nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Genetic and environmental influences interact with age and sex in shaping the human methylome
Venue: Nature communications

The methylome is subject to genetic and environmental effects. Their impact may depend on sex and age, resulting in sex and age related physiological variation and disease susceptibility. Here we estimate the total heritability of DNA methylation levels in whole blood and estimate the variance explained by common single nucleotide polymorphisms at 411,169 sites in 2,603 individuals from twin families, to establish a catalogue of between individual variation in DNA methylation. Heritability estimates vary across the genome (mean=19% and interaction analyses reveal thousands of sites with sex specific heritability as well as sites where the environmental variance increases with age. Integration with previously published data illustrates the impact of genome and environment across the lifespan at methylation sites associated with metabolic traits, smoking and ageing. These findings demonstrate that our catalogue holds valuable information on locations in the genome where methylation variation between people may reflect disease relevant environmental exposures or genetic variation.
The Impacts of Oil Palm on Recent Deforestation and Biodiversity Loss
Venue: PloS one

Palm oil is the most widely traded vegetable oil globally, with demand projected to increase substantially in the future. Almost all oil palm grows in areas that were once tropical moist forests, some of them quite recently. The conversion to date, and future expansion, threatens biodiversity and increases greenhouse gas emissions. Today, consumer pressure is pushing companies toward deforestation free sources of palm oil. To guide interventions aimed at reducing tropical deforestation due to oil palm, we analysed recent expansions and modelled likely future ones. We assessed sample areas to find where oil palm plantations have recently replaced forests in 20 countries, using a combination of high resolution imagery from Google Earth and Landsat. We then compared these trends to countrywide trends in FAO data for oil palm planted area. Finally, we assessed which forests have high agricultural suitability for future oil palm development, which we refer to as vulnerable forests, and identified critical areas for biodiversity that oil palm expansion threatens. Our analysis reveals regional trends in deforestation associated with oil palm agriculture. In Southeast Asia, 45% of sampled oil palm plantations came from areas that were forests in 1989. For South America, the percentage was 31% By contrast, in Mesoamerica and Africa, we observed only 2% and 7% of oil palm plantations coming from areas that were forest in 1989. The largest areas of vulnerable forest are in Africa and South America. Vulnerable forests in all four regions of production contain globally high concentrations of mammal and bird species at risk of extinction. However, priority areas for biodiversity conservation differ based on taxa and criteria used. Government regulation and voluntary market interventions can help incentivize the expansion of oil palm plantations in ways that protect biodiversity rich ecosystems.
What are the limits to oil palm expansion

Palm oil production has boomed over the last decade, resulting in an expansion of the global oil palm planting area from 10 to 17 Million hectares between 2000 and 2012. Previous studies showed that a significant share of this expansion has come at the expense of tropical forests, notably in Indonesia and Malaysia, the current production centers. Governments of developing and emerging countries in all tropical regions increasingly promote oil palm cultivation as a major contributor to poverty alleviation, as well as food and energy independence. However, being under pressure from several non governmental environmental organizations and consumers, the main palm oil traders have committed to sourcing sustainable palm oil. Against this backdrop we assess the area of suitable land and what are the limits to future oil palm expansion when several constraints are considered. We find that suitability is mainly determined by climatic conditions resulting in 1.37 billion hectares of suitable land for oil palm cultivation concentrated in twelve tropical countries. However, we estimate that half of the biophysically suitable area is already allocated to other uses, including protected areas which cover 30% of oil palm suitable area. Our results also highlight that the non conversion of high carbon stock forest >100 t AGB/ha) would be the most constraining factor for future oil palm expansion as it would exclude two thirds of global oil palm suitable area. Combining eight criteria which might restrict future land availability for oil palm expansion, we find that 234 million hectares or 17% of worldwide suitable area are left. This might seem that the limits for oil palm expansion are far from being reached but one needs to take into account that some of this area might be hardly accessible currently with only 18% of this remaining area being under 2 h transportation to the closest city and that growing demand for other agricultural commodities which might also compete for this land has not been yet taken into account.
Banks and Development: Jewish Communities in the Italian Renaissance and Current Economic Performance
Venue: Review of Economics and Statistics

Are differences in local banking development long lasting? Do they affect economic performance? I answer these questions by relying on a historical development that occurred in Italian cities during the Renaissance. A change in Catholic doctrine led to the development of modern banks in cities hosting Jewish communities. Using Jewish demography in 1500 as an instrument, I provide evidence of extraordinary persistence in the level of banking development across Italian cities and substantial effects of local banks on per capita income. Additional firm level analyses suggest that banks exert large effects on aggregate productivity by reallocating resources toward more efficient firms.
Earthquakes, Religion, and Transition to Self government

