Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skeletal muscle apolipoprotein B expression reduces muscular triglyceride accumulation

Abstract Background. Lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle is associated with impaired insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes. In cardiac myocytes, lipoprotein secretion controlled by apolipoproteinB (apoB) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) affects lipid homeostasis. Design. In this study, we investigated whether expression of a human apoB transgene affects triglyceride accumulation and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle in fat fed obese mice. Results. Expression of apoB and MTP mRNA and the human apoB transgene was seen in skeletal muscle of the transgene mice. Human apoB transgenic mice accumulated 28% less triglycerides in skeletal myocytes after one year of fat-feeding as compared with WT mice (32 ± 5, n = 10 vs. 44 ± 4 nmol/mg ww, n = 13, p = 0.04). Moreover, expression of human apoB in fat-fed mice was associated with 32% (p = 0.02) and 37% (p = 0.01) lower plasma insulin levels after 9 and 12 months, respectively, improved intra peritoneal glucose tolerance after 6 months, and a trend towards increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in isolated skeletal muscle. Conclusions. The data suggests that overexpression of apoB decreases skeletal muscle lipid accumulation and attenuates peripheral insulin resistance in obese mice.
Cocaine Use and the Occurrence of Panic Attacks in the Community: A Case-Crossover Approach

The epidemiologic case-crossover method is a powerful tool for research on suspected hazards of illegal drug use, the advantage being a subject-as-own-control approach that constrains stable individual-level susceptibility traits. Here, we use the case-crossover method to estimate the magnitude of excess occurrence of panic attacks during months of cocaine use vs. months of no cocaine use, motivated by a prior estimate that cocaine users have three-fold excess risk of panic attack. The self-report data on cocaine and panic are from assessments of a nationally representative sample of 1071 recent panic cases age 18 years or older identified as part of the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse conducted in the United States during 1994–1997. Based on case-crossover estimates, cocaine use is associated with a three- to- four-fold excess occurrence of panic attack (estimated relative risk (RR) = 3.3, p = 0.049; 95% confidence interval: 1.0, 13.7). Year-by-year, the RR estimates from four independent yearly replicates (1994–1997) are 5.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.0. While there are several important limitations, this study adds new evidence about a previously reported suspected causal association linking cocaine use to occurrence of panic attacks, and illustrates advantages of the epidemiologic case-crossover approach and new directions in research on hazards of illegal drug use.
Interference efficiency: A new concept to analyze the performance of cognitive radio networks

In this paper, we develop and analyze a novel performance metric, called interference efficiency (IE), that shows the number of transmitted bits per unit of interference energy imposed on the primary users (PUs) in an underlay cognitive radio network (CRN). Specifically, we develop a framework to maximize the IE of a CRN with multiple secondary users (SUs) while satisfying target constraints on the average interference power on PU receiver, total SUs transmit power and minimum ergodic rate for the SUs. In doing so, we formulate a multiobjective optimization problem (MOP), that aims to achieve the maximum ergodic sum rate of multiple SUs and the minimum average interference power on the primary receiver. We show how the optimal point for the IE-maximization problem can be extracted from the Pareto optimal region of the proposed MOP. The MOP is solved by first transferrin g it into a single objective problem (SOP) using a weighted sum method. The formulated SOP is a nonconvex optimization problem and we solve it using an augmented Lagrange approach. The augmented Lagrangian which consists of a penalty-like quadratic terms changes the problem to become locally convex and eliminates the duality gap. Numerical results are conducted to corroborate our theoretical analysis.
The Impact of Emotional Contagion and its Relationship to Mood

