Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weight loss intervention in phase 1 of the Trials of Hypertension Prevention. The TOHP Collaborative Research Group.

BACKGROUND Phase 1 of the Trials of Hypertension Prevention was a collaborative, randomized controlled clinical trial designed to determine the feasibility and efficacy of selected nonpharmacologic interventions in reducing or preventing an increase in diastolic blood pressure. METHODS Participants aged 30 to 54 years who had a high-normal diastolic blood pressure (80 to 89 mm Hg), and were between 115% and 165% of their desirable body weight, were randomly assigned to either an 18-month weight loss intervention (n = 308) or a usual-care control condition (N = 256). Intervention consisted of 14 weekly group meetings followed by monthly maintenance sessions. Intervention participants received training in behavioral self-management technique and were asked to make life-style changes aimed at achieving a moderate reduction in energy intake and an increase in physical activity. RESULTS The average weight losses in the intervention group at 6, 12, and 18 months of follow-up were 6.5, 5.6, and 4.7 kg for men and 3.7, 2.7, and 1.6 kg for women. The mean (+/- SE) change in diastolic blood pressure for intervention participants compared with controls at termination was -2.8 +/- 0.6 mm Hg for men and -1.1 +/- 0.9 mm Hg for women. For systolic blood pressure, the corresponding change was -3.1 +/- 0.7 mm Hg for men and -2.0 +/- 1.3 mm Hg for women. Blood pressure reductions were greater for those who lost larger amounts of weight. Sex-related differences in blood pressure response were largely due to the smaller amount of weight lost by women, and sex differences in weight loss could be accounted for by differences in baseline body weight. CONCLUSIONS During an 18-month follow-up period, this weight reduction program was shown to be an effective nonpharmacologic intervention for reducing blood pressure in overweight adults with high-normal blood pressure.
Decomposition of protein nitrosothiolsin matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

The S-nitrosylation of proteins is involved in the trafficking of nitric oxide (NO) in intra- and extracellular milieus. To establish a mass spectrometric method for identifying this post-translational modification of proteins, a synthetic peptide and transthyretin were S-nitrosylated in vitro and analyzed by electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. The intact molecular ion species of nitrosylated compounds was identified in the ESI mass spectrum without elimination of the NO group. However, the labile nature of the S-NO bond was evident when the in-source fragmentation efficiently generated [M + H - 30](+) ions. The decomposition was prominent for multiply charged transthyretin ions with high charge states under ordinary ESI conditions, indicating that the application of minimum nozzle potentials was essential for delineating the stoichiometry of nitrosylation in proteins. With MALDI, the S-NO bond cleavage occurred during the ionization process, and the subsequent reduction generated [M + H - 29](+) ions.
Preaching as discipling in an authoritarian Korean context : towards a hermeneutics of hearing

conceptions of Christian virtues, such as hope, belief and love, are cultivated in the praxis of community. These can be examples for practical knowing of the holistic relation between praxis and theory. A small group is an excellent environment for the practice of theory, as Law’s (2003:5) comment exemplifies, “One of the best ways of training small group leaders is in a small group setting. Not only can leaders learn new ideas and skills, but they actually have a chance to work them out in a real small group situation. ” According to Law, we can find a holistic relation between praxis and theory in a small-group system, the holistic framework of which is one of the best ways for the training of hearers as disciples. As a real small group situation is one of the best ways of training small group leaders, so the holistic approach in a small group can be one of the best ways to train faithful listeners to the words of God. 6.3. 3.2 Stories and ideas Contemporary hearers, especially the younger generation, have a multisensory way of thinking as never before (cf. 4.1.7). Contemporary preaching needs the fusion of image and sound or story and ideas (cf. Table 12, sections 3.2.1 and 5.2.2.3). Quicke (2003:114) insists, “Today, preachers must be immersed with heart and head, with the right brain as well as the left, with stories as well as ideas so Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
SoDA: implementation of a 3D alignment algorithm for inference of antigen receptor recombinations

