Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Of Worms and Women: Sarcopenia and its Role in Disability and Mortality

The loss of muscle mass during aging has been termed sarcopenia. Sarcopenia results in a decrease in physical strength during aging that results in important consequences for more severely affected individuals in terms of function and as a marker for disability and increased mortality. Despite the clinical importance of this condition, the pathophysiology leading to the development of sarcopenia is not well understood, and few treatments exist to prevent or reverse the condition. Recently, sarcopenia has been found to occur during aging in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which is an organism increasingly used to study genetic and biochemical events involved in aging. Like in humans, sarcopenia in C. elegans leads to declines in mobility and serves as a marker for increased mortality. Interestingly, mutations affecting the age‐1 gene, which slows aging of the animal, result in significant delays in the development of sarcopenia, suggesting a direct causal relationship between organismal aging and sarcopenia. These findings suggest that, in humans and worms, sarcopenia may represent a biomarker for the biological age, as opposed to chronological age, of the individual. These findings also suggest that C. elegans will develop into an important model system in which to study the biochemical and genetics events responsible for sarcopenia and to test therapeutics designed to prevent or reverse sarcopenia.
An Ideal Model for Virtual Communication on Municipal Government Websites

ii About the Author . iii List of Tables . vi Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Purpose . 1 Summary of Chapters . 2 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 3 Purpose . 3 General Website Structure . 5 E-Government . 5 Web 2.0 . 10 Access, Usage, and Transparency for the Audience . 12 Government Communication on the Web . 15 Social Media . 15 E-Participation . 17 E-Democracy . 19 Conceptual Framework . 20 Chapter Summary . 23 Chapter 3: Methodology . 24 Descriptive Categories and Content Analysis . 24 Categories, Website Criteria to be Assessed, and Measurement . 25 Population . 32 Statistics . 32 Chapter Summary . 32 Chapter 4: Results . 34 General Website Structure . 34 Access, Usage, and Transparency . 41 Social Media . 46 E-Participation & E-Democracy . 49 Chapter Summary . 55 Chapter 5: Conclusion. 56 Summary . 56 General Website Structure . 56 Items Cities Are Doing Well on . 56 Items Cities Can Work on . 57 Access, Usage, and Transparency . 57 Items Cities Are Doing Well on . 57 Items Cities Can Work on . 58
Some relations between normal hearing for pure tones and for speech.

The present American standards for normal hearing for audiometric purposes imply that the difference between audiometric reference zero for a 1000‐cps pure tone and audiometric reference zero for spondee words is 6 db (i.e., approximately 16 db SPL for a 1000‐cps tone and 22 db SPL for spondee words). An accumulation of evidence from several sources suggests, however, that the difference between the two thresholds is considerably larger than 6 db. The present study was designed to assess the effects of sex, ear, order of test presentation, method of threshold measurement, and degree of prior familiarity with spondee vocabulary on the difference between the threshold for a 1000‐cps tone and the threshold for spondee words, as measured with W‐1 recordings. Subjects were 126 young adult college students. Results indicate that the difference varies from 12 to 14 db, depending slightly on degree of prior familiarity with the spondee words, and on the method used to measure the pure tone threshold. The average speech threshold SPL in the present group agreed closely with the current standard reference level of 22 db, while the average 1000‐cps pure tone threshold SPL was 6 to 8 db lower than the current standard reference level of 16 db. [This research was supported by the U. S. Air Force under Contract No. AF 41 (657)‐185, monitored by the School of Aviation Medicine, USAF, Randolph Air Base, Texas. ]
Predictors of Pathologic Complete Response After Standard Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-negative Breast Carcinoma

