Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Association Between Cognitive Impairment and Patterns of Activity Engagement Among Older Adults

This study aims to assess the association between cognitive impairment and activity engagement patterns. Data from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study were used. A total of 3,943 participants aged 65 or older were included in analyses. Latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used. Four activity engagement profiles were identified: high activity (31.2%), active leisure (18.9%), passive leisure (28.2%), and low activity (21.7%). People in the high activity group engaged in all activities more than people in any other group, whereas people in the low activity group did not actively engage in most activities. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that cognitive impairment had an independent effect on the probability of being assigned to the low activity group compared to other groups. Cognitive impairment was associated with inactivity in a variety of activities. Future studies should examine supportive factors, which facilitate active patterns among people with cognitive impairment.
Ecophysiology of Antarctic vascular plants.

Most of the ice and snow-free land in the Antarctic summer is found along the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands and coastal areas of the continent. This is the area where most of the Antarctic vegetation is found. Mean air temperature tends to be above zero during the summer in parts of the Maritime Antarctic. The most commonly found photosynthetic organisms in the Maritime Antarctic and continental edge are lichens (around 380 species) and bryophytes (130 species). Only two vascular plants, Deschampsia antarctica Desv. and Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. , have been able to colonize some of the coastal areas. This low species diversity, compared with the Arctic, may be due to permanent low temperature and isolation from continental sources of propagules. The existence of these plants in such a permanent harsh environment makes them of particular interest for the study of adaptations to cold environments and mechanisms of cold resistance in plants. Among these adaptations are high freezing resistance, high resistance to light stress and high photosynthetic capacity at low temperature. In this paper, the ecophysiology of the two vascular plants is reviewed, including habitat characteristics, photosynthetic properties, cold resistance, and biochemical adaptations to cold.
Feelings of Emotion and the Self

Abstract: The self is a critical component of consciousness. The neural correlates of self have proven elusive, but it is reasonable to suggest that, in its simplest form, the self process requires a composite representation of the ongoing state of the organism as reflected in subcortical and cortical somatic maps within the central nervous system. The basis for these maps is a wealth of signals originating in different sectors of the body‐proper. Some of these signals portray the actual state of the body as modified by emotions in response to interactions with the environment; but other signals are the result of internal simulations controlled from other regions of the central nervous system.
Effect of changes in processing to improve hygiene control on contamination of poultry carcasses with campylobacter

Summary Examination of neck skin and caecal samples taken at a commercial processing plant from 15 randomly chosen poultry flocks showed that all flocks were contaminated initially with thermophilic Campylobacter spp. , even in the apparent absence of caecal carriage. During processing, numbers of campylobacter on skin samples were reduced by between 10 and 1000-fold. To improve hygiene control generally, chlorinated-water sprays were used to limit microbial contamination on equipment and working surfaces. In addition, chlorine concentrations in process water were increased and any unnecessary carcass contact surfaces in the processing plant were removed. When comparing flocks before and after the changes, it was found that numbers of campylobacter on packaged carcasses were significantly lower after the changes had been made (P 0·001). In practice, however, the reduction would be likely to have little impact on consumer exposure to campylobacter infection.
Urethral instability: Clinical and urodynamic characteristics *

Filling cystometry was performed on 397 patients with lower urinary tract complaints. The overall prevalence of urethral instability was 12.6% (50/397). Of these 187 patients had detrusor instability (DI). Within the DI group, clinical and urodynamic characteristics were compared. Patients with an unstable urethra had a shorter functional urethral length (P = 0.005). For those with DI, 28 of 187 (15%) had urethral instability. Forty (21%) women had a decrease in maximal urethral pressure that preceded the detrusor contraction (type II DI). When those with type II DI were excluded, the difference in functional urethral length was not observed. Patients with type II DI experienced an earlier sensation of fullness of 228 mL compared with 283 mL for the other patients with DI (P = 0.001). There was a positive association between urethral instability and type II DI. Four different patterns of urethral pressure changes were observed. Based on these findings, it appears that a urethral abnormality may be the primary disorder in patients with type II DI. The differentiation of the various subtypes of urethral instability and DI might be important for directing therapy. Neurourol. Urodynam. 20:653–660, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Three Types of IS-A Statement in Diagnostic Classifications: Three Types of Knowledge Needed for Development and Maintenance

Abstract Update mechanisms for diagnostic classifications should capture changes in medical knowledge but also allow for comparability across versions. This paper provides a basis for such a mechanism by describing types of IS-A statement and types of knowledge used in the construction of diagnostic classifications. Three types of IS-A statement are used: ‘A is by definition a 8’, ‘A is probably a 8’ and ‘A is in theory necessarily a 8’. Each relates to a different type of knowedge: knowledge of linguistic conventions, of probabilities, and of empirical theories and their status, respectively. Consequently, the development and maintenance of diagnostic classifications requires a collaboration of medical terminologists and medical scientists. The role of the latter is especially important during updating. Updating is necessitated by changing probabilities and by the introduction or changing status of empirical theories. The linguistic notion of hyponymy oversimplifies the issue.
Distinct Classes of Phosphatidylinositol 3′-Kinases Are Involved in Signaling Pathways That Control Macroautophagy in HT-29 Cells*

