pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Long working hours and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished data for 603 838 individuals

SummaryBackgroundLong working hours might increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but prospective evidence is scarce, imprecise, and mostly limited to coronary heart disease. We aimed to assess long working hours as a risk factor for incident coronary heart disease and stroke.MethodsWe identified published studies through a systematic review of PubMed and Embase from inception to Aug 20, 2014. We obtained unpublished data for 20 cohort studies from the Individual-Participant-Data Meta-analysis in Working Populations (IPD-Work) Consortium and open-access data archives. We used cumulative random-effects meta-analysis to combine effect estimates from published and unpublished data.FindingsWe included 25 studies from 24 cohorts in Europe, the USA, and Australia. The meta-analysis of coronary heart disease comprised data for 603 838 men and women who were free from coronary heart disease at baseline; the meta-analysis of stroke comprised data for 528 908 men and women who were free from stroke at baseline. Follow-up for coronary heart disease was 5·1 million person-years (mean 8·5 years), in which 4768 events were recorded, and for stroke was 3·8 million person-years (mean 7·2 years), in which 1722 events were recorded. In cumulative meta-analysis adjusted for age, sex, and socioeconomic status, compared with standard hours (35–40 h per week), working long hours (≥55 h per week) was associated with an increase in risk of incident coronary heart disease (relative risk [RR] 1·13, 95% CI 1·02–1·26; p=0·02) and incident stroke (1·33, 1·11–1·61; p=0·002). The excess risk of stroke remained unchanged in analyses that addressed reverse causation, multivariable adjustments for other risk factors, and different methods of stroke ascertainment (range of RR estimates 1·30–1·42). We recorded a dose–response association for stroke, with RR estimates of 1·10 (95% CI 0·94–1·28; p=0·24) for 41–48 working hours, 1·27 (1·03–1·56; p=0·03) for 49–54 working hours, and 1·33 (1·11–1·61; p=0·002) for 55 working hours or more per week compared with standard working hours (ptrend<0·0001).InterpretationEmployees who work long hours have a higher risk of stroke than those working standard hours; the association with coronary heart disease is weaker. These findings suggest that more attention should be paid to the management of vascular risk factors in individuals who work long hours.FundingMedical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, European Union New and Emerging Risks in Occupational Safety and Health research programme, Finnish Work Environment Fund, Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Research, German Social Accident Insurance, Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Academy of Finland, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Netherlands), US National Institutes of Health, British Heart Foundation
Isothermal titration calorimetry with micelles: Thermodynamics of inhibitor binding to carnitine palmitoyltransferase 2 membrane protein

AbstractCarnitine palmitoyl transferase 2 (CPT-2) is a key enzyme in the mitochondrial fatty acid metabolism. The active site is comprised of a Y-shaped tunnel with distinct binding sites for the substrate acylcarnitine and the cofactor CoA. We investigated the thermodynamics of binding of four inhibitors directed against either the CoA or the acylcarnitine binding sites using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). CPT-2 is a monotopic membrane protein and was solubilized by β-octylglucoside (β-OG) above its critical micellar concentration (CMC) to perform inhibitor titrations in solutions containing detergent micelles. The CMC of β-OG in the presence of inhibitors was measured with ITC and small variations were observed. The inhibitors bound to rat CPT-2 (rCPT-2) with 1:1 stoichiometry and the dissociation constants were in the range of KD = 2–20 μM. New X-ray structures and docking models of rCPT-2 in complex with inhibitors enable an analysis of the thermodynamic data in the context of the interaction observed for the individual binding sites of the ligands. For all ligands the binding enthalpy was exothermic, and enthalpy as well as entropy contributed to the binding reaction, with the exception of ST1326 for which binding was solely enthalpy-driven. The substrate analog ST1326 binds to the acylcarnitine binding site and a heat capacity change close to zero suggests a balance of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. An excellent correlation of the thermodynamic (ITC) and structural (X-ray crystallography, models) data was observed suggesting that ITC measurements provide valuable information for optimizing inhibitor binding in drug discovery
Gab1 and Mapk Signaling Are Essential in the Hair Cycle and Hair Follicle Stem Cell Quiescence

