Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends in dietary fat and fatty acid intakes and related food sources among Chinese adults: a longitudinal study from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1997–2011)

Abstract Objective Few studies have evaluated the intake trends of fatty acids in China. The present study aimed to describe the profile of longitudinal dietary fat and fatty acid intakes and their related food sources in Chinese adults. Design A longitudinal study using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1997–2011) was conducted. Dietary intake was estimated using 24 h recalls combined with a food inventory for three consecutive days. Linear mixed models were used to calculate the adjusted mean intake values. Setting Urban and rural communities in nine provinces (autonomous regions), China. Subjects Adults (n 19 475; 9420 men and 10 055 women). Results Fat intake among men in 1997 was 73·4 g/d (28·1 % of total energy (%TE)), while in 2011 it increased to 86·3 g/d (33·2 %TE). Similarly, for women, this intake increased from 62·7 g/d (28·4 %TE) in 1997 to 74·1 g/d (33·7 %TE) in 2011. Energy intake from SFA grew from 6·8 to 7·6 %TE for both sexes. PUFA intake increased from 18·4 to 22·5 g/d for men and from 15·7 to 19·7 g/d for women, and was above 6 %TE in all survey periods. Intakes of 18:2 and 18:3 fatty acids showed significant upward trends in both sexes. Participants consumed less animal fats and more vegetable oils, with more PUFA intake and less energy from SFA. EPA and DHA intakes fluctuated around 20 mg/d. Conclusions Fatty acid intakes and profile in Chinese adults are different from those reported in other countries.
Buprenorphine vs methadone maintenance treatment for concurrent opioid dependence and cocaine abuse.

BACKGROUND Buprenorphine, a partial mu-agonist and kappa-antagonist, has been proposed as an alternative to methadone for maintenance treatment of opioid dependence, especially for patients with concurrent cocaine dependence or abuse. This study evaluated whether higher maintenance doses of buprenorphine and methadone are superior to lower doses for reducing illicit opioid use and whether buprenorphine is superior to methadone for reducing cocaine use. METHODS A total of 116 subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 maintenance treatment groups involving higher or lower daily doses of sublingual buprenorphine (12 or 4 mg) or methadone (65 or 20 mg) in a double-blind, 24-week clinical trial. Outcome measures included retention in treatment and illicit opioid and cocaine use as determined by urine toxicology testing and self-report. RESULTS There were significant effects of maintenance treatment on rates of illicit opioid use, but no significant differences in treatment retention or the rates of cocaine use. The rates of opioid-positive toxicology tests were lowest for treatment with 65 mg of methadone (45%), followed by 12 mg of buprenorphine (58%), 20 mg of methadone (72%), and 4 mg of buprenorphine (77%), with significant contrasts found between 65 mg of methadone and both lower-dose treatments and between 12 mg of buprenorphine and both lower-dose treatments. CONCLUSIONS The results support the superiority of higher daily buprenorphine and methadone maintenance doses vs lower doses for reducing illicit opioid use, but the results do not support the superiority of buprenorphine compared with methadone for reducing cocaine use.
Climate Policies, Distributional Effects and Transfers Between Rich and Poor Countries

This paper studies the role of equity preferences and distribution in climate policies by presenting mechanisms and results from dynamic North-South models. If policy makers express preferences regarding the distributive outcome of policies, they may adopt climate policies that influence the distribution in their preferred direction. A better distribution of outcomes may result even in the absence of such preferences if there exist strategic reasons for transfers from the rich to the poor countries. We also present results concerning when such transfers do and do not work according to policy makersâ€™ intentions. A transfer that proceeds from the poor to the rich countries is climate migration. This may have distributional consequences and possibly increase the incentives of the rich countries to implement climate policies that mitigate negative distributional effects, even if their main concern is with their own outcomes.
Output-feedback adaptive control of electrostatic microactuators

Adaptive control is presented for a class of electrostatic micro-actuators with bidirectional drive. The objective is to track a reference trajectory within the air gap without knowledge of the plant parameters. Motivated by practical difficulties in measuring velocity of the moving plate, an output feedback scheme is developed. After transforming the plant into the parametric output feedback form, adaptive observer back-stepping is employed to achieve asymptotic output tracking. To prevent contact of the movable plate and the electrodes, asymmetric barrier functions are employed in Lyapunov synthesis. All closed loop signals are ensured to be bounded. A simulation study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control.
Financial sector development, economic growth and demography in MENA region

