Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relevance of Lifestyle and Attitudinal Factors to Spine Surgery Outcomes: Empirical Results on a Heterogeneous Sample

Background Context: Patient demographic and medical indicators influence the well-being of spine surgery patients. It may, however, be worthwhile to evaluate other lifestyle and attitudinal factors. We hypothesized that such factors would explain at least as much variance in outcome as more commonly considered covariates. Purpose: To compare explained variance in outcome of lifestyle and attitudinal factors as compared to standard demographic and medical covariates. Study Design/Setting: Cross-sectional observational study of patients drawn from an active clinic and internet-based support group. Patient Sample: A heterogeneous sample of 376 patients was recruited, comprised of people with diagnoses of cervical (n = 80), lumbar (n = 228), and scoliosis (n = 68) spine disorders. Outcome Measures: Quality of Life (QOL) outcomes were measured using the Oswestry Disability Index, Neck Disability Index, Rand-36, PROMIS Pain Impact, NRS Back and Leg Pain, Scoliosis Research Society-22r, and Global Health. Methods: This study compared explained variance in QOL outcomes in demographic and medical versus lifestyle and attitudinal factors. Demographic and medical factors included age, gender, body mass index, and co-morbidities. Lifestyle factors included exercise and commuting practice. Attitudinal factors related to social connectedness: giving and receiving emotional support, feeling overwhelmed by others’ needs, helping orientation, and general helping behaviors. Regression analyses estimated explained variance. Patient groups differed in most factors evaluated, so the regression analyses were computed separately by group. R2 statistics were characterized as null, small (0.02), medium (0.15), and large (0.35) effect sizes (ES), and proportions were compared for the medical/demographic versus lifestyle/attitudinal factors by group. Results: Similar proportions of variance were explained by demographic/medical and lifestyle/attitudinal covariates across groups, with half of effect sizes being small in magnitude and 6% being medium. Lumbar patients tended to have more small effect sizes among lifestyle and attitudinal covariates than among medical/demographic covariates (z = – 1.29, p < 0.10). Similar patterns were found for both generic and disease-specific outcomes. Conclusions: Spine surgery outcome research should investigate lifestyle and attitudinal factors to enhance the personal and salutogenic relevance of the research. Time spent commuting, exercise practice, and social connectedness appear to be relevant factors. A pre-operative evaluation of overweight and smoking status, limited social connectedness, and long daily commutes could alert the surgeon to delay or avoid performing procedures on these patients to avoid poor outcomes.
Cardiovascular health in former elite male athletes

To increase our knowledge on the effects of previous and current physical activity on cardiovascular health, we studied a group of Finnish male former elite athletes (endurance, n = 49; power, n = 50) and their 49 age and area‐matched controls, aged 64–89 years. Body mass index (BMI), fasting serum glucose, lipids, blood pressure, and ultrasonography of cardiac and carotid artery structure and function were measured. Former endurance athletes smoked less, had lower prevalence of hypertension, and had higher intensity and volume of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) than the controls. No difference was detected in cardiac or carotid artery structure and function between these groups. Former athletes performing high‐intensity LTPA were slightly younger (possible selection bias), had lower BMI and waist circumference, lower use of antihypertensives, lower prevalence of diabetes, lower pulse wave velocity, and higher carotid artery elasticity than former athletes not performing high‐intensity LTPA. In conclusion, former athletes had a higher intensity and volume of LTPA than the controls. Athletes performing vigorous LTPA had more elastic arteries than athletes performing moderately or no LTPA. Vigorous LTPA through the whole lifetime associates with good cardiovascular health, although the previous medical history may play an important role.
Alpine Skiing With total knee ArthroPlasty (ASWAP): effects on strength and cardiorespiratory fitness

