Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) Replace Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for Dementia Screening in a Thai Geriatric Outpatient Setting?

Mini-mental-State Examination (MMSE) is a widely used tool for dementia screening. However, several limitations are found and the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) appears to be an alternative test. The objective in this study was to compare the performance of MMSE-Thai 2002 and RUDAS-Thai for dementia screening, and to determine their performances and identify their optimal cut-off points. The participants were older patients from a Geriatric and Neurology Outpatient Clinic, Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University. The RUDAS-Thai and the MMSE-Thai 2002 were administered to each participant. Subsequently, a specialist physician assessed each participant for dementia. Results showed the area under receiver operating characteristic curve for both RUDAS-Thai (81.0%; 95%CI, 74.8-87.2) and MMSE-Thai 2002 (81.2%; 95%CI, 74.9-87.4) were equal. A score of 24 or lower provided an optimal cut-off point. Our finding supports that the RUDAS-Thai can be an effective alternative test for dementia screening. For both test scores, a score of 24 or lower is an optimal cut-off point to provide an indication of developing dementia.
Angiogenesis-Independent Endothelial Protection of Liver: Role of VEGFR-1

The vascular endothelium was once thought to function primarily in nutrient and oxygen delivery, but recent evidence suggests that it may play a broader role in tissue homeostasis. To explore the role of sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) in the adult liver, we studied the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor activation on mouse hepatocyte growth. Delivery of VEGF-A increased liver mass in mice but did not stimulate growth of hepatocytes in vitro, unless LSECs were also present in the culture. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was identified as one of the LSEC-derived paracrine mediators promoting hepatocyte growth. Selective activation of VEGF receptor–1 (VEGFR-1) stimulated hepatocyte but not endothelial proliferation in vivo and reduced liver damage in mice exposed to a hepatotoxin. Thus, VEGFR-1 agonists may have therapeutic potential for preservation of organ function in certain liver disorders.
Tensor based tumor tissue type differentiation using magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has the potential to characterise different tissue types in brain tumors. Blind source separation techniques are used to extract the specific tissue profiles and their corresponding distribution from the MRSI data. A 3-dimensional MRSI tensor is constructed from in vivo 2D-MRSI data of individual tumor patients. Non-negative canonical polyadic decomposition (NCPD) with common factor in mode-1 and mode-2 and l1 regularization on mode-3 is applied on the MRSI tensor to differentiate various tissue types. Initial in vivo study shows that NCPD has better performance in identifying tumor and necrotic tissue type in high grade glioma patients compared to previous matrix-based decompositions, such as non-negative matrix factorization and hierarchical non-negative matrix factorization.
Epistasis Between Calpain 1 and Its Inhibitor Calpastatin Within Breeds of Cattle

The calpain gene family and its inhibitors have diverse effects, many related to protein turnover, which appear to affect a range of phenotypes such as diabetes, exercise-induced muscle injury, and pathological events associated with degenerative neural diseases in humans, fertility, longevity, and postmortem effects on meat tenderness in livestock species. The calpains are inhibited by calpastatin, which binds directly to calpain. Here we report the direct measurement of epistatic interactions of causative mutations for quantitative trait loci (QTL) at calpain 1 (CAPN1), located on chromosome 29, with causative mutations for QTL variation at calpastatin (CAST), located on chromosome 7, in cattle. First we identified potential causative mutations at CAST and then genotyped these along with putative causative mutations at CAPN1 in >1500 cattle of seven breeds. The maximum allele substitution effect on the phenotype of the CAPN1:c.947G>C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was 0.14 σp (P = 0.0003) and of the CAST:c.155C>T SNP was also 0.14 σp (P = 0.0011) when measured across breeds. We found significant epistasis between SNPs at CAPN1 and CAST in both taurine and zebu derived breeds. There were more additive × dominance components of epistasis than additive × additive and dominance × dominance components combined. A minority of breed comparisons did not show epistasis, suggesting that genetic variation at other genes may influence the degree of epistasis found in this system.
Predicting the Pathogenic Potential of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Gene Variants Identified in Clinical Genetic Testing.

