Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma carotene and alpha-tocopherol in relation to 10-y all-cause and cause-specific mortality in European elderly: the Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly, a Concerted Action (SENECA).

BACKGROUND Only a few observational studies have related plasma carotene and alpha-tocopherol to mortality in elderly subjects. OBJECTIVE The objective was to study the association of plasma carotene (alpha-and beta-carotene) and alpha-tocopherol with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in elderly subjects who participated in a European prospective study. DESIGN Plasma concentrations of carotene and alpha-tocopherol were measured in 1168 elderly men and women. After a follow-up period of 10 y, 388 persons had died. The association between plasma antioxidants and mortality was analyzed by using Cox proportional hazard models. To put our results in context, we performed a meta-analysis of 5 studies on plasma antioxidants and all-cause mortality in elderly populations. RESULTS Plasma carotene concentrations were associated with a lower mortality risk [adjusted rate ratio (RR) for an increment of 0.39 micromol/L: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.89]. This lower mortality risk was observed for both cancer (RR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.79) and cardiovascular disease (RR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.00). The lower risk of cardiovascular death was confined to those with a body mass index (in kg/m2) <25 (RR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.49, 0.94). Plasma concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were not associated with all-cause or cause-specific mortality. The results for both plasma antioxidants and all-cause mortality were confirmed by the meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS This prospective study suggests that high plasma concentrations of carotene are associated both with lower mortality from all causes and with cancer in the elderly. For cardiovascular mortality, the inverse association was confined to elderly with body mass indexes <25.
BooleDozer: Logic synthesis for ASICs

Logic synthesis is the process of automatically generating optimized logic-level representation from a high-level description. With the rapid advances in integrated circuit technology and the resultant growth in design complexity, designers increasingly rely on logic synthesis to shorten the design time while achieving performance objectives. This paper describes the IBM logic synthesis system BooleDozer™, including its organization, main algorithms, and how it fits into the design process. The BooleDozer logic synthesis system has been widely used within IBM to successfully synthesize processor and ASIC designs.
Dietary Patterns and Plasma Sex Hormones, Prolactin, and Sex Hormone–Binding Globulin in Premenopausal Women

Background: Sex hormones are important for breast cancer, but it is unclear whether dietary patterns influence hormone concentrations. Methods: Dietary pattern adherence scores for the alternate Mediterranean diet (aMED), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) were calculated from semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires administered in 1995 and 1999. Premenopausal plasma concentrations of sex hormones were measured in samples collected in 1996 to 1999. We used generalized linear models to calculate geometric mean hormone concentrations across quartiles of dietary pattern scores among 1,990 women in the Nurses' Health Study II. Results: We did not observe significant associations between sex hormone concentrations and the DASH pattern and only one suggestive association between follicular estrone concentrations and the aMED pattern [top vs. bottom quartile −4.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI), −10.6% to 2.1%; Ptrend = 0.06]. However, women in the top versus bottom quartile of AHEI score had lower concentrations of follicular (−9.1%; 95% CI, −16.1% to −1.4%; Ptrend = 0.04) and luteal (−7.5%; 95% CI, −13.6% to −0.9%; Ptrend = 0.01) estrone, luteal-free (−9.3%; 95% CI, −16.8% to −1.1%; Ptrend = 0.01) and total (−6.7 %; 95% CI, −14.3% to 1.5%; Ptrend = 0.04) estradiol, follicular estradiol (−14.2%; 95% CI, −24.6% to −2.4%; Ptrend = 0.05), and androstenedione (−7.8%; 95% CI, −15.4% to 0.4%; Ptrend = 0.03). Conclusion: Diet quality measured by the AHEI is inversely associated with premenopausal estrogen concentrations. Given that we did not observe similar associations with the aMED or DASH patterns, our findings should be interpreted with caution. Impact: Given the role of estrogens in breast cancer etiology, our findings add to the substantial evidence on the benefits of adhering to a healthy diet. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(5); 791–8. ©2016 AACR.
Energy–Spectral Efficiency Tradeoff in Cognitive Radio Networks