The objective of this study was to identify predictors of pathologic complete response and tumor volume reduction in triple-negative breast carcinomas. Consecutive cases of 101 triple-negative carcinomas within the last 3 years treated with standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy were identified. However, 56 cases with sufficient material available (for tissue microarray construction) in the pretherapy core biopsy tissue blocks formed the basis of this study. The pretherapy tumor core biopsy slides were examined for various morphologic features including tumor grade. The tumors were immunohistochemically examined for basal phenotype markers (CK5, CK14, CK17, epidermal growth factor receptor), cell adhesion marker E-cadherin, and proliferation marker Ki-67. The overall rate of pathologic complete response was 34% (19 of 56). Neither any morphologic feature nor any basal marker reactivity predicted for pathologic complete response or >50% tumor volume reduction. Ki-67 proliferation index also failed as a predictive marker. Reduced E-cadherin expression (defined as H score ⩽200) was initially seen in 47% of cases with pathologic complete response and in only 6% of cases that failed to achieve pathologic complete response (P=0.001); however, in additional 20 cases from a separate validation set, no such difference was identified. Basal marker reactivity in triple-negative breast carcinomas does not predict pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. As vast majority of triple-negative tumors are highly proliferative, Ki-67 proliferation index appears to have negligible clinical value in predicting pathologic complete response. E-cadherin expression as a predictor of pathologic complete response in triple-negative tumors should be further assessed on larger number of cases.
Relationship between heart rate threshold, lactate turn point and myocardial function.

We examined the relationship between heart rate threshold (HRT), lactate turn point (LTP) and myocardial function expressed as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) determined by radionuclide ventriculography. Two groups of subjects (G I: N = 8; G II: N = 7) with and without a deflection of heart rate performance curve (HRPC) underwent sitting cycle ergometry. HRT (G I), aerobic threshold (AeT; G I, G II), and LTP (G I, G II) were determined by means of linear regression break point analysis. Also, a break point in LVEF performance curve (LVEFBP) was obtained. Power output at HRT and at LTP was not significantly different between G I and G II (272.5 +/- 38.7 W; 294.3 +/- 20.6 W). Power output at LVEFBP (G I: 182.6 +/- 31.7 W; G II: 211.8 +/- 21.5 W) was not significantly different to power output at LTP (G I: 194.2 +/- 32.7 W; G II: 215.2 +/- 24.4 W) and HRT (G I: 193.0 +/- 38.2 W). Significant differences (p < 0.05) could only be found between G I and G II for heart rate (HR) at LTP (G I: 163.5 +/- 5.8 b.min-1; G II: 154.4 +/- 6.7 b.min-1) and LVEF at the end of the load (LVEFend) (G I: 77.9 +/- 2.9%; G II: 71.3 +/- 7.0%). The drop of LVEF at LVEFBP was significantly related to LTP in all cases. The present data suggest that the noninvasive determination of anaerobic threshold by means of heart rate curve analysis is not always possible due to different response of myocardial function and heart rate to graded cycle ergometer exercise. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Association between cleaning-related chemicals and work-related asthma and asthma symptoms among healthcare professionals

Objectives Work-related asthma (WRA) is an important public health problem affecting one quarter of adults with asthma. Although cleaning substances are routinely used in hospitals, few studies have addressed their potential adverse respiratory health effects on healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study attempts to identify relationship between work-related exposure to cleaning-related chemicals and development of WRA among HCPs. Methods Of 5600 HCPs surveyed, 3650 responded to a validated questionnaire about their occupation, asthma diagnosis, variability of asthma symptoms at and away from work, and exposure to individual cleaning substances. Workplace asthma was defined as a categorical variable with four mutually exclusive categories: work-related asthma symptoms (WRAS), work-exacerbated asthma (WEA), occupational asthma (OA) and none. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between self-reported use of cleaning substances and asthma outcomes among HCPs. Results Prevalences of WRAS, WEA and OA were 3.3%, 1.1% and 0.8%, respectively. The prevalence estimates were generally higher among female than male HCPs. The odds of WRAS and WEA increased in a dose-dependent manner for exposure in the longest job to cleaning agents and disinfectants/sterilants, respectively. For exposure in any job, the odds of WRAS were significantly elevated for both factor 1 (bleach, cleaners/abrasives, toilet cleaners, detergents and ammonia) and factor 2 (glutaraldehyde/ortho-phtaldehyde, chloramines and ethylene oxide). Significantly elevated odds of WEA were observed for exposure to bleach, factor 2 and formalin/formaldehyde. Exposure to chloramines was significantly associated with an almost fivefold elevated odds of OA. Conclusions HCPs are at risk of developing WRA from exposure to cleaning substances.
DNA Barcoding of Fish, Insects, and Shellfish in Korea

