The excess mortality risk of diabetes associated with functional decline in older adults: Results from a 7-year follow-up of a nationwide cohort in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diabetes is associated with an increased risk of functional decline in older adults. Few studies have investigated the contribution of functional decline to excess mortality risk in older people with diabetes. The aim of this study was to examine how diabetes in combination with different levels of functional decline affects 7-year mortality in older adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of people aged 65 years and over, participating in the 2001 National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan. A total of 1873 participants were followed through 2002-2008, of whom 286 (15.3%) had a history of diabetes confirmed by a medical professional. Participants were divided into three functional status groups: (1) high functioning-no limitations involving activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), or physical functioning; (2) low functioning-limitations in one or more ADLs; (3) middle functioning-all participants in between groups 1 and 2.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The crude mortality rate was 52.7 per 1,000 person-years in those with diabetes and 34.1 per 1,000 person-years in those without diabetes. After adjustment for other factors, diabetes alone was not associated with an increased mortality risk in those with high functioning. However, diabetes alone had a hazard ratio (HR) for mortality of 1.90 (95%CI = [1.02-3.53]) in those with middle functioning and 3.67 (95%CI = [1.55-8.69]) in those with low functioning. The presence of diabetes and one or more other chronic conditions was associated with a HR for mortality of 2.46 (95%CI = [1.61-3.77]) in those with middle functioning and 4.03 (95%CI = [2.31-7.03]) in those with low functioning.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results indicate that diabetes is not associated with increased mortality in those with high functioning. There was a gradient effect of functional decline on mortality in individuals with diabetes. Additionally, among participants with other chronic conditions, functional decline was associated with a greater burden of mortality in older adults with diabetes. These findings highlight the critical importance of the prevention of cardiovascular disease morbidity and the maintenance of functional abilities in order to reduce mortality risk in older adults with diabetes.</p

Seroprevalence and Severity of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: This study is to determine the seroprevalence of the pandemic influenza A H1N1 virus (pH1N1) in Taiwan before and after the 2009 pandemic, and to estimate the relative severity of pH1N1 infections among different age groups. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 1544 and 1558 random serum samples were collected from the general population in Taiwan in 2007 and 2010, respectively. Seropositivity was defined by a hemagglutination inhibition titer to pH1N1 (A/Taiwan/126/09) ≥1:40. The seropositivity rate of pH1N1 among the unvaccinated subjects and national surveillance data were used to compare the proportion of infections that led to severe diseases and fatalities among different age groups. The overall seroprevalence of pH1N1 was 0.91% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.43-1.38) in 2007 and significantly increased to 29.9% (95% CI 27.6-32.2) in 2010 (p<0.0001), with the peak attack rate (55.4%) in 10-17 year-old adolescents, the lowest in elderly ≥65 years (14.1%). The overall attack rates were 20.6% (188/912) in unvaccinated subjects. Among the unvaccinated but infected populations, the estimated attack rates of severe cases per 100,000 infections were significantly higher in children aged 0-5 years (54.9 cases, odds ratio [OR] 4.23, 95% CI 3.04-5.90) and elderly ≥ 65 years (22.4 cases, OR 2.76, 95% CI 1.99-3.83) compared to adolescents aged 10-17 years (13.0 cases). The overall case-fatality rate was 0.98 per 100,000 infections without a significant difference in different age groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Pre-existing immunity against pH1N1 was rarely identified in Taiwanese at any age in 2007. Young children and elderly--the two most lower seroprotection groups showed the greatest vulnerability to clinical severity after the pH1N1 infections. These results imply that both age groups should have higher priority for immunization in the coming flu season

Maintaining and breaking symmetry in homomeric coiled-coil assemblies

Higher order coiled coils with five or more helices can form α-helical barrels. Here the authors show that placing β-branched aliphatic residues along the lumen yields stable and open α-helical barrels, which is of interest for the rational design of functional proteins; whereas, the absence of β-branched side chains leads to unusual low-symmetry α-helical bundles

Fryske Akademy, HISGIS Amsterdam (2013), Kadaster 1832, bebouwing 1860, bevolkingsregister 1851, kiesregister 1853 en adresboek 1855

