pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Social background and age at menarche in Portuguese university students: A note on the secular changes in Portugal

Menarcheal age of a sample of Portuguese university students (n = 3,366), born between 1972 and 1983, age 18-23 years, was analyzed. The influence of parents' educational level and occupation, family size, birth order, and degree of urbanization of girl's locality of residence during childhood and adolescence were analyzed as well as secular trend in the Portuguese population. Mean age at menarche for girls born in 1983 was 12.32 years. Parents' educational level and occupation did not show any significant influence on mean age at menarche. Place of residence during childhood years and adolescence showed a significant effect on mean age at menarche, with girls from rural places with a later age at menarche than those who spent their childhood or adolescence in urban areas (P le 0.01 and P le 0.05 for childhood and adolescence, respectively). Family size and birth order showed the highest effect. Girls born in small families, with one child, matured earlier (12.32 years) than those born in large families with four or more children (12.67 years), (P le 0.01). Also, girls that were first-born had an earlier menarche (12.41 years) than those who were third or later (12.58 years, P le 0.01). Regression analysis selected family size and place of residence in childhood as the most important determinants of mean age at menarche in our university students. In this sample, from 1972 to 1983, mean age at menarche remained stable. When we considered published data from all the Portuguese population we found a decrease in mean age at menarche from 15 years for girls born in 1880 to 12.44 for those born in the 1980s. This decrease was the result of great improvements in the social and economic living conditions that occurred in Portugal especially after the 1970s concerning nutrition and health care, among many other environmental factors. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 15:415-427, 2003. ©2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.1015
Scopine isolated in the gas phase

Producción CientíficaThe rotational spectrum of the tropane alkaloid scopine has been detected by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy in a pulsed supersonic jet. A non-conventional method for bringing the molecules intact into the gas phase was used, mixing scopine syrup with solid glycine powder and vaporizing the solid mixture with an UV ultrafast laser beam. Laser vaporization prevented the easy isomerization to scopoline previously observed when conventional heating. A single conformer was unambiguously observed in the supersonic jet, which corresponds to the energetically most stable species according to quantum chemistry calculations. Rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have been accurately determined. The spectrum reveals hyperfine splittings due to the combined effect of hindered rotation of the methyl group and the presence of a quadrupolar nucleus (14N). This additional information allowed determining the angle of N-methyl inversion between the N- CH3 bond and the bicyclic C-N-C plane (135o), as well as the internal rotation barrier of the methyl group (6.24(1) kJ mol-1).2017-12-31MINECO-FEDER CTQ-2014-54464-R, CTQ-2015-6814
Ginsparg-Wilson Relation and Lattice Chiral Symmetry in Fermionic
  Interacting Theories

We derive Ginsparg-Wilson relation for a lattice chiral symmetry in theories
with self-interacting fermions. Auxiliary scalar and pseudo-scalar fields are
introduced on a coarse lattice to give an effective description of the
fermionic interactions. We obtain particular solutions to the Ginsparg-Wilson
relation and other
  Ward-Takahashi identities in a closed form. These non-perturbative solutions
can be used to construct a chiral invariant action and an invariant
path-integral measure on the coarse lattice. The resulting partition function
exhibits the exact chiral symmetry in the fermionic system with the auxiliary
fields
A nucleotide-level coarse-grained model of RNA

We present a new, nucleotide-level model for RNA, oxRNA, based on the
coarse-graining methodology recently developed for the oxDNA model of DNA. The
model is designed to reproduce structural, mechanical and thermodynamic
properties of RNA, and the coarse-graining level aims to retain the relevant
physics for RNA hybridization and the structure of single- and double-stranded
RNA. In order to explore its strengths and weaknesses, we test the model in a
range of nanotechnological and biological settings. Applications explored
include the folding thermodynamics of a pseudoknot, the formation of a kissing
loop complex, the structure of a hexagonal RNA nanoring, and the unzipping of a
hairpin motif. We argue that the model can be used for efficient simulations of
the structure of systems with thousands of base pairs, and for the assembly of
systems of up to hundreds of base pairs. The source code implementing the model
is released for public use.Comment: 25 page
The $qqqq\bar q$ components and hidden flavor contributions to the
  baryon magnetic moments

