A feasibility Study: The Succinct Solver v2.0, XSB Prolog v2.6, and Flow-Logic Based Program Analysis for Carmel

Number: SECSAFE-IMM-008-1.0 Classification: Internal Abstract. We perform a direct comparison of the Succinct Solver v2.0 and XSB Prolog v2.6 based on experiments with Control Flow Analyses of scalable Discretionary Ambient programs and Carmel programs. To facilitate this comparison we expand ALFP clauses accepted by the Succinct Solver into more general Normal clauses accepted by both solvers and run the experiments for all three possible combinations of input and solver. This allows the solvers to be tested on even ground and enables the reuse of existing analyses and their corresponding ALFP constraint generators. The performance of the Succinct Solver is at worst a small constant factor worse than XSB Prolog. In optimum cases the Succinct Solver outperforms XSB Prolog by having

Socioeconomic patient characteristics predict delay in cancer diagnosis: a Danish cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Delay in cancer diagnosis may be important for cancer prognosis. Large individual variations in the duration of delay have been observed. This study examines whether patients' socioeconomic characteristics are predictors of long patient-, doctor- and system-related delay in cancer diagnosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Danish population-based cohort study. From September 2004 to September 2005, newly diagnosed cancer patients were enrolled from administrative registries. A total of 467 general practitioners in the County of Aarhus, Denmark, completed questionnaires on 2,212 cancer patients' diagnostic pathways. A total of 1,252 cancer patients filled in questionnaires on their socioeconomic characteristics (e.g. marital status, education, occupation, household income and fortune). Delay was categorised as short or long based on quartiles. Predictors of long delay were assessed in a logistic regression model using odds ratios (ORs) as a proxy of relative risks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In regard to <it>patient delay</it>, retired female patients experienced shorter delays (OR 0.35, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 0.13 to 0.98) than employed female patients, while female smokers experienced longer delays (OR 2.42, 95%CI 1.21 to 4.85) than female non-smokers.</p> <p>In regard to <it>doctor delay</it>, female patients with a large household fortune experienced shorter delays (OR 0.07, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.45) than economically less privileged female patients. Well-educated men experienced shorter delays (OR 0.40, 95%CI 0.16 to 1.00) than men with short education. Male patients experienced longer doctor delays (OR 2.11, 95%CI 1.11 to 4.02) than women when gender-specific cancers were excluded.</p> <p>In regard to <it>system delay</it>, female patients with a large household fortune experienced shorter delays (OR 0.46, 95%CI 0.21 to 0.99) than economically less privileged women, while female patients with a high alcohol intake experienced longer delays (OR 2.82, 95%CI 1.18 to 6.72) than women with an average intake.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found socioeconomic predictors of delay that allow us to hypothesize social inequalities in the distribution of delay, but, in general, only a few socioeconomic variables predicted delay in cancer diagnosis. Future research should examine a broader array of patients' personal characteristics.</p

Skeletal muscle IL-6 and regulation of liver metabolism during high-fat diet and exercise training

Altres ajuts: The study was supported by grants from the Lundbeck Foundation, The Danish Research Foundation, The Danish Council for Independent Research in the Natural Sciences, and The Augustinus Foundation. Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism (CIM) is supported by a grant from the Danish National Research Foundation (#02-512-55).Interleukin ()-6 is released from skeletal muscle (SkM) during exercise and has been shown to affect hepatic metabolism. It is, however, unknown whether SkM -6 is involved in the regulation of exercise training-induced counteraction of changes in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the liver in response to high-fat diet () feeding. Male SkM-specific -6 () and Floxed mice were subjected to Chow diet, or combined with exercise training ( ExTr) for 16 weeks. Hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase () protein content decreased with both and ExTr in Floxed mice, but increased in -6 mice on . In addition, the intrahepatic glucose concentration was in -6 mice higher in than chow. Within ExTr mice, hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) 36 a protein content was higher in -6 than Floxed mice. Hepatic pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase () 4 and 2 protein content was in Floxed mice lower in ExTr than Chow. In addition, hepatic 1-phosphorylation was higher and 1 protein lower in . Together this suggests that SkM -6 regulates hepatic glucose metabolism, but does not seem to be of major importance for the regulation of oxidative capacity or lipogenesis in liver during or combined with exercise training

Lifelong physical activity is associated with promoter hypomethylation of genes involved in metabolism, myogenesis, contractile properties and oxidative stress resistance in aged human skeletal muscle

Abstract Lifelong regular physical activity is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), maintenance of muscle mass and increased metabolic capacity. However, little is known about epigenetic mechanisms that might contribute to these beneficial effects in aged individuals. We investigated the effect of lifelong physical activity on global DNA methylation patterns in skeletal muscle of healthy aged men, who had either performed regular exercise or remained sedentary their entire lives (average age 62 years). DNA methylation was significantly lower in 714 promoters of the physically active than inactive men while methylation of introns, exons and CpG islands was similar in the two groups. Promoters for genes encoding critical insulin-responsive enzymes in glycogen metabolism, glycolysis and TCA cycle were hypomethylated in active relative to inactive men. Hypomethylation was also found in promoters of myosin light chain, dystrophin, actin polymerization, PAK regulatory genes and oxidative stress response genes. A cluster of genes regulated by GSK3β-TCF7L2 also displayed promoter hypomethylation. Together, our results suggest that lifelong physical activity is associated with DNA methylation patterns that potentially allow for increased insulin sensitivity and a higher expression of genes in energy metabolism, myogenesis, contractile properties and oxidative stress resistance in skeletal muscle of aged individuals