Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Berg Balance Scale: Intrarater Test-Retest Reliability Among Older People Dependent in Activities of Daily Living and Living in Residential Care Facilities

Background and Purpose: The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) is frequently used to assess balance in older people, but knowledge is lacking about the absolute reliability of BBS scores. The aim of this study was to investigate the absolute and relative intrarater test-retest reliability of data obtained with the BBS when it is used among older people who are dependent in activities of daily living and living in residential care facilities. Subjects: The participants were 45 older people (36 women and 9 men) who were living in 3 residential care facilities. Their mean age was 82.3 years (SD=6.6, range=68–96), and their mean score on the Mini Mental State Examination was 17.5 (SD=6.3, range=4–30). Methods: The BBS was assessed twice by the same assessor. The intrarater test-retest reliability assessments were made at approximately the same time of day and with 1 to 3 days in between assessments. Absolute reliability was calculated using an analysis of variance with a 95% confidence level, as suggested by Bland and Altman. Relative reliability was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The mean score was 30.1 points (SD=15.9, range=3–53) for the first BBS test and 30.6 points (SD=15.6, range=4–54) for the retest. The mean absolute difference between the 2 tests was 2.8 points (SD=2.7, range=0–11). The absolute reliability was calculated as being 7.7 points, and the ICC was calculated to . 97. Discussion and Conclusion: Despite a high ICC value, the absolute reliability showed that a change of 8 BBS points is required to reveal a genuine change in function among older people who are dependent in activities of daily living and living in residential care facilities. This knowledge is important in the clinical setting when evaluating an individual's change in balance function over time in this group of older people.
Subcutaneous adipose tissue distribution in adolescent girls of four ethnic groups.

OBJECTIVE To compare the distribution of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in adolescent girls from four ethnic groups. SUBJECTS The cross-sectional sample included 498 American adolescent girls from four ethnic groups: Mexican (n = 327), European (White, n = 81), Asian (n = 63, all except two Filipino), and African (Black, n = 27). Ages ranged from 11 to 18 years, but 98% of the sample was 12 to 17 years of age. MEASUREMENTS Body mass, stature and four skinfolds were measured on each girl by a single observer. Three ratios of SAT distribution were derived: the ratio of the sum of the two T (subscapular + suprailiac) to the sum of the two E (triceps + medial calf) skinfolds (T/E ratio); the ratio of the two T to the sum of four skinfolds (T/SUM ratio); and the ratio of the subscapular to the triceps skinfolds (S/T ratio). Principal components analysis was also used to evaluate SAT distribution. RESULTS Adolescent girls in the four ethnic groups differed significantly in the three skinfold ratios and in the first principal component, which contrasted trunk and extremity skinfolds. The sequence from proportionally more to proportionally less trunk SAT was as follows: Asian > Mexican > White > Black. Two other principal components were identified, one contrasting the upper and lower extremity skinfolds and the other contrasting the upper and lower trunk skinfolds, but ethnic differences in these two components were not significant.
Impact of Vaccines and Vaccination on Global Control of Avian Influenza

