Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of Type 2 Diabetes Genes in Mexican Americans Through Genome-Wide Association Studies

OBJECTIVE—The objective of this study was to identify DNA polymorphisms associated with type 2 diabetes in a Mexican-American population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We genotyped 116,204 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 281 Mexican Americans with type 2 diabetes and 280 random Mexican Americans from Starr County, Texas, using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping 100K set. Allelic association exact tests were calculated. Our most significant SNPs were compared with results from other type 2 diabetes genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Proportions of African, European, and Asian ancestry were estimated from the HapMap samples using structure for each individual to rule out spurious association due to population substructure. RESULTS—We observed more significant allelic associations than expected genome wide, as empirically assessed by permutation (14 below a P of 1 × 10−4 [8.7 expected]). No significant differences were observed between the proportion of ancestry estimates in the case and random control sets, suggesting that the association results were not likely confounded by substructure. A query of our top ∼1% of SNPs (P < 0.01) revealed SNPs in or near four genes that showed evidence for association (P < 0.05) in multiple other GWAS interrogated: rs979752 and rs10500641 near UBQLNL and OR52H1 on chromosome 11, rs2773080 and rs3922812 in or near RALGPS2 on chromosome 1, and rs1509957 near EGR2 on chromosome 10. CONCLUSIONS—We identified several SNPs with suggestive evidence for replicated association with type 2 diabetes that merit further investigation.
Apodization technique for fiber grating fabrication with a halftone transmission amplitude mask.

Experimental results of fiber Bragg gratings fabricated with halftone amplitude transmission masks and 10-cm-long phase masks are presented for the first time to our knowledge. The performance of the devices is evaluated in terms of their spectral characteristics and deviation from linear group delay. Good out-of-band sidelobe suppression of -27 dB and group-delay ripple of ? 9.5 ps is achieved for fully apodized grating devices.
Protective effects of influenza A (H1N1) pandemic 2009 vaccination against the onset of influenza-like illness and asthma exacerbation in Japanese children

Abstract Background: Vaccination against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in Japan started in October 2009. Children with asthma are considered as a high-risk group and are recommended to preferentially receive the vaccine. Objective: To identify the clinical effects of vaccination in Japanese children with and without asthma. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey to compare vaccination rates, vaccine effectiveness against physician-diagnosed influenza A infection (PDIA), and consecutive asthma exacerbations between children with and without asthma. Results: Of the 460 children included in this study, those with asthma had higher vaccination rates (46.5%, 67/144) than those without asthma (30.4%, 96/316). Influenza A infections were diagnosed in 28 of 163 vaccinated children (17.2%) compared to 164 of 297 unvaccinated children (55.2%, p < 0.001). Comparison of positive influenza diagnosis rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated children with and without asthma showed that unvaccinated children with asthma had an elevated odds ratio (13.235; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.564–32.134) and that treatment for asthma exacerbations was needed in a larger proportion of unvaccinated children. Vaccine effectiveness against PDIA was 87% (95% CI, 78–93%) overall, 92% (95% CI, 81–96%) in children with asthma and 81% (95% CI, 63–91%) in children without asthma, respectively. Conclusions: The administration of an inactivated, split-virus, non-adjuvanted monovalent A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine during the pandemic period reduced the number of physician-diagnosed influenza A infections and asthma exacerbations in children with asthma. Therefore, we strongly recommend that high-risk children with a history of asthma receive vaccines during pandemics.
Enhancement of hepatitis A propagation in tissue culture with 5,6‐dichloro‐1‐β‐D‐ribofuranosylbenzimidazole

