Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relation between Parkinson's disease and ageing. Comparison of the gait patterns of young Parkinson's disease subjects with healthy elderly subjects.

BACKGROUND The gait of healthy elderly and of subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) displays some common features, suggesting that PD may be a model of ageing. AIM The aim of the study was to quantify highlight the differences and similarities between the gait patterns of young PD and healthy elderly, to uncover if PD could be assumed as a model of ageing. DESIGN An optoelectronic system was used for 3D gait analysis evaluation. POPULATION AND METHODS We compared the gait parameters of 15 young PD (YPD) with the gait of 32 healthy elderly subjects (ES) and 21 healthy subjects age-matched with the PD subjects. RESULTS. Common features between YPD and ES were majorly found in the parameters that reflect the presence of an unstable, uncertain gait, and of corrective strategies employed to reduce instability. On the other side, typical features were present in the gait patterns of PD subjects. CONCLUSION. Our study helped identifying some typical characteristics of the onset disease, and to unravel the symptoms of ageing from those of PD by comparing young PD subjects to elderly healthy subjects. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT This allows a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the gait in ageing and PD.
Prevalence and determining factors of anemia and malnutrition among Egyptian children.

BACKGROUND The first Millennium Development Goal to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" implied reducing by 50% the prevalence of underweight status among children younger than five years between 1990 and 2015. AIM OF WORK This study investigates the prevalence and determining factors of anemia and malnutrition among children of Albasra village, one of the Egyptian villages, to produce directives for a management program. MATERIALS AND METHODS All inhabitants aged between six months and 15 years (397 children) were subjected to a structured interview, clinical assessment, anthropometric assessment, and laboratory examination. A complete blood picture analysis and a hemoglobin percentage assessment were done. RESULTS The main prevailing symptom in the two weeks preceding the survey was diarrhea (55%). Complete weaning before the age of 18 months occurred in 20.5% of the below-six children. The children more likely to be anemic were those under the age of two years, children having the first or more than the fourth order among their siblings, and those who suffered a diarrheal attack, vomiting, grunting, or chest in drawing within two weeks preceding the survey, among children completely weaned after the age of 24 months and those from a low socioeconomic level. Stunting was highest among younger children from extended families. Children who suffered a chronic disease were more likely to be wasted (13.2%). CONCLUSION An understanding of the risk factors for anemia and malnutrition among a population is fundamental to provide efficient preventive and control measures.
Radiofrequency Ablation; A Palliative Option To Control Pain In Non-Iatrogenic Spondylodiscitis

Objective: Spinal infections are a significant clinical problem. Associated axial back pain has a substantial burden and disability on the patient. Management involve conservative and surgical pathways. We here present our experience with the effect of facetal radiofrequency ablation on axial back pain and quality of life for patients with primary spinal infections. Methods: A retrospective study of patients with primary pyogenic spine infection treated in the period from February 2014 through December 2017. All patients had axial back pain score of 10/10 before any intervention. All patients involved has no other associated neurological morbidity. Patients were treated with pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) of the dorsal root ganglion, conventional radiofrequency (CRF) of facet medial branch, or a combination of both techniques to improve their back pain beside conservative antibiotics management. Results: Thirty-one patients were included in this study. Mean age was 43 years. Mean follow up period was 8.5 months. Seven patients had an associated epidural abscess. The most commonly involved region was the lumbar region (80%). All patients of the study had immediate improvement of their back pain in the same day of treatment. The mean, median and range Oswestry disability index (ODI) after 6 months was 19.8%, 15% and 4% 65% respectively. The mean improvement of our study patients’ ODI was 48.5% (P value = 0). Conclusion: Our data suggests that facetal radiofrequency provides palliative control of back pain and improve ODI in patients with primary spinal infection, till the IV antibiotic therapies do its job.
Understanding Screen-Related Sedentary Behavior and its Contributing Factors among School-Aged Children: A Social-Ecologic Exploration

Purpose. To explore the factors that contribute to children's screen-related sedentary (S-RS) behaviors. Settings. Elementary schools. Subjects. A random sample of children in grades five and six and their parents. Measures. The outcome measure was children's S-RS activity level measured by a self-administered questionnaire. A full spectrum of potential contributing factors for children's S-RS behaviors was obtained through surveys. Multilevel linear regression methods were used to determine the associations between these factors and children's screen time (hours per day) and results were expressed as regression coefficients (g). Results. Of 955 child-parent pairs in 14 participating schools, 508 pairs (53%) completed the surveys. At an intrapersonal level, protective factors included being a girl (g = − .71); belonging to a sports team inside (g = −.56) or outside (g = −.49) of school; having a negative attitude toward S-RS activities (g = −.13); and having a positive attitude toward physical activity (g = −.48). At the interpersonal and social levels, parental leisure S-RS behaviors (g = .32) were positively associated, whereas strict parental rules on computer use (g = −.27) and family income (g = −.32) were inversely correlated with S-RS behavior. At the environmental level, the presence of TVs in children's bedrooms (g = .44) and owning videogame devices (g = .58) increased the risk of S-RS behaviors, whereas after school programs (g = −.86) and schools' participation in the Turn Off the Screen Week campaign (g = −.91) decreased the risk. Conclusions. Public health interventions should target multilevel factors, including increasing children's awareness, promoting parental involvement in healthy lifestyle pursuits, and creating less screenogenic environments.
High Parity and Fetal Morbidity Outcomes

