Objectives
A previous study demonstrated low rates of high‐frequency hearing loss and noise exposure among Asian Americans (AAs). This study examined the prevalence of tinnitus and associated factors ...among AAs using the first nationally representative sample of AAs.
Study Design
Cross‐sectional analysis of a national health survey.
Methods
We analyzed data from the 2011 to 2012 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, during which 3,669 participants aged 20 to 69 years completed questionnaires on tinnitus (AA participants, n = 530). Tinnitus was defined as bothersome ringing lasting 5 minutes or more in the past 12 months. Prevalence of any tinnitus in the past 12 months was calculated incorporating sampling weights. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations with relevant factors.
Results
The prevalence of any tinnitus was 6.6% (95% confidence interval CI: 4.5‐8.6) among AAs, significantly lower than the prevalence among the overall population at 16.5% (95% CI: 14.3‐18.8. After adjusting for audiometric hearing loss and demographics, AAs were less likely to report any tinnitus than whites (odds ratio OR = 0.43 95% CI: 0.24‐0.75), blacks (OR = 0.60 95% CI: 0.37‐0.95), and Hispanics (OR = 0.60 95% CI: 0.45‐0.78). Rates of tinnitus were not different from whites or blacks once comorbidities, noise exposure, and depression were taken into account. Among AAs, reporting exposure to work‐related noise (OR = 2.92 95% CI: 1.15‐7.41) and having a major depressive disorder (OR = 6.45 95% CI: 1.15‐36.12) were significant factors associated with tinnitus in a multivariate model.
Conclusions
The prevalence of tinnitus is significantly lower among AAs in comparison to other racial groups. Noise exposure and depression were significant factors associated with tinnitus among AAs.
Level of Evidence
2b Laryngoscope, 2020
In adults, most cognitive and emotional self-regulation is carried out by a network of brain regions, including the anterior cingulate, insula, and areas of the basal ganglia, related to executive ...attention. We propose that during infancy, control systems depend primarily upon a brain network involved in orienting to sensory events that includes areas of the parietal lobe and frontal eye fields. Studies of human adults and alert monkeys have shown that the brain network involved in orienting to sensory events is moderated primarily by the nicotinic cholinergic system arising in the nucleus basalis. The executive attention network is primarily moderated by dopaminergic input from the ventral tegmental area. A change from cholinergic to dopaminergic modulation would be a consequence of this switch of control networks and may be important in understanding early development. We trace the attentional, emotional, and behavioral changes in early development related to this developmental change in regulative networks and their modulators.
•Sheet deposits in Hellas Planitia are likely mass wastings of water-related origin.•Sheet deposits may be the earliest deposits in the development of outflow channels.•Unique conic lineations on top ...of the sheet deposits support a fluvial origin.
Hellas Planitia is one of the major topographic sinks on Mars for the deposition of any kind of sediments. We report on our observations of sheet deposits in the eastern part of the basin that are apparently related to the Dao Vallis outflow channel. The deposits have lobate flow fronts and a thickness of a few decameters. Despite their generally smooth surface, some distinctive textures and patterns can be identified, such as longitudinal lineations, distributive channels, and polygons. We compared these deposits to other sheet deposits on Mars and tested three hypotheses of their origin: volcanic flows as well as water- and ice-related mass wastings. Despite some similarities to volcanic sheet flows on Mars, we found several morphological characteristics that are not known for sheet lava flows; for example conically arranged lineations and channel systems very similar to fluvial incisions. We also reject an ice-related formation similar to terrestrial rock-ice avalanches, as there is no sufficient relief energy to explain their extent and location. A water-related origin appears most consistent with our observations, and we favor an emplacement by fluvially-driven mass wasting processes, e.g., debris flows. Assuming a water-related origin, we calculated the amount of water that would be required to deposit such large sedimentary bodies for different flow types. Our calculations show a large range of possible water volumes, from 64 to 2,042 km³, depending on the specific flow mechanism. The close link to Dao Vallis makes these deposits a unique place to study the deposition of outflow channel sediments, as the deposits of other outflow channels on Mars, such as those around Chryse Planitia, are mostly buried by younger sediments and volcanic flows.