This study investigated the effect of a 12‐week recreational skiing intervention on lower limb muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness in participants with unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Twenty‐seven older adults (70 ± 5 years) were assigned to the intervention (n = 13) or control group (n = 14) after surgery (2.5 ± 1 years). Leg muscle strength was measured using an IsoMed 2000 dynamometer and cardiorespiratory fitness was determined by cycle ergometry before and after the intervention as well as after an 8‐week retention period. The skiing intervention led to increased muscle strength in the operated leg during unilateral single joint isometric extension (maximal force: 11%; P < 0.05; rate of torque development: 24%; P < 0.05) and during the unilateral multi‐joint isokinetic single leg strength test (8%; P < 0.05). This resulted in a decreased asymmetry index in the isokinetic test (13% to 5%; P < 0.05). These adaptations remained unchanged toward the retention test. No effect was observed for cardiorespiratory fitness. The results demonstrate that muscle contraction forces required during recreational skiing in individuals with TKA seem adequate and effective to increase quadriceps and hamstrings muscle strength in the initially weaker operated leg and to reduce an augmented post‐operative asymmetry index.
Micronutrient status of female adolescent school dropouts

Objectives No data exists for nutritional status of female adolescent school dropouts despite one in seven adolescent girls in Sri Lanka being an early school leaver. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status of working and non-working female adolescent school dropouts. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to recruit 613 female adolescent school dropouts, aged 15-19 years, in two districts of the Western Province of Sri Lanka. BMI was calculated by assessment of weight and height. Haemoglobin, serum ferritin, serum folic acid, vitamin B12, and serum zinc were measured. Results When girls were grouped into age specific BMI categories, 32.8% of girls were underweight, while 6.1% were overweight. Prevalence of anaemia (haemoglobin p =0.001, odds ratio=2.1). Working adolescents were at greater risk of low micronutrient status: low serum ferritin ( p =0.009; odds ratio=1.8) serum folic acid ( p =0.006; odds ratio=1.9) and zinc deficiency ( p =0.001; odds ratio=2.1) than non-working adolescents. Conclusions Dropping out of school early and being employed increases the risk of micronutrient deficiencies. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.4038/cmj.v57i2. 4460 Ceylon Medical Journal Vol.57(2) June 2012 74-78
Construção de um questionário de freqüência alimentar como subsídio para programas de prevenção de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis

O presente estudo avaliou a adequacao de uma lista de alimentos e a distribuicao do tamanho das porcoes alimentares em versao simplificada de um questionario quantitativo de frequencia alimentar, visando sua adocao em programas de prevencao e controle de doencas cronicas nao transmissiveis. Para esta analise, um inquerito recordatorio de 24 horas (IR24) foi obtido em amostra aleatoria de funcionarios da Administracao Central da Secretaria de Estado da Saude de Sao Paulo (n =212), durante um estudo piloto do programa de combate ao tabagismo. A lista de alimentos do questionario de frequencia alimentar foi avaliada pela contribuicao percentual de alguns de seus nutrientes em relacao ao consumo total estimado atraves do IR24. O tamanho das porcoes alimentares do questionario de frequencia alimentar foi classificado em pequeno, medio e grande de acordo com a distribuicao percentual dos pesos correspondentes as medidas caseiras referidas no IR24, utilizando-se os percentis 25, 50 e 75, respectivamente.
Nutritional intake and anthropometric changes of professional road cyclists during a 4‐day competition

Appropriate nutrition through adequate dietary intake of total calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients is an essential component of optimizing the performance of all elite athletes. The aim of this study was to describe the food intake, body composition, and biochemical profile of professional cyclists during the Tour of Andalusia, a four‐stage race covering a total distance of 647.6 km. Nutritional data were collected by trained investigators who weighed all of the food and fluid ingested by the cyclists. The nutritional intake of the cyclists was as follows: CHO, 12.8 ± 1.7 g/kg of body weight (BW; 62.3%); fat, 2.1 ± 0.2 g/kg BW (23.2%); proteins, 3.0 ± 0.3 g/kg BW (14.5%); total kcal was 5644.3 ± 593.1. Intake of all micronutrients, except for folate and potassium [which were 93.7% and 91.3% of Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)] exceeded the RDA/I. Percentage of body fat and fat weight significantly decreased (P < 0.05) while weight of muscle mass remained unchanged after the Tour. Concentrations of urea, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, myoglobin, and high‐density lipoproteins significantly increased (P < 0.05) after the Tour. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe both nutritional intake and the body and biochemical composition of a sample of professional road cyclists during a top‐class cycling race.
White matter integrity affected by depressive symptoms in migraine without aura: a tract‐based spatial statistics study