SUMMARY. There are 30 recorded epizootics of H5 or H7 high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) from 1959 to early 2012. The largest of these epizootics, affecting more birds and countries than the other 29 epizootics combined, has been the H5N1 HPAI, which began in Guangdong China in 1996, and has killed or resulted in culling of over 250 million poultry and/or wild birds in 63 countries. Most countries have used stamping-out programs in poultry to eradicate H5N1 HPAI. However, 15 affected countries have utilized vaccination as a part of the control strategy. Greater than 113 billion doses were used from 2002 to 2010. Five countries have utilized nationwide routine vaccination programs, which account for 99% of vaccine used: 1) China (90.9%), 2) Egypt (4.6%), 3) Indonesia (2.3%), 4) Vietnam (1.4%), and 5) Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (<0.01%). Mongolia, Kazakhstan, France, The Netherlands, Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, North Korea, Israel, Russia, and Pakistan used <1% of the avian influenza (AI) vaccine, and the AI vaccine was targeted to either preventive or emergency vaccination programs. Inactivated AI vaccines have accounted for 95.5% of vaccine used, and live recombinant virus vaccines have accounted for 4.5% of vaccine used. The latter are primarily recombinant Newcastle disease vectored vaccine with H5 influenza gene insert. China, Indonesia, Egypt, and Vietnam implemented vaccination after H5N1 HPAI became enzootic in domestic poultry. Bangladesh and eastern India have enzootic H5N1 HPAI and have not used vaccination in their control programs. Clinical disease and mortality have been prevented in chickens, human cases have been reduced, and rural livelihoods and food security have been maintained by using vaccines during HPAI outbreaks. However, field outbreaks have occurred in vaccinating countries, primarily because of inadequate coverage in the target species, but vaccine failures have occurred following antigenic drift in field viruses within China, Egypt, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. The primary strategy for HPAI and H5/H7 low pathogenicity notifiable avian influenza control will continue to be immediate eradication using a four-component strategy: 1) education, 2) biosecurity, 3) rapid diagnostics and surveillance, and 4) elimination of infected poultry. Under some circumstances, vaccination can be added as an additional tool within a wider control strategy when immediate eradication is not feasible, which will maintain livelihoods and food security, and control clinical disease until a primary strategy can be developed and implemented to achieve eradication.
Incorporating sustainability indicators into a computable general equilibrium model of the scottish economy

Abstract In recent years, the notion of sustainable development has begun to figure prominently in the regional, as well as the national, policy concerns of many industrialized countries. Indicators have typically been used to monitor changes in economic, environmental and social variables to show whether economic development is on a sustainable path. In this paper we endogenize individual and composite environmental indicators within an appropriately specified computable general equilibrium modelling framework for Scotland. In principle, at least, this represents a very powerful modelling tool that can inform the policy making process by identifying the impact of any exogenous policy change on the key endogenous environmental and economic indicators. It can also identify the effects of any binding environmental targets on economic activity.
The Impact of Sleep Apnea on Postoperative Utilization of Resources and Adverse Outcomes

BACKGROUND:Despite the concern that sleep apnea (SA) is associated with increased risk for postoperative complications, a paucity of information is available regarding the effect of this disorder on postoperative complications and resource utilization in the orthopedic population. With an increasing number of surgical patients suffering from SA, this information is important to physicians, patients, policymakers, and administrators alike. METHODS:We analyzed hospital discharge data of patients who underwent total hip or knee arthroplasty in approximately 400 U.S. Hospitals between 2006 and 2010. Patient, procedure, and health care system-related demographics and outcomes such as mortality, complications, and resource utilization were compared among groups. Multivariable logistic regression models were fit to assess the association between SA and various outcomes. RESULTS:We identified 530,089 entries for patients undergoing total hip and knee arthroplasty. Of those, 8.4% had a diagnosis code for SA. In the multivariate analysis, the diagnosis of SA emerged as an independent risk factor for major postoperative complications (OR 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39–1.55). Pulmonary complications were 1.86 (95% CI, 1.65–2.09) times more likely and cardiac complications 1.59 (95% CI, 1.48–1.71) times more likely to occur in patients with SA. In addition, SA patients were more likely to receive ventilatory support, use more intensive care, stepdown and telemetry services, consume more economic resources, and have longer lengths of hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS:The presence of SA is a major clinical and economic challenge in the postoperative period. More research is needed to identify SA patients at risk for complications and develop evidence-based practices to aid in the allocation of clinical and economic resources.
AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF COPPER AND IRON PRODUCTION AT MAROTHODI, AN EARLY 19 TH CENTURY TSWANA TOWN, RUSTENBURG DISTRICT, SOUTH AFRICA

