Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Open Access Research Article Association of Obesity Risk Snps in Pcsk1 with Insulin Sensitivity and Proinsulin Conversion

article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons At-tribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Prohormone convertase 1 is involved in maturation of peptides. Rare mutations in gene PCSK1, encoding this enzyme, cause childhood obesity and abnormal glucose homeostasis with elevated proinsulin concentrations. Common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within this gene, rs6232 and rs6235, are associated with obesity. We studied whether these SNPs influence the prediabetic traits insulin resistance, β-cell dysfunction, or glucose intolerance. Methods: We genotyped 1498 German subjects for SNPs rs6232 and rs6235 within PCSK1. The subjects were metabolically characterized by oral glucose tolerance test with glucose, insulin, proinsulin, and C-peptide measurements. A subgroup of 512 subjects underwent a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Results: The minor allele frequencies were 25.8% for SNP rs6235 and 6.0% for rs6232. After adjustment for sex and age, we found no association of SNPs rs6235 and rs6232 with BMI or other weight-related traits (all p ≥ 0.07). Both minor alleles, adjusted for sex, age, BMI and insulin sensitivity were associated with elevated AUC proinsulin and AUC proinsulin / AUC insulin (rs6235: p additive model ≤ 0.009, effect sizes 8/8%, rs6232: p dominant model ≤ 0.01, effect sizes 10/21%). Insulin secretion was not affected by the variants (different secretion parameters, all p ≥ 0.08). The minor allele of SNP rs6232 was additionally associated with 15% higher OGTT-derived and 19% higher clamp-derived insulin sensitivity (p dom ≤ 0.0047), 4.5% lower HOMA IR (p dom = 0.02) and 3.5% lower 120-min glucose (p dom = 0.0003) independently of BMI and proinsulin conversion. SNP rs6235 was not associated with parameters of glucose metabolism. Conclusions: Like rare mutations in PCSK1, the more common variants tested determine glucose-stimulated proinsulin conversion, but not insulin secretion. In addition, rs6232, encoding the amino acid exchange N221D, influences insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis. Background Proteolytic cleavage is an important step in the matura-tion of several hormones that are derived from inactive precursors [1,2]. One important enzyme that catalyzes this processing is prohormone convertase 1. This pro-tease [3] is selectively expressed in neuronal and endo-crine tissues [4] and is active within dense core secretory granules [2,3]. Among its numerous substrates [3,5] are
Evolution of the electron beam envelope in a free electron laser beamline

The free electron laser (FEL) is a new generation of laser whose development motivates further research in basic and applied physics. Unlike a conventional laser that uses a gas or solid state gain medium, the FEL gain medium is a relativistic electron beam produced by a particle accelerator. This thesis will explore electron beam dynamics in an FEL, including the beam envelope equation, which will help us understand the evolution of electron betatron motion in the undulator. Dipole magnets, quadrupoles, and solenoids play important roles in transporting and focusing in an FEL beamline. The dipole magnets redirect the electron beam to a beam dump or recirculate the electrons for energy recovery. The quadrupoles and solenoids collimate and focus the electron beam. Simulations and theory are used to model and study a simple FEL beamline.
Swiss cheese and a cheesy CMB

It has been argued that the Swiss-Cheese cosmology can mimic Dark Energy, when it comes to the observed luminosity distance-redshift relation. Besides the fact that this effect tends to disappear on average over random directions, we show in this work that based on the Rees-Sciama effect on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the Swiss-Cheese model can be ruled out if all holes have a radius larger than about 35 Mpc. We also show that for smaller holes, the CMB is not observably affected, and that the small holes can still mimic Dark Energy, albeit in special directions, as opposed to previous conclusions in the literature. However, in this limit, the probability of looking in a special direction where the luminosity of supernovae is sufficiently supressed becomes very small, at least in the case of a lattice of spherical holes considered in this paper.
Sleep homeostasis in the rat is preserved during chronic sleep restriction

