Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of General and Central Obesity and Associated Factors among North Korean Refugees in South Korea by Duration after Defection from North Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study

Previous studies on obesity status among North Korean refugees (NKRs) have been limited. We investigated mean body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and general and central obesity prevalence among NKRs in South Korea (SK) by duration after defection from North Korea (NK), using cross-sectional data of the North Korean Refugee Health in South Korea (NORNS) study and compared these data with a sample from the general South Korean population (the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey). The prevalence of general and central obesity among NKRs with duration after defection from NK of less than five years were lower than among South Koreans, except for central obesity among NKR females (obesity prevalence, 19% (12–27%) vs. 39% (34–44%) for NK vs. SK males (p < 0.001) and 19% (14–24%) vs. 27% (24–29%) for NK vs. SK females (p = 0.076); central obesity prevalence, 13% (6–19%) vs. 24% (20–29%) for NK vs. SK males (p = 0.011) and 22% (17–28%) vs. 20% (18–22%) for NK vs. SK females (p = 0.382)). The prevalence of general and central obesity among NKRs with duration after defection from NK (≥10 years) were comparable to those of South Koreans in both genders (obesity prevalence, 34% (18–50%) vs. 39% (34–44%) for NK vs. SK males (p = 0.690) and 23% (18–29%) vs. 27% (24–29%) for NK vs. SK females (0.794); central obesity prevalence, 21% (7–34%) vs. 24% (20–29%) for NK vs. SK males (p = 0.642); 22% (17–28%) vs. 20% (18–22%) for NK vs. SK females (p = 0.382)). Male sex, age and longer duration after defection from NK (≥10 years) were positively associated with obesity. As for central obesity, age was the only independently associated factor. NKR females with duration after defection from NK of less than five years had comparable central obesity prevalence to South Korean females in spite of a lower BMI, which suggests that we need further monitoring for their metabolic health among NKRs in SK.
Effect of antifibrotics on short-term outcome after bilateral lung transplantation: a multicentre analysis

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a heterogeneous entity of diffuse parenchymal lung diseases characterised by damage of the parenchyma as a result of varying patterns of inflammation and fibrosis [1]. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a specific subgroup of ILDs and has a devastating prognosis [2] with a median survival time of 2–3 years [2–4]. Pirfenidone (Esbriet) and nintedanib (Ofev) were approved for IPF treatment, showing a stabilisation of the disease [5, 6], and are the treatments recommended by international guidelines [1]. Nintedanib was shown to increase the risk of bleeding events in IPF patients during therapy [7] and the European Medicines Agency recommended discontinuation of nintedanib before major surgery but without a definite time frame for discontinuation [8]. Corticosteroids have been the conventional strategy used as treatment in different ILD subtypes despite limited evidence regarding their efficacy [9, 10]. After failure of medical therapy in severe ILD, lung transplantation (LuTx) represents an established therapeutic option in order to improve quality of life and survival [11]. New antifibrotic therapies do not impair the clinical course or survival of patients with interstitial lung disease who underwent bilateral lung transplantation http://ow.ly/7KoG30jyJmQ
Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Graphene Sheets

This thesis examines the electrical and mechanical properties of graphene sheets. We perform low temperature electrical transport measurements on gated, quasi-2D graphite quantum dots. In devices with low contact resistances, we use longitudinal and Hall resistances to extract a carrier density of 2-6 x 10 11 holes per sheet and a mobility of 200-1900 cm 2 /V-s. In devices with high resistance contacts, we observe Coulomb blockade phenomena and infer the charging energies and capacitive couplings. These experiments demonstrate that electrons in mesoscopic graphite pieces are delocalized over nearly the whole graphite piece down to low temperatures. We also fabricate nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) from ultra thin graphite and graphene by mechanically exfoliating thin sheets over trenches in SiO 2. Vibrations with fundamental resonant frequencies in the MHz range are actuated either optically or electrically and detected optically by interferometry. We demonstrate room temperature charge sensitivities down to 2x10-3 e/Hz ½. The thinnest resonator consists of a single suspended layer of atoms and represents the ultimate limit of a two dimensional NEMS. In addition to work on doubly clamped beams and cantilevers, we also investigate the properties of resonating drumheads, which consist of graphene sealed microchambers containing a small volume of trapped gas. These experiments allow us to probe the membrane properties of single atomic layers of graphene. We show that these membranes are impermeable and can support pressure differences larger than one atmosphere. We use such pressure differences to tune the mechanical resonance frequency by ~100 MHz. This allows us to measure the mass and elastic constants of graphene membranes. We demonstrate that atomic layers of graphene have stiffness similar to bulk graphite (E ~ 1 TPa). These results show that single atomic sheets can be integrated with microfabricated structures to create a new class of atomic scale membrane-based devices. Colorado at Boulder. iv To my family v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When I first arrived at Cornell University and joined Paul McEuen's lab, it was a lonely and empty place. Paul and his lab were still at Berkeley so the labs at Cornell were just empty rooms. I sat at my desk staring at freshly painted white walls and began to ponder whether I would survive the long years of a Ph.D. in such a dreary setting. Fortunately, things soon changed with the arrival of equipment and people that was to transform the corridors of Clark Hall to a lively and exciting …
The A allele of cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) SNP 1761667 associates with decreased lipid taste perception in obese Tunisian women

