Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smoking-related disease risk, area deprivation and health behaviours.

BACKGROUND Smokers and ex-smokers are at risk of many chronic diseases. However, never smokers and never smokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are also at risk. Additionally, smoking behaviours and their associated disease risk are socially patterned and positively associated with health inequalities. However, other lifestyle choices also contribute to health inequalities. We aim to assess the contribution of other lifestyle behaviours pertaining to alcohol, physical inactivity and weight to smoking-related disease risk across (i) the socioeconomic spectrum and (ii) smoking status. METHODS Smoking-related disease risk is modelled using probit analysis. The results are used to predict disease risk across the socioeconomic dimension and smoking status for a set of healthy and unhealthy behaviours using the administratively linked Scottish Health Surveys and Scottish Morbidity Records. RESULTS The results confirm the deprivation gradient in disease risk regardless of smoking status group. Imposition of healthy (unhealthy) lifestyle behaviours decreases (increases) the predicted risk across the deprivation distribution regardless of smoking status providing evidence of the multifaceted health behavioural determinants of disease risk across the deprivation distribution. CONCLUSION The results are of policy interest as they suggest that to reduce inequalities in smoking-related diseases, interventions reducing both smoking and other unhealthy behaviours are required.
A Comprehensive Review of the Carcinogenic and Anticarcinogenic Potential of Capsaicin

Human exposure to capsaicin, the most abundant pungent chili pepper component, is ubiquitous. Evaluation of capsaicin’s carcinogenic potential has produced variable results in in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity and carcinogenicity assays. The capsaicin tested in older studies was often from pepper plant extracts and included other capsaicinoids and diverse impurities. Recent studies utilizing high-purity capsaicin and standardized protocols provide evidence that the genotoxic and carcinogenic potential of capsaicin is quite low and that the purity of capsaicin is important. Several small epidemiological studies suggest a link between capsaicin consumption and stomach or gall bladder cancer, but contamination of capsaicin-containing foods with known carcinogens renders their interpretation problematic. The postulated ability of capsaicin metabolites to damage DNA and promote carcinogenesis remains unsupported. Anticancer activities of capsaicin have been widely reported, as it inhibits the activity of carcinogens and induces apoptosis in numerous cancer cell lines in vitro and explanted into rodents. Diverse mechanisms have been postulated for capsaicin’s anticancer properties. One hypothesis is that inhibition of cytochrome P450 enzymes—particularly CYP2E1—retards carcinogen activation but is contradicted by the low potency of capsaicin for CYP inhibition. The potential for dietary capsaicin to act as a chemopreventative is now widely postulated.
Abnormalities in endocrine and immune cells are correlated in dextran-sulfate-sodium-induced colitis in rats

The interaction between the gut hormones and the immune system has been suggested to serve an important role in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease. The aims of the present study were to elucidate the possible abnormalities in the colonic endocrine cells in rats with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis, and to determine whether they are correlated with alterations in the immune cells. A total of 24 male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: Control and DSS-induced colitis. Colonic tissues were harvested via postmortem laparotomy from all of the animals at the end of the experimental period, and fixed and sectioned for histology. The colonic endocrine and immune cells in those tissue samples were immunostained and their densities quantified by computerized image analysis. The densities of chromogranin A, serotonin, peptide YY and oxyntomodulin cells were significantly higher, and those of pancreatic peptide and somatostatin cells were lower in rats with DSS-induced colitis than in the controls. The densities of mucosal leukocytes, T and B lymphocytes, macrophages/monocytes, and mast cells were significantly higher than in the controls, and these changes were closely associated with the aforementioned changes in all endocrine cell types. These observations indicate an interaction between intestinal hormones and the immune system as represented by immune cells.
A model to predict the histopathology of human stroke using diffusion and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to identify MRI measures that have high probability in a short acquisition time to predict, at early time points after onset of ischemia, the eventual development of cerebral infarction in clinical patients who suffer occlusion of a cerebral artery. METHODS We developed an MR tissue signature model based on experimentally derived relationships of the apparent diffusion coefficient of water (ADCw) and T2 to ischemic brain tissue histopathology. In eight stroke patients we measured ADCw and T2 intensity using diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging (DW-EPI). Tissue signature regions were defined, and theme maps of the ischemic focus at subacute time points after stroke onset were generated. RESULTS Five MR signatures were identified in human stroke foci: two that may predict either cell recovery or progression to necrosis, one that may mark the transition to cell necrosis, and two that may be markers of established cell necrosis. CONCLUSIONS An MR tissue signature model of ischemic histopathology using ADCw and T2 can now be tested for its potential to predict reversible and identify irreversible cellular damage in human ischemic brain regions.
Scaling behavior of chaotic systems with riddled basins.