Emotional contagion or the tendency to mimic and feel emotional displays and experiences of others in social interactions is more than likely to be influenced by affect or the existing mood of individuals engaging in those interactions (Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1992). This current study analyzed the relationship between susceptibility to emotional contagion and existing mood using two well-established scales: the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) scale and the EC (Emotional Contagion) scale (Watson, Clark, & Tellegan, 1988; Doherty, 1997). Two hypotheses were assessed with the first one being that individuals with a high self-report of mood (positive or negative) will be more susceptible to emotional contagion and the second one stating that women will have higher self-reports of mood and will be more susceptible to emotional contagion than men. Results, limitations, and implications are discussed further throughout the study.
Plasma Mesothelin as a Novel Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker in Colorectal Cancer

Objective Mesothelin is a cell surface protein and overexpressed in many cancers. However, the potential value of mesothelin as plasma biomarker in colorectal cancer has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to identify whether plasma mesothelin is a suitable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer. Methods We performed a two-stage case-control study to evaluate plasma mesothelin levels in colorectal cancer using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Preoperative and postoperative plasma were collected to examine the level changes influenced by surgery. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to identify the diagnostic value of plasma mesothelin. We also conducted univariate Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis of patients with survival information. Results We found that the plasma mesothelin levels in colorectal cancer patients were significantly higher than that in the controls (P < 0.001) with an AUC value of 0.690 (95% CI = 0.625 to 0.752). Individuals with lower mesothelin level had a longer survival time (adjusted HR = 4.43, 95% CI = 1.93-10.15, P < 0.001). Furthermore, Patients had slightly decreased mesothelin levels in postoperative plasma than preoperative plasma, although the alteration was not statistically significant (P = 0.052). Conclusion Our findings highlight the correlative relationship between plasma mesothelin levels and the presence and progression of colorectal cancer. Plasma mesothelin may be a potential diagnostic and, or prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer.
Graphene interconenets selectively grown on catalytic metal damascene structure and its growth mechanism on Ni catalyst

The present work investigated the possibility of the formation of graphene interconnects and studied the behavior of graphene growth in wiring structure. Graphene nucleated on the facet of catalytic metal, and multi layer graphene grew along the terrace surface of catalytic metal. Selective graphene growth served the stacked interconnects structure of graphene / Ni catalytic metal.
More pronounced inhibition of cyclooxygenase 2, increase in blood pressure, and reduction of heart rate by treatment with diclofenac compared with celecoxib and rofecoxib.

OBJECTIVE Recent findings suggest that permanent blockade of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is one factor contributing to the cardiovascular side effects of selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs) and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The present study compared the extent and time course of COX-2 inhibition and the effects on cardiovascular parameters (changes in blood pressure and heart rate) between various antirheumatic doses of diclofenac, celecoxib, and rofecoxib in healthy elderly volunteers. METHODS A randomized, parallel-group study was conducted in volunteers receiving 75 mg diclofenac twice daily, 200 mg celecoxib twice daily, or 25 mg rofecoxib once daily for 8 days. Blood samples were obtained predose and at specified time points postdose, on days 1 and 8, for assay of drug plasma concentrations and COX-2 inhibition. Lipopolysaccharide-induced prostaglandin E(2) synthesis was measured ex vivo as an index of COX-2 activity in human whole blood. RESULTS COX-2 inhibition was significantly less pronounced after treatment with celecoxib and rofecoxib than with diclofenac. Maximal inhibitions after a single dose and at steady state, respectively, were as follows: 99% and 99% with diclofenac, 70% and 81% with celecoxib, and 56% and 72% with rofecoxib. At steady state, only diclofenac caused virtually complete COX-2 inhibition over the whole dose interval, and this corresponded to the highest increase in systolic blood pressure and greatest reduction in heart rate. CONCLUSION Diclofenac elicited the most pronounced COX-2 inhibition, blood pressure elevation, and suppression of heart rate. It is assumed that the extent and time course of intravascular COX-2 inhibition may determine the differential profile of cardiovascular side effects associated with NSAIDs and coxibs, but this has to be proven in future studies.
Influences of Thermal Annealing Temperatures on Irradiation Induced $E^{\prime}$  Centers in Silica Glass

Influences of pre-irradiation and thermal annealing on E ' defect concentration are studied by measuring E ' centers and optical absorptions using ESR and spectrophotometer, respectively. The results show that the E ' defect concentration decreases significantly when silica glass is pre-irradiated by gamma rays and a subsequent thermal annealing. The effect of thermal annealing on the E ' concentration has also been investigated for the temperature from 300degC to 1300degC. It is found from the ESR spectrum that the anti-irradiated property of the silica glass can be improved when the thermal annealing temperature is larger than 700degC. These results have been proved by optical absorption spectra.
Sodium bicarbonate versus THAM in ICU patients with mild metabolic acidosis.

