Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Report on childhood obesity in China (10): association of sleep duration with obesity.

OBJECTIVES To explore the association of sleep duration with obesity among children in urban areas of China. METHODS A total of 6 576 children (3 293 boys and 3 283 girls) aged 7-11 years were randomly selected from 36 primary schools in 6 metropolitan cities in China. A 7-day Physical Activity Recall was used to assess the sleep duration and physical activity level. The height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat (%BF, as determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis technique) were measured by following the standardized operation procedures. The information on demography, lifestyle and eating habits was collected with a self-administered questionnaire from participants and their parents. RESULTS The average sleep duration per night in the children was 9.7 h with the decreasing trends along with the increase of age (P < 0.05). The sleep duration was negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) and WC in both boys and girls after adjustment for confounders (beta value -0.23 and -0.82 for boys, -0.24 and -0.91 for girls, respectively, P < 0.01). However, no significant association of sleep duration with %BF was found. Children who slept less than 9.0 h per night had a higher risk for overweight and obesity (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.64) and abdominal obesity (OR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.83) as compared with those who slept for 10.0-10.9 h. CONCLUSIONS Short sleep duration is associated with obesity. It is important to ensure adequate sleep duration of children and foster their healthy lifestyle at an early stage of life.
Synthesis of asynchronous state machines using a local clock

A novel, correct design methodology for asynchronous state-machine controllers is presented. The goal of this work is a design style as close to a synchronous one as possible, but with the advantages of an asynchronous method. The implementations realize asynchronous state-machine specifications using standard combinational logic, flow latches as storage elements, and a locally-generated clocking signal that pulses whenever there is a change in state. This design style allows multiple input changes which can arrive at arbitrary times. The implementations use a minimal or near-minimal number of states. It also allows arbitrary state encoding and flexibility in logic minimization and gate-level realization, so it can take advantage of systematic CAD optimization techniques. <<ETX>>
The development of gaze following as a Bayesian systems identification problem

We propose a view of gaze following in which infants act as Bayesian learners actively attempting to identify the operating characteristics of the systems with which they interact. We present results of an experiment in which 28 infants (average age 10 months) interacted for a 3 minute period with a non-humanoid robot. For half the infants the robot simulated contingency structure typically produced by human beings. In particular it provided causal information about the existence of a line of regard. For the other 14 infants, the robot behaved in a manner which was not contingent with the environment. We found that a few minutes of interaction with the contingent robot was sufficient to elicit statistically detectable gaze following. There were clear signs that some of these infants were actively attempting to identify whether or not the robot was responsive to them. We propose that the infant brain is equipped to learn and analyze the contingency structure of real-time social interactions. Contingency is a fundamental perceptual dimension used by infants to recognize the operational properties of humans and to generalize existing behaviors to new social partners.
Bombesin receptor subtypes in human cancers: detection with the universal radioligand (125)I-[D-TYR(6), beta-ALA(11), PHE(13), NLE(14)] bombesin(6-14).

PURPOSE Bombesin and bombesin receptors have been shown to play a role in cancer. Whereas the gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor is a bombesin receptor subtype frequently expressed by tumors, the other three subtypes, the neuromedin B (NMB), BB3, and BB4 receptors, have been poorly investigated in human tissues. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We investigated 161 human tumors for their bombesin receptor subtype expression using in vitro receptor autoradiography with the universal bombesin radioligand (125)I-[D-Tyr(6), beta-Ala(11), Phe(13), Nle(14)]bombesin(6-14) in displacement experiments with unlabeled GRP, bombesin, NMB, and [D-Tyr(6), beta-Ala(11), Phe(13), Nle(14)]bombesin(6-14). The distinct rank order of potencies of these analogues for each receptor subtype allows us to identify the predominant subtype expressed by each tumor. RESULTS Twelve of 12 prostate cancers, 41 of 57 breast cancers, and 5 of 5 gastrinomas expressed predominantly GRP receptors; 11 of 24 intestinal, 1 of 26 bronchial, and 1 of 1 thymic carcinoids had preferentially NMB receptors; 9 of 26 bronchial carcinoids, 1 large cell neuroendocrine lung carcinoma, and 4 of 9 small cell lung carcinomas had preferentially BB3 receptors, whereas 3 of 9 small cell lung carcinomas had GRP receptors. Renal cell carcinomas had GRP receptors in 6 of 16 cases and BB3 receptors in 4 of 16 cases. Finally, 2 of 10 Ewing sarcomas had BB3 receptors. In situ hybridization detected BB3 receptor mRNA in neuroendocrine tumors expressing the BB3 protein. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study detecting the proteins of BB3, NMB, and GRP receptors in a group of human tumors using differential binding techniques. Particularly relevant is the BB3 expression in lung carcinoids and other neuroendocrine lung tumors, whereas gastrointestinal carcinoids preferably express NMB receptors. These tumors may be targets for diagnostic and radiotherapeutic applications of subtype-selective bombesin analogues.
A Simple, Principled Approach to Combining Evidence From Meta-Analysis and High-Quality Replications

