Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary intake, glucose metabolism and sex hormones in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with women with non-PCOS-related infertility

The present study investigated dietary intake, glucose metabolism and sex hormones in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A total of forty-five women (aged 25–40 years) with PCOS and 161 control women (aged 25–43 years) with non-PCOS-related infertility were recruited. Anthropometry, glucose tolerance and sex hormones were determined and dietary intake was assessed. Women with PCOS had lower serum sex hormone-binding globulin and increased BMI, waist:hip ratio, luteinising hormone, ratio of luteinising hormone:follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone and free androgen index (FAI). Postprandial glucose, fasting insulin and insulin resistance were elevated in women with PCOS. Women with PCOS had reduced energy and carbohydrate intake but higher fat intake. Serum sex hormone-binding globulin level was negatively associated with BMI in both groups and negatively correlated with macronutrient intake in the PCOS group with hyperandrogenism. However, FAI was positively correlated with BMI, waist circumference and glucose metabolic parameters in both groups. Therefore, women with PCOS consume lower energy and carbohydrate compared with those with non-PCOS-related infertility and macronutrient intake is only negatively associated with serum sex hormone-binding globulin level in the PCOS group with hyperandrogenism.
Longitudinal study of birth weight and adult body mass index in predicting risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in women

Abstract Objectives To determine whether birth weight and adult body size interact to predict coronary heart disease in women, as has been observed for men. To determine whether birth weight and adult body size interact to predict risk of stroke. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting and participants 66 111 female nurses followed since 1976 who were born of singleton, term pregnancies and reported their birth weight in 1992. Main outcome measures 1504 events of coronary heart disease (myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death) and 1164 strokes. Results For each kilogram of higher birth weight, age adjusted hazard ratios from prospective analysis were 0.77 (95% confidence interval 0.69 to 0.87) for coronary heart disease and 0.89 (0.78 to 1.01) for total stroke. In combined prospective and retrospective analysis, hazard ratios were 0.84 (0.76 to 0.93) for total stroke, 0.83 (0.71 to 0.96) for ischaemic stroke, and 0.86 (0.66 to 1.11) for haemorrhagic stroke. Exclusion of macrosomic infants (> 4536 g) yielded stronger estimates. Risk of coronary heart disease was especially high for women who crossed from a low centile of weight at birth to a high centile of body mass index in adulthood. The association of lower birth weight with increased risk of stroke was apparent across categories of body mass index in adults and was not especially strong among heavier women. Conclusions Higher body mass index in adulthood is an especially strong risk factor for coronary heart disease among women who were small at birth. In this large cohort of women, size at birth and adiposity in adulthood interacted to predict events of coronary heart disease but not stroke events.
Reelection Incentives , Blacklisting and Deforestation in Brazil

Local political authority (formal or informal) over natural resources may create rents for politicians. The political decision to use or allocate resources involves balancing private rents with reelection prospects. I examine the case of deforestation in Brazil and a presidential decree granting the federal government the authority to punish counties that failed to limit total deforestation within their borders. This collective punishment aimed to generate pressure on local politicians to slow deforestation. Using binding term limits as a source of variation in reelection eligibility, I find eligibility has no effect on deforestation prior to the decree. After the decree, reelection eligible mayors reduced annual deforestation 10% more than mayors ineligible for reelection. These findings are consistent with the equilibrium outcome of a lobbying model. Policies such as sanctions, which target the electorate in order to influence political behavior, may be less effective when politicians are not accountable to voters. JEL codes: D72, Q23, O17 ∗Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara. Contact: ryanabman@umail.ucsb. edu †I would like to acknowledge both financial and intellectual support from PERC through their graduate fellows program. I would especially like to thank Dan Benjamin and PJ Hill. This paper has benefitted from many helpful comments from Robert Deacon, Doug Steigerwald, Paulina Oliva, Gary Libecap, members of the UCSB Econometrics Research Group, participants of the UCSB Environmental Lunch Seminar and CU environmental workshop. All errors are, of course, my own.
A Keyword Search Algorithm for Structured Peer-to-Peer Networks

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks are largely used for file-sharing and hence must provide efficient mechanisms for searching the files stored at various nodes. The existing structuredP2P overlays support only ”exact-match” look-up which is hardly sufficient in a file sharing network. This paper addresses the problem of keyword-based search in structured P2P networks. We propose a new keyword-based searching algorithm which can be implemented on top of any structured P2P overlay. We demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves very good searching results as it requires the minimum number of messages to be sent in order to find all the references to files containing at least the given set of keywords.
Accountability and responsibility defined

