Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends in the Prevalence of Frailty in Japan: A Meta-Analysis from the ILSA-J

To examine whether age-specific prevalence of frailty in Japan changed between 2012 and 2017. This study performed meta-analyses of data collected from 2012 to 2017 using the Integrated Longitudinal Studies on Aging in Japan (ILSA-J), a collection of representative Japanese cohort studies. The ILSA-J studies were conducted on community-living older adults. ILSA-J studies were considered eligible for analysis if they assessed physical frailty status and presence of frailty in the sample. Seven studies were analyzed for 2012 (±1 year; n = 10312) and eight studies were analyzed for 2017 (±1 year; n = 7010). Five studies were analyzed for both 2012 and 2017. The overall prevalence of physical frailty was 7.0% in 2012 and 5.3% in 2017. The prevalence of frailty, especially in people 70 years and older, tended to decrease in 2017 compared to 2012. Slight decreases were found in the prevalence of frailty subitems including weight loss, slowness, exhaustion, and low activity between 2012 and 2017, but change in the prevalence of weakness was weaker than other components. The prevalence of physical frailty decreased from 2012 to 2017. There are age- and gender-related variations in the decrease of each component of frailty.
What are the functional and structural mysteries behind this speech disorder?

Developmental Stuttering (DS) is a speech disorder which is characterized by repetitions, prolongations, or pauses that disrupt the normal flow of speech. It occurs in approximately 58% of the pre-school children and recovers spontaneously in 70-80% of the cases, resulting in a prevalence of about 1% in adolescence. However, unrecovered people who stutter (PWS) can experience lifelong negative consequences, like participation restrictions, irritation and embarrassment. It is known that DS has a clear genetic basis, that PWS have increased dopamine activity, and that the severity of stuttering can be reduced by dopamine blockers. Here we describe functional and structural grey and white matter abnormalities that are present in PWS. It appears that the precentral gyrus (primary motor cortex), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), superior temporal gyrus (STG), middle temporal gyrus (MTG), supplementary motor area (SMA), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), rolandic operculum (RO) and corpus callosum (CC) are important key players in DS. Although not all data support each other in all details, here we attempt to give a shared overview of current research and its directions, both in adults and children with DS. It has become clear that some brain differences already exist during childhood rather than resulting from compensatory attempts, and can therefore be used as markers for the development and monitoring of DS. Increased knowledge about DS could potentially open new ways for treatment of PWS, and may prevent the symptoms of persistent DS. This could results in less anxiety, shame, and irritation during social interaction, and would make the life of millions of stutterers a lot easier and more pleasant.
Removal of reactive black 8 dye from aqueous solutions using zinc oxide nanoparticles: investigation of adsorption parameters

AbstractBatch adsorption experiments were carried out to remove reactive black 8 (RB8) from their aqueous solutions using zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs). The various affecting parameters such as solution pH, contact time, initial dye concentration, and sorbent dosage on the removal efficiency were studied. The equilibrium adsorption data of RB8 on ZnONPs surface were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The adsorption process correlated with Langmuir model better than Freundlich isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 27.6 mg g−1. The experimental results showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation could best describe the sorption kinetics.
An Antimicrobial Activity Assessment of Three Endodontic Sealers on Enterococcus faecalis, Candida albicans, and Staphylococcus aureus by a Direct Contact Test: An In Vitro Study

Introduction: For a successful endodontic treatment, antimicrobial property of endodontic filing is mandatory. Hence, the aim of this in vitro study was to assess the antibacterial efficacy of three endodontic sealers on Enterococcus faecalis, Candida albicans, and Staphylococcus aureus by direct contact test (DCT). Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial efficacy of three different sealers, AH Plus, mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) Fillapex, and Endosequence BC was tested against E. faecalis ATCC 29212, C. albicans ATCC 10231 and S. aureus ATCC 25923 by DCT. Freshly mixed sealers were placed in flat bottom test tubes incubated at 37°C. Thereafter, 10 μL of suspension was drawn and spread over cultural plates to determine the colony count using a digital colony counter. Readings were taken at 1 h (fresh specimen), then at 24 h (after setting). The results were tabulated and statistical analysis was done using one way ANOVA and Tukey HSD test. Results: DCT showed a significant decrease in microbial count in AH Plus, MTA Fillapex, and Endoseq BC at both the time intervals. Group 3 (Endosequence BC) showed minimum microbial count followed by Group 2 (MTA Fillapex) and maximum for Group 1 (AH Plus) for both the time intervals (1 h and 24 h). Conclusion: Endosequence BC showed maximum antimicrobial efficacy against all the tested microorganisms for both the time intervals, followed by MTA Fillapex and AH Plus.
Fish Drying in Chalan Beel Areas

