Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability of the landing error scoring system-real time, a clinical assessment tool of jump-landing biomechanics.

CONTEXT There is a need for reliable clinical assessment tools that can be used to identify individuals who may be at risk for injury. The Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) is a reliable and valid clinical assessment tool that was developed to identify individuals at risk for lower extremity injuries. One limitation of this tool is that it cannot be assessed in real time and requires the use of video cameras. OBJECTIVE To determine the interrater reliability of a real-time version of the LESS, the LESS-RT. DESIGN Reliability study. SETTING Controlled research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS 43 healthy volunteers (24 women, 19 men) between the ages of 18 and 23. INTERVENTION The LESS-RT evaluates 10 jump-landing characteristics that may predispose an individual to lower extremity injuries. Two sets of raters used the LESS-RT to evaluate participants as they performed 4 trials of a jump-landing task. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) values for the final composite score of the LESS-RT were calculated to assess interrater reliability of the LESS-RT. RESULTS Interrater reliability (ICC2,1) for the LESS-RT ranged from . 72 to . 81 with standard error of measurements ranging from . 69 to . 79. CONCLUSIONS The LESS-RT is a quick, easy, and reliable clinical assessment tool that may be used by clinicians to identify individuals who may be at risk for lower extremity injuries.
Investigating agricultural productivity improvements in transition economies

Purpose - This paper aims to conduct inter-country analysis of agricultural productivity growth in transition countries in Asia and Europe. This paper pays particular attention to the magnitude and direction of productivity growth over different stages of their market reforms. Design/methodology/approach - The paper adopts a nonparametric Malmquist index approach using an output distance function to measure productivity growth and decompose it into its associated components. The empirical analysis is performed using the most recent FAO data set of 35 transition countries in Asia and Europe over the period of 1979-2004. Findings - The paper shows that decomposition analysis of productivity growth differs considerably at different stages of the transition period. This study presents supporting evidence that serious improvements in performance and efficiency, as well as continued technology transfer and adoption are required for transition economies to meet the demand for food and anticipated increases in world population. Originality/value - A comprehensive picture about the agricultural performance of the transition countries has somehow been missing in the literature. This study fills this gap by analyzing the productivity in these transition countries.
Image and destination: A geographical approach applied to Banff National Park, Canada

As intricate mental constructions, destination images reflect cultural, intellectual and existential backgrounds of individuals, communities and social groups, as well as marketing strategies. In the case of Banff National Park, for example, marketing strategies have promoted a potential need for wilderness and natural environment related experiences that is expressed in western post‐industrialized societies. However, touristic development often creates places structured to fit suitable images suggested by the market and leads to the co‐existence of multiple images for a single destination. The resulting tourist landscapes very often are divorced from the original setting, atmosphere, and characteristics of the real place.
Regions of ilium and fibula providing clinically usable bone for mandible reconstruction: “A different approach to bone comparison”

A variety of donor sites are available for mandibular reconstruction. We present here a different way of comparing two commonly‐used bone flaps. The lengths of the usable parts in a total of 241 coxal bones, 91 mandibles and 60 fibulas were measured. The mandible was measured from condyle‐to‐condyle and the harvestable bone length (HBL) and usable (UBL) bone lengths in fibula and ilium were also measured. The bone thickness (BT) in 60 iliac crests was measured in two parallel lines from the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) along the iliac crest. The mandible was 32.17 mm shorter in females than in males. The total ilium UBL was 171.12 mm in females and 178.80 mm in males. The mean HBL of the fibula was 22.6 mm shorter in females than in males. However, in some fibulas in both females and males, only 4.2% and 21.1% of the HBL respectively could be used if the ultimate goal was to insert dental implants. We found significant correlations between BT and gender in both fibula and ilium (P≤ 0.05). The ilium offers constant BT throughout the usable bone area with a similar bone length to the fibula. In contrast, the fibula showed variable bone dimensions, so not all of it is clinically usable. This should especially be considered in females when a mandibular reconstruction is planned with the goal of occlusal rehabilitation. Clin. Anat. 29:773–778, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On the value of intensive remission-induction chemotherapy in elderly patients of 65+ years with acute myeloid leukemia: a randomized phase III study of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Leukemia Group.

