Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Leisure-time Physical Activity and Future Intention to Practice in Spanish College Students

Few studies analyze determinants and patterns of physical activity among college students, so it has not been possible to carry out effective interventions to promote this practice. The aim of this study was to analyze the associations between some personal, social, and environmental determinants, practice of physical activity and future intention to practice in a sample of 639 university students (321 men and 318 women), mean age 21.43 years (± 2.78). Physical fitness self-perception, physical activity history, and coach's support to practice physical activity have a direct effect on the practice of physical activity and an indirect effect on future intention to practice, both in men and women. The practice of physical activity has also a direct effect on future intention to practice. Likewise, the participation in sport competitions predicts practice of physical activity and future intention in men, whereas being a member of a sports club predicts practice and future intention in women. Son escasos los estudios que analizan los determinantes y patrones de práctica de actividad física en universitarios, no pudiéndose realizar intervenciones eficaces para promocionar dicha práctica. El objetivo del presente trabajo consistió en analizar las asociaciones entre diversos determinantes personales, sociales y ambientales, la práctica de actividad física actual y la intención futura de práctica, en una muestra de 639 universitarios (321 hombres y 318 mujeres), con una edad media de 21.43 años (± 2.78). La forma física percibida, la historia de actividad física previa y el apoyo del técnico/entrenador a practicar actividad física tienen un efecto directo sobre la práctica de actividad física e indirecto sobre la intención futura de práctica, en hombres y mujeres. La actividad física practicada también tiene un efecto directo sobre la intención futura. Además, en los hombres, la participación en competiciones deportivas predice la práctica de actividad física y la intención futura de práctica, mientras en el grupo de mujeres el ser miembro de un club deportivo determina la práctica actual y la intención futura de práctica.
Donepezil and flight simulator performance: Effects on retention of complex skills

Abstract—We report a randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled study to test the effects of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil (5 mg/d for 30 days), on aircraft pilot performance in 18 licensed pilots with mean age of 52 years. After 30 days of treatment, the donepezil group showed greater ability to retain the capacity to perform a set of complex simulator tasks than the placebo group, p < 0.05. Donepezil appears to have beneficial effects on retention of training on complex aviation tasks in nondemented older adults.
THE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL HYPERVENTILATION IN THE CONTROL OF BRAIN TENSION DURING NEUROSURGICAL OPERATIONS.

The value of artificial hyperventilation during neuro-anaesthesia for the reduction of brain volume and tension has been investigated. Dural tension during operation was significantly lower in hyperventilated patients than in spontaneously breathing patients for every class of pre-operative intracranial condition. Hyperventilation was less effective than osmotic dehydrating agents. Osmotic dehydration and hyperventilation showed a synergistic action in patients with normal or slightly elevated pre-operative intracranial pressure. The regular use of hyperventilation consistently reduced the need for other treatments during operation. Intraventricular cerebrospinal fluid pressure could be reduced, inducing hypocapnia by hyperventilation. Variations in mean airway pressure between 0 and 12 mg Hg had little or no effect on cerebrospinal fluid pressure. With the type of respirator used no unwanted effects were observed even after long periods of hyperventilation.
A Large-Scale Genetic Screen in Arabidopsis to Identify Genes Involved in Pollen Exine Production1[C][W][OA]

Exine, the outer plant pollen wall, has elaborate species-specific patterns, provides a protective barrier for male gametophytes, and serves as a mediator of strong and species-specific pollen-stigma adhesion. Exine is made of sporopollenin, a material remarkable for its strength, elasticity, and chemical durability. The chemical nature of sporopollenin, as well as the developmental mechanisms that govern its assembly into diverse patterns in different species, are poorly understood. Here, we describe a simple yet effective genetic screen in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) that was undertaken to advance our understanding of sporopollenin synthesis and exine assembly. This screen led to the recovery of mutants with a variety of defects in exine structure, including multiple mutants with novel phenotypes. Fifty-six mutants were selected for further characterization and are reported here. In 14 cases, we have mapped defects to specific genes, including four with previously demonstrated or suggested roles in exine development (MALE STERILITY2, CYP703A2, ANTHER-SPECIFIC PROTEIN6, TETRAKETIDE α-PYRONE REDUCTASE/DIHYDROFLAVONOL-4-REDUCTASE-LIKE1), and a number of genes that have not been implicated in exine production prior to this screen (among them, fatty acid ω-hydroxylase CYP704B1, putative glycosyl transferases At1g27600 and At1g33430, 4-coumarate-coenzyme A ligase 4CL3, polygalacturonase QUARTET3, novel gene At5g58100, and nucleotide-sugar transporter At5g65000). Our study illustrates that morphological screens of pollen can be extremely fruitful in identifying previously unknown exine genes and lays the foundation for biochemical, developmental, and evolutionary studies of exine production.
Robust Polyphonic Midi Score Following with Hidden Markov Models

