Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three-Compartment Body Composition Changes in elite Rugby League Players During a Super League Season, Measured by Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry

Harley, JA, Hind, K, and O'Hara, JP. Three-compartment body composition changes in elite rugby league players during a super league season, measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. J Strength Cond Res 25(4): 1024-1029, 2011-This study investigated the acute changes in body composition that occur over the course of a competitive season in elite rugby league players. Twenty elite senior players from an English Super League rugby league team underwent a total-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan at 3 phases of a competitive season: preseason (February), midseason (June), and postseason (September). Body mass (BM), fat mass (FM), lean mass, percentage body fat, and bone mineral content (BMC) were reported at each phase. Between the start and midpoint of the season, BM, lean mass, FM, and body fat percentage showed no significant change (p > 0.05); however, BMC was significantly increased (+0.71%; 30.70 ± 38.00 g; p < 0.05). Between the midseason and postseason phase, BM and BMC showed no significant change (p > 0.05); however, significant changes were observed in lean mass (−1.54%; 1.19 ± 1.43 kg), FM (+4.09%; 0.57 ± 1.10 kg), and body fat percentage (+4.98%; 0.78 ± 1.09%; p < 0.05). The significant changes in body composition seen over the latter stages of the competitive season may have implications for performance capabilities at this important stage of competition. An increase in FM and decrease in lean mass may have a negative effect on the power/BM ratio, and therefore may be a cause for concern for playing, coaching, and medical staff. Coaching and strength and conditioning staff should aim to prescribe appropriate training and nutritional practices with the aim of maintaining the players' optimal body composition until the conclusion of the competitive season, in order that performance capabilities are maximized over the entire competition period.
Europa im Rathaus

Seit den 90er Jahren gehen von der europaischen Integration zunehmend Ruckwirkungen auf die subnationalen Ebenen aus. In der Folge kann eine Vervielfachung der kommunalen EU-bezogenen Tatigkeiten sowie die Einrichtung spezieller Koordinierungsstellen beobachtet werden. Aufbauend auf einer Befragung unter allen deutschen Grosstadten und anhand von Experteninterviews in Bremerhaven, Dresden und Bochum widmet sich dieses Buch der Ausgestaltung der kommunalen EU-Arbeit in der Praxis. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung steht die Frage nach dem Mehrwert einer zentralen EU-Stelle in der Stadtverwaltung.
Natural history of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias: review of the literature in the light of the findings from the Kungsholmen Project

The elderly population is increasing more than any other sector of the population. Dementia, a prevalent condition in the elderly, increases disability, morbidity and mortality among older people. For these reasons the possibility of predicting progression and prognosis has enormous importance. Despite the fact that dementia has gained widespread recognition in the past few decades, the knowledge of its natural history, in terms of progression and prognosis are not yet completely understood. However, thanks to longitudinal research, which has only recently begun to proliferate, not only is better comprehension of the continuity of the cognitive decline possible, but also the identification of some prognostic factors. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Power analysis of finite mixtures of Poisson distributions

Stony Brook University Libraries. SBU Graduate School in Applied Mathematics and Statistics. Lawrence Martin (Dean of Graduate School), Nancy R. Mendell – Dissertation Advisor Professor Applied Mathematics and Statistics Department, Hongshik Ahn – Chairperson of Defense Professor Applied Mathematics and Statistics Department, Wei Zhu Professor Applied Mathematics and Statistics Department, Yungtai Lo Associate Professor Department of Community and Preventive Medicine Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
HOPEFUL THINKING IN OLDER ADULTS: BACK TO THE FUTURE

ABSTRACT In a sample of 100 community-dwelling older adults (mean age of 76), higher hope related to greater life satisfaction and better perceived physical health, but hope did not relate to number of illnesses or functional disability. The high-relative to low-hope participants were more confident of reaching their goals, and felt that they were further along in their goal pursuits. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Reducing depressive or anxiety symptoms in post-stroke patients: Pilot trial of a constructive integrative psychosocial intervention

Background: About 30% of stroke survivors clinically have depressive symptoms at some point following stroke and anxiety prevalence is around 20-25%. Objective: The purpose of this brief report is to evaluate a pilot trial of a constructive integrative psychosocial intervention (CIPI) over standard care in post-stroke depression or anxiety. Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to either CIPI (n = 23) or standard care (n = 19). Patients were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months to monitor changes of mood. Results: A Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that compared to admission baseline, patients with the intervention had significantly normal post-stroke depression symptom levels at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months (P < 0.005). Conclusion: CIPI appears to be of incremental value in treating depression as well as anxiety in subacute care.
National hospital survey of anaerobic culture and susceptibility testing methods: results and recommendations for improvement

