Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fingernails and Toenails as Biomarkers of Subchronic Exposure to Fluoride from Dentifrice in 2- to 3-Year-Old Children

This work evaluated the use of fingernails and toenails as biomarkers of subchronic exposure to fluoride (F) from fluoride dentifrice (FD) in 2- to 3-year-old children. Ten 2- to 3-year-old children used a placebo dentifrice (without F) for 28 days, FD (1,570 ppm F as monofluorophosphate) for the following 28 days, and then placebo dentifrice for an additional 28 days, then returned to their usual dentifrices. Fingernails and toenails were clipped every 2 weeks, during the experimental period and for an additional 22 weeks. Nail F was analyzed by electrode following hexamethyldisiloxane-facilitated diffusion. There were no significant differences between fingernail and toenail F concentrations. Mean peak F concentrations occurred 16 weeks after starting the use of FD. Results suggest that fingernails and toenails may be suitable biomarkers of subchronic exposure to F from FD in small children.
Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: A Systematic Review of Diagnosis and Outcome

OBJECTIVEPatient selection for cerebrospinal fluid diversion is difficult, because idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH) mimics other neurodegenerative disorders and no findings reliably predict outcome. The literature was reviewed to identify diagnostic criteria that predict shunt response and to formulate prognostic expectations. METHODSMEDLINE was searched, and 44 articles meeting predetermined criteria were included. RESULTSClinical series were frequently retrospective with small patient numbers and unstandardized outcome evaluation. Clinical findings suggestive of shunt responsiveness were the complete triad (gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, and dementia) with early gait disturbance. Degree of hydrocephalus was not correlated with clinical improvement. Reduction of the subcortical low-blood flow area was correlated with improvement in three small studies. Clinical response to prolonged cerebrospinal fluid drainage predicted shunt outcome in all cases in two small series. Overall, 59% (range, 24–100%) of patients improved after shunting, and 29% (range, 10–100%) of patients experienced prolonged improvement. Complications occurred in 38% (range, 5–100%) of patients, additional surgery was required in 22% (range, 0–47%) of patients, and there was a 6% (range, 0–35%) combined rate of permanent neurological deficit and death. CONCLUSIONShunting INPH is associated with an approximately 29% rate of significant improvement and a 6% significant complication rate. Enlargement of the subcortical low-flow area and clinical improvement secondary to prolonged lumbar drainage may provide additive predictive value above clinical and computed tomographic criteria. A multicenter clinical trial that focuses on the value of ancillary tests, defines the clinical course of a patient with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, and evaluates the cost effectiveness of shunting INPH is needed to better describe outcome from shunting in INPH.
Ultrastructural analysis of parvalbumin synapses in human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Coordinated activity of neural circuitry in the primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) supports a range of cognitive functions. Altered DLPFC activation is implicated in a number of human psychiatric and neurological illnesses. Proper DLPFC activity is, in part, maintained by two populations of neurons containing the calcium‐binding protein parvalbumin (PV): local inhibitory interneurons that form Type II synapses, and long‐range glutamatergic inputs from the thalamus that form Type I synapses. Understanding the contributions of each PV neuronal population to human DLPFC function requires a detailed examination of their anatomical properties. Consequently, we performed an electron microscopic analysis of (1) the distribution of PV immunoreactivity within the neuropil, (2) the properties of dendritic shafts of PV‐IR interneurons, (3) Type II PV‐IR synapses from PV interneurons, and (4) Type I PV‐IR synapses from long‐range projections, within the superficial and middle laminar zones of the human DLPFC. In both laminar zones, Type II PV‐IR synapses from interneurons comprised ∼60% of all PV‐IR synapses, and Type I PV‐IR synapses from putative thalamocortical terminals comprised the remaining ∼40% of PV‐IR synapses. Thus, the present study suggests that innervation from PV‐containing thalamic nuclei extends across superficial and middle layers of the human DLPFC. These findings contrast with previous ultrastructural studies in monkey DLPFC where Type I PV‐IR synapses were not identified in the superficial laminar zone. The presumptive added modulation of DLPFC circuitry by the thalamus in human may contribute to species‐specific, higher‐order functions.
The need to belong and symptoms of acute physical health in early adolescence