A study on fish drying in Chalan Beel areas was conducted between August 2006 and February 2007. Field survey was carried out in Atrai, Singra, Tarash, and Bhangura Upazilas adjacent to Chalan Beel to assess the fish drying status. Twenty six fish were used for drying including five major fish species for large scale drying and remaining species were mixed with major species, mostly of damaged physically. Majority (89.3%) dry fish farmers brought raw fishes from local fish markets or landing centers. Washing of raw fish was done by beel water and poor quality salts were used for salting (rate: 50-250 g / kg fish) in most cases. Majority drying were done by spreading raw fishes on bamboo rack without any protection measure from insects or dust. Finally, maximum dried products were carried to Sayadpur (Nilphamary) dry fish wholesale market by the dry fish farmers or other middlemen. Key Words: Chalan Beel; Fish drying; Dry fish farmer; Raw fish; Marketing DOI: 10.3329/bjsir.v44i4. 4599 Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 44(4) , 461-466, 2009
The Influence of Organizational Culture on eGov Acceptance by Employees: Case of Morocco

This article aims to shed light on how organizational culture influences the acceptance of Electronic Government (eGov) by employees in a North African country, Morocco. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM, Davis et al., 1989), the authors propose a model extending TAM to Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) as the most cultural factor used in eGov acceptance researches, and Perceived Risk (PR) as mediator factor between UA and Intention (INT). The study was conducted in a Moroccan public organization named Social Development Agency (SDA), based in Rabatthe administrative capital of Morocco. The sample is composed of 81 employees representing 64% of the target population (136 employees). The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed with the Smart PLS software to assess the causal relationships that were hypothesized in the proposed model. The findings indicated that the proposed model explains 36, 3 % of total variance in the INT to accept eGov by employees. They also showed that UA, PR, Perceived Ease of use (PEU), and Attitude (ATT), exert a notable influence on employees’ Intention to accept eGov. Otherwise, the influence of Perceived Usefulness (PU) was not significant. Keywords— eGov, TAM, Uncertainty Avoidance, Perceived Risk, Morocco and North African Country
The study of lipotropic action of extract from fruit prunus domestica «Prunofit» byanimal models of alcoholic liver diseases

ISSN 0367-3057, Фармацевтичний журнал, 2020, Т. 75, No 6 ФАРМАКОГНОСТИЧНІ, ФІТОХІМІЧНІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ УДК 615.322: 615.015. 42: 616-008.3/. 5: 634.222 DOI: 10.32352/0367-3057.6. 20.09 V. M. KRAVCHENKO (http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6335-2490), Z. V. SHOVKOVA (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1908-1237), I. V. SENYUK (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3819-7331), O. V. SHOVKOVA (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9656-1165) National University of Pharmacy, Kharkiv THE STUDY OF LIPOTROPIC ACTION OF EXTRACT FROM FRUIT PRUNUS DOMESTICA «PRUNOFIT» BYANIMAL MODELS OF ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASES
Deriving Distributive Laws for Graded Linear Types

The recent notion of graded modal types provides a framework for extending type theories with fine-grained data-flow reasoning. The Granule language explores this idea in the context of linear types. In this practical setting, we observe that the presence of graded modal types can introduce an additional impediment when programming: when composing programs, it is often necessary to 'distribute' data types over graded modalities, and vice versa. In this paper, we show how to automatically derive these distributive laws as combinators for programming. We discuss the implementation and use of this automated deriving procedure in Granule, providing easy access to these distributive combinators. This work is also applicable to Linear Haskell (which retrofits Haskell with linear types via grading) and we apply our technique there to provide the same automatically derived combinators. Along the way, we discuss interesting considerations for pattern matching analysis via graded linear types. Lastly, we show how other useful structural combinators can also be automatically derived.
Pollen grain expression of osmotic adjustment as a screening method on drought tolerance in several wine and table grape genotypes (Vitis vinifera L.)

