Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive proportional delay differentiated services: characterization and performance evaluation

We examine a proportional-delay model for Internet differentiated services. Under this model, an ISP can control the waiting-time "spacings" between different classes of traffic. Specifically, the ISP tries to ensure that the average waiting time of class i traffic relative to that of class i - 1 traffic is kept at a constant specified ratio. If the waiting-time ratio of class i - 1 to class i is greater than one, the ISP can legitimately charge users of class i traffic a higher tariff rate (compared to the rate for class i - 1 traffic), since class i users consistently enjoy better performance than class i - 1 users. To realize such proportional-delay differentiated services, we use the time-dependent priority scheduling algorithm. We formally characterize the feasible regions in which given delay ratios can be achieved. Moreover, a set of control parameters for obtaining the desired delay ratios can be determined by an efficient iterative algorithm. We also use an adaptive control algorithm to maintain the correctness of these parameters in response to changing system load. Experiments are carried out to illustrate the short-term, medium-term and long-term relative waiting-time performances for different service classes under Poisson, Pareto, MMPP and mixed traffic workloads. We also carry out experiments to evaluate the achieved end-to-end accumulative waiting times for different classes of traffic which traverse multiple hops under our service model.
PPAR agonists down-regulate the expression of Atp10c mRNA during adipogenesis

We have shown that Atp10c, a type 4 P-type ATPase, is a strong candidate affecting glucose and lipid metabolism in humans and mice. Atp10c is a putative phospholipid translocase associated with cell signaling and intracellular protein trafficking. In order to examine the biological role of Atp10c, semiquantitative reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction was carried out. Atp10c mRNA is expressed in 3T3-L1 cells and in primary preadipocytes and adipocytes generated from mice. Atp10c mRNA is regulated during fat cell differentiation and modulated by PPAR￻ agonists and antagonists as well as by hormonal factors (insulin and dexamethasone). Atp10c expression is regulated by both the process of adipocyte differentiation and by effectors of fat and glucose metabolism. Taken together these data along with the published phenotype of the Atp10c heterozygote mice suggest that ATP10C is a newly identified protein with a possible biological role in the development of obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders.
How general are positive relationships between plant population size, fitness and genetic variation?

1 Relationships between plant population size, fitness and within‐population genetic diversity are fundamental for plant ecology, evolution and conservation. We conducted meta‐analyses of studies published between 1987 and 2005 to test whether these relationships are generally positive, whether they are sensitive to methodological differences among studies, whether they differ between species of different life span, mating system or rarity and whether they depend on the size ranges of the studied populations. 2 Mean correlations between population size, fitness and genetic variation were all significantly positive. The positive correlation between population size and female fitness tended to be stronger in field studies than in common garden studies, and the positive correlation between genetic variation and fitness was significantly stronger in DNA than in isoenzyme studies. 3 The strength and direction of correlations between population size, fitness and genetic variation were independent of plant life span and the size range of the studied populations. The mean correlations tended to be stronger for the rare species than for common species. 4 Expected heterozygosity, the number of alleles and the number or proportion of polymorphic loci significantly increased with population size, but the level of inbreeding FIS was independent of population size. The positive relationship between population size and the number of alleles and the number or proportion of polymorphic loci was stronger in self‐incompatible than in self‐compatible species. Furthermore, fitness and genetic variation were positively correlated in self‐incompatible species, but independent of each other in self‐compatible species. 5 The close relationships between population size, genetic variation and fitness suggest that population size should always be taken into account in multipopulation studies of plant fitness or genetic variation. 6 The observed generality of the positive relationships between population size, plant fitness and genetic diversity implies that the negative effects of habitat fragmentation on plant fitness and genetic variation are common. Moreover, the stronger positive associations observed in self‐incompatible species and to some degree in rare species, suggest that these species are most prone to the negative effects of habitat fragmentation.
Prediction of dietary iron absorption: an algorithm for calculating absorption and bioavailability of dietary iron.

