Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A first pan‐Arctic assessment of the influence of glaciation, permafrost, topography and peatlands on northern hemisphere lake distribution

The locations of ∼200 000 large northern hemisphere lakes (sized 0.1 to 50 km2, northwards of ∼45°N latitude) are intersected with new global databases on topography, permafrost, peatlands and LGM glaciation to identify some first‐order controls on lake abundance and land area fraction at the pan‐Arctic scale. Of the variables examined here, glaciation history and the presence of some form of permafrost appear most important to the existence of lakes. Lake densities and area fractions average ∼300–350% greater in glaciated (versus unglaciated) terrain, and ∼100–170% greater in permafrost‐ influenced (versus permafrost‐free) terrain. The presence of peatlands is associated with additional ∼40–80% increases in lake density and ∼10–50% increases in area fraction. On average, lakes are most abundant in glaciated, permafrost peatlands (∼14.4 lakes/1000 km2) and least abundant in unglaciated, permafrost‐free terrain (∼1.2 lakes/1000 km2). Lake statistics are surprisingly similar across continuous, discontinuous and sporadic permafrost zones, decrease modestly in isolated permafrost, and drop sharply in the absence of permafrost. A simple calculation based on ‘space‐for‐time’ substitution for all glaciated/lowland terrain (∼2.7 × 107 km2, of which ∼48% is currently in some state of permafrost) suggests that in a ‘permafrost‐free’ Arctic, the number of lakes could be reduced from ∼192 000 to 103 000 (−46%) and their total inundation area reduced from ∼560 000 to 325 000 km2 (−42%). A more realistic scenario of thawed discontinuous, sporadic and isolated permafrost only, with a +10% lake increase in continuous permafrost and no change in permafrost‐free areas suggests reductions to ∼155 000 lakes (−15%) and ∼476 000 km2 (−15%), respectively. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Collective resources or local social inequalities? Examining the social determinants of mental health in rural areas.

BACKGROUND In England, although some studies report better health among rural populations, few have examined social inequalities in health within rural areas and how they compare to inequalities observed in urban settings. The objectives of this study are to examine (i) whether living in rural, in more affluent and in more socially cohesive areas is associated with better mental health; and (ii) whether being in employment is more protective for mental health in rural than in urban areas. METHODS Data on common mental disorders (CMD) and socio-demographic characteristics of 12 962 adults are from the Health Survey for England. Individuals resided in 892 areas categorized as urban or rural. Area deprivation is measured using the employment deprivation domain from the 2004 Index of Multiple Deprivation. Area social cohesion is derived from individuals' perceptions using ecometric procedures. Data are analysed using multilevel logistic models. RESULTS Living in rural areas is significantly associated with lower risk of reporting CMD [odds ratio (OR): 0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71-0.92], independently of individuals' characteristics, and of area deprivation and social cohesion. The mental health advantage of being in employment is more important in rural areas (OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.58-0.95) than in urban settings. CONCLUSION Living in rural areas is associated with better overall mental health. Yet inequalities in mental health between people in the workforce and those who are not are more important in rural settings. More studies are needed to understand the patterning of social inequalities in health in rural communities.
A Quest for Structure in Complexity

Eric Allender turned sixty some months ago, and in this October computational complexity column we will describe some highlights of his research work spanning over three decades. His research career began in 1985. The “Structure in Complexity Conference” was born in 1986. Although FOCS and STOC remain the primary conferences for theoretical computer science, “Structures” was a more niche conference devoted to complexity theory. In the first Structures Conference, in 1986, Eric had two papers. The computational complexity column in the EATCS bulletin was started in 1987 (with Juris Hartmanis as editor). All roughly around the same time. The field has rapidly grown over the last three decades, and Eric has played a prominent role shaping modern computational complexity theory in a range of topics. His work has also given rise to several new directions of research. In this article, we pick some of our favorite themes from Eric’s research: Kolmogorov complexity and circuit minimization, the isomorphism problem and the structure of complete problems in complexity classes, the landscape of space-bounded complexity classes, and circuit complexity lower bounds. Eric himself has a number of excellent comprehensive survey articles on these topics [24, 22, 21, 23]. This column article is meant to serve as an appetizer inviting the reader to these surveys.
Engaging Fathers to Increase Physical Activity in Girls: The "Dads And Daughters Exercising and Empowered" (DADEE) Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background Existing strategies to increase girls' physical activity levels have seen limited success. Fathers may influence their children's physical activity, but often spend more time with their sons and rarely participate in family-based programs. Purpose To test a novel program designed to increase the physical activity levels of fathers and their daughters. Methods In a two-arm RCT, 115 fathers (29-53 years) and 153 daughters (4-12 years) were randomized to (i) the "Dads And Daughters Exercising and Empowered" (DADEE) program, or (ii) a wait-list control. The 8-week program included weekly educational and practical sessions plus home tasks. Assessments were at baseline, 2 months (postintervention), and 9 months. The primary outcomes were father-daughter physical activity levels (pedometry). Secondary outcomes included screen-time, daughters' fundamental movement skill proficiency (FMS: perceived and objective), and fathers' physical activity parenting practices. Results Primary outcome data were obtained from 88% of daughters and 90% of fathers at 9 months. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed favorable group-by-time effects for physical activity in daughters (p = .02, d = 0.4) and fathers (p < .001, d = 0.7) at postintervention, which were maintained at 9 months. At postintervention and follow-up, significant effects (p < .05) were also identified for daughters' FMS competence (objective: d = 1.1-1.2; perceived: d = 0.4-0.6), a range of fathers' physical activity parenting practices (d = 0.3-0.8), and screen-time for daughters (d = 0.5-0.8) and fathers (d = 0.4-0.6, postintervention only). Program satisfaction and attendance were very high. Conclusions This study provided the first experimental evidence that efforts to increase physical activity behavior in preadolescent girls would benefit from a meaningful engagement of fathers. Clinical Trial information: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12615000022561.
Avoiding or enduring painful sex? A prospective study of coping and psychosexual function in vulvovaginal pain