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to remove confusion surrounding the terms responsibility and accountability from the general and project management arenas by creating “refined” (with unnecessary elements removed) definitions of these terms. Design/methodology/approach A method of deriving refined definitions for a group of terms by ensuring that there is no internal conflict or overlap is adopted and applied to resolve the confusion. Findings The confusion between responsibility and accountability can be characterised as a failure to separate the obligation to satisfactorily perform a task (responsibility) from the liability to ensure that it is satisfactorily done (accountability). Furthermore, clarity of application can be achieved if legislative and organisational accountabilities are differentiated and it is recognised that accountability and responsibility transition across organisational levels. A difficulty in applying accountability in RACI tables is also resolved. Research limitations/implications Clear definition of responsibility and accountability will facilitate future research endeavours by removing confusion surrounding the terms. Verification of the method used through its success in deriving these “refined” definitions suggests its suitability for application to other contested terms. Practical implications Projects and businesses alike can benefit from removal of confusion around the definitions of responsibility and accountability in the academic research they fund and attempt to apply. They can also achieve improvements in both efficiency and effectiveness in undertaking organisation-wide exercises to determine organisational responsibilities and accountabilities as well as in the application of governance models. Social implications Refined definitions of responsibility and accountability will facilitate building social and physical systems and infrastructure, benefitting organisations, whether public, charitable or private. Originality/value Clarity resulting in the avoidance of confusion and misunderstanding together with their consequent waste of time, resources and money.
Evaluation of Antifungal Activity and Mechanism of Action of Citral against Candida albicans

Candida albicans is a yeast that commensally inhabits the human body and can cause opportunistic or pathogenic infections. Objective. To investigate the antifungal activity of citral against C. albicans. Methodology. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were determined by the broth microdilution techniques. We also investigated possible citral action on cell walls (0.8 M sorbitol), cell membranes (citral to ergosterol binding), the time-kill curve, and biological activity on the yeast's morphology. Results. The MIC and MFC of citral were, respectively, 64 µg/mL and 256 µg/mL. Involvement with the cell wall and ergosterol binding were excluded as possible mechanisms of action. In the morphological interference assay, it was observed that the product inhibited pseudohyphae and chlamydoconidia formation. The MIC and the MFC of citral required only 4 hours of exposure to effectively kill 99.9% of the inoculum. Conclusion. Citral showed in vitro antifungal potential against strains of C. albicans. Citral's mechanism of action does not involve the cell wall or ergosterol, and further study is needed to completely describe its effects before being used in the future as a component of new antifungals.
Sam Reid

Pascal’s mechanical calculator and Babbage’s Analytic Engine set the stage for a great deal of modern computing machinery. Modern versions of these concepts were finally realized in von Neumann’s architecture in about 1950. However, the science of computing does not depend on physical implementations of these ideas, but rather on virtual machines—that is, abstractions that perform computations with a well defined semantics. In 1937, well before the advent of the stored program computer, Turing gave a complete description of a computational device which could be programmed and executed and whose properties could be inspected at runtime. This Turing Machine, and the program for the Universal Turing Machine were the first formal descriptions of virtual machines. Wolfram generalized and simplified the idea of a program, depicting a class of virtual machines known as Cellular Automata. The Java Virtual Machine was invented as a high-level conceptual machine with a great deal of internal structure, homogeneity and metadata. The Turing Machine, Cellular Automata and Java are all optimized for different aspects of programming. This paper describes each of these virtual machines, their histories and the relationships between them. The implementation of a simple logical function is described in several virtual machines, and a formalism is presented which describes transformations between machines and programs. In Appendix I, the language of mathematics is examined with respect to its machine-like properties.
Adiponectin Increases Secretion of Rat Submandibular Gland via Adiponectin Receptors-Mediated AMPK Signaling

Adiponectin and adiponectin receptors (AdipoR1/2) are expressed in various tissues and are involved in the regulation of multiple functions such as energy metabolism and inflammatory responses. However, the effect of adiponectin and AdipoRs in submandibular glands has not been fully evaluated. In the present study, we found that mRNA and protein of both adiponectin and AdipoR1/2 were expressed in rat submandibular glands and in the SMG-C6 cell line, as evidenced by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Immunofluorescence staining showed that adiponectin was diffused in the cytoplasm, while AdipoR1/2 was concentrated in the membrane of acinar cells. Saliva flow was significantly increased by full length adiponectin (fAd) or globular adiponectin (gAd) perfusion in isolated rat submandibular glands. 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-4-ribofuranoside (AICAR), an adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator, also increased saliva secretion. fAd, gAd, and AICAR all increased the average width of apical tight junctions in perfused submandibular glands, and decreased transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) in SMG-C6 cells, suggesting that adiponectin promoted secretion by modulating paracellular permeability. fAd and gAd increased p-AMPK levels, while AraA, an AMPK antagonist, abolished fAd- and gAd-induced changes in secretion, tight junction ultrastructure, and TER. Moreover, both AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 were required for fAd- or gAd-induced p-AMPK and TER responses, suggesting from their inhibition following AdipoR1 or AdipoR2 knockdown, and co-knockdown of AdipoRs by RNA interference. Our results suggest that adiponectin functions as a promoter of salivary secretion in rat submandibular glands via activation of AdipoRs, AMPK, and paracellular permeability.
Organ Donation Prediction using Trigger based Self Learning Automata