Although modern audio score following systems work very well with low polyphony performances, they are still too imprecise with highly polyphonic instruments such as the piano, or the guitar. On the other hand, these instruments can easily output Midi information which shows that our work on robust Midi score following is still needed. We propose an adaptation to Midi input of our HMM-based stochastic audio score follower, focusing the attention on the piano as our test instrument. The acoustic salience of the Midi notes is modeled by an amplitude envelope, taking into account the sustain pedal, from which note match and attack probabilities are derived. Tests with a complex piano piece played with many errors showed a very high robustness.
ECG Morphological Variability in Beat Space for Risk Stratification After Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background Identification of patients who are at high risk of adverse cardiovascular events after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains a major challenge in clinical cardiology. We hypothesized that quantifying variability in electrocardiogram (ECG) morphology may improve risk stratification post‐ACS. Methods and Results We developed a new metric to quantify beat‐to‐beat morphologic changes in the ECG: morphologic variability in beat space (MVB), and compared our metric to published ECG metrics (heart rate variability [HRV], deceleration capacity [DC], T‐wave alternans, heart rate turbulence, and severe autonomic failure). We tested the ability of these metrics to identify patients at high risk of cardiovascular death (CVD) using 1082 patients (1‐year CVD rate, 4.5%) from the MERLIN‐TIMI 36 (Metabolic Efficiency with Ranolazine for Less Ischemia in Non‐ST‐Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome—Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 36) clinical trial. DC, HRV/low frequency–high frequency, and MVB were all associated with CVD (hazard ratios [HRs] from 2.1 to 2.3 [P<0.05 for all] after adjusting for the TIMI risk score [TRS], left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF], and B‐type natriuretic peptide [BNP]). In a cohort with low‐to‐moderate TRS (N=864; 1‐year CVD rate, 2.7%), only MVB was significantly associated with CVD (HR, 3.0; P=0.01, after adjusting for LVEF and BNP). Conclusions ECG morphological variability in beat space contains prognostic information complementary to the clinical variables, LVEF and BNP, in patients with low‐to‐moderate TRS. ECG metrics could help to risk stratify patients who might not otherwise be considered at high risk of CVD post‐ACS.
A green cone-like pigment in the ‘blind’ mole-rat Spalax ehrenbergi: functional expression and photochemical characterization

The degenerate subcutaneous eye of the blind mole rat belonging to the Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies has been shown to contain a long wavelength sensitive (LWS) cone pigment. Baculovirus expression of this LWS pigment and subsequent IMAC purification yields a photosensitive protein, that according to absorbance maximum (530 ± 2 nm), kinetics of late phototransitions, and transducin activation, has all characteristics of a functional green cone pigment. The absorbance spectrum of the Spalax pigment is strongly red-shifted relative to the very homologous mouse, rabbit and rat green cone pigments (508–510 nm). Also in contrast to the rodent pigments, the Spalax pigment exhibits anion-dependent spectral properties, displaying a 12 nm blue-shift upon substitution of chloride ions by nitrate ions. Finally, the slow part of the photocascade deviates in some aspects from that of sighted mammals. The possible relevance of these findings for the evolutionary adaptation of Spalax to a subterranean ecotope is discussed.
Flexible Nonlinear Companding Transform for Reducing PAPR of Multi-carrier Signals

An efficient nonlinear companding transform (NCT) scheme is proposed for reducing the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals. The proposed new scheme transforms the Gaussian-distributed signals into the specified statistics form based on a piecewise function. By choosing the companding coefficients, it enables more design flexibility in companding form so that a favorable trade-off between PAPR and the bit error rate (BER) performance can be achieved. Comparing with conventional PAPR reduction techniques, the proposed NCT-based scheme with proper coefficients can reduce PAPR efficiently as well as improve BER performance simultaneously.
ViFi: Virtual Fingerprinting WiFi-Based Indoor Positioning via Multi-Wall Multi-Floor Propagation Model

Widespread adoption of indoor positioning systems based on WiFi fingerprinting is at present hindered by the large efforts required for measurements collection during the offline phase. Two approaches were recently proposed to address such an issue: crowdsourcing and RSS radiomap prediction, based on either interpolation or propagation channel model fitting from a small set of measurements. RSS prediction promises better positioning accuracy when compared to crowdsourcing, but no systematic analysis of the impact of system parameters on positioning accuracy is available. This paper fills this gap by introducing ViFi, an indoor positioning system that relies on RSS prediction based on Multi-Wall Multi-Floor (MWMF) propagation model to generate a discrete RSS radiomap (virtual fingerprints). Extensive experimental results, obtained in multiple independent testbeds, show that ViFi outperforms virtual fingerprinting systems adopting simpler propagation models in terms of accuracy, and allows a seven-fold reduction in the number of measurements to be collected, while achieving the same accuracy of a traditional fingerprinting system deployed in the same environment. Finally, a set of guidelines for the implementation of ViFi in a generic environment, that saves the effort of collecting additional measurements for system testing and fine tuning, is proposed.
VSL#3® probiotic therapy does not reduce portal pressures in patients with decompensated cirrhosis

