Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Both food habit change in the past and obesity status may influence the association between dietary factors and postmenopausal breast cancer

Abstract Objective Valid dietary data are essential when trying to identify whether or not one or more dietary exposures are responsible for disease. We examined diet composition in women who reported dietary change in the past compared with non-changers, and how the associations between dietary factors and postmenopausal breast cancer are influenced by dietary change, obesity status and misreporting of energy. Design A population-based prospective cohort study. Data were obtained by a diet history method, anthropometrical measurements and an extensive lifestyle questionnaire including items on past food habit change. Setting The Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) study, conducted in Malmö, Sweden. Subjects A subsample of 12 781 women from the MDC cohort recruited from 1991 to 1996. A total of 428 postmenopausal women were diagnosed with incident breast cancer, during 9.2 years of follow-up. Results Past food habit changers reported healthier food habits and lower energy intake compared with non-changers, a finding that raises issues regarding possible reporting biases. When excluding diet changers, the trend of increased breast cancer risk across omega-6 fatty acid quintiles was stronger, and a tendency of decreased risk emerged for ‘fruit, berries and vegetables’. When excluding individuals with non-adequate reports of energy intake, risk estimates were similar to that of the whole sample. In women with body mass index < 27 kg m− 2, significant trends of increased breast cancer risk were seen for total fat and omega-6 fatty acids, and of decreased risk for ‘fruit, berries and vegetables’. Conclusions This study indicates that both obesity and self-reported past food habit change may be important confounders of diet–breast cancer relationships. The study demonstrates that sensitivity analysis, through stratification, may facilitate interpretation of risk relationships and study results.
TRH1 Encodes a Potassium Transporter Required for Tip Growth in Arabidopsis Root Hairs

Root hair initiation involves the formation of a bulge at the basal end of the trichoblast by localized diffuse growth. Tip growth occurs subsequently at this initiation site and is accompanied by the establishment of a polarized cytoplasmic organization. Arabidopsis plants homozygous for a complete loss-of-function tiny root hair 1 (trh1) mutation were generated by means of the T-DNA–tagging method. Trichoblasts of trh1 plants form initiation sites but fail to undergo tip growth. A predicted primary structure of TRH1 indicates that it belongs to the AtKT/AtKUP/HAK K+ transporter family. The proposed function of TRH1 as a K+ transporter was confirmed in 86Rb uptake experiments, which demonstrated that trh1 plants are partially impaired in K+ transport. In line with these results, TRH1 was able to complement the trk1 potassium transporter mutant of Saccharomyces, which is defective in high-affinity K+ uptake. Surprisingly, the trh1 phenotype was not restored when mutant seedlings were grown at high external potassium concentrations. These data demonstrate that TRH1 mediates K+ transport in Arabidopsis roots and is responsible for specific K+ translocation, which is essential for root hair elongation.
Enough Talk, It's Time to Transform: A Call for Editorial Leadership for a Robust Science

The focal article (Grand et al., 2018) addresses one of the most important issues across virtually all areas of science (Goldstein, 2010): the trustworthiness and credibility of a scientific discipline. Once these attributes are lost, it is difficult to regain them within a reasonable time frame, if ever. In contrast to previous articles on this topic (e.g., Kepes & McDaniel, 2013), the authors of the focal article provide a detailed review of the stakeholders surrounding industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology, including their potential effect on the robustness and trustworthiness of our scientific discipline. In essence, the focal article describes I-O psychology's ecosystem responsible for fostering robust and credible science. The authors should be commended for their comprehensive undertaking, and we have no substantive disagreements. However, implicitly, as with most articles on this vital topic, the focal article tends to take a bottom-up approach to decision making and change. The bottom-up approach is an emergent process where the individuals involved in the day-to-day activities are primarily responsible for the decision-making process and resulting change (Kindler, 1979). Thus, changes resulting from this process are incremental and typically involve making minor adjustments to existing processes (Bartunek & Moch, 1987).
Aquaporins Constitute a Large and Highly Divergent Protein Family in Maize

Aquaporins (AQPs) are an ancient family of channel proteins that transport water and neutral solutes through a pore and are found in all eukaryotes and most prokaryotes. A comparison of the amino acid sequences and phylogenetic analysis of 31 full-length cDNAs of maize (Zea mays) AQPs shows that they comprise four different groups of highly divergent proteins. We have classified them as plasma membrane intinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins, Nod26-like intrinsic proteins, and small and basic intrinsic proteins. Amino acid sequence identities vary from 16% to 100%, but all sequences share structural motifs and conserved amino acids necessary to stabilize the two loops that form the aqueous pore. Most divergent are the small and basic integral proteins in which the first of the two highly conserved Asn-Pro-Ala motifs of the pore is not conserved, but is represented by alanine-proline-threonine or alanine-proline-serine. We present a model of ZmPIP1-2 based on the three-dimensional structure of mammalian AQP1. Tabulation of the number of times that the AQP sequences are found in a collection of databases that comprises about 470,000 maize cDNAs indicates that a few of the maize AQPs are very highly expressed and many are not abundantly expressed. The phylogenetic analysis supports the interpretation that the divergence of PIPs through gene duplication occurred more recently than the divergence of the members of the other three subfamilies. This study opens the way to analyze the function of the proteins in Xenopus laevis oocytes, determine the tissue specific expression of the genes, recover insertion mutants, and determine the in planta function.
Differences in risk factors of malignancy between men and women with type 2 diabetes: A retrospective case-control study