The archaeological evidence for iron and especially copper production at Marothodi indicates that output far exceeded local requirements. Preliminary analyses of slag and metal provide insight into the technical processes of this production, while well-resolved spatial data comment upon the social and cultural organization of production. In this paper we attempt to integrate both technical and social aspects of production into the regional historic context with a view to developing ideas about the contextual specificity of surplus metal production from Marothodi early in the 19th century. Generally, Marothodi was occupied in a period of increasingly competitive economic and political relationships between lineages. The evidence from Marothodi indicates that although copper ore quality was poor, and had been largely mined out by previous producers, it was clearly worthwhile to produce a surplus because of regional demands. Importantly, the Tlokwa elites at Marothodi had the regional power to do so. Furthermore, although the location of Marothodi was a compromise between several factors, we suggest that proximity to the copper ore sources was important. Spatial data suggest that political authority did not physically centralize copper production, and that most home-steads were independent producers.
The transition of enterprises from informality to formality – some evidence from Zimbabwe

The idea that the informal sector can never do more for the economy than provide a temporary holding ground for the unemployed is challenged in this article. Research into formal sector businesses in Zimbabwe reveals that many businesses started off in the informal sector, before growing and 'graduating' into the formal sector. The initial survivalist strategies of using family labour and working from home were replaced by strategies to upgrade technology, employ additional labour and move premises into industrial areas. Eventually it is difficult to distinguish between 'graduating' enterprises and those that started out in the formal sector.
Biotecnología en la Industria Vitivinícola en Argentina: ¿Nuevas Modalidades de Innovación en una Actividad Tradicional?

This work analyses the responses of the Argentine’s Wine Industry face to the opportunities bring about by biotechnology. Since liberalization policies, Foreign Direct Investment and newcomers have reinforced competition, encouraging product differentiation strategies and innovation efforts in products and processes. At the industrial level, innovation in fermentation processes has been traditionally driven by technology incorporated into equipment and, more recently, by the adoption of new commercial yeast and enzymes developments. This paper discusses the effects of these strategy changes over wine firms knowledge base and the role played by food ingredients firms and local Science and Technology infrastructure in biotechnology adoption.
Fundamental Stocks of Knowledge and Productivity Growth

This paper develops new indicators of accumulated academic science and tests their explanatory power on productivity data from manufacturing industries. Knowledge is found to be a major contributor to productivity growth. Furthermore, a lag in effect of roughly 20 years is found between the appearance of research in the academic community and its effect on productivity in the form of knowledge absorbed by an industry. Academic technology and academic science filtered through interindustry spillovers exhibit lags of roughly 10 and 30 years each. Thus implied search and gestation times far exceed developmental periods in studies of R & D. A clear implication is that basic research declines relative to development in the face of an exogenous rise in the real of interest.
Collaborative Advantage in Public and Social Services : the Case of Poland

This article seeks to analyse the relationships between the third and the public sector, with a particular focus on relations with local government units (LGUs) on the example of Poland. The article characterises the essence and rules of collaboration between the social and public sectors in Poland, and determines the meaning of the cooperative development of strategy of collaborative advantage. It also presents a useful tool which facilitates the realisation of such a task â€“ a model of strategic cross-sector collaboration.
Study on BSS Algorithm used on Fault Diagnosis of Gearbox

The gearbox is a complicated rotating machinery equipment, in order to realize the gearbox fault early detection and prevention, it is the key to carry out the online diagnosis. This paper used the adaptive variable step-length natural gradient blind source separation algorithm to realize the helicopter gearbox meshing vibration signal and fault vibration signal effective separation. Through the algorithm simulation, the accuracy of the algorithm gained the verification and the separation error trended to zero, which has higher separation precision. This algorithm can realize the complicated mechanical vibration signal blind source separation and fault diagnosis, which has a broad application prospect. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i6. 2260
Equivalance of Cournot and Bertrand equilibria in differentiated duopoly under relative profit maximization with linear demand

