), and radial-diffusivity (RD) for the individual roots and trunks were evaluated. A stepwise forward approach was applied to test for correlations with age, sex, body-mass-index (BMI), bodysurface, height, and bodyweight. Within-subject, intra-rater, and inter-rater repeatability were assessed using Bland-Altman analysis, coefficient of variation (CV), intraclass-correlation (ICC), and minimal detectable difference (MDD). Results No differences between sides and root levels were found. MD, AD, and RD correlated (P < 0.05) with bodyweight. Within-subject quantification proved repeatable with CVs for FA, MD, AD, and RD of 16%, 12%, 11%, and 14%, respectively. Discussion The DT-MRI protocol was fast and repeatable. Found correlations should be considered in future studies of brachial plexus pathology.
Detailed validation of the bidirectional effect in various Case 1 waters for application to ocean color imagery

Abstract. The radiance viewed from the ocean depends on the illumination and viewing geometry along with the water properties, and this variation is called the bidirectional effect. This bidirectional effect depends on the inherent optical properties of the water, including the volume scattering function, and is important when comparing data from different satellite sensors. The current model of f/Q, which contains the bidirectional effect, by Morel et al. (2002) depends on modeled, not measured, water parameters, thus must be carefully validated. In this paper we combined upwelling radiance distribution data from several cruises, in varied water types and with a wide range of solar zenith angles. We compared modeled and measured Lview/Lnadir and found that the average difference between the model and data was less than 0.01, while the RMS difference between the model and data was on the order of 0.02–0.03. This is well within the statistical noise of the data, which was on the order of 0.04–0.05, due to environmental noise sources such as wave focusing.
Unstructured 5′-tails act through ribosome standby to override inhibitory structure at ribosome binding sites

Abstract Initiation is the rate-limiting step in translation. It is well-known that stable structure at a ribosome binding site (RBS) impedes initiation. The ribosome standby model of de Smit and van Duin, based on studies of the MS2 phage coat cistron, proposed how high translation rates can be reconciled with stable, inhibitory structures at an RBS. Here, we revisited the coat protein system and assessed the translation efficiency from its sequestered RBS by introducing standby mutations. Further experiments with gfp reporter constructs assessed the effects of 5′-tails—as standby sites—with respect to length and sequence contributions. In particular, combining in vivo and in vitro assays, we can show that tails of CA-dinucleotide repeats—and to a lesser extent, AU-repeats—dramatically increase translation rates. Tails of increasing length reach maximal rate-enhancing effects at 16–18 nucleotides. These standby tails are single-stranded and do not exert their effect by structure changes in the neighboring RBS stem–loop. In vitro translation and toeprinting assays furthermore demonstrate that standby effects are exerted at the level of translation initiation. Finally, as expected, destabilizing mutations within the coat RBS indicate an interplay with the effects of standby tails.
Effects of Cultural Tightness–Looseness and Social Network Density on Expression of Positive and Negative Emotions: A Large-Scale Study of Impression Management by Facebook Users

Using data from 13,789 Facebook users across U.S. states, this study examined the main effects of societal-level cultural tightness–looseness and its interaction effects with individuals’ social network density on impression management (IM) in terms of online emotional expression. Results showed that individuals from culturally tight (vs. loose) states were more likely to express positive emotions and less likely to express negative emotions. Meanwhile, for positive emotional expression, there was a tightness–looseness by social network density interaction effect. In culturally tight states, individuals with dense (vs. sparse) networks were more likely to express positive emotions, while in culturally loose states this pattern was reversed. For negative emotional expression, however, no such interaction was observed. Our findings highlight the influence of cultural norms and social network structure on emotional expressions as IM strategies.
1.8 V Low-Transient-Energy Adaptive Program-Voltage Generator Based on Boost Converter for 3D-Integrated NAND Flash SSD

In this paper we present an adaptive program-voltage generator for 3D-integrated solid state drives (SSDs) based on a boost converter. The converter consists of a spiral inductor, a high-voltage MOS circuit, and an adaptive-frequency and duty-cycle (AFD) controller. The spiral inductor requires an area of only 5 × 5 mm2 in an interposer. The high-voltage MOS circuit employs a mature NAND flash process. The AFD controller, implemented in a conventional low-voltage MOS process, dynamically optimizes clock frequencies and duty cycles at different values of output voltage, VOUT. The power consumption, rising time, and circuit area of the program-voltage generator are 88%, 73%, and 85% less than those of a program-voltage generator with a conventional charge pump, respectively. The total power consumption of each NAND flash memory is reduced by 68%. We also present the design methodology of the high-voltage MOS circuit of the boost converter with a conventional NAND flash process, in which charge-pump-based program-voltage generators are implemented.