Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The correlation between breastfeeding and maternal quality of life in southern Brazil.

PURPOSE This study examined the relationship between the breastfeeding efficacy and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of 89 mothers from southern Brazil. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore correlations between maternal QoL and breastfeeding efficacy in Brazil. METHODS Research participants completed the Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF and Multicultural Quality of Life Index questionnaires. Breastfeeding efficacy was evaluated through the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF). Correlations between the scores of the QoL instruments and the BSES-SF were examined using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. RESULTS There were significant correlations among the scores of the two QoL questionnaires and the BSES-SF. Multiple regression analysis revealed that both QoL instruments significantly predicted BSES-SF scores. Neither socioeconomic status nor level of educational attainment was a significant predictor of breastfeeding efficacy. CONCLUSIONS The results from the present study indicate that breastfeeding efficacy is significantly related to QoL among mothers in southern Brazil. The association between QoL and breastfeeding efficacy appears to be independent from any effect of socioeconomic status or level of educational achievement.
Evaluation of the Role of Circulating Long Non‐Coding RNA H19 as a Promising Novel Biomarker in Plasma of Patients with Gastric Cancer

H19 is one of the long non‐coding RNAs (LncRNA) that is related to the progression of many diseases including cancers. This work was carried out to study the level of the long non‐coding RNA; H19, in plasma of patients with gastric cancer (GC) and to assess its significance in their clinical management.
Intellectual capital and Organization performance in the manufacturing sector of Mexico

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the relationship between the various components of intellectual capital (IC) (human, organizational, technological and relational) and organization performance (OP) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector in the region of Baja California, Mexico. ,A sample of 127 surveys was applied to CEOs, CFOs or managers of SMEs. In order to test the research hypotheses, a multiple regression was run prior to the development of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. ,The results showed that the four capitals have a positive influence on OP; the evidence is consistent with several studies in Mexico and abroad. Furthermore, knowledge management was introduced as a moderating variable and the result was that it negatively moderates the relationship between IC and OP. ,The main limitation of this research is that it only focused on one region and a single sector in Mexico. However, future research at the national level might verify the hypotheses tested. ,This research contributes to enrich the theoretical framework for the Mexican context regarding IC; additionally, it allows contrasting the evidence with other studies at national and international levels.
Studies on Freezing Injury in Plant Cells : II. Protein and Lipid Changes in the Plasma Membranes of Jerusalem Artichoke Tubers during a Lethal Freezing in Vivo.

Plasma membranes were isolated from both unfrozen and frozen tissues of Jerusalem artichoke tubers (Helianthus tuberosus L.) in high purity utilizing an aqueous two-polymer phase partition system. Although the recovery of the plasma membranes was decreased significantly by freezing of tissues even at the nonlethal temperature (-5 degrees C), the isolated plasma membrane samples were considered to be representative of the plasma membranes in situ. Freezing of the tissues at sublethal temperatures resulted in marked changes in the chemical composition of the plasma membrane. Those are losses of sterols and phosphatidylethanolamine from the plasma membranes, and a change of specific proteins with relatively high molecular weights into low molecular weight peptides. These specific proteins were designated as frost susceptible proteins. The properties of the plasma membrane ATPase seem to be not affected so much by the in vivo freezing of cells. However, inhibition of the plasma membrane ATPase by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) was relatively low before and after freezing in vivo at the nonlethal temperature at -5 degrees C, but was markedly enhanced by freezing in vivo at sublethal temperatures below -10 degrees C. From the results, it is assumed either that the enzyme molecule was partially modified, especially at the presumed DCCD binding sites or that the DCCD had become more accessible to the enzyme as a result of increased permeability of the plasma membranes. These observed changes are discussed in connection with the mechanism of cell injury.
Daily and alternate-day supplementation of urea or biuret to ruminants consuming low-quality forage : III . Effects on ruminal fermentation characteristics in steers 1 , 2

Five ruminally and duodenally cannulated steers (491 ± 21 kg BW) were used in an incomplete 5 × 4 Latin square with four 24-d periods to determine the influence of supplemental nonprotein N (NPN) source and supplementation frequency (SF) on the dynamics of ruminal fermentation in steers consuming low-quality grass straw (4% CP). Treatments (TRT) included an unsupplemented control (CON) and a urea or biuret supplement that were placed directly into the rumen at 0700 daily (D) or every other day (2D). The NPN treatments were formulated to provide 90% of the estimated degradable intake protein requirement; therefore, the urea and biuret treatments received the same amount of supplemental N over a 2-d period. Daily TRT were supplemented with CP at 0.04% of BW/d, whereas the 2D TRT were supplemented at 0.08% of BW every other day. Forage was provided at 120% of the previous 5-d average intake in two equal portions at 0715 and 1900. Ruminal fluid was collected 0, 3, 6,
Heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow and metabolism: Review of physiologic principles and implications for radionuclide imaging of the heart

Heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow and metabolism is a known feature of the coronary circulation in laboratory animals and has been reported in the normal human coronary circulation as well. This review will describe the types of heterogeneity that have been reported, how they relate to one another, and the extent to which physiologic heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow and metabolism may influence the appearance of both positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images of the myocardium.
Instructed versus shaped human verbal behavior: Interactions with nonverbal responding.