Cette these etudie l'impact des marches financiers sur la croissance economique dans la region MENA. Le premier chapitre presente la situation economique, demographique et financiere de la region. Le deuxieme chapitre presente un modele d'equilibre general a generations imbriquees, qui relie la croissance economique, les marches financiers et l'evolution demographique. Le modele est calibre et simule pour trois pays de la region, presentant des tendances demographiques diverses. Les resultats montrent qu'un secteur financier plus performant conduit a une meilleure performance economique et a des taux d'emploi plus eleves. Par ailleurs, les jeunes sont les premiers beneficiaires de la reforme du secteur financier. Le troisieme chapitre teste empiriquement l'impact du secteur financier sur le secteur reel et la croissance dans 15 pays de la region MENA et constate un impact negatif du developpement du secteur financier sur la croissance. Ces resultats soulignent l'inefficacite de secteur financier dans la region et le besoin urgent de cibler des politiques qui ameliorent l'efficience du secteur et pas seulement sa taille. Dans le quatrieme chapitre, un indicateur de developpement des marches financiers est construit pour les pays de la region. Cet indicateur est base sur les 3 piliers que sont l'environnement macroeconomique, les institutions financieres et les marches financiers. Il prend en compte les specificites des pays de la region MENA et permet de classer les pays de la region en fonction de leur performance dans le secteur financier
Efficacy of immunoassay chromatography test for hepatitis-C antibodies detection.

OBJECTIVE To asses the efficacy of commercially available tests device method for anti HCV detection. METHODS Total 2000 blood samples for detection of anti HCV were screened initially by immunochromatographic method. Those found positive on initial screening were re-tested by ELISA method at the Biochemistry Laboratory of the Pakistan Medical Research Council, Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore. RESULTS Out of a total of 2,000 blood samples, 177 were found to be initially reactive/positive for anti-HCV with immunochromatographic method. When these reactive/positive samples were retested for confirmation with ELISA, 47 blood samples were found to have tested falsely positive for anti-HCV. Overall 2.35% of blood samples were found to be tested false positive for anti-HCV by immunochromatographic device method. CONCLUSIONS Immunochromatographic device method test is rapid and simple, which can be used in setting with limited facility when rapid testing is required. However it should not be used as sole criteria for diagnosis but should serve the purpose of initial screening only. Further research is required to establish the reliability of such devices for their specificity and sensitivity.
Molecular Insights into Rab7‐Mediated Endosomal Recruitment of Core Retromer: Deciphering the Role of Vps26 and Vps35

Retromer, a peripheral membrane protein complex, plays an instrumental role in host of cellular processes by its ability to recycle receptors from endosomes to the trans‐Golgi network. It consists of two distinct sub‐complexes, a membrane recognizing, sorting nexins (SNX) complex and a cargo recognition, vacuolar protein sorting (Vps) complex. Small GTPase, Rab7 is known to recruit retromer on endosomal membrane via interactions with the Vps sub‐complex. The molecular mechanism underlying the recruitment process including the role of individual Vps proteins is yet to be deciphered. In this study, we developed a FRET‐based assay in HeLa cells that demonstrated the interaction of Rab7 with Vps35 and Vps26 in vivo. Furthermore, we showed that Rab7 recruits retromer to late endosomes via direct interactions with N‐terminal conserved regions in Vps35. However, the single point mutation, which disrupts the interaction between Vps35 and Vps26, perturbed the Rab7‐mediated recruitment of retromer in HeLa cells. Using biophysical measurements, we demonstrate that the association of Vps26 with Vps35 resulted in high affinity binding between the Vps sub‐complex and the activated Rab7 suggesting for a possible allosteric role of Vps26. Thus, this study provides molecular insights into the essential role of Vps26 and Vps35 in Rab7‐mediated recruitment of the core retromer complex.
Alveolar bone tissue engineering in critical‐size defects of experimental animal models: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Regeneration of large, ‘critical‐size’ bone defects remains a clinical challenge. Bone tissue engineering (BTE) is emerging as a promising alternative to autogenous, allogeneic and biomaterial‐based bone grafting. The objective of this systematic review was to answer the focused question: in animal models, do cell‐based BTE strategies enhance regeneration in alveolar bone critical‐size defects (CSDs), compared with grafting with only biomaterial scaffolds or autogenous bone? Following PRISMA guidelines, electronic databases were searched for controlled animal studies reporting maxillary or mandibular CSD and implantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or osteoblasts (OBs) seeded on biomaterial scaffolds. A random effects meta‐analysis was performed for the outcome histomorphometric new bone formation (%NBF). Thirty‐six studies were included that reported on large‐ (monkeys, dogs, sheep, minipigs) and small‐animal (rabbits, rats) models. On average, studies presented with an unclear‐to‐high risk of bias and short observation times. In most studies, MSCs or OBs were used in combination with alloplastic mineral‐phase scaffolds. In five studies, cells were modified by ex vivo gene transfer of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). The meta‐analysis indicated statistically significant benefits in favour of: (1) cell‐loaded vs. cell‐free scaffolds [weighted mean difference (WMD) 15.59–49.15% and 8.60–13.85% NBF in large‐ and small‐animal models, respectively]; and (2) BMP‐gene‐modified vs. unmodified cells (WMD 10.06–20.83% NBF in small‐animal models). Results of cell‐loaded scaffolds vs. autogenous bone were inconclusive. Overall, heterogeneity in the meta‐analysis was high (I2 > 90%). In summary, alveolar bone regeneration is enhanced by addition of osteogenic cells to biomaterial scaffolds. The direction and estimates of treatment effect are useful to predict therapeutic efficacy and guide future clinical trials of BTE. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Electron Microscopy and Image Processing: An Essential Tool for Structural Analysis of Macromolecules