Sleep is homeostatically regulated in all animal species that have been carefully studied so far. The best characterized marker of sleep homeostasis is slow wave activity (SWA), the EEG power between 0.5 and 4 Hz during nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. SWA reflects the accumulation of sleep pressure as a function of duration and/or intensity of prior wake: it increases after spontaneous wake and short-term (3–24 h) sleep deprivation and decreases during sleep. However, recent evidence suggests that during chronic sleep restriction (SR) sleep may be regulated by both allostatic and homeostatic mechanisms. Here, we performed continuous, almost completely artifact-free EEG recordings from frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex in freely moving rats (n = 11) during and after 5 d of SR. During SR, rats were allowed to sleep during the first 4 h of the light period (4S+) but not during the following 20 h (20S−). During the daily 20S− most sleep was prevented, whereas the number of short (<20 s) sleep attempts increased. Low-frequency EEG power (1–6 Hz) in both sleep and wake also increased during 20S−, most notably in the occipital cortex. In all animals NREM SWA increased above baseline levels during the 4S+ periods and in post-SR recovery. The SWA increase was more pronounced in frontal cortex, and its magnitude was determined by the efficiency of SR. Analysis of cumulative slow wave energy demonstrated that the loss of SWA during SR was compensated by the end of the second recovery day. Thus, the homeostatic regulation of sleep is preserved under conditions of chronic SR.
A planning perspective on strategic data analysis

Over the past fteen years a variety of interactive IDA systems have been developed to support strategic reasoning for data analysis. We present an AI framework, hierarchical task network planning, that provides a unifying view of these e orts. We describe a taxonomy of strategic approaches to IDA, based on the planning framework, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses associated with each approach.
Minority Perceptions of Whites’ Motives for Responding Without Prejudice

Whites’ nonprejudiced behavior toward racial/ethnic minorities can be attributionally ambiguous for perceivers, who may wonder whether the behavior was motivated by a genuine internal commitment to egalitarianism or was externally motivated by desires to avoid appearing prejudiced to others. This article reports the development of a scale that measures perceptions of Whites’ internal and external motives for avoiding prejudice (Perceived Internal Motivation Scale/Perceived External Motivation Scale [PIMS/PEMS]) and tests of its internal, test–retest, discriminant, convergent, and predictive validity among ethnic minority perceivers. Minorities perceived Whites as having internal and external motives for nonprejudiced behavior that were theoretically consistent with but distinct from established measures of minority-group members’ concerns in interracial interactions. Tests of the predictive validity of PIMS/PEMS showed that when a White evaluator praised the mediocre essay of a minority target, minorities who were high PEMS and low PIMS were most likely to regard the feedback as inauthentic and derogate the quality of the essay.
Impact of Physician–Patient Discussions on Patient Satisfaction

Background:When 2 treatment choices (ie, mastectomy vs. breast conserving therapy) show no difference in a primary clinical outcome (ie, survival), patient satisfaction becomes an important marker of the quality of care received. Objectives:To assess the impact of physician–patient discussion of primary surgical treatment outcomes on patients’ satisfaction with medical care (MC) among women with incident breast cancer (BC). Method:We used self-report data of a population-based survey of 495 women ≥50 years of age with stage I–II BC in Los Angeles, California in 2000 conducted a mean of 7.5 and 24 months after diagnosis. Using multivariable analyses, we evaluated the impact of physician–patient outcome discussions (ie, BC recurrence, BC survival, breast appearance, and arm swelling/pain/movement difficulty) on patient satisfaction at baseline and follow-up. Results:Most women were satisfied with their MC (>65%). More than half reported physician–patient discussions of BC recurrence (54%), breast appearance (50%), and arm pain/swelling/movement difficulty (55%). Thirty-one percent discussed BC survival. Women who discussed arm swelling, pain, movement difficulty were significantly more likely to be satisfied at baseline (odds ratio: 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.1–3.0, P < 0.05) and follow-up (odds ratio: 1.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.2–3.0, P > 0.01). The more treatment outcomes patients discussed with their physicians, the higher patient satisfaction ratings were at baseline and follow-up. Conclusions:Physician–patient discussions of BC treatment outcomes were highly correlated with patients’ satisfaction with overall MC regardless of the procedure received. This suggests that the quality of BC care should include assessments of physician–patient communication.
Delamination of a strong film from a ductile substrate during indentation unloading