SummaryGab1 is a scaffold protein that acts downstream of receptor tyrosine kinases. Here, we produced conditional Gab1 mutant mice (by K14- and Krox20-cre) and show that Gab1 mediates crucial signals in the control of both the hair cycle and the self-renewal of hair follicle stem cells. Remarkably, mutant hair follicles do not enter catagen, the destructive phase of the hair cycle. Instead, hair follicle stem cells lose quiescence and become exhausted, and thus no stem cell niches are established in the bulges. Moreover, conditional sustained activation of Mapk signaling by expression of a gain-of-function Mek1DD allele (by Krox20-cre) rescues hair cycle deficits and restores quiescence of the stem cells. Our data thus demonstrate an essential role of Gab1 downstream of receptor tyrosine kinases and upstream of Shp2 and Mapk in the regulation of the hair cycle and the self-renewal of hair follicle stem cells
Veneziano–Yankielowicz superpotential terms in N=1 SUSY gauge theories

AbstractThe Veneziano–Yankielowicz glueball superpotential for an arbitrary N=1 SUSY pure gauge theory with classical gauge group is derived using an approach following recent work of Dijkgraaf, Vafa and others. These non-perturbative terms, which had hitherto been included by hand, are thus seen to arise naturally, and the approach is rendered self-contained. By minimising the glueball superpotential for theories with fundamental matter added, the expected vacuum structure with gaugino condensation and chiral symmetry breaking is obtained. Various possible extensions are also discussed
Goal-directed mechanisms that constrain retrieval predict subsequent memory for new “foil” information

AbstractTo remember a previous event, it is often helpful to use goal-directed control processes to constrain what comes to mind during retrieval. Behavioral studies have demonstrated that incidental learning of new “foil” words in a recognition test is superior if the participant is trying to remember studied items that were semantically encoded compared to items that were non-semantically encoded. Here, we applied subsequent memory analysis to fMRI data to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the “foil effect”. Participants encoded information during deep semantic and shallow non-semantic tasks and were tested in a subsequent blocked memory task to examine how orienting retrieval towards different types of information influences the incidental encoding of new words presented as foils during the memory test phase. To assess memory for foils, participants performed a further surprise old/new recognition test involving foil words that were encountered during the previous memory test blocks as well as completely new words. Subsequent memory effects, distinguishing successful versus unsuccessful incidental encoding of foils, were observed in regions that included the left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior parietal cortex. The left inferior frontal gyrus exhibited disproportionately larger subsequent memory effects for semantic than non-semantic foils, and significant overlap in activity during semantic, but not non-semantic, initial encoding and foil encoding. The results suggest that orienting retrieval towards different types of foils involves re-implementing the neurocognitive processes that were involved during initial encoding
The Crystal Structure of the Ligand Binding Module of Axonin-1/TAG-1 Suggests a Zipper Mechanism for Neural Cell Adhesion

AbstractWe have determined the crystal structure of the ligand binding fragment of the neural cell adhesion molecule axonin-1/TAG-1 comprising the first four immunoglobulin (Ig) domains. The overall structure of axonin-1Ig1–4 is U-shaped due to contacts between domains 1 and 4 and domains 2 and 3. In the crystals, these molecules are aligned in a string with adjacent molecules oriented in an anti-parallel fashion and their C termini perpendicular to the string. This arrangement suggests that cell adhesion by homophilic axonin-1 interaction occurs by the formation of a linear zipper-like array in which the axonin-1 molecules are alternately provided by the two apposed membranes. In accordance with this model, mutations in a loop critical for the formation of the zipper resulted in the loss of the homophilic binding capacity of axonin-1
Annual maximum daily rainfall trends in the Midwest, southeast and southern Brazil in the last 71 years