This study examined the role of social belonging and self-esteem in acute physical health and mood in 159 young adolescents (aged 11 to 14 years). Standardized self-report measures of belongingness (school, home and community), self-esteem, acute physical symptoms, and affect, were completed for the previous month. Higher levels of inclusive belonging were associated with fewer physical symptoms and better affect. Domain specific belonging was independently linked to acute physical symptoms and level of affect, with pathways between belonging and outcome mediated by self-esteem. Findings emphasize the need for greater recognition of the role of belonging in physical health outcomes.
Business, Politics and the State in Africa: Challenging the orthodoxies on growth and transformation

LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website.
Fatigue and recovery at long and short muscle lengths after eccentric training.

PURPOSE To determine the effects of high-speed eccentric training of rat plantar flexor muscles on: 1) maximum (120 Hz) force at 90 degrees ankle position; 2) fatigue (40 concentric muscle actions, ROM 50 degrees) and recovery (6 concentric muscle actions) tested at short or long muscle lengths; and 3) low-frequency fatigue. METHODS Training consisted of eccentric muscle actions from ankle positions of 140 degrees to 40 degrees (velocity approximately 400 degrees x s(-1)) followed by unresisted concentric muscle actions (5 x 10 repetitions, 5 d x wk(-1) for 6 wk). Fatigue was induced by concentric muscle actions with a rest of 12.5 s between muscle actions, and recovery consisted of equivalent concentric muscle actions performed every 5 min for 30 min. Low-frequency fatigue was measured 35 min after testing at 90 degrees ankle position by using the ratio of isometric force produced by 20- and 100-Hz stimulation frequencies. RESULTS Eccentric training increased maximal isometric force per muscle weight by 22% whereas muscle weights were unchanged. In control muscles (C), isometric force immediately preceding each concentric muscle action decreased more at long lengths than at short lengths during the fatigue protocol; this length-dependent difference disappeared after 30 min of recovery. At short lengths, isometric force decreased less in trained muscles (T) (C: 78.4 +/- 3.6%; T: 59.6 +/- 4.4%) and recovered more during the following 30-min period (C: 84.7 +/- 2.5%; T: 95.4 +/- 2.8% of initial values). Changes in F20/F100 were smaller for trained muscles (C: 35.4 +/- 2.0%; T: 22.0 +/- 1.4%). CONCLUSIONS High-speed eccentric training (5 d x wk(-1) for 6 wk) reduced fatigability and enhanced recovery mainly at long muscle lengths. It also reduced low-frequency fatigue, which may be attributed to alterations in intracellular calcium handling.
Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Life Table of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on Cotton

ABSTRACT Phenacoccus solenopsis, the cotton mealy bug, has emerged as a serious pest of cotton in India, necessitating basic studies on its development and survival at different temperatures (20, 25, 30 and 35 °C) and relative humidities (RH) (65, 75 and 85 ± 1 %) levels to ascertain optimal population growth. A life table was constructed using temperature and humidity. The nymphal duration was 20.2 d at 35 ± 1 °C and 65 ± 1% RH, but lengthened to 26.6 days at 20 ± 1 °C and both RH combinations. Adult longevity was 16.4 days at 20 ± 1° C and 65% RH, but 10.8 days at 35 °C at the same RH; however it was 6.4 days at a temperature of 20 ± 1 °C and 75% RH. Fecundity was at its maximum (489 nymphs/female) at 35 ± 1 °C and 65% RH, with lower fecundity at 75% RH across all temperature levels. The net reproductive rate (Ro) and finite rate of increase (&lgr;) were 141.3 females/female/generation and 1.24 fold per female per day, respectively at 35 ± 1 °C and 65% RH suggesting that the population would increase more than 140 times per generation and 1.24 times per female per day. The rates of increase at higher relative humidities were generally lower than at 65% RH. Nymphs failed to complete development at 85% RH at all temperature levels. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was the highest (0.215) at 35 °C in combination with 65% RH. Our results suggest that 35 ± 1°C and 65% RH is the most favorable temperature and RH combination for the optimal population growth of the Punjab strain of P. solenopsis. Our study also predicts the expansion of this pest to other parts of the world in which the average temperature equals to 35 °C with 65% RH.
Earthquakes on the Mind

