Eye movements in code reading:relaxing the linear order

Abstract—Code reading is an important skill in programming. Inspired by the linearity that people exhibit while natural lan-guage text reading, we designed local and global gaze-based mea-sures to characterize linearity (left-to-right and top-to-bottom) in reading source code. Unlike natural language text, source code is executable and requires a specific reading approach. To validate these measures, we compared the eye movements of novice and expert programmers who were asked to read and comprehend short snippets of natural language text and Java programs. Our results show that novices read source code less linearly than natural language text. Moreover, experts read code less linearly than novices. These findings indicate that there are specific differences between reading natural language and source code, and suggest that non-linear reading skills increase with expertise. We discuss the implications for practitioners and educators. I

Significant reduction in helicobacter pylori load in humans with non-viable lactobacillus reuteri DSM17648: A pilot study

Reducing the amount of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach by selective bacterial-bacterial cell interaction was sought as an effective and novel method for combating the stomach pathogen. Lactobacillus reuteri DSM17648 was identified as a highly specific binding antagonist to H. pylori among more than 700 wild-type strains of Lactobacillus species. Applying a stringent screening procedure, the strain DSM17648 was identified as selective binder to H. pylori cells under in vivo gastric conditions. The strain DSM17648 co-aggregates the pathogen in vivo and in vitro. The specific co-aggregation occurs between Lact. reuteri DSM17648 and different H. pylori strains and serotypes, as well as H. heilmannii, but not with Campylobacter jejuni or other commensal oral and intestinal bacteria. Lact. reuteri DSM17648 was shown in a proof-of-concept single-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study to significantly reduce the load of H. pylori in healthy yet infected adults. Reducing the amount of H. pylori in the stomach by selective bacterial-bacterial cell interaction might be an effective and novel method for combating the stomach pathogen. Lact. reuteri DSM17648 might prove useful as an adhesion blocker in antibiotic-free H. pylori therapies

High‐Saturated‐Fat Diet Increases Circulating Angiotensin‐Converting Enzyme, Which Is Enhanced by the rs4343 Polymorphism Defining Persons at Risk of Nutrient‐Dependent Increases of Blood Pressure

Background Angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) plays a major role in blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular homeostasis. Contrary to the assumption that ACE levels are stable, circulating ACE has been shown to be altered in obesity and weight loss. We sought to examine effects of a high‐saturated‐fat (HF) diet on ACE within the NUtriGenomic Analysis in Twins (NUGAT) study. Methods and Results Forty‐six healthy and nonobese twin pairs initially consumed a carbohydrate‐rich, low‐fat diet over a period of 6 weeks to standardize for nutritional behavior prior to the study, followed by 6 weeks of HF diet under isocaloric conditions. After 6 weeks of HF diet, circulating ACE concentrations increased by 15% (P=1.6×10−30), accompanied by an increased ACE gene expression in adipose tissue (P=3.8×10−6). Stratification by ACE rs4343, a proxy for the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism (I/D), revealed that homozygous carriers (GG) of the variant had higher baseline ACE concentrations (P=7.5×10−8) and additionally showed a 2‐fold increase in ACE concentrations in response to the HF diet as compared to non‐ or heterozygous carriers (AA/AG, P=2×10−6). GG carriers also responded with higher systolic blood pressure as compared to AA/AG carriers (P=0.008). The strong gene‐diet interaction was confirmed in a second independent, cross‐sectional cohort, the Metabolic Syndrome Berlin Potsdam (MeSyBePo) study. Conclusions The HF‐diet‐induced increase of ACE serum concentrations reveals ACE to be a potential molecular link between dietary fat intake and hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The GG genotype of the ACE rs4343 polymorphism represents a robust nutrigenetic marker for an unfavorable response to high‐saturated‐fat diets. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01631123

Heritability of pain catastrophizing and associations with experimental pain outcomes: a twin study

This study used a twin paradigm to examine genetic and environmental contributions to pain catastrophizing and the observed association between pain Catastrophizing and cold-pressor task (CPT) outcomes. Male and female monozygotic (n = 206) and dizygotic twins (n = 194) torn the University of Washington Twin Registry completed a measure of pain catastrophizing and performed a CPT challenge, As expected, pain catastrophizing emerged as a significant predictor of several CPT outcomeS, including cold-pressor Immersion Tolerance, Pain Tolerance, and Delayed Pain Rating. The heritability estimate for pain catastrophizing was found to be 37% with the remaining 63% of variance attributable to unique environmental influence. Additionally, the Observed associations between pain catastrophizing and CPT outcomes were not found attributable to shared genetics or environmental exposure, which suggests a direct relationship between catastrophizing and experimental pain. outcomes. This Study is the first to examine the heritability of pain catastrophizing and potential processes by which pain catastrophizing is related to experimental pain response

Continuous blood glucose monitoring reveals enormous circadian variations in pregnant diabetic rats