Undergraduate students' presses on left and right buttons occasionally made available points exchangeable for money. Blue lights over the buttons were correlated with multiple random-ratio random-interval components; usually, the random-ratio schedule was assigned to the left button and the random-interval to the right. During interruptions on the multiple schedule, students filled out sentence-completion guess sheets (e.g., The way to earn points with the left button is to.). For different groups, guesses were shaped with differential points also worth money (e.g., successive approximations to "press fast" for the left button), or were instructed (e.g., Write "press slowly" for the left button), or were simply collected. Control of rate of pressing by guesses was examined in individual cases by reversing shaped or instructed guesses, by instructing pressing rates, and/or by reversing multiple-schedule contingencies. Shaped guesses produced guess-consistent pressing even when guessed rates opposed those characteristic of the contingencies (e.g., slow random-ratio and fast random-interval rates), whereas guesses and rates of pressing rarely corresponded after unsuccessful shaping of guesses or when guessing had no differential consequences. Instructed guesses and pressing were inconsistently related. In other words, when verbal responses were shaped (contingency-governed), they controlled nonverbal responding. When they were instructed (rule-governed), their control of nonverbal responding was inconsistent: the verbal behavior sometimes controlled, sometimes was controlled by, and sometimes was independent of the nonverbal behavior.
Viral load as a predictor of the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

HPV infections are believed to be a necessary cause of cervical cancer. Viral burden, as a surrogate indicator for persistence, may help predict risk of subsequent SIL. We used results of HPV test and cytology data repeated every 4–6 months in 2,081 women participating in a longitudinal study of the natural history of HPV infection and cervical neoplasia in São Paulo, Brazil. Using the MY09/11 PCR protocol, 473 women were positive for HPV DNA during the first 2 visits. We retested all positive specimens by a quantitative, low‐stringency PCR method to measure viral burden in cervical cells. Mean viral loads and 95% CIs were calculated using log‐transformed data. RRs and 95% CIs of incident SIL were calculated by proportional hazards models, adjusting for age and HPV oncogenicity. The risk of incident lesions increased with viral load at enrollment. The mean number of viral copies/cell at enrollment was 2.6 for women with no incident lesions and increased (trend p = 0.003) to 15.1 for women developing 3 or more SIL events over 6 years of follow‐up. Compared to those with <1 copy per cell in specimens tested during the first 2 visits, RRs for incident SIL increased from 1.9 (95% CI 0.8–4.2) for those with 1–10 copies/cell to 4.5 (95% CI 1.9–10.7) for those with >1,000 copies/cell. The equivalent RR of HSIL for >1,000 copies/cell was 2.6 (95% CI 0.5–13.2). Viral burden appears to have an independent effect on SIL incidence. Measurement of viral load, as a surrogate for HPV persistence, may identify women at risk of developing cervical cancer precursors. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Ethnic Favoritism: Winner Takes All or Power Sharing? Evidence from school constructions in Benin

Ethnic favoritism often distorts public policies in fractionalized countries, especially in Subsaharan Africa. We estimate the impact of a change in the ethnic group of the education minister and of the president on school construction in Benin. We estimate difference in differences and regression discontinuities based on the dates of the changes, and we find that school constructions are more frequent when the district is coethnic with a new education minister, but less frequent when the district is coethnic with a new president. The effects are very large in magnitude: a coethnic education minister approximately doubles the number of school constructions, a coethnic president approximately divides this number by two. These results suggest that the president does not systematically favor his own ethnic group but has to share power in order to survive. By appointing politicians from other ethnic groups in the government, she redistributes power to these groups, as ministers have the discretionary power to favor their own group. This specific pattern of ethnic favoritism vanishes after the democratization of Benin, in 1991. The checks and balances created by democracy seemingly prevented ethnically targeted public policies.
Evidence that sensitivity to growth hormone (GH) is growth period and tissue type dependent: studies in GH-deficient lit/lit mice.

