Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Midlife body mass index and hospitalization and mortality in older age.

CONTEXT Abundant evidence links overweight and obesity with impaired health. However, controversies persist as to whether overweight and obesity have additional impact on cardiovascular outcomes independent of their strong associations with established coronary risk factors, eg, high blood pressure and high cholesterol level. OBJECTIVE To assess the relation of midlife body mass index with morbidity and mortality outcomes in older age among individuals without and with other major risk factors at baseline. DESIGN Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry study, a prospective study with baseline (1967-1973) cardiovascular risk classified as low risk (blood pressure < or =120/< or =80 mm Hg, serum total cholesterol level <200 mg/dL [5.2 mmol/L], and not currently smoking); moderate risk (nonsmoking and systolic blood pressure 121-139 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure 81-89 mm Hg, and/or total cholesterol level 200-239 mg/dL [5.2-6.2 mmol/L]); or having any 1, any 2, or all 3 of the following risk factors: blood pressure > or =140/90 mm Hg, total cholesterol level > or =240 mg/dL (6.2 mmol/L), and current cigarette smoking. Body mass index was classified as normal weight (18.5-24.9), overweight (25.0-29.9), or obese (> or =30). Mean follow-up was 32 years. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Participants were 17,643 men and women aged 31 through 64 years, recruited from Chicago-area companies or organizations and free of coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes, or major electrocardiographic abnormalities at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Hospitalization and mortality from CHD, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, beginning at age 65 years. RESULTS In multivariable analyses that included adjustment for systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol level, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for CHD death for obese participants compared with those of normal weight in the same risk category was 1.43 (0.33-6.25) for low risk and 2.07 (1.29-3.31) for moderate risk; for CHD hospitalization, the corresponding results were 4.25 (1.57-11.5) for low risk and 2.04 (1.29-3.24) for moderate risk. Results were similar for other risk groups and for cardiovascular disease, but stronger for diabetes (eg, low risk: 11.0 [2.21-54.5] for mortality and 7.84 [3.95-15.6] for hospitalization). CONCLUSION For individuals with no cardiovascular risk factors as well as for those with 1 or more risk factors, those who are obese in middle age have a higher risk of hospitalization and mortality from CHD, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in older age than those who are normal weight.
Long‐term administration of pegylated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor dramatically improved cytopenias in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome

Summary. To date, there are no curative therapeutic options for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) other than allogeneic stem cell transplantation. We treated an MDS patient with 10 µg/kg pegylated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor (rHuMGDF) for more than 450 d. The patient's platelet counts increased from < 10 × 109/l to 50 × 109/l. Interestingly, haemoglobin levels increased dramatically and reached over 13 g/dl without additional transfusion. Adverse events and neutralizing antibodies were not observed during treatment, suggesting that the long‐term administration of rHuMGDF might be of clinical benefit to patients with MDS.
Circadian Clock Genes in the Metabolism of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common disease, which is characterized by the accumulation of triglycerides in the hepatocytes without excess alcohol intake. Circadian rhythms can participate in lipid, glucose, and cholesterol metabolism and are closely related to metabolism seen in this disease. Circadian clock genes can modulate liver lipid metabolism. Desynchrony of circadian rhythms and the influences imparted by external environmental stimuli can increase morbidity. By contrast, synchronizing circadian rhythms can help to alleviate the metabolic disturbance seen in NAFLD. In this review, we have discussed the current research connections that exist between the circadian clock and the metabolism of NAFLD, and we have specifically focused on the key circadian clock genes, Bmal1, Clock, Rev-Erbs, Rors, Pers, Crys, Nocturnin, and DECs.
Delay-Dependent Stability Criteria for Reaction–Diffusion Neural Networks With Time-Varying Delays