The adenosine analog 5,6‐dichloro‐1‐β‐D‐ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB) was found to increase the production of hepatitis A (HAV) antigen in two monkey kidney cell lines (Frhk‐4 and Vero cells). DRB, a known inhibitor of the synthesis of messenger RNA, caused moderate changes in cell morphology. However, Frhk‐4 cells could be maintained for several weeks at 80 μM of DRB, the concentration that caused maximal enhancement on HAV. DRB should be present from about the time of virus inoculation and its strongest effect was seen at low multiplicities of infection. Using radioimmunofocus assay it could be shown that DRB increased the amount of infectious virus. DRB treatment was applied in primary isolation of HAV from feces. In nine of ten strains HAV antigen expression was strongly increased and in six of the ten strains infectivity of harvested material increased by one 10log or more. DRB thus seems to be a useful enhancer of HAV growth in tissue culture.
Hormonal regulation of atypical absence seizures

A time course study that examined the effects of the female estrous cycle on the chronic slow spike‐and‐wave discharges (SSWDs), γ‐aminobutyric B receptor (GABABR) binding, and GABABR protein expression was conducted in Long Evans hooded rats treated during development with a cholesterol synthesis inhibitor AY9944 (AY). In addition, a pharmacological study using the hormones progesterone, 17 β‐estradiol, mifepristone (intracellular progesterone receptor antagonist), tamoxifen (intracellular estrogen receptor antagonist), and allopregnanolone (progesterone metabolite) was performed to determine their effects on AY‐induced seizures. The data indicate that there is a significant increase in both the duration of SSWD and GABABR binding in the AY model, during the proestrus stage of the estrous cycle, the stage during which the levels of progesterone are at their highest. No changes in GABABR1a or R2 protein levels were observed. In addition, the administration of both progesterone and allopregnanolone exacerbated seizures in the AY model, whereas 17 β‐estradiol attenuated the SSWD duration. Neither mifepristone nor tamoxifen blocked the effects of progesterone and 17 β‐estradiol, respectively, on SSWD duration in the AY model, suggesting that these two sex hormones are working in a manner independent of their intracellular receptors. These data suggest an important role for steroid hormones in the regulation and maintenance of AY‐induced atypical absence seizures.
Effect of Visual and Auditory Alerts on Older Drivers’ Glances toward Latent Hazards while Turning Left at Intersections

Older drivers are known to make significantly fewer glances toward hazards that are hidden from view (latent hazards) than middle-aged drivers. This is especially true when the driver is making a left turn at an intersection at that critical point in the turn immediately after the driver enters the intersection. This has led to the development of training programs that can increase the frequency of these glances toward latent hazards at intersections. However, training programs can require time and money that many older adults may not have. Advances in machine vision and vehicle-to-vehicle communications technologies make possible the use of alerts that warn older drivers of the location of latent hazards at intersections. This driving simulator study investigates the effect of auditory and visual warning alerts on older drivers’ primary (before entering the intersection) and secondary (just after entering the intersection) glance behavior when making a left turn at an intersection. In a between-subjects design, forty older drivers navigated eight unique scenarios containing latent hazards either in the presence or in the absence of combined auditory and visual hazard warning alerts. The results showed that older drivers anticipated a significantly greater proportion of latent hazards in the presence of warning alerts both before they enter the intersection and after they enter the intersection. The results of this study suggest that a combination of auditory and visual alerts may be effective at improving older drivers’ glance behavior while making left turns at intersections.
Construct a Sequential Decision-Making Model: A Dynamic Bayesian Network Perspective

Corporate decision makers always face challenges to decide whether to adopt a new technology with a decision often leading to significant subsequence in the corporations. Observational learning theory applies when a person uses observed behavior from others to infer something about the usefulness of the observed behavior. It is known that observational learning may lead to informational cascades when a person ignores his private signals in decision making process. Walden and Browne propose a simulation procedure to model the influence of observational learning in sequential decision making. The objective of this study is to apply a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) to model decision makers' sequential decision making and observational learning. We show that this DBN perspective of sequential decision making is easy to understand and flexible enough to consider more scenarios not considered in Walden and Browne.
NF-κB Activation Is Not Required for Chlamydia trachomatis Inhibition of Host Epithelial Cell Apoptosis1

Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligate intracellular bacterial species, is known to inhibit host cell apoptosis. However, the chlamydial antiapoptotic mechanism is still not clear. Because NF-κB activation is antiapoptotic, we tested the potential role of NF-κB activation in chlamydial antiapoptotic activity in the current study. First, no obvious NF-κB activation was detected in the chlamydia-infected cells when these cells were resistant to apoptosis induced via either the intrinsic or extrinsic apoptosis pathways. Second, inhibition of NF-κB activation with pharmacologic reagents failed to block the chlamydial antiapoptotic activity. Finally, NF-κB p65 gene deletion did not prevent chlamydia from inhibiting host cell apoptosis. These observations together have demonstrated that NF-κB activation is not required for the chlamydial antiapoptotic activity.
Malaria control in South America.

To the Editor: The article by Roberts et al. regarding DDT use and malaria in South America (1) correctly observes that health policy makers have shifted the emphasis of malaria control programs from vector control to case detection and treatment and that malaria control has been woefully underfunded in recent years. However, their conclusions that increased malaria is due to decreased spraying of homes with DDT and that DDT is still needed for malaria control do not withstand close scrutiny. The authors did not mention several factors influencing malaria increase in recent decades, including growing antimalarial-drug resistance, the deterioration of public health systems responsible for malaria control, and large-scale migration to areas at high risk for malaria (e.g., almost all Brazilian malaria cases occur in the Amazon region) (2,3). Extradomiciliary malaria transmission, poor housing conditions, and human behavior in frontier areas such as the Amazon region limit the usefulness of insecticides. Thus, the deduction of causality between less house spraying with DDT and increased malaria incidence under those circumstances is questionable. Roberts et al. have not actually linked increased malaria with eliminating DDT use but rather with eliminating house spraying altogether , without implementing effective alternatives. Malarias recent decline in Brazil is due to a strategy that combines health education, aggressive case detection and treatment, and environmental management to eliminate Anoph-eles breeding sites (C. Catão Prates, unpub. data). A similar strategy has sharply reduced malaria incidence and deaths in Colombia (W. Rojas, unpub. data). In Mexico, use of two synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (deltamethrin and lambda cyhalothrin) for bed-net treatment and house spraying is controlling malaria at a much lower cost than the use of the alternative insecticides tried earlier and mentioned by Roberts et al. (4). Far from being pursued without meaningful debate, the reduction and phaseout of DDT and other persistent organic pollutants is the subject of a 3-year United Nationsfacilitated global negotiation process begun in June 1998. Roberts et al. assert that DDT applied indoors does not move easily from the application site; however, a mass balance model indicates that 60% to 80% of the DDT ends up outdoors within 6 months (K. Feltmate, A model and assessment of the fate and exposure of DDT following indoor application [bachelors thesis]. Ontario: Trent University; 1998). From there, DDT can be transported long distances in air, waterborne sediments, and biota, accumulating in humans and other nontarget species (5). Meanwhile, residents …
Outdoor activity and myopia in Singapore teenage children

Aim: To investigate the relationship of outdoor activities and myopia in Singapore teenage children. Methods: Teenage children (1249 participants), examined in the Singapore Cohort study Of Risk factors for Myopia (SCORM), during 2006 were included in analyses. Participants completed questionnaires that quantified total outdoor activity, and underwent an eye examination. Results: The mean total time spent on outdoor activity was 3.24 h/day. The total outdoor activity (h/day) was significantly associated with myopia, odds ratio 0.90 (95% CI 0.84 to 0.96) (p = 0.004), after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, school type, books read per week, height, parental myopia, parental education and intelligence quotient. In addition, the total time spent outdoors was associated with significantly less myopic refraction (regression coefficient = 0.17; CI 0.10 to 0.25, p<0.001) and shorter axial length (regression coefficient −0.06 (CI −0.1 to −0.03, p<0.001). Total sports was also significantly negatively associated with myopia (p = 0.008) but not indoor sports (p = 0.16). Conclusions: Participants who spent more time outdoors were less likely to be myopic. Thus, outdoor activity may protect against development of myopia in children, supporting recent Australian data. As near work did not predict outdoor activity, this can be viewed as an independent factor and not merely the reciprocal of near work.
Currency substitution and nonlinear error correction in Taiwan's demand for broad money