Osmotic adjustment is one of the important mechanisms to adapt to drought and it is the only one which is activated under any level of water stress in the plant cells. Grapevine pollen grains response was tested to osmotic stress in fourteen genotypes, initiated by immersion in 55% or 65% polyethylene glycol solutions without and with addition of potassium chloride, to estimate the expressions of osmotic adjustment. The pollen grain test found differences both in the measurements of projected area cytoplasm and expressions of osmotic adjustment present in the cells. Italian Riesling increased pollen grains cytoplasm in PEG solutions with added KCl much more than other genotypes and had the high values for both expressions of induced and overall osmotic adjustment. The results obtained for expression of induced osmotic adjustment underlined the high K accumulation capacity of ‘Italian Riesling’, ‘Burgund mare’ 86 Şt. , ‘Muscat d’Adda’ 22 Şt. , ‘Muscat Ottonel’ 16 Şt. , ‘Pinot gris’ 14 Şt. and ‘Argessis’. The lack of correlation between expressions of induced and intrinsic osmotic adjustment indicated that induced osmotic adjustment expressed by K might use different mechanisms that are activated at the time of water stress with different levels of solute accumulation. Because the accumulation of K in the cells is important in all developmental stages and, in grape yield and quality, pollen responses to induced osmotic adjustment expressed by K could be used as a screening method, for establishing the level of drought sensitivity in the grape varieties under water stress.
Predictive value of diaphragmatic rapid shallow breathing index in mechanical ventilation weaning: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Mechanical ventilation weaning is a multifactorial process. D-RSBI cannot only reflect the respiratory function but also the diaphragmatic function with the bedside ultrasound technique. Objective: This review aimed to assess the predictive value of diaphragmatic rapid shallow breathing index (D-RSBI) of weaning outcome. Method: Databases were systematically reviewed including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI and WanFang Data. Sensitivity and specificity were pooled with random effects models. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and 568 patients were involved. D-RSBI had a pooled sensitivity of 0.84 and a pooled specificity of 0.87 which predicted weaning success. D-RSBI in the success group was significantly lower than the weaning failure group. Conclusion: D-RSBI is a sensitive and specific predictor for weaning outcomes in spite of the limitations and heterogeneity among the studies. Further studies focusing on particular disease are needed as well.
Safety Signal Words and Color Codes: The Perception of Implied Hazard by Chinese People

Standards and guidelines suggest the use of appropriate words and color codes in order to convey different intensities of hazard. RED, YELLOW and BLUE are indicative of a decreasing intensity of hazard. Similarly, DANGER, WARNING and CAUTION are used to indicate hazards in decreasing intensity even though some studies have found no significant difference in the mean hazard rating between the words WARNING and CAUTION. However, these findings have not been validated across different cultures. Since the color stereotypes in the EastAsian region are different, we attempted to evaluate the implied hazard rating of the Chinese people using eightyeight local subjects. The words and color codes used in our study are the same as those used in previous research. The words, DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION, ATTENTION, THINK, BEWARE and NOTICE, and the colors, RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, BLUE, GREEN, and WHITE were used. Apart from evaluating the implied hazard ratings, the language effect was also evaluated using three versions of questionnaire: English, Chinese and Bilingual (English and Chinese together). Results from the analysis showed that RED had the highest perceived hazard level. YELLOW and ORANGE were perceived as having a medium hazard level. BLUE, GREEN and WHITE had the lowest perceived hazard level. There was no significant language effect. On the other hand, results from the analysis of words showed a significant effect for word and the word*language interaction. The result showed that the perceived level of hazard was different for the different questionnaires. The implied hazard rating for the Bilingual questionnaire was similar to the Chinese questionnaire. With the English questionnaire, there was no significant difference between WARNING and DANGER. RED, YELLOW and BLUE can be used to indicate different levels of hazard even for the Chinese people. However, it is recommended that bilingual (Chinese and English) words be used in safety labels.
Influence of Curriculum and Pedagogy on Adjustment of Form One Students to Secondary Schools: A Case of Nandi County, Kenya

Purpose: The objective of study was to establish the influence of curriculum and pedagogy on adjustment of form one students to secondary schools. School transition being an education milestone is a process that may expose students to numerous challenges thus positive or negative impacts on the learning outcomes. The study adopted Piaget’s Cognitive Learning Theory which suggests that the learner is an active participant in the process. Methodology: The research adopted survey research design and adapted a five-point summative Likert scale student questionnaire. Purposive and stratified random sampling methods were used to select a sample size of 375 form one students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze data. The descriptive were frequencies, means and standard deviation whereas inferential was Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient.Finding: Data was statistically computed with the findings (r=0.763, ρ<0.05) indicating a strong positive relationship between Curriculum and Pedagogy and form one adjustment to secondary school.Conclusion: The study established that the introduction of many and new subjects using different approaches at form one level can result to academic dip especially to high achievers hence jeopardizing their future careers, employment prospects and life chances in general.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends curriculum and pedagogy harmonization from primary to secondary schools by curriculum developers for smooth academic transition hence completion of basic education by learners. There is need for all stakeholders to prepare students psychosocially prior to transition to secondary school
Effects of stator splitter blades on aerodynamic performance of a single-stage transonic axial compressor