Recent studies have suggested that excessive intake of dietary fat is associated with obesity. Some obese subjects have been reported to exhibit high thresholds for the gustatory detection of lipids via lipid receptors, such as cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36). We studied lingual detection thresholds for emulsions containing oleic acid in obese Tunisian women (n 203) using a three-alternative forced choice (3-AFC) method. Genotyping of the TNF-α (rs1800629), IL-6 (rs1800795) and CD36 (rs1761667) genes was performed to associate with lipid taste perception thresholds. The CD36 genotype distribution was as follows: GG (n 42), AG (n 102) and AA (n 59). Women with the CD36 GG genotype exhibited oral detection thresholds for oleic acid that were more than three times lower than those with the CD36 AA genotype. The present study confirms a high threshold of gustatory fat detection in obese women with the CD36 AA genotype, but there is no significant association with the IL-6 and TNF-α gene polymorphisms.
Do capability and functioning differ? A study of U.K. survey responses

Summary A core feature of the capability approach is that a person's capabilities (what they are able to do and be in their life) can differ from their functionings (what they actually do and are in their life). However, the degree to which capability and functioning differ in practice is unclear. This paper investigates this issue, focusing on capability and functioning differences (CFD) across different aspects of life and different individuals. In the study, the ICECAP‐A capability questionnaire was modified to measure both functionings and capabilities and was completed by U.K.‐based convenience sample of 943 people. Around one third of people reported CFD in at least one area of their life, most commonly in terms of their “achievement. ” People were more likely to report CFD when they had a degree‐level education and when they had impaired health. An additional finding was that capability varied more with education whereas functioning varied more with health status. This finding needs further examination, but it suggests that the choice of evaluative space may influence how priorities are set for public spending.
Calcium in plants.

Calcium is an essential plant nutrient. It is required for various structural roles in the cell wall and membranes, it is a counter-cation for inorganic and organic anions in the vacuole, and the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) is an obligate intracellular messenger coordinating responses to numerous developmental cues and environmental challenges. This article provides an overview of the nutritional requirements of different plants for Ca, and how this impacts on natural flora and the Ca content of crops. It also reviews recent work on (a) the mechanisms of Ca2+ transport across cellular membranes, (b) understanding the origins and specificity of [Ca2+]cyt signals and (c) characterizing the cellular [Ca2+]cyt-sensors (such as calmodulin, calcineurin B-like proteins and calcium-dependent protein kinases) that allow plant cells to respond appropriately to [Ca2+]cyt signals.
Consent in crisis: the need to reconceptualize consent to tissue banking research

The issues surrounding consent to tissue banking research in Australia are complex and have created a forum of intense debate, thus providing a window of opportunity to critically appraise and challenge standard models of consent for research in general and for tissue banking research in particular. The usual practical difficulties associated with meeting the criteria for valid consent to research (including adequate information provision and voluntariness) are amplified in the case of tissue banking research. A number of models, based on widely accepted ethical principles, have been proposed to improve the process of obtaining consent to tissue banking research, all of which assume that the consent of individual tissue donors is needed to meet the criteria for valid consent. Feminist and communitarian theories use many of the same criteria for valid consent but interpret these criteria differently and de‐emphasize the importance of individual autonomy as the central criterion for valid consent. An enriched model of consent incorporating feminist and communitarian ideas could satisfy the currently accepted criteria for valid consent while also furthering a broader range of community values.
Longitudinal Changes in Adolescent Risk-Taking: A Comprehensive Study of Neural Responses to Rewards, Pubertal Development, and Risk-Taking Behavior