In patients with decompensated cirrhosis, bacterial translocation can contribute to splanchnic vasodilatation, decreased effective circulating volume, and portal hypertension. The primary objective of this randomized, double blind placebo controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of the probiotic VSL#3® on the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG).
Injection sclerotherapy versus electrocoagulation in the management outcome of early haemorrhoids.

OBJECTIVE To study the symptomatology of early hemorrhoids and to compare injection sclerotherapy (IS) with electrocoagulation (EC) in the management outcome of early haemorrhoids with respect to pain during the procedure, reduction in bleeding per rectum, and overall patient satisfaction score. METHODS A total of 102 patients were included in this experimental study at the POF Hospital, Wah Cantt from October 2004 to June 2005. A detailed history was taken and proctoscopic examination was performed. Patients were then randomly divided into two groups (Lottery method). One group was subjected to EC and the other to IS. In the EC, using the EC machine (Wieda, China), direct current of 10-20 mA was applied in the submucosal plane of each pile core for 5-7 minutes. In the IS 1-2 ml of 5% phenol in almond oil was injected in the same plane in each pile core. Pain during the procedure, reduction in bleeding per rectum and overall patient satisfaction, were studied as outcome measures. RESULTS The mean age of the patients was 44 years, 86 were males and 16 were females. Two thirds of the patients were having symptoms for more than 6 months. A third of patients had associated local pain while another third had associated mucous discharge. Chronic constipation was present in 81% patients. Only 24.5% of the patients had a positive family history of haemorrhoids. Patients in the electrocoagulation (EC) group experienced more pain during the procedure than the injection sclerotherapy (IS) group (P < 0.000), but EC was significantly more effective than IS in terms of reducing the bleeding per rectum (P = 0.039), and also significantly higher number of patients were fully satisfied with EC than with IS (P < 0.04). CONCLUSION EC, although more painful, is a safe, more effective and a highly satisfying procedure for treating early hemorrhoids.
Quantification of Ca2+ uptake in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of trout ventricular myocytes.

We measured Ca2+ uptake by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in trout ventricular myocytes, measuring indo 1 fluorescence in permeabilized cells or ionic currents in single myocytes subjected to voltage clamp. Titration of the SR Ca2+ pumps with thapsigargin gave a pump site density of 454 pmol/mg cell protein. Lowering the temperature from 20°C to 10 or 5°C reduced the SR Ca2+ uptake rate in permeabilized myocytes by 50 and 63%, respectively. Surprisingly, Ca2+ leak from the SR also decreased with decreasing temperatures. Exposure of single myocytes to 10 mM caffeine (Caf) induced a cell contracture and an inward ionic current. Neither contracture nor current decreased significantly after rest periods of 120 and 320 s. The inward current was due to Ca2+ extrusion by the Na+/Ca2+exchanger (NCX), and the time integral of the exchange current ( I NCX) was used to calculate the SR Ca2+ content. This gave a steady-state SR Ca2+content of 22.5 ± 2.8 amol Ca2+/pF or 750 μM. When the SR was loaded by depolarizing the cell to +50 mV, the Ca2+ content increased with increasing length of the depolarization, reaching a maximum of 52.0 ± 5.9 amol Ca2+/pF. When the cell was depolarized to different voltages for 3 s, a subsequent Caf-induced I NCXincreased with increasing voltage. At +100 mV, the Ca2+ content was 36.6 ± 3.8 amol/pF, giving a maximal SR Ca2+uptake rate of 12.2 ± 1.2 amol Ca2+ ⋅ pF-1 ⋅ s-1or 417 μM/s. We conclude that maximal SR Ca2+ content and Ca2+ uptake rates can be estimated using specific SR Ca2+ loading protocols. Contrary to the general assumption that contraction in lower vertebrates depends largely on transsarcolemmal Ca2+ fluxes, we found that although the L-type Ca2+ current is insufficient to fully activate contraction, the SR is capable of participating in the regulation of the cytosolic Ca2+ during the excitation-contraction coupling in trout ventricular myocytes.
Glaucoma Screening of Patients With and Without Dementia

