Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Personality and physical functioning among older adults: the moderating role of education.

OBJECTIVES Drawing upon a vulnerability model, this study tested whether low educational level would amplify the negative contribution of risky personality traits, such as high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, on older adults physical functioning. METHOD Five hundred and thirteen French-speaking community-dwelling older adults aged 60-91 years (mean age = 66.37, SD = 5.32) completed measures of physical functioning, education, personality traits, chronic conditions, and demographic variables. RESULTS Results revealed that extraversion and conscientiousness were positively associated with physical functioning, whereas neuroticism was a negative predictor, beyond demographics, chronic conditions, and education. The negative relationship between neuroticism and physical functioning was stronger among individuals with low educational level and was nonsignificant among older people with higher level of education. DISCUSSION This study is the first to support a vulnerability model, which entails an amplification of neuroticism risk at low education, but a diminishment of neuroticism risk for activity limitations at high education. As a whole, it appears that a focus on either personality or education without taking into account each other provides only a partial account of the predictors of basic daily physical activities in old age.
Improved Cerebral Vasoreactivity following Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty with Stenting of High-Grade Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting on cerebral vasoreactivity in carotid stenosis (CS). Methods: We studied the changes in the middle cerebral artery using transcranial Doppler and the breath-holding index (BHI) after hypercapnia in 33 patients with CS (15 symptomatic, 18 asymptomatic) before and 1 day and 1 month after stenting. Results: One day after stenting, the BHI significantly increased (p < 0.01) on the previously stenotic side in all patients. One month after stenting, the BHI was significantly higher on the contralateral side of asymptomatic (p < 0.05) and symptomatic patients (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting results in increasing improvement close to normalization of impaired cerebral vasoreactivity in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic high-grade CS.
Membrane viewpoint on black holes: Gravitational perturbations of the horizon.

This paper is part of a series of papers which develop and illustrate the ''membrane'' formalism for black holes. In this formalism, described in earlier papers, the role of the absolute event horizon is played by a two-dimensional surface endowed with electrical, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties. The present paper deals with gravitational perturbations of holes and presents and discusses model problems that illustrate the effects of tidal gravitational fields on stationary holes. The first of these problems demonstrates the use of the Rindler approximation to Schwarzschild spacetime in the case of a static perturbing point mass and clarifies the contribution to the horizon distortion due to forces constraining the motion of the mass point. Subsequent model problems use the Rindler approximation to compute the evolution of distortions of the Schwarzschild or Kerr horizon due to mass points in motion near the horizon.
Immigrant women’s clubs in a health-promotion perspective

Aims: To gain a deeper understanding of the conditions for and perceived benefits of regular participation in an immigrant women’s club, with special focus on the women’s wellbeing and the club’s potential for health promotion. Methods: A qualitative research approach was applied, including semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using the constructivist Grounded Theory method. Individual interviews of 15 women aged 40–59 years and from various ethnic backgrounds were conducted in 2010/2011. Findings: Four categories were identified during the analysis. These were labelled “Forming a place for coping with loneliness” (core category), “Learning the rules”, “Social bonding and support”, and “A space for wellbeing and health”. The categories describe how the members deal with the club’s status as a municipal association, the structure of the meetings, and the informants’ perceptions of being members of a club, as well as the effects of the membership. Conclusions: Immigrant women may find support and perceive increased wellbeing from gathering in clubs with women from a similar background. In addition, the clubs may provide society an opportunity and a space for adapted health-promotion initiatives.
Molecular detection of enterotoxigenic escherichia coli surface antigens from patients in Machakos district hospital, Kenya

Introduction: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is known for its public health importance globally, however, a protective vaccine is yet to be developed. Information regarding the immunology of ETEC’s virulence proteins that can lead to studies on vaccine development such as the heat stable toxins (ST), heat-labile toxin (LT), colonization factors (CFs) and coli surface antigens (CS) from many regions of the world is available. In Kenya, specific CFAs and CS have not been adequately characterized. This study looked at the surface antigens of diarrhoeagenic E. coli in search of indicators for vaccine materials development. Methodology: Multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay were employed to detect diarrhoeagenic E. coli pathotypes and enteroxigenic Escherichia coli surface antigens/ colonization factors antigens from 300 patients in Machakos Hospital, Kenya. Results: Enteroaggrigative Escherichia coli was the most predominant (13.7%) followed by ETEC (11%), Enteroinvesive E. coli (8.3%) and Enteropathogenic E. coli (4.3%). Among the colonization factor antigens, CFAI was detected at 25 (23%), CS1, CSII 2(1.9%), CS3 1(0.9%), CS6 13(12%), CS7 2 (1.9%), CS12 1(0.9%), CS19 11 (10.25%) and those without colonization factor 37 (34.3%). Conclusions: ETEC isolates carrying ST or STLT toxins had more recoverable CFs than those with LT alone (P<0.05). The CS6 is increasing and CS19 was detected for the first time in Kenya and shown to be persistent adhesins. These may be further investigated as possible candidates for the formulation of a novel vaccine for the prevention of diarrhoea in Kenya and the region.
An approach to roughness of fuzzy sets

