Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictive Cutoff Values of the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed “Up & Go” Test for Disability Incidence in Older People Dwelling in the Community

Background Lower extremity functioning is important for maintaining activity in elderly people. Optimal cutoff points for standard measurements of lower extremity functioning would help identify elderly people who are not disabled but have a high risk of developing disability. Objective The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the optimal cutoff points of the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test for predicting the development of disability and (2) to examine the impact of poor performance on both tests on the prediction of the risk of disability in elderly people dwelling in the community. Design This was a prospective cohort study. Methods A population of 4,335 elderly people dwelling in the community (mean age = 71.7 years; 51.6% women) participated in baseline assessments. Participants were monitored for 2 years for the development of disability. Results During the 2-year follow-up period, 161 participants (3.7%) developed disability. The optimal cutoff points of the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test for predicting the development of disability were greater than or equal to 10 seconds and greater than or equal to 9 seconds, respectively. Participants with poor performance on the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test (hazard ratio = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.11-3.20), the Timed "Up & Go" Test (hazard ratio = 2.24; 95% CI = 1.42-3.53), or both tests (hazard ratio = 2.78; 95% CI = 1.78-4.33) at the baseline assessment had a significantly higher risk of developing disability than participants who had better lower extremity functioning. Limitations All participants had good initial functioning and participated in assessments on their own. Causes of disability were not assessed. Conclusions Assessments of lower extremity functioning with the Five-Times Sit-to-Stand Test and the Timed "Up & Go" Test, especially poor performance on both tests, were good predictors of future disability in elderly people dwelling in the community.
Genetics, intensity-dependence, and host manipulation in the trematode Curtuteria australis: following the strategies of others?

Manipulation of host phenotype by parasites can require a collective effort from many individuals. The cost of manipulation may only be paid by the individuals actually inducing the manipulation, while its benefits are reaped by all. Here, we determine if there is genetic variation in manipulative effort among different clonal lineages of the trematode Curtuteria australis, and whether the decision to manipulate is context-dependent. C. australis impairs the burrowing efficiency of its second intermediate host, the cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi, by encysting at the tip of the cockle’s foot, which facilitates the parasite’s trophic transmission to shorebirds. However, manipulative individuals at the tip of the foot are vulnerable to non-host predators (foot-cropping fish); in contrast, those encysted at the base of the foot, although they do not contribute to manipulation, are safe from foot-croppers and can benefit from altered host phenotype. In an experimental study, different clonal lineages showed no significant variation in their tendency to encyst in the tip versus the base of the foot, with only the former contributing to host manipulation. However, the decision to manipulate was intensity-dependent: the greater the number of parasites already committed to manipulation (i.e. already encysted in the foot tip), the more likely newly arriving parasites were to join them. These findings indicate considerable intraspecific variation in the strategies adopted by ‘manipulator’ parasites, with external influences determining what a parasite actually does.
Was It Race or Merit?: The Cognitive Costs of Observing the Attributionally Ambiguous Hiring of a Racial Minority

Objectives: This study investigated individual and situational factors that may make observing positive treatment of an ingroup member attributionally ambiguous and cognitively taxing for ethnic minority perceivers. Method: 163 Latino/a participants who varied in the perception that Whites are externally motivated to behave positively toward minorities (Perceived External Motivation Scale; PEMS) observed a Latino candidate selected over 2 White candidates by a White Human Resources officer. The selected candidate was or was not the most qualified and a diversity rationale was or was not provided. Participants subsequently performed a test of cognitive interference. Results: When a less-qualified minority candidate was selected, the presence (vs. absence) of a diversity rationale increased cognitive interference among low PEMS participants, but decreased cognitive interference among high PEMS participants. Results suggest that a diversity rationale made the selection of a less qualified minority more ambiguous for low PEMS but less ambiguous for high PEMS participants. Conclusions: The present study informs our understanding of when and for whom Whites’ positive behavior is perceived as attributionally ambiguous.
Temperature characteristics of all monolithically integrated self-scanning VCSEL array