In this paper, we propose a general framework to evaluate the tradeoff between energy efficiency (EE) and spectral efficiency (SE) in cognitive radio networks (CRNs). The proposed framework is discussed in three typical CRN paradigms: underlay CRNs (UCRNs), overlay CRNs (OCRNs), and interweave CRNs (ICRNs). The EE-SE relation for three CRNs is expressed in the closed-form formulation, in which the optimal (suboptimal) EE solution as the function of SE is deduced with the corresponding limits. The theoretical analysis and numerical results indicate that the EE-SE relation in CRNs is not contrary, i.e., an optimal EE-SE tradeoff can be achieved. The proposed framework provides a useful guidance in the design of practical green CRNs.
Ligand modulation of sidechain dynamics in a wild-type human GPCR

GPCRs regulate all aspects of human physiology, and biophysical studies have deepened our understanding of GPCR conformational regulation by different ligands. Yet there is no experimental evidence for how sidechain dynamics control allosteric transitions between GPCR conformations. To address this deficit, we generated samples of a wild-type GPCR (A2AR) that are deuterated apart from 1H/13C NMR probes at isoleucine δ1 methyl groups, which facilitated 1H/13C methyl TROSY NMR measurements with opposing ligands. Our data indicate that low [Na+] is required to allow large agonist-induced structural changes in A2AR, and that patterns of sidechain dynamics substantially differ between agonist (NECA) and inverse agonist (ZM241385) bound receptors, with the inverse agonist suppressing fast ps-ns timescale motions at the G protein binding site. Our approach to GPCR NMR creates a framework for exploring how different regions of a receptor respond to different ligands or signaling proteins through modulation of fast ps-ns sidechain dynamics.
Serum lipid response to the graduated enrichment of a Step I diet with almonds: a randomized feeding trial.

BACKGROUND Frequent consumption of nuts may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by favorably altering serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations. OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of 2 amounts of almond intake with those of a National Cholesterol Education Program Step I diet on serum lipids, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, and glucose in healthy and mildly hypercholesterolemic adults. DESIGN In a randomized crossover design, 25 healthy subjects (14 men, 11 women) with a mean (+/- SD) age of 41 +/- 13 y were fed 3 isoenergetic diets for 4 wk each after being fed a 2-wk run-in diet (containing 34% of energy from fat). The experimental diets included a Step I diet, a low-almond diet, and a high-almond diet, in which almonds contributed 0%, 10%, and 20% of total energy, respectively. RESULTS Inverse relations were observed between the percentage of energy in the diet from almonds and the subject's total cholesterol (P value for trend < 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (P < 0.001), and apolipoprotein B (P < 0.001) concentrations and the ratios of LDL to HDL cholesterol (P < 0.001) and of apolipoprotein B to apolipoprotein A (P < 0.001). Compared with the Step I diet, the high-almond diet reduced total cholesterol (0.24 mmol/L or 4.4%; P = 0.001), LDL cholesterol (0.26 mmol/L or 7.0%; P < 0.001), and apolipoprotein B (6.6 mg/dL or 6.6%; P < 0.001); increased HDL cholesterol (0.02 mmol/L or 1.7%; P = 0.08); and decreased the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol (8.8%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Isoenergetic incorporation of approximately 68 g of almonds (20% of energy) into an 8368-kJ (2000-kcal) Step I diet markedly improved the serum lipid profile of healthy and mildly hypercholesterolemic adults. Total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations declined with progressively higher intakes of almonds, which suggests a dose-response relation.
Leucine stimulates translation initiation in skeletal muscle of postabsorptive rats via a rapamycin-sensitive pathway.