The contributions from the $qqqq\bar q$ components to the magnetic moments of
the octet as well as the $\Delta^{++}$ and $\Omega^-$ decuplet baryons are
calculated for the configurations that are expected to have the lowest energy
if the hyperfine interaction depends both on spin and flavor. The contributions
from the $u\bar u$, $d\bar d$ and $s\bar s$ components are given separately. It
is shown that addition of $qqqq\bar q$ admixtures to the ground state baryons
can improve the overall description of the magnetic moments of the baryon octet
and decuplet in the quark model without SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking, beyond
that of the different constituent masses of the strange and light-flavor
quarks. The explicit flavor (and spin) wave functions for all the possible
configurations of the $qqqq\bar q$ components with light and strange $q\bar q$
pairs are given for the baryon and octet and decuplet. Admixtures of ~ 10% of
the $qqqq\bar q$ configuration where the flavor-spin symmetry is
$[4]_{FS}[22]_F[22]_S$, which is likely to have the lowest energy, in
particular reduces the deviation from the empirical values of the magnetic
moments of the $\Sigma^ -$ and the $\Xi^0$ compared with the quark model.Comment: 17 page
Patient-Rated Outcomes of Lumbar Fusion in Patients with Degenerative Disease of the Lumbar Spine: Does Age Matter?

STUDY DESIGN\ud
\ud
Single centre retrospective study of prospectively collected data, nested within the Eurospine Spine Tango data acquisition system.\ud
\ud
OBJECTIVE\ud
\ud
The aim of this study was to assess the patient-rated outcome and complication rates associated with lumbar fusion procedures in three different age groups.\ud
\ud
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA\ud
\ud
There is a general reluctance to consider spinal fusion procedures in elderly patients due to the increased likelihood of complications.\ud
\ud
METHODS\ud
\ud
Before and at 3, 12, and 24 months after surgery, patients completed the multidimensional Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI). At the 3-, 12-, and 24-month follow-ups they also rated the Global Treatment Outcome (GTO) and their satisfaction with care. Patients were divided into three age groups: younger (≥50y < 65y; n = 317), older (≥65y < 80y; n = 350), and geriatric (≥ 80y; n = 40).\ud
\ud
RESULTS\ud
\ud
707 consecutive patients were included. The preoperative comorbidity status differed significantly (p < 0.0001) between the age groups, with the highest scores in the geriatric group. Medical complications during surgery were lower in the younger age group (7%) than in the older (13.4%; p = 0.006) and geriatric groups (17.5%; p = 0.007); surgical complications tended to be higher in the elderly group (younger, 6.3%; older, 6.0%; geriatric, 15.0%; p = 0.09). There were no significant group differences (p > 0.05) for the scores on any of the COMI domains, GTO, or patient-rated satisfaction at either 3-, 12-, and 24-months follow-up.\ud
\ud
CONCLUSIONS\ud
\ud
Despite greater comorbidity and complication rates in geriatric patients, the patient-rated outcome was as good in the elderly as it was in younger age groups up to two years after surgery. These data indicate that geriatric age needs careful consideration of associated risks but is not per se a contraindication for fusion for lumbar degenerative disease.\ud
\ud
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE\ud
\ud
4
Fault isolation schemes for a class of continuous-time stochastic dynamical systems

In this paper a new method for fault isolation in a class of continuous-time stochastic dynamical systems is proposed. The method is framed in the context of model-based analytical redundancy, consisting in the generation of a residual signal by means of a diagnostic observer, for its posterior analysis. Once a fault has been detected, and assuming some basic a priori knowledge about the set of possible failures in the plant, the isolation task is then formulated as a type of on-line statistical classification problem. The proposed isolation scheme employs in parallel different hypotheses tests on a statistic of the residual signal, one test for each possible fault.  This isolation method is characterized by deriving for the unidimensional case, a sufficient isolability condition as well as an upperbound of the probability of missed isolation. Simulation examples illustrate the applicability of the proposed scheme
Debonding detection of FRP strengthened concrete beams by using impedance measurements and an ensemble PSO adaptive spectral model

An impedance-based midspan debonding identification method for RC beams strengthened with FRP strips is presented in this paper using piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) sensor?actuators. To reach this purpose, firstly, a two-dimensional electromechanical impedance model is proposed to predict the electrical admittance of the PZT transducer bonded to the FRP strips of an RC beam. Considering the impedance is measured in high frequencies, a spectral element model of the bonded-PZT?FRP strengthened beam is developed. This model, in conjunction with experimental measurements of PZT transducers, is used to present an updating methodology to quantitatively detect interfacial debonding of these kinds of structures. To improve the performance and accuracy of the detection algorithm in a challenging problem such as ours, the structural health monitoring approach is solved with an ensemble process based on particle of swarm. An adaptive mesh scheme has also been developed to increase the reliability in locating the area in which debonding initiates. Predictions carried out with experimental results have showed the effectiveness and potential of the proposed method to detect prematurely at its earliest stages a critical failure mode such as that due to midspan debonding of the FRP strip
Aristotelian Essentialism: Essence in the Age of Evolution