We demonstrated all-monolithically-integrated self-scanning vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays whose emitters emit light individually. Each array needs only three to five bonding pads even when the number of VCSELs is over hundreds. Recently, an array with hundreds of VCSELs that lase individually is needed for some applications that do not require mechanical devices, such as MEMS and polygon mirrors. However, conventional VCSEL arrays need the same number of bonding pads, gold wires, substrate wirings, and IC driver terminals as emitters, thus taking up space and increasing application costs. We applied the self-scanning light emitting device (SLED) technology to the VCSEL array to reduce the number of bonding pads and other components mentioned above. In this paper, we discuss the temperature characteristics of the all-monolithically-integrated self-scanning VCSEL array. All layers in the epilayer structure of the array were formed at a time by MOCVD. The array consists of AlGaAs based thyristors and conventional 850 nm oxide-confined VCSELs on a p-type GaAs substrate. The array includes a transmission region, an emission region with 16 emitters, five bonding pads on the top side, and one anode electrode on the bottom of the substrate. Switching of the thyristor and lasing of the VCSEL were achieved up to 90°C. Self-scanning of the array was also possible at a temperature as high as 90°C. This is a key technology to dramatically reduce the size and cost of the chip itself and its applicable applications that require many emitters.
Targeting Alternative Sites on the Androgen Receptor to Treat Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Recurrent, metastatic prostate cancer continues to be a leading cause of cancer-death in men. The androgen receptor (AR) is a modular, ligand-inducible transcription factor that regulates the expression of genes that can drive the progression of this disease, and as a consequence, this receptor is a key therapeutic target for controlling prostate cancer. The current drugs designed to directly inhibit the AR are called anti-androgens, and all act by competing with androgens for binding to the androgen/ligand binding site. Unfortunately, with the inevitable progression of the cancer to castration resistance, many of these drugs become ineffective. However, there are numerous other regulatory sites on this protein that have not been exploited therapeutically. The regulation of AR activity involves a cascade of complex interactions with numerous chaperones, co-factors and co-regulatory proteins, leading ultimately to direct binding of AR dimers to specific DNA androgen response elements within the promoter and enhancers of androgen-regulated genes. As part of the family of nuclear receptors, the AR is organized into modular structural and functional domains with specialized roles in facilitating their inter-molecular interactions. These regions of the AR present attractive, yet largely unexploited, drug target sites for reducing or eliminating androgen signaling in prostate cancers. The design of small molecule inhibitors targeting these specific AR domains is only now being realized and is the culmination of decades of work, including crystallographic and biochemistry approaches to map the shape and accessibility of the AR surfaces and cavities. Here, we review the structure of the AR protein and describe recent advancements in inhibiting its activity with small molecules specifically designed to target areas distinct from the receptor’s androgen binding site. It is anticipated that these new classes of anti-AR drugs will provide an additional arsenal to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Expression of multiple isoforms of protein kinase C in normal human colon mucosa and colon tumors and decreased levels of protein kinase C β and η mRNAs in the tumors

Previous studies have suggested that protein kinase C (PKC) may play an important role in colon carcinogenesis and that human colon tumors have less total PKC enzyme activity than normal tissue. Because PKC is a multigene family that enocodes for at least 11 distinct isofroms, in the study reported here we analyzed the expression of six of these isoforms at the mRNA level by northern blot hybridization in 22 pairs of primary colon tumors (of various stages), and adjacent normal mucosa samples. We found that the normal mucosa samples expressed the mRNA of the following isoforms of PKC, in decreasing order of abundance: PKCδ>PKC>PKCα>PKCβ>PKCϵ. There was no consistent difference in the levels of PKCα, PKCδ, and PKCη. mRNAs between the normal mucosa and the tumor samples. PKCγ was expressed at a very low level in two of the colon tumors but could not be detected in the remaining tumors of any of the normal mucosa samples. The levels of both PKCβ and PKCη mRNAs were singificantly lower in the tumor samples than in the normal mucosa samples, and this was true of adenomas as well as Dukes' stage A, B, and Cadenocarcinomas. Furthermore, the devrease in PKCη mRNA appeared to be greater in the more poorly differentiated carcinomas. This finding in of interest becouse PKCη is normally expresed in the more differentiated cells of epithelial tissues. The devreased levels of both PKCβ and PKCη mRNAs ocurred early in the multistage process of colon carcinogenesis, as it was also seen in adenomas. The functional significane of these changes remains to be determined.
Private Law Enforcement in a Formalist Legal Environment: The Italian Sai-Fondiaria Case

The Sai-Fondiaria case is Italy's most significant action in concert case. In this case public enforcement was unable to prevent the concerting parties from reaching their target. Minority shareholders therefore sued, even though Italian mandatory bid rules (MBRs) do not contain any specific rule concerning minority shareholders' entitlement to damages. At stake is private enforcement of MBRs. Courts and scholars are called to establish whether the law contains an implied right of action in favour of minority shareholders. The problem has also arisen in other European countries, where it is the object of much current debate.The Milan Tribunal thinks that minority shareholders have a right to damages, whereas the view of the Court of Appeal is diametrically opposed. Needless to say, both positions have considerable support amongst legal writers. Since deterrence arguments are still taboo with regards to private remedies, traditional interpretive canons and concepts are being employed in the debate: on one side to disguise deterrence ideas underpinning the reasoning; on the other, to retort using radical formalism, with its built-in bias against legal change. In this paper I analyze the case, the decisions and the comments. I suggest how deterrence arguments can be appropriately adopted in the reasoning of civil law courts and propose how the case should be decided in favour of minority shareholders, with beneficial effects on private enforcement status. I also analyze the recent amendments to MBRs that implement the Takeover Directive and endanger the future of private enforcement in this area of law.
TREATMENT OF MALIGNANT GLIOMATA.

