Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient Evaluation of Continous Range Queries on Movng Objects

In this paper we evaluate several in-memory algorithms lor efficient lIml scalable processing of continuous r::mge queries over collections of moving objects. Constanl updates (0 lhe index arc avoided by query indexing. No constraints ure imposed on lhe speed or palh of moving objects. We present a detailed analysis of a grid approach which shows the best rcsuhs for bolh skewed and uniform data. A sorting based optimiilalion is developed for significantly improving lhe cilchc hit ratio. ExperimcnluJ cVillualion establishes lhat indexing queries using the Grid index yields on.lcr. ; uf magnitude belter performrmee Illan other index stmelurcs such as R"'-lrees.
Smooth Graphs for Visual Exploration of Higher-Order State Transitions

In this paper, we present a new visual way of exploring state sequences in large observational time-series. A key advantage of our method is that it can directly visualize higher-order state transitions. A standard first order state transition is a sequence of two states that are linked by a transition. A higher-order state transition is a sequence of three or more states where the sequence of participating states are linked together by consecutive first order state transitions. Our method extends the current state-graph exploration methods by employing a two dimensional graph, in which higher-order state transitions are visualized as curved lines. All transitions are bundled into thick splines, so that the thickness of an edge represents the frequency of instances. The bundling between two states takes into account the state transitions before and after the transition. This is done in such a way that it forms a continuous representation in which any subsequence of the timeseries is represented by a continuous smooth line. The edge bundles in these graphs can be explored interactively through our incremental selection algorithm. We demonstrate our method with an application in exploring labeled time-series data from a biological survey, where a clustering has assigned a single label to the data at each time-point. In these sequences, a large number of cyclic patterns occur, which in turn are linked to specific activities. We demonstrate how our method helps to find these cycles, and how the interactive selection process helps to find and investigate activities.
Sagittal abdominal diameter: no advantage compared with other anthropometric measures as a correlate of components of the metabolic syndrome in elderly from the Hoorn Study.

BACKGROUND The sagittal abdominal diameter has been proposed as a useful measure by which to estimate abdominal obesity and as being more strongly related to components of the metabolic syndrome than are other anthropometric measures. OBJECTIVE The objective was to study which anthropometric measure (ie, sagittal abdominal diameter, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, or body mass index) is the strongest correlate of components of the metabolic syndrome (ie, glucose and lipid concentrations and blood pressure) in the elderly. DESIGN The Hoorn Study is a population-based cohort study in older Dutch men and women. Cross-sectional data were analyzed. Age-adjusted Pearson correlations of anthropometric measures with components of the metabolic syndrome were calculated in 826 subjects (389 men, 437 women) aged 56-83 y. Analyses were performed with adjustment for age and stratification for sex and age (<65 or >/=65 y). RESULTS No single anthropometric measure was consistently correlated more strongly with components of the metabolic syndrome than were the other measures in either men or women. The associations were generally stronger in younger subjects than in older subjects and in women than in men. For example, the correlation between sagittal abdominal diameter and postload glucose was 0.35 (P < 0.001) in younger and 0.14 (P = 0.051) in older men, and the correlation between waist circumference and postload glucose was 0.33 (P < 0.001) in older women and 0.14 (P = 0.062) in older men. CONCLUSION The use of sagittal abdominal diameter has no advantages over simpler and more commonly used anthropometric measures such as the waist circumference in older men and women.
Serum and plasma zinc, copper and iron concentrations in Aboriginal communities of North Western Australia

Abstract Two Aboriginal communities situated in the tropical north-west of the Australian continent have been investigated in regard to trace metal status (zinc, copper, and iron) and other laboratory and epidemiological information. A total of 364 persons, ranging in age from 5 to 77 years were studied. The incidence of hypozincemia (serum or plasma zinc concentration <0.71 µg/ml) of the two communities when combined was 24.4%, while hypercupremia (defined as serum or plasma copper levels greater than 1.38 µg/ml) was 47.9%. Depressed serum iron levels were demonstrated in more than 50% of the Aborigines studied. Hypozincemia was most prevalent (incidence 31 to 67%) in children at the time of the important pre- and postadolescent growth period (10 to 15 years) and in women beyond 60 years of age (incidence 33 to 64%). Serum total protein and vitamin B12 levels tended to be increased. Mild anemia was seen in approximately one in five persons aged less than 20 years. Intestinal parasites and pathogenic enterobacteria were frequently isolated in fecal specimens. In one community, half of the persons examined had positive isolates of enteric pathogens. Intestinal parasites predominated and were more frequently isolated from persons aged less than 20 years. Ancylostoma duodenale accounted for 32% of the pathogens isolated. Evidence is presented that suggests that both communities are exposed to numerous bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections. The diet consumed in these communities is predominately white flour and refined sugar. Geophagia is practiced in this area of Australia. It is emphasised that all the etiological prerequisites and many of the laboratory findings ascribed to the zinc deficiency syndrome appear to be operating in the two Aboriginal communities studied.
T-cell immunology in sarcoidosis: Disruption of a delicate balance between helper and regulatory T-cells