The objectives of the present study were twofold: 1) to determine whether leucine is unique among the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in its ability to stimulate protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of food-deprived rats; and 2) to investigate whether changes in muscle protein synthesis after leucine administration involve a signaling pathway that includes the protein kinase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). In the first set of experiments, food-deprived (18 h) male rats (200 g) were orally administered saline or 270 mg valine, isoleucine or leucine. In the second set of experiments, food-deprived rats were injected intravenously with rapamycin (0.75 mg/kg), a specific inhibitor of mTOR, before leucine administration. Only leucine stimulated protein synthesis in skeletal muscle above saline-treated controls (P: < 0.05). Furthermore, leucine was most effective among the BCAA at enhancing phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF), 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) and the 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K1). Leucine-dependent hyperphosphorylation of 4E-BP1 increased the availability of eIF4E to form the active eIF4G.eIF4E complex. To a lesser extent, isoleucine also enhanced phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6K1. Rapamycin inhibited protein synthesis in both leucine-treated and food-deprived rats. Additionally, rapamycin prevented the stimulatory effects of leucine on eIF4E availability for binding eIF4G and inhibited leucine-dependent phosphorylation of S6K1. The data demonstrate that leucine is unique among the BCAA in its ability to stimulate protein synthesis in muscle of food-deprived rats. We show for the first time that leucine-dependent stimulation of translation initiation in vivo occurs via a rapamycin-sensitive pathway.
Markovian graph labeling for 3D reconstruction in dense urban area using SAR and optical images

In this paper, a method to extract a simplified 3D map of dense urban areas is proposed. It relies on both optical and interferometric SAR images. Firstly, an over-detection of the buildings is done over the optical image using morphological operators. They are modeled as rectangle with a height that is retrieved using the interferometric phase. Then, the problem is modeled as a Markov Random Field and optimized using many different features retrieved in both optical and SAR data.
Fatality rate of pedestrians and fatal crash involvement rate of drivers in pedestrian crashes: a case study of Iran

The aim of this study was to uncover patterns of pedestrian crashes. In the first stage, 34,178 pedestrian-involved crashes occurred in Iran during a four-year period were grouped into homogeneous clusters using a clustering analysis. Next, some in-cluster and inter-cluster crash patterns were analysed. The clustering analysis yielded six pedestrian crash groups. Car/van/pickup crashes on rural roads as well as heavy vehicle crashes were found to be less frequent but more likely to be fatal compared to other crash clusters. In addition, after controlling for crash frequency in each cluster, it was found that the fatality rate of each pedestrian age group as well as the fatal crash involvement rate of each driver age group varies across the six clusters. Results of present study has some policy implications including, promoting pedestrian safety training sessions for heavy vehicle drivers, imposing limitations over elderly heavy vehicle drivers, reinforcing penalties toward under 19 drivers and motorcyclists. In addition, road safety campaigns in rural areas may be promoted to inform people about the higher fatality rate of pedestrians on rural roads. The crash patterns uncovered in this study might also be useful for prioritizing future pedestrian safety research areas.
A mechanism for the induction of type 2 immune responses by a protease allergen in the genital tract

Significance In contrast to other T helper cell populations, the manner in which type 2 immune responses are induced within the female genital tract remains unknown. For these reasons, we show that IL-33 derived from the vaginal epithelium plays a critical role in the generation of type 2 immunity, likely through the activation of type 2 innate lymphoid cells via the myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) signaling pathway. In addition, intravaginal papain-induced type 2 immunity is dependent on a specific dendritic cell subset that is controlled by interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4). These findings provide insight into the mechanisms by which the secretion of proteases from opportunistic pathogens in susceptibility to various sexually transmitted pathogens may induce type 2 immunity within the female genital tract. The genital mucosa is a barrier that is constantly exposed to a variety of pathogens, allergens, and external stimuli. Although both allergen exposure and parasite infections frequently occur in the genital area, the mechanism by which immune responses—particularly type 2 immunity—are induced has rarely been studied in the genital mucosa. Here, we demonstrate the induction of T helper type 2 (Th2) immunity in the genital mucosa in response to a model allergen, the protease papain. Intravaginal papain immunization induced type 2 immunity in a manner that was dependent on protease activity and the estrous phase of the mice. In addition, IL-33 was released from the vaginal epithelia after intravaginal papain immunization, leading to the activation of type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s). Moreover, the IL-33–MyD88 (myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88) signaling pathway was critical for the induction of type 2 immunity. We also found that Th2 differentiation in response to intravaginal papain treatment requires a specific dendritic cell (DC) subset that is controlled by interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4). These findings suggest that type 2 immunity is induced by a unique mechanism in the genital tract, which is an important, but often overlooked, barrier surface.
Predicting overweight and obesity in adulthood from body mass index values in childhood and adolescence.

