Using Linguistic Features to Estimate Suicide Probability of Chinese Microblog Users

If people with high risk of suicide can be identified through social media like microblog, it is possible to implement an active intervention system to save their lives. Based on this motivation, the current study administered the Suicide Probability Scale(SPS) to 1041 weibo users at Sina Weibo, which is a leading microblog service provider in China. Two NLP (Natural Language Processing) methods, the Chinese edition of Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) lexicon and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), are used to extract linguistic features from the Sina Weibo data. We trained predicting models by machine learning algorithm based on these two types of features, to estimate suicide probability based on linguistic features. The experiment results indicate that LDA can find topics that relate to suicide probability, and improve the performance of prediction. Our study adds value in prediction of suicidal probability of social network users with their behaviors

On Parametrically Excited Flexural Motion of an Extensible and Shearable Rod with a Heavy Attachment

A simple Cosserat model is used to explore the coupled planar flemural and arial vibrations of a slender rod clamped at one end with a heauy attached mass free to move at the other. By assuming that the inertia of the rod is small compared to that of the attached mass it is shown how the equations of motionreduce to a dynamical system. The effects of grauity on the rod can be incorporated within this frame-work and the linearised stability of the system discussed in terms of solutions to the Mathieu-Hill equation

Altered Cerebellar Short-Term Plasticity but No Change in Postsynaptic AMPA-Type Glutamate Receptors in a Mouse Model of Juvenile Batten Disease

Juvenile Batten disease is the most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder of childhood. It is associated with mutations in the CLN3 gene, causing loss of function of CLN3 protein and degeneration of cerebellar and retinal neurons. It has been proposed that changes in granule cell AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) contribute to the cerebellar dysfunction. In this study we compared AMPAR properties and synaptic transmission in cerebellar granule cells from wild-type and Cln3 knockout mice. In Cln3Δex1–6 cells the amplitude of AMPA-evoked whole-cell currents was unchanged. Similarly, we found no change in the amplitude, kinetics, or rectification of synaptic currents evoked by individual quanta, or in their underlying single-channel conductance. We found no change in cerebellar expression of GluA2 or GluA4 protein. By contrast, we observed a reduced number of quantal events following mossy-fiber stimulation in Sr2+, altered short-term plasticity in conditions of reduced extracellular Ca2+, and reduced mossy fiber vesicle number. Thus, while our results suggest early presynaptic changes in the Cln3Δex1–6 mouse model of juvenile Batten disease, they reveal no evidence for altered postsynaptic AMPARs

Postprandial lipemic and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: a review of the roles of acute and chronic exercise

Citation: Teeman, C. S., Kurti, S. P., Cull, B. J., Emerson, S. R., Haub, M. D., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). Postprandial lipemic and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: a review of the roles of acute and chronic exercise. Nutrition & Metabolism, 13, 14. doi:10.1186/s12986-016-0142-6Postprandial lipemia is an independent risk factor for development of cardiovascular disease. Postprandial inflammation following the prolonged elevation of triglycerides occurring subsequent to ingestion of high-fat meals, provides a likely explanation for increased disease risk. Substantial evidence has shown that acute exercise is an effective modality for attenuation of postprandial lipemia following a high-fat meal. However, much of the evidence pertaining to exercise intensity, duration, and overall energy expenditure for reducing postprandial lipemia is inconsistent. The effects of these different exercise variables on postprandial inflammation is largely unknown. Long-term, frequent exercise, however, appears to effectively reduce systemic inflammation, especially in at-risk or diseased individuals. With regard to an acute postprandial response, without a recent bout of exercise, high levels of chronic exercise do not appear to reduce postprandial lipemia. This review summarizes the current literature on postprandial and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals, and the roles that both acute and chronic exercise play. This review may be valuable for health professionals who wish to provide evidence-based, pragmatic advice for reducing postprandial lipemia and cardiovascular disease risk for their patients. A brief review of proposed mechanisms explaining how high-fat meals may result in pro-inflammatory and pro-atherosclerotic environments is also included

