Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of various degrees of foot posture on standing balance in a healthy adult population

Abstract Purpose: Foot biomechanics plays a significant role in the quality of standing and walking. It has been believed that even minor biomechanical alterations in the foot support surface may influence strategies to maintain body standing balance. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of various degrees of foot posture on static and dynamic standing balance components in a healthy adult population. Subjects and methods: A convenience sample of 41 healthy adult subjects with a mean age of 24.3 ± 6.4 years and a body mass index (BMI) of 29 kg/m2 participated in this study. On the basis of foot posture index (FPI), the participants were allocated into either group A or B. Group A included 16 subjects with an FPI range of 6–11 whereas group B included 25 subjects with an FPI range of 0–5. Standing balance components were analyzed using computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) by the Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction on Balance (mCTSIB) and the limit of stability (LOS). Results: Spearman’s correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation between the standing dynamic balance and FPI in group B but not in group A. Moreover, it also showed no significant correlation between the standing static balance component and FPI in either group A or B. Conclusion: This study concluded that higher degrees of FPI might have an effect on standing dynamic balance in healthy subjects. These components may require extra attention during the preventive aspects of rehabilitation.
Alzheimer's disease: A study of epidemiological aspects

A case‐control study was performed to determine the possible roles of various environmental factors, prior illnesses, drug use, and personal habits in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Such information was collected from 40 patients with onset of dementia prior to age 70 and from 80 community control subjects matched for age, sex, and race. No significant differences were found between patients and control subjects in toxic environmental exposures, animal contacts, smoking, drinking, or unusual dietary habits. A significantly higher frequency of prior thyroid disease was found in women patients than in women control subjects (25.0% and 7.1%, respectively). A history of severe head injury was also obtained significantly more often among the patients than among the controls (15.0% and 3.8%, respectively). Aside from these differences, which may prove to be important associative factors in this illness, there appeared to be no major premorbid demographic or clinical factors associated with this form of dementia. There was evidence, however, of a genetic factor that was manifested in an excess of dementia and mental retardation (including Down's syndrome) in families of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Genetic correlations among sex-limited traits in beef cattle.

Data from a comprehensive germ plasm evaluation program were used to estimate genetic correlations of reproductive and maternal traits of beef females with growth and carcass traits of their steer paternal half-sibs. The data set consisted of 187 sires with approximately four female and five male progeny each. Heritability estimates for age at puberty, weight at puberty, conceptions/service, gestation length, calving difficulty, progeny birth weight, progeny preweaning daily gain and mature weight measured on females were . 613 +/- . 177, . 700 +/- . 114, . 026 +/- . 126, . 298 +/- . 175, . 217 +/- . 175, . 374 +/- . 174, . 094 +/- . 161, and . 540 +/- . 150, respectively. Postweaning daily gain, carcass weight, fat trim weight and retail product weight measured on male half-sibs had estimated heritabilities of . 363 +/- . 090, . 441 +/- . 093, . 502 +/- . 093 and . 451 +/- . 093, respectively. The estimated genetic correlations suggest that selection for postweaning daily gain would result in increased age and weight at puberty, increased mature weight, improved fertility, reduced maternal gestation length, reduced maternal calving difficulty, increased maternal birth weight and reduced maternal preweaning gain. Predicted correlated responses to selection for reduced fat trim at a constant age were increased age and weight at puberty, increased mature weight, reduced maternal fertility, reduced maternal preweaning gain and increased maternal gestation length, birth weight and calving difficulty. Consequences of selection for increased age constant retail product weight or carcass weight appear to be increased age and weight at puberty, increased mature weight, improved fertility, increased maternal gestation length and maternal birth weight but reduced maternal difficulty and reduced maternal preweaning gain.
The Legacy of Political Violence across Generations

Does political violence leave a lasting legacy on identities, attitudes, and behaviors? We argue that violence shapes the identities of victims and that families transmit these effects across generations. Inherited identities then impact the contemporary attitudes and behaviors of the descendants of victims. Testing these hypotheses is fraught with methodological challenges; to overcome them, we study the deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 and the indiscriminate way deportees died from starvation and disease. We conducted a multigenerational survey of Crimean Tatars in 2014 and find that the descendants of individuals who suffered more intensely identify more strongly with their ethnic group, support more strongly the Crimean Tatar political leadership, hold more hostile attitudes toward Russia, and participate more in politics. But we find that victimization has no lasting effect on religious radicalization. We also provide evidence that identities are passed down from the victims of the deportation to their descendants.
Identification and characterization of mouse small intestine mucosal receptors for Escherichia coli K-12(K88ab)