BACKGROUND Sodium bicarbonate is despite its side effects, considered the standard alkali therapy in metabolic acidosis. THAM is an alternative alkalizing agent; however, there are limited data on the use of THAM in metabolic acidosis. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and adverse effects of a single dose of sodium bicarbonate and THAM in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with mild metabolic acidosis. METHODS 18 adult ICU patients with mild metabolic acidosis (serum bicarbonate < 20 mmol/L) were randomized to a single dose of either sodium bicarbonate or THAM, administered over a 1-hour period, and titrated to buffer the excess of acid load. RESULTS Sodium bicarbonate and THAM had equivalent alkalinizing effect during the infusion period. This was still present 4 hours after start of infusion of sodium bicarbonate, and until 3 hours after start of infusion of THAM. Serum potassium levels decreased after sodium bicarbonate infusion, and remained unchanged after THAM. After sodium bicarbonate, sodium increased, and after THAM, serum sodium decreased. CONCLUSIONS Sodium bicarbonate and THAM had a similar alkalinizing effect in patients with mild metabolic acidosis; however, the effect of sodium bicarbonate was longer lasting. Sodium bicarbonate did decrease serum potassium, and THAM did not; THAM is therefore not recommended in patient with hyperkalemia. As sodium bicarbonate leads to an increase of serum sodium and THAM to a decrease, THAM may be the alkalinizing agent of choice in patients with hypernatremia. Similarly, because sodium bicarbonate increases PaCO2 and THAM may even decrease PaCO2, sodium bicarbonate is contraindicated and THAM preferred in patients with mixed acidosis with high PaCO2 levels.
Experimental Results of 275-kV 3-kA REBCO HTS Power Cable

A 30-m-long 275-kV 3-kA high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable had been developed in a national project of the Materials and Power Applications of Coated Conductors project in Japan. The design of the cable was based on the design values obtained from ac loss properties, thermal behavior under short-circuit tests, and electrical properties, such as partial discharge properties, impulse withstand properties, and dielectric properties. Through the development, the material of the cable insulation was determined and designed on the basis of its design stresses and test conditions based on the IEC, JEC (Japan electrical standards), and other HTS demonstrations. This cable was also designed to withstand a short-circuit test of 63 kA for 0.6 s and to have low losses of 0.8 W/m at 3 kA, 275 kV, including ac loss and dielectric loss. Based on these designs, a 50-m cable was manufactured and tested. The short samples obtained from 50 m were confirmed to have the designed characteristics. Furukawa Electric constructed a demonstration system of a 30-m cable with two terminations and a cable joint. The demonstration had started since November 2012 at Shenyang in China. In this demonstration, a 30-day long-term test was conducted and monitored at a current of 3 kA and at a test voltage selected to verify a 30-year operational lifetime. Removal tests revealed the superior reliability of the 275-kV HTS cable system.
Dense Light Transport for Relighting Computation Using Orthogonal Illumination Based on Walsh-Hadamard Matrix

SUMMARY We propose a practical method that acquires dense light transports from unknown 3D objects by employing orthogonal illumination based on a Walsh-Hadamard matrix for relighting computation. We assume the presence of color crosstalk, which represents color mixing between pro-jector pixels and camera pixels, and then describe the light transport matrix by using sets of the orthogonal illumination and the corresponding camera response. Our method handles not only direct reﬂection light but also global light radiated from the entire environment. Tests of the proposed method using real images show that orthogonal illumination is an e ﬀ ective way of acquiring accurate light transports from various 3D objects. We demonstrate a relighting test based on acquired light transports and conﬁrm that our method outputs excellent relighting images that compare favorably with the actual images observed by the system.
An Approach of Filtering Wrong-Type Entities for Entity Ranking