Macromolecular electron microscopy (EM) deals with macromolecular complexes and their placement within the cell—linking the molecular and cellular worlds as a bridge between atomic‐resolution X‐ray crystallographic or NMR studies and lower resolution light microscopy. The amount of specimen required is typically 102 to 103 times less than for X‐ray crystallography or NMR. Electron micrographs of frozen‐hydrated specimens portray native structures. Computer averaging yields enhanced images with reduced noise. Three‐dimensional reconstructions may be computed from multiple views. Under favorable circumstances, resolutions of 7 to 10 Å are achieved. Fitting atomic‐resolution coordinates of components into three‐dimensional density maps gives pseudo‐atomic models of a complex's structure and interactions. Time‐resolved experiments describe conformational changes. Electron tomography allows reconstruction of pleiomorphic complexes and sub‐cellular structures. Electron crystallography has produced near‐atomic resolution models of two‐dimensional arrays, notably of membrane proteins.
The intonation of English and Malay questions in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract This study investigates the patterns of conversational intonation of speakers of English in Brunei Darussalam, comparing their intonation patterns in English and Malay. Data were collected from 40 undergraduates at Universiti Brunei Darussalam using a map task, half in English and half in Malay. The biggest differences between English and Malay were found to be the occurrence of falling tones on yes–no questions in Malay and also on declarative questions, while these kinds of question tend to have rising tones in English.
Functional and psychological recovery during intensive hospital rehabilitation following cardiac surgery in the elderly.

UNLABELLED The recovery process in the elderly after cardiac surgery is influenced not only by clinical cardiac conditions, but also by comorbidity, cognitive decline and disability. We evaluated the relationship between clinical objective and self-perceived factors and their influence on functional recovery in 204 consecutive, over-70s pts who were admitted into an intensive hospital rehabilitation program following cardiac surgery. The variables taken into consideration were: comorbidity (Charlson index), length of hospital stay and complications in cardiac surgery and rehabilitation, disability (nursing needs score index), functional status (6-min walking test), left ventricular EF, number of training sessions, self-perceived health status (EuroQol questionnaire), emotional impairment (anxiety/depression, CBA-2.0/interview). RESULTS Functional capacity: the distance walked was 198 +/- 103 m at admission and 287 +/- 121 m at discharge (p < 0.0001). Only the nursing needs score index resulted as a weak, independent predictor of the distance walked at admission (r2 = 0.14, p < 0.001, beta = 0-.21), which (beta = 0.49), together with complications during rehabilitation (beta = -0.15), self-perceived health status at discharge (beta = 0.15) and number of training sessions (beta = 0.20), was independently correlated with the distance walked at time of discharge (r2 = 050, p < 0.0001). Patients mood: anxiety correlated with depression. Emotional scores did not correlate with functional measures. Patients self-perceived health status: only the nursing needs score index was a weak, independent predictor of well-being at entry (r2 = 0.15, p < 0.0001, beta = -0.29), which, in turn, was the only predictor of perception at discharge (r2 = 0.33, p < 0.0001, beta = 0-.42). CONCLUSIONS In an intensive hospital rehabilitation program following cardiac surgery in patients over 70 a) there was no correlation between clinical and psychological variables; b) anxiety and depression were associated, but neither influenced the recovery process nor correlated to health status perception; c) functional impairment was strongly influenced by nursing needs which also affected the self-perceived health status; d) both functional and perception recovery were influenced by disability at time of admission and reacted positively after rehabilitation.
Fibronectin Distribution on Demixed Nanoscale Topographies