Adhesion of 3H-labeled Escherichia coli K-12(K88ab) to CD-1 mouse small intestine mucus and brush border preparations, immobilized on polystyrene, was studied. E. coli K12(K88ab) was shown to adhere readily to either crude mucus or brush border preparations, but not to bovine serum albumin. In contrast, the nearly isogenic E. coli K-12 strain, i.e., lacking the K88ab plasmid, did not bind well to either mucus, brush borders, or bovine serum albumin. The adhesion of E. coli K-12(K88ab) to both mucus and brush borders required pilus expression (i.e., growth at temperatures greater than 18 degrees C) and was inhibited by pretreatment of either mucus or brush borders with trypsin, pronase, or sodium metaperiodate and by the presence of D-galactosamine. Crude mucus was fractionated by gel filtration, and the proteins in receptor-containing fractions were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Separated proteins were Western blotted to nitrocellulose. Adhesion of 35SO4-labeled E. coli K-12(K88ab) and 35SO4-labeled E. coli K-12 to Western blots followed by autoradiography revealed two E. coli K-12(K88ab)-specific mucus receptor proteins (57 and 64 kilodaltons). Brush borders contained the same two receptor proteins present in mucus and an additional 91-kilodalton receptor protein.
Hepatitis C viral clearance and antibody reactivity patterns in persons with haemophilia and other congenital bleeding disorders

We studied hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance and antibody reactivity patterns in a cohort of 100 haemophiliacs exposed to unsterilized blood products, of whom 25 were antiHCV negative and 75 were antiHCV positive [49 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) negative and 26 HIV positive]. HCV RNA was measured by the 2.0 bDNA assay and an ‘in‐house’ polymerase chain reaction assay. Antibody reactivity patterns were examined using a recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). Prior HCV infection was found in two (8%) of 25 antiHCV negative patients. HCV viraemia persisted in all 26 antiHCV+ patients who were coinfected with HIV. HCV RNA clearance was found in 12 (25%) of 49 antiHCV+, HIV− patients. Viral clearance was associated with younger current age (P < 0.01) and age at infection (P < 0.001), but not with duration of infection or with dose or frequency of clotting factor use. RIBA ratios reflecting an index of each patient’s overall reactivity to four HCV epitopes were significantly lower in those with viral clearance (P < 0.0001). Over a period of 15 years, those with viral clearance demonstrated significant loss of reactivity to the NS3, NS4 and NS5 epitopes, while those with viral persistence demonstrated relatively stable reactivities to all epitopes. We conclude that spontaneous HCV RNA clearance in haemophiliacs is age‐related and is unlikely to occur in those coinfected with HIV. The loss of antibody reactivity for some epitopes, especially c22 (core), may be a marker for the natural resolution of chronic HCV infection.
Self-Reported Cognitive Decline on the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly Is Associated with Dementia, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and Depression but Not Longitudinal Cognitive Change

Background/Aim: A subjective history of cognitive decline is integral to dementia screening, yet there are few data on the accuracy of retrospective self-reports. We prospectively examined the longitudinal predictors of self-reported decline, including rate of cognitive change, clinical diagnosis, depressive symptoms and personality. Methods: We used a large (n = 2,551) community-dwelling sample of older adults (60–64 years at baseline) and tracked their cognitive functioning over 3 waves across a period of 8 years. Individual rates of change in multiple domains of cognition, incident dementia and mild cognitive disorders, apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype, level of education, depressive symptoms and personality were examined as predictors of wave 3 retrospective self-reported decline as measured by the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly. Results: The rate of cognitive decline did not predict subjective decline. Significant predictors of self-reported decline included dementia diagnosis, problems with instrumental activities of daily living, depression and neuroticism at the time of self-report, as well as the presence of an APOE ε4 allele. Conclusions: In this relatively young cohort, retrospective self-report of cognitive decline does not reflect objective deterioration in cognition over the time period in question, but it may identify individuals in the initial stages of dementia and those with elevated psychological and genotypic risk factors for the development of dementia.
Wealth Inequality, Educational Environment and School Enrolment: Evidence from Mexico

Abstract Using data from the extended section of the 2010 Mexican census (2.9 million households), we study how school enrolment is associated with wealth inequality and with the educational environment the child is exposed to at the household and municipal levels. We provide robust evidence of wealth inequality as a negative predictor of school enrolment for children in primary, secondary and high school age ranges while a positive role is played by the educational environment. Through the introduction of interaction terms, we account for how economic and educational variables are intertwined at both the household and the municipal level, and we are able to illustrate the considerable heterogeneity in the role of adult education for households at different standards of living.
Examining the McGurk illusion using high-field 7 Tesla functional MRI

