Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Précarité, vieillissement cognitif et fragilité : approche épidémiologique

La precarite est associee a une morbi-mortalite accrue. Ce phenomene est moins etudie aupres des sujets âges qu’il ne l’est aupres des adultes jeunes. Pourtant, le vieillissement demographique et la precarisation de la population font que la France connait chaque jour davantage de personnes presentant cette double caracteristique d’etre âgees et precaires. L’objectif de cette these est de mieux caracteriser les liens existant entre la precarite – definie en son sens initial psycho-socio-economique – et deux problematiques du vieillissement que sont la cognition et la fragilite. Nous avons tout d’abord etudie le vieillissement cognitif au cours de 25 annees de suivi de la cohorte Paquid. Cette etude a rapporte un declin cognitif et un risque de demence majores pour les personnes âgees precaires. Par la suite, nous avons complete cette premiere etude en y integrant une mesure de precarite geographique et en appliquant une methodologie statistique prenant en compte le risque competitif de deces. Les resultats ont confirme l’association entre la precarite psycho-socio-economique et le risque de demence, mais n’ont montre aucun effet de la precarite geographique. Mis en perspective avec les differents travaux scientifiques, ces etudes ont servi de base a une revue de la litterature sur l’impact de la precarite sur le vieillissement cognitif soumise pour publication. Enfin, un dernier travail a examine les relations entre la precarite psycho-socio-economique, la fragilite et le deces. Sur la base de 14 annees de suivi de la cohorte des 3 Cites, les resultats ont montre qu’aussi bien la precarite que la fragilite augmentent le risque de mortalite mais de maniere independante. Ces travaux permettent de mieux comprendre ce qu’implique vieillir en situation de precarite et soulignent en particulier l’influence des determinants psycho-sociaux de la precarite sur la sante, aussi bien en termes de survie que de sante cognitive.
What Do First‐Line Nursing Managers Do?

Appropriate selection and preparation of nursing managers is essential; however, the unclear role descriptions for first-line managers has hindered the selection and preparation process. A specific image of the actual tasks performed by first-line nursing managers provides the information necessary to design a clearer role description and an appropriate educational program for the development of managers.
1,3-Butadiene Exposure and Metabolism among Japanese American, Native Hawaiian, and White Smokers

Background: We hypothesize that the differences in lung cancer risk in Native Hawaiians, whites, and Japanese Americans may, in part, be due to variation in the metabolism of 1,3-butadiene, one of the most abundant carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Methods: We measured two biomarkers of 1,3-butadiene exposure, monohydroxybutyl mercapturic acid (MHBMA) and dihydroxybutyl mercapturic acid (DHBMA), in overnight urine samples among 584 Native Hawaiians, Japanese Americans, and white smokers in Hawaii. These values were normalized to creatinine levels. Ethnic-specific geometric means were compared adjusting for age at urine collection, sex, body mass index, and nicotine equivalents (a marker of total nicotine uptake). Results: We found that mean urinary MHBMA differed by race/ethnicity (P = 0.0002). The values were highest in whites and lowest in Japanese Americans. This difference was only observed in individuals with the GSTT1-null genotype (P = 0.0001). No difference across race/ethnicity was found among those with at least one copy of the GSTT1 gene (P ≥ 0.72). Mean urinary DHBMA did not differ across racial/ethnic groups. Conclusions: The difference in urinary MHBMA excretion levels from cigarette smoking across three ethnic groups is, in part, explained by the GSTT1 genotype. Mean urinary MHBMA levels are higher in whites among GSTT1-null smokers. Impact: The overall higher excretion levels of MHBMA in whites and lower levels of MHBMA in Japanese Americans are consistent with the higher lung cancer risk in the former. However, the excretion levels of MHBMA in Native Hawaiians are not consistent with their disease risk and thus unlikely to explain their high risk of lung cancer. See all the articles in this CEBP Focus section, “Cancer in Asian and Pacific Islander Populations. ” Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(11); 2240–9. ©2014 AACR.
Developmental vitamin D deficiency and schizophrenia: the role of animal models