Purpose of review Although the aetiology of sarcoidosis is not yet completely understood, immunological changes within the T-cell compartment are characteristic for an exaggerated antigen-driven immune response. In this review, we describe the most recent findings on T-cell subset responses and regulation in sarcoidosis. We discuss how future immunological research can advance the field to unravel pathobiological mechanisms of this intriguingly complex disease. Recent findings Research into the field of T-cell plasticity has recently challenged the long-held T helper type 1 (Th1) paradigm in sarcoidosis and striking parallels with autoimmune disorders and common variable immunodeficiency were recognized. For instance, it was demonstrated that Th17.1-cells rather than Th1-cells are responsible for the exaggerated IFN-&ggr; production in pulmonary sarcoidosis. Furthermore, impaired regulatory T-cell function and alterations within the expression of co-inhibitory receptors that control T-cell responses, such as PD-1, CTLA-4 and BTNL2, raise new questions regarding T-cell regulation in pulmonary sarcoidosis. Summary It becomes increasingly clear that Th17(.1)-cells and regulatory T-cells are key players in sarcoidosis T-cell immunology. New findings on plasticity and co-inhibitory receptor expression by these subsets help build a more comprehensive model for T-cell regulation in sarcoidosis and will finally shed light on the potential of new treatment modalities.
On the performance of adaptive preprocessing technique in analyzing high‐dimensional censored data

Preprocessing for high‐dimensional censored datasets, such as the microarray data, is generally considered as an important technique to gain further stability by reducing potential noise from the data. When variable selection including inference is carried out with high‐dimensional censored data the objective is to obtain a smaller subset of variables and then perform the inferential analysis using model estimates based on the selected subset of variables. This two stage inferential analysis is prone to circularity bias because of the noise that might still remain in the dataset. In this work, I propose an adaptive preprocessing technique that uses sure independence screening (SIS) idea to accomplish variable selection and reduces the circularity bias by some popularly known refined high‐dimensional methods such as the elastic net, adaptive elastic net, weighted elastic net, elastic net‐AFT, and two greedy variable selection methods known as TCS, PC‐simple all implemented with the accelerated lifetime models. The proposed technique addresses several features including the issue of collinearity between important and some unimportant covariates, which is often the case in high‐dimensional setting under variable selection framework, and different level of censoring. Simulation studies along with an empirical analysis with a real microarray data, mantle cell lymphoma, is carried out to demonstrate the performance of the adaptive pre‐processing technique.
Landscape genetics and hierarchical genetic structure in Atlantic salmon: the interaction of gene flow and local adaptation

Disentangling evolutionary forces that may interact to determine the patterns of genetic differentiation within and among wild populations is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. The objective of this study was to assess the genetic structure and the potential influence of several ecological variables on the extent of genetic differentiation at multiple spatial scales in a widely distributed species, the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. A total of 2775 anadromous fish were sampled from 51 rivers along the North American Atlantic coast and were genotyped using 13 microsatellites. A Bayesian analysis clustered these populations into seven genetically and geographically distinct groups, characterized by different environmental and ecological factors, mainly temperature. These groups were also characterized by different extent of genetic differentiation among populations. Dispersal was relatively high and of the same magnitude within compared to among regional groups, which contrasted with the maintenance of a regional genetic structure. However, genetic differentiation was lower among populations exchanging similar rates of local as opposed to inter‐regional migrants, over the same geographical scale. This raised the hypothesis that gene flow could be constrained by local adaptation at the regional scale. Both coastal distance and temperature regime were found to influence the observed genetic structure according to landscape genetic analyses. The influence of other factors such as latitude, river length and altitude, migration tactic, and stocking was not significant at any spatial scale. Overall, these results suggested that the interaction between gene flow and thermal regime adaptation mainly explained the hierarchical genetic structure observed among Atlantic salmon populations.
Long-term Cognitive Trajectories and Mortality in Older Women.