In natural communication speech perception is profoundly influenced by observable mouth movements. The additional visual information can greatly facilitate intelligibility but incongruent visual information may also lead to novel percepts that neither match the auditory nor the visual information as evidenced by the McGurk effect. Recent models of audiovisual (AV) speech perception accentuate the role of speech motor areas and the integrative brain sites in the vicinity of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) for speech perception. In this event-related 7 Tesla fMRI study we used three naturally spoken syllable pairs with matching AV information and one syllable pair designed to elicit the McGurk illusion. The data analysis focused on brain sites involved in processing and fusing of AV speech and engaged in the analysis of auditory and visual differences within AV presented speech. Successful fusion of AV speech is related to activity within the STS of both hemispheres. Our data supports and extends the audio-visual-motor model of speech perception by dissociating areas involved in perceptual fusion from areas more generally related to the processing of AV incongruence.
A Sum of Incidentals or a Structural Problem? The True Nature of Food Waste in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona

Addressing the generation of food waste is a major challenge nowadays. An increasing interest in studying food waste generation has emerged over the last decade. However, little attention has been devoted to understanding the root of the problem by carrying out a whole-supply-chain analysis and applying multidimensional approaches. The aim of this paper was to identify the causes of food waste in the metropolitan region of Barcelona along the food supply chain, considering the relevant stakeholders’ perceptions. Moreover, we examined the circumstantial or structural nature of the identified causes. We conducted a qualitative study consisting of 24 in-depth interviews of key stakeholders in the region along the food supply chain from October 2014 to January 2015. The interviews were analyzed by content analysis, and the main results are presented here. We used a conceptual framework that differentiates among micro, meso, and macro causes to disentangle the nature of the causes. The results from this study show the great interest of regional stakeholders in the issue of the generation of food waste and provide a complete map of the causes of food waste in the metropolitan region. From our study, we advocate that food waste is not only a sum of incidentals but it a structural problem.
Understanding Women’s Journey of Recovering From Anorexia Nervosa

Previous studies of recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN) have concentrated on discrete behavioral responses of individual women. Little is understood about the subjective process of women’s recovery in the context of family, community, or society. In this feminist grounded theory study, the authors explored the perceptions of 12 women who considered themselves recovered or recovering from AN. They discovered a substantive theory of selfdevelopment that explains, within the current social context, women’s journey from the perilous self-soothing of devastating weight loss to the informed self-care of healthy eating and problem-solving practices. The findings provide an urgently needed explanatory framework to inform women, clinicians, and health policy makers in their prevention and recovery efforts.
Immunohistochemical study of nuclear factor-&kgr;B activity and interleukin-8 abundance in oesophageal adenocarcinoma; a useful strategy for monitoring these biomarkers

Aims: To determine if immunohistochemistry (IHC) could be used to monitor nuclear factor-&kgr;B (NF-&kgr;B) activity in oesophageal adenocarcinoma and pre-malignant (Barrett’s) oesophageal tissues, relative to normal oesophageal mucosa. The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8), a transcriptional target of NF-&kgr;B, was also studied to better understand NF-&kgr;B functionality; its RNA and protein levels were assessed in oesophageal tissues. Methods: IHC was employed using an antibody against the nuclear localisation sequence (NLS) of the p65 subunit as well as an antibody against IL-8. To assess NF-&kgr;B function, changes in gene expression of NF-&kgr;B controlled genes (IL-8 and I-&kgr;B) were also assessed in the histological sequence using real-time PCR. More global expression changes were also studied using membrane arrays. Results: IHC was effective at monitoring overall NF-&kgr;B activity and IL-8 abundance. This method also allowed NF-&kgr;B activity and IL-8 abundance to be pinpointed in specific cell types. There were significant increases in nuclear NF-&kgr;B activity and IL-8 abundance across the histological series. Gene expression analysis also showed consistent up-regulation of IL-8, confirming the IHC data and showing enhanced transcriptional NF-&kgr;B activity. I-&kgr;B (another NF-&kgr;B target) showed down-regulation in dysplastic and adenocarcinoma tissues. Down-regulation of I-&kgr;B gene expression may partly explain increased NF-&kgr;B activity. Conclusion: IHC, using antibodies against the NLS of p65, may be useful in monitoring overall NF-&kgr;B activity in oesophageal tissues. As IHC is amenable to high-throughput screening (whereas traditional electrophoretic mobility shift assay methods are not), this may lead to the development of a better screening tool for early cancer risk.
The contribution of soul and Caribbean foods to nutrient intake in a sample of Blacks of US and Caribbean descent in the Adventist Health Study-2: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the dietary contribution of culturally preferred foods in a population of Black Seventh-Day Adventists from the eastern and southern United States in order to improve the standard food frequency questionnaire. DESIGN Intake of such foods was assessed using a specially designed self-administered food frequency questionnaire consisting of a list of 60 items. A demographic questionnaire was administered by later telephone interview. SETTING Southern and northeastern United States. SUBJECTS One hundred and sixty-one Black Seventh-Day Adventists were selected from 60 congregations. Approximately half had Caribbean roots. RESULTS Among the special foods included, red beans stood out and were among the top five contributors to eight of nine selected nutrients. Various legumes, cruciferous vegetables, and okra-corn-tomatoes were the most frequently consumed special foods. Macaroni and cheese was an important contributor to total energy, fat, saturated fat, and protein. At least weekly consumption of red beans, rice and beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, plantains and poke salad was reported by 47%, 40%, 31%, 28%, 26% and 25% of subjects, respectively. These foods (largely the legumes) contributed 77% and 104% of the dietary reference intakes for folate and total fiber, respectively. On average, all these foods contributed an estimated 726 calories per day. CONCLUSIONS These findings show that, in total, these foods make a major contribution to the diets of these subjects and that the most commonly eaten at least should be included in dietary questionnaires designed for this minority population.
Equivalent Circuit Analysis of the Disk-Loaded Coaxial Structure for MILO