Het HISGIS-project Amsterdam is uitgevoerd door de Fryske Akademy (FA) in samenwerking met het Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI). De financiële middelen zijn beschikbaar gesteld door de Fryske Akademy, de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW), Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS, kleine dataprojecten, KDP031) en het Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI). Het stond en staat onder leiding van Johan Feikens en J.A. (Hans) Mol van de FA. De vectorbestanden zijn vervaardigd door Klaas Bronsema en Johan Feikens, de perceelgegevens uit de Oorspronkelijk Aanwijzende Tafels (OAT’s) zijn ingevoerd door Peter van der Meer en Wouter Schollema van de FA. De bevolkingsdata van 1851-1853 zijn bewerkt en aangeleverd door Peter Ekamper en Frans van Poppel van het NIDI, terwijl de kiezersgegevens van 1853 bijeengebracht en opgeschoond zijn door Jan Hein Furnée van het Centre for Urban History van de Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA). De Fryske Akademy heeft o.a. als taak zich bezig te houden met wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar Friesland in de breedste zin van het woord. Hieronder vallen onder ook het opzetten van een historisch basisbestand van het Kadaster van 1832. DANS en de Fryske Akademy (beide instituten gelieerd aan de KNAW) werken samen met betrekking tot het duurzaam archiveren en beschikbaar stellen van historische kadastrale kaarten voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Het betreft de volgende zes datalagen: a. Kadaster Amsterdam 1832 ( met eigenaren informatie) b. Gebouwenlaag Amsterdam 1832 c. Gebouwenlaag Amsterdam circa 1860 d. Gebouwenlaag Amsterdam met hoofdbewoners bevolkingsregistratie 1851 e. Gebouwenlaag Amsterdam met kiesgerechtigde bewoners 1853 f. Gebouwenlaag Amsterdam met het adresboek van 1855 De data is aan te vragen via de HISGIS-website, de metadatabestanden via EASY

NEWW Women Writers

Description of the NEWW Women Writers VRE 1. History First steps for preparing this tool were made at the end of the 1990s. Designated then as the “Database WomenWriters” it was created in order to allow, for pre-1900 Europe, the study of women’s writing in their international reception context. Such a study was not possible given the evident lack of large-scale information about women's writing being received by contemporaries. Large scale and transcending of boundaries was considered a necessity because of women's frequent role as translators, and also because of women's reputations abroad not always being recognized in the home country. The initiative was taken within the context of my research and teaching about French 18th and 19th-century women’s writing, as received in the Netherlands (Huizinga Institute and French department of University of Amsterdam). A number of colleagues of the “Werkverband Genderstudies Neerlandistiek Literatuur-geschiedschrijving (see also here) participated in the preliminary discussions which were also reflected in the volume “I have heard about you”. Foreign women’s writing crossing the Dutch border: from Sappho to Selma Lagerlöf (edited by Suzan van Dijk, Petra Broomans, Janet F. van der Meulen and Pim van Oostrum. Hilversum: Verloren, 2004). Starting 2001, the database was included in the Roquade project of the Utrecht University Library, and further developed under the direction of Ben Brandenburg. Thanks to different NWO grants (digitizing and “internationalizing” projects), data were entered by assistants, and an international network started being created, whose members used the database for their research. It was elected for the "International Innovation Award 2005" on the occasion of the XVIth International Conference of the Association for History and Computing (Amsterdam). In 2009 we were granted a COST Action (IS0901 Women Writers in History), and the headquarters moved to Huygens Institute (KNAW) in The Hague. The meetings and training schools organized in the COST context were extremely useful for defining common approaches, and discussing research. They resulted in features listed as requirements for the tool. In part these could be realized by the Institute’s IT department, thanks to the HERA Project Travelling TexTs 1790-1914. The Transnational Reception of Women’s Writing at the Fringes of Europe (2013–2016). This project involved colleagues from five countries, but maintained the collaboration with colleagues of some 15 other countries. These are now, together, the DARIAH Working Group Women Writers in History. 2. Content description The NEWW VRE contains information on the production of women authors from the Middle Ages up to the early 20th century, and on the reception of their works by contemporaries as well as early literary historians (both men and women). It comprises women who were active as authors, in the sense that they published their writings, either through publishing houses or in the periodical press. The structure of the VRE connects between authors and between publications: it can show both Jane Austen (for instance) influencing Isabelle de Montolieu, and Sense and Sensibility being translated into Raison et Sensibilité. Data are entered when any proof of reception is found: in other words, when it becomes clear through comments in press, private letters, translations, adaptations etc. that a woman writer and/or her works were received and read. Though the main focus lies on European women authors, the VRE also includes information on works and reception created in European colonies, Canada and the United States, due to the mutual cultural exchanges between these regions and Europe. The data in the VRE are information data (metadata in fact): short biographical data and categorization of the authors; titles and other bibliographical information, as well as categorization of the publications (both primary works and reception documents). If available, records for authors and publications refer through hyperlinks to relevant online information and digitized texts. 3. The Dutch part available at DANS As work on this tool started in the Netherlands and had the benefit of initial NWO funding, the amount of data for this country is more considerable than for the other countries. This is why we considered important to archive this bulk of information at DANS in EASY. The three “layers” contain at this moment: 1. 850 Dutch female authors (from Hadewych to Anne Frank, who through Cissy van Marxveldt was linked to Nellie van Kol), as well as 370 male authors, who were related to the women, receivers of the women’s writings (critics, journalists, anthologizers, etc.) or inspired their writing activities (from Erasmus to Heinz Polzer, grandson of Nellie van Kol) 2. 3700 publications by these women; 3. and: • 2800 reception documents (of the women’s works) • 2000 reception documents (concerning the authors) The very most of this could be curated thanks to the KDP. Final check for the remaining part will be done during the next weeks. On this occasion we like to thank our Dutch assistants, during different phases of the collaboration: Martine Brunot and Emmanuelle Radar (at the time students at the French Department UvA), Lotte Jensen and Alicia Montoya (then PhD-candidates UvA), Susanne Parren, Johanneke Straasheijm, Els Naaijkens (at OGC UU), Anne van Buul, Janouk de Groot, Astrid Kulsdom (Huygens ING). We were also importantly helped by students collaborating as trainees. Suzan van Dijk, 11-11-201