Prior studies have highlighted adolescence as a period of increased risk-taking, which is postulated to result from an overactive reward system in the brain. Longitudinal studies are pivotal for testing these brain-behavior relations because individual slopes are more sensitive for detecting change. The aim of the current study was twofold: (1) to test patterns of age-related change (i.e., linear, quadratic, and cubic) in activity in the nucleus accumbens, a key reward region in the brain, in relation to change in puberty (self-report and testosterone levels), laboratory risk-taking and self-reported risk-taking tendency; and (2) to test whether individual differences in pubertal development and risk-taking behavior were contributors to longitudinal change in nucleus accumbens activity. We included 299 human participants at the first time point and 254 participants at the second time point, ranging between ages 8–27 years, time points were separated by a 2 year interval. Neural responses to rewards, pubertal development (self-report and testosterone levels), laboratory risk-taking (balloon analog risk task; BART), and self-reported risk-taking tendency (Behavior Inhibition System/Behavior Activation System questionnaire) were collected at both time points. The longitudinal analyses confirmed the quadratic age pattern for nucleus accumbens activity to rewards (peaking in adolescence), and the same quadratic pattern was found for laboratory risk-taking (BART). Nucleus accumbens activity change was further related to change in testosterone and self-reported reward-sensitivity (BAS Drive). Thus, this longitudinal analysis provides new insight in risk-taking and reward sensitivity in adolescence: (1) confirming an adolescent peak in nucleus accumbens activity, and (2) underlining a critical role for pubertal hormones and individual differences in risk-taking tendency.
A new study on characterization of Pithecellobium dulce fiber as composite reinforcement for light-weight applications

ABSTRACT A bio-fiber, Pithecellobium dulce is abundantly available in all over the world. It has a higher cellulose content (75.15 ± 0.26 wt.%) and low density (865 ± 26 kg/m3). To acquire fundamental knowledge about Pithecellobium dulce Fibers (PDFs), its physicochemical, crystalline, tensile, and morphological properties were examined and compared with other plant fibers. The chemical functional groups and crystallinity index (49.2 ± 2.45%) of the PDFs were obtained via Fourier transform-infrared analysis and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The Thermogravimetric analysis results of PDFs exhibit thermal stability up to 170°C. The surface morphology of PDF was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The attained results conclude that PDFs are appropriate fibers for acting as reinforcement in manufacturing of green composite product.
Prophylactic Neuroprotection of Total Glucosides of Paeoniae Radix Alba against Semen Strychni-Induced Neurotoxicity in Rats: Suppressing Oxidative Stress and Reducing the Absorption of Toxic Components

Strychnos alkaloids (SAs) are the main toxic constituents in Semen Strychni, a traditional Chinese medicine, which is known for its fatal neurotoxicity. Hence, the present study was carried out to evaluate the neurotoxicity induced by SAs and the pre-protective effects of the total glucosides of Paeoniae Radix Alba (TGP). An SA brain damage model was firstly established. The neurotoxicity induced by SAs and the pre-protective effects of TGP were confirmed by physical and behavioral testing, biochemical assay, and histological examination. Then, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated to investigate the time-course change and distribution of strychnine and brucine (two main SAs) in the brain after oral SA administration with or without TGP pretreatment. Biochemical analysis results indicated that TGP could ameliorate the oxidative stress status caused by SAs. Time-course change and distribution studies demonstrated that strychnine and brucine were rapidly absorbed into the brain, peaked early at 0.5 h, and were mainly located in the hippocampus and cerebellum. TGP showed a pre-protective effect against neurotoxicity by reducing the absorption of toxic alkaloids into the brain. These findings could provide beneficial information in facilitating future studies of Semen Strychni neurotoxicity and developing herbal medicines to alleviate neurotoxicity in the clinic.
Gas-phase formation rates of nitric acid and its isomers under urban conditions.

Ozone formation in urban smog is controlled by a complex set of reactions which includes radical production from photochemical processes, catalytic cycles which convert NO to NO2, and termination steps that tie up reactive intermediates in long-lived reservoirs. The reaction OH + NO2 + M -4 HONO2 + M (la) is a key termination step because it transforms two short-lived reactive intermediates, OH and NO2, into relatively long-lived nitric acid. Under certain conditions (low VOC/NOx), ozone production in polluted urban airsheds can be highly sensitive to this reaction, but the rate parameters are not well constrained. This report summarizes the results of new laboratory studies of the OH + NO2 + M reaction including direct determination of the overall rate constant and branching ratio for the two reaction channels under atmospherically relevant conditions.
Germination of dimorphic seeds of Suaeda moquinii under high salinity stress

Suaeda moquinii (Torrey) Greene (desert blite), a succulent shrub in the family Chenopodiaceae, is widely distributed in salt marshes of the western United States. Suaeda moquinii produces dimorphic seeds (soft brown and hard black). Both types of seeds were collected from a salt marsh in Faust, Utah. Experiments were conducted to determine the seed germination responses of the black and brown seeds to salinity and temperature. Brown seeds were found to be one of the most salt tolerant at the germination stage when compared to other halophytes. Brown seeds germinated (30%) at 1000 mM NaCl, but only a few black seeds germinated (8%) at 600 mM NaCl. Seed germination occurred in most saline treatments at the lowest thermoperiod (5–15˚C) tested. In some salinity treatments (600, 800, 1000 mM), further increases in temperature resulted in progressively decreased seed germination. Brown seeds germinated better and had a higher germination rate (germination velocity) than black seeds at all thermoperiods. The highest rate of germination of black seeds occurred at the lowest thermoperiod (5–15˚C). Recovery of germination for black seeds when transferred to distilled water after being in various salinity treatments for 20 days was nearly complete (82–100%) at the lowest thermoperiod (5–15˚C) but decreased with increase in the temperature. Brown seeds recovered substantially (59–97%) from salinity at all thermoperiods. Regression analyses indicated significant differences between the germination recovery of the black and brown seeds.
The Neural Coding of Feedback Learning across Child and Adolescent Development

