Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isokinetic Concentric Quadriceps and Hamstring Normative Data for Elite Collegiate American Football Players Participating in the NFL Scouting Combine

Abstract Zvijac, JE, Toriscelli, TA, Merrick, WS, Papp, DF, and Kiebzak, GM. Isokinetic concentric quadriceps and hamstring normative data for elite collegiate American football players participating in the NFL scouting combine. J Strength Cond Res 28(4): 875–883, 2014—Isokinetic concentric quadriceps and hamstring strength data using a Cybex dynamometer are collected for elite collegiate American football players invited to the annual National Football League Scouting Combine. We constructed a normative (reference) database of the Cybex strength data for the purpose of allowing comparison of an individual's values to his peers. Data reduction was performed to construct frequency distributions of hamstring/quadriceps (H/Q) ratios and side-to-side strength differences. For the cohort (n = 1,252 players), a statistically significant but very small (1.9%) mean quadriceps strength preference existed for dominant side vs. nondominant side. Peak torque (Newton meters, best repetition) for quadriceps and hamstrings was significantly correlated to player body mass (weight) (the same relationship was found for other variables using peak torque in the calculation). Peak torque varied by player position, being greatest for offensive linemen and lowest for kickers (p < 0.0001). Adjusting for body weight overcorrected these differences. The H/Q ratios and frequency distributions were similar across positions, with a mean of 0.6837 ± 0.137 for the cohort dominant side vs. 0.6940 ± 0.145 for the nondominant side (p = 0.021, n = 1,252). Considerable variation was seen for dominant-to-nondominant side difference for peak torque. For quadriceps, 47.2% of players had differences between −10% and +10%, 21.0% had a peak torque dominant-side deficit of 10% or greater compared to nondominant side, and for 31.8% of players, dominant-side peak torque was greater than 10% compared to nondominant side. For hamstrings, 57.0% of players had differences between −10% and +10%, 19.6% had a peak torque dominant-side deficit of 10% or greater compared to nondominant side, and 23.4% of players, dominant-side peak torque was greater than 10% compared to nondominant side. We observed that isokinetic absolute strength variables are dependent on body weight and vary across player position. The H/Q ratios vary only within a relatively narrow range. Side-to-side differences in strength variables >10% are common, not the exception.
Modelling personality features by changing prosody in synthetic speech

This study explores how features of brand personalities can b e modelled with the prosodic parameters pitch level, pitch range, articulation rate and loudness. Experiments with parametric al diphone synthesis showed that listeners rated the prosodically changed versions better than a baseline version for the dimen- sions "sincerity", "competence", "sophistication", "excitem ent" and "ruggedness". The contribution of prosodic features such as lower pitch and an enlarged pitch range are analyzed and discussed.
A hidden Markov model for transcriptional regulation in single cells

We discuss several issues pertaining to the use of stochastic biochemical systems for modeling transcriptional regulation in single cells. By appropriately choosing the system state, we can model transcriptional regulation by a hidden Markov model (HMM). This opens the possibility of using well-known techniques for the statistical analysis and stochastic control of HMMs to mathematically and computationally study transcriptional regulation in single cells. Unfortunately, in all but a few simple cases, analytical characterization of the statistical behavior of the proposed HMM is not possible. Moreover, analysis by Monte Carlo simulation is computationally cumbersome. We discuss several techniques for approximating the HMM by one that is more tractable. We employ simulations, based on a biologically relevant transcriptional regulatory system, to show the relative merits and limitations of various approximation techniques and provide general guidelines for their use
Polymorphisms within Toll-like receptors are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus in a cohort of Danish females.

OBJECTIVES Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern-associated receptors in innate immunity that may be involved in the recognition of self-antigens and the production of pathogenic autoantibodies. This study was undertaken to examine whether polymorphisms of TLR genes are associated with SLE and to determine the expression of various TLRs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with SLE. METHODS The TLR polymorphisms in a cohort of 143 Danish lupus patients and 432 healthy Danish blood donors were analysed. Groups were age matched. Genotyping for the TLR single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was performed using Sequenom Multiplex technology. In addition, the mRNA expression of TLRs in PBMCs from 56 SLE patients and 56 healthy controls was studies by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS We found a genetic association with SLE and three SNPs located within the TLR3, TLR8 and TLR9 genes (rs3775291, P = 0.006; rs37648, P = 0.013; rs352143, P < 0.02). Furthermore, the relative TLR7, TLR8, IFN-α and LY6E mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in SLE patients than in healthy controls (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P = 0.0004 and P < 0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION These results obtained from a female lupus population of Danish ancestry suggest that variations in TLR3, TLR8 and TLR9 genes are implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease. If these polymorphisms are associated with innate immune dysfunction they may add to the growing field of theoretically well founded new therapeutic targets.
Effectiveness of insecticide‐treated and untreated nets to prevent malaria in India