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association between high parity and fetal morbidity outcomes. METHODS: We analyzed 22,463,141 singleton deliveries at 20 weeks or more of gestation in the United States from 1989 through 2000. Adjusted odds ratios generated from logistic regression models were used to approximate relative risk for neonatal morbidity in women with 1–4 (moderate parity or type I; referent group), 5–9 (high parity or type II), 10–14 (very high parity or type III) and 15 or more (extremely high parity or type IV) prior live births. Main outcome measures included low and very low birth weight, preterm and very preterm birth, and small and large for gestational age delivery. RESULTS: The overall crude rates for low birth weight, very low birth weight, preterm birth, very preterm birth, and small and large for gestational age were 55, 11, 97, 19, 83, and 129 per 1,000 live births, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios for low birth weight, very low birth weight, preterm, and very preterm delivery increased consistently and in a dose–effect fashion with ascending parity (P for trend < .001). In the case of large for gestational age delivery, the adjusted odds ratio showed an inverted-U pattern, being highest among women in the type III parity cluster. The findings with respect to small for gestational age were inconclusive. CONCLUSION: High parity is a risk factor for adverse fetal outcomes. However, the impact of heightened parity is more manifest as shortened gestation rather than physical size restriction. These findings could prove beneficial for counseling women of high parity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-3
Contextual control of aversive and avoidance responding in a flavor learning paradigm in rats

Contextual control over aversive responding was examined in two experiments where rats were trained on a context discrimination task; a saccharin solution was paired with lithium chloride (LiCl) in one context but paired with saline in a different context. In Experiment 1, rats drank significantly less in the danger context than in the safe context, and showed aversive orofacial responses in the danger context. Contextual control transferred to a novel solution. Ten extinction trials, where rats were exposed to the danger context, produced a strong reduction in contextual control over aversive responding and a weak reduction in avoidance of the trained flavor. In Experiment 2, additional groups were added to the group described above. One group received tap water rather than saccharin solution during discrimination training, while another group did not receive fluid in the training context. Again, contextual control transferred to a novel flavor and all groups showed aversive responding in the danger context and avoidance of the danger context on a place choice test. Post-extinction tests revealed that context avoidance was weakest in the group trained with saccharin solution, even though that group showed the slowest extinction of the contextual control over consumption. Additionally, differential gaping was slower to appear and faster to extinguish than chin rubbing in all groups, suggesting that these responses have different underlying mechanisms. Associative mechanisms underlying contextual control over aversive and avoidance responses are discussed.
Early Maladjustment Schemas in Individuals with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective. This study explored Early Maladjustment Schemas (EMSs) among individuals with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus and examined potential moderating roles for gender, level of education, and occupation. Methods. The sample included 371 adult participants (120 patients with diabetes and 251 individuals without diabetes), from Shiraz City, Fars province; Iran. The Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF) was used to assess early maladjustment schemas. Results. Findings showed that patients with type 2 diabetes had significantly higher scores than controls on a number of EMSs, including abandonment, failure, vulnerability, enmeshment, self-sacrifice, entitlement, and insufficient self-control schemas as well as the over-vigilance and inhibition schematic domains. However, results did not support roles for gender, the level of education, and occupation on any of EMSs and schematic domains. Conclusions. Medical and health professionals may find these results helpful for assessment, treatment, and prevention goals in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Differential inhibition of inflammatory cytokine release from cultured alveolar macrophages from smokers and non smokers by No2

