Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neighbourhood deprivation and alcohol consumption: does the availability of alcohol play a role?

BACKGROUND Previous studies suggest that the physical availability of alcohol may mediate the association between neighbourhood-level material deprivation and alcohol consumption. This study tests the relationships between neighbourhood-level deprivation, alcohol availability, and individual-level alcohol consumption using a multilevel analysis. METHODS Data are from cross-sectional surveys conducted between 1979 and 1990 as part of the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program (SHDPP). Women and men (n = 8197) living in four northern/central California cities and 82 neighbourhoods were linked to neighbourhood deprivation variables derived from the US census (e.g. unemployment, crowded housing) and to measures of alcohol availability (density of outlets in the respondent's neighbourhood, nearest distance to an outlet from the respondent's home, and number of outlets within a half mile radius of the respondent's home). Separate analyses were conducted for on- and off-sale outlets. RESULTS The most deprived neighbourhoods had substantially higher levels of alcohol outlet density than the least deprived neighbourhoods (45.5% vs 14.8%, respectively). However, multilevel analyses showed that the least deprived neighbourhoods were associated with the heaviest alcohol consumption, even after adjusting for individual-level sociodemographic characteristics (OR 1.30, CI 1.08-1.56). Alcohol availability was not associated with heavy drinking and thus did not mediate the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and heavy alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS Although alcohol availability is concentrated in the most deprived neighbourhoods, women and men in least deprived neighbourhoods are most likely to be heavy drinkers. This mismatch between supply and demand may cause people in the most deprived neighbourhoods to disproportionately suffer the negative health consequences of living near alcohol outlets.
On the Existence of Two Types of Chromatic Behaviour in Teleostean Fishes

IT is well known that colour changes of animals may be brought about by (a) direct action of light, heat and other stimuli on the skin chromatophores, as, for example, in the "primary" photic response of Amphibia, and (b) action of stimuli on localized receptors. Co-ordinated responses, i.e. responses of the second type, fall into two categories which offer a striking initial contrast in their time relations. (i) Rapid type, e.g. the responses of the chameleon to local electrical stimulation and of the minnow to light reflected from its surroundings. (ii) Slow type, e.g. the photic responses of Crustacea, Amphibia, Cyclostomes and Elasmobranch fishes.
Sport-Specific Yearly Risk and Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears in High School Athletes