We report the results of a prospective study in patients more than 65 years of age in whom two different therapeutic strategies were compared: immediate intensive-induction chemotherapy (arm A) versus "wait and see" and supportive care and mild cytoreductive chemotherapy only for relief of progressive acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-related symptoms (arm B). The major objective of the study was to compare survival outcome of both regimens. Thirty-one patients on arm A received one or two courses of daunorubicin, vincristine, and cytarabine for remission induction followed by one additional cycle for consolidation in case of complete remission (CR). Among 29 patients on arm B, cytoreductive chemotherapy (hydroxyurea, cytarabine) had to be initiated for palliation of leukemia-associated complications in 21 patients at a median of 9 days after diagnosis. Overall survival duration for patients treated on arm A was significantly (P = .015) longer than the survival in arm B (median survival, 21 weeks v 11 weeks; projected survival at 2.5 years, 13% v 0%). Eighteen (58%) of arm A patients and none (0%) of arm B patients entered CR. Of the first group, projected disease-free survival at 2 years is 17%. The median percentages of days spent in the hospital by arm A and B patients were 55% and 50%, respectively. This study shows that a strategy based on modern supportive care and a wait and see approach yields extremely poor results. It is not superior in regard to the frequency of hospital admission and is inferior regarding survival outcome.
Variable CYP2A6-mediated nicotine metabolism alters smoking behavior and risk.

Nicotine is the psychoactive substance responsible for tobacco dependence; smokers adjust their cigarette consumption to maintain brain nicotine levels. In humans, 70 to 80% of nicotine is metabolized to the inactive metabolite cotinine by the enzyme CYP2A6. CYP2A6 can also activate tobacco smoke procarcinogens [e.g., NNK, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone]. In initial studies we found that there was an under-representation of individuals carrying defective CYP2A6 alleles in a tobacco-dependent population, and that among smokers, those with deficient nicotine metabolism smoked fewer cigarettes. We have since reproduced this data in a prospective smoking study (400 male and female, heavy and light smokers) examining the role of the CYP2A6 genotype on carbon monoxide levels, plasma and urine nicotine and cotinine levels, and cigarette counts. We have also recently identified deletion and duplication variants in the CYP2A6 gene locus and have examined their impact on smoking. These data provide the impetus to examine how inhibition of CYP2A6 activity might be useful in a therapeutic context. Both kinetic and behavioral experiments in human smokers demonstrated that inhibiting CYP2A6 in vivo decreased nicotine metabolism and smoking behavior. This article summarizes the preliminary results from our studies.
Growing Old in an Older Brazil: Implications of Population Aging on Growth, Poverty, Public Finance and Service Delivery

This chapter introduces the main issues associated with population aging, many of which will be investigated in detail throughout the volume. The next section describes the demographic transformation that Brazil has been experiencing and highlights its specific features, including a very rapid population aging process in the next few decades. Then the main economic framework behind this work, the life cycle theory according to which individuals' economic behavior varies according to their age, is discussed. The section after that introduces the first and second demographic dividends associated with the changing population age structure that accompanies the demographic transition of any country. Next covered is how poverty is linked to the life cycle in Brazil and the role of public transfers in reducing poverty among different age groups, followed by an investigation of how public expenditures vary across age groups and generations and what makes Brazil distinct from comparable OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and Latin American countries. Concluding the chapter are the main findings of the report.
Tuberculosis and substance abuse in the United States, 1997-2006.

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) control efforts are often ineffective in controlling TB among patients who use illicit drugs or abuse alcohol (substance abuse). This study examined the prevalence of substance abuse among TB cases reported in the United States and assessed the relation between substance abuse and indicators of TB transmission. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis was performed of data on US TB cases in patients 15 years or older reported from 1997 through 2006. Analyses included number and proportion of patients with TB characterized by substance abuse and associations between substance abuse, sputum smear status, treatment failure, and inclusion in a county-level genotype cluster. RESULTS Of 153,268 patients with TB, 28,650 (18.7%) reported substance abuse, including 22,293 of 76,816 US-born patients (29.0%). Multivariate analysis showed that, among patients negative for human immunodeficiency virus, odds of sputum smear-positive disease were 1.8 (99% confidence interval [CI], 1.7-1.9) times greater among those who reported substance abuse; this association was weaker among patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection (odds ratio [OR], 1.2; 99% CI, 1.1-1.4). Among female patients, odds of treatment failure were 2.4 (99% CI, 1.9-3.0) times greater among those who reported substance abuse. The association was weaker among male patients (OR, 1.5; 99% CI, 1.3-1.7). Patients who abused substances were more likely to be involved in a county-level genotype cluster (US-born: OR, 2.3; 99% CI, 2.0-2.7; foreign-born: 1.5; 1.2-2.0). CONCLUSIONS Substance abuse is the most commonly reported behavioral risk factor among patients with TB in the United States. Patients who abuse substances are more contagious (eg, smear positive) and remain contagious longer because treatment failure presumably extends periods of infectiousness. Increased transmission is consistent with our finding that patients who abuse substances were more likely to be involved in a localized genotype cluster, which can represent recent transmission.
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) stimulates neurogenesis in the hippocampus of the rat, promotes survival of newly formed neurons and prevents corticosterone‐induced suppression