India is the most malaria‐endemic country in South‐East Asia, resulting in a high socio‐economic burden. Insecticide‐treated or untreated nets are effective interventions to prevent malaria. As part of an Indian first‐aid guideline project, we aimed to investigate the magnitude of this effect in India.
An evaluation of self-esteem and quality of life in orthodontic patients: effects of crowding and protrusion.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of dental crowding and lip protrusion on self-esteem and quality of life (QOL) in female orthodontic patients with Class I malocclusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study sample consisted of 201 patients (mean age 22.6 ± 3.0 years) who sought orthodontic treatment. All the patients were evaluated before treatment in terms of their degree of dental crowding and lip protrusion. Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ) were used to determine self-esteem and QOL and to evaluate whether these values were related to malocclusion severity. RESULTS The results indicated that severe crowding and severe protrusion can result in lower self-esteem and poorer QOL (P < .05) than mild crowding and protrusion in Class I malocclusion. In the oral function component of the OQLQ, the severity of protrusion did not have significant effect. CONCLUSIONS In Class I malocclusion, patients with mild crowding or protrusion had significantly better self-esteem and QOL scores than severe crowding or protrusion patients.
Socioeconomic implications of tobacco use in Ghana.

INTRODUCTION Country-level evidence from Africa on the prevalence of tobacco use and the role played by both demographic and socioeconomic factors, as influences on the use of tobacco products, is sparse. This paper analyzes the determinants of tobacco use in Ghana and explores the association between tobacco use and poverty in the country. METHODS Data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, a nationally representative survey of households (n = 12,323), were used to generate descriptive statistics and characterize tobacco use in the country. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the relationships between tobacco use and age, place of residence, region, education status, wealth, marital status, alcohol use, and whether the person has children. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were calculated for tobacco users and nonusers on the likelihood of their purchase of selected commodities indicative of living standards. RESULTS Tobacco use was significantly higher among those living in poverty stricken regions, those with less education, lower levels of wealth, parents, and alcohol users. Tobacco use was significantly higher among men (7%) than women (0.4%), and it increased to a peak age of 41.4 years before it declined. Using tobacco was also associated with a lower likelihood of purchasing health insurance. DISCUSSION Tobacco use is inextricably related to poverty in Ghana. Policies should be formulated to target populations and regions with higher tobacco prevalence to combat both poverty and tobacco use simultaneously.
New low-contrast vision charts: reliability and test characteristics in patients with multiple sclerosis

The quantitative assessment of visual function in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials has been limited to Snellen visual acuity. The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-rater reliability and test characteristics of a new visual outcome measure, the Low-Contrast Sloan Letter Charts, in patients with MS and visually-asymptomatic volunteers. Contrast letter acuity scores (letter scores) were measured at each of four contrast levels (100, 5, 1.25 and 0.6%) by two independent raters. Inter-rater agreement was described with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and comparison of mean scores. Excellent inter-rater agreement (ICC=0.86-0.95) was demonstrated at each contrast level among MS patients (n=100) and visually-asymptomatic volunteers (n=33). Average letter scores at the lowest contrast level (0.6%) were highly variable in the MS group, even among patients with visual acuities of 20/20 or better, and among those who required no assistance for ambulation. Low-Contrast Sloan Letter Chart testing is a highly reliable method of visual assessment, and provides information on an aspect of neurologic impairment in MS which is not captured by Snellen visual acuity or ambulation status. This new method demonstrates excellent potential as a visual function outcome measure for future MS clinical trials.
Calculating the Bending Modulus for Multicomponent Lipid Membranes in Different Thermodynamic Phases

We establish a computational approach to extract the bending modulus, KC, for lipid membranes from relatively small-scale molecular simulations. Fluctuations in the splay of individual pairs of lipids faithfully inform on KC in multicomponent membranes over a large range of rigidities in different thermodynamic phases. Predictions are validated by experiments even where the standard spectral analysis-based methods fail. The local nature of this method potentially allows its extension to calculations of KC in protein-laden membranes.
Posthospital medication discrepancies: prevalence and contributing factors.