BACKGROUND Dietary iron absorption from a meal is determined by iron status, heme- and nonheme-iron contents, and amounts of various dietary factors that influence iron absorption. Limited information is available about the net effect of these factors. OBJECTIVE The objective was to develop an algorithm for predicting the effects of factors known to influence heme- and nonheme-iron absorption from meals and diets. DESIGN The basis for the algorithm was the absorption of iron from a wheat roll (22.1 +/- 0.18%) containing no known inhibitors or enhancers of iron absorption and adjusted to a reference dose absorption of 40%. This basal absorption was multiplied by the expected effect of different amounts of dietary factors known to influence iron absorption: phytate, polyphenols, ascorbic acid, meat, fish and seafood, calcium, egg, soy protein, and alcohol. For each factor, an equation describing the dose-effect relation was developed. Special considerations were made for interactions between individual factors. RESULTS Good agreement was seen when measurements of iron absorption from 24 complete meals were compared with results from use of the algorithm (r(2) = 0.987) and when mean iron absorption in 31 subjects served a varied whole diet labeled with heme- and nonheme-iron tracers over a period of 5 d was compared with the mean total iron absorption calculated by using the algorithm (P = 0.958). CONCLUSIONS This algorithm has several applications. It can be used to predict iron absorption from various diets, to estimate the effects expected by dietary modification, and to translate physiologic into dietary iron requirements from different types of diets.
Transfer Report

The increasing adoption of electronic health records means that repositories of patient information are becoming available at an unprecedented scale. At the same time, the decreasing cost of DNA sequencing means that genomic information is also becoming increasingly accessible. However, currently, there is limited clinical understanding of how to relate genomic information with patient phenotypes; the analysis tools for modelling patient phenotypes, relating phenotype to genomic information, and using these models for medical prognosis have not yet been fully developed. Machine learning techniques within the eld of clinical informatics are focused upon precisely these questions. We present an overview of the current state-of-the-art in this intersection of machine learning and medicine, before introducing examples from our work that have used machine-learning approaches to perform inference using genomic and clinical data to answer questions of clinical signi cance. We illustrate our ability to predict Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance based upon the bacterial genome using supervised learning methodologies, with improved accuracy in comparison to approaches using current clinical knowledge. We also identify novel subgroups of in ammatory bowel disease patients using unsupervised techniques. Our long-term goal is the development of new tools that can be used to perform inference with such heterogeneous data. Publications and posters from 2014: Niehaus, K.E. , Walker, T.M. , Crook, D.W. , Peto, T.E.A. , Clifton, D.A. Machine learning for the prediction of antibacterial susceptibility in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Proceedings of IEEE Biomedical Health Informatics. 2014. Niehaus, K.E. , Clark, I.A. , Bourne, C. , Mackay, C.E. , Holmes, E.A. , Smith, S.M. , Woolrich, M.W. , Du , E.P. Multi-voxel pattern analysis to enhance the study of rare cognitive events: an investigation of experimental posttraumatic stress disorder. Proceedings of IEEE Pattern Recognition in Neuroimaging. 2014. Poster: Niehaus, K.E. , Uhlig, H. , Clifton, D.A. Uncovering subtypes of in ammatory bowel disease. Microsoft Research PhD Summer School, 2014. Niehaus, K.E. , Walker, T.M. , Wilson, D.J., Crook, D.W. , Peto, T.E.A. , Clifton, D.A. Machine learning for improved prediction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug susceptibility. Proceedings of IEEE PGBiomed. 2014. Clark, I.A. , Niehaus, K.E. , Du , E.P., Di Simplicio, M.C. , Cli ord, G.D. , Mackay, C.E. , Woolrich, M.W. , Holmes, E.A. First steps in using machine learning on fMRI data to predict intrusive memories of traumatic lm footage. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2014. Clifton, D.A. , Pimentel, M.A.F. , Niehaus, K.E. , Clifton, L. , Peto, T.E.A. , Crook, D.W. , Watkinson, P.J. Intelligent Electronic Health Systems in Telemedicine and Electronic Medicine. Taylor & Francis, to appear.
Acetazolamide Serves as Selective Delivery Vehicle for Dipeptide-Linked Drugs to Renal Cell Carcinoma

In most cases, cytotoxic drugs do not preferentially accumulate at the tumor site, causing unwanted toxicities and preventing dose escalation to therapeutically active regimens. Here, we show that acetazolamide derivatives, which bind to carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) on the surface of kidney cancer cells, selectively deliver payloads at the site of disease, sparing normal organs. Biodistribution studies, performed in tumor-bearing mice with acetazolamide derivatives bearing a technetium-99m chelator complex or a red fluorophore as payload, revealed a preferential tumor accumulation of the compound at doses up to 560 nmol/kg. The percentage of injected dose per gram in the tumor was dose-dependent and revealed optimal tumor:organ ratios at 140 nmol/kg, with a tumor:blood ratio of 80:1 at 6 hours. Acetazolamide, coupled to potent cytotoxic drugs via a dipeptide linker, exhibited a potent antitumor activity in nude mice bearing SKRC-52 renal cell carcinomas, whereas drug derivatives devoid of the acetazolamide moiety did not exhibit any detectable anticancer activity at the same doses. The observation of tumor regression with a noninternalizing ligand and with different cytotoxic moieties (MMAE and PNU-159682) indicates a general mechanism of action, based on the selective accumulation of the product on tumor cells, followed by the extracellular proteolytic release of the cytotoxic payload at the neoplastic site and the subsequent drug internalization into tumor cells. Acetazolamide-based drug conjugates may represent a promising class of targeted agents for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer, as the majority of human clear cell renal cell carcinomas are strongly positive for CAIX. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(12); 2926–35. ©2016 AACR.
Studies of Passive Films on Friction Stir Processed and Laser Peened Ni-Al Bronze