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rates are affected by frequency and level of competition, sex, and sport. To date, no study has sought to quantify sport-specific yearly risk for ACL tears in the high school (HS) athlete by sex and sport played. Purpose: To establish evidence-based incidence and yearly risk of ACL tears in HS athletes by sex for sports performed at the varsity level across the majority of US high schools. Study Design: Meta-analysis. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to identify all articles reporting ACL tears per athletic exposure in HS athletes. ACL injury incidence rates (IRs) by sex and sport were calculated via meta-analysis. State athletic association guidelines were used to determine the number of exposures per season to calculate yearly risk of ACL tears. Results: The search recovered 3779 unique articles, of which 10 met our inclusion criteria, for a total of 700 ACL injuries in 11,239,029 exposures. The IR was 0.062 injuries per 1000 exposures (95% CI, 0.058-0.067). Although more injuries were recorded in males than females, females had a higher rate of injury per exposure (relative risk, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.35-1.82). Relative risk was highest in basketball (3.80; 95% CI, 2.53-5.85) and soccer (3.67; 95% CI, 2.61-5.27). While boys’ football had the highest number of ACL injuries at 273, girls’ soccer had the highest IR (0.148; 95% CI, 0.128-0.172). In girls, the highest injury risks per season were observed in soccer (1.11%; 95% CI, 0.96%-1.29%), basketball (0.88%; 95% CI, 0.71%-1.06%), and lacrosse (0.53%; 95% CI, 0.19%-1.15%). In comparison, the highest risks for boys were observed in football (0.80%; 95% CI, 0.71%-0.91%), lacrosse (0.44%; 95% CI, 0.18%-0.90%), and soccer (0.30%; 95% CI, 0.22%-0.41%). Conclusion: There is an approximately 1.6-fold greater rate of ACL tears per athletic exposure in HS female athletes than males. However, there is significant risk in both sexes, particularly in high-risk sports such as soccer, football, basketball, and lacrosse. Knowledge of sport-specific risk is essential for future injury reduction programs, parent-athlete decision making, and accurate physician counseling.
Effect of multiple coats of ultra-mild all-in-one adhesives on bond strength to dentin covered with two different smear layer thicknesses.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect on bond strength of 1, 2, or 3 coats of two one-step self-etching adhesives on dentin covered with two different smear layer thicknesses. MATERIALS AND METHODS Flat dentin surfaces from recently extracted third molars were wet ground with 60- or 600-grit SiC paper to produce smear layers of different thicknesses. Adper Easy Bond (3M ESPE) and Clearfil S3 Bond (Kuraray) were applied in 1, 2, or 3 consecutive coats after air drying each coat. ScotchBond Multi Purpose (3M) and Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray) were used as controls. Composite resin crowns (Filtek Z250, 3M ESPE) were built up, stored for 24 h, and cut in x and y directions. Eight to twelve sticks (0.65 ± 0.05 mm2 of area) from the central area of each tooth were fractured in tension (0.5 mm/min). Sticks from each group were processed for interfacial micromorphological evaluation with SEM. RESULTS Three-way ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between factors (p < 0.05). Tukey's post-hoc test showed that only when Adper Easy Bond was applied on dentin prepared with 600-grit SiC paper, microtensile bond strength was not significantly affected by the number of coatings. However, the effect of smear layer thickness was only statistically significant when the adhesives were applied in one coat, for both adhesives. When they were applied in two or three coats, smear layer thickness did not significantly affect bond strength (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The thickness of the smear layer affected the bond strength of both all-in-one adhesives. Additional coats can be beneficial to bond strength, especially with Clearfil S3 Bond.
Identification of an UDP‐Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

The UDP‐Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGT) is a soluble protein of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that plays a determining part in the mechanism by which unfolded, partially folded or misfolded glycoproteins are retained into the ER. We have identified an UGT in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. This protein, of a predicted molecular weight of 165.7 kDa, is encoded by a 5054 bp coding sequence containing a 643 bp intron at position 682–1323. The N‐terminal part of the protein displays a signal sequence whereas its C‐terminal part carries an ER retrieval signal HDEL. An interruption of the gene that removes the 1075 last nucleotides of its sequence did not lead to any evident phenotype except for a slight increased sensitivity to tunicamycin. YlUGT1 mRNA levels respond to tunicamycin treatment by an induction factor of 2–4, which indicates that the gene product participates in the quality control mechanism in this yeast. Finally, an immunofluorescence study of the protein localization, shows that the protein distribution is different from that of previously studied ER resident proteins. This could indicate that UGT distribution in the secretory pathway is not confined to the ER. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Decreased Incidence of Tourniquet Pain during Spinal Anesthesia with Bupivacaine A Possible Explanation

In a previous report, the incidence of tourniquet pain was found to be 25% with bupivacaine and 60% with tetracaine (P < 0.05) spinal anesthesia. On the other hand, tetracaine is more potent than bupivacaine in abolishing the single-compound action potential in vitro in isolated nerves. These conflicting observations may be reconciled if bupivacaine produced greater frequency-dependent conduction blockade of nerve action potentials. This hypothesis was tested in C fibers of isolated, desheathed rabbit vagus nerves. The nerves were supramaximally stimulated at frequencies of 9 or 15 Hz. After a control period, the nerves were exposed to bupivacaine (0.2 mM) or tetracaine (0.02 mM) for 30 minutes. The local anesthetics were then washed out by continuous constant-rate perfusion. The decline and recovery of the first and last action potential amplitudes of the train were measured. Bupivacaine and tetracaine produced similar depression of the first action potential of the 9-Hz and 15-Hz trains. However, bupivacaine caused a delayed recovery of the last action potential of the 15-Hz train but not of the 9-Hz train. These results show that bupivacaine produces greater frequency-dependent conduction blockade of C fibers than does tetracaine. These findings offer a possible explanation as to why spinal anesthesia with bupivacaine results in a lower incidence of tourniquet pain than tetracaine.
Cellular Offloading via Downlink Cache Placement

