Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genome‐wide association study of a nicotine metabolism biomarker in African American smokers: impact of chromosome 19 genetic influences

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The activity of CYP2A6, the major nicotine-inactivating enzyme, is measurable in smokers using the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR; 3'hydroxycotinine/cotinine). Due to its role in nicotine clearance, the NMR is associated with smoking behaviours and response to pharmacotherapies. The NMR is highly heritable (~80%), and on average lower in African Americans (AA) versus whites. We previously identified several reduce and loss-of-function CYP2A6 variants common in individuals of African descent. Our current aim was to identify novel genetic influences on the NMR in AA smokers using genome-wide approaches. DESIGN Genome-wide association study (GWAS). SETTING Multiple sites within Canada and the United States. PARTICIPANTS AA smokers from two clinical trials: Pharmacogenetics of Nicotine Addiction Treatment (PNAT)-2 (NCT01314001; n = 504) and Kick-it-at-Swope (KIS)-3 (NCT00666978; n = 450). MEASUREMENTS Genome-wide SNP genotyping, the NMR (phenotype) and population substructure and NMR covariates. FINDINGS Meta-analysis revealed three independent chromosome 19 signals (rs12459249, rs111645190 and rs185430475) associated with the NMR. The top overall hit, rs12459249 (P = 1.47e-39; beta = 0.59 per C (versus T) allele, SE = 0.045), located ~9.5 kb 3' of CYP2A6, remained genome-wide significant after controlling for the common (~10% in AA) non-functional CYP2A6*17 allele. In contrast, rs111645190 and rs185430475 were not genome-wide significant when controlling for CYP2A6*17. In total, 96 signals associated with the NMR were identified; many were not found in prior NMR GWASs in individuals of European descent. The top hits were also associated with the NMR in a third cohort of AA (KIS2; n = 480). None of the hits were in UGT or OCT2 genes. CONCLUSIONS Three independent chromosome 19 signals account for ~20% of the variability in the nicotine metabolite ratio in African American smokers. The hits identified may contribute to inter-ethnic variability in nicotine metabolism, smoking behaviours and tobacco-related disease risk.
The Burden of Atrial Fibrillation and Other Cardiac Arrhythmias in an Employed Population: Associated Costs, Absences, and Objective Productivity Loss

Objective: To establish the burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) and other cardiac arrhythmias (CA) in an employed population. Methods: Regression model analysis comparing objective work output, employee turnover, comorbidity prevalence, total health benefit (health care, drug, sick leave, disability, workers' compensation) costs, and absence days for AF versus Non-AF and CA versus Non-CA cohorts, while controlling for differences in patient characteristics. Results: Cohort sizes were 1403 (AF), 323,333 (Non-AF), 4497 (CA), and 318,917 (Non-CA) employees. Annual AF benefit costs exceeded Non-AF costs by $3958. CA costs exceeded Non-CA costs by $2897. AF and CA cohorts had significantly more sick leave and short-term disability absence days than Non-AF and Non-CA cohorts, respectively. Annual CA work output was significantly lower than Non-CA output. Conclusions: AF and CA place significant cost, absence, and productivity burdens on employers.
Characterization and modeling of curvature sensor for microwave measurements

Inspired by research technology of RFID in flexible substrate, a new era of microwave sensor in more flexible form is indeed an interesting and important research area. One of the most common and suitable microwave sensor that suitable to be transformed into flexible structure is microstrip. In this project, a semi-flexible microstrip sensor was designed and simulated with soft substrate for difference curvature angles. The sensor was investigated and critically analyzed to study the effects of curvature. The designed sensor was fabricated and experimental result are measured by Vector Network Analyzer for frequency range 150 kHz to 8 GHz. The transmission coefficient of curvature sensor that covered with sample of various dielectric values were measured. All the parameters are compared to flat microstrip sensor. The potential and performance of the curvature microstrip sensor are intensively examined.
Value of Osteoblast-Derived Exosomes in Bone Diseases

Purpose: The authors’ purpose is to reveal the value of osteoblast-derived exosomes in bone diseases. Methods: Microvesicles from supernatants of mouse Mc3t3 were isolated by ultracentrifugation and then the authors presented the protein profile by proteomics analysis. Results: The authors detected a total number of 1536 proteins by mass spectrometry and found 172 proteins overlap with bone database. The Ingenuity Pathway Analysis shows network of “Skeletal and Muscular System Development and Function, Developmental Disorder, Hereditary Disorder” and pathway about osteogenesis. EFNB1 and transforming growth factor beta receptor 3 in the network, LRP6, bone morphogenetic protein receptor type-1, and SMURF1 in the pathway seemed to be valuable in the exosome research of related bone disease. Conclusions: The authors’ study unveiled the content of osteoblast-derived exosome and discussed valuable protein in it which might provide novel prospective in bone diseases research.
Fine-tuning of Th17 Cytokines in Periodontal Disease by IL-10