Objective: The present study explored the impact a natural disaster has on human performance. Background: Previous research indicates that traffic accidents increase after disasters. A plausible explanation for this finding is that disasters induce cognitive disruption and this disruption negatively affects performance (e.g., driving quality). Method: A total of 16 participants (7 men and 9 women) performed a sustained-attention-to-response task before and after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. Performance (errors of omission, errors of commission, and reaction time) was compared before and after the earthquake. Results: Errors of omission increased after the earthquake. Changes in errors of commission and reaction times were, however, dependent on individual differences in stress response to the earthquake. Conclusion: The results indicate that natural disasters may have a negative impact on performance. Application: Communities need to be aware of the increased risk of accidents following disasters and develop countermeasures, including individualized assessment tools.
Gum Arabic: More Than an Edible Emulsifier

Gum Arabic (GA) or Acacia gum is an edible biopolymer obtained as exudates of mature trees of Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal which grow principally in the African region of Sahe in Sudan. The exudate is a non-viscous liquid, rich in soluble fibers, and its emanation from the stems and branches usually occurs under stress conditions such as drought, poor soil fertility, and injury (Williams & Phillips, 2000).
Biological Determinism and Racial Essentialism

I August 2012, nine months after being artificially inseminated using a sperm donation from the Midwest Sperm Bank of Downers grove, Illinois, a white Ohio woman named Jennifer Cramblett gave birth to a racially “mixed” and healthy baby girl named Payton. Despite the triumph, the woman soon filed a “wrongful birth” suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging that the sperm bank gave her sperm vials from an African American donor instead of a white donor, which in turn caused “personal injuries . pain, suffering, emotional distress and other economic and non-economic losses” (Circuit Court 2014, 8). The lawsuit states “that they now live each day with fears, anxieties and uncertainty about her future and Payton’s future” (Circuit Court 2014, 6). The supposed racial mismatch between parent and child in Cramblett v. Midwest Sperm Bank reveals the presence of two powerful belief systems that haunt both the popular imagination and stalk the scientific landscape: the notions of “biological determinism” (that race is genetically inherited) and “racial essentialism” (that group-based biology maps to basic social behaviors). Together, biological determinism and racial essentialism form the “ideological double helix” that intertwines to shape beliefs about race and inequality and influence the theoretical approaches, analytic strategies, and interpretations taken by scholars
Open or submerged healing of implants with platform switching: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

AIM The temporal pattern of bone-level alterations in conventionally restored implants is dependent upon healing mode (open or submerged). This study examined the influence of healing on marginal bone levels at implants with a medium-rough surface including the implant collar and a clearance-fit implant-abutment connection restored according to a platform-switching concept. MATERIAL AND METHODS Two implants were placed in the posterior mandible of 21 test subjects, randomly assigned to open (OH) or submerged (SH) healing. Standardized radiographs were obtained after implant surgery, before re-entry, after crown mounting, 1 and 2 years after implant surgery, and evaluated for implant-bone-level alterations (ΔIBL). Bacterial samples of the implants' inner cavities were analysed by cultivation. STATISTICS Brunner-Langer Model, equivalence testings by Wilcoxon's (equivalence range ±0.4mm). RESULTS After 2 years, ΔIBL were -0.47±0.46mm (OH) and -0.54±0.38mm (SH). At the 1-year follow-up, all implants were contaminated with bacteria. ΔIBL (p<0.001) and the amount of bacterial contamination (p<0.001) significantly depended on time, but not on healing mode. ΔIBL of OH and SH were equivalent at all time points (all p0.044). CONCLUSIONS Platform-switched implants showed very limited peri-implant bone-level alterations. The healing-mode neither affected the total amount nor the temporal patterns of ΔIBL. Thus, the results for the tested implants with a non-rigid implant-abutment connection were similar to results reported previously for implants with a rigid implant-abutment connection.
Printed wearable temperature sensor for health monitoring