In this paper, the downlink file transmission within a finite lifetime is optimized with the assistance of wireless cache nodes. Specifically, the number of requests within the lifetime of one file is modeled as a Poisson point process. The base station multicasts files to downlink users and the selected the cache nodes, so that the cache nodes can help to forward the files in the next file request. Thus we formulate the downlink transmission as a Markov decision process (MDP) with random number of stages, where transmission power and time on each transmission are the control policy. Due to random number of file transmissions, we first proposed a revised Bellman's equation, where the optimal control policy can be derived. In order to address the prohibitively huge state space, we also introduce a low-complexity sub-optimal solution based on a linear approximation of the value function. The approximated value function can be calculated analytically, so that conventional numerical value iteration can be eliminated. Moreover, the gap between the approximated value function and the real value function is bounded analytically. It is shown by simulation that, with the approximated MDP approach, the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the resource consumption at the base station.
Environmental innovation activities and patenting: Germany reconsidered

This paper provides new econometric evidence on the determinants of eco-innovations by using multiple innovation indicators and by combining survey-based information and patent records at the firm level from two different time periods. We hypothesize that firms with a propensity to patent focus on future technological and market opportunities and do not directly or immediately react to incentives created by environmental policies. Based on negative binomial models, we confirm that eco-patents are stimulated by the expectation of creating technological advancement and new market opportunities. By contrast, energy cost savings can better or more easily be achieved when firms refrain from patenting and concentrate on non-patented innovations or adoption. Favorable framework conditions created by environmental policies and patent protection are also important for eco-patenting, but more in the longer term. Testing the validity of using self-reported eco-innovations, instead of patents, as the dependent variable in simple binomial probit models reveals that product eco-innovations as reported in the surveys are a relatively good proxy for eco-patents. Yet, for product eco-innovations, serving and enlarging current markets is another important reason to innovate.
The semantic relatedness of cue–intention pairings influences event-based prospective memory failures in older adults with HIV infection

HIV infection and aging are each independently associated with prospective memory (ProM) impairment, which increases the risk of poor functional outcomes, including medication non-adherence. The incidence and prevalence of HIV infection among older adults has increased in recent years, thereby raising questions about the combined effects of these risk factors on ProM. In the present study, 118 participants were classified into four groups on the basis of HIV serostatus and age (i.e., ≤40 years and ≥50 years). Results showed significant additive effects of HIV and aging on event-based ProM, with the greatest deficits evident in the older HIV+ group, even after controlling for other demographic factors and potential medical and psychiatric confounds. Event-based ProM impairment was particularly apparent in the older HIV+ group on trials for which the retrieval cue and intention were not semantically related. Worse performance on the semantically unrelated cue–intention trials was associated with executive dysfunction, older age, and histories of immunocompromise in the older HIV+ cohort. These data suggest that older HIV-infected adults are significantly less proficient at engaging the strategic encoding and retrieval processes required to a execute a future intention when the cue is unrelated to the intended action, perhaps secondary to greater neuropathological burden in the prefrontostriatal systems critical to optimal ProM functioning.
A Qualitative Study Exploring Matters of Ill-being and Well-being in Norwegian Activation Policy