In rough-set-based data analysis, the roughness of a set is traditionally used to express the degree of inexactness of the set arose due to incompleteness of available knowledge. Recently, an attempt of integration between the theories of fuzzy sets and rough sets has resulted in providing a roughness measure for fuzzy sets (Banerjee and Pal, 1996). Essentially, Banerjee and Pal's roughness measure depends on parameters that are designed as thresholds of definiteness and possibility in membership of the objects to a fuzzy set. We introduce a parameter-free roughness measure for fuzzy sets based on the notion of the mass assignment of a fuzzy set. Several interesting properties of this new measure are proved. Furthermore, we also discuss some possible extensions of the so-called approximation quality, which may be used to describe the rough approximation quality of a fuzzy classification.
Sensory gating and sensorimotor gating in medication-free obsessive-compulsive disorder patients

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with deficits in inhibition mechanisms. This is reflected in reports showing impaired sensorimotor and sensory gating in OCD patients, as measured with prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex and P50 suppression paradigms. However, most of the patients in these studies used medication and the results were not controlled for menstrual cycle phase in women. In this study PPI and P50 suppression were tested in 25 medication-free OCD patients and 25 healthy controls, using auditory stimuli and controlling for menstrual cycle effects. Subgroups were established, based on clinical variables (e.g. ‘washers’ and ‘checkers’). No impairments in PPI or P50 suppression were found in the OCD group when compared with healthy controls. However, a subgroup of OCD patients (‘checkers’, n=12) showed increased P50 suppression. It was concluded that sensorimotor and sensory gating is not impaired in drug-free OCD patients, taking into account the menstrual cycle effects in women. These results do not support hypotheses linking deficits in these inhibition paradigms and the pathogenesis of OCD. The finding of an increased P50 suppression in the subgroup of ‘checkers’ deserves further investigation and underlines the value of studying subgroups of OCD.
Prevalence of atopy is unrelated to presence of inflammatory bowel disease

The prevalence of atopy (assessed by prick testing and serum IgE measurement), and of symptoms associated with atopy, has been defined in 122 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and 103 age‐matched controls. History analysis for atopic symptoms, and serum IgE levels, showed no differences between controls and IBD patients, or IBD subgroups (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, ulcerative proctitis). Both in controls and in IBD patients, the prevalence of positive skin tests was higher in young people (aged > 30) than in others; taking account of age distribution within the groups, there were no differences between controls and IBD patients, or subgroups, in the prevalence of positive skin tests. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that reaginic hypersensitivity plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of IBD.
Genetic Tracing of Jatropha curcas L. from Its Mesoamerican Origin to the World

Jatropha curcas L. (Jatropha), a shrub species of the family Euphorbiaceae, has been recognized as a promising biofuel plant for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, recent attempts at commercial cultivation in Africa and Asia have failed because of low productivity. It is important to elucidate genetic diversity and relationship in worldwide Jatropha genetic resources for breeding of better commercial cultivars. Here, genetic diversity was analyzed by using 246 accessions from Mesoamerica, Africa and Asia, based on 59 simple sequence repeat markers and eight retrotransposon-based insertion polymorphism markers. We found that central Chiapas of Mexico possesses the most diverse genetic resources, and the Chiapas Central Depression could be the center of origin. We identified three genetic groups in Mesoamerica, whose distribution revealed a distinct geographic cline. One of them consists mainly of accessions from central Chiapas. This suggests that it represents the original genetic group. We found two Veracruz accessions in another group, whose ancestors might be shipped from Port of Veracruz to the Old World, to be the source of all African and Asian Jatropha. Our results suggest the human selection that caused low productivity in Africa and Asia, and also breeding strategies to improve African and Asian Jatropha. Cultivars improved in the productivity will contribute to expand mass commercial cultivation of Jatropha in Africa and Asia to increase biofuel production, and finally will support in the battle against the climate change.
Failure of radiotherapy in acromegaly.