MOTIVATION The antigen receptors of adaptive immunity-T-cell receptors and immunoglobulins-are encoded by genes assembled stochastically from combinatorial libraries of gene segments. Immunoglobulin genes then experience further diversification through hypermutation. Analysis of the somatic genetics of the immune response depends explicitly on inference of the details of the recombinatorial process giving rise to each of the participating antigen receptor genes. We have developed a dynamic programming algorithm to perform this reconstruction and have implemented it as web-accessible software called SoDA (Somatic Diversification Analysis). RESULTS We tested SoDA against a set of 120 artificial immunoglobulin sequences generated by simulation of recombination and compared the results with two other widely used programs. SoDA inferred the correct gene segments more frequently than the other two programs. We further tested these programs using 30 human immunoglobulin genes from Genbank and here highlight instances where the recombinations inferred by the three programs differ. SoDA appears generally to find more likely recombinations.
Application of an Innovative Data Analytical Approach to Assessing the Disease Situation during Crises in Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan

The functioning electronic databases for fast and reliable disease early warning and response networks (EWARN) have been found very effective in early detection, confirmation and response to disease outbreaks but launching the implementation of such electronic systems is always time consuming due to resource constraints and other limitations during crises. Thus application of data analytical approaches can serve as reliable alternative for electronic database system during the initial launching phase that facilitate monitoring of health situation without any delay during humanitarian crises. Furthermore, this approach can help in improving overall health information management capacities and capabilities of resource poor countries.
[Detection and significance of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in adipose tissue of polycystic ovary syndrome patients with insulin resistance].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K) in adipose tissue of polycystic ovary syndrome patients (PCOS), and explore molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance (IR) in PCOS. METHODS Samples from patients with PCOS with IR (n = 19), PCOS without IR (n = 10) and controls (n = 15) were collected. Serum fasting insulin (FIN) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were measured. Insulin resistance index was calculated using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) to analyze the relationship between these markers and IR. Western blot technique was used to detect the PI-3K p85 subunit. Gene expression of PI-3K p85 subunit was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Kinase activity was detected by immunoprecipitation, thin-layer chromatography and gamma scintillation counting. RESULTS (1) The levels of FIN [(25.2 +/- 3.8) mU/L] and HOMA-IR (1.6 +/- 0.3) in PCOS with IR were significantly higher than those in PCOS without IR [(13.4 +/- 3.8) mU/L, 0.9 +/- 0.3] and controls [(9.5 +/- 2.6) mU/L, 0.5 +/- 0.3; all P < 0.05). (2) There was no significant difference in the protein (0.65 +/- 0.10) and gene expression (0.92 +/- 0.12) of PI-3K p85 subunit in PCOS with IR compared with PCOS without IR (0.72 +/- 0.10, 1.01 +/- 0.10) and control groups (0.73 +/- 0.14, 1.00 +/- 0.12; P > 0.05). (3) PI-3K activity in PCOS with IR (81%) and PCOS without IR (89%) was significantly decreased (P < 0.01, P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with HOMA-IR (r = -0.69, P < 0.01; r = -0.62, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS No significant difference in the protein and gene expression of PI-3K p85 subunit in PCOS with IR is found. The decreased PI-3K activity may lead to IR of PCOS.
Development of Sliding Mode Controller for a Modified Boost Cuk Converter Configuration

This paper introduces a sliding mode control (SMC)-based equivalent control method to a novel high output gain Cuk converter. An additional inductor and capacitor improves the efficiency and output gain of the classical Cuk converter. Classical proportional integral (PI) controllers are widely used in direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converters. However, it is a very challenging task to design a single PI controller operating in different loads and disturbances. An SMC-based equivalent control method which achieves a robust operation in a wide operation range is also proposed. Switching frequency is kept constant in appropriate intervals at different loading and disturbance conditions by implementing a dynamic hysteresis control method. Numerical simulations conducted in MATLAB/Simulink confirm the accuracy of analysis of high output gain modified Cuk converter. In addition, the proposed equivalent control method is validated in different perturbations to demonstrate robust operation in wide operation range.
Double Standards in Quantitative Proteomics