This paper presents a unique historical experiment to explore the dynamics of institutional change in the Middle Ages. We have assembled a novel dataset, where information on political institutions for northern central Italian cities between 1000 and 1300 is matched with detailed information on the earthquakes that occurred in the area and period of interest. Exploiting the panel structure of the data, we document that the occurrence of an earthquake retarded institutional transition from autocratic regimes to self government (the commune) in cities where the political and the religious leaders were one and the same person (Episcopal see cities) but not in cities where political and religious powers were distinct (non Episcopal see cities) Such differential effect holds both for destructive seismic episodes and for events that were felt by the population but did not cause any material damage to persons or objects. Ancillary results show that seismic events provoked a positive and statistically significant differential effect on the construction and further ornamentation of religious buildings between Episcopal and non Episcopal see cities. Our findings are consistent with the idea that earthquakes, interpreted in the Middle Ages as manifestation of the will and outrage of God, represented a shock to people's religious beliefs and, as a consequence, enhanced the ability of political religious leaders to restore social order after a crisis relative to the emerging communal institutions. This interpretation is supported by historical evidence.
Religion Division of Labor and Conflict Anti Semitism in German Regions over 600 Years April 2016

Anti Semitism continues to be a widespread societal problem rooted deeply in history. Using novel city level data from Germany for more than 2,000 cities and county level data, we study the role of economic incentives in shaping the coexistence of Jews, Catholics and Protestants. The Catholic ban on usury gave Jews living in Catholic regions a specific advantage in the moneylending sector. Following the Protestant Reformation (1517) the Jews lost this advantage in regions that became Protestant but not in those regions that remained Catholic. We show that 1) the Protestant Reformation induced a change in the geography of anti Semitism with persecutions of Jews and anti Jewish publications becoming more common in Protestant areas relative to Catholic areas; 2) this change was more pronounced in cities where Jews had already established themselves as moneylenders; 3) the Reformation reduced the specialization of Jews in the financial sector in Protestant regions but not in Catholic regions. We interpret these findings as evidence that, following the Protestant Reformation, the Jews living in Protestant regions lost their comparative advantage in lending. This change exposed them to competition with the Christian majority leading, eventually, to an increase in anti Semitism.
On Narratology: Criteria, Corpus, Context

Over a dozen years ago, in a fine book called The Narrative Act devoted to the study of narration and point of view, Susan Sniader Lanser noted that narra tology (by which she meant "formalist structuralist poetics of narrative" in its exploration of narrative, paid no attention to sex or gender (she tended to use the terms interchangeably) "[N]owhere in modern narrative theory is there mention of the author's or narrator's gender [this vacillation too may be telling] as a sig nificant variable [yet] surely the sex of a narrator is at least as significant a factor in literary communication as the narrator's grammatical person, the pres ence or absence of direct address to a reader, or narrative temporality" (46 47) A few years later, in a 1986 article entitled "Toward a Feminist Narratology," Lanser examined some of the reasons why the feminist and the formalist investi gation of narrative had ignored each other. For, just as narratologists paid little attention to questions explored by feminist theory and criticism, the latter hardly showed enthusiasm for narratology: feminist thinkers may have produced a lot of suggestive work on narrative (or linear narrative, or "bad" linear narrative) and?say?its "inherent" Oedipal configuration, but without much recourse to narratological claims, methods, and arguments. I will condense Lanser's account while recasting it and underlining its implications: (a) "everyday" terminology versus technical language, the attempt of (some) feminists to speak and write in ways understandable to everyone and thus implicitly to criticize the elitism, au thoritarianism, and protectionism of "science" including the attempt of narratol ogist to develop a special (scientific) vocabulary; (b) distrust of binary logic and of universals (as tools of the patriarchy, it hierarchies, exclusions, and repres sions) versus confidence in and reliance of them (as necessary to argumentation and basic to the enterprise of specifying the rules that govern all and only narra tives) (c) mimetic orientation versus semiotic approach, the view that narrative says something about and influences the world versus an interest in narrative as a meaning producing instrument, with no consideration of how related or ade
La obesidad en Mexico. Programas en marcha