Genetic progress in Dutch crop yields

This dataset contains the underlying data for the study: Rijk, B., Ittersum, M. van, Withagen, J. "Genetic progress in Dutch crop yields". Field Crops Research 149 (2013) 262–268, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.05.008 Crop yields are a result of interactions between genetics, environment and management (G × E × M). As in the Netherlands differences between potential yield and actual farm yields (yield gaps) are relatively small, progress in genetic potential is essential to further increase farm yields. In this paper we study the progress in yields of newly released varieties in official Dutch variety trials as a proxy for the progress in genetic yield potential, i.e., yield under absence of water and nitrogen limitation and pests and diseases. The use of yields from variety trials as a proxy for genetic yield potential is justified as these are well managed and because water is hardly limiting under Dutch climate–soil conditions. We compared the genetic yield progress of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), ware and starch potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) over the past ca. 30 years (ca. 1980–2010) with the developments in on-farm yields over the same period. GenStat 14th edition was used to perform modified joint regression analyses (mjra) and residual (or restricted) maximum likelihood (reml) analyses of yields in order to separate year (i.e., climate and/or management) effects from variety effects. Genetic progress in yield has been linear with ca. 100 and 60 kg ha−1 year−1 (15% moisture), respectively, for winter wheat and spring barley, 580 kg ha−1 year−1 payment weight for starch potato, and, partly non-linear for sugar beet, i.e., 80–170 kg sugar ha−1 year−1 depending on resistance type of the varieties. We also analyzed significant year effects (corrected for genetic progress) for most crops in the variety trials, which point at an effect of climate (environment) and/or management in addition to the genetic effect. Farm yields of winter wheat, spring barley and starch potato have increased linearly over the last decades, with ca. 90, 70 and 320 kg ha−1 year−1 (in the same units as above). Increase in sugar yields on farms was concave (20–230 kg ha−1 year−1) and spectacular over the last 10 years. For ware potatoes the genetic yield increase was only 20 kg dry matter ha−1 year−1 and reliable farm statistics for dry matter yields are lacking. We conclude that for the main crops in the Netherlands genetic progress in yield potential of varieties newly released over the past three decades has been substantial and largely linear. Farm yields for these crops also continued to increase, at approximately the same rates, but could not always keep pace with the combined genetic and year effects (G × E × M) in variety trials, suggesting a widening yield gap