Quantitative protein expression profiling is a crucial part of proteomics and requires methods that are able to efficiently provide accurate and reproducible differential expression values for proteins in two or more biological samples. In this report we evaluate in a direct comparative assessment two state-of-the-art quantitative proteomic approaches, namely difference in gel electrophoresis (DiGE) and metabolic stable isotope labeling. Therefore, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was grown under well defined experimental conditions in chemostats under two single nutrient-limited growth conditions using 14N- or 15N-labeled ammonium sulfate as the single nitrogen source. Following lysis and protein extraction from the two yeast samples, the proteins were fluorescently labeled using different fluorescent CyDyes. Subsequently, the yeast samples were mixed, and the proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Following in-gel digestion, the resulting peptides were analyzed by mass spectrometry using a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. Relative ratios in protein expression between these two yeast samples were determined using both DiGE and metabolic stable isotope labeling. Focusing on a small, albeit representative, set of proteins covering the whole gel range, including some protein isoforms and ranging from low to high abundance, we observe that the correlation between these two methods of quantification is good with the differential ratios determined following the equation RMet.Lab. = 0.98RDiGE with r2 = 0.89. Although the correlation between DiGE and metabolic stable isotope labeling is exceptionally good, we do observe and discuss (dis)advantages of both methods as well as in relation to other (quantitative) approaches.
A Linear Stability Analysis of a Homogeneous Fluidized Bed 1

In this work the local equations governing the dynamics of fluidized beds are written in terms of averaged variables and constitutive relations based on physical arguments are proposed. The averaged equations are perturbed with small disturbances from the homogeneous fluidization state, and linearized with respect to the perturbations. A stability analysis is carried out and shows that the particle pressure term has a stabilizing effect and that the particle viscosity acts as a short wave filter. The behavior of the primary instabilities described by the proposed model is in qualitative agreement with experimental observations.
Attention function structure of older and younger adult drivers

Groups of younger (n=49, M age = 21.7 years) and older (n=52, M age = 73.0 years) adults performed computer-based cognitive tests and simulated driving. Results from the cognitive tests were submitted to Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and 6 components were extracted that explained more than 77% of the variance. The components were labeled speed, divided, sustained, executive, selective/inhibition, and visual search in descending order of amount of variance explained. The component scores were used to predict simulated driving performance. Hierarchical step-wise regressions were computed with driving performance as the criterion, and age group (forced) and the component scores (step-wise) as predictors. Results showed that the speed and divided components were more likely to explain additional driving performance variance beyond age group than the other components.
Investigating RNN-based speech enhancement methods for noise-robust Text-to-Speech

Deep Learning has been applied successfully to speech processing. In this paper we propose an architecture for speech synthesis using multiple speakers. Some hidden layers are shared by all the speakers, while there is a specific output layer for each speaker. Objective and perceptual experiments prove that this scheme produces much better results in comparison with sin- gle speaker model. Moreover, we also tackle the problem of speaker interpolation by adding a new output layer (a-layer) on top of the multi-output branches. An identifying code is injected into the layer together with acoustic features of many speakers. Experiments show that the a-layer can effectively learn to interpolate the acoustic features between speakers.
Abiotic stress responses promote Potato virus A infection in Nicotiana benthamiana.