The methods for performing anaerobic bacterial isolation and identification continue to change and improve. Anaerobic susceptibility testing has become controversial, and method-dependent variability has been noted. To assess the status of clinical anaerobic bacteriology in the United States, we surveyed, by means of a questionnaire, 120 hospitals, selected at random, with bed capacities of 200 to 1,000, and we received responses from 88 (73%). All hospitals performed cultures for anaerobes. The media and methods used for transport, initial processing, incubation, and identification varies between the different regions in the United States. Thirty percent of laboratories did not perform susceptibility studies, 16% used a reference laboratory, and 54% performed them in house. For half the laboratories, susceptibility testing was performed on isolates depending on the source; in this case, blood cultures were tested by 97% of the laboratories, serious infections were tested by 60%, sterile body sites were tested by 73%, pure cultures were tested by 47%, and tests were done by physician request by 39%. For laboratories doing testing, the broth disk method, no longer sanctioned by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, was used most often (56%), followed by microdilution (33%), beta-lactamase testing (25%), macrotube dilution (2%), and agar dilution (2%). The antimicrobial agents tested were as follows: penicillin-ampicillin, 94%; clindamycin, 94%, metronidazole, 90%; chloramphenicol, 80%; cefoxitin, 76%; tetracyclines, 51%; and erythromycin, 45%. All other agents were tested by less than or equal to 25% of laboratories; the methods used could be improved to make the results more timely and consequently more clinically relevant.
Corporate Tax Policy and Unemployment in Europe: An Applied General Equilibrium Analysis

This paper analyzes the impact of corporate taxes on structural unemployment, using an applied general equilibrium model for the European Union. We find that the unemployment and welfare effects of corporate taxes differ considerably among European countries. The magnitude of these effects rise in particular in the broadness of the corporate tax base of a country, and the strength of international spillover effects through foreign direct investment. The effect on unemployment is smaller if the substitution elasticity between labour and capital is large, if international spillover effects operate primarily via multinational profit shifting, and if equilibrium forces on the labour market are strong. Although the effect of corporate taxes on unemployment may be smaller than the effect of labour and value-added taxes (e.g. under relatively strong real wage resistance), the welfare costs of corporate taxation are typically larger for most European countries under plausible parameters, especially under strong international spillovers.
Differential regulation of cell wall biogenesis during growth and development in yeast.

A connector having an improved mechanism for its lock onto a panel. A housing of the connector has a wall on which a sliding rail capable of slidingly fitting onto guide rails of the panel is provided. A flexible engagement member having an engagement projection engageable with an engagement projection of the panel is formed in a portion of the wall by cutting a part of the wall. When the sliding rail is slid on the guide rail to fit thereon, the flexible engagement member is deformed and has its position changed toward the inside of the housing while its engagement projection abuts on the engagement projection of the panel until the member recovers its original position upon the engagement between the projections. The arrangement of the flexible engagement member is advantageous in that it does not require any deformation distance to be provided on the outside of the housing, thereby enabling the entire connector to be compact. The member may be provided with lock release portions engageable with a lock release instrument inserting into the inside of the housing. With this arrangement, the connector can be easily released from its state of being locked.
Energy efficiency maximization for 5G multi‐antenna receivers

In a digital communication system, the analog signal that the receiver receives with its radio frequency front end is converted into digital format by using the analog‐to‐digital converter (A/D converter, ADC). Quantisation takes place during the conversion from continuous amplitude signal to discrete amplitude signal, leading inevitably to losses in information which are dependent on the number of bits that is used to represent each sample. Although employing a higher bit resolution reduces the quantisation error, a higher power dissipation of the ADC is incurred at the same time. This trade‐off is essential to the energy efficiency of the receiver, which is commonly measured by the number of information bits conveyed per consumed Joule of energy. We investigate, in this work, the adaptation of ADC resolutions of a multi‐antenna receiver based on instantaneous channel knowledge, with the goal of maximising receiver energy efficiency. The formulated optimisation is a combinatorial problem, and we propose several algorithms which yield near‐optimal solutions. Results from numerical simulations are presented and analysed, which provide guidelines to operation and deployment of the system. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The diffusion of maize to the southwestern United States and its impact

