Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Latino Health Status

Health status data for Latinos have become increasingly available, and significant progress has been made in data collection methods over the past decade. This chapter provides an overview of national data on morbidity and mortality among Latin populations in comparison with such data on African Americans and Whites. The writing f this book takes place at the outset of a major shift in national health policy. Launched in January 2000 (see United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2000),, the national disease prevention and health promotion agenda for the year 2010 have an overarching goal of eliminating disparities.
Identification of Candidate Serum Biomarkers for Schistosoma mansoni Infected Mice Using Multiple Proteomic Platforms

Background Schistosomiasis is an important helminth infection of humans. There are few reliable diagnostic biomarkers for early infection, for recurrent infection or to document successful treatment. In this study, we compared serum protein profiles in uninfected and infected mice to identify disease stage-specific biomarkers. Methods Serum collected from CD1 mice infected with 50–200 Schistosoma mansoni cercariae were analyzed before infection and at 3, 6 and 12 weeks post-infection using three mass spectrometric (MS) platforms. Results Using SELDI-TOF MS, 66 discriminating m/z peaks were detected between S. mansoni infected mice and healthy controls. Used in various combinations, these peaks could 1) reliably diagnose early-stage disease, 2) distinguish between acute and chronic infection and 3) diagnose S. mansoni infection regardless the parasite burden. The most important contributors to these diagnostic algorithms were peaks at 3.7, 13 and 46 kDa. Employing sample fractionation and differential gel electrophoresis, we analyzed gel slices either by MALDI-TOF MS or Velos Orbitrap MS. The former yielded eight differentially-expressed host proteins in the serum at different disease stages including transferrin and alpha 1- antitrypsin. The latter suggested the presence of a surprising number of parasite-origin proteins in the serum during both the acute (n = 200) and chronic (n = 105) stages. The Orbitrap platform also identified many differentially-expressed host-origin serum proteins during the acute and chronic stages (296 and 220 respectively). The presence of one of the schistosome proteins, glutathione S transferase (GST: 25 KDa), was confirmed by Western Blot. This study provides proof-of-principle for an approach that can yield a large number of novel candidate biomarkers for Schistosoma infection.
An Integrated Design Paradigm for Accelerating Full-system Simulations

In recent years, a lot of progress has been made in the field of simulator design and new simulation accleration techniques, warming technique etc have been introduced. However, despite many isolated efforts of performance enhancement, integrated efforts to benefit one proposal from other, has been lacking. In this paper, we argue for and demonstrate a unified approach for enhancing computer architecture simulations by bringing the best of all these efforts. As we show, such an integration enables full utilization of potential of different techniques and validates them over different platform. As part of our ongoing work, we demonstrate the design strategy with GEMS simulation module in simics and SMARTS sampling methodology. We also propose design optimizations for GEMS to trade speed with accuracy. Such an approach will be especially beneficial for Multi-processor cache simulations on the full-system simulator. The experiments performed over SPEC benchmarks show an average speed-up of 30 and average CPI error of around 2.4% using GEMS detailed simulator.
Is unemployment insurance a life vest of reemployment wages ? Treatment effects evidence ∗

In this paper we establish a causal link between the limited time of unemployment benefits recipiency and the behavior of re-employment wages. We use a quasi-natural experiment that originates in an exogenous increase of the unemployment insurance entitlement period in Portugal to collect causal evidence. We find that a more generous UI has a tiny positive impact on re-employment wages. More importantly, our contribution shows that the average treatment effect varies widely with the moment of re-employment. The larger impacts are obtained around the pre-reform exhaustion date. This behavior seems to be the consequence of the spike in the job finding rate close to benefit exhaustion that generates a trough in re-employment wages. In this period, UI generates treatment effects on re-employment wages in excess of 20 percent, relatively to a counterfactual without the UI extension. These gains are larger in the upper quantiles of the distribution of reemployment wages. As predicted by non-stationary job search models, our results highlight the role of UI in shaping the search behavior of the unemployed, working as a life vest of re-employment wages, possibly through its impact on the reservation wage.
A critical role for pannexin-1 in activation of innate immune cells of the choroid plexus

Epiplexus cells are a population of innate immune cells in the choroid plexus of the brain ventricles. They are thought to contribute to the immune component of the blood-cerebrospinal-fluid-barrier (BCSFB). Here we have developed a novel technique for studying epiplexus cells in acutely isolated, live and intact choroid plexus. We show that epiplexus cells are potently activated by exogenous ATP, increasing their motility within the tissue. This ATP-induced chemokinesis required activation of pannexin-1 channels, which are expressed by the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus and not the epiplexus cells themselves. Furthermore, ATP acts at least in part through the P2X4 ionotropic purinergic receptor. Thus, the resident immune cells of the choroid plexus appear to be in communication with the epithelial cells through pannexin-1 channels.
Common Connectome Constraints: From C. elegans and Drosophila to Homo sapiens