M ALIGNANT intrinsic brain tumours arc relatively common intraeranial neoplasms and they form the major preoccupation of most neurosurgeons in the United Kingdom. They have captured the attention and engaged the energy of many neurosurgeons. Despite the improvements in operative technique and more powerful sources of radiation, they remain as major problems, little changed in the last 30 or 40 years. The distressing and almost invariably rapidly progressive character of these neoplasms has led some neurosurgeons to abandon all at tempts at t reatment once the diagnosis has been made. Others have investigated new techniques in at tempts to improve the apparently dismal results of conventional treatment. Thus intracavitary radiation, radioactive isotopes and numerous chemotherapeutic agents have been tried. Attempts have also been made to increase the radiosensitivity of these tumors by producing hyperor hypo-oxygenation and by other, possibly more complex, methods such as the administration of thyroid hormone, at present on trial in this [:[nit. Many of these methods are reported as achieving "encouraging results. " In our opinion, these often are attr ibutable to the selection of patients. I t is not reasonable to assess the results of a particular t reatment in a series comprising both relatively benign astrocytomas and highly malignant gliomas. The variable course of gliomata, even without treatment, is well known, and clearly it is important to assess the results of t reatment for each group of neoplasms. All cerebral gliomas are malignant in tha t they are intrinsic tumours of the brain, and it is rarely possible to excise them completely. Speaking
Ovarian Cancer Management in the Oldest Old: Improving Outcomes and Tailoring Treatments

Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death from gynecological cancers in developed countries. It is a common disease of older women at or above 63 years upon diagnosis. Thanks to advance in new treatments, mortality from ovarian cancer has declined in developed countries in the last decade. This decline in mortality rate is unevenly distributed across the age-spectrum. While mortality in younger women has decreased 21.7%, for elderly women it has declined only 2.2%. Even if ovarian cancer is clearly a disease of the elderly, older women are underrepresented in clinical trials, and scant evidence exists for the treatment of women older than 80 years. Moreover, older women are frequently undertreated, receive less chemotherapy and less combination of surgery and chemotherapy, despite the fact that this is considered the optimal treatment modality. This may be mainly due to the lack of evidence and physician’s confidence in the management of elderly women with ovarian cancer. In this review, we focus on the management of older women with ovarian cancer, considering geriatric features tied to this population.
Points of Modern English Usage LXXXIII

Huddleston and Pullum in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language probably would not agree with this definition of the term ‘‘pro-verb’’. Their examples of do as a pro-form all include an antecedent verb, as: I like it more than I used to do. They would define do in the examples given in ‘‘PMEU’’ simply as an ‘‘ordinary lexical verb’’ (Huddleston and Pullum, 2002, pp. 1534 – 5). Quirk et al. state that do as a main or lexical verb can appear as a pro-form (both grammars use the term ‘‘pro-form’’ rather than ‘‘pro-verb’’) in combination with a pronoun in sentences such as ‘‘What did you do on holiday? ’’ ‘‘We didn’t do anything’’, but distinguish this use from its function as a ‘‘general-purpose agentive transitive verb’’ in sentences like English Studies Vol. 88, No. 1, February 2007, 95 – 107
On Symmetry of Uniform and Preferential Attachment Graphs

Motivated by the problem of graph structure compression under realistic source models, we study the symmetry behavior of preferential and uniform attachment graphs. These are two dynamic models of network growth in which new nodes attach to a constant number $m$ of existing ones according to some attachment scheme. We prove symmetry results for $m=1$ and $2$, and we conjecture that for $m\geq 3$, both models yield asymmetry with high probability. We provide new empirical evidence in terms of graph defect. We also prove that vertex defects in the uniform attachment model grow at most logarithmically with graph size, then use this to prove a weak asymmetry result for all values of $m$ in the uniform attachment model. Finally, we introduce a natural variation of the two models that incorporates preference of new nodes for nodes of a similar age, and we show that the change introduces symmetry for all values of $m$.
[A procedure for electroretinogram (ERG) recording in mice--effect of monoiodoacetic acid on the ERG in pigmented mice].

