Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Chemopreventive Contents of Native American Juneberries (Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem.)

Juneberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is a shrub with edible berry-like fruit commonly found across the Northern Great Plains of North America and widely used by Native Americans as a medicinal plant. This study was an effort to assess the chemopreventive contents of juneberry extracts in ethanol by measuring the total phenolic content, orthophenolic content, DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical cation decolorization assay, and cytoprotective effects on HepG2 cells. The total phenolic content upon treatment with Folin-Ciocalteu’s reagent ranged from 0.2261 ± 0.0031 to 19.311 ± 1.651 mg.g tannic acid equivalents. Orthophenolic content quantified by monitoring the bathochromic shifts upon reacting with sodium molybdate ranged from 0.12 ± 0.03 to 2.38 ± 0.15 mg.g of FW. Antioxidant activity using DPPH assay ranged from 50.08 ± 0.77 to 98.60 ± 1.12%, in contrast to quercetin dihydrate with an activity of 86.20 ± 0.05%. ABTS radical scavenging assay produced inhibition from 1.90 ± 0.11 to 60.25 ± 1.65% as opposed to 6-hydroxy-2, 5, 7, 8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid (Trolox) with an inhibition of 94.03 ± 0.21% . HepG2 cells treated with 100 μg/μL of sample WC2B showed 56% cell-viability against tert-Butyl hydroperoxide in comparison to quercetin dihydrate which showed 90% cytoprotection. Total phenolic content and orthophenolic content in juneberries from 2012 were higher than in juneberries obtained from the 2013 and 2014. Similarly fruit grown in the wild showed significantly higher antioxidant activity and phenolic content than those grown in domestic cultivars.
IκB kinase (IKK)β, but not IKKα, is a critical mediator of osteoclast survival and is required for inflammation-induced bone loss

Transcription factor, nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), is required for osteoclast formation in vivo and mice lacking both of the NF-κB p50 and p52 proteins are osteopetrotic. Here we address the relative roles of the two catalytic subunits of the IκB kinase (IKK) complex that mediate NF-κB activation, IKKα and IKKβ, in osteoclast formation and inflammation-induced bone loss. Our findings point out the importance of the IKKβ subunit as a transducer of signals from receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK) to NF-κB. Although IKKα is required for RANK ligand-induced osteoclast formation in vitro, it is not needed in vivo. However, IKKβ is required for osteoclastogenesis in vitro and in vivo. IKKβ also protects osteoclasts and their progenitors from tumor necrosis factor α–induced apoptosis, and its loss in hematopoietic cells prevents inflammation-induced bone loss.
Core Muscle Activity, Exercise Preference, and Perceived Exertion during Core Exercise with Elastic Resistance versus Machine

Objectives. To investigate core muscle activity, exercise preferences, and perceived exertion during two selected core exercises performed with elastic resistance versus a conventional training machine. Methods. 17 untrained men aged 26–67 years participated in surface electromyography (EMG) measurements of five core muscles during torso-twists performed from left to right with elastic resistance and in the machine, respectively. The order of the exercises was randomized and each exercise consisted of 3 repetitions performed at a 10 RM load. EMG amplitude was normalized (nEMG) to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVC). Results. A higher right erector spinae activity in the elastic exercise compared with the machine exercise (50% [95% CI 36–64] versus 32% [95% CI 18–46] nEMG) was found. By contrast, the machine exercise, compared with the elastic exercise, showed higher left external oblique activity (77% [95% CI 64–90] versus 54% [95% CI 40–67] nEMG). For the rectus abdominis, right external oblique, and left erector spinae muscles there were no significant differences. Furthermore, 76% preferred the torso-twist with elastic resistance over the machine exercise. Perceived exertion (Borg CR10) was not significantly different between machine (5.8 [95% CI 4.88–6.72]) and elastic exercise (5.7 [95% CI 4.81–6.59]). Conclusion. Torso-twists using elastic resistance showed higher activity of the erector spinae, whereas torso-twist in the machine resulted in higher activity of the external oblique. For the remaining core muscles the two training modalities induced similar muscular activation. In spite of similar perceived exertion the majority of the participants preferred the exercise using elastic resistance.
Selenium (Se) supplementation on the Se status of dairy cows in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal

A dose-response trial was conducted with dairy cows on six farms in the Ixopo district of the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. Up to 30 cows per farm received a single subcutaneous injection of 5 mL of a long-acting/slow-releasing selenium (Se) supplement containing 50 g Se as barium selenate/mL (Deposel). The same number of matching cows per farm was used as controls. The cows grazed cultivated pastures and received concentrates containing no added Se. Whole blood Se concentrations were determined on day 1 and at ca. three month intervals thereafter. The investigation was conducted for periods ranging from between 300 and 400 days on the different farms. Incidences of retained placenta, metritis, cystic ovaries, mastitis and calf mortality were recorded. Whole blood Se concentrations of the unsupplemented cows ranged from 17 to 90 ng/mL. Accepting that a concentration of >200 ng/mL blood indicates an adequate Se intake, the recorded concentrations suggest that the cows were deficient to marginally deficient in Se. The parenteral Se supplementation at the prescribed dose increased blood Se concentrations by an average of 32.8 ng/mL, but this was insufficient to raise blood Se concentrations to adequate or recommended levels for dairy cows. No significant differences were recorded on the incidence of retained placenta, metritis, cystic ovaries, mastitis and calf mortality. It was concluded that, if not supplemented, dairy cows grazing cultivated pastures in the Ixopo district of KwaZulu-Natal are likely to be deficient to marginally deficient in Se. However, the prescribed dose of 5 mL of the slow-releasing Se supplement was too low to overcome the deficiency.
Privacy Amplification and Non-malleable Extractors via Character Sums

In studying how to communicate over a public channel with an active adversary, Dodis and Wichs introduced the notion of a non-malleable extractor. A non-malleable extractor dramatically strengthens the notion of a strong extractor. A strong extractor takes two inputs, a weakly-random $x$ and a uniformly random seed $y$, and outputs a string which appears uniform, even given $y$. For a non-malleable extractor $\nm$, the output $\nm(x,y)$ should appear uniform given $y$ as well as $\nm(x,\adv(y))$, where $\adv$ is an arbitrary function with $\adv(y) \neq y$. We show that an extractor introduced by Chor and Gold reich is non-malleable when the entropy rate is above half. It outputs a linear number of bits when the entropy rate is $1/2 + \alpha$, for any $\alpha>0$. Previously, no nontrivial parameters were known for any non-malleable extractor. To achieve a polynomial running time when outputting many bits, we rely on a widely-believed conjecture about the distribution of prime numbers in arithmetic progressions. Our analysis involves a character sum estimate, which may be of independent interest. Using our non-malleable extractor, we obtain protocols for ``privacy amplification & quot;: key agreement between two parties who share a weakly-random secret. Our protocols work in the presence of an active adversary with unlimited computational power, and have asymptotically optimal entropy loss. When the secret has entropy rate greater than $1/2$, the protocol follows from a result of Dodis and Wichs, and takes two rounds. When the secret has entropy rate $\delta$ for any constant~$\delta>0$, our new protocol takes a constant (polynomial in $1/\delta$) number of rounds. Our protocols run in polynomial time under the above well-known conjecture about primes.
Racially and Ethnically Diverse Schools and Adolescent Romantic Relationships1

Focusing on romantic relationships, which are often seen as a barometer of social distance, this analysis investigates how adolescents from different racial-ethnic and gender groups respond when they attend diverse schools with many opportunities for inter-racial-ethnic dating. Which groups respond by forming inter-racial-ethnic relationships, and which groups appear to “work around” opportunities for inter-racial-ethnic dating by forming more same-race-ethnicity relationships outside of school boundaries? Most prior studies have analyzed only relationships within schools and, therefore, cannot capture a potentially important way that adolescents express preferences for same-race-ethnicity relationships or work around constraints from other groups’ preferences. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I find that, when adolescents are in schools with many opportunities for inter-racial-ethnic dating, black females and white males are most likely to form same-race-ethnicity relationships outside of the school; whereas Hispanic males and females are most likely to date across racial-ethnic boundaries within the school.
Trans‐Disciplinary Soil Physics Research Critical to Synthesis and Modeling of Agricultural Systems

Synthesis and quantification of disciplinary knowledge at the whole system level, via the process models of agricultural systems, are critical to achieving improved and dynamic management and production systems that address the environmental concerns and global issues of the 21st century. Soil physicists have made significant contributions in this area in the past, and are uniquely capable of making the muchneeded and exciting new contributions. Most of the exciting new research opportunities are trans-disciplinary, that is, lie on the interfacial boundaries of soil physics and other disciplines, especially in quantifying interactions amongsoil physicalprocesses, plant andatmospheric processes, and agricultural management practices. Some important knowledge-gap and cutting-edge areas of such research are: (1) quantification and modeling the effects of various management practices (e.g., tillage, no-tillage, crop residues, and rooting patterns) on soil properties and soil–plant–atmosphere processes; (2) the dynamics of soil structure, especially soil cracks and biochannels, and their effects on surface runoff of water and mass, and preferential water and chemical transport to subsurface waters; (3) biophysics of changes in properties and processes at the soil–plant and plant–atmosphere interfaces; (4) modeling contributions of agricultural soils to climate change and effects of climate change on soil environment and agriculture; and (5) physical (cause-effect) quantification of spatial variability of soil properties and their outcomes, new methods of parameterizing a variable field for field-scale modeling, and new innovative methods of aggregating output results from plots to fields to larger scales. The current status of the various aspects of these research areas is reviewed briefly. The future challenges are identified that will require both experimental research and development of new concepts, theories, and models.
Denial in patients with a first-time myocardial infarction: relations to pre-hospital delay and attendance to a cardiac rehabilitation programme