Recent discussions of the influence of publication bias and questionable research practices on psychological science have increased researchers’ interest in both bias-correcting meta-analytic techniques and preregistered replication. Both approaches have their strengths: For example, meta-analyses can quantitatively characterize the full body of work done in the field of interest, and preregistered replications can be immune to bias. Both approaches also have clear weaknesses: Decisions about which meta-analytic estimates to interpret tend to be controversial, and replications can be discounted for failing to address important methodological heterogeneity. Using the experimental literature on ego depletion as a case study, we illustrate a principled approach to combining information from meta-analysis with information from subsequently conducted high-quality replications. This approach (a) compels researchers to explicate their beliefs in meta-analytic conclusions (and also, when controversy arises, to defend the basis for those beliefs), (b) encourages consideration of practical significance, and (c) facilitates the process of planning replications by specifying the sample sizes necessary to have a reasonable chance of changing the minds of other researchers.
Extensive apoptosis and abnormal morphogenesis in pro-caspase-3 transgenic zebrafish during development

SUMMARY The pro-apoptotic caspase-3 gene has been shown to have key functions in the execution of apoptosis (programmed cell death) in vertebrate cells. However, the central role of caspase-3 in morphogenesis during development remains unclear. In this study, transgenic zebrafish that overexpress full-length pro-caspase-3 were generated to determine the effects of caspase genes on vertebrate morphogenesis and stress tolerance. The enhanced expression of the full-length pro-caspase-3 cDNA induced extremely high levels of caspase activity and extensive apoptosis in the transgenic embryos, and 33–46% of F2 embyos in the transgenic lines exhibited some form of morphological abnormality. Pro-caspase-3 transgenic zebrafish exhibited abnormal morphogenesis in the eyes, notochord, heart and yolk sac, suggesting that enhanced processing of pro-caspase-3 triggers significant apoptotic responses in the specific target tissues that are undergoing morphogenesis during development. The transgenic fish had reduced eye size and showed degeneration of the retina, including the photoreceptor cell layers, whereas pigmentation and lens formation were not affected. In addition, heart failure due to a weakened heartbeat and reduced circulation was noted in the pro-caspase-3 transgenic embryos. The transgenic embryos were markedly sensitive to stress conditions, such as UV irradiation at 2 or 5 mJ cm–2. On the other hand, caspase-3 deficiency through injection of antisense morpholino oligo into embryos repressed apoptosis and enhanced stress tolerance after UV irradiation. Therefore, the caspase-3-mediated pro-apoptotic signalling pathway and its activation play critical roles in the induction of apoptosis and stress tolerance during zebrafish embryogenesis.
Factors affecting the fat content of National School Lunch Program lunches.

An analysis of a week's menus from a nationally representative sample of 515 National School Lunch Program schools found that < 5% of schools offer lunches that provide a 5-d average close to the Dietary Guidelines recommendation for fat. This paper examines the factors associated with schools offering meals that, on average, provided different amounts of fat: low (< 32% of food energy from fat), moderate (32-35% fat), high (35-40% fat), and very high (> 40% fat). Schools in which NSLP lunches come close, on average, to meeting the Dietary Guidelines' goal for total fat follow several menu-planning, food-purchasing, and food-preparation practices to reduce the fat content of the school lunches.
Magnetization: A characteristic of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition.