This paper studies the global asymptotic stability problem of a class of reaction-diffusion neural networks with time-varying delays. To overcome the difficulty caused by the partial differential term, a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is proposed, and a partial differential equation technique together with a linear operator approach are also applied to obtain the delay-dependent stability criteria, which are less conservative than the existing results. Finally, simulation examples are given to verify and illustrate the theoretical analysis.
Carroll structures, null geometry, and conformal isometries

We study the concept of Carrollian spacetime starting from its underlying fiber-bundle structure. The latter admits an Ehresmann connection, which enables a natural separation of time and space, preserved by the subset of Carrollian diffeomorphisms. These allow for the definition of Carrollian tensors and the structure at hand provides the designated tools for describing the geometry of null hypersurfaces embedded in Lorentzian manifolds. Using these tools, we investigate the conformal isometries of general Carrollian spacetimes and their relationship with the BMS group.
Energetic Ion and Electron Irradiation of the Icy Galilean Satellites

Abstract Galileo Orbiter measurements of energetic ions (20 keV to 100 MeV) and electrons (20–700 keV) in Jupiter's magnetosphere are used, in conjunction with the JPL electron model ( 6 years, whereas micrometer depths on Europa are fully processed in ∼10 years. Most observations of surface composition are limited to optical depths of ∼1 mm, which are in direct contact with the space environment. Incident flux modeling includes Stormer deflection by the Ganymede dipole magnetic field, likely variable over that satellite's irradiation history. Delivered energy flux of ∼8×10 10 keV (cm 2 -s) −1 at Europa is comparable to total internal heat flux in the same units from tidal and radiogenic sources, while exceeding that for solar UV energies (>6 eV) relevant to ice chemistry. Particle energy fluxes to Ganymede's equator and Callisto are similar at ∼2–3×10 8 keV (cm 2 -s) −1 with 5×10 9 at Ganymede's polar cap, the latter being comparable to radiogenic energy input. Rates of change in optical reflectance and molecular composition on Europa, and on Ganymede's polar cap, are strongly driven by energy from irradiation, even in relatively young regions. Irradiation of nonice materials can produce SO 2 and CO 2 , detected on Callisto and Europa, and simple to complex hydrocarbons. Iogenic neutral atoms and meteoroids deliver negligible energy ∼10 4–5 keV (cm 2 -s) −1 but impacts of the latter are important for burial or removal of irradiation products. Downward transport of radiation produced oxidants and hydrocarbons could deliver significant chemical energy into the satellite interiors for astrobiological evolution in putative sub-surface oceans.
Differential Associations of Deprivation and Threat With Cognitive Control and Fear Conditioning in Early Childhood

Early-life adversity (ELA) is strongly associated with risk for psychopathology. Within adversity, deprivation, and threat may lead to psychopathology through different intermediary pathways. Specifically, deprivation, defined as the absence of expected cognitive and social inputs, is associated with lower performance on complex cognitive tasks whereas threatening experiences, defined as the presence of experiences that reflect harm to the child, are associated with atypical fear learning and emotional processes. However, distinct associations of deprivation and threat on behavioral outcomes have not been examined in early childhood. The present study examines how deprivation and threat are associated with cognitive and emotional outcomes in early childhood. Children 4–7 years old completed behavioral tasks assessing cognitive control (N = 58) and fear conditioning (N = 45); deprivation and threat were assessed using child interview and parent questionnaires. Regression analyses were performed including deprivation and threat scores and controls for age, gender, and IQ. Because this is the first time these variables have been examined in early childhood, interactions with age were also examined. Deprivation, but not threat was associated with worse performance on the cognitive control task. Threat, but not deprivation interacted with age to predict fear learning. Young children who experienced high levels of threat showed evidence of fear learning measured by differential skin conductance response even at the earliest age measured. In contrast, for children not exposed to threat, fear learning emerged only in older ages. Children who experienced higher levels of threat also showed blunted reactivity measured by amplitude of skin conductance response to the reinforced stimuli regardless of age. Results suggest differential influences of deprivation and threat on cognitive and emotional outcomes even in early childhood. Future work should examine the neural mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes and link changes with increased risk for negative outcomes associated with adversity exposure, such as psychopathology.
On models for performance evaluation and cache resources placement in multi-cache networks. (Sur des modèles pour l'évaluation de performance et le placement des ressources de cache dans les réseaux multi-cache)