In this work, a finite element method was performed to simulate the spherical indentation of a ductile substrate coated by a strong thin film. Our objective was to study indentation-induced delamination of the film from the substrate. The film was assumed to be linear elastic, the substrate was elastic–perfectly plastic, and the indenter was rigid. The interface was modeled by means of a cohesive surface. The constitutive law of the cohesive surface included a coupled description of normal and tagential failure. Cracking of the coating itself was not included. During loading, it was found that delamination occurs in a tangential mode rather than a normal one and was initiated at two to three times the contact radius. Normal delamination occurred during the unloading stage, where a circular part of the coating, directly under the contact area was lifted off from the substrate. Normal delamination was imprinted on the load versus displacement curve as a hump. There was critical value of the interfacial strength above which delamination was prevented for a given material system and a given indentation depth. The energy consumption by the delamination process was calculated and separated from the part dissipated by the substrate. The effect of residual stress in the film and waviness of the interface on delamination was discussed.
Ultrahigh-pressure polyamorphism in GeO2 glass with coordination number >6

Significance A new double-stage large-volume cell was developed to compress large GeO2 glass samples to near 100 GPa and to conduct multiangle energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction measurement for in situ structure measurements. We find new experimental evidence of ultrahigh-pressure polyamorphism in GeO2 glass with coordination number (CN) significantly >6. The structural change to CN higher than 6 is closely associated with the change in oxygen-packing fraction. Our results provide direct structural evidence for ultradense network-forming glasses and liquids. The observed ultrahigh-pressure polyamorphism may also exist in other network-forming glasses and liquids as well, such as SiO2 and other silicate and germanate systems. Knowledge of pressure-induced structural changes in glasses is important in various scientific fields as well as in engineering and industry. However, polyamorphism in glasses under high pressure remains poorly understood because of experimental challenges. Here we report new experimental findings of ultrahigh-pressure polyamorphism in GeO2 glass, investigated using a newly developed double-stage large-volume cell. The Ge–O coordination number (CN) is found to remain constant at ∼6 between 22.6 and 37.9 GPa. At higher pressures, CN begins to increase rapidly and reaches 7.4 at 91.7 GPa. This transformation begins when the oxygen-packing fraction in GeO2 glass is close to the maximal dense-packing state (the Kepler conjecture = ∼0.74), which provides new insights into structural changes in network-forming glasses and liquids with CN higher than 6 at ultrahigh-pressure conditions.
Frequent Pattern mining: Dorsum edge pruning and logical analysis approach

Past observations have shown that a frequent item set mining algorithm are supposed to mine the closed ones as the end gives a compact and a complete progress set and better efficiency. Anyhow, the latest closed item set mining algorithms works with candidate maintenance combined with test paradigm which is expensive in runtime as well as space usage when support threshold is less or the item sets gets long. Here, we show, closed pattern mining algorithm, which is a capable algorithm used for mining closed sequences without candidate. It implements a novel sequence closure checking format that based on Dorsum edge pruning and logical analysis approach in short can refer as DEP&LA. A complete observation having sparse and dense real-life data sets proved that DEP&LA performs greater compared to older algorithms as it takes low memory and is faster than any algorithms those cited in literature frequently.
Reduced-Order Modeling for Wind Farm Control

