Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Introduction of a National Minimum Wage Reduced Depressive Symptoms in Low‐Wage Workers: A Quasi‐Natural Experiment in the UK

Summary Does increasing incomes improve health? In 1999, the UK government implemented minimum wage legislation, increasing hourly wages to at least £3.60. This policy experiment created intervention and control groups that can be used to assess the effects of increasing wages on health. Longitudinal data were taken from the British Household Panel Survey. We compared the health effects of higher wages on recipients of the minimum wage with otherwise similar persons who were likely unaffected because (1) their wages were between 100 and 110% of the eligibility threshold or (2) their firms did not increase wages to meet the threshold. We assessed the probability of mental ill health using the 12‐item General Health Questionnaire. We also assessed changes in smoking, blood pressure, as well as hearing ability (control condition). The intervention group, whose wages rose above the minimum wage, experienced lower probability of mental ill health compared with both control group 1 and control group 2. This improvement represents 0.37 of a standard deviation, comparable with the effect of antidepressants (0.39 of a standard deviation) on depressive symptoms. The intervention group experienced no change in blood pressure, hearing ability, or smoking. Increasing wages significantly improves mental health by reducing financial strain in low‐wage workers. © 2016 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Allosteric auto‐inhibition and activation of the Nedd4 family E3 ligase Itch

The Nedd4 family E3 ligases are key regulators of cell growth and proliferation and are often misregulated in human cancers and other diseases. The ligase activities of Nedd4 E3s are tightly controlled via auto‐inhibition. However, the molecular mechanism underlying Nedd4 E3 auto‐inhibition and activation is poorly understood. Here, we show that the WW domains proceeding the catalytic HECT domain play an inhibitory role by binding directly to HECT in the Nedd4 E3 family member Itch. Our structural and biochemical analyses of Itch reveal that the WW2 domain and a following linker allosterically lock HECT in an inactive state inhibiting E2‐E3 transthiolation. Binding of the Ndfip1 adaptor or JNK1‐mediated phosphorylation relieves the auto‐inhibition of Itch in a WW2‐dependent manner. Aberrant activation of Itch leads to migration defects of cortical neurons during development. Our study provides a new mechanism governing the regulation of Itch.
Akanthopyrones A–D, α-Pyrones Bearing a 4-O-Methyl-β-d-glucopyranose Moiety from the Spider-Associated Ascomycete Akanthomyces novoguineensis

Hypocrealean fungi have proved to be prolific bioactive metabolite producers; they have caught the attention of mycologists throughout the world. However, only a few studies on the insect and spider parasitic genus Akanthomyces have so far been carried out. In this study, we report the isolation, structural elucidation and biological activities of four unprecedented glycosylated α-pyrone derivatives, akanthopyrones A–D (1–4), from a culture of Akanthomyces novoguineensis collected in Thailand. The chemical structures of the akanthopyrones were determined by extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR, and HRMS spectroscopic analysis. Their absolute configurations were determined. Akanthopyrone A (1) exhibited weak antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis DSM10 and cytotoxicity against the HeLa cell line KB-3-1, while akanthopyrone D (4) showed weak activity against Candida tenuis MUCL 29892.
Detecting spatial congestion in multihop wireless networks

While TCP is highly successful in the wire-line Internet, its performance fast degrades as the number of hops increases in multihop wireless networks. It is due to not only the half-duplex nature of the wireless medium, but also the congestion spreading phenomenon. Congestion in one wireless link spreads over space rather than localized to a link, causing interference to packet transmissions on neighboring links. Therefore, the space-shared feature of multihop wireless network makes congestion control different from that in wired networks. Since TCP often errs in estimating congestion level due to the wireless interference, it can overly inflate the transmission window and blast packets into the network, resulting in high level of congestion. We propose a novel algorithm to detect congestion in multihop wireless networks, which enables TCP to adjust the window size precisely. Performance evaluation through simulations confirms the advantage of our proposal in detecting spatial congestion in multihop wireless networks.
Deep Learning for Detecting Processing History of Images

Establishing the pedigree of a digital image, such as the type of processing applied to it, is important for forensic analysts because processing generally affects the accuracy and applicability of other forensic tools used for, e.g., identifying the camera (brand) and/or inspecting the image integrity (detecting regions that were manipulated). Given the superiority of automatized tools called deep convolutional neural networks to learn complex yet compact image representations for numerous problems in steganalysis as well as in forensic, in this article we explore this approach for the task of detecting the processing history of images. Our goal is to build a scalable detector for practical situations when an image acquired by a camera is processed, downscaled with a wide variety of scaling factors, and again JPEG compressed since such processing pipeline is commonly applied for example when uploading images to social networks, such as Facebook. To allow the network to perform accurately on a wide range of image sizes, we investigate a novel CNN architecture with an IP layer accepting statistical moments of feature maps. The proposed methodology is benchmarked using confusion matrices for three JPEG quality factors.
A convex optimization approach to worst-case optimal sensor selection