Human alveolar macrophages (AMs) obtained from smokers and non-smokers by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were subjected to various concentrations of NO2 in an inverted monolayer exposure model. Culture super natants were collected 4 h after the exposure and assayed for secreted TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8 and MIP-1α. The steady state levels of the mRNAs for these cytokines were also analysed in the cells. The adherence of BAL cells to plastic prior to exposure to the gas elevated the steady state mRNA levels of all four cytokines tested in smoker's cells and that of TNF-α and IL-1β, but not IL-8 (MIP-1α not tested), in non-smoker's cells. Interestingly, adherent cells from non-smokers released circa 15-, 3-,1.5- and 3-fold the amounts of IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α and MIP-1α, respectively, than smoker's cells during control incubation or exposure to air. A 20 min exposure to NO2 (5 or 20 p.p.m.) did not increase the secretion of any of the cytokines from either cell type. In contrast, NO2 caused a concentration- dependent inhibition of the secretion of all cytokines except IL-1β from smoker's cells. Additionally, NO2 greatly diminished the release of all cytokines in response to further treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In contrast, only the secretion of TNF-α from non-smoker's cells was inhibited by the gas in a concentration- dependent manner, whilst LPS-induced secretion of the cytokines was not affected by the gas. The steady state levels of the respective mRNAs for each of the cytokines were not significantly affected in smoker's cells by exposure to NO2, except for a negative, dose-dependent trend in the case of TNF-α. Nitrogen dioxide also failed to elevate the levels of the mRNAs in non-smoker's cells but, again, tended to diminish the levels, particularly of IL-1β mRNA. However, exposure to the gas inhibited LPS- induced accumulation of cytokine mRNAs in smoker's cells only. The data suggest that macrophage-derived cytokine mediators of the sepsis response may not play a role in the generation of NO2-induced inflammation in the human lung. Conversely, the gas seems to non-specifically inhibit the release and/or production of cytokines, particularly from smoker's cells, at the post-transcrip tional level, and impairs the ability of the cells to increase the transcription and release of the cytokines in response to bacterial LPS. The fact that NO2 seriously impaired the already diminished capacity of smoker's cells to release several important pro-inflammatory cytokines, both under control conditions and in response to LPS, strongly suggest that the inhalation of NO2 in cigarette smoke may contribute to impairing host defence against infection in the lung.
Effects of ischaemia upon reflex electromyographic responses evoked by stretch and vibration in human wrist flexor muscles.

1. The reflex electromyographic responses evoked in a wrist flexor muscle, flexor carpi radialis (f.c.r.), by forcible extension of the wrist ('stretch') and by vibration of the flexor tendon have been studied in normal subjects. Reflexes were elicited during the maintenance of a low level of voluntary flexor contraction (5% maximum). Stretch regularly produced a relatively prolonged (ca. 100 ms duration) increase in e.m. g. activity which was usually divisible into short‐latency (ca. 25 ms, M1) and long‐latency (ca. 50 ms, M2) peaks. Vibration produced a single, phasic peak, at short latency, with no sign of an accompanying long‐latency wave comparable to the M2 stretch response. 2. Ischaemia was induced by inflation of a blood‐pressure cuff around the upper arm and its effects upon the reflex patterns were studied. During ischaemia M1 stretch responses showed a more rapid and pronounced decline than did M2 responses and were abolished before voluntary power was appreciably affected. Vibration‐evoked short‐latency peaks changed in an essentially parallel manner to M1 stretch reflexes. During recovery from ischaemia M2 reflexes were restored before short‐latency responses. 3. The patterns of reflex reductions in e.m. g. upon withdrawal of stimulation were also studied. Such troughs in activity, under non‐ischaemic conditions, regularly commenced at short latency and were of relatively small amplitude. The records of several of the subjects, and particularly ones obtained during ischaemia, suggested that release of stretch (with concomitant stretch of antagonists) could elicit an additive, long‐latency decline in e.m. g. The existence of any such separate, delayed component was never observed upon termination of vibration. 4. Measurements of changes in the latencies and durations of reflex components, accompanying the progression of ischaemia, indicated that depression of early reflex activity resulted in part from increases in the latencies of these initial peaks but predominantly reflected simultaneous and separate reductions in their amplitudes. 5. The generation of short‐latency reflexes by stretch and vibration, both of which stimuli powerfully excite muscle spindle primary endings, and the marked susceptibility of these responses to ischaemia supports their being mediated by group Ia afferents. The contrasting behaviour of M2 stretch responses, both regarding their absence with vibration and their resistance to ischaemia, suggests that they depend crucially upon a separate group of reflex afferents. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Cereal Market Dynamics: The Malian Experience from the 1990s to Present

This paper assesses the role that cereal markets have played in stimulating farm-level productivity growth and marketing of staple foods, in responding to changing demand patterns, in satisfying minimum food security needs, and in contributing to poverty reduction in both urban areas (through reductions in food prices) and rural areas (through increases in farm incomes). The paper uses a case study approach based on the Malian experience. Mali presents a particularly good case study of cereal market development because of (1) a unique approach to donor and government coordination during the early stages of market liberalization, (2) the contrasting development paths of the irrigated rice and the rainfed coarse grains subsectors, (3) Mali’s growing role in West Africa’s regional cereal trade, and (4) on-going policy debates that are relevant to the entire region. These policy debates include questions such as (1) how to balance consumer and producer interests via trade, tax, and safety net policies, (2) how to shape land policies that encourage a mix of family and commercial farms capable of meeting both national food production goals and poverty reduction objectives, and (3) how to provide incentives that reduce rural poverty by assisting resource poor farmers while also stimulating greater productivity among better-off farmers.
Mixed Immigration Status Households in the Context of Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Policies