We previously found that the magnitude of skeletal deficits caused by GH deficiency varied during different growth periods. To test the hypothesis that the sensitivity to GH is growth period dependent, we treated GH-deficient lit/lit mice with GH (4 mg/kg body weight.d) or vehicle during the prepubertal and pubertal (d 7-34), pubertal (d 23-34), postpubertal (d 42-55), and adult (d 204-217) periods and evaluated GH effects on the musculoskeletal system by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and peripheral quantitative computed tomography. GH treatment during different periods significantly increased total body bone mineral content, bone mineral density (BMD), bone area, and lean body mass and decreased percentage of fat compared with vehicle; however, the magnitude of change varied markedly depending on the treatment period. For example, the increase in total body BMD was significantly (P < 0.01) greater when GH was administered between d 42-55 (15%) compared with pubertal (8%) or adult (7.7%) periods, whereas the net loss in percentage of body fat was greatest (-56%) when GH was administered between d 204 and 216 and least (-27%) when GH was administered between d 7 and 35. To determine whether GH-induced anabolic effects on the musculoskeletal system are maintained after GH withdrawal, we performed DEXA measurements 3-7 wk after stopping GH treatment. The increases in total body bone mineral content, BMD, and lean body mass, but not the decrease in body fat, were sustained after GH withdrawal. Our findings demonstrate that the sensitivity to GH in target tissues is growth period and tissue type dependent and that continuous GH treatment is necessary to maintain body fat loss but not BMD gain during a 3-7 wk follow-up.
Health-related quality of life among central Appalachian residents in mountaintop mining counties.

OBJECTIVES We examined the health-related quality of life of residents in mountaintop mining counties of Appalachia using the 2006 national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. METHODS Dependent variables included self-rated health; the number of poor physical, poor mental, and activity limitation days (in the past 30 days); and the Healthy Days Index. Independent variables included metropolitan status, primary care physician supply, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System behavioral and demographic variables. We compared dependent variables across 3 categories: mountaintop mining (yes or no), other coal mining (yes or no), and a referent nonmining group. We used SUDAAN MULTILOG and multiple linear regression models with post hoc least squares means to test mountaintop mining effects after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS Residents of mountaintop mining counties reported significantly more days of poor physical, mental, and activity limitation and poorer self-rated health (P < .01) compared with the other county groupings. Results were generally consistent in separate analyses by gender and age. CONCLUSIONS Mountaintop mining areas are associated with the greatest reductions in health-related quality of life even when compared with counties with other forms of coal mining.
Targeted Gene Disruption of Glycerol-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Reveals Evidence That Glycerol Is a Significant Transferred Nutrient from Host Plant to Fungal Pathogen*

Unidirectional transfer of nutrients from plant host to pathogen represents a most revealing aspect of the parasitic lifestyle of plant pathogens. Whereas much effort has been focused on sugars and amino acids, the identification of other significant metabolites is equally important for comprehensive characterization of metabolic interactions between plants and biotrophic fungal pathogens. Employing a strategy of targeted gene disruption, we generated a mutant strain (gpdhΔ) defective in glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in a hemibiotrophic plant pathogen, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f.sp. malvae. The gpdhΔ strain had severe defects in carbon utilization as it could use neither glucose nor amino acids for sustained growth. Although the mutant mycelia were able to grow on potato dextrose agar medium, they displayed arrhythmicity in growth and failure to conidiate. The metabolic defect of gpdhΔ could be entirely ameliorated by glycerol in chemically defined minimal medium. Furthermore, glycerol was the one and only metabolite that could restore rhythmic growth and conidiation of gpdhΔ. Despite the profound defects in carbon source utilization, in planta the gpdhΔ strain exhibited normal pathogenicity, proceeded normally in its life cycle, and produced abundant conidia. Analysis of plant tissues at the peripheral zone of fungal infection sites revealed a time-dependent reduction in glycerol content. This study provides strong evidence for a role of glycerol as a significant transferred metabolite from plant to fungal pathogen.
Oral health status of children and adults in urban and rural areas of Burkina Faso, Africa.

OBJECTIVES To analyse the oral health status of children and adults in rural and urban areas of Burkina Faso; to provide epidemiological data for planning and evaluation of oral health care programmes. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey including different ethnic and socio-economic groups. SAMPLE AND METHODS Multistage cluster sampling of households in urban areas and random samples of participants selected based on the recent population census in rural areas. The final study population covered four age groups: 6 years (n = 424), 12 years (n = 505), 18 years (n = 492) and 35-44 years (n = 493). Clinical oral health data collected according to WHO methodology and criteria. RESULTS At age 6, 38% of children had caries, with prevalence higher in urban than rural areas. At age 12, the mean DMFT was 0.7 with prevalence significantly higher among urban than rural children. Mean DMFT was 1.9 in 18-year-olds and 6.3 in 35-44-year-olds and figures were higher for women than men. In adults, no differences in caries experience were found by location whereas the caries index was significantly affected by ethnic group and occupation. CPI score 2 (gingivitis and calculus) was dominant for all ages: 6 years (58%), 12 years (57%), 18 years (58%), 35-44 years (49%). In addition, 10% of 35-44-year-olds had CPI score 4. Rural participants had more severe periodontal scores than did urban individuals. CONCLUSIONS Health authorities should strengthen the implementation of community-based oral disease prevention and health promotion programmes rather than traditional curative care.
Do States Circumvent Constitutional Supermajority Voting Requirements to Raise Taxes?