Aim: Diabetes in pregnancy is a major burden with acute and long-term consequences. Its treatment requires adequate diagnosis and monitoring of therapy. Many experimental research on diabetes during pregnancy has been performed in rats. Recently, continuous blood glucose monitoring of non-pregnant diabetic rats revealed an increased circadian variability of blood glucose that made a single blood glucose measurement per day inappropriate to reflect glycemic status. Continuous blood glucose measurement has never been performed in pregnant rats. We wanted to perform continuous blood glucose monitoring in pregnant rats to decipher the influence of pregnancy on blood glucose in diabetic and normoglycemic status. Methods: We used the transgenic Tet29 diabetes rat model with an inducible knock down of the insulin receptor via RNA interference upon application of doxycycline (DOX) leading to insulin resistant type II diabetes. All Tet29 rats received a HD-XG telemetry implant (Data Sciences International, USA) that measured blood glucose and activity continuously. Rats were divided into four groups and blood glucose was monitored until end of pregnancy or the corresponding period: Tet29 + DOX (diabetic) non-pregnant, Tet29 + DOX (diabetic) pregnant, Tet29 (normoglycemic) non-pregnant, Tet29 (normoglycemic) pregnant. Results: Allanalyzed rats displayed a circadian variation in blood glucose concentration. Circadian variability was much more pronounced in pregnant diabetic rats than in normoglycemic pregnant rats. Pregnancy ameliorated variation in blood glucose in diabetic situation. Pregnancy continuously decreased blood glucose during normoglycemic pregnancy. Diabetic rats were less active than normoglycemic rats. We performed a calculation showing that application of continuous blood glucose measurement reduces Interpretation: Continuous blood glucose monitoring via a telemetry device in pregnant rats provides a more informative picture of the glycemic situation in comparison to single measurements. This could improve diagnosis and therapy of diabetes, decrease animal numbers within experimental settings, and add another physiological parameter (activity) to the analysis that could be helpful in testing therapeutic concepts targeting blood glucose levels and peripheral muscle function. We propose continuous glucose monitoring as a new tool for the evaluation of pregnant diabetic rats

Genetic correlation of exercise with heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia

Purpose: A twin design was used to test whether the association between exercise behavior and heart rate and the association between exercise behavior and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) derive from a common genetic factor. Methods: Data were available from 157 adolescent (aged 13-22) and 208 middle-aged twin pairs (aged 35-62), divided into five sex by zygosity groups (male and female monozygotic twin pairs, and dizygotic twin pairs of same or opposite sex). Exercise behavior was assessed as the average weekly METs spent on sports activities or other vigorous activities in leisure time (sportMETS) in the last 3 months. RSA and heart period (HP) were assessed in the time domain from the combined ECG and respiration signals. Results: Heritability estimates were 16% and 29% for RSA, 64% and 68% for HP, and 79% and 41% for sportMETS in young and middle-aged twins, respectively. A significant association was found between RSA and sportMETS (0.17) in the adolescent twins that derived entirely from a common genetic factor. No association was found between sportMETS and RSA in the older twins. A significant association was found between HP and sportMETS in both adolescent (0.35) and middle-aged (0.18) twins. A large contribution of common genetic factors to these associations was found amounting to 84% and 88% in the young and middle-aged twins, respectively. Conclusions: Although the results of this study do not preclude causal effects of exercise on RSA and heart rate, they show that the association between exercise and these cardiovascular risk factors largely derives from a common genetic factor

EMIP: The eye movements in programming dataset

A large dataset that contains the eye movements of N=216 programmers of different experience levels captured during two code comprehension tasks is presented. Data are grouped in terms of programming expertise (from none to high) and other demographic descriptors. Data were collected through an international collaborative effort that involved eleven research teams across eight countries on four continents. The same eye tracking apparatus and software was used for the data collection. The Eye Movements in Programming (EMIP) dataset is freely available for download. The varied metadata in the EMIP dataset provides fertile ground for the analysis of gaze behavior and may be used to make novel insights about code comprehension

Human primary muscle stem cells regenerate injured urethral sphincter in athymic rats

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to demonstrate the efficacy of human muscle stem cells (MuSCs) isolated using innovative technology in restoring internal urinary sphincter function in a preclinical animal model. METHODS: Colonies of pure human MuSCs were obtained from muscle biopsy specimens. Athymic rats were subjected to internal urethral sphincter damage by electrocauterization. Five days after injury, 2 × 10(5) muscle stem cells or medium as control were injected into the area of sphincter damage (n = 5 in each group). Peak bladder pressure and rise in pressure were chosen as outcome measures. To repeatedly obtain the necessary pressure values, telemetry sensors had been implanted into the rat bladders 10 days prior to injury. RESULTS: There was a highly significant improvement in the ability to build up peak pressure as well as a pressure rise in animals that had received muscle stem cells as compared to control (p = 0.007) 3 weeks after the cells had been injected. Only minimal histologic evidence of scarring was observed in treated rats. CONCLUSION: Primary human muscle stem cells obtained using innovative technology functionally restore internal urethral sphincter function after injury. Translation into use in clinical settings is foreseeable