This article is based on a qualitative study exploring reasons for ill-being and well-being among twenty participants in a Norwegian activation programme. The Qualification Programme aims to enhance participants’ overall life situations and employability by offering work training to long-term social assistance recipients, among other things. As an analytic framework for discussing ill-being and well-being, this article employs Amartya Sen's capability approach, which assesses the individual's ability to live a good life, and Martha Nussbaum's conceptualisation of that approach. The findings indicate that hardship was demonstrated in the respondents’ lives: participants could not cope financially and suffered from mental and physical health problems, while shame worsened their circumstances. However, participants also showed signs of enhanced well-being as they experienced increased individual agency. The study indicated a disparity between the intended and the actual direction of change in the lives of programme participants.
Effects of kinesiologic taping on epidermal–dermal distance, pain, edema and inflammation after experimentally induced soft tissue trauma

Abstract Purpose: In sports medicine, the use of kinesiologic tape has recently gained popularity. Although widely used, there is no study examining the effects of kinesiologic tape on soft tissue after a contusion injury. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of kinesiologic taping on epidermal–dermal distance, edema, pain and inflammation after experimentally induced contusion injury. Methods: Twelve adult female Wistar albino rats were divided into two groups: (1) 30 min group: n = 6, weight range: 182.0–199.4 g; and (2) 6 h group: n = 6, weight range: 186.9–200.8 g. After soft-tissue trauma, tape was applied to the right sides of each rat. In one group, tape was applied for 30 min while 6 h in the other. To assess the epidermal–dermal distance and edematous area, tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined. Tissue sections were stained with nerve growth factor (NGF) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) immunohistochemically to evaluate the effect of taping on pain and inflammation respectively. Results: Epidermal–dermal distances were found to be significantly higher than controls’ in both groups (p < 0.05). Notable decreases were seen in edematous areas in both groups (p < 0.05). NGF and Bcl-2 immune reactivity were decreased in all tape applied sides. Conclusions: After soft-tissue trauma, it was histologically shown that kinesiologic taping increases epidermal–dermal distance, and may reduce the sensation of pain, edema and inflammation. For better, faster and comfortable tissue healing with protection of soft-tissue integrity, kinesiologic taping may be a valuable treatment after contusion injury. However, these results should be supported by clinical studies.
Ultrasound-Guided (Needle-in-Plane) Perineural Catheter Insertion: The Effect of Catheter-Insertion Distance on Postoperative Analgesia

Background: When using ultrasound guidance to place a perineural catheter for a continuous peripheral nerve block, keeping the needle in plane and nerve in short axis results in a perpendicular needle-to-nerve orientation. Many have opined that when placing a perineural catheter via the needle, the acute angle may result in the catheter bypassing the target nerve when advanced beyond the needle tip. Theoretically, greater catheter tip-to-nerve distances result in less local anesthetic-to-nerve contact during the subsequent perineural infusion, leading to inferior analgesia. Although a potential solution may appear obvious-advancing the catheter tip only to the tip of the needle, leaving the catheter tip at the target nerve-this technique has not been prospectively evaluated. We therefore hypothesized that during needle in-plane ultrasound-guided perineural catheter placement, inserting the catheter a minimum distance (0-1 cm) past the needle tip is associated with improved postoperative analgesia compared with inserting the catheter a more traditional 5 to 6 cm past the needle tip. Methods: Preoperatively, subjects received a popliteal-sciatic perineural catheter for foot or ankle surgery using ultrasound guidance exclusively. Subjects were randomly assigned to have a single-orifice, flexible catheter inserted either 0 to 1 cm (n = 50) or 5 to 6 cm (n = 50) past the needle tip. All subjects received a single-injection mepivacaine (40 mL of 1.5% with epinephrine) nerve block via the needle, followed by catheter insertion and a ropivacaine 0.2% infusion (basal 6 mL/hr, bolus 4 mL, 30-min lockout), through at least the day after surgery. The primary end point was the average surgical pain as measured with a 0- to 10-point numeric rating scale the day after surgery. Secondary end points included time for catheter insertion, incidence of catheter dislodgement, maximum ("worst") pain scores, opioid requirements, fluid leakage at the catheter site, and the subjective degree of an insensate extremity. Results: Average pain scores the day after surgery for subjects of the 0- to 1-cm group were a median of 2.5 (interquartile range, 0.0-5.0), compared with 2.0 (interquartile range, 0.0-4.0) for subjects of the 5- to 6-cm group (P = 0.42). Similarly, among the secondary end points, no statistically significant differences were found between the 2 treatment groups. There was a trend of more catheter dislodgements in the minimum-insertion group (5 vs 1; P = 0.20). Conclusions: This study did not find evidence to support the hypothesis that, for popliteal-sciatic perineural catheters placed using ultrasound guidance and a needle-in-plane technique, inserting the catheter a minimum distance (0-1 cm) past the needle tip improves (or worsens) postoperative analgesia compared with inserting the catheter a more traditional distance (5-6 cm). Caution is warranted if extrapolating these results to other catheter designs, ultrasound approaches, or anatomic insertion sites.
Variations in virulence between different electrophoretic types of Listeria monocytogenes