[Zhang, Junsan; Qu, Youli; Gong, Shu; Tian, Shengfeng] Beijing Jiaotong Univ, Sch Comp & Informat Technol, Beijing, Peoples R China. [Sun, Haoliang] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Software, Natl Key Lab Integrated Informat Syst, Beijing 100864, Peoples R China.
IMPLICIT MEASUREMENT OF VIOLENCE-RELATED COGNITIONS 1 Implicit Measurement of Violence-Related Cognitions

Objective: Violence-related cognitions may underpin many acts of violence, but explicit self-report measures of these cognitions may be inadequate to assess them fully due to their unconscious nature or due to deliberate dissimulation. We designed three versions of the implicit association test (IAT) that separately examined violence-related associations to valence (good vs bad), hedonic-value (enjoy vs dislike) and arousal (exciting vs boring) and examined if these were associated with greater levels of past criminal activity and self-reported violence. Method: The three IATs were administered to an offender sample (N = 108) with a history of serious offending and a diagnosis of Personality Disorder. Violence was assessed via the Proactive and Reactive Aggression Questionnaire and by examination of previous convictions. Results: The IATs showed good to moderate reliability. The valence-IAT did not show any significant correlations to the measures of previous violence. The hedonic value-IAT showed positive relationships with official records of convictions, especially among participants without a conviction for homicide. The arousal-IAT was positively related to selfreported aggression in those without a conviction for homicide. Conclusions: The results show some promise that indirect techniques may be able to measure violence-related cognitions.
Logic Programming : from NLP to NLU ?

Natural Language Processing (NLP) was one of the original motivations leading to programming in logic [1] back in the seventies, with Colmerauer’s Metamorphosis Grammars [2] and with Pereira and D.H. D Warren’s Definite Clause Grammars [3], enhanced later with mechanisms for hypothetical reasoning [4]. Montague Grammars (implemented in Prolog by D.S. Warren [5]) and work by Veronica Dahl on defining logic representations for more realistic fragments of natural languages (including long distance dependencies and anaphora resolution) [6] have all shown a penchant of Logic Programming towards the higher objectives of Natural Language Understanding (NLU). After being long delayed (and partly frozen by the AI winter) recent progress in NLU promises to bring disruptive paradigm shifts in human-computer interaction and several directly and indirectly related industries. In fact, hopes for more logic-based NLU are high again, partly due to the possibility of sharing successful technologies and tools with successful fields like deep-learning neuralnetworks, machine learning, statistical parsers and graph-based NLP. This brings us to the obvious question: what new role can logic programming play in this new context? When trying to sketch an answer, after more than a decade spent on other research topics, we became aware that one can benefit today from the extended logic programming ecosystem, consisting of classic tools like Prolog, constraint solvers, Answer-Set Programming and SAT/SMT systems, as well as machine learning techniques implemented on top of inductive and probabilistic logic programming [7]. One of the research directions we have worked on in the past, that turned out to be remarkably successful, is graph-based NLP. It has originated in a Prolog program that was using WordNet’s semantic links to improve word-sense disambiguation (WSD) [8], by building a graph connecting words, sentences with their semantic equivalence classes (synsets) and then guessing the most likely sense associated to a word, by running the PageRank algorithm [9] on the graph. A few months later, an unsupervised version of the algorithm [10] based on graphs connecting sentences to word occurrences has been shown to extract high quality summaries and keywords. It later became one of the most popular techniques for the task [11], implemented in virtually all widely used
Macroecology of parental care in arthropods: higher mortality risk leads to higher benefits of offspring protection in tropical climates