Purpose It is known that surface nanotopography influences cell adhesion and differentiation. Our aim is to analyze the effect of nanoscale topography on fibronectin adsorption and, afterwards, on cell adhesion in order to rationalize the cell-material interaction by focusing on the state of the intermediate layer of adsorbed fibronectin at the material interphase. Methods Nanotopographic surfaces were produced by demixing of thin film polymer blends - PLLA and PS - during a high speed spin-casting process. Fibronectin (FN) was adsorbed on the different nanotopographies and the protein distribution was directly observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The fraction of the surface covered by the protein was quantified by image analysis, as well as the distribution of FN between peaks and valleys. Focal adhesion protein –vinculin- was immunostained and quantified by image analysis on the different nanoscale surfaces. Results Different nanoscale domains were obtained by changing the composition of the system within a height range of 3 nm to 30 nm. FN tends to adsorb on the peaks of nanoisland topographies, especially in compositions that did not enhance cell adhesion. Moreover, protein distribution between valleys and peaks alters the size of focal adhesion plaques, which grew larger on surfaces with an even distribution of fibronectin. Conclusions Our results suggest that the surface nanotopography is a key material property capable of influencing protein adsorption. Additionally, the distribution of the protein on the different samples was correlated to the initial ability of cells to adhere in terms of the size of the focal plaques.
Cesarean delivery rates in Saudi Arabia: a ten-year review.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In view of the global increase in the rate of cesarean deliveries (CD), with the associated higher morbidity and mortality, this study was undertaken to review CD rates and some of their determinants over a ten-year period in Saudi Arabia. METHODS Maternity data for Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals across 14 administrative regions and other governmental hospitals in nine clusters were collected and the corresponding rates calculated using MOH yearly statistical books from 1997 to 2006. No private hospital data are reported. RESULTS The overall CD rate significantly increased by 80.2% from 10.6% in 1997 to 19.1% in 2006. The greatest increase of 265% was in the Northern region and the least of 32.8% was in the Royal Commission Hospitals. Both vaginal breech and operative vaginal deliveries showed a significant decrease of 38% and 29%, respectively. There was a significant negative correlation between the increasing CD rate and the decreasing vaginal breech and operative vaginal deliveries rates. The volume of annual deliveries did not influence the CD rate. CONCLUSIONS A significant increase of more than 80% in the CD rate was observed from 1997 to 2006. A national strategy to reduce the CD rate is needed and will require upgrading of the existing vital registration system. We also recommend that current national data capturing mechanisms be expanded to include private sector data and to include indications for CD.
Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Positive GABAAModulators and Other Anxiolytics, Sedatives, and Anticonvulsants in Untreated and Diazepam-Treated Monkeys

Positive GABAA modulators and other sedatives, anxiolytics, and anticonvulsants were used to evaluate mechanisms underlying the discriminative stimulus effects of midazolam in untreated monkeys and of flumazenil in monkeys treated with diazepam (5.6 mg/kg/day). Positive GABAA modulators at benzodiazepine (e.g., flunitrazepam and abecarnil) and neuroactive steroid sites (e.g., androsterone) substituted for midazolam in all monkeys; the neuroactive steroids dihydroandrosterone and epipregnanolone substituted for midazolam in two of three monkeys. All positive GABAAmodulators attenuated flumazenil in diazepam-treated monkeys; doses of flunitrazepam and abecarnil larger than doses substituting for midazolam were required to attenuate flumazenil, whereas doses of neuroactive steroids smaller than doses substituting for midazolam attenuated flumazenil. Drugs with mechanisms that do not predominantly involve allosteric modulation of GABA (e.g., buspirone, ketamine, valproic acid, and diphenhydramine) did not substitute for midazolam or flumazenil. However, valproic acid enhanced the midazolam discriminative stimulus and attenuated the flumazenil discriminative stimulus; diphenhydramine attenuated the midazolam discriminative stimulus. These results suggest that drugs not sharing a mechanism of action with benzodiazepines can modulate the behavioral effects of benzodiazepines. In addition, this study demonstrates that endogenous ligands, presumably by acting at neuroactive steroid sites on the GABAA receptor complex, share discriminative stimulus effects with benzodiazepines. This study also suggests that positive GABAA-modulating neuroactive steroids are especially potent in attenuating behavioral effects that are related to diazepam withdrawal.
Update-Efficient Error-Correcting Product-Matrix Codes

Regenerating codes provide an efficient way to recover data at failed nodes in distributed storage systems. It has been shown that regenerating codes can be designed to minimize the per-node storage (called MSR) or minimize the communication overhead for regeneration (called MBR). In this work, we propose new encoding schemes for error-correcting MSR and MBR codes that generalize our earlier results on error-correcting regenerating codes. General encoding schemes for product-matrix MSR and MBR codes are derived such that the encoder based on Reed-Solomon (RS) codes is no longer limited to the Vandermonde matrix proposed earlier. Furthermore, MSR codes and MBR codes with the least update complexity can be found. A decoding scheme is proposed that utilizes RS codes to perform data reconstruction for MSR codes. The proposed decoding scheme has better error correction capability and incurs least number of node accesses when errors are present. A new decoding scheme is also proposed for MBR codes that is more capable and can correct more error-patterns. Simulation results are presented that exhibit the superior performance of the proposed schemes.