Recently it has been shown that there are chaotic attractors whose basins are such that every point in the attractor's basin has pieces of another attractor's basin arbitrarily nearby (the basin is riddled'' with holes). Here we report quantitative theoretical results for such basins and compare with numerical experiments on a simple physical model.
Estimating tourism demand from China market to Malaysia

The arrivals of the Chinese people to Malaysia (Malaya) started since the early fifteenth century. At that time, they came as traders, seafarers and miners. The movements of Chinese people were very limited since at that time China was practicing a closed door policy with foreign countries. Thus, communications to and from China were very minimal. However, in 2001, the Chinese government had implemented an open door policy by participating in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Chinese government had opened its economy to foreign investors through foreign direct investment by providing them various incentives. The beginning of 21st century saw an increase in the inbound and outbound movements of the Chinese people. By 2005, China was among the top 5 most visited global destinations. Similarly, outbound Chinese also increased and Malaysia was among their most popular choice. In 1990, only about 107.6 thousand Chinese tourists visited Malaysia. By 2006, however, this figure had increased to about 457.8 thousand; which was the highest number of foreigners outside the ASEAN region. This research tries to identify and estimate the importance of major economic factors that influence the increase in Chinese arrivals to Malaysia. Among other factors that could induce their arrivals are tourism price, traveling costs, income and informal promotion. The Asian economic crisis and the outbreak of SARs also have been included in order to understand how the short-run shock affecting their demand for Malaysia. Cointegration technique of Vector Error Correction Model (ARDL) is utilized to statistically estimate the importance of these variables in this research.
GENOTYPE‐BY‐ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE SIZE OF A SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTER IN THE COLLARED FLYCATCHER (FICEDULA ALBICOLLIS)

Although genetic variation in characters closely related to fitness is expected to either become depleted by selection or masked by environmental variation, “good gene” models of sexual selection require moderate to high heritabilities of secondary sexual characters to explain the occurrence of costly female mate preferences. In this study, I investigated whether the estimated heritability of a condition‐dependent secondary sexual character (i.e., the white forehead badge) in the collared flycatcher varied depending on environmental conditions experienced during offspring growth. The data were collected over a period of 14 years making it possible to exploit natural variation in natal conditions. In addition, natal conditions were experimentally altered through brood size manipulations. During unfavorable conditions caused by generally poor weather or experimentally enlarged brood size, no significant heritability based on father‐sons regressions could be demonstrated (0.19 ⩽ h2 ⩽ 0.27). In contrast, sons reared during years with favorable weather or in experimentally reduced broods significantly resembled their fathers (0.44 ⩽ h2 ⩽ 0.65). In addition, the heritability estimates declined with increasing maternal age. The strong effect of natal environmental condition on the estimated heritability of forehead badge size suggests that the potential genetic benefit from mate choice vary according to environmental conditions (e.g., the benefit is reduced during unfavorable rearing conditions). Because sons reared during poor conditions have probably experienced a natal environment different from that experienced by their fathers, the low heritability estimates obtained under poor conditions seem to be caused by low additive genetic variation expressed in such environments and/or a low genetic correlation between the expression of the trait in the two different environments (i.e., good vs. bad). Both of these explanations imply the presence of genotype‐by‐environment interactions. If such interactions frequently affect the expression of secondary sexual characters, this may offer an explanation of the high heritabilites sometimes reported for such traits, despite their exposure to long‐term directional selection.
P-Values: Misunderstood and Misused

P-values are widely used in both the social and natural sciences to quantify the statistical significance of observed results. The recent surge of big data research has made the p-value an even more popular tool to test the significance of a study. However, substantial literature has been produced critiquing how p-values are used and understood. In this paper we review this recent critical literature, much of which is routed in the life sciences, and consider its implications for social scientific research. We provide a coherent picture of what the main criticisms are, and draw together and disambiguate common themes. In particular, we explain how the False Discovery Rate is calculated, and how this differs from a p-value. We also make explicit the Bayesian nature of many recent criticisms, a dimension that is often underplayed or ignored. We conclude by identifying practical steps to help remediate some of the concerns identified. We recommend that (i) far lower significance levels are used, such as 0.01 or 0.001, and (ii) p-values are interpreted contextually, and situated within both the findings of the individual study and the broader field of inquiry (through, for example, meta-analyses).
Magnetoencephalographic evidence for a precise forward model in speech production

Electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography studies have shown that auditory cortical responses to self-produced speech are attenuated when compared with responses to tape-recorded speech, but that this attenuation disappears if auditory feedback is altered. These results suggest that auditory feedback during speaking is processed by comparing the feedback with its internal prediction. The present study used magnetoencephalography to investigate the precision of this matching process. Auditory responses to speech feedback were recorded under altered feedback conditions. During speech production, the M100 amplitude was maximally reduced to the participants' own unaltered voice feedback, relative to pitch-shifted and alien speech feedback. This suggests that the feedback comparison process may be very precise, allowing the auditory system to distinguish between internal and external sources of auditory information.
Glutamate-Mediated Upregulation of the Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 in Porcine and Human Brain Capillaries

As a member of the multidrug-resistance associated protein (MRP) family, MRP2 affects the brain entry of different endogenous and exogenous compounds. Considering the role of this transporter at the blood-brain barrier, the regulation is of particular interest. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the factors that regulate MRP2 in neurologic disease states. Thus, we addressed the hypothesis that MRP2 might be affected by a glutamate-induced signaling pathway that we previously identified as one key mechanism in the regulation of P-glycoprotein. Studies in isolated porcine brain capillaries confirmed that glutamate and N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) exposure upregulates expression and function of MPR2. The involvement of the NMDA receptor was further suggested by the fact that the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 [(5S,10R)-(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine], as well as the NMDA receptor glycine binding site antagonist L-701,324 [7-chloro-4-hydroxy-3-(3-phenoxy)phenyl-2(1H)-quinolinone], prevented the impact of glutamate. A role of cyclooxygenase-2 was indicated by coincubation with the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib and the cyclooxygenase-1/-2 inhibitor indomethacin, which both efficaciously abolished a glutamate-induced upregulation of MRP2. Translational studies in human capillaries from surgical specimen demonstrated a relevant MRP2 efflux function and indicated an effect of glutamate exposure as well as its prevention by cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition. Taken together the findings provide first evidence for a role of a glutamate-induced NMDA receptor/cyclooxygenase-2 signaling pathway in the regulation of MRP2 expression and function. The response to excessive glutamate concentrations might contribute to overexpression of MRP2, which has been reported in neurologic diseases including epilepsy. The overexpression might have implications for brain access of various compounds including therapeutic drugs.
Susceptibility to retinal light damage in transgenic rats with rhodopsin mutations.

PURPOSE To determine relative light-induced retinal damage susceptibility in transgenic rats expressing mutations in the N- or C-terminal region of rhodopsin. METHODS Heterozygous transgenic rats, including P23H sublines 2 and 3 and S334ter sublines 4 and 9, were reared in dim cyclic light or in darkness before visible light exposure starting at various times of the day or night. Before exposure to light, some rats were given the synthetic antioxidant dimethylthiourea (DMTU). At various times after intense light treatment, rats were killed for determinations of rhodopsin and retinal DNA recovery, DNA fragmentation patterns, and Northern blot analysis of retinal heme oxygenase (HO)-1 and interphotoreceptor retinol binding protein (IRBP). Rod outer segments (ROSs) were isolated for Western blot analysis of rhodopsin using N- and C- terminal-specific monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS All rats incurred greater photoreceptor cell damage from exposure to light starting at 1 AM than from exposure at 5 PM. Among cyclic-light-reared rats, P23H line 3 animals were more susceptible to light-induced damage than P23H line 2 animals. S334ter rats exhibited retinal light damage profiles similar to those in normal rats. Dark-rearing potentiated retinal damage by light. However, dark-rearing alone prolonged photoreceptor cell life in P23H rats, but had no such effect in S334ter animals. DMTU pretreatment was effective in preventing or reducing light-induced retinal damage in all transgenic rats. S334ter rat ROSs contained the truncated form of rhodopsin. Intense light exposure resulted in DNA ladders typical of apoptotic cell death and the simultaneous induction of retinal HO-1 mRNA and reduced expression of IRBP. CONCLUSIONS Light-induced retinal damage in transgenic rats depends on the time of day of exposure to light, prior light-or dark-rearing environment, and the relative level of transgene expression. Retinal light damage leads to apoptotic visual cell loss and appears to result from oxidative stress. These results suggest that reduced environmental lighting and/or antioxidant treatment may delay retinal degenerations arising from rhodopsin mutations.
Electromagnetic Fields from Mobile Phones do not Affect the Inner Auditory System of Sprague-Dawley Rats

Abstract Galloni, P., Parazzini, M. , Piscitelli, M. , Pinto, R. , Lovisolo, G. A. , Tognola, G. , Marino, C. and Ravazzani, P. Electromagnetic Fields from Mobile Phones do not Affect the Inner Auditory System of Sprague-Dawley Rats. Radiat. Res. 164, 798–804 (2005). The auditory system is the first biological structure facing the electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cochlear functionality of Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to electromagnetic fields at the typical frequencies of GSM mobile phones (900 and 1800 MHz) by distortion product otoacoustic emissions, which are a well-known indicator of the status of the cochlea's outer hair cells. A population of 48 rats was divided into exposed and sham-exposed groups. Three sets of four loop antennas, one for sham-exposed animals and two for exposed animals, were used for the local exposures. Rats were exposed 2 h/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks at a local SAR of 2 W/kg in the ear. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions tests were carried out before, during and after the exposure. The analysis of the data shows no statistically significant differences between the audiological signals recorded for the different groups.
Occurrence of sublethal injury after pulsed electric fields depending on the micro‐organism, the treatment medium ph and the intensity of the treatment investigated

