Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Projecting diabetes prevalence among Mexicans aged 50 years and older: the Future Elderly Model-Mexico (FEM-Mexico)

Objective Diabetes has been growing as a major health problem and a significant burden on the population and on health systems of developing countries like Mexico that are also ageing fast. The goal of the study was to estimate the future prevalence of diabetes among Mexico’s older adults to assess the current and future health and economic burden of diabetes. Design A simulation study using longitudinal data from three waves (2001, 2003 and 2012) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study and adapting the Future Elderly Model to simulate four scenarios of hypothetical interventions that would reduce diabetes incidence and to project the future diabetes prevalence rates among populations 50 years and older. Participants Data from 14 662 participants with information on self-reported diabetes, demographic characteristics, health and mortality. Outcome measures We obtained, for each scenario of diabetes incidence reduction, the following summary measures for the population aged 50 and older from 2012 to 2050: prevalence of diabetes, total population with diabetes, number of medical visits. Results In 2012, there were approximately 20.7 million persons aged 50 and older in Mexico; 19.3% had been diagnosed with diabetes and the 2001–2003 diabetes incidence was 4.3%. The no-intervention scenario shows that the prevalence of diabetes is projected to increase from 19.3% in 2012 to 34.0% in 2050. Under the 30% incidence reduction scenario, the prevalence of diabetes will be 28.6% in 2050. Comparing the no-intervention scenario with the 30% and 60% diabetes incidence reduction scenarios, we estimate a total of 816 320 and 1.6 million annual averted cases of diabetes, respectively, for the year 2020. Discussion Our study underscores the importance of diabetes as a disease by itself and also the potential healthcare demands and social burden of this disease and the need for policy interventions to reduce diabetes prevalence.
Author's Personal Copy Spatial Smoothing Systematically Biases the Localization of Reward-related Brain Activity

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Nucleus accumbens (NAcc) Ventral striatum (VS) Spatial smoothing Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Reward Monetary incentive delay (MID) task Neuroimaging methods with enhanced spatial resolution such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) suggest that the subcortical striatum plays a critical role in human reward processing. Analysis of FMRI data requires several preprocessing steps, some of which entail tradeoffs. For instance, while spatial smoothing can enhance statistical power, it may also bias localization towards regions that contain more gray than white matter. In a meta-analysis and reanalysis of an existing dataset, we sought to determine whether spatial smoothing could systematically bias the spatial localization of foci related to reward anticipation in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). An activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis revealed that peak ventral striatal ALE foci for studies that used smaller spatial smoothing kernels (i.e. b6 mm FWHM) were more anterior than those identified for studies that used larger kernels (i.e. >7 mm FWHM). Additionally, subtraction analysis of findings for studies that used smaller versus larger smoothing kernels revealed a significant cluster of differential activity in the left relatively anterior NAcc (Talairach coordinates: − 10, 9, −1). A second meta-analysis revealed that larger smoothing kernels were correlated with more posterior localizations of NAcc activation foci (p b 0.015), but revealed no significant associations with other potentially relevant parameters (including voxel volume, magnet strength, and publication date). Finally, repeated analysis of a representative dataset processed at different smoothing kernels (i.e., 0–12 mm) also indicated that smoothing systematically yielded more posterior activation foci in the NAcc (p b 0.005). Taken together, these findings indicate that spatial smoothing can systematically bias the spatial localization of striatal activity. These findings have implications both for historical interpretation of past findings related to reward processing and for the analysis of future studies. Introduction With the improved spatiotemporal resolution of neuroimaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging or FMRI, researchers have become increasingly interested in visualizing activity in subcortical circuits related to reward processing (Knutson and Cooper, 2005; O'Doherty, 2004). Reward processing critically recruits a …
Interaction of cylinders In proximity under flow-induced vibration