We modify the conventional money demand function by including a real exchange rate variable to reflect the effect of currency substitution. Empirical evidence indicates that the variable is crucial to the long-run stability of Taiwan's money demand. After finding the failure of a linear error-correction model (ECM) in describing the dynamics of Taiwan's money demand, we apply a nonlinear ECM to examine its dynamics and support the appropriateness of the nonlinear model empirically.
The Diagnosis of Schizophrenia by Language Analysis

Our aim was to test the findings of a study which claimed that if the syntactic structure of schizophrenic speech were subjected to a detailed linguistic analysis, clear differences would be demonstrated between schizophrenic, manic and control populations. It was confirmed that schizophrenics do have less syntactically complex speech which contains more errors. Using linguistic variables in a discriminant function analysis, it was possible to predict diagnoses correctly in 79% of cases.
Cannabis use at a young age is associated with psychotic experiences

Background Cannabis use is associated with psychosis and a range of subclinical psychiatric symptoms. The strength of this association depends on dosage and age at first use. The current study investigates whether level of cannabis exposure and starting age are associated with specific profiles of subclinical symptoms. Method We collected cross-sectional data from a young adult population sample by administering an online version of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE). Cannabis exposure was quantified as the amount of Euros spent on cannabis per week and the age of initial cannabis use. The primary outcome measure was the odds ratio (OR) to belong to the highest 10% of scores on the total CAPE and the positive-, negative- and depressive symptom dimensions. Results In 17 698 adolescents (mean age 21.6, s.d.=4.2 years), cannabis use at age 12 years or younger was strongly associated with a top 10% score on psychotic experiences [OR 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1–4.3] and to a lesser degree with negative symptoms (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1–2.5). The OR of heavy users (>€25/week) for negative symptoms was 3.4 (95% CI 2.9–4.1), for psychotic experiences 3.0 (95% CI 2.4–3.6), and for depressive symptoms 2.8 (95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusions Early start of cannabis use is strongly associated with subclinical psychotic symptoms and to a lesser degree with negative symptoms, while smoking high amounts of cannabis is associated with increased levels of all three symptom dimensions: psychotic, negative and depressive. These results support the hypothesis that the impact of cannabis use is age specific.
Effectiveness of cattle operated bump gates and exclusion fences in preventing ungulate multi-host sanitary interaction

Tuberculosis (TB) is endemic in Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in south central Spain, where evidence suggests transmission to domestic cattle. Known risk factors for TB at the interface between livestock and wild ungulate species include density and spatial overlap, particularly around waterholes during summer. We evaluated the effectiveness of selective exclusion measures for reducing direct and indirect interaction between extensive beef cattle and wild ungulates at waterholes as an alternative for the integrated control of TB. We first monitored 6 water points (WP) with infrared-triggered cameras at a TB positive cattle farm to quantify interactions. We then assigned 3 WP to be “cattle-only” and 3 to be “wildlife-only”. Cattle-only WP were surrounded with a wildlifeproof fence (2.5 m high) and an original design of cattle-specific gate. Wildlife-only WP were surrounded by a fence that wild ungulates could breach but cattle could not (1.2 m high). Red deer, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and wild boar easily jumped or undercrossed this fence. Wildlife-only fences were 100% effective in preventing cattle access to WP and did not impede wildlife use. Many cows learned to operate the cattle-specific gate quickly and others followed and learned from them. Within 2 weeks, around 70% of cows actively entered and exited through the cattle-specific gate. We demonstrate how simple, lowcost fencing strategies can serve as biosecurity measures to substantially reduce direct and indirect contact between cattle and wild ungulates, serving to reduce the potential for TB transmission. Our designs can be used in the context of integral plans to mitigate disease transmission between cattle and wildlife, and have potential for protecting or segregating of reso the use of a variety
A rigorous framework for diffusion tensor calculus