Our understanding of the initial period of agriculture in the southwestern United States has been transformed by recent discoveries that establish the presence of maize there by 2100 cal. B.C. (calibrated calendrical years before the Christian era) and document the processes by which it was integrated into local foraging economies. Here we review archaeological, paleoecological, linguistic, and genetic data to evaluate the hypothesis that Proto-Uto-Aztecan (PUA) farmers migrating from a homeland in Mesoamerica introduced maize agriculture to the region. We conclude that this hypothesis is untenable and that the available data indicate instead a Great Basin homeland for the PUA, the breakup of this speech community into northern and southern divisions ≈6900 cal. B.C. and the dispersal of maize agriculture from Mesoamerica to the US Southwest via group-to-group diffusion across a Southern Uto-Aztecan linguistic continuum.
Preservation of binocularity after monocular deprivation in the striate cortex of kittens treated with 6‐Hydroxydopamine

The results of single unit recordings from Area 17 of monocularly deprived kittens were compared with similar ones from littermates who had been monocularly lid‐sutured for the same period of time, but who had in addition been given intraventricular injections of 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA) to deplete brain catecholamines. The visual cortices of all catecholamine‐depleted kittens showed high proportions of binocular neurons, in contrast to the control group, a majority of whose visual cortical neurons were driven exclusively by the non‐deprived eye. Preservation of binocularity in 6‐OHDA‐treated kittens was dose‐related. Even after a 1 to 2‐week period of lidsuture which reduced binocularity to 20% in controls, normal proportions of binocular neurons (>75%) were preserved if the cumulative dose had been 10 mg 6‐OHDA or more. The density of single neurons sampled from electrode tracks through the cortex of drug‐treated kittens was high and did not differ significantly from controls. Neurons were isolated every 100 μm on the average. There was some indication that the drug's effect in preventing an ocular dominance shift disappears by six weeks following cessation of 6‐OHDA treatment. This reversal of the physiological effects in cortex is preceded by recovery from the behavioral manifestations of 6‐OHDA treatments. Binocularity was only slightly increased in a kitten who received large doses of 6‐OHDA after a period of monocular deprivation. This observation, together with control recordings from normal kittens and adults treated with 6‐OHDA, indicates that the direct effects of 6‐OHDA on cortical neurons' response properties play a minor role in comparison to its effects in reducing the sensitivity of the cortex to monocular deprivation. The overwhelming majority of cortical neurons in 6‐OHDA‐treated kittens remained normal in receptive field properties after a period of monocular deprivation. These data support the hypothesis that catecholamines are required for the maintenance of visual cortical plasticity during the critical period.
Influence of ethanol on non-esterified fatty acid and carbohydrate metabolism during exercise in man.

1. The influence of ethanol administration on the metabolism of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and on the utilization of blood-borne substrates and stored glycogen by leg muscles was examined in nine young healthy subjects at rest and during 40 min bicycle ergometer exercise at 50% of maximal capacity. Ethanol was administered by a constant-rate intravenous infusion (6 mmol/min), giving an arterial concentration within the range of 9·3–15·6 mmol/l. Turnover of NEFA and regional exchange were evaluated with [ 14 C]oleic acid, and muscle metabolites were analysed from needle biopsy samples. 2. Leg blood flow was not altered by ethanol. Alanine in arterial blood was reduced by approximately 25% after ethanol administration during exercise. A slight decrease in the concentration of NEFA in arterial plasma was observed after ethanol, associated with an increase in the fractional turnover of oleic acid, indicating an increased removal of NEFA from the plasma. The rate of uptake of NEFA in the leg was only slightly decreased. 3. The total glycogen depletion in leg muscle during exercise was not influenced by ethanol. The pattern of glycogen utilization in different muscle fibres was changed by ethanol and found to be dependent on the fibre composition of the respective subject. In the control experiments, but not after ethanol administration, a negative correlation was observed between glycogen utilization during exercise and the fraction of type I fibres. 4. It is concluded that ethanol administration during exercise (a) decreases leg uptake of NEFA due to a lower concentration of NEFA in plasma, although this lower uptake is compensated by an increased fractional oxidation, (b) does not influence total glycogen depletion in leg muscle, (c) changes the pattern of glycogen utilization in different muscle fibres, (d) influences only to a small extent the energy supply to working muscles, the most predominant isolated effect being on inhibition of the lactate release.
Cataract Blindness and Surgery among the Elderly in Rural Southern Harbin, China