The intensity of biotic interactions varies around the world, in such a way that mortality risk imposed by natural enemies is usually higher in the tropics. A major role of offspring attendance is protection against natural enemies, so the benefits of this behaviour should be higher in tropical regions. We tested this macroecological prediction with a meta‐regression of field experiments in which the mortality of guarded and unguarded broods was compared in arthropods. Mortality of unguarded broods was higher, and parental care was more beneficial, in warmer, less seasonal environments. Moreover, in these same environments, additional lines of defence further reduced offspring mortality, implying that offspring attendance alone is not enough to deter natural enemies in tropical regions. These results help to explain the high frequency of parental care among tropical species and how biotic interactions influence the occurrence of parental care over large geographic scales. Finally, our findings reveal that additional lines of defences – an oftentimes neglected component of parental care – have an important effect on the covariation between the benefits of parental care and the climate‐mediated mortality risk imposed by natural enemies.
2-Manifold Surface Sampling and Quality Estimation of Reconstructed Meshes

Construction of intrinsic Delaunay triangulation (iDt for short) on 2-manifolds has attracted considerable attentions recently, due to its theoretical contributions to surface reconstruction. In this paper we analyze a 2-manifold sampling criterion based on iDt in a combinatorial way. The main contribution of this work is to establish the theoretical bounds of iDt mesh quality based on this sampling criterion. In order to construct the iDt mesh from sample points, we propose an approximate iDt mesh reconstruction algorithm using an edge propagation scheme. In real-world point cloud, holes or under sampling regions frequently exist. Based on the sampling criterion, an up sampling scheme and a hole filling algorithm are presented in this paper. Finally examples are presented, illustrating the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms.
A Novel Transformerless High Voltage Gain DC Converter Supplying Single Phase Full Bridge Inverter

In this paper, a novel transformerless high voltage gain dc converter supplying single phase full bridge inverter is proposed. The proposed topology contains a converter section and an inverter section. The converter utilizes input parallel output series configuration for providing a much higher voltage gain without adopting an extreme large duty cycle. The converter also reduces the voltage stress of both active switches and diodes and finally reduces both switching and conduction losses. The converter features automatic uniform current sharing without adding extra circuitry or complex control methods. Closed loop PI controller is used to control the error and achieves the desired output voltage for the converter section. The converter section is followed by a single phase full bridge inverter. The inverter uses unipolar switching technique. Inverter offers reduced switching losses and generates less EMI. The inverter with filter circuit gives better output sinusoidal voltage. The proposed topology applications may include UPS, power grid, renewable energy applications etc. The operation principle and steady state analysis of both converter and inverter sections are presented. Finally, some simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed topology.
Essays in forecasting

OF THE DISSERTATION Essays in Forecasting by Nii Ayi Christian Armah Dissertation Director: Norman Rasmus Swanson This dissertation comprises three essays in macroeconomic forecasting. The first essay discusses model selection and predictive accuracy tests in the context of parameter and model uncertainty under recursive and rolling estimation schemes. Particular emphasis is placed on the construction of valid bootstrap procedures for calculating the impact of parameter estimation error on the class of test statistics with limiting distributions that are functionals of Gaussian processes. Results of an empirical investigation of the marginal predictive content of money for income are also presented. The second essay outlines a number of approaches to the selection of factor proxies (observed variables that proxy unobserved estimated factors) using statistics based on large sample datasets. This approach to factor proxy selection is examined via a small Monte Carlo experiment and a set of prediction experiments, where evidence supporting our proposed methodology is presented. The third essay compares the predictive content of a set of macroeconomic indicators with that of various other observable variables that act as proxies to factors constructed using diffusion index methodology. The analysis suggests that certain spreads constructed as the difference between short or long term debt instruments and the federal funds rate are found to be useful indicators. Surprisingly, traditional spreads, such as the yield curve slope and the reverse yield gap are not found to provide additional predictive power.