A procedure for recording the electroretinogram (ERG) in pigmented mice, C57BL, based on the ERG recording technique reported previously in albino mice, ICR, and giving careful consideration to the influence of anesthetics and dark-adaptation, was developed in order to examine retinal toxicity. Pigmented mice were given a single i.v. injection of monoiodoacetic acid (IAA), a known retinotoxic compound, via a tail vein at a dose of 30, 45 or 60 mg/kg, and the ERG was recorded periodically over the next 14 days. In addition, the retinas were examined histopathologically on day 15. The results were as follows. 1. The oscillatory potentials were not distinct in the ERGs from mice anesthetized with pentobarbital as compared to the ERGs from non-anesthetized mice. ERG waveforms obtained from mice anesthetized with a mixture of urethane, xylazine and ketamine or xylazine and ketamine were almost the same as those obtained from non-anesthetized mice. Therefore, the ERGs were recorded under mixed anesthesia, ketamine and xylazine, in the following study. Stable ERGs could be recorded after 40 min of dark-adaptation. 2. IAA at doses of 30 and 45 mg/kg caused slight depression of the amplitudes of the a-, b- and c-waves; however, these changes were no longer observed 7 days after dosing. At a dose of 60 mg/kg, the ERG waves were markedly depressed 1 day after dosing, and recovery was not observed until day 14. 3. Upon histopathologic examination of the retinas, a remarkable decrease in visual cells and thinning of the rod and cone layers and outer plexiform layer were observed with IAA at a dose of 60 mg/kg. 4. Using this newly developed recording technique, it was confirmed that stable ERGs could be recorded from pigmented mice repeatedly for 14 days, and the effects of IAA on the ERG could be detected. Histopathological abnormalities in the retinas correlated well with the changes in the ERGs. These results indicate that the newly developed ERG recording procedure is useful for evaluating retinal toxicity in pigmented mice.
ESAIM: Control, Optimisation and Calculus of Variations

Shape optimization of mechanical devices is investigated in the context of large, geometrically strongly nonlinear deformations and nonlinear hyperelastic constitutive laws. A weighted sum of the structure compliance, its weight, and its surface area are minimized. The resulting nonlinear elastic optimization problem differs significantly from classical shape optimization in linearized elasticity. Indeed, there exist different definitions for the compliance: the change in potential energy of the surface load, the stored elastic deformation energy, and the dissipation associated with the deformation. Furthermore, elastically optimal deformations are no longer unique so that one has to choose the minimizing elastic deformation for which the cost functional should be minimized, and this complicates the mathematical analysis. Additionally, along with the non-uniqueness, buckling instabilities can appear, and the compliance functional may jump as the global equilibrium deformation switches between different bluckling modes. This is associated with a possible non-existence of optimal shapes in a worst-case scenario. In this paper the sharp-interface description of shapes is relaxed via an Allen–Cahn or Modica–Mortola type phase-field model, and soft material instead of void is considered outside the actual elastic object. An existence result for optimal shapes in the phase field as well as in the sharp-interface model is established, and the model behavior for decreasing phase-field interface width is investigated in terms of Γ-convergence. Computational results are based on a nested optimization with a trust-region method as the inner minimization for the equilibrium deformation and a quasi-Newton method as the outer minimization of the actual objective functional. Furthermore, a multi-scale relaxation approach with respect to the spatial resolution and the phase-field parameter is applied. Various computational studies underline the theoretical observations.
One orifice vein reconstruction in left liver plus caudate lobe grafts.

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A theoretical framework for the net land-to-atmosphere CO 2 flux and its implications in the definition of "emissions from land-use change"

Abstract. We develop a theoretical framework and analysis of the net land-to-atmosphere CO2 flux in order to discuss possible definitions of "emissions from land-use change". The terrestrial biosphere is affected by two perturbations: the perturbation of the global carbon-climate-nitrogen system (CCN) with elevated atmospheric CO2, climate change and nitrogen deposition; and the land-use change perturbation (LUC). Here, we progressively establish mathematical definitions of four generic components of the net land-to-atmosphere CO2 flux. The two first components are the fluxes that would be observed if only one perturbation occurred. The two other components are due to the coupling of the CCN and LUC perturbations, which shows the non-linear response of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Thanks to these four components, we introduce three possible definitions of "emissions from land-use change" that are indeed used in the scientific literature, often without clear distinctions, and we draw conclusions as for their absolute and relative behaviors. Thanks to the OSCAR v2 model, we provide quantitative estimates of the differences between the three definitions, and we find that comparing results from studies that do not use the same definition can lead to a bias of up to 20% between estimates of those emissions. After discussion of the limitations of the framework, we conclude on the three major points of this study that should help the community to reconcile modeling and observation of emissions from land-use change. The appendix mainly provides more detailed mathematical expressions of the four components of the net land-to-atmosphere CO2 flux.