DNA barcoding has been widely used in species identification and biodiversity research. A short fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence serves as a DNA bio-barcode. We collected DNA barcodes, based on COI sequences from 156 species (529 sequences) of fish, insects, and shellfish. We present results on phylogenetic relationships to assess biodiversity the in the Korean peninsula. Average GC% contents of the 68 fish species (46.9%), the 59 shellfish species (38.0%), and the 29 insect species (33.2%) are reported. Using the Kimura 2 parameter in all possible pairwise comparisons, the average interspecific distances were compared with the average intraspecific distances in fish (3.22 vs. 0.41), insects (2.06 vs. 0.25), and shellfish (3.58 vs. 0.14). Our results confirm that distance-based DNA barcoding provides sufficient information to identify and delineate fish, insect, and shellfish species by means of all possible pairwise comparisons. These results also confirm that the development of an effective molecular barcode identification system is possible. All DNA barcode sequences collected from our study will be useful for the interpretation of species-level identification and community-level patterns in fish, insects, and shellfish in Korea, although at the species level, the rate of correct identification in a diversified environment might be low.
A Longitudinal Analysis of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by a Representative Cohort of Young Australian Women with Asthma, 1996–2006

Background. There is evidence of asthma patients using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This article reports the findings of the first ever longitudinal study of CAM use among women with asthma from a large nationally representative sample. Methods. A longitudinal analysis of questionnaires completed in 1996, 2000, 2003, and 2006 as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. The cohort began with 14,701 randomly selected young women (aged 18–22 years). CAM use was defined as a consultation with a range of complementary practitioners in the 12 months prior to each survey. Statistical analyses included the use of generalized estimating equations. Results. Over the 10-year period, approximately 26% of the women were asthmatic. Asthmatic women were significantly more likely to use CAM (19%, 22%, and 36% for surveys 2–4, respectively) than non-asthmatic women (15%, 20%, and 32% for surveys 2–4, respectively). CAM use increased as time since asthma diagnosis increased. However, only the increase in consultations with a naturopath/herbalist remains statistically significant when the CAM modalities are considered individually alongside asthma status. The longitudinal model suggests that women with asthma are 1.13 (95% CI: 1.05–1.21) times more likely to consult with a CAM practitioner (p< .001). The study also shows that CAM users have a higher dissatisfaction with conventional healthcare services and consultations when compared to CAM non-users. Conclusion. These findings suggest that women with asthma may turn to CAM after conventional care fails to adequately address their healthcare needs.
Enhancing Collaborative Filtering with Friendship Information

We test the impact of integrating a measure of common friendship in collaborative filtering, in order to capture the intuition that socially interconnected groups of people tend to have similar tastes. An experiment on the Yelp dataset shows that using preference information derived from the commonalities of interests in networks of friends achieves higher accuracy than item-to-item collaborative filtering.
Modeling Subsurface Phenomena for Tetrahedral Meshes

SceneGen is a set of tools for creating a subsurface mesh with very little human interaction. The tool set created allows the user to incorporate structured lattice data, typically generated from geo-statistical packages, and make a smoothed boundary representation (b-rep) for each of its material regions. Tools have also been created to take ground surface height-field data and create b-reps for Boolean combination with the geostatistical information. Constructive solid geometry (CSG) techniques are being developed to add subsurface items such as rocks and debris and incorporate them into the model as well. This subsurface system of material boundary regions is then capable of being meshed for finite element simulations. In this way, multiple unstructured tetrahedral meshes may be simultaneously generated on high performance computers
A Specific Region in the N Terminus of a Replication Initiation Protein of Plasmid RK2 Is Required for Recruitment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa DnaB Helicase to the Plasmid Origin*

