Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maternal preconception body mass index and offspring cord blood DNA methylation: Exploration of early life origins of disease

Maternal obesity is associated with a variety of common diseases in the offspring. One possible underlying mechanism could be maternal obesity induced alterations in DNA methylation. However, this hypothesis is yet to be tested. We performed epigenomic mapping of cord blood among 308 Black mother‐infant pairs delivered at term at the Boston Medical Center using the Illumina HumanMethylation27 BeadChip. Linear regression and pathway analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations between DNA methylation levels and prepregnancy maternal BMI (<25, 25–30, ≥30 kg/m2). The methylation levels of 20 CpG sites were associated with maternal BMI at a significance level of P‐value <10−4 in the overall sample, and boys and girls, separately. One CpG site remained statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons (FDR corrected P‐value = 0.04) and was annotated to a potential cancer gene, ZCCHC10. Some of the other CpG site annotated genes appear to be critical to the development of cancers and cardiovascular diseases (i.e., WNT16, C18orf8, ANGPTL2, SAPCD2, ADCY3, PRR16, ERBB2, DOK2, PLAC1). Significant findings from pathway analysis, such as infectious and inflammatory and lipid metabolism pathways, lends support for the potential impact of maternal BMI on the above stated disorders. This study demonstrates that prepregnancy maternal BMI might lead to alterations in offspring DNA methylation in genes relevant to the development of a range of complex chronic diseases, providing evidence of trans‐generational influence on disease susceptibility via epigenetic mechanism. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 55:223–230, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Phase-field models for anisotropic interfaces.

The inclusion of anisotropic surface free energy and anisotropic linear interface kinetics in phase-field models is studied for the solidification of a pure material. The formulation is described for a two-dimensional system with a smooth crystal-melt interface and for a surface free energy that varies smoothly with orientation, in which case a quite general dependence of the surface free energy and kinetic coefficient on orientation can be treated; it is assumed that the anisotropy is mild enough that missing orientations do not occur. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to recover the appropriate anisotropic form of the Gibbs-Thomson equation in the sharp-interface limit in which the width of the diffuse interface is thin compared to its local radius of curvature. It is found that the surface free energy and the thickness of the diffuse interface have the same anisotropy, whereas the kinetic coefficient has an anisotropy characterized by the product of the interface thickness with the intrinsic mobility of the phase field.
A compact ultra wideband antenna with triple-sense circular polarization

In this letter, a new compact antenna design with triple-sense circular polarization (CP) is presented for ultra-wideband (UWB) communication applications. The UWB property is obtained by utilizing a compact complementary planar monopole. In order to achieve multiband CP waves on base of UWB operation, the measurement has been taken such as etching a T-shaped slit in the antenna ground and adding a rectangular parasitic stub to the antenna radiator. The antenna has been fabricated and measured. Good agreement is achieved between the simulation and measurement, which shows that the presented antenna covers the UWB operation from 3.1GHz to 11.8GHz with good CP waves at Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) (3.63-3.77 GHz bands) for left hand CP (LHCP), the wireless local area network band (WLAN) (4.95-5.18 GHz bands) for right hand CP (RHCP), and X band (9.55-9.97 GHz bands) for left hand CP (LHCP).
The Influence of Television and Radio Advertising on Candidate Evaluations: Results from a Large Scale Randomized Experiment

This paper reports the results of the first large-scale experiment involving paid political advertising. During the opening months of the 2006 Texas gubernatorial campaign, approximately $2 million of television and radio advertising on behalf of the incumbent candidate were experimentally deployed. In each experimental media market, the launch date and volume of television advertising were randomly assigned. Launch dates of radio advertising were randomly assigned as well. In order to gauge movement in public opinion, a tracking poll conducted brief telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 registered voters each day; a total of 30,757 completed interviews over the course of the month-long experiment and brief follow-up one month after the conclusion of the television campaign. Results indicate strong but short-lived effects of television advertising and somewhat equivocal effects of radio advertising. The ephemeral nature of these effects is more consistent with psychological models of priming or emotions than models of Bayesian learning.
The Response of US Equity Values to the 2004 Presidential Election