BACKGROUND Few studies have examined whether change in cognition is linked to mortality. This study examined the relationship between cognitive trajectories in older age and risk of death. METHODS We studied community-dwelling, nondemented women aged 65+ (mean age = 71) enrolled in a prospective study of aging and followed up to 25 years. A modified Mini-Mental State Examination (mMMSE) and Trail Making Task Part B (TMTB) were administered at multiple visits during follow-up. We examined the association between cognitive trajectories (analyzed by quintiles) from baseline to age 80 (n = 7,477 for mMMSE and n = 6,503 for TMTB) and all-cause mortality after age 80 using Cox regression models, both unadjusted and adjusted for education, physical activity, alcohol, depression score, current smoking and history of hypertension and diabetes. Cause of death was determined from death certificates, classified as cardiovascular, cancer and other. RESULTS Women with greater rate of decline were older, less educated, less physically active, had higher depression score and were more likely to have a history of hypertension and diabetes (all p < .01). Participants with the greatest decline (quintile 1) had an increased risk of death (mMMSE hazard ratio [HR] = 1.28; TMTB HR = 1.43] and those with the least decline (quintile 5) had a decreased risk of death (mMMSE HR = 0.73; TMTB HR = 0.61) compared with intermediate decliners (quintiles 2-4). Cognitive trajectories were associated with cardiovascular mortality and other causes of death, but not cancer deaths. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that greater decline in general cognition or executive function is associated with higher rates of mortality in oldest-old women.
A New Framework for Robot Privacy

The presence of robotic devices in our environment gives rise to unique privacy problems unlike those in other domains. Despite rapid advancement in the perception, movement, and learning capabilities of robots, issues in robot privacy remain without an effective research program. This research advances the conversation by proposing technological solutions aimed at the nexus between privacy as a legal and sociological concept and robot control in multi-actor environments. The following explores the system architecture and characteristics of a technical framework for making available, fusing and reconciling the privacy preference data of multiple actors across every contextual level (cultural, societal, group, locational, individual, and situational) and transforming them into concrete instructions usable by the robot as higher-level behavioral controls. To that end, a taxonomic schema is described that can be accessed by robotic device makers to inform sensor collection, data collection, storage parameters and constraints, and the permissible range of movements, motions, and activities of a robot based on individualized, contextand role-sensitive privacy preference rules. A privacy preference enunciator device and associated transport mechanisms are introduced that allow individuals and the robots they encounter in ad hoc environments to exchange privacy preference data in accordance with the taxonomic schema. Privacy preference rule selection and comprehensive resolution protocols are developed that allow for the automated or interactive resolution of conflicts arising between individuals in multi-actor environments or ambiguous contexts. Accountability and audit mechanisms are discussed, as are trust and security models for mitigating secondary privacy harms.
Nutrition, aging, and genetic program.

It has been proposed that the fertilized egg contains all the genetic information necessary for the orderly sequence of events occurring during the life of an organism. The coded information of the DNA is transcribed to messenger RNA and translated into proteins. It is obvious that new information must be transmitted at different ages in order to account for the various changes seen in an organism throughout its life. One of the most fundamental questions in biology is the cxtent to which environmental factors such as nutrition alter the rate of this informational transfer. Ideally, these studies should be performed
Choline and homocysteine interrelations in umbilical cord and maternal plasma at delivery.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the interactions between choline and folate and homocysteine metabolism during pregnancy despite the facts that pregnancy places considerable stress on maternal folate and choline stores and that choline is a critical nutrient for the fetus. Choline, via betaine, is an important folate-independent source of methyl groups for remethylating homocysteine in liver. OBJECTIVES Our aims were to examine the intermediates of choline oxidation in maternal and umbilical cord plasma and to determine the relations between this pathway and folate-dependent homocysteine remethylation. DESIGN Blood samples were taken from 201 pregnant women and, at delivery, from the umbilical cord veins of their healthy, full-term infants. The blood samples were analyzed for plasma free choline, betaine, dimethylglycine, folate, vitamin B-12, total homocysteine (tHcy), and creatinine concentrations. RESULTS Choline concentrations in umbilical cord plasma were approximately 3 times those in maternal plasma (geometric x: 36.6 and 12.3 micromol/L, respectively; P < 0.0001). Betaine and dimethylglycine concentrations were also significantly higher in umbilical cord than in maternal plasma. Choline was positively associated with tHcy (r = 0.34, P < 0.0001), betaine (r = 0.58, P < 0.0001), and dimethylglycine (r = 0.30, P < 0.0001) in maternal blood. Much weaker relations were seen in the fetal circulation. In a multiple regression model, choline was a positive predictor of maternal tHcy, whereas vitamin B-12 and betaine were negative predictors. CONCLUSIONS The positive association between maternal choline and tHcy during pregnancy suggests that the high fetal demand for choline stimulates de novo synthesis of choline in maternal liver, with a resultant increase in tHcy concentrations. If this is confirmed, it may be appropriate to provide choline supplements during pregnancy to prevent elevated tHcy concentrations.
Effect of potassium citrate supplementation or increased fruit and vegetable intake on bone metabolism in healthy postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Alkali provision may explain why fruit and vegetables benefit bone health. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the effects of alkali-providing potassium citrate (double-blind) and fruit and vegetable intake (single-blind) on bone turnover over 2 y. DESIGN We conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial in 276 postmenopausal women (aged 55-65 y). Women were randomly assigned to 4 groups: high-dose potassium citrate (55.5 mEq/d), low-dose potassium citrate (18.5 mEq/d), placebo, and 300 g additional fruit and vegetables/d (equivalent of 18.5 mEq alkali). Serum and fasted urine for bone markers were collected at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mo. An additional urine sample was collected at 4-6 wk. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at baseline and 2 y. RESULTS Repeated-measures ANOVA showed no difference between groups for urinary free deoxypyridinoline cross-links relative to creatinine (fDPD/Cr), serum N-terminal propeptide of type 1 collagen, or beta C-terminal telopeptide, although, at 4-6 wk, fDPD/Cr was lower in the high-dose potassium citrate group (P = 0.04). Mean +/- SD spine BMD loss in the placebo group (1.8 +/- 3.9%) did not differ significantly from that in the treatment groups (2.1 +/- 3.2%; P = 0.88). Hip BMD loss in the placebo and low-dose potassium citrate groups was 1.3 +/- 2.3% and 2.2 +/- 2.3%, respectively (P = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS Two-year potassium citrate supplementation does not reduce bone turnover or increase BMD in healthy postmenopausal women, which suggests that alkali provision does not explain any long-term benefit of fruit and vegetable intake on bone.
INGREDIBLE: A platform for full body interaction between human and virtual agent that improves co-presence