This study examines the influence of a stationary cylinder that is placed in proximity to a flexibly mounted cylinder in the side-by-side arrangement. The problem is investigated with an immersed-boundary formulation of a spectral/hp element based (Nektar-SPM) fluid solver. The numerical method and its implementation is validated with benchmark test cases of the flow past an isolated cylinder in both the stationary and flexibly mounted configurations. The study examines a parametric space spanning 6 center-to-center spacing configurations in the range 1.5D-4D and 13 equispaced reduced velocities in the range 3.0-9.0. The simulations are performed in two-dimensional space and the Reynolds number is held at 100. The response characteristics of the moving cylinder are classified into regimes based on the shape of the response curve and the variation of the r.m.s. lift coefficient. It is shown that the moving cylinder influences the lift and drag force characteristics on the stationary cylinder and the frequency composition in the wake. A detailed look at the frequencies and the relative strengths of the frequencies indicates a diminishing influence of the moving cylinder on the stationary cylinder, both with increasing separation and smaller amplitudes. By examining the wake patterns and monitoring the frequencies in the wake of each cylinder, the interference level is qualified and explained to be the basis of the different families of response. Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge my advisors, Prof. Michael Triantafyllou and Dr. R6mi Bourguet. Their support and guidance have been instrumental in the execution of this research project and an important part of my graduate experience. I would also like to acknowledge Prof. George Karniadakis and members of his research group at Brown University, for giving me access to the Nektar-SPM code and for their help with various aspects of this numerical solver. Many thanks to my friends and labmates from MIT and NUS, for their encouragement , kind words and actions. Their fellowship has made my time here both meaningful and enjoyable. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family for their support of my academic and non-academic pursuits. All of my adult life has been spent in foreign countries, far away from home, and I credit my upbringing and the unfailing support that I have received for where I am today.
Soil Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution on a Floodplain in Japan

The objective of the present study was to increase understanding of the effects of heavy metal pollution and soil properties on microorganisms in relation to the biomass and microbial functional community. Soil samples were collected from aged polluted and reference sites on a floodplain. The soil Cu, Zn and Pb total concentrations were much higher at the polluted sites (average 231.6-309.9 mg kg, 195.7-233.0 mg kg, and 72.4-86.0 mg kg, respectively) than at the reference site (average 33.3-44.0 mg kg, 76.7-98.0 mg kg, and 30.8-41.6 mg kg, respectively), while the available heavy metal concentrations in CaCl2 extraction were similar in all sites. Small seasonal variations in the size of microbial biomass were observed. Ambient soil properties (e.g. total C, N, pH, moisture content, and CEC) affected the soil microbial biomass more than the heavy metal pollution. However, the aged pollution tended to impact on the composition of the microbial community. PICT (pollution-induced community tolerance) test using BIOLOG Ecoplates showed enhanced tolerance of the microbial community to Cu stress in the polluted site. In non polluted but low nutrient, low pH and low moisture soil, the microbial biomass was lower and the microbial community was more vulnerable to Cu stress. In spite of the low heavy metal availability due to ageing, the BIOLOG technique provided sensitive detection of microbial community level changes in PICT analysis.
Interplanetary shocks and the resulting geomagnetically induced currents at the equator

Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) caused by interplanetary shocks represent a serious space weather threat to modern technological infrastructure. The arrival of interplanetary shocks drives magnetosphere and ionosphere current systems, which then induce electric currents at ground level. The impact of these currents at high latitudes has been extensively researched, but the magnetic equator has been largely overlooked. In this paper, we investigate the potential effects of interplanetary shocks on the equatorial region and demonstrate that their magnetic signature is amplified by the equatorial electrojet. This local amplification substantially increases the region's susceptibility to GICs. Importantly, this result applies to both geomagnetic storms and quiet periods and thus represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of adverse space weather impacts on technological infrastructure.
Efficient FPGA Implementations of High-Dimensional Cube Testers on the Stream Cipher Grain-128