Neural systems show a modular and typically also a hierarchical organisation across different levels and across different species. Topology relates to function, but it is also influences dynamics as earlier studies showed its effect on synchrony, oscillation, and activity propagation. Understanding the link between the hierarchical organisation and processing (e.g. does consciousness structurally correlate with the top level of the hierarchy and where is the 'top' in a network? ) remains one of the main challenges of the field. In addition, although neuron nodes are often treated as uniform entities, they can differ in terms of function (e.g. inhibitory vs. excitatory), morphology, or gene expression pattern.
Any problems? a wearable sensor-based platform for representational learning-analytics.

We describe in this work a sensor-based learning platform which supports both the teacher and the learner during exercises. We use a combination of eye tracker, sensor pen and exercise texts to capture the progress of learners. The eye tracker retrieves information about the gaze, for example reading or scanning for key words; the sensor pen captures trends like number of words or the pressure applied to the paper. Combining this information, the platform should be used to indicate problems of the learner to the teacher. Besides presenting the data information to the teacher, we work on advancing the platform to an adaptive system, which could give individual feedback to the learners themselves according to their individual cognitive and affective requirements.
A Possible 100 Day X-Ray-to-Optical Lag in the Variations of the Seyfert 1 Nucleus NGC 3516

We present optical broadband (B and R) observations of the Seyfert 1 nucleus NGC 3516, obtained at Wise Observatory from 1997 March to 1998 September contemporaneously with the X-ray 2–10 keV measurements of RXTE. The cross-correlation function shows a positive peak when the optical variations lead the X-rays by ∼100 days, and anticorrelation peaks at various leads and delays between the X-rays and the optical. We show that the putative correlation signal at 100 days is entirely due to the slow (≳30 day) components of the light curves. During the first year of this monitoring, smoothed versions of the light curves are nearly identical copies of each other, but scaled in amplitude and shifted in time. However, for the next 200 days, the X-ray and optical variations are clearly different. During the whole period, the more rapidly changing components of the light curves are uncorrelated at any lag. We consider the detection of these lags tentative and the significance of the correlations uncertain. If the 100 day delay is real, however, one interpretation is that the slowly varying part of the X-ray emission is an echo of the optical emission, Compton scattered from a medium located at, or extending, ∼50-100 lt-days from the optical source. We point out that a possibly analogous phenomenon, a lag between hard and soft X-rays for a given variability timescale, exists in Galactic stellar-mass accretors. Remarkably, in both cases the lag corresponds to a light-travel distance of the order of 104 gravitational radii. Alternatively, the lag may not represent a physical size, but some other timescale. For example, it may be the manifestation of an instability propagating inward in an accretion flow, appearing first in the optical and then in the X-rays. In any event, we observe no strong correlation at zero lag, or at the small positive lags expected if the optical continuum were produced by reprocessing of X-rays. An energetically significant reprocessed component in the optical emission of NGC 3516 is thus ruled out by our data.
Earthquake behaviour and large-event predictability in a sheared granular stick-slip system

We present results from a physical experiment which demonstrates that a sheared granular medium behaves in a manner analogous to earthquake activity. The device consists of an annular plate rotating over a granular medium in a stick-slip fashion. Previous observations by us include a bounded critical state with a power law distribution of event energy consistent with the Gutenberg-Richter law, here we also reveal stair-case seismicity, clustering, foreshocks, aftershocks and seismic quiescence. Subcritical and supercritical regimes have also been observed by us depending on the system configuration. We investigate the predictability of large events. Using the quiescence between `shock' events as an alarm condition, it is found that large events are respectively unpredictable, marginally predictable and highly predictable in the subcritical, critical and supercritical states.
Inverse diffusion theory of photoacoustics

This paper analyzes the reconstruction of diffusion and absorption parameters in an elliptic equation from knowledge of internal data. In the application of photoacoustics, the internal data are the amount of thermal energy deposited by high frequency radiation propagating inside a domain of interest. These data are obtained by solving an inverse wave equation, which is well studied in the literature. We show that knowledge of two internal data based on well-chosen boundary conditions uniquely determines two constitutive parameters in diffusion and Schrödinger equations. Stability of the reconstruction is guaranteed under additional geometric constraints of strict convexity. No geometric constraints are necessary when 2n internal data for well-chosen boundary conditions are available, where n is spatial dimension. The set of well-chosen boundary conditions is characterized in terms of appropriate complex geometrical optics solutions.
Elevated tropomyosin expression is associated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition of lens epithelial cells