This paper considers the problem of optimal sensor selection in a worst-case setup. Our objective is to estimate a given quantity based on noisy measurements and using no more than n sensors out of a total of N available, possibly subject to additional selection constraints. Contrary to most of the literature, we consider the case where the only information available about the noise is a deterministic set-membership description and the goal is to minimize the worst-case estimation error. While in principle this is a hard, combinatorial optimization problem, we show that tractable convex relaxations can be obtained by using recent results on polynomial optimization.
Pengaruh Penambahan Hidroksiapatit dan Waktu Pencelupan Terhadap Pelapisan Logam Stainless Steel 316L Dengan Metode Dip Coating

Stainless Steel 316L is metal that can be used as a bone plate, but it has low biocompatibility. To improve the biocompatibility Stainless Steel 316L coating hydroxyapatite is used. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of hydroxyapatite addition and dipping time on characterization of Stainless Steel 316L coated with HAp using Dip Coating Method. Metal with a size of 2x1x0,1 cm was dipped into a suspension containing HAp, sago starch and water that mixed with a rate of 150 rpm for 20 hours. The coating was done by varying the addition HAp 8, 10, 12 gr and dipping time of 2, 6, 10 seconds. The dipped Stainless Steel 316L was dried in oven at temperature 110 °C for 10 minutes. Coating HAp were sintered at temperature 800 °C for 1 hour. The research showed with increased HAp addition and dipping time the thickness of the coating HAp increased. With maximum shear strength obtained in this research is 0,24433 MPa. Keywords : Coating, Dip Coating, Hydroxyapatite and Stainless Steel 316L
An Empirical Comparison of Joint and Stratified Frameworks for Studying G × E Interactions: Systolic Blood Pressure and Smoking in the CHARGE Gene‐Lifestyle Interactions Working Group

Studying gene‐environment (G × E) interactions is important, as they extend our knowledge of the genetic architecture of complex traits and may help to identify novel variants not detected via analysis of main effects alone. The main statistical framework for studying G × E interactions uses a single regression model that includes both the genetic main and G × E interaction effects (the “joint” framework). The alternative “stratified” framework combines results from genetic main‐effect analyses carried out separately within the exposed and unexposed groups. Although there have been several investigations using theory and simulation, an empirical comparison of the two frameworks is lacking. Here, we compare the two frameworks using results from genome‐wide association studies of systolic blood pressure for 3.2 million low frequency and 6.5 million common variants across 20 cohorts of European ancestry, comprising 79,731 individuals. Our cohorts have sample sizes ranging from 456 to 22,983 and include both family‐based and population‐based samples. In cohort‐specific analyses, the two frameworks provided similar inference for population‐based cohorts. The agreement was reduced for family‐based cohorts. In meta‐analyses, agreement between the two frameworks was less than that observed in cohort‐specific analyses, despite the increased sample size. In meta‐analyses, agreement depended on (1) the minor allele frequency, (2) inclusion of family‐based cohorts in meta‐analysis, and (3) filtering scheme. The stratified framework appears to approximate the joint framework well only for common variants in population‐based cohorts. We conclude that the joint framework is the preferred approach and should be used to control false positives when dealing with low‐frequency variants and/or family‐based cohorts.
Mechanical deformation induces depolarization of neutrophils

In vivo–mimicking mechanical deformations quickly depolarize neutrophils—a mechanism potentially failing in acute lung injury. The transition of neutrophils from a resting state to a primed state is an essential requirement for their function as competent immune cells. This transition can be caused not only by chemical signals but also by mechanical perturbation. After cessation of either, these cells gradually revert to a quiescent state over 40 to 120 min. We use two biophysical tools, an optical stretcher and a novel microcirculation mimetic, to effect physiologically relevant mechanical deformations of single nonadherent human neutrophils. We establish quantitative morphological analysis and mechanical phenotyping as label-free markers of neutrophil priming. We show that continued mechanical deformation of primed cells can cause active depolarization, which occurs two orders of magnitude faster than by spontaneous depriming. This work provides a cellular-level mechanism that potentially explains recent clinical studies demonstrating the potential importance, and physiological role, of neutrophil depriming in vivo and the pathophysiological implications when this deactivation is impaired, especially in disorders such as acute lung injury.
Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome: Association with Incident Dementia and Disability.