To constrain legislative taxing power, 16 U.S. state constitutions require a supermajority in both chambers to increase or impose taxes. Both supporters and opponents of the requirement argue that its effect fades away because states circumvent it in various ways, especially by raising fees that are not subject to the requirement. Existing literature, however, offers little and inconsistent evidence on whether the effect decays over time and whether the decay results from fee hikes. This article documents legal cases to show the ways in which states have responded to the requirement, estimates whether the effects of the requirement decay over time, and tests whether states raise fees instead of taxes after adopting such a requirement. Using state-level panel data, I find that the initial effectiveness of the requirement on tax burden does decay approximately a decade after enactment and that the decay is not the result of fee increases.
Can Sub-Saharan Africa feed itself? The role of irrigation development in the region’s drylands for food security

ABSTRACT This paper assesses the potential role of investments in irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa in improving food security and self-sufficiency in the region. Focusing on the region’s drylands, the study identifies a potential for expanded irrigated area of 6–14 million hectares (ha), depending on technology costs and other factors. Linkage of these results with a global agricultural trade model shows that accelerated irrigation investment can effectively reduce growing food import dependency from 54% under a business-as-usual scenario to a much smaller 17–40%; and can also reduce the population at risk of hunger and child under-nutrition.
The strengthening relationship between economy and government spending: the case of Indonesia

This study explains the Indonesian economy recently experienced a weakening or slowing in the first quarter of 2015 that showed economic growth of 4.7 percent. It is certainly believed to be caused by internal and external factors, which impacted on the Indonesian government spending either in 2015 or in 2016. This study uses time series data. Furthermore, stationary and cointegration tests were analyzed using multilevel regression model with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and an Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) model. The results of this study will determine the internal and external factors that strengthen or weaken the relationship between the economy and government spending in Indonesia. Thus, based on these findings, policy in overcoming economic difficulties can be determined and local and central government budget for 2016 can be established.
Interleukin-6 is expressed at high levels in the CNS in Lyme neuroborreliosis

In patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis, inflammation and symptoms of fatigue and malaise occur out of proportion to the relatively low number of spirochetes present. Previous studies have identified interleukin-6 (IL-6) as a candidate molecule for amplification of CNS inflammation in this disease. We pursued this possibility by measuring cytokine gene expression by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the brain of rhesus macaques actively infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Samples of brain tissue were screened for IL-6 and interferon gamma using RT-PCR-ELISA, a technique that uses RT-PCR, subsequent hybridization of the PCR product with a biotinylated probe, and capture and ELISA readout of hybridization product. The number of copies in positive samples was then quantitated using qRT-PCR-ELISA, in which wild-type cytokine cDNA competes with recombinant competitor DNA in the PCR. Elevated levels of IL-6 cDNA and, to a lesser extent, interferon gamma were detected in three of three nonhuman primates with persistent infection with B burgdorferi, whereas the brains of three uninfected animals had undetectable levels of gene expression of these cytokines. These data support the hypothesis that cytokines such as IL-6 are important amplification molecules for CNS inflammation in Lyme neuroborreliosis.
Pressure hyperalgesia in hind limb suspended rats.

INTRODUCTION Spaceflight and simulated microgravity often associate with pain and prediabetes. Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced moderate insulinopenia rat models of prediabetes result in pressure hyperalgesia. The current study was designed to determine whether or not simulated microgravity induced by hind limb suspension (HLS) in rats lead to insulinopenia and pressure hyperalgesia. METHODS Adult male rats were divided into HLS (N = 20) and control, non-suspended (N = 16) groups, respectively. Bodyweight and hind limb pressure-pain withdrawal threshold (PPT) were measured at regular 2-5 d intervals for 7 d before and 12-13 d after HLS. RESULTS Bodyweights and PPT of control and HLS animals measured on the day of suspension were not different. During the experiment, control rats gained 61 +/- 5 g, but maintained their PPT at the baseline level. Suspended rats gained 26 +/- 3 g of weight during the same time period and their PPT declined from 105 +/- 6 g to 84 +/- 6 g. Neither blood glucose nor pancreatic islet density and area were affected by HLS. However, the random plasma insulin of HLS rats was significantly lower than that of control animals (1.6 +/- 0.2 vs. 2.7 +/- 0.2 ng ml(-1)). DISCUSSION The observed relationship between insulin and PPT levels in the HLS rats was similar to that observed in rats with STZ-induced insulinopenia. These data suggest that moderate insulinopenia may affect the rat's sensitivity to deep pressure directly, without affecting glucose homeostasis. In addition, our data suggest that HLS rats may develop peripheral neuropathy.