This paper presents a platform dedicated to a full body interaction between a virtual agent and human or between two virtual agents. It is based on the notion of coupling and the metaphor of the alive communication that come from studies in psychology. The platform, based on a modular architecture, is composed of modules that communicate through messages. Four modules have been implemented for human tracking, motion analysis, decision computation and rendering. The paper describes all of them. Part of the decision module is generic, that is it could be used for different interactions based on sensorimotor, while part of it is strictly dependent on the type of scenario one wants to obtain. An application example for a fitness exergame scenario is also presented in this work.
A Novel Cluster-Based Ultra-Dense Network Technique for 5G and its Security Issues

The concept of cluster-based ultra-dense networks (UDNs) is proposed in this paper to solve the dynamic hot spot problems in wireless communication networks. In a cluster-based UDN, nearby users equipment (UEs) can form into temporary clusters according to the traffic distribution and transmission links. The cluster head (CH) is a UE with better link condition to the base station, while a number of UEs in the cluster can transmit/receive signals through the CH by adopting the device-to-device (D2D) technology. This paper discusses the feasibility of the proposed networking strategy, including the resource management scheme and the security issues. Simulation results show that system capacity of the proposed method is improved in comparison with the traditional cellular networks.
Lixisenatide in Type 2 Diabetes and Acute Coronary Syndrome.

The authors reply: Sarafidis and Tsapas speculate about the mechanisms behind our results. We agree that blood-pressure reduction may have played a role. However, divergence in the event curves occurred more rapidly than is typically seen in trials of antihypertensive agents. Moreover, the mean blood pressure at baseline in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial was 135/77 mm Hg, and lowering blood pressure below this level in patients with diabetes has not previously yielded similar benefits.1 Rather, a hemodynamic effect, including osmotic diuresis, is probably involved. Fischereder and Schönermarck note possible complementary natriuretic effects of SGLT2 inhibitors with background diuretic therapy. Although we observed higher hematocrit values with empagliflozin than with placebo (with a maximum adjusted mean difference of 2.9 percentage points), we did not observe additive effects with diuretics. Specifically, subgroup analyses revealed no heterogeneity in the effect of empagliflozin on death from cardiovascular causes or hospitalization for heart failure according to the use or nonuse of diuretic therapy at baseline. We would note that our analyses of 23 subgroup factors (see Section N in the Supplementary Appendix of our article, available with the full text of the article at NEJM.org) were consistent with the Journal article concerning the subgroup analyses to which Edwards refers.2 Adjusting for multiplicity requires a P value of 0.002 or less for significance, which was not reached by any factor for the primary outcome, including age, glycated hemoglobin level, and BMI. Accordingly, our article stated that we observed “some heterogeneity for the primary outcome,” because the few nominally significant P values of 0.01 are suggestive but not definitive. In analyses of death from cardiovascular causes, which was the principal component of the primary outcome affected by the intervention, there was no evidence of heterogeneity. Rosenstein and Hough correctly note emerging concerns about diabetic ketoacidosis in patients treated with SGLT2 inhibitors. In our article, we reported diabetic ketoacidosis identified using a search of the MedDRA preferred terms “diabetic ketoacidosis,” “ketoacidosis,” “acetonaemia,” and “diabetic ketoacidotic hyperglycemic coma. ” Moreover, we screened for further potential cases using 13 additional related MedDRA preferred terms; with that search strategy, 0.5% of the patients who received placebo and 0.4% of the patients who received empaglif lozin had diabetic ketoacidosis. Bernard Zinman, M.D.