Background The aim of this multicenter, retrospective, case-control study was to identify differences in risk factors of malignancy between men and women with type 2 diabetes. Results Among women the most prevalent malignancies were: breast and uterine cancers (35.6% and 14.4% respectively), while among men there were: colorectal and prostate cancers (24.5% and 13.3% respectively). In both gender metformin use was associated with lower cancer risk. Obesity and insulin treatment in dose-dependent and time-varying manner were associated with significantly increased risk of malignancy in females. In men, unexpectedly, cardiovascular disease was more prevalent in control group. Other variables did not show significant association with malignancy risk. Materials and Methods 118 women and 98 men with type 2 diabetes mellitus who developed cancer after diagnosis of diabetes and the same number of strictly age matched controls with type 2 diabetes and without malignancy were included into the study. Diabetes duration, antidiabetic medications use, glycated hemoglobin level, body mass index, smoking habits, occupation, presence of comorbidities and aspirin use were included into analyses. Conclusions Metformin demonstrated protective effect against cancer in both sexes. Obesity and insulin treatment seem to have greater impact on cancer risk among women.
Affective and Sensorimotor Components of Emotional Prosody Generation

Although advances have been made regarding how the brain perceives emotional prosody, the neural bases involved in the generation of affective prosody remain unclear and debated. Two models have been forged on the basis of clinical observations: a first model proposes that the right hemisphere sustains production and comprehension of emotional prosody, while a second model proposes that emotional prosody relies heavily on basal ganglia. Here, we tested their predictions in two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments that used a cue-target paradigm, which allows distinguishing affective from sensorimotor aspects of emotional prosody generation. Both experiments show that when participants prepare for emotional prosody, bilateral ventral striatum is specifically activated and connected to temporal poles and anterior insula, regions in which lesions frequently cause dysprosody. The bilateral dorsal striatum is more sensitive to cognitive and motor aspects of emotional prosody preparation and production and is more strongly connected to the sensorimotor speech network compared with the ventral striatum. Right lateralization during increased prosodic processing is confined to the posterior superior temporal sulcus, a region previously associated with perception of emotional prosody. Our data thus provide physiological evidence supporting both models and suggest that bilateral basal ganglia are involved in modulating motor behavior as a function of affective state. Right lateralization of cortical regions mobilized for prosody control could point to efficient processing of slowly changing acoustic speech parameters in the ventral stream and thus identify sensorimotor processing as an important factor contributing to right lateralization of prosody.
Vitamin K status in human tissues: tissue-specific accumulation of phylloquinone and menaquinone-4

We measured the vitamin K status in postmortem human tissues (brain, heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas) to see if there is a tissue-specific distribution pattern. Phylloquinone (K1,) was recovered in all tissues with relatively high levels in liver, heart and pancreas (medians, 10·6 (4·8), 9·3 (4·2), 28·4 (12·8) pmol(ng)/g wet weight tissue); low levels (< 2 pmol/g) were found in brain, kidney and lung. Menaquinone-4 (MK-4) was recovered from most of the tissues; its levels exceeded the K1 levels in brain and kidney (median, 2·8 ng/g) and equalled K1 in pancreas. Liver, heart and lung were low in MK–4. The higher menaquinones, MK-6–11, were recovered in the liver samples (n 6), traces of MK-6–9 were found in some of the heart and pancreas samples. The results show that in man there are tissue-specific, vitamin-K distribution patterns comparable to those in the rat. Furthermore, the accumulation of vitamin K in heart, brain and pancreas suggests a hitherto unrecognized physiological function of this vitamin.
Arabidopsis Mutants Lacking Phenolic Sunscreens Exhibit Enhanced Ultraviolet-B Injury and Oxidative Damage

