Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Causative factors of taste disorders in the elderly, and therapeutic effects of zinc

Abstract Objectives: To determine the characteristics of causative factors of taste disorders amongst the elderly, and to examine the therapeutic effect of a zinc agent, taking into account age-related factors. Subjects: A total of 408 patients with taste disorders were divided into three groups by age: 49 years or younger, 50 to 64 years old, and 65 years or older. Results: The incidence of taste disorders caused by drug administration and systemic disease were significantly higher in the elderly group. A serum zinc concentration of 69 µg/dl or lower was found in 33 per cent of the elderly group, significantly more (p < 0.001) than the 19 per cent of the 49 years or younger group with such a concentration. Zinc administration was therapeutically effective in 70 per cent of the whole population studied, and in 74 per cent of the elderly population. Conclusions: In the elderly, the incidence of taste disorders caused by drug administration or systemic disease was significantly greater compared with other age groups. The curative effects of zinc administration were not observed to be influenced by age.
The Added Caffeine, Health Concerns and Potential Regulations: The Case of Energy Drinks

The introduction of energy drinks and related products, coupled with somewhat inconsistent labeling practices, has generated health concerns from possible excessive caffeine consumption. In this paper, we model demand for energy-drink brands as a function of price and product characteristics that include both caffeine levels and the presence of labeled caffeine content. Using our demand estimation results, we then construct simulations to analyze the potential policies that would mandate labels, restrict advertising, and cap caffeine. Results indicate that mandatory labeling and advertising restrictions would reduce overall sales in the energy drinks sector, while a caffeine cap’s impact on sales would vary depending on precisely how the policy would be implemented. Caffeine consumption from energy drinks would decrease, but sugar intake would increase under a caffeine cap because a demand increase of energy drinks without sugar concentration change. Therefore, policy makers should be cautious to caffeine cap regulations if considering the sugar consumption as well.
Critical Success Factors for e-Government Projects: The case of Botswana

Information systems in general and eGovernment projects in particular, have many diverse and complex challenges that are not easy to overcome (Gil-Garcı ́a & Pardo, 2005). The fact that systems are interconnected in e-Government poses a unique challenge for implementation because requirements stretch across different departments or agencies (Saha, 2009, 2010a, 2010b). Indeed, successful Abstract
Service quality and customer satisfaction in Ghanaian retail banks: the moderating role of price

Purpose Various models and scales exist in the literature to measure retail bank service quality without any attempt at integrating them and the moderators have often been under explored. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the SERVQUAL and BSQ models and moderated the resulting scale with price in order to examine service quality and customer satisfaction with retail bank services in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study is quantitative and the survey methodology was used to collect data from 560 retail bank customers. The result was analyzed through structural equation modeling. Findings The study provides an expanded model for measuring retail bank service quality as seven of the eight latent constructs emerged as service quality dimensions when moderated with price. It is significant to also note that five of the constructs – tangibles, reliability, assurance, empathy and price – from the direct relationship emerged as the dimensions of retail bank service quality that positively and significantly predicted customer satisfaction. Practical implications The study provides insight into customer behavior with the quality of retail bank services in Ghana. The resulting broader dimensions provide an integrated and expanded model as well as pointers to bank managers on service quality and customer satisfaction cues to enable them attract, serve and retain customers. Originality/value The study is the first of its kind to integrate two of the popular models to measure retail bank service quality and to use price as a moderator of this relationship. The resulting scale, which comprised of variables from the two models, provides support for the approach used in the current study.
Mechanosensory responses of osteocytes to physiological forces occur along processes and not cell body and require αVβ3 integrin