Schizophrenia is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder that affects 1% of the US population. Based on twin and genome‐wide association studies, it is clear that both genetics and environmental factors increase the risk for developing schizophrenia. Moreover, there is evidence that conditions in utero, either alone or in concert with genetic factors, may alter neurodevelopment and lead to an increased risk for schizophrenia. There has been progress in identifying genetic loci and environmental exposures that increase risk, but there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge. Furthermore, very little is known about the specific neurodevelopmental mechanisms upon which genetics and the environment act to increase disposition to developing schizophrenia in adulthood. Vitamin D deficiency during the perinatal period has been hypothesized to increase risk for schizophrenia in humans. The developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency hypothesis of schizophrenia arises from the observation that disease risk is increased in individuals who are born in winter or spring, live further from the equator or live in urban vs. rural settings. These environments result in less exposure to sunlight, thereby reducing the initial steps in the production of vitamin D. Rodent models have been developed to characterize the behavioral and developmental effects of DVD deficiency. This review focuses on these animal models and discusses the current knowledge of the role of DVD deficiency in altering behavior and neurobiology relevant to schizophrenia.
Quantitative measurement of coronary artery stenosis in CCTA images using a 2D parametric intensity model

In this paper, we propose an approach based on 2D vessel model to segment the vessel lumen in three-dimensional coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) images. The 2D parametric intensity model is introduced first to simulate the intensity distribution of vessel lumen with different size in the longitudinal images. Then the Levenberg-Marquardt method is applied to fit the model within a series of region-of interests defined in the longitudinal image. The estimated parameters of the model are employed to define the boundary points of vessel lumen. The detected boundary points of vessel lumen in six longitudinal images are transformed to the cross-sectional planes in order to calculate the degree of stenosis according to the luminal areas. Our proposed method was evaluated in ten CCTA images with ten reported non-calcified stenosis. The degree of each stenosis was computed according to the luminal area and compared with the standard reference given by radiologists. Experimental results show that our method can estimate the degree of stenosis with a high accuracy.
Interference with bacteriophage phi 6 genomic RNA packaging by hairpin structures

Bacteriophage phi 6 has a genome of three segments of double-stranded RNA enclosed in a procapsid composed of four different proteins. The preformed procapsid is capable of packaging plus-strand transcripts of the genomic segments in an in vitro reaction. Minus-strand synthesis within the procapsid then results in the production of the double-stranded RNA genome. When plus-strand transcripts contain strong hairpin structures near the 3' ends, they are subject to heterologous recombination to remove the hairpins. We now find that the sequences bounded by the hairpins as well as those 3' to them are excluded from particles in packaging reactions. This finding implies that packaging occurs from the 5' end and that the explanation for the facilitation of recombination by the hairpin structures is the lack of entry of the 3' ends rather than a difficulty of progressing through the hairpin by the phage polymerase. Packaging of segment M is dependent on the packaging of segment S. An S segment containing a strong hairpin is able to facilitate the packaging of segment M. This result implies that there is more than one entry pore into the procapsid.
Kernel Function Clustering Based on Ant Colony Algorithm

Cluster analysis is one of the several important tools in modern data analysis, and the clustering can be regarded as an optimization problem. The underlying assumption is that there are natural tendencies of cluster or group structure in the data and the goal is to be able to uncover this structure. In general, traditional clustering algorithms are suitable to implement clustering only if the feature differences of data are large. If the feature differences are small and even cross in the original space, it is difficult for traditional algorithms to cluster correctly. By using kernel functions, the data in the original space was mapped into a high-dimensional feature space, in which more feature of the data were exposed so that clustering could be performed efficiently. Ant colony algorithms are a novel category of evolutionary computing methods for optimization problems. Taking advantage of ant-based clustering algorithm and kernel method, we propose in this paper a kernel function clustering based on ant colony algorithm. The kernel method is extended to ant-based clustering algorithm. In contrast to existing method, AKC has better robustness and convergence. It not only can get better clustering effect at the circumstance of outliers existing, but also can make the final clustering results less sensitive to the number of beforehand clustering data because of relaxed subjection degree condition.
Predicting abdominal adipose tissue in overweight Latino youth.