The friction stir processing (FSP) and welding of nickel aluminum bronze (NAB) is used for a variety of naval applications, with the possibility of laser peening (LP) being used as a method for densification and mitigation of residual tensile stress. This paper investigates the beneficial effects of FSP on NAB passivity, and provides important benchmark data for future studies. Further enhancement of FSP NAB through application of LP will be discussed in subsequent papers, using the data presented here as a basis of comparison. This work shows that FSP has a beneficial effect on both the microstructure of this alloy, as well as on the integrity of the passive film formed in chloride electrolytes, including natural seawater. In addition to using a variety of characterization techniques to determine the effects of friction stir processing on microstructure, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with focused ion beam milling, we have used cyclic polarization (CP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to develop an understanding of passive film behavior for this material in the as-received state, as well as after friction stir processing. A variety of interfacial impedance models have been explored for fitting the data, including transmission line models. Results on this important alloy, before and after processing will be presented.
Growing Unculturable Bacteria

ABSTRACT The bacteria that can be grown in the laboratory are only a small fraction of the total diversity that exists in nature. At all levels of bacterial phylogeny, uncultured clades that do not grow on standard media are playing critical roles in cycling carbon, nitrogen, and other elements, synthesizing novel natural products, and impacting the surrounding organisms and environment. While molecular techniques, such as metagenomic sequencing, can provide some information independent of our ability to culture these organisms, it is essentially impossible to learn new gene and pathway functions from pure sequence data. A true understanding of the physiology of these bacteria and their roles in ecology, host health, and natural product production requires their cultivation in the laboratory. Recent advances in growing these species include coculture with other bacteria, recreating the environment in the laboratory, and combining these approaches with microcultivation technology to increase throughput and access rare species. These studies are unraveling the molecular mechanisms of unculturability and are identifying growth factors that promote the growth of previously unculturable organisms. This minireview summarizes the recent discoveries in this area and discusses the potential future of the field.
Overweight exceeds underweight among women in most developing countries.

BACKGROUND It is generally believed that overweight is less prevalent than undernutrition in the developing world, particularly in rural areas, and that it is concentrated in higher socioeconomic status (SES) groups. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of adult female overweight and underweight in the developing world by using categories of urban or rural status and SES strata. DESIGN Body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) data collected in 36 countries from 1992 to 2000 by nationally representative cross-sectional surveys of women aged 20-49 y (n = 148579) were classified as indicating underweight (BMI < 18.5) and overweight (BMI >/= 25). Associations between the nutritional status of urban and rural women and each country's per capita gross national income (GNI) and level of urbanization were explored in the overall sample and among different SES groups. RESULTS Overweight exceeded underweight in well over half of the countries: the median ratio of overweight to underweight was 5.8 in urban and 2.1 in rural areas. Countries with high GNIs and high levels of urbanization had not only high absolute prevalences of overweight but also small urban-rural differences in overweight and very high ratios of overweight to underweight. In the more-developed countries, overweight among low-SES women was high in both rural (38%) and urban (51%) settings. Even many poor countries, countries in which underweight persists as a significant problem, had fairly high prevalences of rural overweight. CONCLUSIONS In most developing economies, prevalences of overweight in young women residing in both urban and rural areas are higher than those in underweight women, especially in countries at higher levels of socioeconomic development. Research is needed to assess male and child overweight to understand the dynamics facing these groups as well.
Biomarkers for arterial and venous thrombotic disorders