OBJECTIVES Missense variants are very commonly detected when screening for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Pathogenic mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes lead to an increased risk of developing breast, ovarian, prostate and/or pancreatic cancer. This study aimed to assess the predictive capability of in silico programmes and mutation databases in assisting diagnostic laboratories to determine the pathogenicity of sequence-detectable mutations. METHODS Between July 2011 and April 2013, an analysis was undertaken of 13 missense BRCA gene variants that had been detected in patients referred to the Genetic Health Services New Zealand (Northern Hub) for BRCA gene analysis. The analysis involved the use of 13 in silico protein prediction programmes, two in silico transcript analysis programmes and the examination of three BRCA gene databases. RESULTS In most of the variants, the analysis showed different in silico interpretations. This illustrates the interpretation challenges faced by diagnostic laboratories. CONCLUSION Unfortunately, when using online mutation databases and carrying out in silico analyses, there is significant discordance in the classification of some missense variants in the BRCA genes. This discordance leads to complexities in interpreting and reporting these variants in a clinical context. The authors have developed a simple procedure for analysing variants; however, those of unknown significance largely remain unknown. As a consequence, the clinical value of some reports may be negligible.
Tandem genes encode cell‐surface polypeptides SspA and SspB which mediate adhesion of the oral bacterium Streptococcus gordonii to human and bacterial receptors

The highly conserved antigen I/II family of polypeptides produced by oral streptococci are believed to be colonization determinants and may mediate adhesion of bacterial cells to salivary glycoproteins adsorbed to cells and tissues in the human oral cavity. Streptococcus gordonii is shown to express, on the cell surface, two antigen I/II polypeptides designated SspA and SspB (formerly Ssp‐5) that are the products of tandemly arranged chromosomal genes. The structure and arrangement of these genes is similar in two independently isolated strains, DL1 and M5, of S. gordonii. The mature polypeptide sequences of M5 SspA (1539 amino acid (aa) residues) and SspB (1462 aa residues) are almost wholly conserved (98% identical) in the C‐terminal regions (from residues 796 in SspA and 719 in SspB, to the respective C‐termini), well‐conserved (84%) at the N‐terminal regions (residues 1–429), and divergent (only 27% identical residues) within the intervening central regions. Insertional inactivation of the sspA gene in S. gordonii DL1 resulted in reduced binding of cells to salivary agglutinin glycoprotein (SAG), human erythrocytes, and to the oral bacterium Actinomyces naeslundii. Further reductions in streptococcal cell adhesion to SAG and to two strains of A. naeslundii were observed when both sspA and sspB genes were inactivated. The results suggest that both SspA and SspB polypeptides are involved in adhesion of S. gordonii cells to human and bacterial receptors.
Safety of indacaterol in the treatment of patients with COPD

Purpose Pooled data were analyzed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of indacaterol, a once-daily inhaled long-acting β2-agonist for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients and methods Data were pooled from clinical studies of 3–12 months’ duration in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD receiving double-blind indacaterol 75 μg (n = 449), 150 μg (n = 2611), 300 μg (n = 1157), or 600 μg once daily (n = 547); formoterol 12 μg twice daily (n = 556); salmeterol 50 μg twice daily (n = 895); placebo (n = 2012); or tiotropium 18 μg once daily, given open label or blinded (n = 1214). Outcomes were adverse events, serious adverse events and deaths, plasma potassium, blood glucose, and QTc interval and vital signs. Results The commonest adverse events with indacaterol were COPD worsening, nasopharyngitis, and headache; most cases were mild or moderate and incidence was generally similar to placebo and other active treatments. The risk of acute respiratory serious adverse events (leading to hospitalization, intubation, or death) was not significantly increased with any of the active treatments compared with placebo. COPD exacerbation rates (analyzed in the intent-to-treat population) were significantly reduced with all active treatments versus placebo. Hazard ratios versus placebo for major cardiovascular adverse events were <1 for all indacaterol doses. Notable values for vital signs and measures of systemic β2-adrenoceptor activity were rare with indacaterol. The number of deaths adjusted per patient-year was lower with indacaterol (all doses combined) than with placebo (relative risk 0.21 [95% confidence interval 0.07–0.660], P = 0.008). Conclusion Indacaterol has a good profile of safety and tolerability that is appropriate for the maintenance treatment of patients with COPD.
A bivariate path analysis of fear data on twins and their parents.