OBJECTIVES 1) Examine associations between visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT), and anthropometric and demographic variables; 2) generate and cross-validate prediction equations for estimating VAT and SAAT in overweight Latino children. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional. PARTICIPANTS 196 overweight 8-13-year-old Latino youth. Two-thirds (n = 131) were randomly assigned to a development group to generate prediction equations for VAT and SAAT; one-third (n = 65) was used as a cross-validation group. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, skinfold thicknesses, and circumferences) were performed. VAT and SAAT were measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS The strongest univariate correlate for VAT was waist circumference (WC) (r = 0.65, p < 0.01) while the strongest correlate for SAAT was hip circumference (r = 0.88, p < 0.001). Regression analyses showed approximately 50% of the variance in VAT was explained by WC (43.8%), Tanner stage (4.2%) and calf skinfold (1.7%). Variance in the SAAT model was explained by WC (77.8%), triceps skinfold (4.2%) and gender (2.3%). Residual analyses showed no bias in either equation. Though mean differences between measured and predicted VAT and SAAT were small, there was a large degree of variability at the individual level especially for VAT. CONCLUSIONS Both VAT and SAAT prediction equations performed well at the group level, but the relatively high degree of variability suggests limited clinical utility of the VAT equation. MRI is currently required to derive an accurate measure of VAT at the individual level.
Cooperativity between KorB and TrbA Repressors of Broad-Host-Range Plasmid RK2

ABSTRACT The KorB and TrbA proteins of broad-host-range plasmid RK2 are key regulators of the plasmid genes required for conjugative transfer.trbBp is the primary promoter responsible for expression of mating pair formation genes. We show that despite the targets for KorB and TrbA at trbBp being about 165 bp apart, 189 bp upstream of the transcription start point and overlapping the −10 region, respectively, these two proteins show up to 10-fold cooperativity for the repression of trbBp. Deletion analysis of TrbA showed that the C-terminal domain (CTD), which has a high degree of sequence conservation with the CTD of KorA, is required for this cooperativity with KorB. Western blotting demonstrated that the apparently mutual enhancement of repression is not due simply to elevation of repressor level by the presence of the second protein, suggesting that the basis for cooperativity is interaction between KorB and TrbA bound at their respective operators.
Glutamate Receptor Agonists Stimulate Nitric Oxide Synthase in Primary Cultures of Cerebellar Granule Cells

Abstract: The glutamate receptor agonist N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) stimulated a rapid, extracellular Ca2+‐dependent conversion of [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline in primary cultures of cerebellar granule cells, indicating receptor‐mediated activation of nitric oxide (NO) synthase. The NMDA‐induced formation of [3H]citrulline reached a plateau within 10 min. Subsequent addition of unlabeled l‐arginine resulted in the disappearance of 3H from the citrulline pool, indicating a persistent activation of NO synthase after NMDA receptor stimulation. Glutamate, NMDA, and kainate, but not quisqualate, stimulated both the conversion of [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline and cyclic GMP accumulation in a dose‐dependent manner. Glutamate and NMDA showed similar potencies for the stimulation of [3H]citrulline formation and cyclic GMP synthesis, respectively, whereas kainate was more potent at inducing cyclic GMP accumulation than at stimulating [3H]citrulline formation. Both the [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline conversion and cyclic GMP synthesis stimulated by NMDA were inhibited by the NMDA receptor antagonist MK‐801 and by the inhibitors of NO synthase, NG‐monomethyl‐L‐arginine (MeArg) and NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine (NOArg). However, MeArg, in contrast to NOArg, also potently inhibited [3H]arginine uptake. Kainate (300 μM) stimulated 45Ca2+ influx to the same extent as 100 μM NMDA, but stimulated [3H]citrulline formation to a much lesser extent, which suggests that NO synthase is localized in subcellular compartments where the Ca2+ concentration is regulated mainly by the NMDA receptor.
The Use of Closed Suction Drainage After Lumpectomy and Axillary Node Dissection for Breast Cancer A Prospective Randomized Trial