Broad host range plasmid RK2 encodes two versions of its essential replication initiation protein, TrfA, using in-frame translational starts spaced 97 amino acids apart. The smaller protein, TrfA-33, is sufficient for plasmid replication in many bacterial hosts. Efficient replication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, however, specifically requires the larger TrfA-44 protein. With the aim of identifying sequences of TrfA-44 required for stable replication of RK2 in P. aeruginosa, specific deletions and a substitution mutant within the N terminus sequence unique to TrfA-44 were constructed, and the mutant proteins were tested for activity. Deletion mutants were targeted to three of the four predicted helical regions in the first 97 amino acids of TrfA-44. Deletion of TrfA-44 amino acids 21–32 yielded a mutant protein, TrfA-44Δ2, that had lost the ability to bind and load the DnaB helicase of P. aeruginosa or Pseudomonas putida onto the RK2 origin in vitro and did not support stable replication of an RK2 mini-replicon in P. aeruginosa in vivo. A substitution of amino acid 22 within this essential region resulted in a protein, TrfA-44E22A, with reduced activity in vitro, particularly with the P. putida helicase. Deletion of amino acids 37–55 (TrfA-44Δ3) slightly affected protein activity in vitro with the P. aeruginosa helicase and significantly with the P. putida helicase, whereas deletion of amino acids 71–88 (TrfA-44Δ4) had no effect on TrfA activity in vitro with either helicase. These results identify regions of the TrfA-44 protein that are required for recruitment of the Pseudomonas DnaB helicases in the initiation of RK2 replication.
Muscular Fatigue

Muscular fatigue can be defined as the failure to maintain an expected power output. It is a multifaceted phenomenon that incorporates metabolic, neural and neuromuscular components, among others. Metabolic causes of fatigue are associated with the ability to maintain energy supply during exercise, the speed at which homeostasis is achieved post-exercise, and the effects of high intensity exercise by-products on the peripheral neuromuscular system. Research has indicated that the central nervous system plays a protective role in preventing catastrophic muscle damage by reducing the intensity and frequency of propagation founded on biofeedback from the muscle cells. The duration and particularly the type of physical activity play a role in the development of muscle fatigue, with impact or weightbearing exercises, such as dance, producing increased symptoms compared to non-impact or non-weightbearing equivalents. The effects of prolonged exercise and the associated increased levels of muscle fatigue that may lead to compromises in neuromuscular propagation need to be considered in dance.
Therapeutic Considerations for Stroke Patients With Antiphospholipid Antibodies

A variety of therapeutic regimens including corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, antiplatelet agents, and anticoagulants have been prescribed to stroke patients with antiphospholipid antibodies. Although some of these medications may be useful in reducing the risk of recurrent thromboembolic events and deserve further investigation, studies published to date do not establish the effectiveness of any specific treatment. We conclude that a prospective study should be undertaken to assess the management of patients with antiphospholipid antibodies.
Posterior cerebral artery stenosis

We analyzed the clinical features of symptomatic posterior cerebral artery (PCA) stenosis in 6 patients selected from 15 patients with angiographically documented PCA atherostenosis occurring during a 7‐year period. Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) were the major presentation in 5 patients. A homonymous visual field defect was present in 2 patients. TIA symptoms were predominantly visual or sensory, or both. The most common visual symptom was difficulty seeing to one side. One patient saw flashing lights. Sensory spells were always paresthetic, usually involving the arm and hand and occasionally the face and leg. Three patients had visual and sensory spells together. Two patients with a visual field defect had calcarine infarcts found by computed tomography. All patients were treated with warfarin. During followup (4 months to 4 years), no patient had a new stroke in the PCA territory, and only one continued to have TIAs. PCA atherostenosis is rarer than PCA embolic occlusion. In contrast to those with PCA embolism, our patients with PCA atherostenosis had more TIAs and fewer infarcts. The clinical features of PCA stenosis—preponderance of visual and sensory TIAs‐distinguish this vascular lesion from stenosis of the middle cerebral artery.
The relationship between hypertension and plasma allantoin, uric acid, xanthine oxidase activity and nitrite, and their predictive capacity in severe preeclampsia