Previous studies have proven that migraine and depression are bidirectionally linked. However, few studies have investigated white matter (WM) integrity affected by depressive symptoms in patients suffering from migraine without aura (MWoA). Forty patients with MWoA were divided into two groups according to their self‐rating depression scale (SDS) score in the present study, including 20 in the SDS (+) (SDS > 49) group and 20 in the SDS (−) (SDS ≤ 49) group. Forty healthy participants were also recruited as the control group. Tract‐based spatial statistics analyses with multiple diffusion tensor imaging‐derived indices [fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), axial diffusivity (AD)] were employed collectively to investigate WM integrity between all patients with MWoA and all healthy controls, between each subgroup (SDS (−) group and SDS (+) group) and healthy controls, and between the SDS (−) and SDS (+) groups. Compared with healthy controls, decreased AD was shown in several WM tracts of the whole MWoA group, SDS (−) group and SDS (+) group. In addition, compared with the SDS (−) group, the SDS (+) group showed decreased FA and increased MD and RD, with conserved AD, including the genu, body and splenium of the corpus callosum, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi, the right anterior corona radiata and some other WM tracts, similar to previous findings in depression disorder. Furthermore, mean FA and RD in some of the above‐mentioned WM tracts in the SDS (+) group were correlated significantly with SDS scores, including the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum, the right anterior corona radiata and the superior longitudinal fasciculi. Our results suggest that WM integrity may be affected by both depression symptoms (more sensitive as RD) and migraine (more sensitive as AD). The findings may serve as a sensitive biomarker of depression severity in MWoA. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Factors Predicting Course of β-cell Function in IDDM

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether the severity o clinical presentation, sex, age, HLA type, and the presence of IAs and ICAs could predict the variation of residual insulin secretion as measured by the serum C-peptide response to a Sustacal meal. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cohort of 151 newly diagnosed IDDM children (mean age 10.2 ± 4.6 yr) was followed prospectively for 3 yr. Thirty-five patients (12 males, 23 females) were still secreting C-peptide after 36 mo. RESULTS We found that age (P = 0.0001), sex (P = 0.003), presence of ICA (P = 0.006), severity of clinical presentation (P = 0.001), and symptom duration (P = 0.002) significantly predicted the rate of loss of C-peptide secretion. The risks of accelerated C-peptide disappearance decreased with increasing age, the risk ratios being 0.25 for the older group (> 12 yr) compared with the younger group (< 6 yr) and 0.50 for the intermediate group (6–12 yr) compared with the younger group. The risk for the presence of ICA was 1.7, and the risk for males was 1.7 also. There was a significant negative correlation between ICA titers and C-peptide at 18 and 24 mo after diagnosis (P = 0.04). There were no significant differences in HbA1 values between patients who secreted C-peptide and those who did not. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that younger age of onset, male sex, high titers of ICA, severe clinical presentation, and shorter symptom duration significantly predict accelerated rates of loss of C-peptide secretion.
A new equation to estimate temperature‐corrected PaCO2 from PETCO2 during exercise in normoxia and hypoxia

End‐tidal PCO2 (PETCO2) has been used to estimate arterial pressure CO2 (PaCO2). However, the influence of blood temperature on the PaCO2 has not been taken into account. Moreover, there is no equation validated to predict PaCO2 during exercise in severe acute hypoxia. To develop a new equation to predict temperature‐corrected PaCO2 values during exercise in normoxia and severe acute hypoxia, 11 volunteers (21.2 ± 2.1 years) performed incremental exercise to exhaustion in normoxia (Nox, PIO2: 143 mmHg) and hypoxia (Hyp, PIO2: 73 mmHg), while arterial blood gases and temperature (ABT) were simultaneously measured together with end‐tidal PCO2 (PETCO2). The Jones et al. equation tended to underestimate the temperature corrected (tc) PaCO2 during exercise in hypoxia, with greater deviation the lower the PaCO2tc (r = 0.39, P < 0.05). The new equation has been developed using a random‐effects regression analysis model, which allows predicting PaCO2tc both in normoxia and hypoxia: PaCO2tc = 8.607 + 0.716 × PETCO2 [R2 = 0.91; intercept SE = 1.022 (P < 0.001) and slope SE = 0.027 (P < 0.001)]. This equation may prove useful in noninvasive studies of brain hemodynamics, where an accurate estimation of PaCO2 is needed to calculate the end‐tidal‐to‐arterial PCO2 difference, which can be used as an index of pulmonary gas exchange efficiency.
Quantification of human high‐energy phosphate metabolite concentrations at 3 T with partial volume and sensitivity corrections