Recurring vulvovaginal pain is common, with evident effects on affected women's lives. Little is known about how affected women cope with painful sexual activities and how coping relates to pain intensity and psychosexual functioning over time. This prospective study explored the impact of avoidance and endurance on sexual function over time. Additionally, patterns of coping were studied on an individual level to increase knowledge about coping and its relation to psychosexual functioning.
Influence of different attentional focus on EMG amplitude and contraction duration during the bench press at different speeds

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate whether using different focus affects electromyographic (EMG) amplitude and contraction duration during bench press performed at explosive and controlled speeds. Eighteen young male individuals were familiarized with the procedure and performed the one-maximum repetition (1RM) test in the first session. In the second session, participants performed the bench press exercise at 50% of the 1RM with 3 different attentional focuses (regular focus on moving the load vs contracting the pectoralis vs contracting the triceps) at 2 speed conditions (controlled vs maximal speed). During the controlled speed condition, focusing on using either the pectoralis or the triceps muscles increased pectoralis normalized EMG (nEMG) by 6% (95% CI 3–8%; p = 0.0001) and 4% nEMG (95% CI 1–7%; p = 0.0096), respectively, compared with the regular focus condition. Triceps activity was increased by 4% nEMG (95% CI 0–7%; p = 0.0308) at the controlled speed condition during the triceps focus. During the explosive speed condition, the use of different focuses had no effect. The different attentional focus resulted in comparable contraction duration for the measured muscles when the exercise was performed explosively. Using internal focus to increase EMG amplitude seems to function only during conditions of controlled speed.
Dimensional quantization effects in the thermodynamics of conductive filaments

We consider the physical effects of dimensional quantization in conductive filaments that underlie operations of some modern electronic devices. We show that, as a result of quantization, a sufficiently thin filament acquires a positive charge. Several applications of this finding include the host material polarization, the stability of filament constrictions, the equilibrium filament radius, polarity in device switching, and quantization of conductance.
The Java Build Framework: Large Scale Compilation

Large repositories of source code for research tend to limit their utility to static analysis of the code, as they give no guarantees on whether the projects are compilable, much less runnable in any way. The immediate consequence of the lack of large compilable and runnable datasets is that research that requires such properties does not generalize beyond small benchmarks. We present the Java Build Framework, a method and tool capable of automatically compiling a large percentage of Java projects available in open source repositories like GitHub. Two elements are at the core: a very large repository of JAR files, and techniques of resolution of compilation faults and dependencies.
Branched polyethylenimine-grafted-carboxymethyl chitosan copolymer enhances the delivery of pDNA or siRNA in vitro and in vivo

To generate a good carrier for gene transfection, O-carboxymethyl chitosan-graft-branched polyethylenimine (OCMPEI) copolymers were synthesized by increasing the weight percentage of branched polyethylenimine conjugated to the carboxyl groups of O-carboxymethyl chitosan. These spherical polyplexes with plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (pDNA) or small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) had diameters of ∼200–300 nm or ∼10–25 nm, respectively, and displayed significant transfection efficiency in normal and tumor cells. In particular, expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) following pDNA transfection was effectively suppressed by delivery of GFP-specific siRNA with the same copolymer. The optimized copolymer and polyplexes were nontoxic in vitro and in vivo. The use of endocytosis inhibitors to investigate the mechanisms of transfection of the polyplexes suggested the involvement of macropinocytosis. An in vivo study in mice showed excellent GFP expression in the lung, kidney, and liver. The results demonstrated that the OCMPEI copolymer prepared in this study is a promising carrier for in vitro and in vivo gene delivery applications.
Tracking the Cartoon mouse phenotype: Hemopexin domain–dependent regulation of MT1-MMP pericellular collagenolytic activity