AbstractThe aim of this study was to model, based on the overall distribution of extreme values, the probability of occurrence of a particular level of annual maximum daily rainfall in three Brazilian regions (Midwest, Southeast and South) and study their behavior over the past 71 years. The parameters of the general distribution of extreme values were estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The Mann–Kendall test showed that there is a positive trend in the annual maximum daily rainfall data series. The non-stationarity was rejected by the augmented Dickey–Fuller test supporting the use of the density function of extreme value distribution to describe the values of the occurrence of annual maximum daily rainfall. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov/Lilliefors goodness-of-fit test showed the good fit of the studied variable to the probability distribution function. The Midwest region has a return period of more frequent annual maximum daily rainfall below 300mm in comparison with other regions. There is a clear change in the behavior of this extreme event in the Southern region. According to the literature, in past decades annual maximum daily rainfall of 248mm has been estimated for a return period of 100 years for the state of Santa Catarina-South region, while the results found with the current series, annual maximum daily rainfall of 250mm was estimated for a return period of 10 years. Extreme annual maximum daily rainfalls for return periods smaller were also found in other regions
Pseudo and strongly pseudo 2-factor isomorphic regular graphs and digraphs

AbstractA graph G is pseudo 2-factor isomorphic if the parity of the number of cycles in a 2-factor is the same for all 2-factors of G. In Abreu et al. (2008) [3] we proved that pseudo 2-factor isomorphic k-regular bipartite graphs exist only for k≤3. In this paper we generalize this result for regular graphs which are not necessarily bipartite. We also introduce strongly pseudo 2-factor isomorphic graphs and we prove that pseudo and strongly pseudo 2-factor isomorphic 2k-regular graphs and k-regular digraphs do not exist for k≥4. Moreover, we present constructions of infinite families of regular graphs in these classes. In particular we show that the family of Flower snarks is strongly pseudo 2-factor isomorphic but not 2-factor isomorphic and we conjecture that, together with the Petersen and the Blanuša2 graphs, they are the only cyclically 4-edge-connected snarks for which each 2-factor contains only cycles of odd length
The human core of the shared socioeconomic pathways: Population scenarios by age, sex and level of education for all countries to 2100

AbstractThis paper applies the methods of multi-dimensional mathematical demography to project national populations based on alternative assumptions on future, fertility, mortality, migration and educational transitions that correspond to the five shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) storylines. In doing so it goes a significant step beyond past population scenarios in the IPCC context which considered only total population size. By differentiating the human population not only by age and sex—as is conventionally done in demographic projections—but also by different levels of educational attainment the most fundamental aspects of human development and social change are being explicitly addressed through modeling the changing composition of populations by these three important individual characteristics. The scenarios have been defined in a collaborative effort of the international Integrated Assessment Modeling community with the medium scenario following that of a major new effort by the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OEAW, WU) involving over 550 experts from around the world. As a result, in terms of total world population size the trajectories resulting from the five SSPs stay very close to each other until around 2030 and by the middle of the century already a visible differentiation appears with the range between the highest (SSP3) and the lowest (SSP1) trajectories spanning 1.5 billion. The range opens up much more with the SSP3 reaching 12.6 billion in 2100 and SSP1 falling to 6.9 billion which is lower than today's world population
Influence of cross-link structure, density and mechanical properties in the mesoscale deformation mechanisms of collagen fibrils