Obesity is a worldwide public health issue. According to the OECD in 2014, Mexico and United States had the first place on obesity. In 2000, the Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey found a mixed prevalence of overweight and obesity representing 61.8% and in 2012 the prevalence was of 71.3% There are many factors that interfere on obesity development, in Mexico: food insecurity, lack of physical activity and sweetened beverages consumption. With that as a reference in 2013 the National strategy of prevention and control of overweight, obesity and diabetes was established, it involves a legal reform, which is intervene by a public sector, private initiative and civil society, In another hand Veracruz state, Universidad Veracruzana have been applying an integral health survey for 25 years to the new comers students of university. The most important outcomes have been the increase of obesity and overweight. From these results there have been established several actions not just to reduce the prevalence of obesity but to promote integral health to the university student. However there's a long way to go a fundamental task would be the measurement of the impact of regional and national programs to confront overweight and obesity, short and long term.
Genome wide association studies suggest sex specific loci associated with abdominal and visceral fat
Venue: International Journal of Obesity

To identify loci associated with abdominal fat and replicate prior findings, we performed genome wide association (GWA) studies of abdominal fat traits: subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) visceral adipose tissue (VAT) total adipose tissue (TAT) and visceral to subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio (Sex combined and sex stratified analyses were performed on each trait with (TRAIT BMI) or without (TRAIT) adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and cohort specific results were combined via a fixed effects meta analysis. A total of 2513 subjects of European descent were available for the discovery phase. For replication, 2171 European Americans and 772 African Americans were available.A total of 52 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) encompassing 7 loci showed suggestive evidence of association (P<1.0 x 10 6) with abdominal fat in the sex combined analyses. The strongest evidence was found on chromosome 7p14.3 between a SNP near BBS9 gene and VAT (rs12374818; P=1.10 x 10 7) an association that was replicated (P=0.02) For the BMI adjusted trait, the strongest evidence of association was found between a SNP near CYCSP30 and VAT BMI (rs10506943; P=2.42 x 10 7) Our sex specific analyses identified one genome wide significant (P<5.0 x 10 8) locus for SAT in women with 11 SNPs encompassing the MLLT10, DNAJC1 and EBLN1 genes on chromosome 10p12.31 (P=3.97 x 10 8 to 1.13 x 10 8) The THNSL2 gene previously associated with VAT in women was also replicated (P=0.006) The six gene/loci showing the strongest evidence of association with VAT or VAT BMI were interrogated for their functional links with obesity and inflammation using the Biograph knowledge mining software. Genes showing the closest functional links with obesity and inflammation were ADCY8 and KCNK9, respectively.Our results provide evidence for new loci influencing abdominal visceral (BBS9, ADCY8, KCNK9) and subcutaneous (MLLT10/DNAJC1/EBLN1) fat, and confirmed a locus (THNSL2) previously reported to be associated with abdominal fat in women.
Genetic effects on serum testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin in men: a Korean twin and family study
Venue: Asian journal of andrology

We conducted a community based cross sectional study to evaluate the role of genetics in determining the individual difference in total testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin levels. Study participants comprised 730 Korean men consisting of 142 pairs of monozygotic twins, 191 pairs of siblings, and 259 father offspring pairs from 270 families who participated in the Healthy Twin study. Serum concentration of total testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay, and free testosterone and bioavailable testosterone were calculated using Vermeulen's method. Quantitative genetic analysis based on a variance decomposition model showed that the heritability of total testosterone, free testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, and sex hormone binding globulin were 0.56, 0.45, 0.44, and 0.69, respectively after accounting for age and body mass index. Proportions of variance explained by age and body mass index varied across different traits, from 8% for total testosterone to 31% for sex hormone binding globulin. Bivariate analysis showed a high degree of additive genetic correlation (rG 0.67) and a moderate degree of individual specific environmental correlation (rE 0.42) between total testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin. The findings confirmed the important role of genetics in determining the individually different levels of testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin during adulthood in Korean men as found in non Asian populations, which may suggest that common biologic control for determining testosterone level directly or indirectly through binding protein are largely shared among different populations.
Local food: a source for destination attraction