BACKGROUND The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced the clinical use of the body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) in growth charts for young males and females. OBJECTIVE This study updates our previous report with the use of new CDC BMI charts and definitions of adult overweight and obesity to predict adult overweight or obesity. DESIGN Logistic models were fitted to relate adult overweight and obesity to childhood and adolescent BMI values at each age for 166 males and 181 females in the Fels Longitudinal Study and were applied to predict adult overweight and obesity at the 75th, 85th, and 95th percentiles on the CDC charts of childhood and adolescent BMI. RESULTS A child or adolescent with a high BMI percentile on the CDC BMI-for-age growth charts has a high risk of being overweight or obese at 35 y of age, and this risk increases with age. For example, the probability of adult obesity at the 85th percentile for young males was </=20% to 17 y of age and 20-59.9% afterward; the corresponding probability for young females was 20-39.9% to 18 y of age and 40-59.9% afterward. CONCLUSION Our clinically applicable method assigns a child's or adolescent's BMI value to a group with a known probability of overweight or obesity in adulthood.
Combined tumor genomic profiling and exome sequencing in a breast cancer family implicates ATM in tumorigenesis: A proof of principle study

Familial breast cancers (BCs) account for 10%‐20% of all diagnosed BCs, yet only 20% of such tumors arise in the context of a germline mutation in known tumor suppressor genes such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. The vast genetic heterogeneity which characterizes non BRCA1 and non BRCA2 (or BRCAx) families makes grouped studies impossible to perform. Next generation sequencing techniques, however, allow individual families to be studied to identify rare and or private mutations but the high number of genetic variants identified need to be sorted using pathogenicity or recurrence criteria. An additional sorting criterion may be represented by the identification of candidate regions defined by tumor genomic rearrangements. Indeed, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays allows the detection of conserved ancestral haplotypes within recurrent regions of loss of heterozygosity, common to several familial tumors, which can highlight genomic loci harboring a germline mutation in cancer predisposition genes. The combination of both exome sequencing and SNP array‐CGH for a series of familial BC revealed a germline ATM mutation associated with a loss of the wild‐type allele in two BC from a BRCAx family. The analysis of additional breast tumors from ten BC families in which a germline ATM mutation had been identified revealed a high frequency of wild‐type allele loss. This result argues strongly in favor of the involvement of ATM in these tumors as a tumor suppressor gene and confirms that germline ATM mutations are involved in a subset of familial BC.
Multiple target tracking using Sequential Monte Carlo Methods and statistical data association

This paper presents two approaches for the problem of multiple target tracking (MTT) and specifically people tracking. Both filters are based on sequential Monte Carlo methods (SMCM) and joint probability data association (JPDA). The filters have been implemented and tested on real data from a laser measurement system. Experiments show that both approaches are able to track multiple moving persons. A comparison of both filters is given and the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches are presented.
Social networking in developing regions

Online social networks have enjoyed significant growth over the past several years. With improvements in mobile and Internet penetration, developing countries are participating in increasing numbers in online communities. This paper provides the first large scale and detailed analysis of social networking usage in developing country contexts. The analysis is based on data from LinkedIn, a professional social network with over 120 million members worldwide. LinkedIn has members from every country in the world, including millions in Africa, Asia, and South America. The goal of this paper is to provide researchers a detailed look at the growth, adoption, and other characteristics of social networking usage in developing countries compared to the developed world. To this end, we discuss several themes that illustrate different dimensions of social networking use, ranging from interconnectedness of members in geographic regions to the impact of local languages on social network participation.
High-speed and high-sensitive demodulation pixel for 3D imaging