Following ENU mutagenesis, a phenodeviant line was generated, termed the “Cartoon mouse,” that exhibits profound defects in growth and development. Cartoon mice harbor a single S466P point mutation in the MT1-MMP hemopexin domain, a 200-amino acid segment that is thought to play a critical role in regulating MT1-MMP collagenolytic activity. Herein, we demonstrate that the MT1-MMPS466P mutation replicates the phenotypic status of Mt1-mmp–null animals as well as the functional characteristics of MT1-MMP−/− cells. However, rather than a loss-of-function mutation acquired as a consequence of defects in MT1-MMP proteolytic activity, the S466P substitution generates a misfolded, temperature-sensitive mutant that is abnormally retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). By contrast, the WT hemopexin domain does not play a required role in regulating MT1-MMP trafficking, as a hemopexin domain-deletion mutant is successfully mobilized to the cell surface and displays nearly normal collagenolytic activity. Alternatively, when MT1-MMPS466P–expressing cells are cultured at a permissive temperature of 25 °C that depresses misfolding, the mutant successfully traffics from the ER to the trans-Golgi network (ER → trans-Golgi network), where it undergoes processing to its mature form, mobilizes to the cell surface, and expresses type I collagenolytic activity. Together, these analyses define the Cartoon mouse as an unexpected gain-of-abnormal function mutation, wherein the temperature-sensitive mutant phenocopies MT1-MMP−/− mice as a consequence of eliciting a specific ER → trans-Golgi network trafficking defect.
Redistributive Taxation and Confidence

Education, Redistributive Taxation and Confidence We consider redistributional taxation between people with and without human capital if education is endogenous and if individuals differ in their perceptions about own ability. Those who see their ability as low like redistributive taxation because of the transfers it generates. Those who see their ability as high may also like redistributive taxation because it stops other people receiving education and increases the quasi rents on their own human capital. It is surprising that this rather indirect effect can overcompensate them for the income loss from taxation and make the overconfident want higher taxes than the less confident do. The results, however, turn out to be in line with empirical evidence on the desired amount of redistribution among young individuals. JEL Classification: D78, H23, I21
Interferon Alpha Subtype-Specific Suppression of HIV-1 Infection In Vivo

ABSTRACT Although all 12 subtypes of human interferon alpha (IFN-α) bind the same receptor, recent results have demonstrated that they elicit unique host responses and display distinct efficacies in the control of different viral infections. The IFN-α2 subtype is currently in HIV-1 clinical trials, but it has not consistently reduced viral loads in HIV-1 patients and is not the most effective subtype against HIV-1 in vitro. We now demonstrate in humanized mice that, when delivered at the same high clinical dose, the human IFN-α14 subtype has very potent anti-HIV-1 activity whereas IFN-α2 does not. In both postexposure prophylaxis and treatment of acute infections, IFN-α14, but not IFN-α2, significantly suppressed HIV-1 replication and proviral loads. Furthermore, HIV-1-induced immune hyperactivation, which is a prognosticator of disease progression, was reduced by IFN-α14 but not IFN-α2. Whereas ineffective IFN-α2 therapy was associated with CD8+ T cell activation, successful IFN-α14 therapy was associated with increased intrinsic and innate immunity, including significantly higher induction of tetherin and MX2, increased APOBEC3G signature mutations in HIV-1 proviral DNA, and higher frequencies of TRAIL+ NK cells. These results identify IFN-α14 as a potent new therapeutic that operates via mechanisms distinct from those of antiretroviral drugs. The ability of IFN-α14 to reduce both viremia and proviral loads in vivo suggests that it has strong potential as a component of a cure strategy for HIV-1 infections. The broad implication of these results is that the antiviral efficacy of each individual IFN-α subtype should be evaluated against the specific virus being treated. IMPORTANCE The naturally occurring antiviral protein IFN-α2 is used to treat hepatitis viruses but has proven rather ineffective against HIV in comparison to triple therapy with the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Although ARVs suppress the replication of HIV, they fail to completely clear infections. Since IFN-α acts by different mechanism than ARVs and has been shown to reduce HIV proviral loads, clinical trials are under way to test whether IFN-α2 combined with ARVs might eradicate HIV-1 infections. IFN-α is actually a family of 12 distinct proteins, and each IFN-α subtype has different efficacies toward different viruses. Here, we use mice that contain a human immune system, so they can be infected with HIV. With this model, we demonstrate that while IFN-α2 is only weakly effective against HIV, IFN-α14 is extremely potent. This discovery identifies IFN-α14 as a more powerful IFN-α subtype for use in combination therapy trials aimed toward an HIV cure.
Anabolic Activity of a Soy Extract and Three Major Isoflavones in C2C12 Myotubes