BACKGROUND It is important to examine the etiology of motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR) and its association with dementia and disability to obtain biological insights and to develop preventive strategies. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the association of MCR with incidence of dementia and disability in a Japanese community-dwelling sample of older adults. METHODS Participants were 4,235 older adults (50% women, mean age: 72.0 years). MCR was diagnosed at baseline using established criteria in non-demented seniors with self-reported cognitive complaints and slow gait. Incident cases of dementia were identified from insurance data monthly. Disability was regarded as certification by long-term care insurance. RESULTS At baseline, 265 participants (6.3%) met criteria for MCR. During follow-up (mean duration: 29 months), there were 138 incident cases of dementia (3.3%) and 207 incident cases of disability (4.9%). Cox-proportional hazards models, adjusted for demographical data, lifestyle, and medical conditions, showed that presence of MCR at baseline was a major risk factor for developing dementia (HR 2.49, 95% CI 1.52-4.10, p < 0.001). MCR also predicted risk for disability (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.08-2.02, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS MCR is helpful in the short-term prediction of risk for dementia and disability in the elderly Japanese population. Identification of seniors with MCR is recommended for early detection and instituting preventive measures for reducing the risk of dementia and disability.
Trehalase Regulates Neuroepithelial Stem Cell Maintenance and Differentiation in the Drosophila Optic Lobe

As one of the major hydrolases in Drosophila, trehalase (Treh) catalyzes the hydrolysis of trehalose into glucose providing energy for flight muscle activity. Treh is highly conserved from bacteria to humans, but little is known about its function during animal development. Here, we analyze the function of Treh in Drosophila optic lobe development. In the optic lobe, neuroepithelial cells (NEs) first divide symmetrically to expand the stem cell pool and then differentiate into neuroblasts, which divide asymmetrically to generate medulla neurons. We find that the knockdown of Treh leads to a loss of the lamina and a smaller medulla. Analyses of Treh RNAi-expressing clones and loss-of-function mutants indicate that the lamina and medulla phenotypes result from neuroepithelial disintegration and premature differentiation into medulla neuroblasts. Although the principal role of Treh is to generate glucose, the Treh loss-of-function phenotype cannot be rescued by exogenous glucose. Thus, our results indicate that in addition to being a hydrolase, Treh plays a role in neuroepithelial stem cell maintenance and differentiation during Drosophila optic lobe development.
Structural destabilization of tropomyosin induced by the cardiomyopathy‐linked mutation R21H

The missense mutation R21H in striated muscle tropomyosin is associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic cardiac disease and a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people. Tropomyosin adopts conformation of a coiled coil which is critical for regulation of muscle contraction. In this study, we investigated the effects of the R21H mutation on the coiled‐coil structure of tropomyosin and its interactions with its binding partners, tropomodulin and leiomodin. Using circular dichroism and isothermal titration calorimetry, we found that the mutation profoundly destabilized the structural integrity of αTM1a1‐28Zip, a chimeric peptide containing the first 28 residues of tropomyosin. The mutated αTM1a1‐28Zip was still able to interact with tropomodulin and leiomodin. However, the mutation resulted in a ∼30‐fold decrease of αTM1a1‐28Zip's binding affinity to leiomodin. We used a crystal structure of αTM1a1‐28Zip that we solved at 1.5 Å resolution to study the mutation's effect in silico by means of molecular dynamics simulation. The simulation data indicated that while the mutation disrupted αTM1a1‐28Zip's coiled‐coil structure, most notably from residue Ala18 to residue His31, it may not affect the N‐terminal end of tropomyosin. The drastic decrease of αTM1a1‐28Zip's affinity to leiomodin caused by the mutation may lead to changes in the dynamics at the pointed end of thin filaments. Therefore, the R21H mutation is likely interfering with the regulation of the normal thin filament length essential for proper muscle contraction.
Probiotic Bifidobacterium longum NCC3001 Reduces Depression Scores and Alters Brain Activity: A Pilot Study in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Probiotics can reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but little is known about their effects on psychiatric comorbidities. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the effects of Bifidobacterium longum NCC3001 (BL) on anxiety and depression in patients with IBS. METHODS We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 44 adults with IBS and diarrhea or a mixed-stool pattern (based on Rome III criteria) and mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression (based on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale) at McMaster University in Canada, from March 2011 to May 2014. At the screening visit, clinical history and symptoms were assessed and blood samples were collected. Patients were then randomly assigned to groups and given daily BL (n = 22) or placebo (n = 22) for 6 weeks. At weeks 0, 6, and 10, we determined patients' levels of anxiety and depression, IBS symptoms, quality of life, and somatization using validated questionnaires. At weeks 0 and 6, stool, urine and blood samples were collected, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) test was performed. We assessed brain activation patterns, fecal microbiota, urine metabolome profiles, serum markers of inflammation, neurotransmitters, and neurotrophin levels. RESULTS At week 6, 14 of 22 patients in the BL group had reduction in depression scores of 2 points or more on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, vs 7 of 22 patients in the placebo group (P = .04). BL had no significant effect on anxiety or IBS symptoms. Patients in the BL group had a mean increase in quality of life score compared with the placebo group. The fMRI analysis showed that BL reduced responses to negative emotional stimuli in multiple brain areas, including amygdala and fronto-limbic regions, compared with placebo. The groups had similar fecal microbiota profiles, serum markers of inflammation, and levels of neurotrophins and neurotransmitters, but the BL group had reduced urine levels of methylamines and aromatic amino acids metabolites. At week 10, depression scores were reduced in patients given BL vs placebo. CONCLUSION In a placebo-controlled trial, we found that the probiotic BL reduces depression but not anxiety scores and increases quality of life in patients with IBS. These improvements were associated with changes in brain activation patterns that indicate that this probiotic reduces limbic reactivity. ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT01276626.
A Visual Narrative Path From Switching to Resuming an RE Task