In this note we investigate the relation between a Cournot equilibrium and a Bertrand equilibrium in a duopoly with differentiated goods in which each firm maximizes its relative profit that is the difference between its profit and the profit of the rival firm. We will show that when firms maximize relative profits, a Cournot equilibrium and a Bertrand equilibrium coincide, and the equilibrium outputs under relative maximization is larger than both of the equilibrium outputs at the Cournot equilibrium and the Bertrand equilibrium under absolute profit maximization. We assume that demand functions for the goods of the firms are linear, the marginal costs of the firms are constant and the fixed costs are zero.
Chalcone Derivatives: Promising Starting Points for Drug Design

Medicinal chemists continue to be fascinated by chalcone derivatives because of their simple chemistry, ease of hydrogen atom manipulation, straightforward synthesis, and a variety of promising biological activities. However, chalcones have still not garnered deserved attention, especially considering their high potential as chemical sources for designing and developing new effective drugs. In this review, we summarize current methodological developments towards the design and synthesis of new chalcone derivatives and state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry strategies (bioisosterism, molecular hybridization, and pro-drug design). We also highlight the applicability of computer-assisted drug design approaches to chalcones and address how this may contribute to optimizing research outputs and lead to more successful and cost-effective drug discovery endeavors. Lastly, we present successful examples of the use of chalcones and suggest possible solutions to existing limitations.
Athalassotoga saccharophila gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from an acidic terrestrial hot spring, and proposal of Mesoaciditogales ord. nov. and Mesoaciditogaceae fam. nov. in the phylum Thermotogae.

A novel moderately thermophilic, weakly acidophilic, heterotrophic, anaerobic, short-rod bacterium having an outer sheath-like structure (toga) was isolated from a low-salt acidic terrestrial hot spring in Oku-Shiobara, Tochigi, Japan. The strain, designated NAS-01T, grew between 30 and 60 °C (optimum 55 °C), and at pH 4.5 and 7.5 (optimum pH 5.5 to 6.0) and could not grow in media with ≥ 1 % NaCl (optimum 0 % NaCl). It utilized Fe(III), thiosulfate or l-cystine as electron acceptor for growth, and yeast extract, peptone or a variety of sugars as carbon and energy sources. The major cellular fatty acid was C16 : 0, and no lipoquinone was detected. Strain NAS-01T contained phospholipids and glycolipids, but not aminolipids. The DNA G+C content was 41.1 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the strain was included in the phylum Thermotogae, and was closely related to Mesoaciditoga lauensis. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between them was 90 %, and they were deeply branched off the rest of the known Thermotogae species. On the basis of the phylogenetic and ecophysiological properties, strain NAS-01T represents a novel species of a new genus in the phylum Thermotogae, for which we propose the name Athalassotoga saccharophila gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of the type species is NAS-01T ( = JCM 19762T = DSM 28954T). In addition, we propose a new order and family, Mesoaciditogales ord. nov. and Mesoaciditogaceae fam. nov., respectively, to accommodate the novel genus and the closely related genus Mesoaciditoga.
Central Area Activities in a Post-communist City: Lodz, Poland

Despite a plentiful literature on Polish cities during communism, research on economic activities in central areas has been limited. This paper examines the central area of Lodz, Poland's second-largest city, which was undamaged in the Second World War, causing the land-use characteristics of the capitalist era to be carried over into the communist period. Rents were absent during communism, but this did not lead to an indiscriminate land-use mix, and if anything the removal of small workshops from the central area emphasised the relative clarity of the earlier functional areas. The central business district was extended southwards by the construction of office blocks and department stores in the 1970s. The arrival of the market economy has substantially modified this land-use pattern as manufacturing has almost entirely disappeared, the ensuing redundant space having been taken up by wholesaling, retailing and offices, forming a multiple land-use transition zone round the central office and retailing spine. Tertiary and quaternary services have also infiltrated into the residential courts off the main street, further blurring the distinction between land-use areas.
Resonances in the electromagnetic scattering by very large finite-periodic grids of circular dielectric wires