The effect of abiotic stress responses on Potato virus A (PVA; genus Potyvirus) infection was studied. Salt, osmotic and wounding stress all increased PVA gene expression in infected Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. According to the literature, an early response to these stresses is an elevation in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration. The infiltration of 0.1 m CaCl(2) into the infected leaf area enhanced the translation of PVA RNA, and this Ca(2+) -induced effect was more profound than that induced solely by osmotic stress. The inhibition of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels within the plasma membrane abolished the Ca(2+) effect, suggesting that Ca(2+) had to be transported into the cytosol to affect viral gene expression. This was also supported by a reduced wounding effect in the presence of the Ca(2+) -chelating agent ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA). In the absence of viral replication, the intense synthesis of viral proteins in response to Ca(2+) was transient. However, a Ca(2+) pulse administered at the onset of wild-type PVA infection enhanced the progress of infection within the locally infected leaf, and the virus appeared earlier in the systemic leaves than in the control plants. This suggests that the cellular environment was thoroughly modified by the Ca(2+) pulse to support viral infection. One message of this study is that the sensing of abiotic stress, which leads to cellular responses, probably via Ca(2+) signalling, associated with enhanced virus infection, may lead to higher field crop losses. Therefore, the effect of abiotic stress on plant viral infection warrants further analysis.
Epitope mapping of the human surface suppressor/cytotoxic T cell molecule Tp32.

The complexity of the suppressor/cytotoxic subset marker of human T lymphocytes was demonstrated by biochemical analysis, cross-blocking experiments, phylogenetic comparisons, and functional studies. At the biochemical level, the antigen was shown to be a heteromultimer of at least three polypeptide chains covalently associated into four different higher m.w. species. Sixteen different murine monoclonal antibodies were used to map epitopes of this heteromultimeric complex. Cross-blocking experiments undertaken with six directly labeled reference antibodies identified at least seven spacially distinct epitopes. Flow microfluorometric analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes showed two distinct subpopulations of bright and dull-stained cells that differed approximately 10-fold in antigen density. The distribution of epitopes on bright and dull cells was not uniform because in several combinations, blocking was observed on bright cells only. Studies with nonhuman primate T cells demonstrated a high degree of phylogenetic heterogeneity in the antigen. The combined cross-blocking and primate data divided the 17 antibodies into 15 groups. Each of the antibodies was capable of blocking lysis by alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes, indicating that the mechanism of inhibition may not necessarily involve hindrance of an active site.
Nonphysiological factors in navigated TMS studies; Confounding covariates and valid intracortical estimates

Brain stimulation is used to induce transient alterations of neural excitability to probe or modify brain function. For example, single‐pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex can probe corticospinal excitability (CSE). Yet, CSE measurements are confounded by a high level of variability. This variability is due to physical and physiological factors. Navigated TMS (nTMS) systems can record physical parameters of the TMS coil (tilt, location, and orientation) and some also estimate intracortical electric fields (EFs) on a trial‐by‐trial basis. Thus, these parameters can be partitioned with stepwise regression.
Efficient Tracking, Logging, and Blocking of Accesses to Digital Objects

Abstract : In this project, the performer moved the field of digital provenance forward by designing and implementing techniques for following the chain of custody of data in a virtualized environment. Specifically, the goals were to provide an approach for tracking accesses to objects that originate from disk, and capture subsequent accesses to these objects in memory. To that end, one key capability provided is an accurate, and efficient, tracking and reconstruction mechanism for collating and storing events collected at different levels of abstraction. The effort also provided a rich interface for managing and mining the captured information, thereby providing deeper insights into what transpired after a compromise has been detected (e.g., a suspicious transfer of data to an external device or modification of files). Additionally, capabilities to not only record, but to also deny unauthorized accesses or transfer of data from objects within a protected data store (e.g., a disk partition) for which provenance tracking has been enabled.
Modelagem estatística da série mensal de acidentes aéreos: um algoritmo automatizado para a seleção de modelos de previsão do número de ocorrências em curto prazo