This paper analyzes changes in US equity values around the 2004 presidential election. At 4:00 PM on November 2, trading in George Bush’s victory contract on Tradesports.com implied a probable defeat; early November 3, Bush was the winner. Because no other important event occurred in that interval, the surprising outcome likely caused the percentage increases in the equity market index and the equity indexes of almost all industry groups. Statistical tests reveal that many of these increases are significant in comparison with the distributions of the indexes’ daily returns over eight nearby, non-election years; some indexes posted increases that were comparatively quite large. These results should convince investors and managers that at least some elections can substantially influence their share prices.
Membrane Tethering and Nucleotide-dependent Conformational Changes Drive Mitochondrial Genome Maintenance (Mgm1) Protein-mediated Membrane Fusion

Background: Dynamin proteins shape membranes by promoting membrane curvature, fission, and fusion. Results: Cryo-EM demonstrates how the dynamin-related protein Mgm1 assembles onto and tethers membranes followed by nucleotide-dependent conformational changes. Conclusion: Mgm1 may mediate mitochondrial fusion by bridging opposing membranes and undergoing structural transitions. Significance: This study provides new mechanistic details of how dynamins may function as fusion molecules. Cellular membrane remodeling events such as mitochondrial dynamics, vesicle budding, and cell division rely on the large GTPases of the dynamin superfamily. Dynamins have long been characterized as fission molecules; however, how they mediate membrane fusion is largely unknown. Here we have characterized by cryo-electron microscopy and in vitro liposome fusion assays how the mitochondrial dynamin Mgm1 may mediate membrane fusion. Using cryo-EM, we first demonstrate that the Mgm1 complex is able to tether opposing membranes to a gap of ∼15 nm, the size of mitochondrial cristae folds. We further show that the Mgm1 oligomer undergoes a dramatic GTP-dependent conformational change suggesting that s-Mgm1 interactions could overcome repelling forces at fusion sites and that ultrastructural changes could promote the fusion of opposing membranes. Together our findings provide mechanistic details of the two known in vivo functions of Mgm1, membrane fusion and cristae maintenance, and more generally shed light onto how dynamins may function as fusion proteins.
Activity of antioxidative enzymes and concentration of malondialdehyde as oxidative status markers in women with newly diagnosed Graves-Basedow disease and after thiamazole therapy leading to euthyroidism.

UNLABELLED INTRODUCTION. Hyperthyroidism in the course of Graves-Basedow disease leads to intensification of oxidative processes and increased production of free oxygen radicals. It results in abnormal oxidative status of the organism. OBJECTIVES Aim of this work was to assess the dynamics of oxidative status changes in women with Graves-Basedow disease before and after treatment with thiamazole. PATIENTS AND METHODS Studies were carried out in 20 women with newly diagnosed hyperthyroidism in the course of Graves-Basedow disease and in 15 healthy women. Measurements of activity of antioxidant enzymes--superoxide dismutase (cytosolic copper/zinc isoform--Cu/ZnSOD, mitochondrial manganese isoform--MnSOD and extracellular copper/zinc isoform--EC-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), as well as of malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were performed twice, i.e. before the treatment and after 3-7 months of thiamazole therapy (euthyroidism). RESULTS Before the treatment, higher MnSOD plasma activity and lower EC-SOD activity were observed in women with hyperthyroidism in comparison with the control group, whereas the erythrocyte Cu/ZnSOD activity did not differ between the groups. Besides, women with hyperthyroidism had higher GPx activity in red blood cells. In this group studies have demonstrated higher plasma MDA levels, without any differences between the groups in MDA levels in red blood cells. After thiamazole therapy no differences could be demonstrated in MnSOD, EC-SOD, Cu/ZnSOD and GPx activities and MDA level between the groups. CONCLUSIONS Women with hyperthyroidism in the course of Graves-Basedow disease experience abnormal oxidative status of the organism, and induction of euthyroidism after therapy with thiamazole results in resolution of these abnormalities.
Real-Time PCR Approach for Detection of Environmental Sources of Campylobacter Strains Colonizing Broiler Flocks