Aims: The objective was to investigate the occurrence of sublethal injury after pulsed electric field (PEF) depending on the treatment time, the electric field strength and the pH of the treatment media in two Gram‐positive (Bacillus subtilis ssp. niger, Listeria monocytogenes) and six Gram‐negative (Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella serotype Senftenberg 775W, Salmonella serotype Typhimurium, Yersinia enterocolitica) bacterial strains.
Atlantic Forcing of Persistent Drought in West Africa

Although persistent drought in West Africa is well documented from the instrumental record and has been primarily attributed to changing Atlantic sea surface temperatures, little is known about the length, severity, and origin of drought before the 20th century. We combined geomorphic, isotopic, and geochemical evidence from the sediments of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, to reconstruct natural variability in the African monsoon over the past three millennia. We find that intervals of severe drought lasting for periods ranging from decades to centuries are characteristic of the monsoon and are linked to natural variations in Atlantic temperatures. Thus the severe drought of recent decades is not anomalous in the context of the past three millennia, indicating that the monsoon is capable of longer and more severe future droughts.
BASALT FIBER COMPOSITE REINFORCEMENT FOR CONCRETE

This Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) project focused on an evaluation of the feasibility of using composite rebar in concrete reinforcement based on studies of the properties of basalt fiber and reinforced composite. The progress report focuses on the technical characteristics of basalt-fiber composite/concrete. Basalt fibers exhibit a high level of mechanical characteristics (tensile strength, modulus) and chemical stability in cement media. An evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of basalt-fiber composites is provided. The technical characteristics of basalt fiber reinforced concrete are considered and suitable basalt fibers for fiber-reinforced concrete applications are defined.
Measuring Information Processing Speed in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Clinical Versus Research Dichotomy

A substantial body of research evidence is indicative of disproportionately slowed information processing speed in a wide range of multi-trial, computer-based, neuroimaging- and electroencephalography-based reaction time (RT) tests in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, in what is arguably a dichotomy between research evidence and clinical practice, RT associated with different brain functions is rarely assessed as part of their diagnosis. Indeed, often only the time taken to perform a single, specific task, commonly the Trail making test (TMT), is measured. In clinical practice therefore, there can be a failure to assess adequately the integrity of the rapid, serial information processing and response, necessary for efficient, appropriate, and safe interaction with the environment. We examined whether a typical research-based RT task could at least match the TMT in differentiating amnestic MCI (aMCI) from cognitively healthy aging at group level. As aMCI is a heterogeneous group, typically containing only a proportion of individuals for whom aMCI represents the early stages of dementia, we examined the ability of each test to provide intra-group performance variation. The results indicate that as well as significant slowing in performance of the operations involved in TMT part B (but not part A), individuals with aMCI also experience significant slowing in RT compared to controls. The results also suggest that research-typical RT tests may be superior to the TMT in differentiating between cognitively healthy aging and aMCI at group level and in revealing the performance variability one would expect from an etiologically heterogeneous disorder such as aMCI.
Narrative ability of children with speech sound disorders and the prediction of later literacy skills.

PURPOSE The main purpose of this study was to examine how children with isolated speech sound disorders (SSDs; n = 20), children with combined SSDs and language impairment (LI; n = 20), and typically developing children (n = 20), ages 3;3 (years;months) to 6;6, differ in narrative ability. The second purpose was to determine if early narrative ability predicts school-age (8-12 years) literacy skills. METHOD This study employed a longitudinal cohort design. The children completed a narrative retelling task before their formal literacy instruction began. The narratives were analyzed and compared for group differences. Performance on these early narratives was then used to predict the children's reading decoding, reading comprehension, and written language ability at school age. RESULTS Significant group differences were found in children's (a) ability to answer questions about the story, (b) use of story grammars, and (c) number of correct and irrelevant utterances. Regression analysis demonstrated that measures of story structure and accuracy were the best predictors of the decoding of real words, reading comprehension, and written language. Measures of syntax and lexical diversity were the best predictors of the decoding of nonsense words. CONCLUSION Combined SSDs and LI, and not isolated SSDs, impact a child's narrative abilities. Narrative retelling is a useful task for predicting which children may be at risk for later literacy problems.