A simple path model applicable to twins and their parents and involving both cultural and genetic transmission in the presence of phenotypic assortative mating was extended to cover the bivariate case. The model allows for cross assortative mating as well as cross cultural transmission. It was applied to two correlated measures derived from a fear survey questionnaire given to 1000 subjects. In allowing for the impact of more than one variable, the model allows for a much more realistic picture of cultural transmission than provided by the univariate model. The logic of the model and an application are outlined. (The authors are indebted to Professor R.J. Rose for providing the illustrative data.)
Error Propagation Analysis in Three-Dimensional Coseismic Displacement Inversion

Using the Bam earthquake as an example, we apply the multiple-aperture interferometry (MAI) algorithm to measure the azimuth (AZI) displacement with multiple mode synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images (ScanSAR and image modes) and further on produce the 3-D coseismic displacement maps using well-known models: multiple independent interferometric SAR (InSAR) with different viewing angles and combining MAI with conventional InSAR. The 3-D displacement maps show that, besides accuracy of SAR observation, inversion model is another major perturbing factor limiting the accuracy of 3-D component reconstruction. That is, in the former model, the smaller the difference of incidence angles is, the more easily influenced by ill-conditioned systems the estimated parameters are. Based on characteristics of error sources of SAR observations, we classify observation errors into random error, systematic error, and gross error. Moreover, their characteristics of error propagation are analyzed in the two models, respectively. Error propagation analysis indicates that random errors only affect variability of inversion result, while systematic error and gross error cause not only variability but also bias or uncertainty in estimated parameters. The presented error analysis method provides a more comprehensive understanding of bias or uncertainty of 3-D estimated components, which will be a useful tool for evaluating errors in displacement fields obtained from SAR observations. In this letter, we also group multiple InSAR and MAI observations to estimate 3-D components using weighted least squares whose weights are given by the Förstner posterior variance estimation, which may avoid an ill-conditioned system, reducing line-of-sight and AZI random noises and improving accuracies of estimated 3-D components.
Short-term effects of pitavastatin on biochemical markers of bone turnover in patients with hypercholesterolemia.

OBJECT No consensus has been reached whether clinical use of statins has beneficial effects on bone health, partly due to lower statin concentrations because of first-pass metabolism by the liver. We thus evaluated the effects of pitavastatin, which does not undergo first-pass metabolism, on bone metabolism. METHODS According to the therapeutic regimen, the subjects were divided into two groups (group A, 66 with pitavastatin; group B, 35 without pitavastatin). Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and serum N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) as bone turnover markers (BTMs) were compared between the two groups and between at baseline and after 3 months of treatment in each group. Correlations between baseline characteristics and deltaBTMs, and between delta lipid profile and deltaBTMs were investigated using both Pearson's correlation analysis and multivariate analysis. PATIENTS The subjects were 101 patients with untreated hypercholesterolemia. RESULTS After 3 months of treatment, BAP in group A did not change significantly compared with either the baseline value or that in group B. However, NTx in group A significantly decreased compared with both the baseline value and that in group B. In addition, deltaNTx was negatively correlated with NTx at baseline, and the significance of this correlation persisted after multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that pitavastatin may have potentially beneficial effects on bone metabolism primarily by reducing bone resorption rather than by stimulating bone formation. Further studies with more patients and longer duration are warranted to evaluate its effects, if any, on prevention of osteoporosis and subsequent fractures.
Building Community through Mentoring Adult Learners.