O presente trabalho propoe um algoritmo para encontrar, automaticamente, o modelo que melhor ajusta a serie temporal do numero de acidentes aereos mensais no Brasil, com o objetivo de prever a quantidade de acidentes para os meses subsequentes, a fim de identificar um possivel crescimento acentuado e de monitorar as atividades preventivas ja realizadas. Para tal, utilizou-se a tecnica estatistica de analise de series temporais proposta por Box e Jenkins (1970), selecionando o modelo com o menor AIC (Akaike’s Information Criteria – Criterio de Informacao de Akaike), dentre um conjunto de modelos ajustados e testados (o AIC e uma medida proposta por Akaike (1974) que mede a qualidade de ajuste de um modelo estatistico – quanto menor o AIC melhor e o ajuste do modelo estatistico). Foram considerados acidentes aeronauticos com aeronaves civis nao experimentais, que aconteceram entre janeiro de 2000 e dezembro de 2012, dentro dos limites do territorio brasileiro, segundos dados fornecidos pelo Centro de Investigacao e Prevencao de Acidentes Aeronauticos (Cenipa). Este trabalho propoe um algoritmo desenvolvido no software livre R (R Development Core Team, 2013) para a selecao automatica de modelos de serie temporal de Box e Jenkins. Normal 0 21 false false false PT-BR X-NONE X-NONE
The IBM Mixture Models 1 and 2 for Word Alignment

This is a tutorial on the IBM models 1 and 2 for word alignment. In contrast to many other presentations, I motivate the models from a mixture model rather than from a translation perspective. This view makes it easier to derive the EM algorithms for learning and to understand why the likelihood function of the models usually has multiple optima.
Network visualisation and analysis tool based on logical network abridgment

A novel procedure of summarizing and abstracting the topology and distributed statistical measures of routing performance for communication networks is presented. This procedure, called logical network abridgment (LNA), forms the basis of a novel resilient recursive routing (R3) protocol. In this paper, we investigate the usefulness of LNA in visualizing and defining the state of health of a communication network. Traditionally, connectivity and metrics (such as link utilization, end-to-end delay, etc.) are used to provide indications of the state of health of a network. However, connectivity alone tells us little about the intrinsic diversity of the network and therefore its resiliency to attacks or attrition. Similarly, individual localized or path specific metrics tell us little about the overall intrinsic capability of the network. The LNA procedure summarizes the metric of choice over the total network and is thus capable of describing the intrinsic state of its health. In the context of military command and control, as well as commercial network management, scenarios, operators wish to easily create well-designed networks, in terms of resiliency and performance. Furthermore, operators need to identify, in an intuitive manner, the vulnerabilities that exist in a network. In addition, the consequences of actions taken to remedy failures or strengthen resiliency are often time consuming to understand in a large distributed system. The LNA procedure offers a quick and reliable algorithmic visual tool to achieve these. The paper presents work funded by the US Air-Force Research Laboratory (AFRL-EOARD) that demonstrates the potential of network visualization and analysis through the proposed LNA procedure
Brain-Specific SNAP-25 Deletion Leads to Elevated Extracellular Glutamate Level and Schizophrenia-Like Behavior in Mice

Several studies have associated reduced expression of synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) with schizophrenia, yet little is known about its role in the illness. In this paper, a forebrain glutamatergic neuron-specific SNAP-25 knockout mouse model was constructed and studied to explore the possible pathogenetic role of SNAP-25 in schizophrenia. We showed that SNAP-25 conditional knockout (cKO) mice exhibited typical schizophrenia-like phenotype. A significantly elevated extracellular glutamate level was detected in the cerebral cortex of the mouse model. Compared with Ctrls, SNAP-25 was dramatically reduced by about 60% both in cytoplasm and in membrane fractions of cerebral cortex of cKOs, while the other two core members of SNARE complex: Syntaxin-1 (increased ~80%) and Vamp2 (increased ~96%) were significantly increased in cell membrane part. Riluzole, a glutamate release inhibitor, significantly attenuated the locomotor hyperactivity deficits in cKO mice. Our findings provide in vivo functional evidence showing a critical role of SNAP-25 dysfunction on synaptic transmission, which contributes to the developmental of schizophrenia. It is suggested that a SNAP-25 cKO mouse, a valuable model for schizophrenia, could address questions regarding presynaptic alterations that contribute to the etiopathophysiology of SZ and help to consummate the pre- and postsynaptic glutamatergic pathogenesis of the illness.