Practical noninvasive methods for the measurement of absolute metabolite concentrations are key to the assessment of the depletion of myocardial metabolite pools which occurs with several cardiac diseases, including infarction and heart failure. Localized MRS offers unique noninvasive access to many metabolites, but is often confounded by nonuniform sensitivity and partial volume effects in the large, poorly defined voxels commonly used for the detection of low‐concentration metabolites with surface coils. These problems are exacerbated at higher magnetic field strengths by greater radiofrequency (RF) field inhomogeneity and differences in RF penetration with heteronuclear concentration referencing. An example is the 31P measurement of cardiac adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr) concentrations, which, although central to cardiac energetics, have not been measured at field strengths above 1.5 T. Here, practical acquisition and analysis protocols are presented for the quantification of [PCr] and [ATP] with one‐dimensionally resolved surface coil spectra and concentration referencing at 3 T. The effects of nonuniform sensitivity and partial tissue volumes are addressed at 3 T by the application of MRI‐based three‐dimensional sensitivity weighting and tissue segmentation. The method is validated in phantoms of different sizes and concentrations, and used to measure [PCr] and [ATP] in healthy subjects. In calf muscle (n = 8), [PCr] = 24.7 ± 3.4 and [ATP] = 5.7 ± 1.3 µmol/g wet weight, whereas, in heart (n = 18), [PCr] = 10.4 ± 1.5 and [ATP] = 6.0 ± 1.1 µmol/g wet weight (all mean ± SD), consistent with previous reports at lower fields. The method enables, for the first time, the efficient, semi‐automated quantification of high‐energy phosphate metabolites in humans at 3 T with nonuniform excitation and detection. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A 22‐channel receive array with Helmholtz transmit coil for anesthetized macaque MRI at 3 T

The macaque monkey is an important model for cognitive and sensory neuroscience that has been used extensively in behavioral, electrophysiological, molecular and, more recently, neuroimaging studies. However, macaque MRI has unique technical differences relative to human MRI, such as the geometry of highly parallel receive arrays, which must be addressed to optimize imaging performance. A 22‐channel receive coil array was constructed specifically for rapid high‐resolution anesthetized macaque monkey MRI at 3 T. A local Helmholtz transmit coil was used for excitation. Signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNRs) and noise amplification for parallel imaging were compared with those of single‐ and four‐channel receive coils routinely used for macaque MRI. The 22‐channel coil yielded significant improvements in SNR throughout the brain. Using this coil, the SNR in peripheral brain was 2.4 and 1.7 times greater than that obtained with single‐ or four‐channel coils, respectively. In the central brain, the SNR gain was 1.5 times that of both the single‐ and four‐channel coils. Finally, the performance of the array for functional, anatomical and diffusion‐weighted imaging was evaluated. For all three modalities, the use of the 22‐channel array allowed for high‐resolution and accelerated image acquisition. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Oxidative stress markers in pregnant women who snore and fetal outcome: a case control study

Background. To determine the levels of oxidative stress markers in pregnant women who snore and compare with non‐snoring pregnant women. Fetal outcome of these 2 groups was also evaluated. Materials and methods. Prospective, case control study. Some 40 pregnant women who snored and 43 non‐snoring pregnant women were evaluated. The glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px), malondialdehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels of the 2 groups were studied. Infant birthweight, Apgar scores, and other indicators of fetal outcome were obtained. Results. The mean level of GSH‐Px was significantly lower in the pregnant women who snored (p = 0.005), while the mean level of MDA was significantly higher in this group (p = 0.005). Levels of MPO were comparable between the groups (p > 0.05). The pregnant women who snored did not have infants with evidence of an increase in compromised outcome. Conclusion. Although the pregnant women who snored had high levels of MDA, they did not appear to be at increased risk for delivering infants with fetal compromise.
Prevalence and the factors associated with binge drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence: a population-based study of Chinese adults in Hong Kong.

