Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two polymorphisms in the TIM‐4 gene are associated with asthma in a Chinese Han population

The gene family of the T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM) proteins encodes cell surface receptors that are involved in the regulation of Th1‐ and Th2‐cell‐mediated immunity. TIM‐1 gene has been found to be associated with asthma in several populations. TIM‐4, the natural ligand for TIM‐1, may influence the susceptility to asthma.To investigate the association of the TIM‐4 gene polymorphisms with asthma in a Chinese Han population. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TIM‐4 gene, rs6882076, rs12658558 and rs4702747, were genotyped in 551 unrelated asthma patients and 549 healthy controls. We found that two SNPs of the TIM‐4 gene, rs6882076 and rs4702747, were associated with asthma susceptibility in our study population (with P‐values = 0.009 and 0.005 respectively). No association was observed between asthma and rs12658558. Our results suggest that TIM‐4 gene polymorphisms are associated with asthma in a Chinese Han population.
Lowered cardiac sympathetic nerve performance in response to exercise in Parkinson's disease

We examined whether cardiac sympathetic denervation influences the cardiovascular response to exercise in Parkinson's disease (PD). Sixteen patients with PD were divided into two groups, according to their cardiac uptake of 123I‐metaiodobenzylguanidine (denervated group, 10 patients with heart to mediastinum (H/M) ratio < 1.7; innervated group, six patients with H/M ratio > 1.7) and compared changes in blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and cardiac contractility with 13 control subjects during ergometric exercise stress. Velocity index (VI), an indicator of cardiac contractility, was measured using impedance cardiography and recorded every minute. Exercise began at a power output of 20 W for the first 2 min and increased 10 W every 2 min to a maximal intensity of 60 W. All control subjects accomplished the procedure while six patients with PD could not continue after the first minute of 50 W loading. There were no significant differences in BP or HR change between the three groups. However, a significant reduction in VI was observed from the first minute of the 30 W workload in the denervated group compared to the control group. This lowered response continued till 50 W loading and was significantly different to the innervated group at 50 W loading. No significant VI changes were observed between the control and innervated groups throughout the exercise test. Patients with PD with reduced MIBG uptake had a lowered cardiac contractility than innervated subjects during exercise, suggesting that this response represents theimpaired exercise capacity of patients with PD with cardiac sympathetic denervation. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society
Frequent Pattern Mining and Current State of the Art

the association rules in large databases play a key role in data mining. The research is mainly aimed at considering prior researches, present working status and to restore the gaps between them with present known information. There are two problems regarding this context, they are identifying all frequent item sets and to generate constraints from them. Here, first problem, as it takes more processing time, is computationally costly. Consequently, many algorithms are proposed to solve this problem. Current study considers such algorithms and their related issues.
Measuring interrogative suggestibility in children: Reliability and validity of the bonn test of statement suggestibility

Abstract The Bonn Test of Statement Suggestibility (BTSS) has been proposed as a tool for measuring individual differences in interrogative suggestibility in 4 to 10 year old children. The current study sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the BTSS (BTSSNL) in a sample of 48 primary school children. Test-retest stability and internal consistency of the two subscales of the BTSS-NL (i.e., the Yield and Shift scale) proved to be sufficient. Indirect support for the validity of the BTSS-NL was found in that younger children had higher BTSS-NL scores than older children. Also, children who were judged by their teacher as highly suggestible displayed higher scores on the Yield scale of the BTSS-NL than children who were not particularly suggestible according to their teacher. While these results indicate that the BTSS-NL is a valuable research instrument for measuring individual differences in children's suggestibility, more large scale studies are needed to determine whether the BTSS-NL can be used as a forensic tool.
Can a Calibration-Free Dynamic Rainfall‒Runoff Model Predict FDCs in Data-Scarce Regions? Comparing the IDW Model with the Dynamic Budyko Model in South India

Construction of flow duration curves (FDCs) is a challenge for hydrologists as most streams and rivers worldwide are ungauged. Regionalization methods are commonly followed to solve the problem of discharge data scarcity by transforming hydrological information from gauged basins to ungauged basins. As a consequence, regionalization-based FDC predictions are not very reliable where discharge data are scarce quantitatively and/or qualitatively. In such a scenario, it is perhaps more meaningful to use a calibration-free rainfall‒runoff model that can exploit easily available meteorological information to predict FDCs in ungauged basins. This hypothesis is tested in this study by comparing a well-known regionalization-based model, the inverse distance weighting (IDW) model, with the recently proposed calibration-free dynamic Budyko model (DB) in a region where discharge observations are not only insufficient quantitatively but also show apparent signs of observational errors. The DB model markedly outperformed the IDW model in the study region. Furthermore, the IDW model’s performance sharply declined when we randomly removed discharge gauging stations to test the model in a variety of data availability scenarios. The analysis here also throws some light on how errors in observational datasets and drainage area influence model performance and thus provides a better picture of the relative strengths of the two models. Overall, the results of this study support the notion that a calibration-free rainfall‒runoff model can be chosen to predict FDCs in discharge data-scarce regions. On a philosophical note, our study highlights the importance of process understanding for the development of meaningful hydrological models.
Discrete nanoparticles induce loss of Legionella pneumophila biofilms from surfaces