In the low-temperature phase of the two-dimensional XY model, spin-spin correlations decay so slowly with distance that the thermodynamic limit is inaccessible. As a result the Mermin-Wagner theorem is inapplicable to any realizable system, and all have a measurable finite-size magnetization. We show that there is a regime of universal behavior near to the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition. In experiments, the regime is identified by a magnetization exponent \ensuremath{\beta}=0.23, which we have calculated by a renormalization-group analysis. Monte Carlo simulations of an harmonic XY model clearly locate the boundaries of the universal regime, and identify it with vortex renormalization.
Structured Populations: Immigration, (bi)stability and the Net Growth Rate

We consider a class of physiologically structured population models, a first order nonlinear partial differential equation equipped with a nonlocal boundary condition, with a constant external inflow of individuals. We prove that the linearized system is governed by a quasicontraction semigroup. We also establish that linear stability of equilibrium solutions is governed by a generalized net reproduction function. In a special case of the model ingredients we discuss the nonlinear dynamics of the system when the spectral bound of the linearized operator equals zero, i.e. when linearization does not decide stability. This allows us to demonstrate, through a concrete example, how immigration might be beneficial to the population. In particular, we show that from a nonlinearly unstable positive equilibrium a linearly stable and unstable pair of equilibria bifurcates. In fact, the linearized system exhibits bistability, for a certain range of values of the external inflow, induced potentially by Allée-effect.
Closing Development Gaps: Challenges and Policy Options

There are significant income and nonincome development gaps around the world. Closing these gaps will require not only increasing and sustaining economic growth in low-income regions, but also policies that close nonincome development gaps directly. Governments need to support private investment and entrepreneurship by investing in human capital and infrastructure; developing the financial sector; improving governance; and eliminating other impediments created by market, institutional, or policy failures. Policy makers should improve access to and quality of health, education, and other social services. This means better targeting and increased public spending on social services that directly benefit the poor; innovative delivery mechanisms informed by rigorous evaluation; and social protection systems. The experience of developing Asia and others has shown that external trade and finance—including foreign direct investment, remittances, and aid—play a critical role. It is therefore imperative that governments continue to promote globalization and regional integration.
Nanomagnetic structures for inductive coupling and shielding in wireless charging applications

This paper presents materials modeling, design, processing, integration and characterization of a new class of nanomagnetic structures for coupling and shielding in wireless charging and power conversion applications. Wireless power transfer applications such as wireless charging, operating at 6.78 MHz, require high-performance magnetic materials for enhancing the coupling between transceiver and receiver coils as well as for suppressing electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. This research describes two novel magnetic structures for coupling inductors and ultra-thin EMI shields. A novel vertically aligned magnetic composite structure was demonstrated for the coupling inductor. This structure is shown to result in permeabilities of above 500 and loss tangent of 0.01, which enhances the coupling inductance by 3-5x at 6.78 MHz, and also enhances the power-transfer efficiency by 2x. The second part of this paper presents the modeling, design and fabrication of nanomagnetic structures for ultra-thin EMI shields in wireless power transfer applications. The ultra-thin EMI shields for wireless power transfer described in this research can achieve greater than 20dB attenuation at 6.78 MHz even for 3-5μm shield thickness.
High-order stencil computations on multicore clusters