Background Survival of a myocardial infarction and subsequent prognosis are highly dependent on the time between onset of symptoms and medical intervention. Design This cross-sectional study examines whether patients who used the psychological defence mechanism of denial when faced with symptoms of a first-time myocardial infarction tended to also show a prolonged delay in going to the hospital and to be less willing to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Methods One hundred and seven patients, 78 men and 29 women, were enrolled in this study. The sample was divided into two groups depending on whether the patients sought medical help within 4h after they began experiencing myocardial infarction symptoms (non-delayers) or whether they waited longer (delayers). Denial was measured with the Hackett and Cassem semi-structured interview 3–5 days after the patients entered the hospital. Data on participation (attenders) or not (non-attenders) in the rehabilitation programme was also obtained. Results Forty-nine patients exhibited a prolonged delay and 76 patients did not attend the rehabilitation programme. Both prolonged delay and a lesser readiness to attend the rehabilitation programme that was offered were related to a greater use of denial. In addition, the great majority of the patients categorized as being high deniers were found to also be both delayers and non-attenders. Conclusions The results suggest denial to increase the health risks of persons potentially prone to myocardial infarction. If our knowledge about this psychological defence mechanism is increased, we might be able to reach more patients in alternative and individually based cardiac rehabilitation programmes.
Asymptotically optimal sampling-based kinodynamic planning

Sampling-based algorithms are viewed as practical solutions for high-dimensional motion planning. Recent progress has taken advantage of random geometric graph theory to show how asymptotic optimality can also be achieved with these methods. Achieving this desirable property for systems with dynamics requires solving a two-point boundary value problem (BVP) in the state space of the underlying dynamical system. It is difficult, however, if not impractical, to generate a BVP solver for a variety of important dynamical models of robots or physically simulated ones. Thus, an open challenge was whether it was even possible to achieve optimality guarantees when planning for systems without access to a BVP solver. This work resolves the above question and describes how to achieve asymptotic optimality for kinodynamic planning using incremental sampling-based planners by introducing a new rigorous framework. Two new methods, STABLE_SPARSE_RRT (SST) and SST*, result from this analysis, which are asymptotically near-optimal and optimal, respectively. The techniques are shown to converge fast to high-quality paths, while they maintain only a sparse set of samples, which makes them computationally efficient. The good performance of the planners is confirmed by experimental results using dynamical systems benchmarks, as well as physically simulated robots.
The Impact of Executive Function on Emotion Recognition and Emotion Experience in Patients with Schizophrenia

Objective This study investigated the impact of executive function on the performance of two different affective tasks, the Facial Affect Identification Task (FAIT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), in patients with schizophrenia. Methods Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls completed the FAIT and the IGT, followed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the intelligence quotient (IQ) test. In addition to correlation analysis, regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which the performance of the WCST, in particular, perseverative error (PE), accounted for the variation in both the FAIT and the IGT. Results Relative to normal controls, patients with schizophrenia showed significant impairments in the IGT, the FAIT and the WCST even after controlling for IQ. While normal controls did not show any relationships between the WCST and two affective tasks, patients with schizophrenia showed that variables in the WCST correlated not only with the FAIT total correct score (r=-0.503, p=0.001 for PE) but also with the IGT net score (r=0.385, p=0.016 for PE). The PE score was a better predictor of the performance on the FAIT (R2=0.25) than that of the performance on the IGT (R2=0.15). Conclusion Our findings imply that deficits in executive function in schizophrenia can affect performance on facial emotion recognition task more than performance on task based on emotion experience, that is, the feedback from the body. Therefore, more consideration is needed of the impact of executive function when interpreting the result of "conventional" facial affect recognition tests as opposed to interpreting the IGT.
Hemodynamic responses are reduced with aerobic compared with resistance blood flow restriction exercise