Significance Although polarized mechanotransduction in osteocytes has been established, participation of αVβ3 integrin still remains to be conclusively demonstrated. We addressed this issue using the novel Stokesian fluid stimulus probe to discretely stimulate the osteocyte processes and cell body with physiologically relevant hydrodynamic forces in the piconewton range while imaging intracellular Ca2+ signals. We demonstrate that osteocyte cell processes but not the cell bodies are mechanosensitive through discrete attachment sites provided by αVβ3 integrin, thereby revealing that integrin attachment sites provide the substrate for polarized osteocyte mechanosignaling and mechanotransduction. Osteocytes in the lacunar–canalicular system of the bone are thought to be the cells that sense mechanical loading and transduce mechanical strain into biomechanical responses. The goal of this study was to evaluate the extent to which focal mechanical stimulation of osteocyte cell body and process led to activation of the cells, and determine whether integrin attachments play a role in osteocyte activation. We use a novel Stokesian fluid stimulus probe to hydrodynamically load osteocyte processes vs. cell bodies in murine long bone osteocyte Y4 (MLO-Y4) cells with physiological-level forces <10 pN without probe contact, and measured intracellular Ca2+ responses. Our results indicate that osteocyte processes are extremely responsive to piconewton-level mechanical loading, whereas the osteocyte cell body and processes with no local attachment sites are not. Ca2+ signals generated at stimulated sites spread within the processes with average velocity of 5.6 μm/s. Using the near-infrared fluorescence probe IntegriSense 750, we demonstrated that inhibition of αVβ3 integrin attachment sites compromises the response to probe stimulation. Moreover, using apyrase, an extracellular ATP scavenger, we showed that Ca2+ signaling from the osteocyte process to the cell body was greatly diminished, and thus dependent on ATP-mediated autocrine signaling. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that osteocytes in situ are highly polarized cells, where mechanotransduction occurs at substrate attachment sites along the processes at force levels predicted to occur at integrin attachment sites in vivo. We also demonstrate the essential role of αVβ3 integrin in osteocyte-polarized mechanosensing and mechanotransduction.
Biochemistry of the hypothalamus in Parkinson's disease

We assayed the content of neurotransmitters (or their synthesizing enzymes) and neuropeptides in the hypothalamus of control and parkinsonian brains post mortem. Only dopamine oncentrations were lower than normal in Parkinson's disease, suggesting that deficiency in hypothalamic dopamine transmission may play a role in the autonomic and endocrine abnormalities of this disorder.
Parents’ genetic dissimilarity and offspring sex in a polygynous mammal

Offspring quality may benefit from genetic dissimilarity between parents. However, genetic dissimilarity may trade‐off with additive genetic benefits. We hypothesized that when sexual selection produces sex‐specific selective scenarios, the relative benefits of additive genetic vs. dissimilarity may differ for sons and daughters. Here we study a sample of 666 red deer (Cervus elaphus) microsatellite genotypes, including males, females and their foetuses, from 20 wild populations in Spain (the main analyses are based on 241 different foetuses and 190 mother‐foetus pairs). We found that parental lineages were more dissimilar in daughters than in sons. On average, every mother was less related to her mate than to the sample of fathers in the population when producing daughters not sons. Male foetuses conceived early in the rutting season were much more inbred than any other foetuses. These differences maintained through gestation length, ruling out intrauterine mortality as a cause for the results, and indicating that the potential mechanism producing the association between parents’ dissimilarity and offspring sex should operate close to mating or conception time. Our findings highlight the relevance of considering the sex of offspring when studying genetic similarity between parents.
New Milk Analysis Technologies to Improve Dairy Cattle Performance

Two years ago we introduced the application of new mid-infrared (mid-IR) for rapid milk fatty milk analysis (Barbano, et al., 2014) and reported positive correlations of bulk tank milk fat test with a higher proportion and concentration of de novo fatty acids in bulk tank milk. The form of the fatty acid data from the mid-IR was structured to provide information on the relative proportions of de novo (C4 to C14), mixed origin (C16:0, C16:1, C17:0), and preformed (C18:0 and longer) fatty acids in milk. We can also provide that information in units of grams per 100 grams of milk. Since that time, we have continued to collect data on milk fatty acid variation in bulk tank milk and it’s relationship to feeding and farm management. A field study of 20 Holstein and 20 Jersey farms was completed in 2014 (Woolpert et al., 2016) and a follow up study of 40 Holstein farms was completed in 2015 (Woolpert, 2016) with the objective of determining farm feeding and management practices relate to milk fatty acid compostion and bulk tank milk fat and protein concentration. Starting in February of 2016, information on milk fatty acid composition of bulk tank milk was provided to the individual producers of the St. Albans Cooperative (Vermont) along with their payment test data on the same milk samples.
An Examination of Television Consumption By Racial and Ethnic Audiences in the U.S.

ABSTRACT Academic and practitioner studies have found that television consumption is highest among American audiences of diverse races and ethnicities. The validity of ethnic-audience ratings measurement in the past has been questionable, predicating diminished multicultural-audience valuation. One result has been less spending in the ethnic broadcast-media landscape, which is hampered by media fragmentation. Using an analysis of Horowitz Research data, a nationally representative dataset that measures multicultural cable viewership, the authors examined the relationship between television viewership and multiculturalism, mediated by programmatic and media-fragmentation influences and covaried by demographics influences.
Interaction Between Social Categories in the Composite Face Paradigm