We developed a printed high sensitive temperature sensor by synthesizing poly (3, 4-ethlenedioxythiophene) poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composition ink on a flexible substrate. There are two advantages of this flexible temperature sensor, which are (1) high sensitivity (~0.6%/°C) compared to other reported flexible temperature sensors, (2) fully-printable low-cost process on macroscale flexible substrates due to solution-based process. The key point to achieve the high sensitivity was a mixture of PEDOT:PSS and CNTs for the temperature sensor material. Based on the analyses, the mechanism of this high sensitivity is most likely due to electron hopping at the interface of PEDOT:PSS and CNTs. In addition to the sensor analyses, real-time human skin temperature was monitored by attaching on a human skin like a bandage as a proof-of-concept, and it was successfully conducted to observe small skin temperature change during activities.
Performance Analysis and Coherent Guaranteed Cost Control for Uncertain Quantum Systems Using Small Gain and Popov Methods

This technical note extends applications of the quantum small gain and Popov methods from existing results on robust stability to performance analysis results for a class of uncertain quantum systems. This class of systems involves a nominal linear quantum system and is subject to quadratic perturbations in the system Hamiltonian. Based on these two methods, coherent guaranteed cost controllers are designed for a given quantum system to achieve improved control performance. An illustrative example also shows that the quantum Popov approach can obtain less conservative results than the quantum small gain approach for the same uncertain quantum system.
Evaluation of cardiovascular grant-in-aid applications by peer review: influence of internal and external reviewers and committees.

OBJECTIVE To determine what factors of the peer review process played a significant role in the assignment of scores for scientific merit by a major cardiovascular research finding agency. Specific variables studied included scores of internal and external reviewers, committee assignment and year of application. DESIGN AND SETTING Retrospective analysis of research proposals submitted to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario from 1990 to 1994. SUBJECTS Of a total database of 804 grant-in-aid (operating or project) proposals submitted to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario from 1990 to 1994, 779 had complete data and were included in the study. Variables analyzed were scores of internal and external reviewers, final committee score, committee assignment and year of application. MAIN RESULTS There was poor correlation (r = 0.113) between external reviewers of grant proposals and only slightly better correlation between internal reviewers (r = 0.331). When mean internal and external scores were analyzed, correlation improved (r = 0.451) but agreement beyond chance was only moderate (weighed Cohen's kappa = 0.532). Regression analysis established that mean internal score had a greater impact on final committee score (r2 = 0.607, P < 0.001) than mean internal score (r2 = 0.348, P < 0.001). When review committee was entered as a dummy variable into a regression statement, it was statistically significant (P < 0.001) but explained less than 8% of variance in the final committee score. Mean scores showed a small 'upward creep' over the five-year period but explained less than 4% of variance in final committee score (r2 = 0.039, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In the peer review system studied, the scores of internal reviewers were more closely correlated to final committee score for scientific merit than those of external reviewers. Nevertheless, final committee scores were significantly different from either internal or external scores, suggesting that the process of committee discussion is an important, and highly influential, step in the peer review process.
LONG‐TERM STABLE MIXED CHIMAERISM FOLLOWING ALLOGENEIC MARROW TRANSPLANTATION FOR SEVERE APLASTIC ANAEMIA