The ability to learn from environmental cues is an important contributor to successful performance in a variety of settings, including school. Despite the progress in unraveling the neural correlates of cognitive control in childhood and adolescence, relatively little is known about how these brain regions contribute to learning. In this study, 268 participants aged 8–25 years performed a rule-learning task with performance feedback in a 3T MRI scanner. We examined the development of the frontoparietal network during feedback learning by exploring contributions of age and pubertal development. The pFC showed more activation following negative compared with positive feedback with increasing age. In contrast, our data suggested that the parietal cortex demonstrated a shift from sensitivity to positive feedback in young children to negative feedback in adolescents and adults. These findings were interpreted in terms of separable contributions of the frontoparietal network in childhood to more integrated functions in adulthood. Puberty (testosterone, estradiol, and self-report) did not explain additional variance in neural activation patterns above age, suggesting that development of the frontoparietal network occurs relatively independently from hormonal development. This study presents novel insights into the development of learning, moving beyond a simple frontoparietal immaturity hypothesis.
Asthma control in adolescents: role of leukotriene inhibitors

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways and is a big burden worldwide. It affects both children and adults, but it is insufficiently studied in adolescents, although this age group has important peculiarities and is challenging to treat, due to, but not exclusively because of, lack of adherence to treatment instructions. Evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of asthma targeting specifically adolescents are lacking, due to the fact that most studies are conducted either on children or in adults. Exercise-induced asthma occurs commonly in adolescents, leading to impaired physical activity. This review describes current treatment options for asthma in adolescents, focusing on leukotriene receptor antagonists, both as a monotherapy and as an add-on therapy for optimal asthma control.
Changing Brains, Changing Perspectives

Adolescence is characterized by the emergence of advanced forms of social perspective taking and significant changes in social behavior. Yet little is known about how changes in social cognition are related to changes in brain function during adolescence. In this study, we investigated the neural correlates of social behavior during three phases of adolescence, carrying out functional magnetic resonance imaging of participants’ brains while they were Player 2 in the Trust Game. We found that with age, adolescents were increasingly sensitive to the perspective of the other player, as indicated by their reciprocal behavior. These advanced forms of social perspective-taking behavior were associated with increased involvement of the left temporo-parietal junction and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In contrast, young adolescents showed more activity in the anterior medial prefrontal cortex, a region previously associated with self-oriented processing and mentalizing. These findings suggest that the asynchronous development of these neural systems may underlie the shift from thinking about self to thinking about the other.
The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviours among college students: a meta-analysis

Background Adolescence and young adulthood carry risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviours (STB). An increasing subpopulation of young people consists of college students. STB prevalence estimates among college students vary widely, precluding a validated point of reference. In addition, little is known on predictors for between-study heterogeneity in STB prevalence. Methods A systematic literature search identified 36 college student samples that were assessed for STB outcomes, representing a total of 634 662 students [median sample size = 2082 (IQR 353–5200); median response rate = 74% (IQR 37–89%)]. We used random-effects meta-analyses to obtain pooled STB prevalence estimates, and multivariate meta-regression models to identify predictors of between-study heterogeneity. Results Pooled prevalence estimates of lifetime suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts were 22.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 19.5–25.3%], 6.1% (95% CI 4.8–7.7%), and 3.2% (95% CI 2.2–4.5%), respectively. For 12-month prevalence, this was 10.6% (95% CI 9.1–12.3%), 3.0% (95% CI 2.1–4.0%), and 1.2% (95% CI 0.8–1.6%), respectively. Measures of heterogeneity were high for all outcomes (I 2 = 93.2–99.9%), indicating substantial between-study heterogeneity not due to sampling error. Pooled estimates were generally higher for females, as compared with males (risk ratios in the range 1.12–1.67). Higher STB estimates were also found in samples with lower response rates, when using broad definitions of suicidality, and in samples from Asia. Conclusions Based on the currently available evidence, STB seem to be common among college students. Future studies should: (1) incorporate refusal conversion strategies to obtain adequate response rates, and (2) use more fine-grained measures to assess suicidal ideation.