Au cours des dernieres annees, les fournisseurs de contenu ont connu une forte augmentation des demandes de contenus video et de services riches en media. Compte tenu des limites de la mise a l'echelle du reseau et au-dela des reseaux de diffusion de contenu, les fournisseurs de services Internet developpent leurs propres systemes de mise en cache afin d'ameliorer la performance du reseau. Ces facteurs expliquent l'enthousiasme a l'egard du concept de reseau centre sur le contenu et de sa fonction de mise en cache en reseau. La quantification analytique de la performance de la mise en cache n'est toutefois pas suffisamment exploree dans la litterature. De plus, la mise en place d'un systeme de caching efficace au sein d'une infrastructure reseau est tres complexe et demeure une problematique ouverte. Pour traiter ces questions, nous presentons d'abord dans cette these un modele generique et precis de cache nomme MACS (Markov chain-based Approximation of Caching Systems) qui peut etre adapte tres facilement pour representer differents schemas de mise en cache et qui peut etre utilise pour calculer differentes mesures de performance des reseaux multi-cache. Nous avons ensuite aborde le probleme de l'allocation des ressources de cache dans les reseaux avec capacite de caching. Moyennant notre outil analytique MACS, nous presentons une approche permettant de resoudre le compromis entre differentes mesures de performance en utilisant l'optimisation multi-objectif et nous proposons une adaptation de la metaheuristique GRASP pour resoudre le probleme d'optimisation.
Size heterogeneity of Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharides in outer membranes and culture supernatant membrane fragments

Enterobacteriaceae cells growing in liquid media shed fragments of their outer membranes. These fragments, which may constitute a biologically important form of gram-negative bacterial endotoxin, have been reported to contain proteins, phospholipids, and lipopolysaccharides (LPS). In this study we compared the sizes of LPS molecules in shed membrane fragments and outer membranes from cells growing in broth cultures. Using conditional mutants of Salmonella typhimurium which incorporate specific sugars into LPS, we analyzed radiolabeled LPS by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This technique revealed that S. typhimurium LPS are more heterogeneous than previously known; molecules possessing from 0 to more than 30 O-chain repeat units were identified in outer membranes, supernatant fragments, and purified LPS. The size distributions of LPS molecules in outer membranes and supernatant fragments were similar; supernatant fragments appeared to be slightly enriched in molecules with long O-polysaccharide chains. Our results indicate the LPS molecules of many sizes are synthesized, translocated to outer membranes, and released into culture supernatants. Since the hydrophilic O-polysaccharides extend from bacterial surfaces into the aqueous environment, our findings suggest that the cell surface topography of this bacterium may be very irregular. We also speculate that heterogeneity in the degree of polymerization of O-antigenic side chains may influence the interactions of the toxic moiety of LPS (lipid A) with host constituents.
Calcium Spiking Patterns and the Role of the Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase CCaMK in Lateral Root Base Nodulation of Sesbania rostrata[C][W]

Nodulation factor (NF) signal transduction in the legume-rhizobium symbiosis involves calcium oscillations that are instrumental in eliciting nodulation. To date, Ca2+ spiking has been studied exclusively in the intracellular bacterial invasion of growing root hairs in zone I. This mechanism is not the only one by which rhizobia gain entry into their hosts; the tropical legume Sesbania rostrata can be invaded intercellularly by rhizobia at cracks caused by lateral root emergence, and this process is associated with cell death for formation of infection pockets. We show that epidermal cells at lateral root bases respond to NFs with Ca2+ oscillations that are faster and more symmetrical than those observed during root hair invasion. Enhanced jasmonic acid or reduced ethylene levels slowed down the Ca2+ spiking frequency and stimulated intracellular root hair invasion by rhizobia, but prevented nodule formation. Hence, intracellular invasion in root hairs is linked with a very specific Ca2+ signature. In parallel experiments, we found that knockdown of the calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase gene of S. rostrata abolished nodule development but not the formation of infection pockets by intercellular invasion at lateral root bases, suggesting that the colonization of the outer cortex is independent of Ca2+ spiking decoding.
Recursive Automatic Target Generation Process in Subpixel Detection