Long-term stable mixed lymphohaemopoietic chimaerism has been rarely reported following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for severe aplastic anaemia (Hows et (12, 1982; Hill et al, 1986; Korver et al, 1987; Keable et aZ, 1989: Weitzel et ~ 1 , 1988). In patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation host cells generally decline progressively, resulting ultimately in total replacement by donor lymphohaemopoietic cells within 1-2 months of transplantation. In patients with severe aplastic anaemia prolonged persistence of host cells is followed by graft rejection with or without concurrent autologous reconstitution (Hill et al, 1986). We report here two patients with aplastic anaemia in whom mixed lymphohaemopoietic donor/host chirnaerism has persisted for 3 years after transplantation. A 21-month-old Hispanic girl (UPN 16) presented in March 198 7 with idiopathic severe aplastic anaemia. Prior to transplantation the patient received 5 units of random donor platelets, and 2 units of packed red blood cells. Following conditioning with cyclophosphamide, the patient received marrow from her 5-year-old, HLA genotypically identical, ABO matched brother (total nucleated cell dose 4.58 x loM cells/kg) on 27 April 1987. Methotrexate 10 mg/m2 days + 1 , 3 and 6 and daily cyclosporine on days 1 to + 180
Civilization and madness: the great BSE scare of 1996

During the UK's BSE crisis of 1996, citizens and their public institutions experienced an unprecedented breakdown of communication that I call `civic dislocation'—a mismatch between what governmental institutions were supposed to do for the public, and what they actually did. Trust in government vanished, and people looked elsewhere for information and advice. In the UK, public confidence in governmental advisers rests on the reliability of persons rather than (primarily) the rationality of their views; in the USA, on the other hand, trust rests in formal processes and styles of reasoning that ensure the transparency and objectivity of governmental decisions. UK policy institutions require a set of conditions—among them a shared, unambiguous problem definition, relative certainty about `objective facts' and identifiable expert knowledge—which in the BSE case simply did not exist. Given the pervasive uncertainties, the distance between citizens and experts was greatly reduced, and the lay public was almost as well positioned as the experts to make sensible decisions about how to avoid the risk of BSE. This reading of civic dislocation in the UK should make us wary of recent proposals to create pockets of insulated expertise within the US risk management system to neutralize unfounded public fears through rationality, expertise, insulation and authority. A programme that values rationality and efficiency most highly leaves little room or reason for lay inputs; and, by putting too little faith in people and too much in the objectivity of formal analysis, may also carry the seeds of civic dislocation.
The effect of Need for Cognition on the stability of prejudiced attitudes toward South American immigrants.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine the role of thinking in reducing prejudice toward stigmatized groups. METHOD Participants received a persuasive message composed of strong arguments in favor of South American immigrants or a control message. In order to distinguish high- from low-elaboration individuals, participants were asked to complete the Need for Cognition Scale (NC). RESULTS As expected, attitude change was equivalent for individuals with relatively high and low NC. Importantly, although both high- and low-NC participants showed a reduction in the extremity of prejudiced attitudes, the stability of these changes was different. Two days later, the changes produced in participants with high NC were found to be more persistent than equivalent changes produced in participants with low NC. CONCLUSIONS An understanding of the processes through which prejudiced attitudes are modified can provide information about the long-term stability of such changes.
Separators and Adjustment Sets in Markov Equivalent DAGs

In practice the vast majority of causal effect estimations from observational data are computed using adjustment sets which avoid confounding by adjusting for appropriate covariates. Recently several graphical criteria for selecting adjustment sets have been proposed. They handle causal directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) as well as more general types of graphs that represent Markov equivalence classes of DAGs, including completed partially directed acyclic graphs (CPDAGs). Though expressed in graphical language, it is not obvious how the criteria can be used to obtain effective algorithms for finding adjustment sets. In this paper we provide a new criterion which leads to an efficient algorithmic framework to find, test and enumerate covariate adjustments for chain graphs - mixed graphs representing in a compact way a broad range of Markov equivalence classes of DAGs.