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of cataract blindness, cataract surgical coverage, and surgical outcome by a population-based survey in an elderly rural Chinese population. Methods: Cluster sampling was used to select samples (≥ 50 years of age). The protocol consisted of participant interviews, a study to assess inter-observer agreement in cataract grading, visual acuity (VA) testing, and clinical examinations of selected participants. The prevalence of cataract blindness and cataract surgical coverage were calculated. The associations of these parameters by age, gender, and education were also calculated. Results: A total of 5057 eligible subjects agreed to participate, providing an attendance rate of 91.0%. Of individuals who were examined, 2383 were men. The overall prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness was 1.3% (95% confidence interval: 0.7%–2.6%). We found that aging, female gender, and illiteracy were associated with prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness. The average surgical coverage was 9.3% with trends lower among older persons and higher prevalence in females, but which did not reach statistical significance. Only 44.1% (30/68) of operative eyes had a presenting VA of 20/60 or better. Conclusions: Cataract surgical needs are currently not being met. The high rate of cataract blindness calls for the establishment of cataract surgical services that are gender sensitive.
High social class and suicide in persons at risk for schizophrenia

Objective: The relationship between suicide and social class has been equivocal. While some authors have reported that higher social class is related to higher rates of suicide, most other studies report that lower social class is associated with higher rates of suicide. Our study attempted to resolve these inconsistencies by using a High Risk for schizophrenia method.
Sex differences in the use of invasive coronary procedures in Ontario.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether sex differences exist in the use of coronary angiography, coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) among persons recently diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Canada. BACKGROUND A growing body of literature suggests that coronary artery disease in males is treated differently from females. Specifically, recent studies have indicated that sex may influence decisions about the use of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic coronary procedures in patients with suspected or proven coronary artery disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study design is a population-based inception cohort study. The data source is hospital discharges from all acute care hospitals in Ontario. The study population consisted of 6949 men and women discharged with a principal diagnosis of AMI between April 1 and September 30, 1990, and followed through record linkage until March 31, 1991 to determine whether any invasive coronary procedures were performed after their AMI. Odds ratio estimates (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for use of coronary angiography, CABS and PTCA in men were compared with those in women. RESULTS The adjusted OR for coronary angiography was 1.4 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.6), indicating that males were more likely to undergo angiography than females. A similar finding was seen for CABS (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.1), but for PTCA, the sex difference was less pronounced (OR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.7). Cox proportional hazards regression also was used to test the hypothesis and showed similar results. CONCLUSIONS Women suffering AMI undergo coronary angiography and CABS at a significantly lower rate than men in Ontario, with similar trends evident in use of PTCA.
The Zooflagellates Stephanopogon and Percolomonas are a Clade (Class Percolatea: Phylum Percolozoa)

ABSTRACT. The enigmatic marine protozoan Stephanopogon was first classified with ciliate protozoa because its pellicle also has rows of cilia. As ciliates have nuclear dimorphism with separate germline and somatic nuclei, Stephanopogon with several identical nuclei was regarded as a model for a hypothetical homokaryotic ancestor of ciliates. When electron microscopy revealed radical differences from ciliates this idea was abandoned, but its evolutionary position remains controversial, affinities with three other phyla being suggested. We sequenced 18S rDNA from Stephanopogon aff. minuta and actin genes from it and Stephanopogon apogon to clarify their evolutionary position. Phylogenetic analyses of 18S rRNA nest S. aff. minuta and Stephanopogon minuta securely within the protozoan phylum Percolozoa with zooflagellates of the genus Percolomonas, their closest relatives, comprising the clade Percolatea. This supports a previous grouping of Stephanopogon (order Pseudociliatida) with Percolomonas (order Percolomonadida) as a purely zooflagellate class Percolatea within Percolozoa, in contrast to the fundamentally amoeboid Heterolobosea, which are probably ancestral to Percolatea. Stephanopogon actins evolve exceptionally fast: actin trees place them as a long branch within bikont eukaryotes without revealing their sisters. We establish Percolomonadidae fam. n. for Percolomonas, excluding Pharyngomonas kirbyi g. , sp. n. and Pharyngomonas (=Tetramastix=Percolomonas) salina comb. n. , which unlike Percolomonas have two anterior and two posterior cilia and a pocket‐like pharynx, like “Macropharyngomonas”, now grouped with Pharyngomonas as a new purely zooflagellate class Pharyngomonadea, within a new subphylum Pharyngomonada; this contrasts them with the revised ancestrally amoeboflagellate subphylum Tetramitia. We discuss evolution of the percolozoan cytoskeleton and different body forms.