This study aims to explore factors affecting travellers' food related behaviour by focusing on the local food market. By doing so, the study contributes to the research on food experience in tourism and food based regional development. The local food phenomenon presents essential research issues from various perspectives.  A self administered questionnaire provided to attendees of a travel fair gauges respondents' food attitudes and food related behaviour related to information sourcing and perceptions of food experiences.  The study reveals three types of food related behaviour. Experiencers are committed; they perceive food as essential to destination choices. They search for food related information before their trips and value originality, newness and locality, as well as authenticity and uniqueness in local food, which eventually have an impact on travel satisfaction. Enjoyers have more casual attitudes towards food, though they view it as an important aspect of their holiday. For survivors, the local food of their destination serves mainly physiological needs.  Travellers' food related attitudes vary, and they behave according to these variations. This information serves as a means to brand hospitality and tourism businesses. Local food attracts travellers and it contributes to the tourist experience, indicating marketing potential for hospitality industries, tourism business and regional development.  This study adds to tourism research by exploring the effect of food attitudes on behaviours related to local food and local food markets. In particular, it highlights information sourcing, including local food and restaurants, and reveals food and eating characteristics that contribute to various types of travellers' local food experiences, which have received little prior research attention.
Double Stator Air Core Tubular Permanent Magnet Linear Motor for Vehicle Active Suspension Systems
Venue: 2016 IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC)

This paper provides a direct drive electromagnetic active suspension system which consists of a double stator air core tubular permanent magnet linear motor (DATPLM) in parallel with a coil spring. The topology of magnetic pole can be radial magnetized, axial magnetized and Halbach magnetized. The proposed DATPLM can operate in both motor mode and generator mode which allows for bidirectional energy flow. Therefore, the suspension system can simultaneously eliminate the road disturbances and apply active roll and pitch control. Compared with the available slotted topologies, the proposed quasi Halbach magnetized topology has excellent dynamic response, servo characteristics and very low force ripple.
Analysis and Control of Double Stator Tubular Permanent Magnet Motor With Series Magnetic Circuit
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

In this paper, a double stator tubular PM (DSTPM) motor has been newly proposed, which has two tubular stators and one tubular mover. The magnetic circuits of the inner stator and the outer stator are in series, thus reducing the motor radial length. As a result, the motor volume can be saved, and the motor force capability can be improved. Its topology and electromagnetic performance are presented and analyzed. In order to accurately calculate the cogging force and the end force of the proposed four slot/seven pole motor, three slot/pole combinations are modeled and analyzed, namely, 4 slot/7 pole, 8 slot/14 pole, and 12 slot/21 pole ones. Then, the end teeth are optimized to minimize the detent force. A new control strategy is proposed to improve thrust force performance. By using the finite element method, the proposed motor is verified.
A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Mental Health Symptoms Among Perinatally HIV Infected and HIV Exposed but Uninfected Urban Youths.
Venue: The Journal of adolescent health official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

Significant gaps persist in our understanding of the etiological factors that shape the progression of mental health symptoms (MHS) among perinatally HIV infected (PHIV+ and perinatally HIV exposed but uninfected (PHEU) youths. This study sought to assess the changes in MHS among PHIV+ and PHEU youths as they transition through adolescence and to identify the associated psychosocial factors.  Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of 166 PHIV+ and 114 PHEU youths (49% male, ages 9 16 years at baseline) in New York City. Individual interviews were administered at baseline and subsequently over a 5 year period. MHS were assessed using the youth version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. Predictive growth curve analyses were conducted to assess longitudinal changes in MHS and identify the relevant factors.  The changes in youths' MHS followed a quadratic growth curve and were positively associated with the number of major negative life events and neighborhood stressors experienced. Youths' HIV status, household poverty, and caregiver mental health were not significantly associated with youths' MHS.  Findings suggest that irrespective of youths' HIV status, major life events and neighborhood stressors increase MHS among PHIV+ and PHEU youths. There is a need for interventions to reduce the impact of stressors on the mental well being of PHIV+ and PHEU youths.
Effect of Aromatherapy Massage on Agitation and Depressive Mood in Individuals With Dementia.
Venue: Journal of gerontological nursing

The current study examined the effects of aromatherapy massage on alleviating agitation and depressive mood in individuals with dementia. A randomized controlled trial and repeated measures design was conducted. A total of 59 participants were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. The intervention group received aromatherapy massage once per week for 8 weeks. Results indicated no significant changes over time in overall agitation for either group, but agitation decreased from Week 1 to Week 5 for the intervention group. In addition, the overall depressive symptoms decreased significantly over time for the intervention group compared to the control group (p 0.001) However, changes in agitation within 24 hours following aromatherapy massage showed some significant changes in Weeks 5 and 9. Aromatherapy massage can be an effective and safe intervention to alleviate specific agitated behaviors and depressive mood in individuals with dementia.