Requirements Engineering (RE) is closely tied to other development activities and is at the heart and foundation of every software development process. This makes RE the most data and communication intensive activity compared to other development tasks. The highly demanding communication makes task switching and interruptions inevitable in RE activities. While task switching often allows us to perform tasks effectively, it imposes a cognitive load and can be detrimental to the primary task, particularly in complex tasks as the ones typical for RE activities. Visualization mechanisms enhanced with analytical methods and interaction techniques help software developers obtain a better cognitive understanding of the complexity of RE decisions, leading to timelier and higher quality decisions. In this paper, we propose to apply interactive visual analytics techniques for managing requirements decisions from various perspectives, including stakeholders communication, RE task switching, and interruptions. We propose a new layered visualization framework that supports the analytical reasoning process of task switching. This framework consists of both data analysis and visualization layers. The visual layers offer interactive knowledge visualization components for managing task interruption decisions at different stages of an interruption (i.e. before, during, and after). The analytical layers provide narrative knowledge about the consequences of task switching decisions and help requirements engineers to recall their reasoning process and decisions upon resuming a task. Moreover, we surveyed 53 software developers to test our visual prototype and to explore more required features for the visual and analytical layers of our framework.
Knockout of Toll-Like Receptors 2 and 4 Prevents Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy in Mice

It is known that renal ischemia reperfusion (I/R) generates a systemic inflammatory state, promoting molecular and morphological changes in the heart tissue, but the mechanisms remain unknown. TLRs are largely studied in the heart and are known to participate of inflammatory process, moreover it has been demonstrated their role in cardiac hypertrophy (CH) development.
Phase field crystal study of nano-crack growth and branch in materials

The phase field crystal (PFC) method is a new multiscale method, which can reproduce physical phenomena on an atomic level and on a diffusion time scale for the microstructure evolution of materials. The morphology of microcrack propagation and the branch of single crystal materials under tensile strain with a fixed grip condition are simulated by using PFC coupling with an external field method. The results show that microcrack propagation depends a lot on the applied strain. The crack starts to grow and branch when the strain reaches a critical value for biaxial tension. The temperature parameter may also have an effect on crack propagation and the branch. In order to indicate the connection between the PFC results and materials behavior, the energy balance approach is used to analyze the mechanism of crack extension, and also the critical value of the strain for crack extension is obtained. The simulated results are in good agreement with other simulation results and experimental results.
The Caucasus in a Time of Conflict, Demographic Transition, and Economic Change

In an introductory paper to a special issue of Eurasian Geography and Economics, the authors examine contemporary economic, social, demographic, and political developments in the Caucasus in light of their historical contexts. They emphasize the need to look beyond simple ethnic categories to understand the nature of local tensions and also propose that the profound nature of the post-Soviet upheavals has uprooted long-standing practices. The paper covers physical diversity, historical and administrative geopolitics, Stalinist deportations in the 1940s, and post-Soviet demographic and economic developments. An introduction to each of the five papers comprising the special issue follows the regional overview. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: H11, I31, O18, P30. 2 tables, 62 references.
Risk factors for discontinuation of thyroid hormone replacement therapy in early pregnancy: a study from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway

Approximately 3–5% of pregnant women have hypothyroidism. Despite the potential impact of untreated hypothyroidism on infant neurodevelopment, few studies have investigated the risk factors associated with discontinuation of thyroid hormone replacement therapy (THRT) in pregnancy. We aimed to identify such factors in a population of women using THRT prior to pregnancy.