Abstract Nanoparticles (NPs) have been shown to induce dispersal events in microbial biofilms but the mechanism of the dispersal is unknown. Biofilms contaminate many man-made aquatic systems such as cooling towers, spas and dental lines. Within these biofilms, Legionella pneumophila is a primary pathogen, leading to these environments serving as sources for disease outbreaks. Here we show a reduction in biofilm bio-volume upon treatment with citrate-coated 6-nm platinum NPs, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated 11-nm gold NPs, and PEG-coated 8-nm iron oxide NPs. Treatment with citrate-coated 8-nm silver NPs, however, did not reduce biomass. The synthesis of NPs that remain dispersed and resist irreversible aggregation in the exposure media appears to be a key factor in the ability of NPs to induce biofilm dispersal.
Classifying data to reduce long term data movement in shingled write disks

Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) is a means of increasing the density of hard drives that brings a new set of challenges. Due to the nature of SMR disks, updating in place is not an option. Holes left by invalidated data can only be filled if the entire band is reclaimed, and a poor band compaction algorithm could result in spending a lot of time moving blocks over the lifetime of the device. We propose using write frequency to separate blocks to reduce data movement and develop a band compaction algorithm that implements this heuristic. We demonstrate how our algorithm results in improved data management, resulting in an up to 47% reduction in required data movements when compared to naive approaches to band management.
Satisfaction with Life of Women Over 65 Years and the Related Importance of Exercising

Satisfaction with life is affected by several factors, which are reflected on personal, physical and mental level, and are indirectly expressed through the interactions of an individual in the environment. Satisfaction with life generally reflects optimism, positive thinking and willingness to live also in the period which is referred to as aging period. In the research, which took place from the year 2006 to 2011, we monitored the satisfaction with life of women aged over 65 and the changes in satisfaction with life, which occurred with regular physical activity in the form of adapted exercising. In 2006, the research included 64 women from Kamnik, Domžale, Kranj, Cerklje and Sencur with the surrounding areas, aged 65 and older who were the members of the local senior citizens’ associations. Of these, 32 participated in the exercising group and 32 in the control group. The average age of women in the exercising group was 69.68 and in the control group 70.75. In 2011, 20 participants from the exercising group, 74.35 years old on average and 17 participants from the control group, 75.12 years old on average, actively participated in the research. Significant differences in the improvement of satisfaction with life were revealed with the participants of the exercising group who were monitored from 2006 to 2011, which could be associated with a positive effect of regular adapted exercising. We estimate that the greater satisfaction with life was influenced by a positive attitude towards the regular weekly exercising, the pleasure of socializing, the new friendships and overall relaxation and well-being at the time of exercising.
Improving flow-insensitive solutions for non-separable dataflow problems

Flow-insensitive solutions to dataflow problems have been known to be highly scalable; however also hugely imprecise. For non-separable dataflow problems this solution is further degraded due to spurious facts generated as a result of dependence among the dataflow facts. We propose an improvement to the standard flow-insensitive analysis by creating a generalized version of the dominator relation that reduces the number of spurious facts generated. In addition, the solution obtained contains extra information to facilitate the extraction of a better solution at any program point, very close to the flow-sensitive solution. To improve the solution further, we propose the use of an intra-block variable renaming scheme. We illustrate these concepts using two classic non-separable dataflow problems --- points-to analysis and constant propagation.
Enabling and supporting the debugging of software failures

Debugging is an expensive activity that can be responsible for a significant part of the cost of software maintenance. This is especially true for today's software, whose complexity, configurability, portability, and dynamism exacerbate debugging challenges. Therefore, techniques for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of debugging can be extremely beneficial in reducing the overall cost of software development and, at the same time, improving software quality. In the last few years, there has been a great deal of research aimed at developing techniques that support automated or semi-automated debugging. These novel techniques have greatly contributed to the collective body of knowledge and have advanced the state of the art. However, an additional leap forward must be taken for automated debugging approaches to be effective when applied in real-life scenarios. Most current debugging approaches suffer from several limitations, including the assumption that developers are able to reliably and easily reproduce the targeted failure and that examining a faulty statement in isolation is always enough for a developer to detect, understand, and fix the corresponding bug. This dissertation evaluates the following thesis statement: Program analysis techniques can enable and support the debugging of failures in widely-used applications by (1) capturing, replaying, and, as much as possible, anonymizing failing executions and (2) highlighting subsets of failure-inducing inputs that are likely to be helpful for debugging such failures. To investigate this thesis, I developed techniques for recording, minimizing, and replaying executions captured from users' machines, anonymizing execution recordings, and automatically identifying failure-relevant inputs. I then performed experiments to evaluate the techniques in realistic scenarios using real applications and real failures. The results of these experiments demonstrate that the techniques can reduce the cost and difficulty of debugging.
Tracking the fate of deposited nitrogen and its redistribution in a subtropical watershed in China