ABSTRACT Reducing colonization of poultry flocks by Campylobacter spp. is a key strategy in the control and prevention human campylobacteriosis. Horizontal transmission of campylobacters, from in and around the farm, is the presumed route of flock colonization. However, the identification and prioritization of sources are confounded by the ubiquitous nature of these organisms in the environment, their poor rates of recovery by standard culture methods, and the need for cost-effective and timely methods for strain-specific comparison. A real-time PCR screening test for the strain-specific detection of campylobacters in environmental samples has been developed to address this issue. To enable this approach, fluorescently labeled PCR oligonucleotide probes suitable for a LightCycler-based assay were designed to match a highly variable DNA segment within the flaA short variable region (SVR) of Campylobacter jejuni or C. coli. The capacity of such probes to provide strain-specific tools was investigated by using bacterial cultures and spiked and naturally contaminated poultry fecal and environmental samples. The sensitivity of two representative probes was estimated, by using two different C. jejuni strains, to be 1.3 × 102 to 3.7 × 102 CFU/ml in bacterial cultures and 6.6 × 102 CFU/ml in spiked fecal samples. The specificity of the SVR for C. jejuni and C. coli was confirmed by using a panel of strains comprising other Campylobacter species and naturally contaminated samples. The approach was field tested by sampling the environment and feces of chickens of two adjacently located poultry houses on a conventional broiler farm throughout the life of one flock. All environmental samples were enriched for 2 days, and then DNA was prepared and stored. Where feasible, campylobacter isolates were also recovered and stored for subsequent testing. A strain-specific probe based on the SVR of the strain isolated from the first positive chicken fecal sample was developed. This probe was then used to screen the stored environmental samples by real-time PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to compare recovered environmental and fecal isolates to assess the specificity of the method. The results established the proof of principle that strain-specific probes, based on the SVR of flaA, can identify a flock-colonizing strain in DNA preparations from enriched environmental cultures. Such a novel strategy provides the opportunity to investigate the epidemiology of campylobacters in poultry flocks and allows targeted biosecurity interventions to be developed. The strategy may also have wider applications for the tracking of specific campylobacter strains in heavily contaminated environments.
Including physicians in bundled hospital care payments: time to revisit an old idea?

For those unfamiliar with the US health care system, Medicare’s hospital payment likely makes little sense. Medicare uses the prospective payment system to pay a hospital a fixed amount of money for a hospitalization: the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) payment. The DRG payment covers all hospital-related expenses, except for physician services. For instance, the radiology technician who obtains the x-ray is paid under the DRG payment, but the radiologist who reads the x-ray is paid separately for each film read. The nurse who delivers a medication is paid under the DRG payment, but the physician who orders the medication is paid separately for each visit. Most private health plans mimic this fragmented payment method. Including physicians in the DRG payment has been both discussed and demonstrated. The first legislative proposal for Medicare’s prospective payment system in the early 1980s included physicians, as did a 1987 Reagan administration proposal that focused specifically on radiologists, anesthesiologists, and pathologists. Medicare has successfully experimented
Three essays on the career transitions of information technology professionals