Diffraction of plane waves by infinite gratings is a classical research topic in the scattering theory. Using the Floquet theorem, one can reduce the infinite grating problem to the one-period problem. A characteristic feature of infinite-grating scattering is the drastic transformation of the scattering pattern and reflectance intensity if, in the process of changing the frequency or the angle of incidence, one of the Floquet harmonics is “passing over horizon. ” This phenomenon was first explained by Rayleigh [1] who studied theoretically the “anomalies” discovered experimentally by Wood [2]. In the simplest case of the normal incidence, these Rayleigh-Wood anomalies are observed if the period of the grating is multiple to the wavelength.
Multicenter evaluation of [-2]proprostate-specific antigen and the prostate health index for detecting prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND Total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) is flawed for prostate cancer (PCa) detection. [-2]proprostate-specific antigen (p2PSA), a molecular isoform of free PSA (fPSA), shows higher specificity compared with tPSA or percentage of free PSA (%fPSA). The prostate health index (Phi), a measure based on p2PSA and calculated as p2PSA/fPSA × √tPSA, was evaluated in a multicenter study for detecting PCa. METHODS A total of 1362 patients from 4 different study sites who had tPSA values of 1.6-8.0 μg/L (668 patients with PCa, 694 without PCa) underwent ≥10 core biopsies. Serum concentrations of tPSA, fPSA (both calibrated against a WHO reference material), and p2PSA were measured on Access2 or DxI800 analyzers (Beckman Coulter). RESULTS The percentage ratio of p2PSA to fPSA (%p2PSA) and Phi were significantly higher in all PCa subcohorts (positive initial or repeat biopsy result or negative digital rectal examination) (P < 0.0001) compared with patients without PCa. Phi had the largest area under the ROC curve (AUC) (AUC = 0.74) and provided significantly better clinical performance for predicting PCa compared with %p2PSA (AUC = 0.72, P = 0.018), p2PSA (AUC = 0.63, P < 0.0001), %fPSA (AUC = 0.61) or tPSA (AUC = 0.56). Significantly higher median values of Phi were observed for patients with a Gleason score ≥7 (Phi = 60) compared with a Gleason score <7 (Phi = 53; P = 0.0018). The proportion of aggressive PCa (Gleason score ≥7) increased with the Phi score. CONCLUSIONS The results of this multicenter study show that Phi, compared with tPSA or %fPSA, demonstrated superior clinical performance in detecting PCa at tPSA 1.6-8.0 μg/L (i.e., approximately 2-10 μg/L in traditional calibration) and is better able to detect aggressive PCa.
Electoral Margins and Voting Behavior in the House of Representatives: The Case of the Eighty-Sixth and Eighty-Seventh Congresses

SEVERAL STUDIES OF roll call voting behavior in the House of Representatives have focused on relationships between electoral margins and party voting and/or policy choice. Lewis A. Froman in a study of the first session of the Eighty-seventh Congress investigated the hypothesis that congressmen of both parties from marginal constituencies (those in which competition between the two parties is very close) are more likely to oppose party majorities than those whose electoral status is more safe. ' Froman also explored the possibility that congressmen of both parties from marginal constituencies are more moderate in their policy stands in House roll call voting than those from constituencies with a stronger preference for one party over the other.2 Duncan MacRae, Jr. has similarly concerned himself with the proposition that congressmen from marginal constituencies reflect constituency characteristics in their voting behavior to a greater extent than those from other constituencies.3 Warren Miller and Donald Stokes have inquired into the possibility that electoral margins may be related to tendencies of congressmen to vote either on the basis of their own attitudes or on their perceptions of constituents' attitudes.4 Finally, Samuel P. Huntington has suggested that policy moderation in roll call voting is inversely related to the intensity of partisan competition in congressional districts-that, in effect, marginal constituencies produce more extreme