Epidemiological studies reveal better cognitive function in physically active individuals. Possible mediators for this effect are neurotrophins, which are up-regulated through physical exercise and ...induce neuronal growth and synaptogenesis in the animal model. Here we cross-sectionally assessed 75 healthy older individuals for levels of physical activity, aerobic fitness, and memory encoding, as well as neurotrophin levels and cerebral gray matter volume. We found that physical activity, but not cardiovascular fitness, was associated with better memory encoding after controlling for age, sex, education, depression, alcohol consumption, and smoking. Higher levels of physical activity were associated with higher levels of the neurotrophin granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and increased cerebral gray matter volume in prefrontal and cingulate cortex as assessed by magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometry. While mediating factors will need to be further elucidated, these findings indicate that even low-level physical activity exerts beneficial effects on memory functions in older individuals.
Coccolithophores play a key role in the oceanic carbon cycle through the biological and carbonate pumps. Understanding controls on coccolithophore productivity is thus fundamental to quantify oceanic ...carbon cycling. We investigate changes in coccolithophore productivity over several Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles using a high-resolution coccolith Sr/Ca ratio record, which is an indicator of growth rate and thus a proxy for coccolithophore productivity. We use Middle Pleistocene sediments from the North Atlantic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1313 (41.00′ N, 32.58’ W) spanning Marine Isotopic Stages 16 to 10 (638–356 kyr). The location of the record allows us to investigate processes affecting productivity in a mid-latitude setting and to unravel the effects of temperature and regional ocean circulation. Coccolithophore productivity shows a dominant glacial-interglacial cyclicity with higher productivity during glacials, which appears to reflect the southward migration of the North Atlantic high productivity zone currently located between 45° and 55° N. Spectral analysis of the productivity record reveals a suborbital variability consistent with forcing by insolation maxima superimposed on the front migration pattern. Similar to today, coccolithophore productivity during interglacials was enhanced when insolation was at its maximum in spring or in autumn, whereas during glacials, productivity was enhanced when summer/autumn insolation was at its maximum. We show that in the studied region, coccolithophore productivity was driven by processes reflecting regional insolation. Applying this information to model experiments is required to assess if coccolithophore productivity played a significant role in past changes of atmospheric CO2.
•Coccolithophore productivity is higher during glacials.•Coccolithophores adjust their phenology in response to insolation forcing.•Enhanced productivity occurs when summer/autumn insolation is at its maximum.
Stored non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) could play an important role in tree survival in the face of a changing climate and associated stress-related mortality. We explored the effects of the ...stomata-blocking and defoliating fungal disease called Swiss needle cast on Douglas-fir carbohydrate reserves and growth to evaluate the extent to which NSCs can be mobilized under natural conditions of low water stress and restricted carbon supply in relation to potential demands for growth. We analyzed the concentrations of starch, sucrose, glucose and fructose in foliage, twig wood and trunk sapwood of 15 co-occurring Douglas-fir trees expressing a gradient of Swiss needle cast symptom severity quantified as previous-year functional foliage mass. Growth (mean basal area increment, BAI) decreased by ∼80% and trunk NSC concentration decreased by 60% with decreasing functional foliage mass. The ratio of relative changes in NSC concentration and BAI, an index of the relative priority of storage versus growth, more than doubled with increasing disease severity. In contrast, twig and foliage NSC concentrations remained nearly constant with decreasing functional foliage mass. These results suggest that under disease-induced reductions in carbon supply, Douglas-fir trees retain NSCs (either actively or due to sequestration) at the expense of trunk radial growth. The crown retains the highest concentrations of NSC, presumably to maintain foliage growth and shoot extension in the spring, partially compensating for rapid foliage loss in the summer and fall.