In biological tissue, all eigenvalues of the diffusion tensor are assumed to be positive. Calculations in diffusion tensor MRI generally do not take into account this positive definiteness property of the tensor. Here, the space of positive definite tensors is used to construct a framework for diffusion tensor analysis. The method defines a distance function between a pair of tensors and the associated shortest path (geodesic) joining them. From this distance a method for computing tensor means, a new measure of anisotropy, and a method for tensor interpolation are derived. The method is illustrated using simulated and in vivo data. Magn Reson Med 53:221–225, 2005. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
High-commitment work systems and employee voice

Purpose Although scholars have suggested that employees often carefully consider social contexts before enacting voice, few studies have explored whether firms foster employee voice behavior by adopting a set of systematic HR practices, namely, high-commitment work systems (HCWS). By integrating the literature on HCWS and voice, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mechanisms of how HCWS utilization influences employee voice. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted multilevel analyses with HLM software to examine the research hypotheses. The authors collected data from a sample of 290 employees and 58 line managers from 11 software design and development firms in China. Findings HCWS utilization positively affected employee-experienced HCWS which enhanced psychological safety and perceived organizational support, and in turn employee voice behavior. In addition, HCWS utilization positively influenced employee-experienced HCWS, and subsequently increased voice efficacy. However, contrary to the expectations, voice efficacy was not related to employee voice. Originality/value The study is the first to integrate research on HCWS and voice. By building on the theory of planned behavior, the authors provide new insights into the relationship between HCWS utilization and employee voice and inspire researchers to elucidate other explanatory mechanisms in this link.
Microscopic Entropy of Extremal Kerr Black Holes

Kerr black holes are strong candidates for the astrophysical black holes. The understanding of the microscopic structure of this black hole is quite interesting to be investigated. The holographic principle is one way to study the microscopic part of Kerr black holes. There have been a conjecture that there is a duality between near-horizon geometry of extremal Kerr black hole and the conformal field theory (CFT) on its boundary of the horizon, called by Kerr/CFT correspondence. Here, we review this correspondence where in the background geometry, boundary conditions are found for which the algebra of surface charges enhances the U(1) to one copy of the Virasoro algebra with central charge cL = 12J. After finding the conformal temperature, which is TL = 1/2π, the entropy is obtained from the Cardy formula. Finally, entropy from the Cardy formula agrees with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the extremal Kerr black hole and also with the corrected one. Kerr/CFT correspondence is also used to find the entropy for another black hole that we show at the end.
Circulatory responses in children with unexplained syncope evaluated by continuous non‐invasive finger blood pressure monitoring

Cardiovascular responses on active standing in children with unexplained syncope were investigated with continuous non‐invasive finger artery pressure monitoring (Finapres). We examined 34 symptomatic patients (13 boys and 21 girls), aged 8–16 years, and 24 age‐matched controls. Finger blood pressure and heart rate were monitored continuously for 5 min in the supine position and for 10 min while standing. Ten of 34 patients developed fainting symptoms with hypotension during upright posture (fainters). In the initial standing phase (0–30 s), two prominent abnormal blood pressure responses were found in patients: a marked decrease 45 f 18/23 ± 8 mmHg and a prolonged recovery time (16.5 ± 2.9 versus 27.7 ± 13.6 s), which appeared to be based on impaired vasoconstriction. Either or both abnormalities were observed in 21 (62%) of the 34 patients and in 2 (8%) of the controls. In addition, fainters also had a more marked increase in heart rate during standing compared with non‐fainters. Our findings suggested that more than half of children with syncope had abnormal cardiovascular reflexes in the initial phase which appeared to be associated with vasodepressor syncope. The active standing test with a continuous beat‐to‐beat blood pressure recording has a high sensitivity in detecting abnormalities of autonomic function in patients with unexplained syncope.