Periodontitis (PD) is a chronic disease caused by the host inflammatory response to bacteria colonizing the oral cavity. In addition to tolerance to oral microbiome, a fine-tuned balance of IL-10 levels is critical to efficiently mount antimicrobial resistance without causing immunopathology. Clinical and animal studies support that adaptive T-helper (Th) cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of alveolar bone destruction in PD. However, it remains unclear what type of Th response is related to human PD progression and what role IL-10 has on this process. We addressed the contribution of IL-10 in limiting Th1 and Th17 inflammatory response in murine and human PD. Through a combination of basic and translational approaches involving selected cytokine-deficient mice as well as human genetic epidemiology, our results demonstrate the requirement for IL-10 in fine-tuning the levels of Th17 (IL-17A and IL-17F) cytokines in experimental and human PD. Of novelty, we found that IL-17F correlated with protection in murine and human PD and was positively regulated by IL-10. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the protective role for IL-17F in PD, its positive regulation by IL-10, and the potential differential role for IL-17A and IL-17F in periodontal disease.
Intravenous Administration of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Aggravates High-Fat Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Sprague Dawley Rats

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been explored in pharmaceutical applications such as tumor targeting and delivery of drugs, in which MWCNTs are given through intravenous injection. However, the biosafety of MWCNTs is of concern for such application. Therefore, in the current study, we used a fatty liver model to investigate the possible toxicity of MWCNTs to the liver, as MWCNTs were retained mainly in the liver of mice after intravenous injection. Male Sprague Dawley rats were used to generate the fatty liver model, and the effects of intravenous administration of MWCNTs on fatty liver were studied. Hematoxylin and eosin staining for hepatocellular anatomy and Masson trichrome staining for hepatic fibrosis were conducted. Histologically, MWCNTs aggravated steatohepatitis with higher nonalcoholic fatty liver disease scores. Analysis of liver injury markers indicated that MWCNTs administration resulted in chronic hepatitis, along with increased liver fat and altered liver oxidation, including the increase of P6 protein and the depletion of glutathione. In conclusion, our results suggest that MWCNTs can aggravate nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in Sprague Dawley rats, and oxidative injury may be involved in this process.
Bioinspired nanostructural peptide materials for supercapacitor electrodes

Self-assembly bioinspired peptide nanotubes (PNT) demonstrate diverse physical properties such as optical, piezoelectric, fluidic, etc. In this work, we present our research on environmentally clean bioinspired peptide nanostructured material, to be applied to energy storage devices-supercapacitors (SC). Such an application is based on our recently developed PNT physical vapor deposition technology. It has been found that PNT fine structure and its wettability in electrolytes are the critical factors for a strong variation of the SC capacitance. We show that PNT-coated carbon electrodes enlarge the double-layer capacitance by dozens of times; reaching 800 μF/cm^2 in a sulfuric acid (normalizing to the electrode geometric surface area of carbon background electrode). The discovered effect is provided by hollow PNT possessing numerous hydrophilic nanoscale-diameter channels, elongated along the PNT axis, which dramatically increase the functional area of carbon electrodes. Another type of the observed PNT morphology is fiberlike highly hydrophobic PNT rods, which do not contribute to the SC capacitance.
Shared Decision-Making for Nursing Practice: An Integrative Review

Background: Shared decision-making has received national and international interest by providers, educators, researchers, and policy makers. The literature on shared decision-making is extensive, dealing with the individual components of shared decision-making rather than a comprehensive process. This view of shared decision-making leaves healthcare providers to wonder how to integrate shared decision-making into practice. Objective: To understand shared decision-making as a comprehensive process from the perspective of the patient and provider in all healthcare settings. Methods: An integrative review was conducted applying a systematic approach involving a literature search, data evaluation, and data analysis. The search included articles from PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO from 1970 through 2016. Articles included quantitative experimental and non-experimental designs, qualitative, and theoretical articles about shared decision-making between all healthcare providers and patients in all healthcare settings. Results: Fifty-two papers were included in this integrative review. Three categories emerged from the synthesis: (a) communication/ relationship building; (b) working towards a shared decision; and (c) action for shared decision-making. Each major theme contained sub-themes represented in the proposed visual representation for shared decision-making. Conclusion: A comprehensive understanding of shared decision-making between the nurse and the patient was identified. A visual representation offers a guide that depicts shared decision-making as a process taking place during a healthcare encounter with implications for the continuation of shared decisions over time offering patients an opportunity to return to the nurse for reconsiderations of past shared decisions.
Repeated Systemic Treatment with Rapamycin Affects Behavior and Amygdala Protein Expression in Rats