AbstractCollagen is a ubiquitous protein with remarkable mechanical properties. It is highly elastic, shows large fracture strength and enables substantial energy dissipation during deformation. Most of the connective tissue in humans consists of collagen fibrils composed of a staggered array of tropocollagen molecules, which are connected by intermolecular cross-links. In this study, we report a three-dimensional coarse-grained model of collagen and analyze the influence of enzymatic cross-links on the mechanics of collagen fibrils. Two representatives immature and mature cross-links are implemented in the mesoscale model using a bottom-up approach. By varying the number, type and mechanical properties of cross-links in the fibrils and performing tensile test on the models, we systematically investigate the deformation mechanisms of cross-linked collagen fibrils. We find that cross-linked fibrils exhibit a three phase behavior, which agrees closer with experimental results than what was obtained using previous models. The fibril mechanical response is characterized by: (i) an initial elastic deformation corresponding to the collagen molecule uncoiling, (ii) a linear regime dominated by molecule sliding and (iii) the second stiffer elastic regime related to the stretching of the backbone of the tropocollagen molecules until the fibril ruptures. Our results suggest that both cross-link density and type dictate the stiffness of large deformation regime by increasing the number of interconnected molecules while cross-links mechanical properties determine the failure strain and strength of the fibril. These findings reveal that cross-links play an essential role in creating an interconnected fibrillar material of tunable toughness and strength
Effect of cold spells and their modifiers on cardiovascular disease events: Evidence from two prospective studies

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate effects of cold weather spells on incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and potential effect modification of socio-demographic, clinical, behavioural and environmental exposures.MethodsData from two prospective studies were analysed: the British Regional Heart Study (BRHS), a population-based study of British men aged 60–79years, followed for CVD incidence from 1998–2000 to 2012; and the PROSPER study of men and women aged 70–82 recruited to a trial of pravastatin vs placebo from 1997 to 9 (followed until 2009). Cold spells were defined as at least three consecutive days when daily mean temperature fell below the monthly 10th percentile specific to the closest local weather station. A time-stratified case-crossover approach was used to estimate associations between cold spells and CVD events.Results921 of 4252 men from BRHS and 760 of 2519 participants from PROSPER suffered a first CVD event during follow-up. More CVD events were registered in winter in both studies. The risk ratio (RR) associated with cold spells was statistically significant in BRHS (RR=1.86, 95% CI 1.30–2.65, p<0.001), and independent of temperature level: results were similar whether events were fatal or non-fatal. Increased risk was particularly marked in BRHS for ever-smokers (RR of 2.44 vs 0.99 for never-smokers), in moderate/heavy drinkers (RR 2.59 vs 1.41), and during winter months (RR 3.28 vs 1.25). No increased risk was found in PROSPER.ConclusionsAlthough CVD risks were higher in winter in both BRHS and PROSPER prospective studies, cold spells increased risk of CVD events, independently of cold temperature, in the BRHS only
Electroproduction of baryon–meson states and strangeness suppression

AbstractWe describe the electroproduction ratios of baryon–meson states from nucleon, inferring from the sea quarks in the nucleon using an extension of the quark model that takes into account the sea. As a result we provide, with no adjustable parameters, the predictions of ratios of exclusive meson–baryon final states: ΛK+, Σ⁎K, ΣK, pπ0, and nπ+. These predictions are in agreement with the new JLab experimental data showing that sea quarks play an important role in the electroproduction. We also predicted further ratios of exclusive reactions that can be measured and tested in future experiments. In particular, we suggested new experiments on deuterium and tritium. Such measurements can provide crucial tests of different predictions concerning the structure of nucleon and its sea quarks helping to solve an outstanding problem. Finally, we compute the so called strangeness suppression factor, λs, that is the suppression of strange quark–antiquark pairs compared to nonstrange pairs, and we found that our finding with this simple extension of the quark model is in good agreement with the results of JLab and CERN experiments
Lithium outdiffusion in LiTi2O4 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

AbstractWe report surface chemical cation composition analysis of high quality superconducting LiTi2O4 thin films, grown epitaxially on MgAl2O4 (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The superconducting transition temperature of the films was ~13.8K.Surface chemical composition is crucial for the formation of a good metal/insulator interface for integrating LiTi2O4 into full-oxide spin-filtering devices in order to minimize the formation of structural defects and increase the spin polarisation efficiency. In consideration of this, we report a detailed angle resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Results show Li segregation at the surface of LiTi2O4 films. We attribute this process due to outdiffusion of Li toward the outermost LiTi2O4 layers
The SO(2r)2 string functions as q-diagrams