Cell size may affect heat tolerance in Drosophila

The dataset contains raw data of cell size, cell number, wing size and survival time of Drosophila melanogaster used for the analyses and to generate figures of the Insect Science paper (https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.12742) by Verspagen, Leiva, Janssen and Verberk. The article investigated how different larval densities and rearing temperatures affected cell size and heat tolerance in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. A detailed description of the experiments is given in the Materials and Methods of the paper. Data are organized in two Excel files. The first one contains cell size, cell number and wing size for each of the treatments used and the second one contain survival time data for four stressful temperatures. A description of each of the column is also given

Biologische teelt op een zuidelijke zandgrond: opbrengst, bemesting, bodemkwaliteit en stikstofverliezen

In deze dataset en het bijbehorende rapport worden de resultaten van het biologische bedrijfssysteem op WUR-proeflocatie Vredepeel in de periode 2001-2016 gepresenteerd met focus op gewasopbrengst, bodemkwaliteit, bemesting en stikstofuitspoeling. Het biologisch systeem heeft opbrengsten die gemiddeld 6% onder het streven liggen, een goede bodemvruchtbaarheid en een nitraatconcentratie in het grondwater onder de norm van de nitraatrichtlijn. De nutriëntenoverschotten van stikstof, fosfaat en kali zijn hoger dan de streefwaarde. De opbrengsten liggen gemiddeld ruim onder die van de gangbare teelt door het optreden van ziekten en plagen. Veranderingen in opbrengst, bodemkwaliteit en uitspoeling in de periode 2000-2016 zijn niet met metingen vastgesteld behalve een stijging in organisch stofgehalte. Hierdoor kan ook niet aangetoond worden dat door biologische landbouw de bodemkwaliteit verbetert en ecosysteemdiensten verbeteren. Onduidelijk is hoe het biologisch systeem tot een lage uitspoeling komt bij een relatief hoge stikstof- en organische stofaanvoer. Nader onderzoek is hiervoor nodig

Effect van organische stofbeheer op opbrengst, bodemkwaliteit en stikstofverliezen op een zuidelijke zandgrond

In het bedrijfssysteemonderzoek Bodemkwaliteit op zand op WUR-proeflocatie Vredepeel worden twee gangbare bedrijfssystemen met elkaar vergeleken gedurende de periode 2011-2016: één systeem met een gebruikelijke organische stofaanvoer met gebruik van drijfmest (STANDAARD) en één systeem met een lage organische stofaanvoer met gebruik van meststoffen zonder of met een laag gehalte organische stof (LAAG). Systeem LAAG heeft een 5% lagere totale droge stofproductie (p<0,05) en een lager risico op stikstofuitspoeling. De nitraatconcentraties in het grondwater (n.s.), de N-min voorraden in de bodem in het najaar (p<0,1), en het stikstofoverschot (n.s.) zijn in LAAG in alle gevallen lager dan STANDAARD. In beide systemen ligt de nitraatconcentratie in het grondwater boven de norm in de Europese nitraatrichtlijn (50 mg/l). Het organisch stofgehalte in LAAG is 0,4%-punt lager dan STANDAARD (p<0,01). Andere bodemparameters zijn in de loop van de tijd van de proef niet veranderd. Er kon geen duidelijk verband afgeleid worden tussen de aanvoer van organische stof en lachgasemissies. Aanvoer van extra organische stof in de vorm van compost in zowel LAAG als STANDAARD leidt tot hogere opbrengsten (n.s.), met name in systeem LAAG, maar geen verhoging van de uitspoeling. De opbrengsten in STANDAARD liggen gemiddeld 15% lager dan de praktijkopbrengsten op de proeflocatie, mogelijk veroorzaakt door de strikte bemestingsstrategie sinds de start van het bedrijfssystemenonderzoek in 1988. Met de indicaties voor lagere stikstofverliezen, hoewel nog steeds boven de nitraatnorm, bij een lagere aanvoer van organische stof, maar tegelijkertijd lagere opbrengsten geeft dit onderzoek een dilemma weer tussen een belangrijk milieuaspect en de economie van het boerenbedrijf

Dutch forest reserves database and network

The Dutch forest reserves network encompasses about 60 forest reserves representing all major forest types in the Netherlands. The reserves were designated between 1983 and 2000. The present Access-database presents all measurements (mostly between 1982 and 2005) on trees and regeneration in circular sample plots throughout the reserves and in a one ha rectangular core area in each reserve. The data set also includes map data at the reserve level (such as reserve boundaries, samples plots and core areas) and of GIS files derived from tree measurements in the core area