We have assessed ultraviolet-B (UV-B)-induced injury in wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana and two mutants with altered aromatic secondary product biosynthesis. Arabidopsis mutants defective in the ability to synthesize UV-B-absorbing compounds (flavonoids in transparent testa 5 [tt5] and sinapate esters in ferulic acid hydroxylase 1 [fah1]) are more sensitive to UV-B than is the wild-type Landsberg erecta. Despite its ability to accumulate UV-absorptive flavonoid compounds, the ferulic acid hydroxylase mutant fah1 exhibits more physiological injury (growth inhibition and foliar lesions) than either wild type or tt5. The extreme UV-B sensitivity of fah1 demonstrates the importance of hydroxycinnamate esters as UV-B protectants. Consistent with the whole-plant response, the highest levels of lipid and protein oxidation products were seen in fah1. Ascorbate peroxidase enzyme activity was also increased in the leaves of UV-B-treated plants in a dose- and genotype-dependent manner. These results demonstrate that, in A. thaliana, hydroxycinnamates are more effective UV-B protectants than flavonoids. The data also indicate that A. thaliana responds to UV-B as an oxidative stress, and sunscreen compounds reduce the oxidative damage caused by UV-B.
Encryption in ICS networks: A blessing or a curse?

Nowadays, the internal network communication of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) usually takes place in unencrypted form. This, however, seems to be bound to change in the future: as we write, encryption of network traffic is seriously being considered as a standard for future ICS. In this paper we take a critical look at the pro's and con's of traffic encryption in ICS. We come to the conclusion that encrypting this kind of network traffic may actually result in a reduction of the security and overall safety. As such, sensible versus non-sensible use of encryption needs to be carefully considered both in developing ICS standards and systems.
Effects of anion channel inhibitors on light-induced potential changes in the liverwort Conocephalum conicum

The effect of three different anion channel inhibitors, namely (5-nitro-2-3-phenylpropyl-amino)benzoic acid (NPPB), Zn 2+ and anthracene-9-carboxylic acid (A-9-C) on the action potential in the liverwort Conocephalum conicum were tested. All three caused an increase of the excitability threshold and a decrease of action potential amplitudes. This confirms the involvement of anion channels in the action potentials in Conocephalum. In plants treated with 1 or 2 mM A-9-C but not with NPPB (50 or 100 //M) and Zn 2+ (100 or 500 //M), a light-induced transient depolarization occurred. In contrast to action potentials, the amplitude of this voltage transient depended on the light intensity and on the duration of preceding dark period. Also in contrast to action potentials, which are blocked by TEA, when applied together with A-9-C, TEA even increased the amplitudes of the light-induced voltage transients to up to 170 mV. The depolarization was obviously limited by the voltage-dependent opening of K + channels in the absence of TEA. The amplitude of the light-induced voltage transients (in the presence of TEA) increased in elevated CaCI2 concentrations pointing to a Ca 2+ permeability giving rise to the depolarization. However, none of the Ca 2+ channel blockers tested, La 3+ , Gd 3+ , nifedipine, verapamil or diltiazem, had an effect. The light-induced voltage transients in A-9-C treated plants are quite different from light- and electrically triggered action potentials but share some similarities with light-induced generator potentials.
Composition of Business Components Based on Behavior for Software Reuse

41 Abstract The capability to easily find useful components has become increasingly importance in software reuse field. Current researches on component retrieval are mostly limited to retrieve the component whose function is most close to the user requirement. However, in the process of component retrieval, we frequently face the problem that the individual component can’t completely meet user’s requirement. This paper proposes a method of composition of business components based on behavior, our purpose is to settle the problem that individual component can’t completely meet the user requirement. In this study, deterministic finite state machine is used for modeling the behavior specification of business component. The composition of business components can be represented as the product of deterministic finite state machines whose result can be regarded as a nondeterministic finite state machine. Therefore the problem of component retrieval can be transformed into the matching between nondeterministic finite state machine and deterministic finite state machine, and behavior mapping graph is used to check the existence of composition of business components. Through the composition of business components, we can extract the behaviors in accord with user requirement from a set of candidate business components, which increase the reuse degree and reduce the cost of software development. Keyword: business component, composition, behavior specification matching, behavior mapping graph
A multi basin SWAT model analysis of runoff and sedimentation in the Blue Nile, Ethiopia