Splitter blades located between stator blades in a single-stage axial compressor were proposed and investigated in this work to find their effects on aerodynamic performance and operating stability. Aerodynamic performance of the compressor was evaluated using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations using the k-e turbulence model with a scalable wall function. The numerical results for the typical performance parameters without stator splitter blades were validated in comparison with experimental data. The numerical results of a parametric study using four geometric parameters (chord length, coverage angle, height and position) of the stator splitter blades showed that the operational stability of the single-stage axial compressor enhances remarkably using the stator splitter blades. The splitters were effective in suppressing flow separation in the stator domain of the compressor at near-stall condition which affects considerably the aerodynamic performance of the compressor.
CO2 hydrate: Synthesis, composition, structure, dissociation behavior, and a comparison to structure I CH4 hydrate

Structure I (sI) carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrate exhibits markedly different dissociation behavior from sI methane (CH4) hydrate in experiments in which equilibrated samples at 0.1 MPa are heated isobarically at 13 K/h from 210 K through the H2O melting point (273.15 K). The CO2 hydrate samples release only about 3% of their gas content up to temperatures of 240 K, which is 22 K above the hydrate phase boundary. Up to 20% is released by 270 K, and the remaining CO2 is released at 271.0 ± 0.5 K, where the sample temperature is buffered until hydrate dissociation ceases. This reproducible buffering temperature for the dissociation reaction CO2·nH2O = CO2(g) + nH2O(l to s) is measurably distinct from the pure H2O melting point at 273.15 K, which is reached as gas evolution ceases. In contrast, when sI CH4 hydrate is heated at the same rate at 0.1 MPa, >95% of the gas is released within 25 K of the equilibrium temperature (193 K at 0.1 MPa). In conjunction with the dissociation study, a method for efficient and .
Investigating the Effects of Board and Firm Characteristics on Firm Performance: An Agency Theory Perspective

The study aims to investigate the effects of various board and firm features on firm performance. Based on an agency theory perspective the study used a sample of 384 observations from the Egyptian Stock Market (EGX) from 2016-2018, the paper uses statistical analyses to identify the characteristics which affect the firm performance by independent variables. The study includes testing the hypothetical conditional influence of seven variables on the firm performance. The results of this study show that board size, CEO duality, firm size and financial leverage have a significant positive effect on firm performance. In contrast, the other variables; board independence, audit quality and firm industry, had an insignificant association with firm performance. The results of the study support that large companies which have large boards of directors with low levels of leverage and CEO duality have better financial performance than other firms. However, the impact of economic and political characteristics on the firm performance is not investigated in this study therefore one must be careful when generalizing the results. The current study contributes to the accounting literature by adding some evidence on the significant effects of some board and firm characteristics, namely role duality, board size, firm size, and leverage on the financial performance of the firm.
The influence of early stage project performance: Some project performance and outcome correlate

Understanding how project-management performance in the early stage affects project outcomes is critical to project decision-making process. Our study contributes by revealing how different constructs of project performance are interrelated before the construction phase of a project, and how they will impact project outcomes. Drawing on theories of project and organization management, we develop a project performancecausality model. Our research results suggest that the outcomes of completed projects are significantly directly related to the performance of project innovation and quality in the early stage of project delivery process (i.e., before project construction). Succeeding analysis reveals that communication performance before project construction indirectly affects project performance, which has the largest effect on project outcomes. The research findings indicate that it is practical to estimate marginal project outcomes quantitatively prior to project construction.
What determines the portfolio investment flows to Central and Eastern European Countries in the European Union 2001-2017?

This study estimates whether the Central and Eastern European (CEE) financial market integration and higher trade flows can explain the foreign portfolio investment inflows since EU accession during 2001-2017. The results suggest that the stock market development has facilitated the foreign portfolio equity flows during the European Union (EU) and crisis periods. But it only has positive effect on the foreign portfolio debt flows during the EU period. In contrast, the banking sector development has very weak effect on the foreign portfolio investment. The higher bank development has only increased the foreign portfolio equity flows during the EU period.