Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Task Performance Among Employees Above Age 65: The Role of Cognitive Functioning and Job Demand-Control

Owing to the aging of Western societies, an increasing number of people over age 65 are now working in bridge employment. Research is needed to understand how job characteristics in bridge employment should be designed to support older employees’ productivity, considering potential declines in intra-individual resources. Drawing on lifespan development of resources and job design models, we investigated the interplay of cognitive functioning, job demands, and job control, and their impact on task performance, in a sample of workers in bridge employment. In total, 228 employees from a Dutch temporary employment agency that contracts workers aged 65 years and older participated in this longitudinal study, with a 1-year time lag. Of the panel, 74.1% of the respondents were male, and the mean age was 69.02 years (range 65–80 years). Cognitive functioning, job demands, job control, and task performance were assessed two times with thoroughly validated self-report measures. Good cognitive functioning emerged as an essential intra-individual resource in order to maintain good task performance for employees aged 65 years and older. After including the influence of job demands and job control, positive effects of cognitive functioning on task performance remained significant only in a high-strain job (with high job demands and low job control). This outcome suggests that age-related changes in cognitive functioning among employees above the age of 65 years only affect productivity at work when the job demands are too high relative to the available job control. Implications for retirement research and lifespan perspectives of job design research are discussed.
Robust adaptive dynamic surface control for attitude tracking of spacecraft

The spacecraft attitude motion equations described by the Euler angles are expressed in vector form and viewed as two blocks, a kinematics block and a dynamics block. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, a robust dynamic surface control algorithm is designed for the nonlinear control system of attitude tracking of spacecraft in the presence of parameter uncertainty and external disturbances. Then, the robust dynamic surface algorithm is combined with an adaptive update law such that the controller can be used when the inertial moments of the attitude control system are not known. Lyapunov analysis shows that this adaptive controller can also guarantee the asymptotical stability of Euler angles. Finally, the effectiveness of the presented control algorithms is verified via simulations.
Altitudinal differences in flower traits and reproductive allocation

Summary We tested whether alpine plants increase their effort to attract pollinators to compensate for assumed pollinator scarcity at h igh altitude. A three times larger fraction of the shoot was allocated to flowers in alpine plants (30 species, 2700 m asl) compared to lowland plants (20 species, 600 m asl), while leaf mass fraction did not differ between the altitudes. At high elevation, a thre e times smaller fraction of the shoot was allocated to stems, which was accompanied by a change in its function from leaf support for p hotosynthesis at low altitude to support for flowers at high altitude. Although shoot mass is massively reduced at high altitudes , display area and biomass of individual flowers were remarkably similar at both altitudes. All flowers together attracted pollinato rs with about the same total display area relative to overall plants size, but generally alpine plants maintain their flowers long er. Together with decreased plant height this leads to an increased self-shading which is likely to cause reductions in carbon gain i n alpine plants. The results of this field survey emphasize the importance of outcrossing in alpine plants and its priority over growth.
Reduced ischemia and reperfusion injury following exercise training.

We examined the effects of two exercise training modalities, i.e., low-intensity endurance and sprint running, on in vitro, isovolumic myocardial performance following ischemia and reperfusion. Rats ran on a treadmill 5 d.wk-1 for 6 wk at the following levels: endurance; 20 m.min-1, 0% grade, 60 min.d-1 and sprint; five 1-min runs at 75 m.min-1, 15% grade interspersed with 1-min active recovery runs at 20 m.min-1, 15% grade. Both endurance and sprint training significantly improved exercise tolerance relative to control (P < 0.05) on two graded exercise tests. Buffer perfused hearts of control (N = 18), endurance (N = 20), and sprint (N = 13) trained animals underwent no-flow ischemia (20 min) and reperfusion (30 min) in a Langendorff mode. During reperfusion, left ventricular developed pressure and its first derivative were 20% higher in sprint (P < 0.05) than either endurance or control hearts. Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was lowest in sprint during reperfusion (sprint, 10 +/- 1 mm Hg vs endurance, 14 +/- 2 mm Hg; and control, 14 +/- 2 mm Hg, at 30 min reperfusion). Hearts were then used for biochemical studies or dissociated into single cells for measurement of contraction, cell calcium, and action potential duration. Single cell contractions were greatest in sprint despite similar calcium transients in all groups. Ischemia/reperfusion caused action potential prolongation in control but not trained myocytes. Hearts from sprint had the greatest glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity (P < 0.05) and a tendency towards increased superoxide dismutase activity. These results suggest that sprinting increases myocardial resistance to ischemia/reperfusion. This protection may be secondary to increased myofilament calcium sensitivity and/or myocardial expression of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.
Housing and Economic Growth Nexus in Nigeria: Data-Based Evidence