Organ donation” , hearing this word causes alarm bells ringing in our ears. The necessity of organ donation is a problem which is to be addressed. A lot of people suffering from many diseases requires a solid organ transplantation. But the problem is that only the demand for donors is increasing ,the supply is not met. The only resolution to this grave danger is to refine the primitive mindset of people . Even though a lot of methods have been already tested and experimented to solve the crisis of “organ donation deficiency”. A new novel computable soft solution to this psychological problem is being proposed by fixing values for a set of General Commitment Quotient. The technique uses contextual based learning algorithm to identify the mindsets and then construct a trigger based automata which has the capability to adjust the quotient values.
Motion sensor data correction using multiple sensors and multiple measurements

In the information technology more and more computing devices have several sensors which can provide lot of data we can use for specific purposes. The newest mobile phones or the Internet of Things (IoT) devices can have many kinds of sensors like temperature, barometric, light, magnetic, acceleration. The sensors of these popular devices are in lack of expensive calibration and provide useful but not very precise data. In this article we are examining some algorithms and technics to get more accurate information from the noisy input data. Our test case is the use of acceleration data provided by mobile phone acceleration sensors. The purpose in this case is to achieve a level where the acceleration data can be used for position estimation. For this we are examining filtering algorithms and the using multiple sensors to get higher precision results.
Peer Reviewed Title: Dynamic Congestion-Based Pricing of Bandwidth and Buffer

We consider pricing of network resources in a reservation- based quality-of-service architecture. The pricing policy implements a distributed resource allocation to provide guaranteed bounds on packet loss and end-to-end delay for real-time applications. Distributed pricing roles are assigned to each user, each network node, and an arbitrager in between the user and the network. When delay constraints are not binding, we investigate two dynamic pricing algorithms using gradient projection and Newton’s method to update prices, and prove their convergence. We analyze the
Without-Replacement Sampling for Stochastic Gradient Methods

Stochastic gradient methods for machine learning and optimization problems are usually analyzed assuming data points are sampled *with* replacement. In contrast, sampling *without* replacement is far less understood, yet in practice it is very common, often easier to implement, and usually performs better. In this paper, we provide competitive convergence guarantees for without-replacement sampling under several scenarios, focusing on the natural regime of few passes over the data. Moreover, we describe a useful application of these results in the context of distributed optimization with randomly-partitioned data, yielding a nearly-optimal algorithm for regularized least squares (in terms of both communication complexity and runtime complexity) under broad parameter regimes. Our proof techniques combine ideas from stochastic optimization, adversarial online learning and transductive learning theory, and can potentially be applied to other stochastic optimization and learning problems.
Adaptive zero knowledge and computational equivocation (extended abstract)

The seminal work of [GMW86] proposed the use of zero knowledge proof systems (ZKPS 's) as a means to demonstrate adherence to a specified network protocol, thereby protecting an interactive network computation against malicious sub-version. Each participant would prove – without revealing anything additional – that it indeed followed the rules. We give evidence that both the classical zero knowledge analysis [GMR89] and the particular ZKPS in [GM W86] are not sufficient to provide provable security against attacks by an adaptive malicious adversary, as follows. If the ZKPS for graph 3-colorability proposed in [GMW86] is provably secure against adversaries who can choose whom to corrupt as a protocol progresses, and if factoring is intractable, then the polynomial hierarchy collapses. In particular, any language in NP could be solved with access to an oracle for factoring. We also consider subtle requirements that classical ZKPS'S do not address, such as the privacy of the verifier, and show that some ZKPS'S may permit subtle attacks in which useful knowledge is leaked undetectable. To remedy these problems, we propose a robust model for adaptive zero-knowledge proof systems that embodies broader security aspects of transmitting confidence in the validity of a claim. Within this model, we resolve the informal conjecture behind [GMW86] by showing that the " prove-good-behavior " paradigm can be employed with provable security against adaptive adversaries. Permission to make digitallhard copies of all or pmt of WIS material for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or dkibuted for profit or commercial advantage, the copyright notice, the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is Abstract) Beaver *
Probability-based detection of phosphoproteomic uncertainty reveals rare signaling events driven by oncogenic kinase gene fusion