The Volunteer UCF Community Connectors and Community Builders Program provides a connection between students and their community. The goal is to develop meaningful service opportunities for UCF students that contribute measurable results and systemic change through capacity building among adult learners. The ongoing, sustainable service experience for students may take place in the forms of internships, service-learning courses, and intrinsically motivated volunteer opportunities. This service opportunity is reflected in The Golden Circle illustration where we began with the “why – ” to create sustainable community impact, and worked our way out to the “how – ” utilizing community builders and community partners, and finally the “what – ” to provide skilled volunteers seeking service-learning and intrinsic volunteerism. The Adult Literacy League, as a community partner, requires building capacity to serve adult learners. These proceedings will highlight synergy between a university-based community service program and a partnering community agency serving adult learners. Key Terms and Definitions
Measuring the Degree of Oligopsony Power in the Brazilian Raw Milk Market

This study sets out to measure the degree of oligopsony power in the Brazilian raw milk market. The analysis was undertaken in fifteen producing regions between January 1997 and December 2011. The results led to the authors rejecting the monopsony hypothesis. In six regions, the hypothesis of perfect competition was not rejected. In the other nine, the conduct parameter estimates were very close to zero. These results contradict both the empirical literature and the reports produced by Parliamentary Inquiries in the early 2000s, which found suspicions of market power in dairies in several Brazilian states. Although the dairy industry concentrates on the marketing of Brazilian raw milk, the survey results indicate that the behavior of firms is similar to that of a perfect competition market model.
Pharmacological studies of anti diarrhoeal activity of Casuarina equisetifolia (L.) in experimental animals

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate scientifically the anti-diarrhoeal effects of ethanolic (90%) extract of Casuarina equisetifolia Linn (EECE) was studied against castor oil-induced-diarrhoea model in rats. Antidiarrhoeal activity of 90% ethanol extract of Casuarina equisetifolia was investigated in this study using castor oil-induced-diarrhoea, enteropooling and Small intestinal transit models in rats. The weight and volume of intestinal content induced by castor oil were studied by enteropooling method. Standard drug diphenoxylate (5 ml/kg, p.o) was significant reductions in fecal output and frequency of droppings whereas EECE at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o significantly (P<0.001) reduced the castor-oil induced frequency and consistency of diarrhoea and enteropooling. The gastrointestinal transit rate was expressed as the percentage of the longest distance travelled by the charcoal divided by the total length of the small intestine. EECE at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly inhibited (P<0.001) the castor oil induced charcoal meal transit. The EECE showed marked reduction in the number of diarrhoea stools and the reduction in the weight and volume of the intestinal contents, as well as a modest reduction in intestinal transit. The results obtained establish the efficacy and substantiate the folklore claim as an anti- diarrheal agent. Further studies are needed to completely understand the mechanism of anti-diarrhoeal action of Casuarina equisetifolia Linn.
Is the Best Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity(p,q) Value-at-risk Estimate also the Best in Reality? An Evidence from Australian Interconnected Power Markets

This paper investigates whether the best value-at-risk (VaR) estimate will also perform the best in empirical performance. The study explores the linkage between statistical world and reality. This paper uses VaR generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH)(p,q) estimates and performs the back testing from both generator (buyer) and retailer (seller) sides, at different confidence levels, and at different out-of-sample periods in the four regions of Australian interconnected power markets. Using VaR approach, we find that the best GARCH(p,q) model tends to generate best empirical performance. Our findings are consistent for both generator (buyer) and retailer (seller) sides, at different confidence levels and at different out-of-sample periods. However, our strong results are only in the daily series. Therefore, our study has two important practical implications in Australian power markets. First, generator and retailer can continue choosing the best GARCH(p,q) model based on statistical criteria. Second, the users of GARCH(p,q) model should be aware that the model tends to be appropriate for estimating the daily series only.
Prediction of PM2.5 based on Elman neural network with chaos theory