Glaucoma's damage to peripheral vision compromises mobility to a greater extent than ocular pathology limiting central vision. Half of glaucoma is undiagnosed, as the majority of primary care physicians do not screen for glaucoma. Glaucoma is more prevalent in older adults with dementia than without dementia. This study tested the hypothesis that, in adults 60 and older with dementia, glaucoma screening failure is significantly higher than without dementia. An observational cross-sectional research design with a categorical outcome variable was used. Potential participants/caregivers were questioned regarding glaucoma diagnosis and treatment. Those denying glaucoma or treatment qualified for free screening. Participants (n = 103) were 75% African American (75 females, 28 males, average age 75 ± 7.59). Thirty-three had dementia. Referral rate with dementia was significantly higher than without dementia (54% vs. 27%, χ2 = 7.32, p = 0.0007) (95% CI = 0.304–0.816), affirming the study hypothesis. Lack of glaucoma screening and treatment follow-up by a majority of primary care physicians treating geriatric patients demonstrates a need for medical professionals to address function, particularly mobility, to discuss glaucoma's effects with patients/caregivers, and to consider measuring intraocular pressure.
Visual saliency model for robot cameras

Recent years have seen an explosion of research on the computational modeling of human visual attention in task free conditions, i.e., given an image predict where humans are likely to look. This area of research could potentially provide general purpose mechanisms for robots to orient their cameras. One difficulty is that most current models of visual saliency are computationally very expensive and not suited to real time implementations needed for robotic applications. Here we propose a fast approximation to a Bayesian model of visual saliency recently proposed in the literature. The approximation can run in real time on current computers at very little computational cost, leaving plenty of CPU cycles for other tasks. We empirically evaluate the saliency model in the domain of controlling saccades of a camera in social robotics situations. The goal was to orient a camera as quickly as possible toward human faces. We found that this simple general purpose saliency model doubled the success rate of the camera: it captured images of people 70% of the time, when compared to a 35% success rate when the camera was controlled using an open-loop scheme. After 3 saccades (camera movements), the robot was 96% likely to capture at least one person. The results suggest that visual saliency models may provide a useful front end for camera control in robotics applications.
Auditory processing and dyslexia: evidence for a specific speech processing deficit

IN order to investigate the relationship between dyslexia and central auditory processing, 19 children with spelling disability and 15 controls at grades 5 and 6 were examined using a passive oddball paradigm. Mismatch negativity (MMN) was determined for tone and speech stimuli. While there were no group differences for the tone stimuli, we found a significantly attenuated MMN in the dyslexic group for the speech stimuli. This finding leads to the conclusion that dyslexics have a specific speech processing deficit at the sensory level which could be used to identify children at risk at an early age.
Robotron: Top-down Network Management at Facebook Scale

Network management facilitates a healthy and sustainable network. However, its practice is not well understood outside the network engineering community. In this paper, we present Robotron, a system for managing a massive production network in a top-down fashion. The system's goal is to reduce effort and errors on management tasks by minimizing direct human interaction with network devices. Engineers use Robotron to express high-level design intent, which is translated into low-level device configurations and deployed safely. Robotron also monitors devices' operational state to ensure it does not deviate from the desired state. Since 2008, Robotron has been used to manage tens of thousands of network devices connecting hundreds of thousands of servers globally at Facebook.
Q-cgi: new techniques to assess variation in perception applied to facial attractiveness

We present novel methods for assessing variation in the perception of subjective cues based on a fusion of Q-methodology with computer graphics techniques. Participants first Q-sort face stimuli based upon a subjective quality; a randomization-based statistic is then calculated to test whether groups of participants differ in their perception. Computer graphics are then used to extract and illustrate the differences in the manner which participants sorted so that the differences can be quantified. As a demonstration, the technique is applied to investigate the effects of prospective relationship duration and of sexual restrictiveness on the characteristics which participants find attractive in photographs of opposite-sex faces. Results show that in a naturally varying set of faces, female participants prefer facial cues related to masculinity for short-term relationships, whereas characteristics related to positive personality attributes are preferred for long-term relationships. For short-term relationships, male participants appear to prefer more feminine, youthful faces. Preferences of individuals with less restricted sexual strategy paralleled short-term preferences in that more feminine female faces and more masculine male faces were preferred.
Detecting uncertainty in biomedical literature: a simple disambiguation approach using sparse random indexing

This paper presents a novel approach to the problem of hedge detection, which involves the identification of so-called hedge cues for labeling sentences as certain or uncertain. This is the classification problem for Task 1 of the CoNLL-2010 Shared Task, which focuses on hedging in biomedical literature. We here propose to view hedge detection as a simple disambiguation problem, restricted to words that have previously been observed as hedge cues. Applying an SVM classifier, the approach achieves the best published results so far for sentence-level uncertainty prediction on the Shared Task test data. We also show that the technique of random indexing can be successfully applied for compressing the dimensionality of the original feature space by several orders of magnitude, while at the same time yielding better classifier performance.