Treating adult male rats with subcutaneous pellets of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) increased the number of newly formed cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, and also antagonized the suppressive of corticosterone (40 mg/kg body weight daily for 5 days). Neither pregnenolone (40 mg/kg/day), a precursor of DHEA, nor androstenediol (40 mg/kg/day), a major metabolite, replicated the effect of DHEA (40 mg/kg/day). Corticosterone reduced the number of cells labelled with a marker for neurons (NeuN) following a 28‐day survival period, and this was also prevented by DHEA. DHEA by itself increased the number of newly formed neurons, but only if treatment was continued throughout the period of survival. Subcutaneous DHEA pellets stimulated neurogenesis in a small number of older rats (≈ 12 months old). These results show that DHEA, a steroid prominent in the blood and cerebral environment of humans, but which decreases markedly with age and during major depressive disorder, regulates neurogenesis in the hippocampus and modulates the inhibitory effect of increased corticoids on both the formation of new neurons and their survival.
The role of the medial prefrontal cortex in trace fear extinction

The extinction of delay fear conditioning relies on a neural circuit that has received much attention and is relatively well defined. Whether this established circuit also supports the extinction of more complex associations, however, is unclear. Trace fear conditioning is a better model of complex relational learning, yet the circuit that supports extinction of this memory has received very little attention. Recent research has indicated that trace fear extinction requires a different neural circuit than delay extinction; trace extinction requires the participation of the retrosplenial cortex, but not the amygdala, as noted in a previous study. Here, we tested the roles of the prelimbic and infralimbic regions of the medial prefrontal cortex in trace and delay fear extinction by blocking NMDA receptors during extinction learning. We found that the prelimbic cortex is necessary for trace, but not for delay fear extinction, whereas the infralimbic cortex is involved in both types of extinction. These results are consistent with the idea that trace fear associations require plasticity in multiple cortical areas for successful extinction. Further, the infralimbic cortex appears to play a role in extinction regardless of whether the animal was initially trained in trace or delay conditioning. Together, our results provide new information about how the neural circuits supporting trace and delay fear extinction differ.
The Production of Narrative Accounting Statements: An Exploratory Study of the Operating and Financial Review.

This paper reports the results of an interview programme designed to investigate the processes involved in the production of narrative accounting statements, and specifically the Operating and Financial Review, with a view to identifying the effect such processes might have on the content and character of such statements. A range of features of the production process is identified with the potential to affect the content and character of statements, and thus to influence the relationship between the content and character of statements and the characteristics of the companies producing them, such as size, performance, risk and sector. The pattern of potential impacts is likely to be a complex one. It is suggested that preparers face a range of choices in the preparation of narrative financial statements that may be wider than some realise.
The Positive Deviance Approach: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future

The positive deviance (PD) approach offers an alternative to needs-based approaches for development. The “traditional” application of the PD approach for childhood malnutrition involves studying children who grow well despite adversity, identifying uncommon, model practices among PD families, and designing an intervention to transfer these behaviors to the mothers of malnourished children. A common intervention for child malnutrition, the so-called “hearth,” brings mothers together to practice new feeding and caring behaviors under the encouragement of a village volunteer. Hearths probably work because they modify unmeasured behavioral determinants and unmonitored behaviors, which, in turn, result in better child growth. Some health outcomes require a better understanding of behavioral determinants and are not best served by hearth-like facilitated group skills-building. We propose testing “booster PD inquiries” during implementation to confirm behavioral determinants and efficiently focus interventions. We share early experience with the PD approach for HIV/AIDS and food security. The attributable benefit of the PD approach within a program has not been quantified, but we suspect that it is a catalyst that accelerates change through the processes of community attention getting, awareness raising, problem-solving, motivating for behavior change, advocacy, and actual adopting new behaviors. Program-learners should consider identifying and explicitly attempting to modify the determinants of critical behavior(s), even if the desired outcome is a change in health status that depends on multiple behaviors; measure and maintain program quality, especially at scale; and creatively expand and test additional roles for PD within a given program.
Cholinergic responses of ophthalmic arteries in M3 and M5 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor knockout mice.

PURPOSE To determine the functional role of M(3) and M(5) muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes in ophthalmic arteries using gene-targeted mice. METHODS Muscarinic receptor gene expression was quantified in murine ophthalmic arteries using real-time PCR. To test the functional relevance of M(3) and M(5) receptors, ophthalmic arteries from mice deficient in either subtype (M3R(-/-), M5R(-/-), respectively) and wild-type controls were isolated, cannulated with micropipettes, and pressurized. Changes in luminal vessel diameter in response to muscarinic and nonmuscarinic receptor agonists were measured by video microscopy. RESULTS With the use of real-time PCR, all five muscarinic receptor subtypes were detected in ophthalmic arteries. However, mRNA levels of M(1), M(3), and M(5) receptors were higher than those of M(2) and M(4) receptors. In functional studies, after preconstriction with phenylephrine, acetylcholine and carbachol produced concentration-dependent dilations of ophthalmic arteries that were similar in M5R(-/-) and wild-type mice. Strikingly, cholinergic dilation of ophthalmic arteries was almost completely abolished in M3R(-/-) mice. Deletion of either M(3) or M(5) receptor did not affect responses to nonmuscarinic vasodilators such as bradykinin or nitroprusside. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide the first evidence that M(3) receptors are critically involved in cholinergic regulation of diameter in murine ophthalmic arteries.
Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on Consumption of Selected Food Nutrients in the United States