Abstract Isoflavones have been reported to stimulate muscle growth. The aim of this in vitro study was to examine anabolic activity and associated molecular mechanisms of a soy extract (SoyEx), isoflavone aglycones, and a mixture simulating the composition of SoyEx in C2C12 myotubes. C2C12 cells were differentiated into myotubes. The effects of SoyEx, genistein, daidzein, glycitein, and the mixture of genistein-daidzein-glycitein (Mix) on myotube diameter and number were determined. In addition, the expression of genes and proteins associated with anabolic activity was analyzed. Treatment with SoyEx, genistein, and Mix led to a significant increase of myotube diameter and an increase of the number of myotubes per area compared to the control cell. The increase of diameter by SoyEx was antagonized by an antiestrogen, not by an antiandrogen. Furthermore, gene expressions of insulin growth factor (IGF)-1 and its receptor (IGF-1R), as well as protein expression of myosin heavy chain (MHC), were significantly increased by SoyEx, genistein, and Mix. The effects induced by genistein and Mix were comparable to SoyEx. In conclusion, SoyEx displays an anabolic activity in C2C12 myotubes by binding to ER and modulating IGF-1 and MHC expression. Our studies with isoflavone aglycones and Mix indicate that the isoflavone aglycone with the highest anabolic bioactivity in SoyEx is genistein.
Herpes Simplex Virus 1 UL31 and UL34 Gene Products Promote the Late Maturation of Viral Replication Compartments to the Nuclear Periphery

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) forms replication compartments (RCs), domains in which viral DNA replication, late-gene transcription, and encapsidation take place, in the host cell nucleus. The formation of these domains leads to compression and marginalization of host cell chromatin, which forms a dense layer surrounding the viral RCs and constitutes a potential barrier to viral nuclear egress or primary envelopment at the inner nuclear membrane. Surrounding the chromatin layer is the nuclear lamina, a further host cell barrier to egress. In this study, we describe an additional phase in RC maturation that involves disruption of the host chromatin and nuclear lamina so that the RC can approach the nuclear envelope. During this phase, the structure of the chromatin layer is altered so that it no longer forms a continuous layer around the RCs but instead is fragmented, forming islands between which RCs extend to reach the nuclear periphery. Coincident with these changes, the nuclear lamina components lamin A/C and lamin-associated protein 2 appear to be redistributed via a mechanism involving the UL31 and UL34 gene products. Viruses in which the UL31 or UL34 gene has been deleted are unable to undergo this phase of chromatin reorganization and lamina alterations and instead form RCs which are bounded by an intact host cell chromatin layer and nuclear lamina. We postulate that these defects in chromatin restructuring and lamina reorganization explain the previously documented growth defects of these mutant viruses.
Silicon Nitride Encapsulation to Preserve Ohmic Contacts Characteristics in High Temperature, Oxygen Rich Environments

Ohmic contacts with low contact resistance, smooth surface morphology, and a well-defined edge profile are essential to ensure optimal device performance. Ohmic contacts often require annealing under vacuum at over 1000 °C, whilst high-κ dielectrics are usually annealed in O2 rich ambient at temperatures of 800 °C or less, affecting the specific contact resistivity (ρC) and RMS surface roughness. Therefore, protection of the Ohmic contacts during the annealing of a high-κ dielectric layer is a key enabling step in the realisation of high performance MOSFET structures. In order to prevent damage during the high-κ formation, a passivation layer capable of protecting the contacts during annealing is required. In this work we have investigated the suitability of PECVD silicon nitride as a passivation layer to protect Ohmic contacts during high temperature, oxygen rich annealing.
Viewing sexual images is associated with reduced physiological arousal response to gambling loss

Erotic imagery is one highly salient emotional signal that exists everywhere in daily life. The impact of sexual stimuli on human decision-making, however, has rarely been investigated. This study examines the impact of sexual stimuli on financial decision-making under risk. In each trial, either a sexual or neutral image was presented in a picture categorization task before a gambling task. Thirty-four men made gambling decisions while their physiological arousal, measured by skin conductance responses (SCRs), was recorded. Behaviorally, the proportion of gambling decisions did not differ between the sexual and neutral image trials. Physiologically, participants had smaller arousal differences, measured in micro-siemen per dollar, between losses and gains in the sexual rather than in the neutral image trials. Moreover, participants’ SCRs to losses relative to gains predicted the proportion of gambling decisions in the neutral image trials but not in the sexual image trials. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that the presence of emotionally salient sexual images reduces attentional and arousal-related responses to gambling losses. Our results are consistent with the theory of loss attention involving increased cognitive investment in losses compared to gains. The findings also have potential practical implications for our understanding of the specific roles of sexual images in human financial decision making in everyday life, such as gambling behaviors in the casino.