The advent of contemporary evolutionary theory ushered in the eventual decline of Aristotelian Essentialism (Æ) – for it is widely assumed that essence does not, and cannot have any proper place in the age of evolution. This paper argues that this assumption is a mistake: if Æ can be suitably evolved, it need not face extinction. In it, I claim that if that theory’s fundamental ontology consists of dispositional properties, and if its characteristic metaphysical machinery is interpreted within the framework of contemporary evolutionary developmental biology, an evolved essentialism is available. The reformulated theory of Æ offered in this paper not only fails to fall prey to the typical collection of criticisms, but is also independently both theoretically and empirically plausible. The paper contends that, properly understood, essence belongs in the age of evolution
Role of vanadium and pyridine in heteropolycompounds for selective\ud
oxidation of alcohols with hydrogen peroxide

This study describes the application of heteropolyacids H3PMo12O40,H4SiMo12O40,\ud
H4PMo11VO40, H5PMo10V2O40, H9PMo6V6O40, and a hybrid pyridine-modified heteropolyacid with Keggin\ud
structure for selective oxidation of alcohols to ketones or aldehydes using aqueous hydrogen peroxide and\ud
acetonitrile as solvent. Performance of these different catalysts in 1-phenylethanol oxidation was studied.\ud
Influence of reaction temperature, amount of catalyst and hydrogen peroxide and reaction time on the\ud
yield of acetophenone was investigated to obtain optimal reaction conditions. Oxidation ability of the catalyst\ud
depended on the number of vanadium atoms present in the Keggin ion and to a lesser extent on pyridine\ud
substitution in the Keggin secondary structure. In order to explore the applicability of the method for selective\ud
oxidation of alcohols to ketones or aldehydes, various alcohols were investigated according to the general\ud
procedure using hybrid pyridine-modified heteropolyac
Evolution of optimal Hill coefficients in nonlinear public goods games

In evolutionary game theory, the effect of public goods like diffusible molecules has been modelled using linear, concave, sigmoid and step functions. The observation that biological systems are often sigmoid input-output functions, as described by the Hill equation, suggests that a sigmoid function is more realistic. The Michaelis-Menten model of enzyme kinetics, however, predicts a concave function, and while mechanistic explanations of sigmoid kinetics exist, we lack an adaptive explanation: what is the evolutionary advantage of a sigmoid benefit function? We analyse public goods games in which the shape of the benefit function can evolve, in order to determine the optimal and evolutionarily stable Hill coefficients. We find that, while the dynamics depends on whether output is controlled at the level of the individual or the population, intermediate or high Hill coefficients often evolve, leading to sigmoid input-output functions that for some parameters are so steep to resemble a step function (an on-off switch). Our results suggest that, even when the shape of the benefit function is unknown, biological public goods should be modelled using a sigmoid or step function rather than a linear or concave function
Gain-of-Function Mutations in ZIC1 Are Associated with Coronal Craniosynostosis and Learning Disability

Human ZIC1 (zinc finger protein of cerebellum 1), one of five homologs of the Drosophila pair-rule gene odd-paired, encodes a transcription factor previously implicated in vertebrate brain development. Heterozygous deletions of ZIC1 and its nearby paralog ZIC4 on chromosome 3q25.1 are associated with Dandy-Walker malformation of the cerebellum, and loss of the orthologous Zic1 gene in the mouse causes cerebellar hypoplasia and vertebral defects. We describe individuals from five families with heterozygous mutations located in the final (third) exon of ZIC1 (encoding four nonsense and one missense change) who have a distinct phenotype in which severe craniosynostosis, specifically involving the coronal sutures, and variable learning disability are the most characteristic features. The location of the nonsense mutations predicts escape of mutant ZIC1 transcripts from nonsense-mediated decay, which was confirmed in a cell line from an affected individual. Both nonsense and missense mutations are associated with altered and/or enhanced expression of a target gene, engrailed-2, in a Xenopus embryo assay. Analysis of mouse embryos revealed a localized domain of Zic1 expression at embryonic days 11.5-12.5 in a region overlapping the supraorbital regulatory center, which patterns the coronal suture. We conclude that the human mutations uncover a previously unsuspected role for Zic1 in early cranial suture development, potentially by regulating engrailed 1, which was previously shown to be critical for positioning of the murine coronal suture. The diagnosis of a ZIC1 mutation has significant implications for prognosis and we recommend genetic testing when common causes of coronal synostosis have been excluded
Linking regional stakeholder scenarios and shared socioeconomic pathways: Quantified West African food and climate futures in a global context