Stencil computation (SC) is of critical importance for broad scientific and engineering applications. However, it is a challenge to optimize complex, high-order SC on emerging clusters of multicore processors. We have developed a hierarchical SC parallelization framework that combines: (1) spatial decomposition based on message passing; (2) multithreading using critical section-free, dual representation; and (3) single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) parallelism based on various code transformations. Our SIMD transformations include translocated statement fusion, vector composition via shuffle, and vectorized data layout reordering (e.g. matrix transpose), which are combined with traditional optimization techniques such as loop unrolling. We have thereby implemented two SCs of different characteristics—diagonally dominant, lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for fluid flow simulation and highly off-diagonal (6-th order) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) code for seismic wave propagation—on a Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) based system (a cluster of PlayStation3 consoles), a dual Intel quadcore platform, and IBM BlueGene/L and P. We have achieved high inter-node and intra-node (multithreading and SIMD) scalability for the diagonally dominant LBM: Weak-scaling parallel efficiency 0.978 on 131,072 BlueGene/P processors; strong-scaling multithreading efficiency 0.882 on 6 cores of Cell BE; and strong-scaling SIMD efficiency 0.780 using 4-element vector registers of Cell BE. Implementation of the high-order SC, on the contrary, is less efficient due to long-stride memory access and the limited size of the vector register file, which points out the need for further optimizations.
Role of Transforming Growth Factor (cid:1) Signaling and Expansion of Progenitor Cells in Regenerating Liver

Adult hepatic progenitor cells are activated during regeneration when hepatocytes and bile duct epithelium are damaged or unable to proliferate. On the basis of its role as a tumor suppressor and in the potential malignant transformation of stem cells in hepatocellular carcinoma, we investigated the role of key transforming growth factor beta (TGF- (cid:1) ) signaling components, including the Smad3 adaptor protein (cid:1) 2-Spectrin ( (cid:1) 2SP), in liver regeneration. We demonstrate a streaming hepatocyte-speciﬁc dedifferentiation process in regenerating adult human liver less than 6 weeks following living donor transplantation. We then demonstrate a spatial and temporal expansion of TGF- (cid:1) signaling components, espe-cially (cid:1) 2SP, from the periportal to the pericentral zone as regeneration nears termination via immunohistochemical analysis. This expansion is associated with an expanded remaining pool of octamer 3/4 (Oct3/4)-positive progenitor cells localized to the portal tract in adult human liver from more than 6 weeks posttransplant. Furthermore, disruption of TGF- (cid:1) signaling as in the (cid:1) 2SP ( (cid:1) 2SP (cid:2) / (cid:3) ) knockout mouse demonstrated a striking 2 to 4-fold ( P < 0.05) expanded population of Oct3/4-positive cells with activated Wnt signaling occupying an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (cid:2) /cytokeratin-19 (CK-19)-positive progenitor cell niche following two-thirds partial hepatectomy. Conclusion: TGF- (cid:1) signaling, particularly (cid:1) 2SP, plays a critical role in hepatocyte proliferation and transitional phenotype
The nuclear export factor Xpo1p targets Mad1p to kinetochores in yeast

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate all nucleocytoplasmic traffic and provide docking sites for the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) protein Mad1p. Upon SAC activation, Mad1p is recruited onto kinetochores and rapidly cycles between NPCs and kinetochores. We examined the mechanism of Mad1p movement onto kinetochores and show that it is controlled by two components of the nuclear transport machinery, the exportin Xpo1p and Ran–guanosine triphosphate (GTP). Mad1p contains a nuclear export signal (NES) that is recognized by Xpo1p. The NES, Xpo1p, and RanGTP are all required for Mad1p recruitment onto kinetochores in checkpoint-activated cells. Consistent with this function, Xpo1p also accumulates on kinetochores after SAC activation. We have also shown that Xpo1p and RanGTP are required for the dynamic cycling of Mad1p between NPCs and kinetochores in checkpoint-arrested cells. These results reveal an important function for Xpo1p in mediating intranuclear transport events and identify a signaling pathway between kinetochores and NPCs.
CS 269 I : Incentives in Computer Science

1. Rank aggregation. Here, voters correspond to different ranking algorithms. Consider a prediction problem where the goal is to come up with a ranked list, such as the Web pages most relevant to a search query. Imagine you have several different heuristics for producing such ranked lists. Maybe one heuristic is based on anchor text, another on link structure, and another on the page content. It’s natural to try to combine these different and likely conflicting rankings into a “consensus ranking. ” This is exactly a voting problem. The hope is that the consensus ranking is somehow “better” or “more accurate” than the individual rankings. For example, maybe the best pages are high on all of the lists, whereas a spam page is high on only a subset of the lists, and hence is ranked low in the consensus ranking.
Accuracy analysis of the RSSI BLE SensorTag signal for indoor localization purposes