Closed suction drainage has been used to prevent seroma formation after lumpectomy and axillary node dissection for breast cancer. To study the efficacy of closed suction drains, the authors conducted a prospective randomized study from 1987 to 1990 of 227 axillary dissections. One hundred eight were randomized to a drain group (DG) and 119 to a no drain group (NDG). Drains were removed on the first postoperative day just before patient discharge. Postoperatively, all palpable axillary collections were aspirated on each follow-up visit. The volume aspirated, the number of aspirations, the time to seroma resolution, and all complications were recorded. The mean number of aspirations in the DG was significantly lower than the NDG (2.2 ± 2.2 versus 3.3 ± 2.1; p ≤ 0.002). Mean volume aspirated in the DG (146.3 ± 181.1 mL) was less than the NDG (266.1 ± 247.6 mL; p ≤ 0.003), and the time to seroma resolution was decreased in the DG as compared with the NDG (11.5 ± 10 days versus 18 ± 10.1 days; p ≤ 0.0002). Closed suction drainage after lumpectomy and axillary node dissection is advantageous in decreasing the incidence and degree of seroma formation and need not delay early hospital discharge.
Advantages of adjusting the initial dose of intravenous calcitriol according to PTH levels.

BACKGROUND To assess the usefulness of starting calcitriol therapy with a dose proportional to the degree of hyperparathyroidism, 141 patients from 28 centers were treated with intravenous calcitriol for 6 months. The aim was to achieve a final PTH between 125 and 250 pg/mL. Patients with serum PTH>250 pg/mL were included in the study and divided into 4 groups according to baseline PTH levels. METHODS The study was completed by 100 patients, a third of which were treated strictly according to the protocol, labeled "compliants"; thus, calcitriol was started according to baseline PTH levels. Two thirds of patients, labeled "noncompliants," showed one or more violation in the dosage regimen. RESULTS After 2 months of treatment with calcitriol, 59% of the "compliants" and 35% of the "noncompliants" decreased their PTH levels>40% (P = 0.022), 70%, and 49%, respectively after 3 months of treatment. After 3 months of treatment, 67% of the "compliants" reached the target (PTH 125 to 250 pg/mL) in contrast with 23% of the "noncompliants" (P < 0.001). The number of hypercalcemic and hyperphosphatemic episodes was significantly lower in the "compliants" group (P < 0.006). CONCLUSION These results demonstrate several advantages when calcitriol therapy is started with a dose proportional to the severity of hyperparathyroidism.
Anthropological features of the CFTR gene: Its variability in an African population

Background: The CFTR gene (Cystic Fibrosis conductance Transmembrane Regulator) is the gene responsible for Cystic Fibrosis, the most common severe autosomal recessive disease in Europeans. It has been extensively explored in several European and European-derived populations, but poorly studied in the other major human groups. Aim: To characterize the variability of the CFTR gene in an African population. Subjects and methods: Using DGGE, all 27 exons (4443 bp) and 2184 bp of the flanking intronic regions of the CFTR gene were studied in a random sample of 45 Mossì from Burkina Faso (Western sub-Saharan Africa). Results: Sixteen variable sites were found: 13 SNPs (one in the promoter region, four non-synonymous and five synonymous in the exons and three in the introns) and three intronic STRs. Only the promoter site ( − 94 G/T), slightly polymorphic in the present survey, was not variable in different European populations. Comparison between Western Africans, Eastern Africans, Europeans and Eastern Asians showed that alleles at two intronic STRs (Tn and (TG)m in intron 8), four exonic (M470V, 2694 T/G, 4002 A/G and 4521 G/A) and one intronic (875+40 A/G) SNPs have very different frequencies among at least two major human groups. Moreover, the overall degree of non-synonymous variability in Mossì is much lower than that in Europeans. A possible interpretation of this finding is proposed. Conclusions: The CFTR gene has been since long hypothesized to have undergone selection in Europeans. The present study by comparing Africans and Europeans for the overall variability of the gene supports this hypothesis.
Community-based treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