AIMS To examine the patterns of drinking, the relationship between binge drinking, alcohol abuse, and dependence, and the sociodemographic factors associated with problem drinking among Hong Kong Chinese. METHOD An anonymous, random telephone survey was conducted on 9860 Hong Kong Chinese adults from April to June, 2006. RESULTS The age-adjusted prevalence amongst men for binge drinking was 14.4% with 5.3% of males being alcohol abusers and 2.3% dependent on alcohol. The corresponding figures for women were all lower at 3.6%, 1.4%, and 0.7%, respectively. Younger age groups showed the highest prevalence of these drinking problems. Among male binge drinkers, 18.7% were also alcohol abusers and 12.3% were alcohol dependent. Among female binge drinkers, 16% reported alcohol abuse and 9.9% reported dependence. Male binge drinkers were less likely to be older, less likely to be students but more likely to be employed in the service industry. Female binge drinkers were less likely to be over 60 years of age or married but more likely to be smokers. In both genders, smoking was significantly associated with the likelihood of binge drinking (OR = 3.6-12.3), alcohol abuse (OR = 3.0-12.1), and dependence (OR = 5.2-20.6). CONCLUSIONS Although binge drinking has been well tolerated in Chinese culture, it is strongly associated with alcohol abuse and dependence in both genders in Hong Kong. Our findings suggest that prevalence of problematic alcohol consumption warrants greater promotion of alcohol harms awareness. Higher rates of heavy drinking in younger-aged individuals may reflect changing lifestyle behaviors and herald higher future levels of alcohol-related health and social problems.
Cross‐cultural validity and measurement invariance of the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI‐SP) across three countries

Organizational stressors are a universal phenomenon which can be particularly prevalent and problematic for sport performers. In view of their global existence, it is surprising that no studies have examined cross‐cultural differences in organizational stressors. One explanation for this is that the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI‐SP; Arnold, Fletcher, & Daniels, 2013), which can comprehensively measure the organizational pressures that sport performers have encountered, has not yet been translated from English into any other languages nor scrutinized cross‐culturally. The first purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the cross‐cultural validity of the OSI‐SP. In addition, the study aimed to test the equivalence of the OSI‐SP's factor structure across cultures. British (n = 379), Chinese (n = 335), and Malaysian (n = 444) sport performers completed the OSI‐SP. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the cross‐cultural validity of the factorial model for the British and Malaysian samples; however, the overall model fit for the Chinese data did not meet all guideline values. Support was provided for the equality of factor loadings, variances, and covariances on the OSI‐SP across the British and Malaysian cultures. These findings advance knowledge and understanding on the cross‐cultural existence, conceptualization, and operationalization of organizational stressors.
Is risk‐taking in talented junior tennis players related to overuse injuries?

Overuse injuries are a serious problem in junior tennis. Gaining insight in age‐specific risk factors can contribute to prevention. The developmental cognitive processes that take place during adolescence make talented players more inclined to take risks. This may be even more pronounced in the high performance culture in which they move. Therefore, this study focuses on the relationship between risk‐taking and overuse injuries in talented tennis players. Seventy‐three talented tennis players (45 boys and 28 girls, age 11–14 years) were monitored for 32 weeks, using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Questionnaire on Health Problems. Risk‐taking was measured at the start of the season with the Iowa Gambling Task. Linear regression analyses were executed to predict (a) overuse injuries, (b) time loss overuse injuries and (c) overuse severity, by risk‐taking, exposure time, and injury history. In boys, risk‐taking contributed significantly to time loss overuse injuries [F(1,39) = 7.764, P = 0.008, R2 = 0.15] and to overuse severity [F(1,39) = 5.683, P = 0.022, with an R2 of 0.13] In girls, time loss overuse injuries [F(1,23) = 6.889, P = 0.018, R2 = 0.20] and overuse severity [F(1,23) = 7.287, P = 0.013, R2 = 0.24] were predicted by exposure time. Coaches and trainers should be aware that talented male tennis players who are inclined to take risks, are more likely to maintain risky behavioral patterns related to overuse injuries.