In this paper we describe possibility of use the RSSI signal (Radio Signal Strength Indication) from Texas Instruments SensorTag CC2650 for indoor positioning purposes. This idea is not a new but in our opinion it is possible to use SensorTags with Bluetooth LE wireless interface for positioning inside buildings in such applications as people findings in hospitals, senior come care, etc. RSSI is mostly selected as the sensor localization method in the indoor circumstances. In this paper, we aim to analyze accuracy, calibrate and map RSSI to distance by doing a series of the experiments. Obtained results are very promising and shows possibility of use this technique for position estimation.
Rectal Hyposensitivity Is Associated With a Defecatory Disorder But Not Delayed Colon Transit Time in a Functional Constipation Population

AbstractThe physiological mechanism of functional constipation (FC) includes defecatory disorders and delayed colon transit. About 18% to 68% constipated patients may have rectal hyposensitivity (RH). We performed this study to investigate the association between RH and functional defecatory disorder (FDD) as well as that between RH and delayed colon transit in FC patients.A total of 218 FC patients were enrolled. The constipation severity instrument (CSI) was used to assess constipation symptoms. High-resolution anorectal manometry (HR-ARM), defecography, balloon expulsion tests, and colon transit studies were performed for each patient. RH was defined as 1 or more sensory threshold pressures raised beyond the normal range based on HR-ARM. We investigated the association between RH and constipation symptoms, and the occurrence of FDD and delayed CTT. Ninety FDD patients completed the initial phase of biofeedback treatment (BFT). We investigated the association between RH and the effect of BFT.Totally 122 (56.0%) patients had RH. The total CSI (49.82 ± 1.09 vs 41.25 ± 1.55, P = 0.023) and obstructive defecation subscale scores (23.19 ± 0.69 vs 17.07 ± 0.90, P < 0.001) were significantly higher in RH than in non-RH patients. No significant difference was observed in slow transit symptoms (21.77 ± 0.72 vs 19.90 ± 0.85, P = 0.121) or abdominal pain (6.85 ± 2.61 vs 5.00 ± 1.04, P = 0.380). The frequency of prolonged CTT was not significantly different between RH and non-RH groups (54.1% vs 58.3%, P = 0.403). RH patients rated more occurrence of FDD (72.1% vs 53.1%, P = 0.014) and dysynergic defecation (79.8% vs 50.2%, P = 0.004) than non-RH patients, whereas no differences were seen for inadequate defecatory propulsion (59.2% vs 55.0%, P = 0.589). After BFT, the proportion of “no effect” was significantly higher in the RH group than in the non-RH group (22.4% vs 9.4%, P = 0.010). RH is associated with obstructive defecation symptoms and the occurrence of FDD. Further studies are needed to detect the mechanism of RH's effect on BFT and FC.
Potential Bisections of Large Degree

A bisection of a graph G is a balanced bipartite spanning subgraph of G. Given a graphic sequence , we show that has a realization G containing a bisection H where degH(v)b (degG(v) 1)=2c for all vertices v. This bound is very close to best possible. We use this result to provide evidence for a conjecture of Busch et. al. [1] that if and k are graphic sequences, then has a realization containing k edgedisjoint 1-factors. We show that if the minimum entry in is at least n=2 + 2, then has a realization containing 2+
Improved Analysis of a Max-Cut Algorithm Based on Spectral Partitioning

Trevisan [SIAM J. Comput. , 41 (2012), pp. 1769--1786] presented an algorithm for Max-Cut based on spectral partitioning techniques. This is the first algorithm for Max-Cut with an approximation guarantee strictly larger than 1/2 that is not based on semidefinite programming. Trevisan showed that its approximation ratio is of at least 0.531. In this paper we improve this bound up to 0.614247. We also define and extend this result for the more general maximum colored cut problem.