This dissertation begins a research program examining why IT professionals leave their organization and occupation. In answering this broad research question, I conduct three studies to investigate the career transitions of IT professionals across organizational and occupational boundaries. Study 1 is a qualitative and quantitative review of IT turnover intent literature. Based on the qualitative review, I develop an integrative model of IT turnover intent by placing antecedents of IT turnover intentions into a nomological network. This integrative model of turnover intent is subsequently tested with meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Results from meta-analytic structural equation modeling strongly support a partially mediated model where distal organizational, job and personal predictors have both direct as well as indirect paths through the proximal work attitudes to turnover intentions. An important implication arising from this review is the scarcity of research examining turnover behavior and its consequences. In addition, there is limited research investigating career transitions across occupational boundaries. To address this gap, I conduct two additional studies examining career transitions and their associated consequences. Study 2 focuses on individuals' careers by asking whether there are prototypical career paths in IT and what their consequences are. In answering this question of prototypical careers, I draw on existing literature examining careers in the technical and professional occupations and on literature examining boundaryless careers. In answering the question of consequences, I draw on human capital theory to hypothesize differential returns to career paths. Using career sequence comparison and cluster analyses, I analyze longitudinal work history data to identify prototypical career paths of IT professionals. Results indicate that IT professionals' ATTENTION: The Singapore Copyright Act applies to the use of this document. Nanyang Technological University Library
Ultraviolet-B- and Ozone-Induced Biochemical Changes in Antioxidant Enzymes of Arabidopsis thaliana

Earlier studies with Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to ultraviolet B (UV-B) and ozone (O3) have indicated the differential responses of superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase. In this study, we have investigated whether A. thaliana genotype Landsberg erecta and its flavonoid-deficient mutant transparent testa (tt5) is capable of metabolizing UV-B- and O3-induced activated oxygen species by invoking similar antioxidant enzymes. UV-B exposure preferentially enhanced guaiacol-peroxidases, ascorbate peroxidase, and peroxidases specific to coniferyl alcohol and modified the substrate affinity of ascorbate peroxidase. O3 exposure enhanced superoxide dismutase, peroxidases, glutathione reductase, and ascorbate peroxidase to a similar degree and modified the substrate affinity of both glutathione reductase and ascorbate peroxidase. Both UV-B and O3 exposure enhanced similar Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase isoforms. New isoforms of peroxidases and ascorbate peroxidase were synthesized in tt5 plants irradiated with UV-B. UV-B radiation, in contrast to O3, enhanced the activated oxygen species by increasing membrane-localized NADPH-oxidase activity and decreasing catalase activities. These results collectively suggest that (a) UV-B exposure preferentially induces peroxidase-related enzymes, whereas O3 exposure invokes the enzymes of superoxide dismutase/ascorbate-glutathione cycle, and (b) in contrast to O3, UV-B exposure generated activated oxygen species by increasing NADPH-oxidase activity.
Genetic Polymorphisms of the CYP19A1 Gene and Breast Cancer Survival

The CYP19A1 protein (aromatase) plays a critical role in estrogen biosynthesis and thus may be related to the progression of breast cancer. We examined the association between CYP19A1 genetic polymorphisms and breast cancer survival in a cohort of 1,136 patients who were recruited as part of a population-based case-control study in Shanghai, China from 1996 to 1998 and who has donated a DNA sample to the study. Patients were followed for cancer recurrence and mortality through July 2005. Nineteen haplotype tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the CYP19A1 gene were evaluated. For each of the five SNPs located in haplotype block 2, patients homozygous for the minor alleles had a reduced 5-year disease-free survival rate compared with those carrying the major allele. The age-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were 1.5 (1.1-2.1), 2.1 (1.2-3.6), 1.5 (1.1-2.0), 1.4 (1.0-2.0), and 1.4 (1.0-2.0) for hCV1664178, rs12900137, rs730154, rs936306, and rs1902586, respectively. Haplotype analyses showed that the haplotype CCCTA (all minor alleles of the five SNPs in block 2) was associated with decreased disease-free survival (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1-3.3). The nonsynonymous SNP, rs700519 (Arg264Cys), located in haplotype block 4, was also associated with breast cancer survival. The age-adjusted HR for the Cys/Cys (T/T) genotype was 2.2 (95% CI, 1.2-4.1) for overall survival and 2.1 (95% CI, 1.1-3.9) for disease-free survival, compared with those carrying the Arg (C) allele. These results suggest that polymorphisms in the CYP19A1 gene may have effects on breast cancer prognosis. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(11):2115–22)
Cyclical Asymmetry in State Fiscal Policy: Is It Biased Toward Big or Small Government?