The composite face paradigm (Young, Hellawell, & Hay, 1987) is widely used to demonstrate holistic perception of faces (Rossion, 2013). In the paradigm, parts from different faces (usually the top and bottom halves) are recombined. The principal criterion for holistic perception is that responses involving the component parts of composites in which the parts are aligned into a face-like configuration are slower and less accurate than responses to the same parts in a misaligned (not face-like) format. This is often taken as evidence that seeing a whole face in the aligned condition interferes with perceiving its separate parts, but it remains unclear to what extent the composite face effect also reflects contributions from other potential sources of interference. We present a new variant of the paradigm involving composites created from top and bottom parts of familiar faces drawn from orthogonal social categories of gender and occupation. This allows us to examine the contributions of differences in relatively visual properties (gender) or relatively semantic properties (occupation) to composite interference and to measure whether variation in a task-irrelevant category (e.g., differences in gender across the parts of the composite when the task is to categorize the occupation of one of the parts) will influence the size of the composite effect. Our findings show that the composite face effect can be modulated by task-irrelevant social categories and that this interference is primarily visual in nature because the influence of face gender is more direct and more consistent than the influence of occupation.
Reconstruction of Vaginal Agenesis

Vaginal ageneses are by no means rare anomalies. Complete Mullerian agenesis is the most common reason for vaginal agenesis requiring reconstruction. Patients usually present with pain, hematocolpos, or hematometra in puberty, and later with amenorrhea and dyspareunia. Detailed information is given here regarding etiologies, timing of surgery, and current treatment options for vaginal agenesis. Outcomes and short- and long-term complications of recent treatment options are also discussed.
Time-Reversal Method for Coexistence Between Ultrawideband Radios and IEEE802.11a Systems

This paper investigates the coexistence issue between pulsed ultrawideband (UWB) radio devices and the existing narrow band IEEE802.11a systems by using the time-reversal method. In this study, the time reversal is applied to the pulsed UWB system. Based on the statistical path loss model, we compared the time-reversal UWB transmission scheme with the traditional UWB scheme. The comparing results show that the time reversal is a potential candidate for pulsed UWB radios to coexist with more IEEE802.11a devices at a reduced separation distance while without causing dangerous interference.
Comparison of neuropsychological functioning and emotional processing in major depression and social anxiety disorder subjects, and matched healthy controls

Objectives: Few studies of neuropsychological function in major depression have examined emotional processing or the impact of gender. Patients have also been compared with highly selected control participants and rarely with other patient groups. The objective of this study was to compare neuropsychological function in a major depressive episode (MDE) with a group of patients with an anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (SAD), and healthy controls, to include measures of emotional processing and to analyse the effects of gender on neuropsychological function and emotional processing in these groups. Method: One hundred and one medication-free patients with MDE, 30 patients with SAD and 76 healthy control participants were recruited. The groups were matched for age and estimated premorbid intelligence and education. Subjects performed a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing; verbal learning and memory, visuospatial learning and memory, attention, executive function and psychomotor performance. They also performed a task measuring the accuracy of recognition of facial emotional expressions. Results: Compared with healthy participants and those with SAD, patients with MDE were significantly impaired in verbal learning and spatial working memory. The SAD group misclassified significantly more neutral expressions as angry and fewer as sad, compared with the MDE group and healthy controls, but there were no significant differences between the MDE group and healthy controls. The profile of performance was the same regardless of gender. Conclusions: The study confirms a significant impairment in neuropsychological function in a clinical sample of outpatients with MDE, which is likely to have important implications for day-to-day functioning and treatment.
Adoption of E-Government Services in Turkey

Owing to the rapid global growth in the internet and information technology, many governments around the world have transformed their services from the traditional services to electronic means. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that enable end-user adoption of e-government services in Turkey. E-government web portal service level and service quality are critical factors that determine user’s adoption and continuance use. A research model is proposed and tested using data based on a sample of 242 individual e-government web portal users in Turkey. Results show that perceived usefulness and user satisfaction affects user’s adoption and continuance intention. Implications based on the findings of the study are discussed in term of egovernment web portal implementation
Randomized Trial Testing a Worksite Sun Protection Program in an Outdoor Recreation Industry

Health communication campaigns intended to reduce chronic and severe exposure to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight and prevent skin cancer are a national priority. Outdoor workers represent an unaddressed, high-risk population. Go Sun Smart (GSS), a worksite sun safety program largely based on the diffusion-of-innovations theory, was evaluated in a pair-matched, group-randomized, pretest-posttest controlled design enrolling employees at 26 ski areas in Western North America. Employees at the intervention ski areas were more aware of GSS (odds ratio [OR] = 8.27, p < .05) and reported less sunburning (adjusted OR = 1.63, p < .05) at posttest than employees at the control areas. A dose response was evident (OR = 1.46, p < .05) with greater observed program implementation associated with fewer sunburns among employees. Program awareness per se was not predictive (p > .05) of reduced sunburning in a mediational analysis. Analyses of nonrespondents, including intent-to-treat analyses, further supported the success of GSS.
Capital Supply and Corporate Bond Issuances: Evidence from Mutual Fund Flows