Abstract. A multi basin analysis of runoff and erosion in the Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia was conducted to elucidate sources of runoff and sediment. Erosion is arguably the most critical problem in the Blue Nile Basin, as it limits agricultural productivity in Ethiopia, degrades benthos in the Nile, and results in sedimentation of dams in downstream countries. A modified version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was developed to predict runoff and sediment losses from the Ethiopian Blue Nile Basin. The model simulates saturation excess runoff from the landscape using a simple daily water balance coupled to a topographic wetness index in ways that are consistent with observed runoff processes in the basin. The spatial distribution of landscape erosion is thus simulated more correctly. The model was parameterized in a nested design for flow at eight and sediment at three locations in the basin. Subbasins ranged in size from 1.3 to 174 000 km2, and interestingly, the partitioning of runoff and infiltrating flow could be predicted by topographic information. Model predictions showed reasonable accuracy (Nash Sutcliffe Efficiencies ranged from 0.53–0.92) with measured data across all sites except Kessie, where the water budget could not be closed; however, the timing of flow was well captured. Runoff losses increased with rainfall during the monsoonal season and were greatest from areas with shallow soils and large contributing areas. Analysis of model results indicate that upland landscape erosion dominated sediment delivery to the main stem of the Blue Nile in the early part of the growing season when tillage occurs and before the soil was wetted up and plant cover was established. Once plant cover was established in mid August landscape erosion was negligible and sediment export was dominated by channel processes and re-suspension of landscape sediment deposited early in the growing season. These results imply that targeting small areas of the landscape where runoff is produced can be the most effective at controlling erosion and protecting water resources. However, it is not clear what can be done to manage channel erosion, particularly in first order streams in the basin.
Automated Extraction of Inundated Areas from Multi-Temporal Dual-Polarization RADARSAT-2 Images of the 2011 Central Thailand Flood

This study examines a novel extraction method for SAR imagery data of widespread flooding, particularly in the Chao Phraya river basin of central Thailand, where flooding occurs almost every year. Because the 2011 flood was among the largest events and of a long duration, a large number of satellites observed it, and imagery data are available. At that time, RADARSAT-2 data were mainly used to extract the affected areas by the Thai government, whereas ThaiChote-1 imagery data were also used as optical supporting data. In this study, the same data were also employed in a somewhat different and more detailed manner. Multi-temporal dual-polarized RADARSAT-2 images were used to classify water areas using a clustering-based thresholding technique, neighboring valley-emphasis, to establish an automated extraction system. The novel technique has been proposed to improve classification speed and efficiency. This technique selects specific water references throughout the study area to estimate local threshold values and then averages them by an area weight to obtain the threshold value for the entire area. The extracted results were validated using high-resolution optical images from the GeoEye-1 and ThaiChote-1 satellites and water elevation data from gaging stations.
Hybrid Slotted-CSMA/CA-TDMA for Efficient Massive Registration of IoT Devices

Recently, the Wi-Fi alliance announced a new Wi-Fi standard known as IEEE 802.11ah (or Wi-Fi HaLow) to efficiently support Internet of Things (IoT) applications. However, the existing registration method under IEEE 802.11ah, based on carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA), was analyzed as not efficient enough for registration of large-scale machine-to-machine (M2M) communications where a massive number of devices try to access a single, centralized access point (AP). In this paper, we propose a hybrid slotted-CSMA/CA–time-division multiple access (TDMA) (HSCT) medium access control (MAC) protocol for efficient massive registration of IoT devices (up to 8000) in M2M networks. We focus on situations, where a large number of M2M devices simultaneously try to register at a single, centralized AP. In the proposed HSCT, contention-based slotted-CSMA/CA allows devices to send an authentication request via randomly selected backoff slots, whereas contention-free TDMA permits those devices to send/receive the subsequent association request/association response via an individually allocated TDMA slot. In addition, a centralized authentication control (CAC)-based mechanism with modified algorithms for optimal selection of CAC parameters and the slotted fixed-window CSMA protocol with Sift geometric probability distribution are used to mitigate severe contention between massive registrations upon network (re-)initialization from an AP reboot. This paper also analyzes the performance of the proposed scheme and determines the optimal configuration to enhance registration performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed HSCT MAC protocol achieves substantial improvement, compared with the contention-free transmission, a combined authentication/association scheme, and the conventional IEEE 802.11ah with CSMA/CA.
Performance in simple visual search at threshold contrasts.

PURPOSE Visual search for a target, orthogonal to distractors (nontargets) in orientation, has been shown to be independent of the number of distractors (set size). This finding has been thought to indicate that the search occurs spatially in parallel and without capacity limitations. The current study was designed to test whether an orientation difference of 90 degrees between the target and distractor gratings would produce a set-size effect when performance was measured at contrast threshold, that is, whether the threshold contrast at which the target was detected among distractors increased as a function of the number of distractors. The second question studied was whether signal-position uncertainty could explain the possible set-size effect. METHODS The observer searched for a horizontal Gabor patch target in a two-interval, forced-choice task. In the search condition, the target patch was among seven vertical distractor Gabors, all positioned along an isoeccentric circle. The number of possible display locations monitored by the observer varied, and, before each block, he was informed which locations were relevant. In the single-element condition, the target appeared alone, but the number of possible target locations varied as above. RESULTS In both conditions, the contrast thresholds almost doubled when the number of possible target locations increased from 1 to 8. CONCLUSIONS Even though the orientation difference between target and distractors was maximal, a set-size effect was found. The effect could be explained by positional uncertainty.