Recent research has shown that fluctuations in revenue availability over the business cycle cause the adoption of fiscal policy that amplifies economic cycles. Building on theoretical models that address the political economy of fiscal expansions and adjustments and the fiscal policy preferences of voters and policymakers, this article examines whether those procyclical effects are symmetric between boom and recession. The analysis reveals that the procyclical effects of cyclical revenue increases (in upturn years) on expenditures are smaller than those of cyclical revenue decreases (in downturn years), whereas the procyclical effects of cyclical revenue increases on tax rates are larger than those of cyclical revenue decreases. That is, policymakers prefer tax cuts to spending increases in pursuing expansionary fiscal policy during booms and spending cuts to tax increases in making fiscal adjustments during recessions. Taken together, the results suggest that cyclical fluctuations in revenue availability have procyclical effects on state fiscal policies in a manner that is asymmetric between boom and recession and fiscally conservative.
Understanding connectivity to international markets: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Improving freight connectivity is increasingly a topic at the centre of the international trade and transport policy agendas. An examination of available documents and studies in both the policy-making and the academic fields shows that the concept of freight connectivity has often been defined in different ways, and thus has taken a variety of meanings. This poses the question on what connectivity is and what are its determinants in the context of international trade. We are not aware of any studies that have analysed, in a systematic way, the different perspectives and determinants of freight connectivity so as to increase access to international markets. This paper seeks to fill this gap by performing a systematic literature review that spans disciplines such as Transport Engineering, Transport and International Economics, and Supply Chain Management. The outcome of this examination is a multidisciplinary framework that hopefully will help stakeholders to understand freight connectivity to international markets better, as well as guide future research and analysis in policy-making.
Cost Effectiveness of Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty

Total knee arthroplasty now exceeds total hip arthroplasty as the most commonly performed joint replacement. Projections suggest the need for revision knee arthroplasty in the future will produce an immense economic burden. The excellent cost effectiveness of primary knee arthroplasty has been well established. This article explores the cost effectiveness of revision knee arthroplasty, and makes a comparison of costs between different international health care systems. While revision knee arthroplasty is more costly, technically difficult, and complicated than primary knee arthroplasty, it is still a cost effective means of improving function, pain relief, and quality of life. The role of national arthroplasty registries will be important in guiding decision making toward reducing the requirements for revision surgery.Level of Evidence: Prognostic study, level II-1 (prospective study). See Guidelines for Authors for complete description of levels of evidence.
Health monitoring of fetal ultrasound image using active contour models

Analysis of the health condition of the fetus on ultrasound is needed by medical personnel as well as of pregnant women who are pregnant. At a young age the pregnancy is still a great time to do the analysis on the condition of the baby in the womb. But most of this process can only be done by experts, namely medical personnel. It is necessary for a segmentation process on the results of the ultrasound image processing that aims to help medical personnel, patients are pregnant women and the general public to determine how the development of the fetus to grow healthy or whether there is any abnormality. The parameters which will be used as the basis for determining the level of health of the fetus in early pregnancy, the length of the fetus (Crown Rump Length) and the gestational sac diameter (gestational sac). The parameters are expected to be visible after the ultrasound image through a phase of segmentation by using Active Contour Models. This method uses the principle of minimizing the energy to detect specific feature in the image.
Late Spontaneous Recanalization of Chronic Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Early spontaneous recanalization of the middle cerebral artery in acute ischemic phase artery is not uncommon, whereas the late spontaneous recanalization of chronic occluded artery is a very rare phenomenon and exact incidence and the timing of this event have not been quantified. We present a case in which late spontaneous recanalization of long-lasting middle cerebral artery occlusion occurred in the absence of surgical, endovascular and thrombolytic treatments.