This paper examines how investment behavior of bond mutual funds affects corporate financing decisions. Mutual funds that hold a firm's existing bonds have a high propensity to acquire additional new issuances from the same firm. I utilize this stylized fact to construct a firm-specific bond capital supply measure by aggregating flows from a firm's existing bondholders. Firms with a higher flow-driven capital supply are more likely to issue bonds, enjoy lower yields, and substitute away from equity financing and bank loans. Information acquisition costs and underwriter relationship likely contribute to the impact of flow-driven capital supply.
Microalbuminuria and hypoxemia in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

RATIONALE Microalbuminuria (MAB), a marker of endovascular dysfunction, is a predictor of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in the general population. There is evidence of vascular dysfunction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence and relationship of MAB with clinical and physiological parameters in stable patients with COPD. METHODS We measured urinary albumin rate (urinary albumin to creatinine ratio: UACR), smoking history, arterial blood pressure, gas exchange, body mass index, lung function, BODE index (body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea, exercise performance), and comorbidity index in 129 patients with stable COPD and 51 smokers with normal spirometry without known cardiovascular disease. MAB levels were compared between groups. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the best determinants of MAB levels. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS MAB was higher in patients with COPD than in control smokers (8 [5th-95th percentile (P₅₋₉₅), 2.9-113] vs. 4.2 [P₅₋₉₅, 1.8-22.7] mg/g, P < 0.001]). The difference remained significant even after using the standard pathologic threshold (MAB, 30-299 mg/g in women and 20-299 mg/g in men; 24% in patients with COPD vs. 6% in control smokers; P = 0.005). In patients with COPD, there was a negative correlation between Pa(O₂) and MAB (r = -0.40, P < 0.001). Using multivariate analysis, MAB was only associated with the Pa(O₂) (relative risk, 0.934; 95% confidence interval, 0.880-0.992; P < 0.001) and with the systolic arterial blood pressure (relative risk, 1.034; 95% confidence interval, 1.011-1.057; P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS MAB is frequent in patients with COPD and is associated with hypoxemia independent of other cardiovascular risk factors. Further studies are necessary to investigate whether MAB could be an early simple biomarker of cardiovascular compromise in patients with COPD.
Photosynthesis, Transpiration, Leaf Temperature, and Stomatal Activity of Cotton Plants under Varying Water Potentials.

Cotton plants, Gossypium hirsutum L. were grown in a growth room under incident radiation levels of 65, 35, and 17 Langleys per hour to determine the effects of vapor pressure deficits (VPD's) of 2, 9, and 17 mm Hg at high soil water potential, and the effects of decreasing soil water potential and reirrigation on transpiration, leaf temperature, stomatal activity, photosynthesis, and respiration at a VPD of 9 mm Hg.Transpiration was positively correlated with radiation level, air VPD and soil water potential. Reirrigation following stress led to slow recovery, which may be related to root damage occurring during stress. Leaf water potential decreased with, but not as fast as, soil water potential.Leaf temperature was usually positively correlated with light intensity and negatively correlated with transpiration, air VPD, and soil water. At high soil water, leaf temperatures ranged from a fraction of 1 to a few degrees above ambient, except at medium and low light and a VPD of 19 mm Hg when they were slightly below ambient, probably because of increased transpirational cooling. During low soil water leaf temperatures as high as 3.4 degrees above ambient were recorded. Reirrigation reduced leaf temperature before appreciably increasing transpiration. The upper leaf surface tended to be warmer than the lower at the beginning of the day and when soil water was adequate; otherwise there was little difference or the lower surface was warmer. This pattern seemed to reflect transpiration cooling and leaf position effects.Although stomata were more numerous in the lower than the upper epidermis, most of the time a greater percentage of the upper were open. With sufficient soil water present, stomata opened with light and closed with darkness. Fewer stomata opened under low than high light intensity and under even moderate, as compared with high soil water. It required several days following reirrigation for stomata to regain original activity levels.Apparent photosynthesis of cotton leaves occasionally oscillated with variable amplitude and frequency. When soil water was adequate, photosynthesis was nearly proportional to light intensity, with some indication of higher rates at higher VPD's. As soil water decreased, photosynthesis first increased and then markedly decreased. Following reirrigation, photosynthesis rapidly recovered.Respiration was slowed moderately by decreasing soil water but increased before watering. Respiration slowed with increasing leaf age only on leaves that were previously under high light intensity.