Injury to lens epithelial cells (LECs) leads to epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) with resultant fibrosis. The tropomyosin (Tpm) family of cytoskeleton proteins is involved in regulating and stabilizing actin microfilaments. Aberrant expression of Tpms leads to abnormal morphological changes with disintegration of epithelial integrity. The EMT of LECs has been proposed as a major cause of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) after cataract surgery. Using in vivo rodent PCO and human cataractous LECs, we demonstrated that the aberrant expression of rat Tpm and human Tpm1α/2β suggested their association in remodelling of the actin cytoskeleton during EMT of LECs. Expression analysis from abnormally growing LECs after lens extraction revealed elevated expression of α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), a marker for EMT. Importantly, these cells displayed increased expression of Tpm1α/2β following EMT/PCO formation. Expression of Tpm1α/2β was up‐regulated in LECs isolated from cataractous lenses of Shumiya Cataract Rats (SCRs), compared with non‐cataractous lenses. Also, LECs from human patients with nuclear cataract and anterior subcapsular fibrosis (ASF) displayed significantly increased expression of Tpm2β mRNA, suggesting that similar signalling invokes the expression of these molecules in LECs of cataractous SCR and human lenses. EMT was observed in LECs overexpressed with Tpm1α/2β, as evidenced by increased expression of α‐SMA. These conditions were correlated with remodelling of actin filaments, possibly leading to EMT/PCO and ASF. The present findings may help clarify the condition of the actin cytoskeleton during morphogenetic EMT, and may contribute to development of Tpm‐based inhibitors for postponing PCO and cataractogenesis.
A power sensing circuit for solar cells MPP tracking

This paper presents a versatile power sensing circuit to be used for maximum power point tracking in the operation of solar cells. The circuit consists of an operational transcoductance amplifier (OTA), a current conveyor (CCD) and a current mirror. The power sensing circuit was simulated, under varying solar radiation density and different output voltage and current values of the solar cell. According to the simulation results presented in detail, accuracy of about 96% of the real measured power can be achieved by the proposed configuration. The power consumption of the circuit is estimated from about 2μW up to 10μW, depending on the output voltage of the solar cell and certain circuit parameters.
Changes of Industrial Structure and Post-war Economic Growth in Japan (Japanese)

In the process of economic growth, changes of industrial structure play an important role. According to Aoki and Yoshikawa (2002), the asymmetry exists between "old" industries and "new" industries depending on different growth rates of demand. When new goods or new sectors are created, demand rapidly grows initially, but eventually hits a ceiling over the course of time. Basically, this S-shaped growth is due to the pattern of demand growth and its saturation. It suggests that the basic factor that restrains economic growth is the saturation of demand for existing goods and services. The ultimate factor that generates economic growth is the creation of new goods and sectors. It is assumed that goods, industries, and sectors created by "demand creation"-type innovations have different product life histories. In this framework, this paper analyzes the economic growth in Japan during a half-century following WWII. We analyze the changes of industrial structure with help of the "skyline diagrams," and an international comparison is also made. Economic growth in which all industries grow in a uniform way does not exist in reality. Economic growth accompanied by large variability among industries brings about changes in the industrial structure as a result. The growth rate of an economy in which the industrial structure could shift smoothly to "growing industries," with vigorous technological development and high income elasticity of demand, must be high. The differences between growing industries and declining industries arise from dynamic changes in technology and demand. When considering economic growth in a society with low birthrate and aging population, we should not forget that smooth transformation of industrial structure would lead to an increase in the total factor productivity (TFP). The changes of industrial structure are the key issue for economic growth in a society with a low birthrate and an aging population.
Asymptotics in randomized urn models

This paper studies a very general urn model stimulated by designs in clinical trials, where the number of balls of different types added to the urn at trial n depends on a random outcome directed by the composition at trials 1,2,. ,n-1. Patient treatments are allocated according to types of balls. We establish the strong consistency and asymptotic normality for both the urn composition and the patient allocation under general assumptions on random generating matrices which determine how balls are added to the urn. Also we obtain explicit forms of the asymptotic variance-covariance matrices of both the urn composition and the patient allocation. The conditions on the nonhomogeneity of generating matrices are mild and widely satisfied in applications. Several applications are also discussed.
A regions-of-interest volumetric analysis of mobility limitations in community-dwelling older adults.