BACKGROUND Recent data has raised skepticism regarding the long-term effectiveness of radiotherapy (RxT) in acromegaly and its role as an ancillary tool to neurosurgery (Tx). PATIENTS We evaluated 72 acromegalic patients previously submitted to RxT. Data were discarded in 23 patients, who were lost to follow-up, operated on after RxT or irradiated with techniques different from external conventional fractionated RxT. Among the remaining 49 (five with mixed GH-prolactin adenoma), 34 were irradiated after surgical failure and 15 as primary treatment. A second cycle of RxT was administered in two. RESULTS (i) GH/IGF-I. After a median follow-up of 14 years (range 3-41), normal age-matched IGF-I levels were reached in eight patients (16%) after 10 years, and GH levels <2.5 microg/l in six (12%) after 9 years. The rate of persistently pathological hormonal levels was still 90% at 25 years. All patients with GH/IGF-I normalization had undergone irradiation without any antisecretory drug. Neither basal GH nor tumor size affected the outcome of RxT. In three patients (6%) a relapse/worsening occurred. (ii) Tumor size. Tumor shrank after 8.5 years in 24 patients (49%), in nine of whom during GH-suppressive treatment. Tumor shrinkage was not predictive of hormonal normalization. (iii) Side-effects. Hypopituitarism was diagnosed in four patients (selective in three and global in one) and GH deficiency in one. Three patients had neurological side-effects and meningioma was shown in two patients. CONCLUSION RxT is unable to cure acromegaly, because it seldom achieves hormonal normalization even after a very prolonged follow-up. Concomitant antisecretory treatment seems to counteract its effects. RxT can still play a role in those patients with large tumor remnants, because of its capacity to shrink tumor size.
Relaxation, Imagery, and Neuroimmunomodulation a

Thirty undergraduates screened for high absorption ability were randomly assigned to three conditions. The first condition consisted of relaxation alone (progressive muscle relaxation and focused breathing). The second one combined this same relaxation training with mental imagery of the immune system. The third condition served as an alertness or mild arousal control; in a vigilance task subjects discriminated between tones presented in variable inter-trial intervals. Subjects reported trial levels of tension and daily stress. Before and after the protocols, which lasted about 1 hour, salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA), cortisol and catecholamines (saliva and plasma), mood states, and power motivation were assessed. Afterwards, subjects doing relaxation alone and with imagery had a higher level of SIgA than did the vigilance task control group, with a large effect size. When the influence of plasma cortisol was controlled, this immune effect size increased by half, mainly by doubling the SIgA level after relaxation alone. SIgA was significantly and negatively correlated with saliva norepinephrine. The saliva and plasma levels for the neuroendocrine variables appear to be independent. Yet some saliva measures (e.g., epinephrine) did correspond highly with other plasma measures (e.g., norepinephrine).
Individual donor-nucleic acid testing for human immunodeficiency virus-1, hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus and its role in blood safety

Background: Transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) are one of the biggest threats to blood transfusion safety. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) in blood donor screening has been implemented in many countries to reduce the risk of TTIs. NAT shortens this window period, thereby offering blood centers a much higher sensitivity for detecting viral infections. Aims: The objective was to assess the role of individual donor-NAT (ID-NAT) for human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its role in blood safety. Materials and Methods: A total of 32978 donations were tested for all three viruses using enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (Vironostika ® HIV Ag-Ab, Hepanostika ® HCV ultra and hepatitis B surface antigen ultra by Biomerieux) and ID-NAT using Procleix Ultrio plus ® Assay (Novartis Diagnostic, USA). All initial NAT reactive samples and serology nonreactive were retested in triplicate and NAT discriminatory assay for HIV-1, HCV and HBV were performed. Results: Of the 32978 samples, 43 (0.13%) were found to be ID-NAT reactive but seronegative. Out of 43, one for HIV-1, 13 for HCV and 27 for HBV were reactive by discriminatory assays. There were two samples that were reactive for both HCV-HBV and counted as HCV-HBV co-infection NAT yield. The prevalence of these viruses in our sample, tested by ID-NAT is 0.06%, 0.71%, and 0.63% for HIV-1, HCV and HBV respectively. The combined NAT yield among blood donors was 1 in 753. Conclusion: ID-NAT testing for HIV-1, HCV and HBV can tremendously improve the efficacy of screening for protecting blood recipient from TTIs. It enables detection of these viruses that were undetected by serological test and thus helped in providing safe blood to the patients.
Cytomegalovirus glycoprotein B groups associated with retinitis in AIDS.

To determine if cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis occurs more frequently in patients infected with certain strains CMV isolates from the blood of 44 patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus disease were grouped by the DNA sequence or the restriction endonuclease digest pattern of a portion of the glycoprotein B (gB) gene. Forty-two patients (95%) were followed clinically until the development of CMV retinitis or death. Fourteen (78%; 95% confidence interval, 7%-39%) of 26 with isolates belonging to other gB groups developed CMV retinitis (P = .002). Viremia caused by gB group 2 CMV strains is associated with higher risk of CMV retinitis than viremia due to other CMV gB groups. The association of CMV gB gene with retinitis suggests this gene, or one linked to it, is a virulence factor for CMV strains causing infection in AIDS patients.
Tree-Structured Expectation Propagation for LDPC Decoding over BMS Channels