BACKGROUND Despite the national attention being given to the problem of medication safety, little attention has been paid to the medication problems that are encountered by older patients who are receiving care across settings. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and contributing factors associated with posthospital medication discrepancies. METHODS The study population consisted of community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older admitted to the hospital with 1 of 9 selected conditions (n = 375). A geriatric nurse practitioner performed a comprehensive medication assessment in the patient's home within 24 to 72 hours after institutional discharge. The assessment focused on what older patients reported taking in comparison with the prehospital medication regimen and the posthospital medication regimen. Prevalence and types of medication discrepancies were categorized using the Medication Discrepancy Tool. RESULTS A total of 14.1% of patients experienced 1 or more medication discrepancies. Using the Medication Discrepancy Tool, 50.8% of identified contributing factors for discrepancies were categorized as patient-associated, and 49.2% were categorized as system-associated. Five medication classes accounted for half of all medication discrepancies. Medication discrepancies were associated with the total number of medications taken and the presence of congestive heart failure. A total of 14.3% of the patients who experienced medication discrepancies were rehospitalized at 30 days compared with 6.1% of the patients who did not experience a discrepancy (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS A significant percentage of older patients experienced medication discrepancies after making the transition from hospital to home. Both patient-associated and system-associated solutions may be needed to ensure medication safety during this vulnerable period.
Phylogenetic Diversity Theory Sheds Light on the Structure of Microbial Communities

Microbial communities are typically large, diverse, and complex, and identifying and understanding the processes driving their structure has implications ranging from ecosystem stability to human health and well-being. Phylogenetic data gives us a new insight into these processes, providing a more informative perspective on functional and trait diversity than taxonomic richness alone. But the sheer scale of high resolution phylogenetic data also presents a new challenge to ecological theory. We bring a sampling theory perspective to microbial communities, considering a local community of co-occuring organisms as a sample from a larger regional pool, and apply our framework to make analytical predictions for local phylogenetic diversity arising from a given metacommunity and community assembly process. We characterize community assembly in terms of quantitative descriptions of clustered, random and overdispersed sampling, which have been associated with hypotheses of environmental filtering and competition. Using our approach, we analyze large microbial communities from the human microbiome, uncovering significant variation in diversity across habitats relative to the null hypothesis of random sampling.
Effects of within-generation thermal history on the flight performance of Ceratitis capitata: colder is better

The influence of thermal history on temperature-dependent flight performance was investigated in an invasive agricultural pest insect, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). Flies were exposed to one of four developmental acclimation temperatures (Tacc: 15, 20, 25, 30°C) during their pupal stage and tested at these temperatures (Ttest) as adults using a full-factorial study design. Major factors influencing flight performance included sex, body mass, Ttest and the interaction between Ttest and Tacc. Successful flight performance increased with increasing Ttest across all acclimation groups (from 10% at 15°C to 77% at 30°C). Although Tacc did not affect flight performance independently, it did have a significant interaction effect with Ttest. Multiple comparisons showed that flies which had been acclimated to 15°C and 20°C performed better than those acclimated to 25°C and 30°C when tested at cold temperatures, but warm-acclimated flies did not outperform cold-acclimated flies at warmer temperatures. This provides partial support for the ‘colder is better’ hypothesis. To explain these results, several flight-related traits were examined to determine whether Tacc influenced flight performance as a consequence of changes in body or wing morphology, whole-animal metabolic rate or cytochrome c oxidase enzyme activity. Although significant effects of Tacc could be detected in several of the traits examined, with an emphasis on sex-related differences, increased flight performance could not be explained solely on the basis of changes in any of these traits. Overall, these results are important for understanding dispersal physiology despite the fact that the mechanisms of acclimation-related changes in flight performance remain unresolved.
Neonatal Umbilical Cord Blood Lipoproteins: Isolation and Characterization of Intermediate Density and Low Density Lipoproteins

Intermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) (d = 1.006 to 1.019 g/ml) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) (d = 1.019 to 1.063 g/ml) were Isolated from human umbilical cord blood plasma by sequential ultracentrlf ugatlon. The concentration, chemical and apollpoprotein composition, size and size distribution of the neonatal IDL and LDL for both sexes were determined. The IDL and LDL from the neonates showed no sexrelated differences In composition or concentration. The IDL and LDL were lower In concentration and differed In composition with regard to each other and with regard to the comparable adult fractions. The apollpoprotein (apo) composition showed only the high molecular weight form of apo B present In the IDL, while the LDL showed the presence of two lower molecular weight forms of apo B In addition to the high molecular weight form, along with appreciable amounts of apo E and apo A-l. The size distribution of the neonatal IDL and LDL showed a constant pattern, with peaks at approximately 300 A for IDL and 257 and 244 A for neonatal LDL. The alterations In composition, size and size distribution, as well as the lower concentrations present In the neonate, point to differences between the neonate and the adult In the metabolism of lipoproteins with a density of 1.006 to 1.063 g/ml.
Explorer 3 D plane labeling stereo matching with content aware adaptive windows

In this paper, we present an algorithm that exploits both the underlying 3D structure and image entropy to generate an adaptive matching window. The presented algorithm estimates real valued disparity maps by smartly exploring a 3D search space using a novel hypothesis generation approach that acts like a propagation scheduler. The proposed approach is among the top performing results when evaluated in the Middlebury, KITTI 2015 benchmarks.
Non-Lexical Approaches to Identifying Associative Relations in the Gene Ontology