Abstract Background Clinical data indicate that therapy with small-molecule immunosuppressive drugs is frequently accompanied by an incidence rate of neuropsychiatric symptoms. In the current approach, we investigated in rats whether repeated administration of rapamycin, reflecting clinical conditions of patients undergoing therapy with this mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor, precipitates changes in neurobehavioral functioning. Methods Male adult Dark Agouti rats were daily treated with i.p. injections of rapamycin (1, 3 mg/kg) or vehicle for 8 days. On days 6 and 7, respectively, behavioral performance in the Elevated Plus-Maze and the Open-Field Test was evaluated. One day later, amygdala tissue and blood samples were taken to analyze protein expression ex vivo. Results The results show that animals treated with rapamycin displayed alterations in Elevated Plus-Maze performance with more pronounced effects in the higher dose group. Besides, an increase in glucocorticoid receptor density in the amygdala was seen in both treatment groups even though p-p70 ribosomal S6 kinase alpha, a marker for mammalian target of rapamycin functioning, was not affected. Protein level of the neuronal activity marker c-Fos was again only elevated in the higher dose group. Importantly, effects occurred in the absence of acute peripheral neuroendocrine changes. Conclusions Our findings indicate that anxiety-related behavior following rapamycin treatment was not directly attributed to mTOR-dependent mechanisms or stress but rather due to hyperexcitability of the amygdala together with glucocorticoid receptor-regulated mechanism(s) in this brain region. Together, the present results support the contention that subchronic treatment with rapamycin may induce neurobehavioral alterations in healthy, naive subjects. We here provide novel insights in central effects of systemic rapamycin in otherwise healthy subjects but also raise the question whether therapy with this drug may have detrimental effects on patients’ neuropsychological functioning during immune therapy.
Building a generalized model for multi-lingual vocal emotion conversion

The paper proposes a methodology for expressive speech synthesis by identifying, estimating and modelling the parameters responsible for generation of vocal affect. The existing systems take into account one or more of the prosodic factors and try to model affect based on information in prosody or spectrum or more rarely, both. This paper analyses the incompleteness of the kind of representation used in literature and puts forth a strategy to simultaneously convert prosody and spectral features for effective emotion conversion. Initial studies on prosodic parameter modification proves that certain common characteristics appear across all archetypal emotions which can be kept constant during model development. A prototype system is proposed wherein it takes extracted speech parameters, models it based on target emotion required and builds a generalized model for emotion incorporation which can be used in social environments.
Development of indicators for assessing rational drug use to treat community-acquired pneumonia in children in hospitals and clinics

Abstract Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common infectious disease in children. Rational drug use (RDU) is an important approach to reducing the disease burden and mortality rate of CAP in children. There are no monitoring indicators for assessing RDU in children. This study aimed to develop a set of indicators to assess RDU to treat CAP in children in hospitals and clinics using a modified Delphi method. Initial indicators were generated based on a systematic review of guidelines and studies investigating CAP in children. A 3-round modified Delphi process in the form of an email survey combined with round-table discussion was then carried out, and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to determine the weight of each indicator. A total of 24 and 8 experts were invited to participate in the email survey and round-table discussion, respectively. A consensus was reached after 3 rounds of the Delphi survey. Three first-rank indicators and 23 second-rank indicators were developed, and each indicator was weighted. The first-rank indicators comprised drug choice (45.5%), drug usage and dosage (36.4%), and the duration of drug therapy (18.2%); the second-rank indicators were indicators related to antibiotics (63.6%), antiviral agents (18.2%), traditional Chinese medicines (4.5%), and adjuvant drugs (13.6%). The weight value of drug selection was the highest, followed by the values of drug usage and dosage and the duration of drug therapy. The developed indicator set constitutes the first set intended to assess RDU to treat CAP in children in hospitals (including community hospitals) and clinics. The indicators were based on drug selection, drug usage and dosage and duration of drug therapy, which are associated with most therapeutic drugs for CAP in children. Monitoring these indicators will guide people towards the promotion of RDU in the absence of drug monitoring indicators for CAP. Furthermore, the indicator set constitutes a methodological reference for the development of other indicator sets.
Fides: selectively hardening software application components against kernel-level or process-level malware