Vegetation cover and soil infiltration can result in nitrogen (N) redistribution and associative isotopic fractionation. This study investigated N and its isotopic characteristics from deposition to baseflow under different vegetation canopy cover types in a subtropical watershed in China. Results showed that canopy interception via vegetation cover types exhibited notable dilution effects on reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition during the rainy season, with the highest maximum value of 287.4%. The range of δ15N changed from 3.0‰ to 11.9‰ in throughfall, which may have resulted from an increase in N taken up by vegetation and particles washed away from plant leaves during rainfall events. Throughfall, soil water, precipitation, and rainfall run‐off were the sources of D and 18O‐H2O in baseflow river water, wherein the rainwater and rainfall run‐off contributed 73% ± 8% and 15% ± 12%, respectively. Soil water was the main source of 15N‐NO3 in baseflow river water, which contributes 78% ± 4% of overall source, but precipitation only contributes 10%. The average annual Nr deposition flux was 24.4 ± 4.2 kg·ha−1·yr−1, whereas the annual total nitrogen exportation flux was 1062 ± 269.8 kg·yr−1. The 46% of HDO or D2O for river water came from rainfall run‐off, which would transport a maximum nitrate flux of 354 kg·yr−1. Moreover, vegetation cover and soil infiltration resulted in δ15N enrichment and a decrease in Nr in river flow.
Switch-and-stay combing for two-way relay networks with multiple amplify-and-forward relays

This paper considers a two-phase two-way relay network (TWRN) with two sources and multiple amplify-and-forward (AF) relays, where the direct link between the sources exists and one best relay is chosen for data communication to maximize the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of bidirectional communication. To efficiently exploit the direct link within two phases, a switch-and-stay combining (SSC) protocol is employed. In SSC, one branch out of the relay and direct branches is activated for data communication, and the branch switching occurs when the end-to-end SNRs fall below the given thresholds. We analyze the system performances over the independent but not necessarily identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) Rayleigh fading channels, by deriving lower bounds and asymptotic expressions with high SNR for the outage probability and bit error rate (BER). It is shown that SSC can preserve the same spectral efficiency as analog network coding (ANC), while can concurrently achieve the full diversity order as the optimal selection (OS) with less implementation complexity. Numerical and simulation results verify the proposed studies.
A family-school intervention for children with ADHD: results of a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE Accumulating evidence highlights the importance of using psychosocial approaches to intervention for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that target the family and school, as well as the intersection of family and school. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a family-school intervention, Family-School Success (FSS), designed to improve the family and educational functioning of students in Grades 2-6 who meet criteria for ADHD combined and inattentive types. Key components of FSS were conjoint behavioral consultation, daily report cards, and behavioral homework interventions. METHOD FSS was provided over 12 weekly sessions, which included 6 group sessions, 4 individualized family sessions, and 2 school-based consultations. Participating families were given the choice of placing their children on medication; 43% of children were on medication at the time of random assignment. Children (n = 199) were randomly assigned to FSS or a comparison group controlling for non-specific treatment effects (Coping With ADHD Through Relationships and Education [CARE]). Outcomes were assessed at post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. The analyses controlled for child medication status. RESULTS FSS had a significant effect on the quality of the family-school relationship, homework performance, and parenting behavior. CONCLUSIONS The superiority of FSS was demonstrated even though about 40% of the participants in FSS and CARE were on an optimal dose of medication and there were significant time effects on each measure. This relatively brief intervention produced effect sizes comparable to those of the more intensive Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD (MTA) behavioral intervention.
Prioritized Expression of BTN2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under Pronounced Translation Repression Induced by Severe Ethanol Stress