Homomeric Q/R edited AMPA receptors conduct when desensitized

Desensitization is a canonical property of ligand-gated ion channels, causing progressive current decline in the continued presence of agonist. AMPA-type glutamate receptors, which mediate fast excitatory signaling throughout the brain, exhibit profound desensitization. Recent cryo-EM studies of AMPAR assemblies show their ion channels to be closed in the desensitized state. Here we report the surprising finding that homomeric Q/R edited AMPARs still allow ions to flow when the receptors are desensitized. GluA2(R) expressed alone, or with auxiliary subunits (γ-2, γ-8 or GSG1L), generates large steady-state currents and anomalous current-variance relationships. Using fluctuation analysis, single-channel recording, and kinetic modeling we demonstrate that the steady-state current is mediated predominantly by ‘conducting desensitized’ receptors. When combined with crystallography this unique functional readout of a hith-erto silent state enabled us to examine cross-linked cysteine mutants to probe the conformation of the desensitized ligand binding domain of functioning AMPAR complexes within the plasma membrane

New results on the mathematical foundations of asymptotic complexity analysis of algorithms via complexity spaces

Schellekens [The Smyth completion: A common foundation for denotational semantics and complexity analysis, Electron. Notes Theor. Comput. Sci. 1 (1995), pp. 211-232.] introduced the theory of complexity (quasi-metric) spaces as a part of the development of a topological foundation for the asymptotic complexity analysis of programs and algorithms in 1995. The applicability of this theory to the asymptotic complexity analysis of divide and conquer algorithms was also illustrated by Schellekens in the same paper. In particular, he gave a new formal proof, based on the use of the Banach fixed-point theorem, of the well-known fact that the asymptotic upper bound of the average running time of computing of Mergesort belongs to the asymptotic complexity class of n log(2) n. Recently, Schellekens' method has been shown to be useful in yielding asymptotic upper bounds for a class of algorithms whose running time of computing leads to recurrence equations different from the divide and conquer ones reported in Cerda-Uguet et al. [The Baire partial quasi-metric space: A mathematical tool for the asymptotic complexity analysis in Computer Science, Theory Comput. Syst. 50 (2012), pp. 387-399.]. However, the variety of algorithms whose complexity can be analysed with this approach is not much larger than that of algorithms that can be analysed with the original Schellekens method. In this paper, on the one hand, we extend Schellekens' method in order to yield asymptotic upper bounds for a certain class of recursive algorithms whose running time of computing cannot be discussed following the techniques given by Cerda-Uguet et al. and, on the other hand, we improve the original Schellekens method by introducing a new fixed-point technique for providing, contrary to the case of the method introduced by Cerda-Uguet et al., lower asymptotic bounds of the running time of computing of the aforementioned algorithms and those studied by Cerda-Uguet et al. We illustrate and validate the developed method by applying our results to provide the asymptotic complexity class (asymptotic upper and lower bounds) of the celebrated algorithms Quicksort, Largetwo and Hanoi.The authors are thankful for the support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, grant MTM2009-12872-C02-01.Romaguera Bonilla, S.; Tirado Peláez, P.; Valero Sierra, Ó. (2012). New results on the mathematical foundations of asymptotic complexity analysis of algorithms via complexity spaces. International Journal of Computer Mathematics. 89(13-14):1728-1741. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207160.2012.659246S172817418913-14Cerdà-Uguet, M. A., Schellekens, M. P., & Valero, O. (2011). The Baire Partial Quasi-Metric Space: A Mathematical Tool for Asymptotic Complexity Analysis in Computer Science. Theory of Computing Systems, 50(2), 387-399. doi:10.1007/s00224-010-9310-7Cull, P., & Ecklund, E. F. (1985). Towers of Hanoi and Analysis of Algorithms. The American Mathematical Monthly, 92(6), 407. doi:10.2307/2322448García-Raffi, L. M., Romaguera, S., & Sánchez-Pérez, E. A. (2002). Sequence spaces and asymmetric norms in the theory of computational complexity. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 36(1-2), 1-11. doi:10.1016/s0895-7177(02)00100-0García-Raffi, L. M., Romaguera, S., & Schellekens, M. P. (2008). Applications of the complexity space to the General Probabilistic Divide and Conquer Algorithms. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 348(1), 346-355. doi:10.1016/j.jmaa.2008.07.026Künzi, H.-P. A. (2001). Nonsymmetric Distances and Their Associated Topologies: About the Origins of Basic Ideas in the Area of Asymmetric Topology. History of Topology, 853-968. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0470-0_3Rodríguez-López, J., Romaguera, S., & Valero, O. (2008). Denotational semantics for programming languages, balanced quasi-metrics and fixed points. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 85(3-4), 623-630. doi:10.1080/00207160701210653Rodríguez-López, J., Schellekens, M. P., & Valero, O. (2009). An extension of the dual complexity space and an application to Computer Science. Topology and its Applications, 156(18), 3052-3061. doi:10.1016/j.topol.2009.02.009Romaguera, S., & Schellekens, M. (1999). Quasi-metric properties of complexity spaces. Topology and its Applications, 98(1-3), 311-322. doi:10.1016/s0166-8641(98)00102-3Romaguera, S., & Valero, O. (2008). On the structure of the space of complexity partial functions. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 85(3-4), 631-640. doi:10.1080/00207160701210117Romaguera, S., Schellekens, M. P., & Valero, O. (2011). The complexity space of partial functions: a connection between complexity analysis and denotational semantics. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 88(9), 1819-1829. doi:10.1080/00207161003631885Schellekens, M. (1995). The Smyth Completion. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 1, 535-556. doi:10.1016/s1571-0661(04)00029-5Scott, D. S. 1970. Outline of a mathematical theory of computation. Proceedings of the 4th Annual Princeton Conference on Information Sciences and Systems. March26–271970, Princeton, NJ. pp.169–176