Housing is considered as one of the cardinalmeasures of the state of an economy. This paperemployed data-based evidence to explore housingsector-economic growth relationship in Nigeriaduring 1980-2015. Choice variables were realestate business services (REBS), building constructioninvestments (BCI), property rights index(PRI) and human labor (L) engaged in the sector.Anchored on perceived interactions amongthe variables, articulated conceptual modelpreceded an analytic model modifi ed from theendogenous growth model of economic theory.Graphical and econometric techniques were employedto analyze the data sets on the variablesfor trends in time series values of the variables;and the effects of the housing sector variableson growth of the economy. The results showedthat housing services delivery had long-run relationshipand signifi cantly spurred growth of theeconomy. Further, housing services delivery andgrowth of the economy had high speed adjustmentcoeffi cient to long-run equilibrium growthpath under stable structural housing sector servicesdelivery and appropriate human labor mixparticipation. Therefore, the paper concludedthat housing services enhanced growth of theeconomy, and emphasized the need for appropriatehuman, capital and fi nancial policies forthe sector to engender sustainable growth anddevelopment of the Nigerian economy.
Doors Closed and Opportunities Missed: Lessons from Failed Automotive Investment Attraction in Canada in the 1980s

Abstract: Au cours des années 1980, le paysage de l’industrie automobile canadienne s’est transformé, alors que cinq nouveaux manufacturiers venant de l’extérieur de l’Amérique du Nord ont fait des investissements importants au pays. Le secteur, jusqu’alors dominé par des intérêts américains, s’est ainsi beaucoup diver-sifié sur le plan de la propriété des entreprises. Comme le Canada a alors réussi à attirer des investissements étrangers, on pourrait penser que ceux qui ont participé à ce processus avaient un plan cohérent, et que les réussites se sont succédé ; la réalité, toutefois, est qu’il y a également eu des lacunes et des échecs. Grâce à des archives et à des sources secondaires, cet article présente le développement écono-mique de l’industrie automobile canadienne durant cette période. Les décideurs politiques peuvent en tirer d’importantes leçons : il faut s’assurer de bien arrimer les objectifs et les politiques ; des personnes ayant beaucoup de pouvoir peuvent agir sans tenir compte des mécanismes de gouvernance, même dans de grandes entreprises ; et des facteurs exogènes peuvent entraver la réalisation des plans même les mieux conçus. Abstract: During the 1980s, Canada’s automotive manufacturing assembly landscape changed when five new manufacturers from outside of North America made large-scale investments. The industry shifted from one focused on US-owned corporations to one with a much more international orientation. Because of the success Canada enjoyed in attracting foreign automotive investment, one might conclude that those engaged in the process did so with a coherent plan and that the period was marked by one success after another. The reality, however, is that several misses also occurred. Layering archival sources and interviews with secondary sources, this article contributes to the history of the economic development of Canada’s automotive industry. Through this, important lessons for policy-makers are offered: The process of goal and policy congruence is demonstrated; one sees how dominant personalities can override governance mechanisms, even in large corporations; and one observes the capacity of exogenous factors to affect the best-laid plans.
Exploring the Origins of Cementoblasts and their Trigger Factors