Protecting commodity operating systems against software exploits is known to be challenging, because of their sheer size. The same goes for key software applications such as web browsers or mail clients. As a consequence, a significant fraction of internet-connected computers is infected with malware. To mitigate this threat, we propose a combined approach of (1) a run-time security architecture that can efficiently protect fine-grained software modules executing on a standard operating system, and (2) a compiler that compiles standard C source code modules to such protected binary modules. The offered security guarantees are significant: relying on a TCB of only a few thousand lines of code, we show that the power of arbitrary kernel-level or process-level malware is reduced to interacting with the module through the module's public API. With a proper API design and implementation, modules are fully protected. The run-time architecture can be loaded on demand and only incurs performance overhead when it is loaded. Benchmarks show that, once loaded, it incurs a 3.22% system-wide performance cost. For applications that make intensive use of protected modules, and hence benefit most of the security guarantees provided, the performance cost is up to 14%.
Textile composites with integrated optical fibres: quantification of the influence of single and multiple fibre bends on the light transmission using a Monte Carlo ray-tracing method

Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations of the propagation of light rays along bent multimode optical fibres indicate that, for optical fibres integrated into composite components, the influence of macroscale bends induced by the component shape on the light transmission is relatively small. Mesoscale bends caused by integration of the fibres into the reinforcement fabric structure applying textile processes may cause significant transmission losses, which decrease exponentially with increasing ratio of bending radius and fibre radius and increase with increasing bending angles. Based on geometrical models of optical fibres integrated in woven fabric structures, which show multiple mesoscale bends, simulations prove that the lowest bending losses occur for fabrics with a low degree of crimp.
Multilayer optics for an extreme-ultraviolet lithography tool with 70-nm resolution

One of the most critical tasks in the development of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the accurate deposition of reflective multilayer coatings for the mirrors comprising the EUVL tool. The second set (Set 2) of four imaging optics for an alpha-class EUVL system has been coated successfully. All four mirrors (M1, M2, M3, M4) were Mo/Si- coated during a single-deposition run with a production- scale DC-magnetron sputtering system. Ideally, the multilayer coatings should not degrade the residual wavefront error of the imaging system design. For the present EUVL camera, this requirement is equivalent to depositing multilayer coatings that would add a figure error of less than 0.11 nm rms. In addition, all mirrors should be matched in centroid wavelength, in order to insure maximum throughput of the EUVL tool. In order to meet these constraints, the multilayer deposition process needs to be controlled to atomic precision. EUV measurements of the coated mirrors determined that the added figure errors due to the multilayer coatings are 0.032 nm rms (M1), 0.037 nm rms (M2), 0.040 nm rms (M3) and 0.015 nm rms (M4), well within the aforementioned requirement of 0.11 nm rms. The average wavelength among the four projection mirrors is 13.352 nm, with an optic-to-optic matching of 1(sigma) =0.010 nm. This outstanding level of wavelength matching produces 99.3% of the throughput of an ideally matched four-mirror system. Peak reflectances are 63.8% (M1), 65.2% (M2), 63.8% (M3) and 66.7% (M4). The variation in reflectance values between the four optics is consistent with their high frequency substrate roughness. It is predicted that the multilayer coatings will not introduce any aberrations in the lithographic system performance, for both static and scanned images of 70 nm - dense features.
Effects of Radiation on Metallic Corrosion

Abstract As early as 1818 it was reported that light could exert a marked effect on electrochemical processes. Over the succeeding years a great deal of work has been done verifying this and expanding the field (e.g. refs. 2–4). Several reviews have appeared. With the advent of nuclear reactors and associated plant, it was necessary to enquire whether the associated nuclear radiations would similarly exert an influence on corrosion processes. Much work has now been done in this direction. Aspects of the subject have been briefly reviewed several times, but no complete coverage has previously been undertaken. The present review attempts to bring out general principles, to indicate the practical significance of the subject, and to provide a list of references.
User bias removal in review score prediction

Review score prediction of text reviews has recently gained a lot of attention in recommendation systems. A major problem in models for review score prediction is the presence of noise due to user-bias in review scores. We propose two simple statistical methods to remove such noise and improve review score prediction. Compared to other methods that use multiple classifiers, one for each user, our model uses a single global classifier to predict review scores. We empirically evaluate our methods on two major categories (Electronics and Movies and TV) of the SNAP published Amazon e-Commerce Reviews data-set and Amazon Fine Food reviews data-set. We obtain improved review score prediction for three commonly used text feature representations.