OBJECTIVE To examine the association between serum β2-microglobulin (B2M) levels and frailty in an elderly Chinese population. DESIGN A population-based cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS We used data on 1,663 elderly participants (aged 70-84 years) from the aging arm of the Rugao Longevity and Ageing study, a population-based observational two-arm cohort study conducted in Rugao, China...

Let K be a complete discrete valuation field with the residue field K, charK = p > 0. If K is a perfect field, there exists a beautiful theory of ramification in algebraic extensions of K. Given a finite Galois extension L/K with the Galois group G, one can introduce a canonical filtration (Gi) in G with quite a natural behavior with respect to subextensions in L/K. Namely, if H is a normal sub...

This study investigated the effects of soluble organic matters on membrane fouling characteristics, using silt density index (SDI) and modified fouling index (MFI) to evaluate the fouling potential. Experimental results demonstrated that humic acid had significant effects on membrane fouling indexes. When its concentration was in the range of 0.01-0.05 mg/L, the SDI(15) and MFI were 2.9-3.9 and...

Antihypertensive efficacy of single-pill combinations (SPCs) consisting of a β1 -selective adrenergic blocker with vasodilatory properties via β3 -agonism (nebivolol) and an angiotensin II receptor blocker (valsartan) was demonstrated in an 8-week phase 3 trial (NCT01508026). In this post hoc analysis, seated blood pressure, heart rate, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, plasma aldos...

In this paper we introduce filtration pairs for isolated invariant sets of continuous maps. We prove the existence of filtration pairs and show that, up to shift equivalence, the induced map on the corresponding pointed space is an invariant of the isolated invariant set. Moreover, the maps defining the shift equivalence can be chosen canonically. Lastly, we define partially ordered Morse decom...

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Donald Higman. Don was especially attracted to methods with some kind of fundamental simplicity but with sufficient substance to be useful and illuminating. This paper is written in the spirit of this lofty aspiration and also somewhat in the direction of Don’s early interests in homological algebra. The paper begins in Section 1 with a foundational disc...

Many slope filtrations occur in algebraic geometry, asymptotic analysis, ramification theory, p-adic theories, geometry of numbers... These functorial filtrations, which are indexed by rational (or sometimes real) numbers, have a lot of common properties. We propose a unified abstract treatment of slope filtrations, and survey how new ties between different domains have been woven by dint of de...

Microalbuminuria (MA) is an important early sign of diabetic nephropathy. Hyperfiltration and impaired filtration in relation to albuminuria has been well investigated in diabetic subjects. This study tested the hypothesis that an increased urinary albumin excretion (UAE) is associated with renal functional abnormalities also in nondiabetic subjects. The relation between UAE and creatinine clea...