3-Methyladenine which stops macroautophagy at the sequestration step in mammalian cells also inhibits the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity raising the possibility that PI3K signaling controls the macroautophagic pathway (Blommaart, E. F. C., Krause, U., Schellens, J. P. M., Vreeling-Sindelárová, H., and Meijer, A. J. (1997)Eur. J. Biochem. 243, 240–246). The aim of this study was to identify PI3Ks involved in the control of macroautophagic sequestration in human colon cancer HT-29 cells. An increase of class I PI3K products (phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate) caused by either feeding cells with synthetic lipids (dipalmitoyl phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate and dipalmitoyl phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate) or by stimulating the enzymatic activity by interleukin-13 reduced macroautophagy. In contrast, an increase in the class III PI3K product (phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate), either by feeding cells with a synthetic lipid or by overexpressing the p150 adaptor, stimulates macroautophagy. Transfection of a specific class III PI3K antisense oligonucleotide greatly inhibited the rate of macroautophagy. In accordance with a role of class III PI3K, wortmannin (an inhibitor of PI3Ks) inhibits macroautophagic sequestration and protein degradation in the low nanomolar range (IC50 5–15 nm). Further in vitro enzymatic assay showed that 3-methyladenine inhibits the class III PI3K activity. Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate supplementation or p150 overexpression rescued the macroautophagic pathway in HT-29 cells overexpressing a GTPase-deficient mutant of the Gαi3 protein suggesting that both class III PI3K and trimeric Gi3 protein signaling are required in the control macroautophagy in HT-29 cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that distinct classes of PI3K control the macroautophagic pathway in opposite directions. The roles of PI3Ks in macroautophagy are discussed in the context of membrane recycling.
Sizes of dental arches and interdental space in 3-year-old children with and without cleft lip/palate.

The development of the dental arches in children with oral clefts differs from that in a normal population, due to the type and extension of the cleft, surgical procedure and timing, and decreased growth potential. The size of the maxillary and mandibular dental arches and the amount of interdental space in 3-year-old, cleft-affected and non-cleft children was investigated. Fifty non-cleft (NONC) and 104 cleft-affected subjects including different cleft groups were compared. On average, cleft lip was corrected at the age of 0.6 years and cleft palate at 1.8 years of age. The mean of all width and depth dimensions in the cleft lip group were close to the NONC controls, whereas the dimensions of the cleft palate group were 8-9 per cent smaller in the maxilla and 5-7 per cent smaller in the mandible than were those in the NONC group. In the unilateral complete cleft group, the maxillary dimensions were 11-19 per cent smaller, but in the mandible only 0-4 per cent smaller than in the NONC group. In the bilateral complete cleft group, the maxillary arch was only 6 per cent shorter but 30 per cent narrower at the canines than in the NONC group. In the mandible the corresponding differences were 2 per cent and 6 per cent. Forty per cent of the cleft palate subjects had a crowded maxillary arch compared with 6 per cent of the NONC controls. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from the woolly apple aphid Eriosoma lanigerum (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Eriosomatinae)

Eight novel microsatellite primer pairs are presented for Eriosoma lanigerum, representing the first microsatellite markers available for this genus. Loci were characterized for 27 individuals from one single orchard in Central Chile. All loci were polymorphic within E. lanigerum (three to 11 alleles per locus; observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.41 to 0.93), and are therefore useful for population genetic studies within the species.
Perceived Work-Life Balance Ability, Job Satisfaction, and Professional Commitment among Agriculture Teachers.

Agriculture teachers participate in various work and life roles, which can create challenges when trying to balance the pressures and responsibilities associated with each role. When one is unable to balance and prioritize between roles, both satisfaction and professional commitment may be reduced. The purpose of this study was to describe Oregon agriculture teachers’ job satisfaction, professional commitment, and perceived ability to balance work and life roles. Additionally, this study sought to describe the relationship between perceived ability to balance work and life roles, job satisfaction, and professional commitment. Sex, marital status, parental status, and career stage had only small to negligible effects on job satisfaction, professional commitment, and worklife balance. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between job satisfaction, professional commitment, and work-life balance. Implications and recommendations are discussed.
Interpretation of standard distortion product otoacoustic emission measurements in light of the complete parametric response.