Summary The haemostatic system maintains the blood in a fluid state, but allows rapid clot formation at sites of vascular injury to prevent excessive bleeding. Unbalances within the haemostatic system can lead to thrombosis. Inspite of successful research our understanding of the disease pathogenesis is still incomplete. There is great hope that genetic, genomic, and epigenetic discoveries will enhance the diagnostic capability, and improve the treatment options. During the preceding 20 years, the identification of polymorphisms and the elucidation of their role in arterial and venous thromboses became an important area of research. Today, a large body of data is available regarding associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes with plasma concentrations and e. g. the risk of ischaemic stroke or myocardial infarction. However, the results for individual polymorphisms and genes are often controversial. It is now well established that besides acquired also hereditary risk factors influence the occurrence of thrombotic events, and environmental factors may add to this risk. Currently available statistical methods are only able to identify combined risk genotypes if very large patient collectives (>10 000 cases) are tested, and appropriate algorithms to evaluate the data have yet to be developed. Further research is needed to understand the functional effects of genetic variants in genes of blood coagulation proteins that are critical to the pathogenesis of arterial and venous thrombotic disorders. In this review genetic variants in selected genes of the haemo static system and their relevance for arterial and venous thrombosis will be discussed.
Introduction: the use of body mass index to assess obesity in children.

The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) was established in 1994 to address the increase in the worldwide prevalence of obesity. The goals of the IOTF are to 1) raise awareness in the population and among governments that obesity is a serious medical condition, 2) develop policy recommendations for a coherent and effective global approach to the management and prevention of obesity, and 3) implement appropriate strategies to manage and prevent obesity on a population basis worldwide. To assess the global prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents, the IOTF convened a workshop on childhood obesity to determine the most appropriate measurement to assess obesity in populations of and adolescents around the world. At the workshop, a variety of issues related to this problem were considered--including the best measure of fatness, the effect of application of a variety of existing standards on the prevalence of obesity in the same population, and the role of factors such as visceral adiposity and natural history in the definition of obesity. This article and those that follow represent the information presented at the workshop. The workshop concluded that the body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) offered a reasonable measure with which to assess fatness in children and adolescents and that the standards used to identify overweight and obesity in children and adolescents should agree with the standards used to identify grade 1 and grade 2 overweight (BMI of 25 and 30, respectively) in adults.
Proceedings of the Third International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health: Role of Flavonoids in the Diet The Epidemiology of Tea Consumption and Colorectal Cancer Incidence

This manuscript provides a brief synopsis of 30 studies aimed at examining tea consumption as a factor in the incidence of colon and rectal cancers. The 30 papers examine populations in 12 countries and provide data on consumption of both black and green tea. These studies do not provide consistent evidence to support the theory from animal studies and basic research that tea is a potent chemopreventive agent. Details of the studies are presented, and the potential impact of measurement error, publication bias, the form of tea consumed, the appropriateness of the outcomes studied and the adjustment of confounders related to both tea consumption and risk of colorectal cancer or polyps in various countries are explored. In general, the data are not more consistent for green than for black tea. Particularly with green tea, the doses consumed do get into a perceived protective range in a significant subset of the population. A negative association is stronger in observational epidemiologic studies of rectal cancer than in colon cancer. There is no consistent adjustment for important potential confounders of any tea relationship, such as coffee and alcohol consumption and physical activity levels. Finally, the assessment of tea in most of these studies was based on a single question and therefore may have significant measurement error compared with more recent studies specifically aimed at assessing tea consumption. J. Nutr. 133: 3310S–3318S, 2003.
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF FACIAL SELF-RECOGNITION IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN

This study was designed to examine the electrophysiological correlates of facial self-recognition in adults and four-year-old children. Participants passively viewed neutral pictures of their own face, as well as faces of a familiar adult, an unfamiliar adult, and an unfamiliar infant while eventrelated-potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The results indicate an increase in processing specificity across time in adults but not children. In adults, the vertex positive potential (VPP) seems to be influenced by the emotional saliency of faces, whereas the N200/300 and P300 are differentiating familiar and unfamiliar faces. Additionally, the neural response to the self face compared to all other faces is greatest for the P300 component. In contrast, four-year olds only exhibited differences between familiar and unfamiliar stimuli for the P2 component. Combined, the results of this study indicate processing differences between adults and four-year olds while processing familiar and unfamiliar faces. Furthermore, four-year olds exhibited a more diffuse pattern of electrical activity compared to adults. KEY-WORDS: event-related potentials (ERPs), self-recognition, self-perception, face-perception, development Face recognition is crucial to a variety of human interactions. From early in infancy through childhood and into adulthood, humans use faces to identify whether someone is familiar, their age, gender or race, emotional information, and intentions (eye-gaze). Many researchers have been particularly interested in the * Corresponding address: Lisa S. Scott, University of Colorado, Department of Psychology, 345 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309 E-mail: scottls@colorado.edu