The effect of moderate intensity exercise in the postprandial period on the inflammatory response to a high-fat meal: an experimental study

Citation: Teeman, C. S., Kurti, S. P., Cull, B. J., Emerson, S. R., Haub, M. D., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). The effect of moderate intensity exercise in the postprandial period on the inflammatory response to a high-fat meal: an experimental study. Nutrition Journal, 15, 13. doi:10.1186/s12937-016-0134-4Background: Consuming a high-fat meal (HFM) may lead to postprandial lipemia (PPL) and inflammation. Postprandial exercise has been shown to effectively attenuate PPL. However, little is known about the impact of postprandial exercise on systemic inflammation and whether PPL and inflammation are associated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether moderate intensity exercise performed 60 min following a true-to-life HFM would attenuate PPL and inflammation. Methods: Thirty-nine young adults (18-40 year) with no known metabolic disease were randomized to either a control group (CON) who remained sedentary during the postprandial period or an exercise (EX) group who walked at 60 % VO2peak to expend approximate to 5 kcal/kgbw one-hour following the HFM. Participants consumed a HFM of 10 kcal/kgbw and blood draws were performed immediately before, 2 h and 4 h post-HFM. Results: At baseline, there were no differences between EX and CON groups for any metabolic or inflammatory markers (p > 0.05). Postprandial triglycerides (TRG) increased from baseline to 4 h in the EX and CON groups (p 0.05). There was an increase in soluble vascular adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1) from baseline to 4 h (p = 0.027) for all participants along with a group x time interaction (p = 0.020). Changes in TRG were associated with changes in interleukin-10 (IL-10) from 0 to 2 h (p = 0.007), but were not associated with changes in any other inflammatory marker in the postprandial period (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Despite significant increases in PPL following a HFM, moderate intensity exercise in the postprandial period did not mitigate the PPL nor the inflammatory response to the HFM. These results indicate that in populations with low metabolic risk, PPL and inflammation following a HFM may not be directly related