Future directions for designing periodontal regenerative therapies hinge on characterization of cells associated with periodontal tissues and on signals instrumental in regulating their behavior. Studies here focused on determining the responsiveness of putative cementoblast progenitor cells (follicle cells), periodontal ligament cells, and cementoblasts to specific factors. Cementoblasts (OCCM), periodontal ligament (SVPDL) cells, and follicle cells (SVF4) were isolated from mouse tissues and immortalized, where SV indicates the use of SV-40 for immortalization. Cultured cells were examined for response to parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), and enamel matrix derivative (EMD) using RT-PCR, Northern analysis, and in vitro and in vivo mineralization assays. Results showed that the three cell lines varied in their expression of bone sialoprotein (BSP) and osteocalcin (OCN), and in their capacity to promote mineralization. RT-PCR indicated that all cell lines had PTH/PTHrP-R1 and BMP receptors; however, the response of individual cell lines to PTHrP, BMP-2, and EMD was quite different. Such dissimilarities in responsiveness associated with cell type may need to be considered when designing regenerative therapies.
Collaborative Data Downloading by Using Inter-Satellite Links in LEO Satellite Networks

Satellite systems have attracted great attention from academic and industrial communities in recent years. There are many satellites that have been launched for weather forecast, environment monitoring, and target surveillance. One important task of the satellites is to download the data they have collected in space to the ground servers via earth stations (ESs). Since satellites move at high speed along their own orbits and have very limited contact time with ESs, satellites may not be able to download all the data they have to the ground on time. In this paper, we propose a collaborative scheme that allows satellites to offload data among themselves using inter-satellite links (ISLs) before they come into contact with the ES, such that satellites will carry the right amount of data according to the length of their contact time with the ES and the throughput of data downloading at the ES is maximized. We develop an iterative optimization algorithm that jointly schedules data offload among the satellites and data downloading from satellites to the ES. Extensive simulations have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed method. The simulation results show that the data downloading throughput by using ISL data offload can be increased significantly. In many cases, the throughput reaches close to 100% of the capacity of the ES.
Effects of High‐Risk Kidneys on Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients Program Quality Reports

There is a perception that transplanting high‐risk kidneys causes programs to be identified as underperforming, thereby increasing the frequency of discards and diminishing access to transplant. Thus, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) has considered excluding transplants using kidneys from donors with high Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) scores (≥0.85) when assessing program performance. We examined whether accepting high‐risk kidneys (KDPI ≥0.85) for transplant yields worse outcome evaluations. Despite a clear relationship between KDPI and graft failure and mortality, there was no relationship between a program's use of high‐KDPI kidneys and poor performance evaluations after risk adjustment. Excluding high‐KDPI donor transplants from the June 2015 evaluations did not alter the programs identified as underperforming, because in every case underperforming programs also had worse‐than‐expected outcomes among lower‐risk donor transplants. Finally, we found that hypothetically accepting and transplanting additional kidneys with KDPI similar to that of kidneys currently discarded would not adversely affect program evaluations. Based on the study findings, there is no evidence that programs that accept higher‐KDPI kidneys are at greater risk for low performance evaluations, and risk aversion may limit access to transplant for candidates while providing no measurable benefit to program evaluations.
FAT10 Protein Binds to Polyglutamine Proteins and Modulates Their Solubility*