The hemodynamics of light‐load exercise with an applied blood‐flow restriction (BFR) have not been extensively compared between light‐intensity, BFR, and high‐intensity forms of both resistance and aerobic exercise in the same participant population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use a randomized crossover design to examine the hemodynamic responses to resistance and aerobic BFR exercise in comparison with a common high‐intensity and light‐intensity non‐BFR exercise. On separate occasions participants completed a leg‐press (resistance) or treadmill (aerobic) trial. Each trial comprised a light‐intensity bout (LI) followed by a light‐intensity bout with BFR (80% resting systolic blood pressure (LI+BFR)), then a high‐intensity bout (HI). To characterize the hemodynamic response, measures of cardiac output, stroke volume, heart rate and blood pressure were taken at baseline and exercise for each bout. Exercising hemodynamics for leg‐press LI+BFR most often resembled those for HI and were greater than LI (e.g. for systolic blood pressure LI+BFR = 152 ± 3 mmHg; HI = 153 ± 3; LI = 143 ± 3 P < 0.05). However, exercising hemodynamics for treadmill LI+BFR most often resembled those for LI and were lower than HI (e.g. for systolic pressure LI+BFR = 124 ± 2 mmHg; LI = 123 ± 2; HI = 140 ± 3 P < 0.05). In conclusion, the hemodynamic response for light aerobic (walking) BFR exercise suggests this mode of BFR exercise may be preferential for chronic use to develop muscle size and strength, and other health benefits in certain clinical populations that are contraindicated to heavy‐load resistance exercise.
Beta-blockade as an alternative to cardioplegic arrest during cardiopulmonary bypass.

BACKGROUND As an alternative to cardioplegic arrest, cardiac surgical conditions have been produced using beta-blocker-induced minimal myocardial contraction (MMC) during cardiopulmonary bypass. The technique of MMC involves the use of high-dose intravenous esmolol to suppress myocardial chronotropy and inotropy sufficiently to produce cardiac surgical conditions. The purpose of this study was to compare conventional crystalloid cardioplegic arrest with MMC in terms of ischemia avoidance, myocardial edema formation, and cardiac function. METHODS Twelve dogs were placed on cardiopulmonary bypass. Six dogs were subjected to crystalloid cardioplegic arrest for 2 hours. Surgical conditions were produced in the other 6 dogs for 2 hours using intravenous esmolol without aortic clamping or cardioplegia. Arterial and coronary sinus lactate concentrations were determined as a gauge of myocardial ischemia. Myocardial water content was determined using microgravimetry and preload recruitable stroke work was determined using sonomicrometry and micromanometry. RESULTS Significant lactate washout was demonstrated after cardioplegic arrest but not after MMC. Myocardial water content was significantly less during and after MMC compared with cardioplegic arrest (p < 0.05). Preload recruitable stroke work was decreased compared with baseline values in both groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In contrast to a previous study that involved 1 hour of MMC, in this study, ventricular function was decreased to the same extent as with cardioplegic arrest after 2 hours of MMC. This was attributed to the accumulation of ASL-8123, the primary metabolite of esmolol, which possesses beta-antagonist properties. Although postbypass ventricular function is similar in both groups, MMC appears to be superior in terms of ischemia avoidance and myocardial edema formation.
Extracting a PP Attachment Data Set from a German Dependency Treebank Using Topological Fields

PP-attachment has traditionally been tackled as a binary classification task where a preposition is attached to the immediately preceding noun or to the main verb. In this paper, we provide an analysis of PP-attachment in German to show that the assumption that prepositions have only two head candidates does not hold. We propose a realistic PP-attachment data set, in which each preposition has multiple head candidates. The data set is extracted automatically from a dependency treebank with topological field annotations. Finally, we show that the task of PP-attachment is substantially more difficult with this realistic data set than with a binary classification data set.
Advancing Brain-Computer Interfaces for Robotic Embodiment Systems

Different methodologies and algorithms are researched in this thesis aiming at overcoming some of the limitations in Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in general and for their applications in the context of immersive robotic embodiment systems in particular. Primarily, the challenges of detecting steady-state visual evoked potentials and interaction error-related potentials are investigated. Invariance and variability of the latter are discussed in detail. Further, adaptive and contextual BCIs are introduced as a way out of the bandwidth bottleneck of current BCIs.
Creep Deformation by Dislocation Movement in Waspaloy

Creep tests of the polycrystalline nickel alloy Waspaloy have been conducted at Swansea University, for varying stress conditions at 700 °C. Investigation through use of Transmission Electron Microscopy at Cambridge University has examined the dislocation networks formed under these conditions, with particular attention paid to comparing tests performed above and below the yield stress. This paper highlights how the dislocation structures vary throughout creep and proposes a dislocation mechanism theory for creep in Waspaloy. Activation energies are calculated through approaches developed in the use of the recently formulated Wilshire Equations, and are found to differ above and below the yield stress. Low activation energies are found to be related to dislocation interaction with γ′ precipitates below the yield stress. However, significantly increased dislocation densities at stresses above yield cause an increase in the activation energy values as forest hardening becomes the primary mechanism controlling dislocation movement. It is proposed that the activation energy change is related to the stress increment provided by work hardening, as can be observed from Ti, Ni and steel results.