Automatic target generation process (ATGP) has been used in a wide range of applications in hyperspectral image analysis. It performs a sequence of orthogonal subspace projections to extract potential targets of interest. This letter presents a recursive version of the ATGP, which is referred to as the recursive ATGP (RATGP) and has three advantages over the ATGP as follows: 1) there is no need of inverting a matrix as the ATGP does for finding each new target; 2) there is a significant reduction in the computational complexity in the hardware design due to its recursive structure; and 3) there is an automatic stopping rule that can be derived by the Neyman-Pearson detection theory to terminate the algorithm.
Improving classification performance using genetic programming to evolve string kernels

The objective of this work is to present a novel evolutionary-based approach that can create and optimize powerful string kernels using Genetic Programming. The proposed model creates and optimizes a superior kernel, which is expressed as a combination of string kernels, their parameters, and corresponding weights. As a proof of concept to demonstrate the feasibility of the presented approach, classification performance of the newly evolved kernel versus a group of conventional single string kernels was evaluated using a challenging classification problem from biology domain known as theclassification of binder and non-binder peptides to Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II. Using 4794 strings containing 3346 binder and 1448 non-binder peptides, the present approach achieved Area Under Curve=0.80, while the 11 tested conventional string kernels have Area Under Curve ranging from 0.59 to 0.75. This significant improvement of the optimized evolved kernel over all other tested string kernels demonstrates the validity of this approach for enhancing Support Vector Machine classification. The presented approach is not exclusive for biological strings. It can be applied to solve pattern recognition problems for other types of strings as well as natural language processing.
Rabies virus infection: An update

There are still many unanswered questions in the pathogenesis of rabies, but recent progress has been made. During most of the long incubation period of rabies, the virus likely remains close the site of viral entry. Centripetal spread to the central nervous system and spread within the central nervous system occur by fast axonal transport. Neuronal dysfunction, rather than neuronal death, is responsible for the clinical features and fatal outcome in natural rabies. Recent work has changed our perspective on the ecology of rabies virus under particular circumstances in certain species. Hopefully, advances in our understanding of rabies pathogenesis will lead to advances in the treatment of this dreaded disease.
A Vertical Timeline Visualization for the Exploratory Analysis of Dialogue Data

This paper presents a novel vertical timeline information-visualization technique developed to support the analysis of human-computer dialogue data. The technique uses combined linked views including distorted views to effectively communicate the timing of dialogue events while presenting text in such a manner that it is easily readable. A prototype has been implemented and tested to demonstrate the technique's effectiveness for supporting exploration and revealing previously unsuspected patterns.
High Platform Elevations Highlight the Role of Storms and Spring Tides in Salt Marsh Evolution