BACKGROUND In community-dwelling older adults, greater mobility impairment is associated with greater burden of diffuse brain structural abnormalities, such as higher white matter hyperintensities. This study examined the association between gray matter volumes of regions related to motor control, gait, and balance and whether this association is independent of burden of white matter hyperintensities. METHODS A random sample of 327 participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study (78.3 +/- 4.1 years old, 57% women) contributed brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mobility data. A brain imaging automated method measured gray matter volume in cerebellum, basal ganglia, and prefrontal and parietal cortex in both hemispheres. Gait speed was measured while walking 15 feet at usual pace. Standing balance was assessed by timing tandem stance. Associations between each region's volume and gait speed or balance were measured before and after adjustment for demographics, head size, cardiovascular risk factors, and 0-9 grading scores of white matter hyperintensities. RESULTS Smaller left cerebellum and left prefrontal regions were associated with slower gait, independently of covariates and of white matter hyperintensities. Smaller right putamen, right posterior superior parietal cortex, and both left and right cerebellum were associated with balance difficulty, independently of covariates and white matter hyperintensities. CONCLUSIONS Smaller gray matter volumes in regions crucial for motor control are associated with slower gait and poorer balance, and the association appears to be independent of other diffuse brain abnormalities such as white matter hyperintensities.
From an Executive Network to Executive Control: A Computational Model of the n-back Task

A paradigmatic test of executive control, the n-back task, is known to recruit a widely distributed parietal, frontal, and striatal “executive network,” and is thought to require an equally wide array of executive functions. The mapping of functions onto substrates in such a complex task presents a significant challenge to any theoretical framework for executive control. To address this challenge, we developed a biologically constrained model of the n-back task that emergently develops the ability to appropriately gate, bind, and maintain information in working memory in the course of learning to perform the task. Furthermore, the model is sensitive to proactive interference in ways that match findings from neuroimaging and shows a U-shaped performance curve after manipulation of prefrontal dopaminergic mechanisms similar to that observed in studies of genetic polymorphisms and pharmacological manipulations. Our model represents a formal computational link between anatomical, functional neuroimaging, genetic, behavioral, and theoretical levels of analysis in the study of executive control. In addition, the model specifies one way in which the pFC, BG, parietal, and sensory cortices may learn to cooperate and give rise to executive control.
A Focused Crawler for Borderlands Situation Information with Geographical Properties of Place Names

Place name is an important ingredient of borderlands situation information and plays a significant role in collecting them from the Internet with focused crawlers. However, current focused crawlers treat place name in the same way as any other common keyword, which has no geographical properties. This may reduce the effectiveness of focused crawlers. To solve the problem, this paper firstly discusses the importance of place name in focused crawlers in terms of location and spatial relation, and, then, proposes the two-tuple-based topic representation method to express place name and common keyword, respectively. Afterwards, spatial relations between place names are introduced to calculate the relevance of given topics and webpages, which can make the calculation process more accurately. On the basis of the above, a focused crawler prototype for borderlands situation information collection is designed and implemented. The crawling speed and F-Score are adopted to evaluate its efficiency and effectiveness. Experimental results indicate that the efficiency of our proposed focused crawler is consistent with the polite access interval and it could meet the daily demand of borderlands situation information collection. Additionally, the F-Score value of our proposed focused crawler increases by around 7%, which means that our proposed focused crawler is more effective than the traditional best-first focused crawler.
Who Plays the Lottery? Findings from New Jersey Lottery Sales

Despite the very unfavorable odds and low payout ratios, many people play lottery games all over the world, and the number of participants is growing. While surveys and empirical tests have been performed to characterize the demographics of lottery players, there is still no consensus on who they are. The present study aims to provide an in-depth and clearer profile of said participants. The analysis is based on New Jersey lottery sales from 2001 to 2010. Our findings indicate that the typical lottery consumer in the state of NJ would be (1) male or female with a greater participation by females, (2) in his/her 20s to late-30s, or senior citizens in their 70s, (3) a minority, (4) a high school graduate with no further educational degree, (5) from a below-average income family, (6) and a home renter instead of a home owner. As for lottery game preferences, African-Americans and Hispanics have a strong preference for both the Instant Match and Mega Millions. Lastly, it appears that the economic climate has little effect on the socio-demographic factors influencing lottery purchasing behavior.
Importance sampling and theory of nonequilibrium solvation dynamics in water

We have devised a novel importance sampling method for nonequilibrium processes. Like transition path sampling, the method employs a Monte Carlo procedure to confine or bias the search through trajectory space. In this way, molecular dynamics trajectories consistent with the nonequilibrium dynamics of interest are generated efficiently. Using results of this sampling, we demonstrate that statistics of the energy gap between a solute’s electronic states are Gaussian throughout the dynamics of nonequilibrium solvation in water. However, these statistics do change in time, reflecting linear response that is nonstationary. Discrepancies observed between the dynamics of nonequilibrium relaxation and of equilibrium fluctuations are thus explained. We analyze a simple Gaussian field theory that accounts for this nonstationary response.