Optical time-of-flight (TOF) distance measurements can be performed using so-called smart lock-in pixels. By sampling the optical signal 2, 4 or n times in each pixel synchronously with the modulation frequency, the phase between the emitted and reflected signal is extracted and the object's distance is determined. The high integration-level of such lock-in pixels enables the real-time acquisition of the three-dimensional environment without using any moving mechanical components. A novel design of the 2-tap lock-in pixel in a 0.6 μm semiconductor technology is presented. The pixel was implemented on a sensor with QCIF resolution. The optimized pixel design allows for high-speed operation of the device, resulting in a nearly-optimum demodulation performance and precise distance measurements which are almost exclusively limited by photon shot noise. In-pixel background-light suppression allows the sensor to be operated in an outdoor environment with sunlight incidence. The highly complex pixel functionality of the sensor was successfully demonstrated on the new SwissRanger SR3000 3D-TOF camera design. Distance resolutions in the millimeter range have been achieved while the camera is operating with frame rates of more than 20Hz.
Meta-analysis of the effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on the lipid profile.

BACKGROUND Convincing evidence shows that soy protein intake has beneficial effects on lipid changes, but it is unclear which components of soy protein are responsible. OBJECTIVE We conducted a meta-analysis to identify and quantify the effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on the lipid profile. DESIGN Twenty-three eligible randomized controlled trials published from 1995 to 2002 were identified from the PUBMED database (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). Weighted mean effect sizes were calculated for net changes in serum lipid concentrations by using fixed-effect or random-effect models. Pre-specified subgroup analyses were performed to explore the influence of covariates on net lipid change. RESULTS Soy protein with isoflavones intact was associated with significant decreases in serum total cholesterol (by 0.22 mmol/L, or 3.77%), LDL cholesterol (by 0.21 mmol/L, or 5.25%), and triacylglycerols (by 0.10 mmol/L, or 7.27%) and significant increases in serum HDL cholesterol (by 0.04 mmol/L, or 3.03%). The reductions in total and LDL cholesterol were larger in men than in women. Initial total cholesterol concentrations had a powerful effect on changes in total and HDL cholesterol, especially in subjects with hypercholesterolemia. Studies with intakes >80 mg showed better effects on the lipid profile. The strongest lowering effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triacylglycerol occurred within the short initial period of intervention, whereas improvements in HDL cholesterol were only observed in studies of >12 wk duration. Tablets containing extracted soy isoflavones did not have a significant effect on total cholesterol reduction. CONCLUSIONS Soy protein containing isoflavones significantly reduced serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triacylglycerol and significantly increased HDL cholesterol, but the changes were related to the level and duration of intake and the sex and initial serum lipid concentrations of the subjects.
Mesoscopic simulation of the acoustic emission characteristic of coal samples in Brazilian test

Based on the moment tensor theory,a mesoscopic simulation method was proposed for acoustic emissions(AE) during Brazilian test in mesoscale.Its rationality was proved by comparative analysis between experimental and calculative results.This method can simultaneously provide the occurrence characteristics of AE events such as time,location and magnitude,and reproduce the spatial evolution law of fracture.It is found that before the peak tensile strength,the ratio and magnitude of AE events are lower,but from the peak tensile strength to residual tensile strength,the ratio and magnitude of AE events are higher.The ratio of AE events shows an extreme distribution with the variation of magnitude.Between the mean and peak value of magnitude,the cumulative ratio of AE events increases in an exponential function with the decrease of magnitude.The number of microcracks in each single AE event similarly increases in an exponential function with the increase of magnitude,but the ratio of AE events exhibits a negative exponential function relationship with the number of microcracks.