A total of 245 strains of Listeria monocytogenes, representing 33 different electrophoretic types (ETs), were examined quantitatively for haemolytic activity. No significant difference was observed in the mean haemolytic activity between different ETs. Eighty four out of 91 strains examined were found to be virulent for chick embryos. Strains belonging to ET 2 and ET 4 were found to be less virulent than strains of other ETs (P = 0·0447). Furthermore, strains from clinical cases were found to be more virulent (P = 0·0002) than strains from foods (the MTD among clinical strains was 2·46 in mean compared with 3·64 among food isolates). The explanation for this may be that more virulent strains are more prone to cause human infection. It is, however, also possible that strains of L. monocytogenes may become more virulent while multiplying in a living organism compared with multiplying in foods.
Electromigration characteristic of SnAg/sub 3.0/Cu/sub 0.5/ flip chip interconnection

Electromigration is a reliability concern of microelectronic interconnections, especially for flip chip solder bump with high current density applied. This study shows that with the line-to-bump geometry in a flip chip solder joint, the current density changes significantly between the Al trace and the bump, while the current crowding effect generates more heat between them. This large Joule heating under high current density can enhance the migration of Sn atoms at the current entrance of the solder bump, and cause the void formation at the entrance point. The present study finds two kinds of electromigration failure modes at the cathode/chip side of the solder bump: the pancake-like and the cotton-like void. The experimental finding shows that the effects of polarity and tilting are key factors to observe in the electromigration behavior of SnAg3.0Cu0. 5 solder bumps. Consequently, this study has designed a three-dimensional numerical model and a corresponding test vehicle to verify the numerical finding. The maximum current density is simulated through the finite element method (FEM) to provide a better understanding of local heat and current crowding. This study finds that the current crowding ratio is reduced linearly while the void formation is increased. Furthermore, it is concluded that there is a linear relationship between the growth of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer and the applied current density at the anode/substrate side
Investment Horizons and Information

We examine the relation between institutions' investment horizons on firms' financing and investment decisions. Firms with larger short-term institutional ownership use less debt financing and invest more in corporate liquidity. In contrast, firms with larger long-term institutional ownership use more internal funds, less external equity financing, and preserve investments in long-term assets. These results are primarily driven by the variation in informational preferences of different institutions. We argue that short-term (long-term) institutions collect and use value-neutral (value-enhancing) information.
Symbolic models for nonlinear control systems affected by disturbances

Symbolic models are abstract descriptions of continuous systems in which symbols represent aggregates of continuous states. In the last few years there has been a growing interest in the use of symbolic models as a tool for analysis and synthesis of complex systems. In fact, symbolic models enable the use of well known algorithms in the context of supervisory control and algorithmic game theory, for controller synthesis. Since the 1990s many researchers faced the problem of identifying classes of dynamical and control systems that admit symbolic models. In this paper we make further progress along this research line by focusing on control systems affected by disturbances. Our main contribution is to show that incrementally globally asymptotically stable nonlinear control systems with disturbances admit symbolic models. When specializing these results to linear systems, we show that these symbolic models can be easily constructed.