The impacts of socioeconomic characteristics of the household and its constituents on consumption of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin A, calcium, iron, thiamine, and vitamin C were estimated. Data from 6,950 households located in the contiguous states were utilized to specify consumption relationships. Socioeconomic factors considered were: income, degree of urbanization, race, educational attainment of the homemaker, stage of the household in the family life cycle, family size, meal adjustment, and employment status of the homemaker. Income had a positive impact on the consumption of all nutrients except carbohydrate. However, nutrient consumption responsiveness to income was relatively small.
Corporate Environmentalism and Public Policy: Deflecting enforcement of existing regulations

This is the first book to provide a hard-headed economic view of the voluntary approaches to environmental issues, especially toxic chemicals, waste disposal and global warming, that have become prominent in recent years. Corporate environmental initiatives are seen as a tool for influencing the behaviour of environmental activists, legislators, and regulators, though they may have ancillary benefits such as attracting 'green' consumers or reducing costs. Equally, government voluntary programs are seen as a way to achieve modest environmental results when political resistance to mandatory policies is high. Rigorous analysis is illustrated with numerous case studies drawn from the US, Europe, and Japan, while technical details are relegated to appendices, and each chapter highlights implications for corporate strategy and public policy. Although rooted in economic theory, this book will appeal to business strategists and policy practitioners, as well as scholars and researchers.
A simple pain model for the evaluation of analgesic effects of NSAIDs in healthy subjects.

AIMS Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are believed to counteract inflammation and inflammation-induced sensitization of nociceptors by inhibiting peripheral prostaglandin synthesis. We evaluated an experimental pain model for NSAIDs, that included an inflammatory component to mimic clinical inflammatory pain conditions. METHODS The study was performed in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover design on 32 healthy volunteers. A small skin area of the proximal upper leg was irradiated with a UVB source using three times the individually estimated minimal erythema dose. Twenty hours after irradiation skin temperature, heat pain threshold and tolerance in sunburn spot were measured using a thermal sensory testing. These measurements were repeated 2 h after medication of either 800 mg ibuprofen as single oral dose or placebo capsules. Effects of ibuprofen on outcome parameters were assessed with analyses of covariance (ancova). RESULTS Placebo did not affect heat pain threshold or tolerance. By contrast, ibuprofen increased heat pain threshold by 1.092 degrees C [confidence interval (CI) 0.498, 1.695; P = 0.0008) compared with placebo. Heat pain tolerance also increased significantly by 1.618 degrees C (CI 1.062, 2.175; P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION The pain model we evaluated was well tolerated in all subjects and the effects of ibuprofen were highly significant. This model is simple, sensitive to NSAIDs' effects and therefore has potential for future experimental pain studies.
Rapid proteomic responses to a near-lethal heat stress in the salt marsh mussel Geukensia demissa

ABSTRACT Acute heat stress perturbs cellular function on a variety of levels, leading to protein dysfunction and aggregation, oxidative stress and loss of metabolic homeostasis. If these challenges are not overcome quickly, the stressed organism can die. To better understand the earliest tissue-level responses to heat stress, we examined the proteomic response of gill from Geukensia demissa, an extremely eurythermal mussel from the temperate intertidal zone of eastern North America. We exposed 15°C-acclimated individuals to an acute near-lethal heat stress (45°C) for 1 h, and collected gill samples from 0 to 24 h of recovery. The changes in protein expression we found reveal a coordinated physiological response to acute heat stress: proteins associated with apoptotic processes were increased in abundance during the stress itself (i.e. at 0 h of recovery), while protein chaperones and foldases increased in abundance soon after (3 h). The greatest number of proteins changed abundance at 6 h; these included oxidative stress proteins and enzymes of energy metabolism. Proteins associated with the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix also changed in abundance starting at 6 h, providing evidence of cell proliferation, migration and tissue remodeling. By 12 h, the response to acute heat stress was diminishing, with fewer stress and structural proteins changing in abundance. Finally, the proteins with altered abundances identified at 24 h suggest a return to the pre-stress anabolic state. Summary: After exposure to an acute and near-lethal heat stress, gill from the mussel Geukensia demissa responds immediately with a coordinated time course of changes in protein abundance.