SETTING Khayelitsha, South Africa, a peri-urban township with high burdens of tuberculosis (TB), drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. OBJECTIVE To describe case detection and patient outcomes in a community-based DR-TB programme. DESIGN DR-TB management was integrated into primary health care in Khayelitsha from 2007 onwards. Implementation was incremental, and included training and clinician support, counselling and home visits, tuberculous infection control, a local in-patient service, and routine monitoring. Patients received treatment rapidly through their local clinic, and were only hospitalised if clinically unwell. RESULTS DR-TB case notification (any rifampicin resistance) increased from 28 per 100 000 population per year (2005-2007) to 55/100 000/year in 2009-2011 (72% HIV-infected). From 2008 to 2011, 754 patients received treatment (86% of those diagnosed). The median time between diagnostic sputum and treatment decreased over the years of implementation to 27 days in 2011 (P < 0.001). Treatment success was 52% in 2010, with 31% default, 13% death and 4% treatment failure. Two-year survival was 65%, with poorer survival in those with HIV (HR 2.0, 95%CI 1.4-2.8), second-line drug resistance (HR 3.3, 95%CI 2.2-4.8), and diagnosis in earlier programme years (HR 1.4, 95%CI 1.1-2.0). CONCLUSION Community-based DR-TB management is feasible, and contributes to improved case detection, reduced treatment delay and improved survival. Treatment outcomes remain poor, highlighting the poor efficacy, tolerability and lengthy duration of current treatment.
Organisational citizenship behaviour among railway employees in a developing country: effects of age, education and tenure

This study investigated the effect of differences in age, education and tenure on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The purposive sample comprised 839 permanently employed staff in a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Participants completed the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Questionnaire (OCBQ) and provided demographic data. Data were analysed using multiple regressions and an independent samples t-test to determine the effects of the demographic variables, namely age, education and tenure, on OCB. The results indicated they have signifi cant effects on OCB and that age, education and organisational tenure respectively differed signifi cantly in their effect on OCB. The fi ndings provided evidence that the impact of demographic variables on employee behaviour should be considered in the context of cultural interventions and recruitment practices. Keywords : Democratic Republic of Congo, organisational citizenship behaviour, extra-role behaviour, demographics, signifi cant differences, railway organisation
A Distributed Locality-Sensitive Hashing-Based Approach for Cloud Service Recommendation From Multi-Source Data

To maximize the economic benefits, a cloud service provider needs to recommend its services to as many users as possible based on the historical user-service quality data. However, when a cloud platform (e.g., Amazon) intends to make a service recommendation decision, considering only its own user-service quality data is insufficient, because a cloud user may invoke services from multiple distributed cloud platforms (e.g., Amazon and IBM). In this situation, it is promising for Amazon to collaborate with other cloud platforms (e.g., IBM) to utilize the integrated data for the service recommendation to improve the recommendation accuracy. However, two challenges are present in the above-mentioned collaboration process, where we attempt to use multi-source data for the service recommendation. First, protecting users’ privacy is challenging when IBM releases its own data to Amazon. Second, the recommendation efficiency and scalability are often low when the user-service quality data of Amazon and IBM update frequently. Considering these challenges, a privacy-preserving and scalable service recommendation approach based on distributed locality-sensitive hashing, i.e., $\textit {SerRec}_{\textit {distri-LSH}}$ , is proposed in this paper to handle the service recommendation in a distributed cloud environment. Extensive experiments on the WS-DREAM data set validate the feasibility of our approach in terms of service recommendation accuracy, scalability, and privacy preservation.
Construct Validity of the Continuous Attention Test for Children

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the construct validity of the Continuous Attention Test for Children (the CAT), a clinical measure of vigilance. To examine convergent and discriminant validity, a multitrait-multimethod matrix was used. It was predicted that the CAT would correlate with other neuropsychological measures involving vigilance, but not with measures involving potential confounds (e.g., short-term memory). Participants were 47 children, aged 6 to 11, referred for neuropsychological assessment. Results partially supported discriminant validity, but convergent validity was weak. That is, findings suggest that the CAT measures an ability distinct from those assessed by some other popular tests involving vigilance. However, method-related confounds may remain. The CAT appears to add useful information in the context of clinical evaluations.