In this paper, we put forward the tree-structured expectation propagation (TEP) algorithm for decoding block and convolutional low-density parity-check codes over any binary channel. We have already shown that TEP improves belief propagation (BP) over the binary erasure channel (BEC) by imposing marginal constraints over a set of pairs of variables that form a tree or a forest. The TEP decoder is a message-passing algorithm that sequentially builds a tree/forest of erased variables to capture additional information disregarded by the standard BP decoder, which leads to a noticeable reduction of the error rate for finite-length codes. In this paper, we show how the TEP can be extended to any channel, specifically to binary memoryless symmetric (BMS) channels. We particularly focus on how the TEP algorithm can be adapted for any channel model and, more importantly, how to choose the tree/forest to keep the gains observed for block and convolutional LDPC codes over the BEC.
Determinants of E-business Adoption: Evidence from Firms in India, Nigeria, Uganda

In this paper we employ firm-level data collected in three countries to analyze factors determining the adoption of internal e-business technologies in developing countries. The main objectives of the study are: identification of clusters based on technology adopted, classify firms in each cluster, investigate factors that resulted in technology adoption, and finally, analyse these factors within a multivariate framework. The variables that emerged significant display considerable variety across countries including size of operation, export performance, profitability, value addition, skill intensity, academic qualification of managing directors, learning processes, and technological collaboration with foreign firms. We found bi -directional relationships among several factors but the study could not identify all the causal relationships due to lack of time series data.
Separation of the reservoir and wave pressure and velocity from measurements at an arbitrary location in arteries

Previous studies based on measurements made in the ascending aorta have demonstrated that it can be useful to separate the arterial pressure P into a reservoir pressure P generated by the windkessel effect and a wave pressure p generated by the arterial waves: P=P + p. The separation in these studies was relatively straightforward since the flow into the arterial system was measured. In this study the idea is extended to measurements of pressure and velocity at sites distal to the aortic root where flow into the arterial system is not known. P is calculated from P at an arbitrary location in a large artery by fitting the pressure fall-off in diastole to an exponential function and assuming that p is proportional to the flow into the arterial system. A local reservoir velocity Ū that is proportional to P is also defined. The separation algorithm is applied to in vivo human and canine data and to numerical data generated using a one-dimensional model of pulse wave propagation in the larger conduit arteries. The results show that the proposed algorithm is reasonably robust, allowing for the separation of the measured pressure and velocity into reservoir and wave pressures and velocities. Application to data measured simultaneously in the aorta of the dog shows that the reservoir pressure is fairly uniform along the aorta, a test of self-consistency of the assumptions leading to the algorithm. Application to data generated with a validated numerical model indicates that the parameters derived by fitting the pressure data are close to the known values which were used to generate the numerical data. Finally, application to data measured in the human thoracic aorta indicates the potential usefulness of the separation.
Optimal Ownership Structures in the Presence of Investment Signals

The property-rights approach to the theory of the firm is extended by introducing distorted signals of the parties.investments. Investment incentives are then given in two ways, by allocating ownership rights and by tying pay to the signal realization. Optimal incentive strength, that is, the weight that a signal is optimally given in a wage contract, depends on two distortions, namely the distortion of the signal from the realized and from the disagreement benefit. Under the optimal ownership structure, the deviations of both investments from their first-best levels are relatively small implying that the relative importance of investment matters. Further, it is shown that most of the Grossman-Hart-Moore results are not robust to an introduction of investment signals.
Impact of mouthrinses on morning bad breath in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND During sleep, a proliferation of oral bacteria is responsible for the release of offending gases in morning breath even in healthy people. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the bad breath-inhibiting effect of four commercially available mouthrinses (0.03% triclosan, 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate, 0.05% cetylpyridinium chloride and essential oils) on morning breath when compared with a positive and a negative control. METHOD A six-step double-blind, crossover, randomised study was conducted in 12 dental students with healthy periodontium, who refrained from mechanical plaque control during a 4-day period. The subjects were instructed to rinse twice daily with the assigned product during each period. Fifteen-day washout intervals were used. Before professional plaque and tongue coating removal (baseline), the morning breath was scored through volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) level measured by a sulphide monitor. After 4 days, VSCs and plaque index (PI) were recorded. RESULTS Even in the absence of mechanical plaque control, there was a decrease in VSC level with the use of all mouthrinses, with the exception of an increase with the use of the negative control. The VSC formation was inhibited in descending order, by positive control (0.2% chlorhexidine), 0.12% chlorhexidine, triclosan and essential oils and cetylpyridinium chloride. Plaque formation was inhibited by chlorhexidine mouthrinses and essential oils. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that mouthrinses can reduce morning bad breath, and that such a reduction is not attributable only to the reduction of supragingival plaque formation.