Wind turbines in a wind farm operate individually to maximize their own performance regardless of the impact of aerodynamic interactions on neighboring turbines. There is the potential to increase power and reduce overall structural loads by properly coordinating turbines. To perform control design and analysis, a model of the wind farm needs to be of low computational cost, but retain the necessary dynamics seen in high-fidelity models. The objective of this work is to obtain a reduced-order model that represents the dominant dynamics of the system and maintains the appropriate inputoutput behavior. A variety of methods, including proper orthogonal decomposition and dynamic mode decomposition, can be used to extract the dominant flow structures and obtain a reduced-order model. In this paper, we combine proper orthogonal decomposition with a system identification technique to produce an input-output reduced-order model. This technique is used to construct reduced-order models of the flow within a two-turbine array. Specifically, this technique is demonstrated on large eddy simulations. Copyright c © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
O R I G I N a L I N V E S T I G a T I O N Open Access

Flow-mediated-paradoxical vasoconstriction is independently associated with asymptomatic myocardial ischemia and coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetic patients Abstract Background: To investigate whether flow-mediated dilation (FMD) impairment, which precedes overt atherosclerosis, is associated with silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) and asymptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) in type 2 diabetes.
Translation Spotting for Translation Memories

The term translation spotting (TS) refers to the task of identifying the target-language (TL) words that correspond to a given set of source-language (SL) words in a pair of text segments known to be mutual translations. This article examines this task within the context of a sub-sentential translation-memory system, i.e. a translation support tool capable of proposing translations for portions of a SL sentence, extracted from an archive of existing translations. Different methods are proposed, based on a statistical translation model. These methods take advantage of certain characteristics of the application, to produce TL segments submitted to constraints of contiguity and compositionality. Experiments show that imposing these constraints allows important gains in accuracy, with regard to the most probable alignments predicted by the model.
The anti-bat strategy of ultrasound absorption: the wings of nocturnal moths (Bombycoidea: Saturniidae) absorb more ultrasound than the wings of diurnal moths (Chalcosiinae: Zygaenoidea: Zygaenidae)

ABSTRACT The selection pressure from echolocating bats has driven the development of a diverse range of anti-bat strategies in insects. For instance, several studies have proposed that the wings of some moths absorb a large portion of the sound energy contained in a bat's ultrasonic cry; as a result, the bat receives a dampened echo, and the moth becomes invisible to the bat. To test the hypothesis that greater exposure to bat predation drives the development of higher ultrasound absorbance, we used a small reverberation chamber to measure the ultrasound absorbance of the wings of nocturnal (Bombycoidea: Saturniidae) and diurnal moths (Chalcosiinae: Zygaenoidea: Zygaenidae). The absorption factor of the nocturnal saturniids peaks significantly higher than the absorption factor of the diurnal chalcosiines. However, the wings of the chalcosiines absorb more ultrasound than the wings of some diurnal butterflies. Following a phylogenetic analysis on the character state of diurnality/ nocturnality in the Zygaenidae, we propose that diurnality in the Chalcosiinae is plesiomorphic (retained); hence, the absorbance of their wings is probably not a vestigial trait from an ancestral, nocturnal form but an adaptation to bat activity that overlaps their own. On a within-species level, females of the saturniids Argema mittrei and Samia cynthia ricini have significantly higher absorption factors than the males. In the female S. c. ricini, the higher absorption factor corresponds to a detection distance by bats that is at best 20-30% shorter than that of the male. Summary: Moth wings partly absorb the ultrasonic calls of bats to reduce predation. Different moths fly at night or day, and this work compares their absorption of ultrasound.
Acute leukemias in Piauí: comparison with features observed in other regions of Brazil.