An axially periodic metal disk-loaded coaxial cylindrical waveguide structure has been analyzed using the equivalent circuit approach. In the structure model, all the space harmonics generated due to the structure axial periodicity in the disk-free region and modal harmonics caused due to reflections from the metal disks have been considered. The actual structure has been replaced by an equivalent transmission line in terms of its circuit parameters. Considering a loss-free situation, only two parameters, the series inductance and shunt capacitance per unit length of the line, remain and have been derived independently. Here, only a half set of the structure EM field expressions and boundary conditions has been required in the analysis at a time, which has made the analysis simpler. The dispersion results obtained here exactly passed on to those obtained through the field analysis. It has also been found that the structure dispersion can be controlled by varying the disk hole and periodicity of the structure. The analysis has been carried here for the slow wave, TM0n operating mode; however, the approach is general and could easily be extended to the fast wave or TEmn mode as well.
Post-mortem Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectrometric Measures of Brain Regions in Patients with a Pathological Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and Multi-infarct Dementia

In-vitro spectrometric measures were made of spin-lattice (T 1) and spin-spin (T 2) relaxation times of samples of grey and white matter from the brains of 15 patients with a pathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, 5 with multi-infarct dementia, and 11 non-demented subjects. Relaxation times were significantly greater in the parietal white matter and temporal white matter of patients with Alzheimer's disease compared with that of the other subjects. This was associated with an increase in tissue water content. These findings confirm measures obtained in some imaging studies.
Two-year survival analysis of twisted wire fixed retainer versus spiral wire and fiber-reinforced composite retainers: a preliminary explorative single-blind randomized clinical trial

Objective Traditional retainers (both metal and fiber-reinforced composite [FRC]) have limitations, and a retainer made from more flexible ligature wires might be advantageous. We aimed to compare an experimental design with two traditional retainers. Methods In this prospective preliminary clinical trial, 150 post-treatment patients were enrolled and randomly divided into three groups of 50 patients each to receive mandibular canine-to-canine retainers made of FRC, flexible spiral wire (FSW), and twisted wire (TW). The patients were monitored monthly. The time at which the first signs of breakage/debonding were detected was recorded. The success rates of the retainers were compared using chi-squared, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox proportional-hazard regression analyses (α = 0.05). Results In total, 42 patients in the FRC group, 41 in the FSW group, and 45 in the TW group completed the study. The 2-year failure rates were 35.7% in the FRC group, 26.8% in the FSW group, and 17.8% in the TW group. These rates differed insignificantly (chi-squared p = 0.167). According to the Kaplan-Meier analysis, failure occurred at 19.95 months in the FRC group, 21.37 months in the FSW group, and 22.36 months in the TW group. The differences between the survival rates in the three groups were not significant (Cox regression p = 0.146). Conclusions Although the failure rate of the experimental retainer was two times lower than that of the FRC retainer, the difference was not statistically significant. The experimental TW retainer was successful, and larger studies are warranted to verify these results.
How Shopping Mall Service Quality Affects Customer Loyalty Across Developing Countries: The Moderation of the Cultural Context

Cross-cultural studies indicate the importance of service quality and loyalty in different nations, but they do not specify how cultural context affects the relationships between such constructs. The current research investigates whether mall service quality and its specific dimensions affect loyalty, as well as how cultural contexts moderate the relationships between these constructs in three developing countries (Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia). With a sample of 750 real customers, the authors show that mall service quality and its specific dimensions affect customer loyalty through the positive mediation of customer satisfaction and mall perceived value. Depending on the country, service quality dimensions (mall physical aspects, reliability, problem solving, and personnel attention) have distinct effects on customer loyalty. Furthermore, mall service quality drives customer loyalty positively in Morocco and Senegal. Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer loyalty in Senegal and Tunisia. Due to their different cultural contexts, these three developing countries do not exhibit a homogeneous pattern.