Expansion of polyglutamine (pQ) chain by expanded CAG repeat causes dominantly inherited neurodegeneration such as Huntington disease, dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA), and numbers of other spinocerebellar ataxias. Expanded pQ disrupts the stability of the pQ-harboring protein and increases its susceptibility to aggregation. Aggregated pQ protein is recognized by the ubiquitin proteasome system, and the enzyme ubiquitin ligase covalently attaches ubiquitin, which serves as a degradation signal by the proteasome. However, accumulation of the aggregated proteins in the diseased brain suggests insufficient degradation machinery. Ubiquitin has several functionally related proteins that are similarly attached to target proteins through its C terminus glycine residue. They are called ubiquitin-like molecules, and some of them are similarly related to the protein degradation pathway. One of the ubiquitin-like molecules, FAT10, is known to accelerate protein degradation through a ubiquitin-independent manner, but its role in pQ aggregate degradation is completely unknown. Thus we investigated its role in a Huntington disease cellular model and found that FAT10 molecules were covalently attached to huntingtin through their C terminus glycine. FAT10 binds preferably to huntingtin with a short pQ chain and completely aggregated huntingtin was FAT10-negative. In addition, ataxin-1,3 and DRPLA proteins were both positive for FAT10, and aggregation enhancement was observed upon FAT10 knockdown. These findings were similar to those for huntingtin. Our new finding will provide a new role for FAT10 in the pathogenesis of polyglutamine diseases.
Scaffold attachment regions stimulate HSP70.1 expression in mouse preimplantation embryos but not in differentiated tissues

Eukaryotic interphase chromatin is thought to be organized into topologically discrete, independent domains acting as units upon which differential patterns of gene expression are established. Sequences which attach chromatin to in vitro preparations of a nucleoprotein matrix (scaffold attachment regions [SARs]) may act as domain boundaries, but their role remains poorly defined compared with those of other elements such as locus control regions. We have produced mice homozygous for a transgene which is transcribed as early as the activation of the embryonic genome at the two-cell stage and which is expressed ubiquitously in a number of differentiated tissues. Transgenic lines were generated in the presence or absence of flanking SAR sequences, creating an original model which enabled us to examine the effects of these elements at different developmental stages. In the preimplantation mouse embryo, flanking SARs stimulated transgene expression in a copy-dependent manner. In contrast, in the differentiated tissues of newborn and adult mice, no significant SAR-dependent increase in transgene expression was found, correlation with copy number was lost, and position effects were observed. These results suggest a limited capacity of SARs to act as insulating elements but are consistent with a proposed model of SAR-mediated chromatin opening and closing.
Air quality monitoring in urban environments

Air pollution is both an environmental and a social problem, as it leads to a multitude of adverse effects on human health, ecosystems and the climate. Air pollution is one of the largest environmental health risks in Europe today. Quality of the air in city and urban areas is the most important factor that directly influences the incidence of diseases and decreases the quality of life. Taking appropriate decisions in a timely period depends on the measurement and analysis of the parameters of the air, which creates the need for the development of real time air quality monitoring. The use of multi-parameter air quality monitoring systems makes it possible to do a detailed level analysis of major pollutants and their sources. These monitoring systems are important components in many smart city projects for monitoring air quality and for controlling the main pollutant concentrations in urban areas. In this paper we present an approach for cost-effective measurement of relevant environmental parameters, based on a scalable sensor array with integrated amperometric and infrared gas sensors. The device has been tested in the city and the measurement was compared with the output data of the local environmental control authority stations. The preliminary results show that this approach can be used as an economical alternative to the professional grade systems.
Test-Retest Reproducibility and Inter-Rater Reliability of a Motor Skill Test Battery for Adults

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of nine selected tests for the following basic motor skills: balance, orientation, sense of rhythm, kinaesthetic precision and flexibility. Twenty-five healthy, non-sporting volunteers (14 men, 11 women, aged 36-72 years) were tested in three sessions at one-week intervals by two raters. For the tests of balance on a bar, tandem walking backwards and forwards and ball bouncing, the within-participant and between-session repeatability, as assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), was high (ICC 0.83-0.96), and for the rhythm test it was fair (ICC 0.70). The inter-rater reliability was also high for all the tests (ICC 0.88-0.96) except that for rhythm (ICC 0.76). In a test-retest design, these tests were sensitive enough to produce sufficient variation between participants in terms of differentiating between individuals. The learning effect was the most remarkable between the pretest and test sessions, and the reliability was better for the test-retest session although a statistically significant difference existed only for tandem walking forwards (p<0.02) and balance on a bar (p<0.004). The tests with quantitative scores had a smaller margin of error than those with qualitative scores. These tests provide reliable alternatives for assessing basic motor skills of non-sporting adults in the context of physical activity promotion.
TNF-α Induced the Enhanced Apoptosis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Ankylosing Spondylitis by Overexpressing TRAIL-R2