Cube testers are a generic class of methods for building distinguishers, based on cube attacks and on algebraic property-testers. In this paper, we report on an efficient FPGA implementation of cube testers on the stream cipher Grain-128. Our best result (a distinguisher on Grain-128 reduced to 237 rounds, out of 256) was achieved after a computation involving 2 clockings of Grain-128, with a 256×32 parallelization. An extrapolation of our results with standard methods suggests the possibility of a distinguishing attack on the full Grain-128 in time 2, which is well below the 2 complexity of exhaustive search. We also describe the method used for finding good cubes (a simple evolutionary algorithm), and report preliminary results on Grain-v1 obtained with a bitsliced C implementation. For instance, running a 30-dimensional cube tester on Grain-128 takes 10 seconds with our FPGA machine, against about 45 minutes with our bitsliced C implementation, and more than a day with a straightforward C implementation.
A Fast, Parallel Spanning Tree Algorithm for Symmetric Multiprocessors (smps)

The ability to provide uniform shared-memory access to a significant number of processors in a single SMP node brings us much closer to the ideal PRAM parallel computer. Many PRAM algorithms can be adapted to SMPs with few modifications. Yet there are few studies that deal with the implementation and performance issues of running PRAM-style algorithms on SMPs. Our study in this paper focuses on implementing parallel spanning tree algorithms on SMPs. Spanning tree is an important problem in the sense that it is the building block for many other parallel graph algorithms and also because it is representative of a large class of irregular combinatorial problems that have simple and efficient sequential implementations and fast PRAM algorithms, but these irregular problems often have no known efficient parallel implementations. Experimental studies have been conducted on related problems (minimum spanning tree and connected components) using parallel computers, but only achieved reasonable speedup on regular graph topologies that can be implicitly partitioned with good locality features or on very dense graphs with limited numbers of vertices. In this paper we present a new randomized algorithm and implementation with superior performance that for the first time achieves parallel speedup on arbitrary graphs (both regular and irregular topologies) when compared with the best sequential implementation for finding a spanning tree. This new algorithm uses several techniques to give an expected running time that scales linearly with the number p of processors for suitably large inputs (n > p 2). As the spanning tree problem is notoriously hard for any parallel implementation to achieve reasonable speedup, our study may shed new light on implementing PRAM algorithms for shared-memory parallel computers. The main results of this paper are 1. A new and practical spanning tree algorithm for symmetric multiprocessors that exhibits parallel speedups on graphs with regular and irregular topologies; and 2. an experimental study of parallel spanning tree algorithms that reveals the superior performance of our new approach compared with the previous algorithms. The source code for these algorithms is freely-available from our web site.
Down-regulation of interleukin 7 receptor (IL-7R) contributes to central nervous system demyelination

Interleukin 7 receptor (IL-7R) has been associated with the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), though the mechanisms are not clear. Because myelin expression is highly conserved between zebrafish and mammals, zebrafish have become an ideal model for studying demyelination. We used a transgenic (Tg; mbp:nfsB-egfp) zebrafish line in which oligodendrocytes expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the larval stage to adulthood. Exposing adult transgenic zebrafish to metronidazole induced demyelination that resembled the morphological changes associated with the early stages of MS. The metronidazole-induced demyelination was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the first time. Microarray analysis revealed down-regulation of IL-7R during demyelination. Targeted knockdown of IL-7R demonstrated that IL-7R is essential for myelination in embryonic and larval zebrafish. Moreover, IL-7R down-regulation induced signaling via the JAK/STAT pathway leading to apoptosis in oligodendrocytes. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of IL-7R in demyelination, and provide a rationale for the development of IL-7R-based therapies for MS and other demyelinating diseases.
A 0.13µm CMOS integrated wireless power receiver for biomedical applications