AbstractWe discuss our conjecture for simply laced Lie algebras level two string functions of mark one fundamental weights and prove it for the SO(2r) algebra. To prove our conjecture we introduce q-diagrams and examine the diagrammatic interpretations of known identities by Euler, Cauchy, Heine, Jacobi and Ramanujan. Interestingly, the diagrammatic approach implies these identities are related in the sense that they represent the first few terms in an infinite series of diagrammatic identities. Furthermore, these diagrammatic identities entail all the identities needed to prove our conjecture as well as generalise it to all SO(2r) level two string functions. As such, our main objective is proving these series of diagrammatic identities thus extending the works mentioned and establishing our conjecture for the SO(2r) level two string functions
Entropy of Reissner–Nordström–de Sitter black hole

AbstractBased on the consideration that the black hole horizon and the cosmological horizon of Reissner–Nordström black hole in de Sitter space are not independent each other, we conjecture the total entropy of the system should have an extra term contributed from the entanglement between the two horizons, except for the sum of the two horizon entropies. Making use of the globally effective first law and the effective thermodynamic quantities, we derive the total entropy and find that it will diverge as the two horizons tend to coincide
Collective flow in ultrarelativistic 3He–Au collisions

AbstractThe triangular flow in ultrarelativistic 3He–Au collisions at RHIC energies is enhanced due to the triangular arrangement of the nucleon configurations in 3He. We study the fireball eccentricities in the Glauber Monte Carlo model and find that since the configurations of the projectile 3He are elongated triangles, the created fireball has not only a significant triangularity but also a large ellipticity. The dependence of the triangularity on centrality is weak, so it cannot be extracted from the centrality dependence of the triangular flow v3, as it is dominated by the centrality dependence of the hydrodynamic response. We propose to look at the centrality dependence of the ratio vn{4}/vn{2}, where the uncertainties from the hydrodynamic response cancel, and show that the basic signature of the geometry-driven collective flow is the rise of the ratio v3{4}/v3{2} with the number of participant nucleons for centralities less than 10%
Towards successful OSL sampling strategies in glacial environments: deciphering the influence of depositional processes on bleaching of modern glacial sediments from Jostedalen, Southern Norway

AbstractThe optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals of quartz and K-feldspar are known to bleach poorly within some glacial settings, and can present a major challenge to dating applications. However, because the OSL signal is extremely sensitive to sunlight exposure history, the residual luminescence signals of modern glacial sediments also encode information about transport and depositional processes. Through examination of the residual luminescence properties (equivalent dose (De) and overdispersion values) of a suite of modern glacial sediments from different depositional settings (sandar, proglacial delta and main meltwater channel), this study provides insights not only into which sediments are likely to be fully bleached within glacial settings, but also into how OSL can be used to trace different depositional processes across sedimentary landforms. Improved understanding of the processes of sediment bleaching will enable better sample selection and may improve the accuracy and precision of OSL dating of glacial sediments.The luminescence signals of both coarse-grained quartz and K-feldspar with similar sediment sources are found to be sensitive to both depositional process and specific depositional setting. Whereas modern braid-bar-head deposits from the Nigardsdalen ice-proximal proglacial delta typically have ages of ≤3 ka, similar depositional features from the Fåbergstølsgrandane sandur have residual ages of ≥26 ka. Exploration of changing residual luminescence signals across individual sandur and proglacial delta braid-bar features shows that braid-bar-head deposits can retain large residual De values, while the partner braid-bar-tail deposits are almost completely bleached. The quartz OSL signal and K-feldspar IRSL50 and post-IR IRSL250 signals are shown to bleach at the same rate across the same bar feature and the IRSL50 K-feldspar signal is also shown to be completely bleached for bar-tail deposits in Nigardsdalen. Therefore the IRSL50 K-feldspar signal is suitable for dating some glacial deposits, circumventing the challenges associated with dim quartz signals