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune disease with unknown etiology. Dysregulated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) apoptosis may contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. However, apoptosis of MSCs from patients with AS (ASMSCs) has not been investigated yet. The present study aims to assess the apoptosis of bone marrow-derived ASMSCs and to investigate the underlying mechanisms of altered ASMSCs apoptosis. We successfully induced the apoptosis of ASMSCs and MSCs from healthy donors (HDMSCs) using the combination of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and cycloheximide (CHX). We found that ASMSCs treated with TNF-α and CHX showed higher apoptosis levels compared to HDMSCs. During apoptosis, ASMSCs expressed significantly more TRAIL-R2, which activated both the death receptor pathway and mitochondria pathway by increasing the expression of FADD, cleaved caspase-8, cytosolic cytochrome C, and cleaved caspase-3. Inhibiting TRAIL-R2 expression using shRNA eliminated the apoptosis differences between HDMSCs and ASMSCs by partially reducing ASMSCs apoptosis but minimally affecting that of HDMSCs. Furthermore, the expression of FADD, cleaved caspase-8, cytosolic cytochrome C, and cleaved caspase-3 were comparable between HDMSCs and ASMSCs after TRAIL-R2 inhibition. These results indicated that increased TRAIL-R2 expression results in enhanced ASMSCs apoptosis and may contribute to AS pathogenesis.
A novel ends-fed dipole radiator

A novel approach to enhance the dipole antenna performances by using so-called an ends-fed dipole radiator is presented. Since the area around the radiating arms is free of any conductors, the proposed radiator is very good candidate to create the high polarization purity of radiation. The simulated results have revealed that such a radiator is able to achieve a high polarization purity with enhanced up to 12 dB front-to-back ratio without decreasing the bandwidth.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer That Underwent Anatomic Resection: The Role of a Recurrence Promoter

Abstract Background: Despite the use of anatomic resection, the post-surgical recurrence rate remains high in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Chronic inflammation plays a role in the mechanism that promotes tumor initiation. This study aimed to investigate the association between recurrence outcome and chronic inflammation-related co-morbidities in early-stage resected NSCLC. Methods: A review of medical records for recurrence outcome and co-morbidities, in terms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), DM, asthma and cardiovascular diseases, was performed with 181 patients with stage I NSCLC that underwent anatomic resection. Results: Subjects with T descriptors as T2a disease (49.5 vs. 28.0%, p < 0.05) and the presence of COPD (42.4 vs. 20.7%, p < 0.01) had a higher risk of tumor recurrence. Univariate analysis for recurrence-free survival showed T descriptor as T2a (21.5 months vs. NR, p < 0.05) and the presence of COPD (20.5 months vs. NR, p < 0.01) as significant factors predicting reduced survival. The presence of COPD (HR: 1.98; 95% CI, 1.29–.02, p < 0.01) and T descriptor as T2a (HR: 2.01; 95% CI, 1.04–3.91, p < 0.05) remain independent predictors of reduced recurrence-free survival in the Cox regression model. Patients with COPD were at higher risk of brain recurrence (OR: 7.88; 95% CI, 1.50–41.3, p < 0.01). In contrast, patients without COPD showed a tendency toward recurrence in bone and liver (OR: 4.13; 95% CI, 1.08–15.8, p = 0.05). Conclusion: Subjects with COPD and T2a disease had a higher risk of recurrence. The role of COPD as a recurrence promoter merits further prospective investigation.