Severe ethanol stress (>9% ethanol, v/v) as well as glucose deprivation rapidly induces a pronounced repression of overall protein synthesis in budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Therefore, transcriptional activation in yeast cells under severe ethanol stress does not always indicate the production of expected protein levels. Messenger RNAs of genes containing heat shock elements can be intensively translated under glucose deprivation, suggesting that some mRNAs are preferentially translated even under severe ethanol stress. In the present study, we tried to identify the mRNA that can be preferentially translated under severe ethanol stress. BTN2 encodes a v-SNARE binding protein, and its null mutant shows hypersensitivity to ethanol. We found that BTN2 mRNA was efficiently translated under severe ethanol stress but not under mild ethanol stress. Moreover, the increased Btn2 protein levels caused by severe ethanol stress were smoothly decreased with the elimination of ethanol stress. These findings suggested that severe ethanol stress extensively induced BTN2 expression. Further, the BTN2 promoter induced protein synthesis of non-native genes such as CUR1, GIC2, and YUR1 in the presence of high ethanol concentrations, indicating that this promoter overcame severe ethanol stress-induced translation repression. Thus, our findings provide an important clue about yeast response to severe ethanol stress and suggest that the BTN2 promoter can be used to improve the efficiency of ethanol production and stress tolerance of yeast cells by modifying gene expression in the presence of high ethanol concentration.
Evaluation of Differences in Bone-Mineral Density in 51 Men Age 65–93 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study assessed differences in bone-mineral density (BMD) and lean and fat tissues between 5 age groups of White men age 65–93 years. Lean and fat tissues were measured with absorptiometry and anthropometry, and BMD, with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Forearm, spinal, and femoral T scores were used to classify BMD as normal, osteopenic, or osteoporotic. A questionnaire evaluated previous physical activity, calcium intake, and bone fractures. Significantly lower values in body weight, lean tissue, and forearm BMD occurred in the older age groups. Significant, positive relationships were found between total lean tissue and radial, spinal, and hip BMDs. For the total group, osteopenic and osteoporotic T scores, respectively, were femoral neck 70.6% and 9.8%, radius 27.5% and 25.5%, and spine 25.5% and 7.8%. Differences in BMD values were found between levels of lifestyle factors (dietary calcium and history of previous fractures). In conclusion, elderly men should be encouraged to maintain adequate t.
Reassessing the Fear of Crime: Frequencies and Correlates of Old and New Measures

Despite the empirical, political and theoretical relevance of fear of crime, few studies have examined the actual frequency and intensity of events of such feelings. We consequently lack information on the frequency with which people worry and the intensity of specific episodes. We believe that a more detailed examination of everyday emotions about crime is long overdue as we as a community of scholars seek to formulate a more comprehensive picture of the distribution and significance of fear of crime. This is the third Working Paper of the Experience and Expression in the Fear of Crime project. In it we describe the rationale of a new measurement strategy. We present weighted frequencies from the new, updated questions and the 'old' methods (drawing on data from sub-sample D2 of the 2003/04 BCS), thus providing current estimates of fear levels according to three specific crimes: car crime, burglary and mugging. We also outline the socio-demographic correlates of the old and new measures using first bivariate and second multiviarate statistical techniques.
Dynamics of MEMS Resonators and their Exploitation for Sensing and Actuation

Dynamics of MEMS Resonators and their Exploitation for Sensing and Actuation SAAD ILYAS This dissertation presents theoretical and experimental investigations into the dynamical behavior of Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators and their exploitation for filtering, sensing, and logic applications. The dissertation is divided into two parts: MEMS coupled structures and MEMS dynamic logic devices. First, a theoretical and experimental investigation is presented on both electrostatically and mechanically coupled resonator. Static and dynamic analysis is presented for weakly electrostatically coupled silicon microbeams and also for strongly mechanically coupled polyimide microbeams. The static analysis focuses on revealing pull-in characteristics, while the dynamic analysis focuses on the frequency response of the system and its exploitation for potential applications in filtering and amplification. Next, the phenomenon of mode localization is explored theoretically and experimentally on both electrostatically and mechanically weakly coupled resonators. Eigenvalue analysis is conducted and the dynamic response of the coupled system under different external perturbations is investigated. It is observed, that the exploitation of mode localization depends on the choice of the resonator to be under direct excitation, its stiffness to be perturbed, and which resonator is used to record the output results. These understandings will potentially help improve the performance of MEMS mode-localized sensors. 4 Finally, three techniques to realize cascadable MEMS logic devices are presented. MEMS logic device vibrates at two steady states; a high on-resonance state (1) and a low off-resonance state (0). First, a MEMS logic device is presented capable of performing the AND/NAND logic gate and a tri-state logic gate using mixed-frequency excitation. This work is based on the concept of activation (1) and deactivation (0) of combination resonances due to the mixing of two or more input signals. Second, exploitation of subharmonic resonance under an AC only excitation to perform AND logic operation is presented. Finally, another MEMS logic device is presented working on the principal of activation (1) and deactivation (0) of second resonant mode of a clamped-clamped microbeam. This device is capable of performing OR, XOR and NOT gate. Experimental demonstration of the cascadability is shown for this case cascading OR and NOT gate to perform a logically complete NOR logic gate.