The climate change research community’s shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) are a set of alternative global development scenarios focused on mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. To use these scenarios as a global context that is relevant for policy guidance at regional and national levels, they have to be connected to an exploration of drivers and challenges informed by regional expertise.\ud
\ud
In this paper, we present scenarios for West Africa developed by regional stakeholders and quantified using two global economic models, GLOBIOM and IMPACT, in interaction with stakeholder-generated narratives and scenario trends and SSP assumptions. We present this process as an example of linking comparable scenarios across levels to increase coherence with global contexts, while presenting insights about the future of agriculture and food security under a range of future drivers including climate change.\ud
\ud
In these scenarios, strong economic development increases food security and agricultural development. The latter increases crop and livestock productivity leading to an expansion of agricultural area within the region while reducing the land expansion burden elsewhere. In the context of a global economy, West Africa remains a large consumer and producer of a selection of commodities. However, the growth in population coupled with rising incomes leads to increases in the region’s imports. For West Africa, climate change is projected to have negative effects on both crop yields and grassland productivity, and a lack of investment may exacerbate these effects. Linking multi-stakeholder regional scenarios to the global SSPs ensures scenarios that are regionally appropriate and useful for policy development as evidenced in the case study, while allowing for a critical link to global contexts
Cytomegalovirus seropositivity and serointensity are associated with hippocampal volume and verbal memory in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

International audienceINTRODUCTION: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a member of the herpesviridae family that has a limbic and temporal gray matter tropism. It is usually latent in humans but has been associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and cognitive deficits in some populations. Hippocampal decreased volume and dysfunction play a critical role in these cognitive deficits. We hypothesized that CMV seropositivity and serointensity would be associated with hippocampal volume and cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. METHODS: 102 healthy controls, 118 patients with bipolar disorder and 69 patients with schizophrenia performed the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and had blood samples drawn to assess CMV IgG levels. A subgroup of 52 healthy controls, 31 patients with bipolar disorder and 27 patients with schizophrenia underwent T1 MRI for hippocampal volumetry. We analyzed the association between CMV serointensity and seropositivity with hippocampal volume. We also explored the correlation between CMV serointensity and seropositivity and CVLT scores. RESULTS: In both patient groups but not in controls, higher CMV serointensity was significantly associated with smaller right hippocampal volume. Further, in the group of patients with schizophrenia but not bipolar disorder, CMV serointensity was negatively correlated with CVLT scores. CONCLUSION: CMV IgG titers are associated with decreased hippocampal volume and poorer episodic verbal memory in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The mechanism of this association warrants further exploration
Emerging complexity in a simple model of the mechanical behaviour of rocks

International audienceWe propose a mechanical model for the behaviour of rocks based on progressive damage at the elementary scale and elastic interaction. It allows us to simulate several experimental observations: mechanical behaviour ranging from brittle to ductile, fractal structure of the damage, powerlaw distribution of the damage avalanches. These macroscopic properties are not incorporated at the elementary scale, but are the results of the interaction between elements. This emerging complexity permits us to consider the strain rock process as a complex system characterized by non-linear dynamics
Patience and time consistency in collective decisions

International audienceWe present experimental evidence regarding individual and group decisions over time. Static and longitudinal methods are combined to test four conditions on time preferences: impatience, stationarity, age independence, and dynamic consistency. Decision making in groups should favor coordination via communication about voting intentions. We find that individuals are neither patient nor consistent, that groups are both patient and highly consistent, and that information exchange between participants helps groups converge to stable decisions. Finally we provide additional evidence showing that our results are driven by the specific role of groups and not by either repeated choices or individual preferences when choosing for other subjects
The twofold role of diagrams in Euclid's plane geometry

International audienceProposition I.1 is, by far, the most popular example used to justify the thesis that many of Euclid's geometric arguments are diagram-based. Many scholars have recently articulated this thesis in different ways and argued for it. My purpose is to reformulate it in a quite general way, by describing what I take to be the twofold role that diagrams play in Euclid's plane geometry (EPG). Euclid's arguments are objectdependent. They are about geometric objects. Hence, they cannot be diagram-based unless diagrams are supposed to have an appropriate relation with these objects. I take this relation to be a quite peculiar sort of representation. Its peculiarity depends on the two following claims that I shall argue for: (i) The identity conditions of EPG objects are provided by the identity conditions of the diagrams that represent them; (ii) EPG objects inherit some properties and relations from these diagrams
Does a Monetary Union protect again shocks? An assessment of Latin American integration

International audienceThis paper analyses the monetary consequences of the Latin-American trade integration process. We consider a sample of five countries -Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay- spanning the period 1991-2007. The main question raised pertains to the feasibility of a monetary union between L.A. economies. To this end, we study whether this set of countries is characterized by business cycle synchronization with the occurrence of common shocks, a strong similarity in the adjustment process and the convergence of policy responses. We focus especially our attention on two points. First, we try<br />to determine to what extent international disturbances influence the domestic business cycles through trade and/or financial channels. Second, we analyze the impact of the adoption of different exchange rate regimes on the countries' responses to shocks. All these features are the main issues in the literature relative to regional integration and OCA process