We describe a novel Bayesian method for estimating protein concentration and phosphorylation site occupancy ratios from mass spectrometry experiments. Our variance model assigns standard deviations to all quantitative ratios, even when only a single peptide is observed, increasing the number of quantifiable observations in a sample compared to conventional methods. We further demonstrate the application of this method using a dataset investigating the impact of the PRKAR1A-RET gene fusion in immortalized thyroid cells.
Retinoic acid receptor α1 variants, RARα1ΔB and RARα1ΔBC, define a new class of nuclear receptor isoforms

Retinoic acid (RA) binds and activates retinoid X receptor (RXR)/retinoic acid receptor (RAR) heterodimers, which regulate the transcription of genes that have retinoic acid response elements (RARE). The RAR isotypes (alpha, beta and gamma) are comprised of six regions designated A-F. Two isoforms of RARalpha, 1 and 2, have been identified in humans, which have different A regions generated by differential promoter usage and alternative splicing. We have isolated two new splice variants of RARalpha1 from human B lymphocytes. In one of these variants, exon 2 is juxtaposed to exon 5, resulting in an altered reading frame and a stop codon. This variant, designated RARalpha1DeltaB, does not code for a functional receptor. In the second variant, exon 2 is juxtaposed to exon 6, maintaining the reading frame. This isoform, designated RARalpha1DeltaBC, retains most of the functional domains of RARalpha1, but omits the transactivation domain AF-1 and the DNA-binding domain. Consequently, it does not bind nor transactivate RARE on its own. Nevertheless, RARalpha1DeltaBC interacts with RXRalpha and, as an RXRalpha/RARalpha1DeltaBC heterodimer, transactivates the DR5 RARE upon all-trans-RA binding. The use of RAR- and RXR-specific ligands shows that, whereas transactivation of the DR5 RARE through the RXRalpha/RARalpha1 heterodimer is mediated only by RAR ligands, transactivation through the RXRalpha/RARalpha1DeltaBC heterodimer is mediated by RAR and RXR ligands. Whilst RARalpha1 has a broad tissue distribution, RARalpha1DeltaBC has a more heterogeneous distribution, but with significant expression in myeloid cells. RARalpha1DeltaBC is an infrequent example of a functional nuclear receptor which deletes the DNA-binding domain.
Financial Institutions Center Product Focus versus Diversification : Estimates of X-Efficiency for the US Life Insurance Industry

Using data for the life insurance industry during 1990-1995, we empirically test for a relationship between a firm’s output choice and measures of X-efficiency. Our empirical evidence suggests that diversification across multiple insurance and investment product lines resulted in greater X-efficiency than a more focused production strategy. The analysis in this article is consistent with the proposition that managers of multiproduct firms are able to achieve greater cost efficiencies than their counterparts in more focused firms by sharing inputs and efficiently allocating resources across product lines in response to changing industry conditions. Our findings are important since they justify the existence of multiproduct firms in the absence of cost complementarities and identify product diversification as a source of efficiency in the life insurance industry that should be recognized by managers, policyholders, and regulators. This paper was presented at the Wharton Financial Institutions Center’s conference on The Performance of Financial Institutions, May 8-10, 1997.
Perceptions of Discrimination: What Do They Measure and Why Do They Matter?

This study addresses the difficulty in linking ethnic discrimination and integration outcomes of immigrants in empirical research. Many of the existing studies look at the relationship between perceived discrimination and integration, but most are based on cross-sectional data. We argue that perceived discrimination should not be taken as an accurate indicator of actual experiences of discrimination, but rather as a partly subjective interpretation of often ambiguous situations. Reported perceptions may thus not only affect but also reflect integration outcomes. This analysis is one of the few that is based on longitudinal survey data (from the German Socio-Economic Panel) and looks into both the determinants and the consequences of perceived discrimination. Results suggest that PD does in fact reflect both exposure to discrimination and attributional processes. Perceived discrimination is generally and substantially lower in more integrated individuals. More detailed analyses reveal that this link is correlational in nature and to some extent group specific. For groups facing salient ethnic boundaries, integration does not come along with less perceived discrimination. In line with previous studies, our results show further that minorities’ structural integration into the labor market is unrelated to perceived discrimination but reflects, above all, individual resources, including language skills and social ties to majority members. There is some evidence that perceived discrimination reduces levels of identification with the receiving society.
RCS simulations on deformed corner reflectors applying SBR code SIGRAY

Corner reflectors play a major role in the calibration of radar systems. Because of their increasing accuracy the requirements on the calibration are also growing. The influence of geometry deformations of reflectors, caused by insufficient production accuracy or outside exposure, and by dirt, water film, snow or snow slush on the RCS is often neglected. Investigations on these topics have been done by applying the ‘Shooting & Bouncing of Rays’ (SBR) code SIGRAY which has been developed at DLR. In this work the comparison of simulation results on trihedral corner reflectors with a base area which is sagging about λ/10 and λ/5 and on the corresponding perfect reflector is presented.