PM2.5 is difficult to accurately forecast due to the influence of multiple meteorological and pollutant variables in the complex nonlinear dynamic atmosphere system. In this paper, an Elman neural network prediction method based on chaos theory is put forward for the problem. Firstly, the chaotic characteristics of the concentration of the PM2.5 are analyzed and verified from the correlation dimension, the maximum Lyapunov exponent and the Kolmogorov entropy. Then, phase space reconstruction technique of chaotic theory is adopted to reconstruct the phase space of PM2.5 time series. The reconstructed phase space and the future concentration of PM2.5 are taken as the input and output of the Elman neural network with chaos theory (Elman-chaos) respectively. The numerical and experimental analyses show that this method is proportionally superior to that without considering the chaos characteristics and other approaches. The Elman-chaos prediction model has better prediction performance and application value.
A new routing algorithm for irregular mesh NoCs

Network-on-Chips (NoCs) usually use regular mesh-based topologies. Regular mesh topologies are not always efficient because of power and area constraints which should be considered in designing system-on-chips. To overcome this problem, irregular mesh NoCs are used for which the design of routing algorithms is an important issue. This paper presents a novel routing algorithm for irregular mesh-based NoCs called ldquoi-routerdquo. In contrast to other routing algorithms, this algorithm can be implemented on any arbitrary irregular mesh NoC without any change in the place of IPs. In this algorithm, messages are routed using only 2 classes of virtual channels. Simulation results show that using only 2 virtual channels, ldquoi-routerdquo exhibits a better performance compared to other algorithms already proposed in the same context.
IS LONG-RUN MONETARY NEUTRAL? EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA

This paper examines the long-run monetary neutrality in Indonesia, mainly using annual time-series during 1970-2007. It uses Fisher-Seater methodology to analyze the research problems. Particular attention is given to integration, exogeneity, and cointegration properties of the money stock and real output. Unit-root, causality, and cointegration tests are used to identify these properties. The empirical results provide evidence to reject the long-run neutrality of money (both M1 and M2) with respect to real GDP, showing that it is inconsistent with the classical and neoclassical economics. In particular, government injections of money have long-run positive effect on real output in macroeconomy.
Validation of the GENEA Accelerometer.

PURPOSE The study aims were: 1) to assess the technical reliability and validity of the GENEA using a mechanical shaker; 2) to perform a GENEA value calibration to develop thresholds for sedentary and light-, moderate-, and vigorous-intensity physical activity; and 3) to compare the intensity classification of the GENEA with two widely used accelerometers. METHODS A total of 47 GENEA accelerometers were attached to a shaker and vertically accelerated, generating 15 conditions of varying acceleration and/or frequency. Reliability was calculated using SD and intrainstrument and interinstrument coefficients of variation, whereas validity was assessed using Pearson correlation with the shaker acceleration as the criterion. Next, 60 adults wore a GENEA on each wrist and on the waist (alongside an ActiGraph and RT3 accelerometer) while completing 10-12 activity tasks. A portable metabolic gas analyzer provided the criterion measure of physical activity. Analyses involved the use of Pearson correlations to establish criterion and concurrent validity and receiver operating characteristic curves to establish intensity cut points. RESULTS The GENEA demonstrated excellent technical reliability (CVintra = 1.4%, CVinter = 2.1%) and validity (r = 0.98, P < 0.001) using the mechanical shaker. The GENEA demonstrated excellent criterion validity using VO2 as the criterion (left wrist, r = 0.86; right wrist, r = 0.83; waist, r = 0.87), on par with the waist-worn ActiGraph and RT3. The GENEA demonstrated excellent concurrent validity compared with the ActiGraph (r = 0.92) and the RT3 (r = 0.97). The waist-worn GENEA had the greatest classification accuracy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.95), followed by the left (AUC = 0.93) and then the right wrist (AUC = 0.90). The accuracy of the waist-worn GENEA was virtually identical with that of the ActiGraph (AUC = 0.94) and RT3 (AUC = 0.95). CONCLUSION The GENEA is a reliable and valid measurement tool capable of classifying the intensity of physical activity in adults.