Emission characteristics (at 2f1-f2) are measured in Mongolian gerbil as a function of the independent variation of all four stimulus parameters, the frequencies (f1 and f2) and the intensities (L1 and L2) of the two stimulus tones. The main five-dimensional display chosen is a logarithmic grid of frequencies, where for each frequency pair there is a contour map of the emission amplitude as a function of the two stimulus levels. The feature which leads to the greatest complexity in the proper interpretation of emission responses is the widespread presence of "notches" in these contour maps. Notches are lines of relative minima in the emission amplitude, and are found at either: (1) constant L1, but only in regions where L1 > L2; or (2) at constant L2, only where L2 > or = L1. Notches are not found at any other orientations, and are associated with emission phase shifts of about 180 degrees as the notch line is traversed. These notch characteristics are explained by phase cancellation in a simple cochlear amplifier model in which there is a change, as a function of the stimulus level alone, of relevant characteristics of the cochlear response to a single tone. Only one mechanism of emission generation is required to explain the observed patterns, i.e., there is no need to invoke different "active" and "passive" mechanisms. Unless properly accounted for, the presence of notches adversely affects all of the standard emission measurements, i.e., all methods which cover a restricted parameter set such as DPgrams, input-output or "growth" functions, and frequency ratio functions. Conversely, because the notch location appears approximately invariant in the cochlea, notches potentially make it possible to use certain emission growth functions to estimate forward and reverse middle-ear transfer functions.
Indirect adaptive Hinfty output feedback control based on LS-SVM for uncertain nonlinear systems

A novel framework of indirect adaptive H$_{i}$ control method based on least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) is proposed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unavailable states and external disturbance. In this method, a state observer is designed to estimate the system states, and the LS-SVM is employed to approximate unknown nonlinear dynamics of the systems. The proposed adaptive H$_{i}$ control is used to attenuate the effect on the tracking error caused by LS-SVM approximation errors and external disturbance. The parameters of the controller are self-tuned according to the adaptive law derived by using Lyapunov stability theory. The asymptotic stability of the proposed close-loop control system is proved. For evaluating the proposed method, numerical simulations of a chaotic system and an inverted pendulum system are presented. The simulation results verified its effectiveness and feasibility.
Periodontal disease and mortality in type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE Periodontal disease may contribute to the increased mortality associated with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In a prospective longitudinal study of 628 subjects aged > or =35 years, we examined the effect of periodontal disease on overall and cardiovascular disease mortality in Pima Indians with type 2 diabetes. Periodontal abnormality was classified as no or mild, moderate, and severe, based on panoramic radiographs and clinical dental examinations. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 11 years (range 0.3-16), 204 subjects died. The age- and sex-adjusted death rates for all natural causes expressed as the number of deaths per 1,000 person-years of follow-up were 3.7 (95% CI 0.7-6.6) for no or mild periodontal disease, 19.6 (10.7-28.5) for moderate periodontal disease, and 28.4 (22.3-34.6) for severe periodontal disease. Periodontal disease predicted deaths from ischemic heart disease (IHD) (P trend = 0.04) and diabetic nephropathy (P trend < 0.01). Death rates from other causes were not associated with periodontal disease. After adjustment for age, sex, duration of diabetes, HbA1c, macroalbuminuria, BMI, serum cholesterol concentration, hypertension, electrocardiographic abnormalities, and current smoking in a proportional hazards model, subjects with severe periodontal disease had 3.2 times the risk (95% CI 1.1-9.3) of cardiorenal mortality (IHD and diabetic nephropathy combined) compared with the reference group (no or mild periodontal disease and moderate periodontal disease combined). CONCLUSIONS Periodontal disease is a strong predictor of mortality from IHD and diabetic nephropathy in Pima Indians with type 2 diabetes. The effect of periodontal disease is in addition to the effects of traditional risk factors for these diseases.
Characterization of Antigen-Specific Immune Responses Induced by Canarypox Virus Vaccines1

Avipoxvirus-based vectors, such as recombinant canarypox virus ALVAC, are studied extensively as delivery vehicles for vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases. Effective use of such vaccines is expected to benefit from proper understanding of the interaction between these viral vectors and the host immune system. We performed preclinical vaccination experiments in a murine tumor model to analyze the immunogenic properties of an ALVAC-based vaccine against carcinoembryonic Ag (ALVAC-CEA), a tumor-associated autoantigen commonly overexpressed in colorectal cancers. The protective CEA-specific immunity induced by this vaccine consisted of CD4+ T cell responses with a mixed Th1/Th2 cytokine profile that were accompanied by potent humoral responses, but not by CEA-specific CD8+ CTL immunity. In contrast, protective immunity induced by a CEA-specific DNA vaccine (DNA-CEA) consisted of Th1 and CTL responses. Modification of the ALVAC-CEA vaccine through coinjection of DNA-CEA, admixture with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides, or supplementation with additional transgenes encoding a triad of costimulatory molecules (TRICOM) did not result in induction of CEA-specific CTL responses. Even though these results suggested that ALVAC does not elicit Ag-specific CTLs, immunization with ALVAC vaccines against other Ags efficiently induced CTL responses. Our data show that the capacity of ALVAC vaccines to elicit CTL immunity against transgene-encoded Ags critically depends on the presence of highly immunogenic CTL epitopes in these Ags. This consideration needs to be taken into account with respect to the design and evaluation of vaccination strategies that use ALVAC-based vaccine.
Enamel Knots as Signaling Centers Linking Tooth Morphogenesis and Odontoblast Differentiation