We combine sea level records and repeat lidar surveys at 8 sites in the United Kingdom and the United States to explore controls on marsh accretion. We compare marsh elevations relative to sea level as well as lidar-derived marsh accretion rates to simple 0-dimensional settling simulations in order to explore constraints on suspended sediment concentration and particle size. We find that the marsh platforms examined occupy a narrow range of elevations in the upper tidal frame, situated between Mean High Tide $MHT$ and the Observed Highest High Tide $OHHT$. Under sinusoidal tidal forcing, common in marsh accretion models, marshes at these elevations are never inundated, highlighting the inadequacy of sinusoidal forcing in numerical models of salt marshes. Forcing the model with year-long tidal records, deposition rates follow hyperbolic contour lines when expressed as a function of sediment concentration and median grain size. We also observe that when using a median sediment grain size $D_{50} = 50 \ \mu m$ and sediment concentrations derived from satellite data, modeled deposition rates are much lower than when using field data. We find that the deposition of coarse, concentrated sediment is necessary for platforms in the upper tidal frame to withstand sea level rise, suggesting a strong dependance on infrequent high-deposition events. This is particularly true for marshes that are very high in the tidal frame, making accretion increasingly storm-driven as marsh platforms gain elevation. Finally, we reflect on the capacity of marshes to regenerate after erosion events within a context of changing sediment supply conditions.
Lessons from Real-World Reinforcement Learning in a Customer Support Bot

In this work, we describe practical lessons we have learned from successfully using reinforcement learning (RL) to improve key business metrics of the Microsoft Virtual Agent for customer support. While our current RL use cases focus on components that rely on techniques from natural language processing, ranking, and recommendation systems, we believe many of our findings are generally applicable. Through this article, we highlight certain issues that RL practitioners may encounter in similar types of applications as well as offer practical solutions to these challenges.
The (ir)regularity of Tor and Ext

We investigate the asymptotic behaviour of Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of Ext and Tor, with respect to the homological degree, over complete intersection rings. We derive from a theorem of Gulliksen a linearity result for the regularity of Ext modules in high homological degrees. We show a similar result for Tor, under the additional hypothesis that high enough Tor modules are supported in dimension at most one; we then provide examples showing that the behaviour could be pretty hectic when the latter condition is not satisfied.
Deep Learning to Predict Student Outcomes

The increasingly fast development cycle for online course contents, along with the diverse student demographics in each online classroom, make real-time student outcomes prediction an interesting topic for both industrial research and practical needs. In this paper, we tackle the problem of real-time student performance prediction in an on-going course using a domain adaptation framework. This framework is a system trained on labeled student outcome data from previous coursework but is meant to be deployed on another course. In particular, we introduce a GritNet architecture, and develop an unsupervised domain adaptation method to transfer a GritNet trained on a past course to a new course without any student outcome label. Our results for real Udacity student graduation predictions show that the GritNet not only generalizes well from one course to another across different Nanodegree programs, but also enhances real-time predictions explicitly in the first few weeks when accurate predictions are most challenging.
What Do People See in a Twenty-Second Glimpse of Bivariate Vector Field Visualizations?

Little is known about how people learn from a brief glimpse of three-dimensional (3D) bivariate vector field visualizations and about how well visual features can guide behavior. Here we report empirical study results on the use of color, texture, and length to guide viewing of bivariate glyphs: these three visual features are mapped to the first integer variable (v1) and length to the second quantitative variable (v2). Participants performed two tasks within 20 seconds: (1) MAX: find the largest v2 when v1 is fixed; (2) SEARCH: find a specific bivariate variable shown on the screen in a vector field. Our first study with eighteen participants performing these tasks showed that the randomized vector positions, although they lessened viewers' ability to group vectors, did not reduce task accuracy compared to structured vector fields. This result may support that these color, texture, and length can provide to a certain degree, guide viewers' attention to task-relevant regions. The second study measured eye movement to quantify viewers' behaviors with three-errors (scanning, recognition, and decision errors) and one-behavior (refixation) metrics. Our results showed two dominant search strategies: drilling and scanning. Coloring tended to restrict eye movement to the task-relevant regions of interest, enabling drilling. Length tended to support scanners who quickly wandered around at different v1 levels. Drillers had significantly less errors than scanners and the error rates for color and texture were also lowest. And length had limited discrimination power than color and texture as a 3D visual guidance. Our experiment results may suggest that using categorical visual feature could help obtain the global structure of a vector field visualization. We provide the first benchmark of the attention cost of seeing a bivariate vector on average about 5 items per second.