Differences in age and sex distribution as well as FAB (French-American-British classification) types have been reported for acute leukemias in several countries. We studied the demographics and response to treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) between 1989 and 2000 in Teresina, Piau , and compared these results with reports from Brazil and other countries. Complete data concerning 345 patients (230 ALL, 115 AML) were reviewed. AML occurred predominantly in adults (77%), with a median age of 34 years, similar to that found in the southeast of Brazil but lower than the median age in the United States and Europe (52 years). FAB distribution was similar in children and adults and FAB-M2 was the most common type, as also found in Japan. The high frequency of FAB-M3 described in most Brazilian studies and for Hispanics in the United States was not observed. Overall survival for adults was 40%, similar to other studies in Brazil. A high mortality rate was observed during induction. No clinical or hematological parameter influenced survival in the Cox model. ALL presented the characteristic peak of incidence between 2-8 years. Most of the cases were CD10+ pre-B ALL. In 25%, abnormal expression of myeloid antigens was observed. Only 10% of the patients were older than 30 years. Overall survival was better for children. Age and leukocyte count were independent prognostic factors. These data demonstrate that, although there are regional peculiarities, the application of standardized treatments and good supportive care make it possible to achieve results observed in other countries for the same chemotherapy protocols.
Gender influences the detection of spatial working memory deficits in bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVE Despite evidence that gender may influence neurocognitive functioning, few studies have examined its effects in bipolar disorder (BD) a priori. The aim of this study was to examine how gender influences executive-type functions, which are potentially useful as endophenotypes for BD. METHODS The performance of 26 euthymic patients (12 males, 14 females) with DSM-IV BD (20 BD type I and six BD type II) was compared to that of 26 controls (12 males, 14 females) on tests of executive function. Controls were matched to patients on an individual basis for sex, age and premorbid IQ. Tests assessed spatial working memory (SWM), planning, attentional set-shifting and verbal fluency. RESULTS Overall, patients showed deficits in SWM strategy (p < 0.001) and made more SWM errors relative to controls (p < 0.001). These deficits were more apparent in male-only comparisons (both p < 0.001) than in female-only comparisons (both p < 0.05). When examined in isolation, male controls were significantly better at performing the SWM task than female controls (both p < 0.05). This pattern was not observed in the patient cohort: male patients had poorer strategy scores than female patients (p < 0.05), but made a similar number of SWM errors. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide evidence that gender can influence the detection of SWM deficits in the euthymic phase of BD, as the sex-related disequilibrium in SWM identified in healthy controls was disrupted in BD.
Healthy shopping: a longitudinal study of a mobile app to encourage a balanced diet

An imbalanced diet is the primary cause of the majority of non-communicable diseases. In particular, obesity rates are increasing in both the developed and developing world and this disease has been described as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Many governments provide dietary guidelines, for example, recommended weekly amounts of different food types, but the increasing incidence of obesity shows that these campaigns have not been successful. We developed a mobile app that shows supermarket shoppers the nutritional balance of their shopping trolley. A two- month study demonstrated that the app led to significant changes in participants' shopping habits and an improvement in the nutritional balance of their diets.
Efficient and Robust Topological Data Analysis on Metric Spaces

We extend the notion of the distance to a measure from Euclidean space to probability measures on general metric spaces as a way to do topological data analysis in a way that is robust to noise and outliers. We then give an efficient way to approximate the sub-level sets of this function by a union of metric balls and extend previous results on sparse Rips filtrations to this setting. This robust and efficient approach to topological data analysis is illustrated with several examples from an implementation.
Automated Mechanism Design with a Structured Outcome Space

Previous research on automated mechanism design (proposed in UAI-02) assumed that the outcome space was flatly represented, which makes that work inapplicable if the outcome space is exponential, as it is, for example, in multi-item auctions. This paper introduces (to our knowledge) the first more concise representation for the problem, which relies on decomposing the outcome space into distinct issues. While the decomposability makes the input to the design problem polynomial, we show that it is NP-complete (even with a single agent with only two types) to design a mechanism that maximizes one of the following objectives: 1) expected social welfare when payments are not possible, 2) a general objective function even when payments are possible, and 3) expected payments to the center (designer). We show that the NP-hardness is only weak by developing a pseudopolynomial algorithm for the former two single-agent mechanism design problems with any constant number of types. Finally, we show that when designing randomized mechanisms, we can exploit the structure of the representation and even solve the general problem in polynomial time for any constant number of agents for any growing number of types.