This paper presents a fully integrated 2.2×2.2mm2, wireless power transfer (WPT) receiver in 0. 13μm CMOS without any external components or post-processing steps. The on-chip receiver coil (Rx) demonstrates a peak measured WPT efficiency of -18.47dB, -20.96dB and -20.13dB at 10mm of separation through air, bovine muscle and 0.2molar NaCl, respectively. Fully integrating the large receiver coil along with supporting circuits introduces new challenges that are addressed in this paper. The receiver employs a synchronous adaptive matching network that guarantees the maximum achievable efficiency for a given resistive load. The proposed WPT rectifier uses feedback to avoid plasma-induced gate-oxide damage and a new dual-supply regulator architecture to achieve high power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) without utilizing any large off-chip capacitors.
EFFECT OF GHRELIN ANTAGONIST ON FOOD AND WATER INTAKE IN OBESE AND TYPE 2 DIABETIC MICE

Background: Ghrelin is the most common orexigenic hormone which acts as starvation signal by acting on hypothalamic neurons. It acts as adipogenic agent. Increased food intake caused by high levels of ghrelin causes increase fat mass. We investigated the possible beneficial role of ghrelin antagonist on food and water intake in obese and type 2 diabetic mice. Methods: This study was carried out at Department of Physiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi in collaboration with National Institute of Health, Islamabad, from Jan to Jun 2013. A total of 50 healthy male BALB/c mice were divided into 5 groups. Group I served as control, groups II and III were obese, and group IV and V were diabetic. Group II, III, IV and V were fed high-fat diet for 4 weeks. Group IV and V were given intraperitoneal (IP) injection of streptozotocin to induce type 2 diabetes mellitus. Ghrelin antagonist was injected IP to Group III and V for 6 days. Food and water intake were measured daily. Body weights were measured twice a week and at the end of experiment. Terminal intracardiac blood extraction was done and samples were analyzed for fasting plasma glucose levels. Results: Food intake decreased significantly in group III (obese with Ghrelin antagonist) and group V (diabetic with Ghrelin antagonist) as compared to controls after injection of ghrelin antagonist. Conclusion: Ghrelin antagonist decreases the food and water intake significantly in obese and type 2 diabetic mice. Pak J Physiol 2017;13(1):39â€“42
Correlation of Tertiary Formations of Alaska

Recent stratigraphic and paleontologic studies have resulted in substantial revision of the age assignments and inter-basin correlations of the Tertiary formations of Alaska. The correlation chart given here, the first published chart to deal exclusively with the Tertiary of Alaska, had the benefit of a considerable amount of stratigraphic data and fossil collections from some oil companies. On the most recently published geologic map of Alaska, bedded rocks of Tertiary age, excluding volcanic rocks, are shown over 1.6% of the total area. The possible total land area underlain by substantial thickness of sedimentary rocks of Tertiary age, including a conservative estimate for areas as yet unmapped, may be more than 3% of the total area of Alaska. Nonmarine coal-bearing rocks of remarkably similar lithologic character are the most widespread areally, occurring in both coastal and interior basins throughout Alaska. Wholly or dominantly marine deposits are known from 3 main areas, 1 on the northeastern coast of the Gulf of Alaska where beds representing each of the epochs from Eocene to Pliocene occur in a belt 300 mi. long and as much as 40 mi. wide, 1 near the Arctic Coast in northeastern Alaska, and 1 in the Alaska Peninsula. Tertiary marine rocks have not, so far as known, been definitely identified more than 50 mi. inland from the present coast anywhere in Alaska. Volcanic rocks of Tertiary age occupy extensive areas in both coastal and interior Alaska, but they are not known N. of the Arctic Circle.
The role of soil moisture conditions in the occurence of floods and droughts over the Mississippi basin