It is controversial that uric acid (UA) levels are related to the severity of hypertension in preeclampsia (PE). Our aim in this study was to determine whether UA, xanthine oxidase activity (XOA), allantoin and nitrite levels are related to arterial blood pressure (BP) in PE. We formed a control group (n = 20) and a PE group (n = 20) for the study. Their BPs and plasma UA, XOA, allantoin and nitrite levels were measured. The values from the control and PE pregnant women were assessed via a Wilcoxon matched-pairs test. A Pearson correlation test was also performed. In addition, the diagnostic value of these tests was evaluated via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The BP, UA, XOA and allantoin levels in the PE patients were found to be higher when compared with those of the pregnant controls. The UA, XOA and allantoin levels showed high correlations with BP in cases of PE. However, there was no superiority among the correlations. No differences were observed between the groups in terms of nitrite levels and the relationship between nitrite and BP. UA, XOA and allantoin levels may be high due to placental cell death because of abnormal trophoblastic activity observed in PE. Moreover, the reactive oxygen products that are created during the genetic material degradation may explain how UA, XOA and allantoin levels are related to BP. According to ROC analysis, UA, XOA and allantoin assays are reliable predictors for the determination of PE.
Acute sporadic viral hepatitis in urban population of a tribal district in Madhya Pradesh.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the incidence of acute sporadic viral hepatitis and describe its epidemiology in an urban population. DESIGN A retrospective community survey for jaundice cases. SETTING Headquarter town of a tribal district, Bastar, in Madhya Pradesh state, India. METHOD Trained paramedics surveyed about 51,643 population to detect cases of jaundice which occurred in the past one year. Cases were examined to collect clinical and epidemiological data. blood samples were drawn from all cases who had jaundice in the past 3 months for testing them for markers of viral hepatitis. RESULTS Study estimated the annual incidence of jaundice cases as 244 (95% CI 201-287) per 100,000 population. Almost 95% jaundice cases occurred in summer and monsoon months. People from all socio-economic strata were affected. The incidence of jaundice was found to be the highest in children below 15 years of age (3.7 per 1000) which declined significantly with the increase in age (p = 0.0000). The overall incidence in two sexes was not different statistically (p = 0.7). Of 57 cases who had jaundice in the past 3 months, 19 (33%) were confirmed as having viral hepatitis. Hepatitis A and E combined together contributed 68% (13/19) of acute sporadic cases of viral hepatitis, whereas hepatitis B, C and D accounted for the remaining 32% of the cases. CONCLUSION The study found the annual incidence of laboratory supported cases of viral hepatitis to be 81 (95 CI 57-106) per 100,000 population, which suggests that it is an important public health problem in India. Hepatitis A was much more prevalent than hepatitis E. Etiology of almost two-thirds of jaundice cases could not be established which require further community studies.
Mild Hypothermia and the Distribution of Cerebral Lesions in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

Hypothermia induced by whole-body cooling (WBC) and selective head cooling (SHC) both reduce brain injury after hypoxia-ischemia in newborn animals, but it is not known how these treatments affect the incidence or pattern of brain injury in human newborns. To assess this, 14 term infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) treated with SHC, 20 infants with HIE treated with WBC, and 52 noncooled infants with HIE of similar severity were studied with magnetic resonance imaging in the neonatal period. Infants fulfilling strict criteria for HIE were recruited into the study after assessment of an amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG). Cooling was commenced within 6 hours of birth and continued for 48 to 72 hours. Hypothermia was not associated with unexpected or unusual lesions, and the prevalence of intracranial hemorrhage was similar in all 3 groups. Both modes of hypothermia were associated with a decrease in basal ganglia and thalamic lesions, which are predictive of abnormal outcome. This decrease was significant in infants with a moderate aEEG finding but not in those with a severe aEEG finding. A decrease in the incidence of severe cortical lesions was seen in the infants treated with SHC.