Avian haemosporidians are protozoan parasites transmitted by insect vectors that infect birds worldwide, negatively impacting avian fitness and survival. However, the majority of haemosporidian ...diversity remains undescribed. Quantifying this diversity is critical to determining parasite–host relationships and host-switching potentials of parasite lineages as climate change induces both host and vector range shifts. In this study, we conducted a community survey of avian haemosporidians found in breeding birds on the Davis Mountains sky islands in west Texas, USA. We determined parasite abundance and host associations and compared our results to data from nearby regions. A total of 265 birds were screened and infections were detected in 108 birds (40.8%). Most positive infections were identified as Haemoproteus (36.2%), followed by Plasmodium (6.8%) and Leucocytozoon (0.8%). A total of 71 haemosporidian lineages were detected of which 39 were previously undescribed. We found that regional similarity influenced shared lineages, as a higher number of lineages were shared with avian communities in the sky islands of New Mexico compared to south Texas, the Texas Gulf Coast and central Mexico. We found that migratory status of avian host did not influence parasite prevalence, but that host phylogeny is likely an important driver.
Learning to detect malicious URLs Ma, Justin; Saul, Lawrence K.; Savage, Stefan ...
ACM transactions on intelligent systems and technology,
04/2011, Letnik:
2, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Malicious Web sites are a cornerstone of Internet criminal activities. The dangers of these sites have created a demand for safeguards that protect end-users from visiting them. This article explores ...how to detect malicious Web sites from the lexical and host-based features of their URLs. We show that this problem lends itself naturally to modern algorithms for online learning. Online algorithms not only process large numbers of URLs more efficiently than batch algorithms, they also adapt more quickly to new features in the continuously evolving distribution of malicious URLs. We develop a real-time system for gathering URL features and pair it with a real-time feed of labeled URLs from a large Web mail provider. From these features and labels, we are able to train an online classifier that detects malicious Web sites with 99% accuracy over a balanced dataset.
Rhinoviruses (RVs) are major instigators of acute exacerbations of asthma, COPD, and other respiratory diseases. RVs are categorized into three species (RV-A, RV-B, and RV-C), which comprise more ...than 160 serotypes, making it difficult to develop an effective vaccine. Currently, no effective treatment for RV infection is available. Pulmonary surfactant is an extracellular complex of lipids and proteins that plays a central role in regulating innate immunity in the lung. The minor pulmonary surfactant lipids, palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) and phosphatidylinositol (PI), are potent regulators of inflammatory processes and exert antiviral activity against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A viruses (IAV). In the current study, we examined the potencies of POPG and PI against rhinovirus A16 (RV-A16) in primary human airway epithelial cells (AECs) differentiated at an air-liquid interface (ALI). After AECs were infected with RV-A16, PI reduced the viral RNA copy number by 70% and downregulated (55-75%) the expression of antiviral (MDA5, IRF7, and IFN-lambda) and CXCL11 chemokine genes. In contrast, POPG only slightly decreased MDA5 (24%) and IRF7 (11%) gene expression but did not inhibit IFN-lambda gene expression or RV-A16 replication in AECs. However, both POPG and PI inhibited (50-80%) IL6 gene expression and protein secretion and CXCL11 protein secretion. PI treatment dramatically attenuated global gene expression changes induced by RV-A16 infection alone in AECs. The observed inhibitory effects were indirect and resulted mainly from the inhibition of virus replication. Cell-type enrichment analysis of viral-regulated genes opposed by PI treatment revealed the PI-inhibited viral induction of goblet cell metaplasia and the virus-induced downregulation of ciliated, club, and ionocyte cell types. Notably, the PI treatment also altered the ability of RV-A16 to regulate the expression of some phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (
); acyl-CoA-binding, domain-containing (
); and low-density lipoprotein receptor (
) genes that play critical roles in the formation and functioning of replication organelles (ROs) required for RV replication in host cells. These data suggest PI can be used as a potent, non-toxic, antiviral agent for RV infection prophylaxis and treatment.
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