Odontoblasts differentiate from the cells of the dental papilla, and it has been well-established that their differentiation in developing teeth is induced by the dental epithelium. In experimental studies, no other mesenchymal cells have been shown to have the capacity to differentiate into odontoblasts, indicating that the dental papilla cells have been committed to odontoblast cell lineage during earlier developmental stages. We propose that the advancing differentiation within the odontoblast cell lineage is regulated by sequential epithelial signals. The first epithelial signals from the early oral ectoderm induce the odontogenic potential in the cranial neural crest cells. The next step in the determination of the odontogenic cell lineage is the development of the dental papilla from odontogenic mesenchyme. The formation of the dental papilla starts at the onset of the transition from the bud to the cap stage of tooth morphogenesis, and this is regulated by epithelial signals from the primary enamel knot. The primary enamel knot is a signaling center which forms at the tip of the epithelial tooth bud. It becomes fully developed and morphologically discernible in the cap-stage dental epithelium and expresses at least ten different signaling molecules belonging to the BMP, FGF, Hh, and Wnt families. In molar teeth, secondary enamel knots appear in the enamel epithelium at the sites of the future cusps. They also express several signaling molecules, and their formation precedes the folding and growth of the epithelium. The differentiation of odontoblasts always starts from the tips of the cusps, and therefore, it is conceivable that some of the signals expressed in the enamel knots may act as inducers of odontoblast differentiation. The functions of the different signals in enamel knots are not precisely known. We have shown that FGFs stimulate the proliferation of mesenchymal as well as epithelial cells, and they may also regulate the growth of the cusps. We have proposed that the enamel knot signals also have important roles, together with mesenchymal signals, in regulating the patterning of the cusps and hence the shape of the tooth crown. We suggest that the enamel knots are central regulators of tooth development, since they link cell differentiation to morphogenesis.
Driving Factors of Globalization: An Empirical Analysis of the Developed and Developing Countries

There are several economic, political, social and technological factors that have contributed to globalization in recent decades. The literature has yet to come up with a comprehensive analytical framework. Present study develops a formal framework, which highlights the sources of globalization. Furthermore, the study also provides an empirical test for driving factors of globalization in developed and developing countries. Results of dynamic ordinary least square show human capital, capital, labor, transportation and communication and financial index as the important drivers of globalization in both developed countries and full sample. However, capital, labor and financial index appear to determine the process of globalization in developing countries. For robustness of the results, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) is also applied; the results in full panel and developing countries are similar. However, efficiency index appears to be significant. In the panel of developed countries human capital, transportation and communication and financial index are significant.
Factors affecting vaginal pH levels among female adolescents attending genitourinary medicine clinics

Objectives: Vaginal pH is related to hormonal status, and adolescents experience disturbed hormonal patterns following menarche. We assessed hormonal factors and risk of abnormal vaginal pH and bacterial vaginosis (BV) among adolescents attending genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics. Methods: In a cross sectional study adolescents within 5 years of menarche, ⩽17 years, or with oligo-amenorrhoea were recruited. Vaginal pH and BV were assessed and among those not using hormonal contraceptives, estrone-3-glucuronide (E3G) and pregnanediol-3α-glucuronide (P3G) concentrations were measured. Results: Among 102 adolescents, 59.8% (61) had a high vaginal pH (>4.5), which was higher than the prevalence of BV, detected in 33% (34). No association was found between presence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and vaginal pH. In logistic regression, after controlling for BV and condom use, vaginal pH was positively associated with cervical ectopy (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.0 to 6.6, p = 0.05) and STI treatment history (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 0.9 to 6.5, p = 0.07), and negatively associated with use of Depo-Provera (OR = 0.1; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.6, p = 0.003) and recent onset (<12 months) of sexual activity (OR = 0.2; 95% CI 0.1 to 0.7, p = 0.004). Among 23 adolescents not using hormonal contraceptives, a high pH occurred more often in abnormal compared to normal menstrual cycles (OR = 10.8; 95% CI 1.4 to 85.4; p = 0.026). E3G concentrations were inversely correlated with vaginal pH in the follicular phase (Spearman: r = 0.51; p = 0.024). Conclusions: Ectopy and abnormal menstrual cycles are common features of adolescence. Their presence is associated with increased risk of abnormal pH, and may also predispose to BV.