The Gene Ontology (GO) is a controlled vocabulary widely used for the annotation of gene products. GO is organized in three hierarchies for molecular functions, cellular components, and biological processes but no relations are provided among terms across hierarchies. The objective of this study is to investigate three non-lexical approaches to identifying such associative relations in GO and compare them among themselves and to lexical approaches. The three approaches are: computing similarity in a vector space model, statistical analysis of co-occurrence of GO terms in annotation databases, and association rule mining. Five annotation databases (FlyBase, the Human subset of GOA, MGI, SGD, and WormBase) are used in this study. A total of 7,665 associations were identified by at least one of the three non-lexical approaches. Of these, 12% were identified by more than one approach. While there are almost 6,000 lexical relations among GO terms, only 203 associations were identified by both non-lexical and lexical approaches. The associations identified in this study could serve as the starting point for adding associative relations across hierarchies to GO, but would require manual curation. The application to quality assurance of annotation databases is also discussed.
Clinical features of dilated cardiomyopathy in Great Danes and results of a pedigree analysis: 17 cases (1990-2000).

OBJECTIVE To determine clinical features of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Great Danes and to determine whether DCM is familial in this breed. DESIGN Retrospective study. ANIMALS 17 Great Danes with DCM. PROCEDURE Medical records of Great Danes in which DCM was diagnosed on the basis of results of echocardiography (fractional shortening < 25%, end-systolic volume index > 30 ml/m2 of body surface area) were reviewed. Pedigrees were obtained for affected animals, as well as for other Great Danes in which DCM had been diagnosed. RESULTS Dilated cardiomyopathy appeared to be familial and was characterized by ventricular dilatation, congestive heart failure (left-sided or biventricular), and atrial fibrillation. Pedigree analysis suggested that DCM was inherited as an X-linked recessive trait, but the mode of inheritance could not be definitively identified. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggest that DCM may be an X-linked recessive trait in Great Danes. Thus, dogs with DCM probably should not be used for breeding, and female offspring of affected dogs should be used cautiously. Male offspring of affected females are at an increased risk of developing DCM and should be evaluated periodically for early signs of disease. Results of pedigree analysis were preliminary and should be used only as a guide for counseling breeders, rather than as a basis for making breeding decisions.
Decreasing Cervical Cancer Mortality in Mexico: Effect of Papanicolaou Coverage, Birthrate, and the Importance of Diagnostic Validity of Cytology

Background: The reduction in cervical cancer mortality in developed countries has been attributed to well-organized, population-based prevention and control programs that incorporate screening with the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. In Mexico, there has been a decrease in cervical cancer mortality, but it is unclear what factors have prompted this reduction. Methods: Using data from national indicators, we determined the correlation between cervical cancer mortality rates and Pap coverage, birthrate, and gross national product, using a linear regression model. We determined relative risk of dying of cervical cancer according to place of residence (rural/urban, region) using a Poisson model. We also estimated Pap smear coverage using national survey data and evaluated the validity and reproducibility of Pap smear diagnosis. Results: An increase in Pap coverage (β = −0.069) and a decrease in birthrate (β = 0.054) correlate with decreasing cervical cancer mortality in Mexico. Self-reported Pap smear rates in the last 12 months vary from 27.4% to 48.1%. Women who live in the central (relative risk, 1.04) and especially the southern (relative risk, 1.47) parts of Mexico have a greater relative risk of dying of cervical cancer than those who live in the north. There is a high incidence of false negatives in cervical cytology laboratories in Mexico; the percentage of false negatives varies from 3.33% to 53.13%. Conclusions: The decrease in cervical cancer mortality observed in Mexico is proportional to increasing Pap coverage and decreasing birthrate. Accreditation of cervical cytology laboratories is needed to improve diagnostic precision. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(10):2808–17)
An Assessment of Design Patterns' Influence on a Java-based E-Commerce Application

Design patterns, acting as recurring solutions to common problems, offer significant benefits such as avoiding unnecessary complexity, and promoting code reuse, maintainability and extensibility. This paper describes how four not technology-specific or language-specific design patterns (Front Controller, Model View Controller, Transfer Object and Service to Worker) can be applied to one typical e-commerce application developed using Java EE platform. The first goal is to evaluate the improvement of design properties after the implementation of each design pattern using software metrics. Another goal is to assess the influence of design patterns on the maintainability of the e-commerce application under study by examining the evolution of software metrics when performing certain extensions. The results indicate that the application of patterns positively influences design properties such as coupling, complexity and messaging implying a possible improvement in high-level quality attributes such as flexibility, extensibility and reusability.