In this article, we highlight some of the results from a study in which researchers working on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border addressed related questions about reproductive health care strategies of migrant and immigrant women. The research was contextualized within the broader developments on a global scale, which increasingly engage women by integrating them into global labor markets. Paralleling these trends are recent policy developments in Arizona. We thus focus this article on some of the results of the research on the Arizona side of the border, as this state’s legislative history since 2004 provides the opportunity to examine the impact of an “anti-immigrant” climate on immigrant populations that have settled there (O’Leary 2009a). In turn, this examination can be used to predict the widening of health care disparities through the “disentitlement” politics of social welfare po l icy reform (Marchevsky and Theoharis 2008, 90) that began as early as 1986 with California’s unsuccessful Prop 187. The concept of the mixed-immigration-status household is a useful analytical approach for explaining how emerging anti-immigrant policies adversely impact more than those who have been singled out be cause of their immigration status to include non-immigrants who share intersecting ethnic and racial characteristics. Key to our argument is the concept of the mixed-immigration-status household. In this domestic unit, the immigration status of at least one member is diffe rent from that of the others. This may include family members who are “undocumented,” legal residents, U.S.-born, or naturalized citizens (Romero 2008; Tala vera 2008). Although the category of undocumented is in itself ambiguous, it has both real and symbolic consequences for immigrants (Plascencia 2009). In the United States, the growing category of undocumented immigrants has become the focus of statelevel immigration enforcement policies. Because there are different ways for individuals to fall under this label, for our research we relied on Cornelius to help us formulate the following description: MIXED-IMMIGRATION-STATUS HOUSEHOLDS IN THE CONTEXT OF ARIZONA’S ANTI-IMMIGRANT POLICIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE DISPARITIES
Laboratory-Scale Analysis of Effect of Plume Spacing of Air Diffuser System on Destratification Efficiency

This paper presents a study conducted to develop guidelines for the design of an air bubble destratification system, with particular concern given to plume spacing. To investigate the effect of plume spacing on the destratification efficiency of the system, we first conducted a dimensional analysis that included major variables in bubble hydrodynamics. Then, we conducted laboratory experiments with various plume spacings and water depths under non-linear stratification conditions, and we evaluated the destratification efficiencies. Our results showed that the highest efficiency was obtained with a plume spacing of 0.75 times the water depth. Our study has shown that the overall efficiency of an air diffuser system can be increased by changing the spacing between diffusers and that plume spacing should be a major design parameter for future air diffuser systems.
Bilateral Lesions of the Subthalamic Nucleus Induce Multiple Deficits in an Attentional Task in Rats

Lesioning the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been suggested as possible therapy for the treatment of parkinsonism. Previous experiments investigating this hypothesis in rats confirmed that excitotoxic STN lesions alleviate the motor impairment induced by striatal dopamine depletion, which reproduced the degeneration observed in parkinsonism, but elicited presumed non‐motor deficits such as premature rationresponding, suggesting that the STN could be involved in other aspects of response control. The aim of the present study was to extend this analysis to choice paradigms. We thus investigated the behavioural effects of bilateral excitotoxic lesions of the STN in rats performing a five‐choice test of divided and sustained visual attention, modelled on the human continuous performance task. This task required the animals to detect a brief visual stimulus presented in one of five possible locations and respond by a nose‐poke in this illuminated hole within a fixed delay, for food reinforcement. Bilateral lesions of the STN severely impaired several aspects of performance, including discriminative accuracy, but also increased premature, anticipatory ralresponding as well as perseverative panel pushes and nose‐poke responses. While increasing the stimulus duration and reducing the waiting period for the stimulus partially alleviated the accuracy deficit and the premature responding deficit respectively, other deficits, such as perseverative panel pushes and nose‐poke responses were sustained under these conditions. Systemic injection of the mixed dopaminergic D1/D2 receptor antagonist, α‐flupenthixol (0.03–0.18 mg/kg), reduced premature responses and perseverative panel pushing without affecting the perseverative nose‐poke responses, suggesting that some of the deficits were independent of striatal dopaminergic transmission. These results suggest that STN lesions have multiple, dissociable effects on attentional performance, including discriminative deficits, impulsivity and perseverative behaviour They are consistent in part with a hypothesized role of the STN in recent models of basal ganglia function in areaction selection and inhibition. The results also show that other aspects of behaviour should be monitored when examining the capacity of STN lesions to reverse the parkinsonian deficit induced by striatal dopamine depletion.