In this study, we investigated the role that soil moisture conditions played in the drought of 1988 and the flood of 1993 over the Mississippi basin using a regional climate model. Simulations were initialized with different magnitudes of soil moisture to develop an understanding of the role of soil moisture in the atmospheric dynamics of these events. Additional simulations were performed with different initialization dates to see how the timing of the soil moisture anomaly affected climate. Furthermore, we used two different convective parameterizations (Kuo-Anthes and Grell) to determine whether the sensitivity of soil moisture to precipitation is influenced by the choice of convective scheme. Overall, regardless of the convection scheme used, the model did an adequate job in simulating the spatial patterns of precipitation in May and September of both years. However, in July, when convective activity in mid-latitudes is at a maximum, both convective parameterizations do an unsatifactory job of simulating the spatial distributions of rainfall. We found that neither improving the boundary condition resolution nor adjusting some of the convection scheme's parameters significantly improved the simulation of precipitation. The magnitude and timing of the soil moisture anomaly does play a large role in the sensitivity of precipitation to soil moisture. The two convective parameterizations, however, give significantly different results. Results from the Kuo-Anthes scheme suggest that soil moisture did play a major role in the persistence of the drought of 1988 and the flood of 1993. On the other hand, results from the Grell scheme indicate that the persistence of these events were primarily a result of large-scale circulation anomalies. The contrasting differences in soil moisture precipitation sensitivities between the two convective parameterizations raises many questions about the results of previous numerical modeling studies. Thesis Supervisor: Elfatih A. B. Eltahir Title: Assistant Professor
An Improved Algorithm for Mining Association Rules Using Multiple Support Values

Almost all the approaches in association rule mining suggested the use of a single minimum support, technique that either rules out all infrequent itemsets or suffers from the bottleneck of generating and examining too many candidate large itemsets. In this paper we consider the combination of two well-known algorithms, namely algorithm DIC and MSApriori in order to end up with a more effective and fast solution for mining association rules among items, with different support values. Experiments show that the new algorithm is better than algorithm MSApriori, as well as better than algorithm DIC.
FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI KEMISKINAN SECARA MAKRO DI LIMA BELAS PROVINSI TAHUN 2007

One factor which influences the success of poverty alleviation program is to determine where the poverty is concentrated. There are 15 provinces that have a value index of poverty depth (P1) higher than the value of P1 Indonesia. This study will describe the characteristics of poverty in 15 provinces; identify key factors affecting poverty at the macro level; and the relationship between each of the major factors in P1. Based on factor analysis obtained there are three main factors that characterize the 15 poor provinces, which are employment, education, and residence. Logistic regression analysis showed the relationship between employment factors and education with the negative P1. Both employment and educational factors have a significant effect on P1. Meanwhile, factor of residence was positively related to P1 but the effect is not significant.
Sensitivity of the Global Thermohaline Circulation to Interbasin Freshwater Transport by the Atmosphere and the Bering Strait Throughflow

Abstract Sensitivity of the global thermohaline circulation to interbasin freshwater transport by the atmosphere and the Bering Strait throughflow is investigated by using a free-surface, coarse-resolution ocean general circulation model. The model is run by prescribing freshwater flux at the sea surface without restoring the sea surface salinity to climatology in order that effects of salinity advection are properly represented. Comparison of experiments with the open and closed Bering Strait shows that the throughflow reduces the intensity of the Atlantic deep circulation by ∼17%, while minimally affecting the Pacific deep circulation. Increase in the atmospheric freshwater transport from the Atlantic to the Pacific intensifies both the Atlantic deep circulation and the Bering Strait throughflow. On the other hand, changes in the throughflow transport under a fixed amount of atmospheric interbasin freshwater transport are found to have a minor impact on the global thermohaline circulation. This insensit.
Computing longest duration flocks in trajectory data

Moving point object data can be analyzed through the discovery of patterns. We consider the computational efficiency of computing two of the most basic spatio-temporal patterns in trajectories, namely flocks and meetings. The patterns are large enough subgroups of the moving point objects that exhibit similar movement and proximity for a certain amount of time. We consider the problem of computing a longest duration flock or meeting. We give several exact and approximation algorithms, and also show that some variants are as hard as MaxClique to compute and approximate.