Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The scaling of myofibrillar actomyosin ATPase activity in apid bee flight muscle in relation to hovering flight energetics

SUMMARY For all types of locomotion, the overall efficiency with which chemical energy is converted into mechanical work increases with increasing body size. In order to gain insight into the determinants of the scaling of overall efficiency, we measured the scaling of the rate of ATP utilisation during cyclical contractions using glycerinated fibres from the dorsolongitudinal flight muscle of several species of apid bees, covering a ninefold range in body mass. The efficiency of ATP utilisation by the crossbridges is one of the stages that determines the overall efficiency of locomotion. The mechanochemical coefficient was calculated from the ratio of the net power output to the rate of ATP hydrolysis and ranged from 6.5 to 9.7 kJ mol−1 ATP. The corresponding gross myofibrillar efficiency was 15–23%, increasing concomitantly with body mass (Mb) and decreasing with increasing wingbeat frequency (n) and scaling as Mb0.184 and n−1.168 in bumblebees and as Mb0.153 and n−0.482 in euglossine bees. Overall efficiency of hovering in bumblebees and euglossine bees was calculated using previously published metabolic power data and revised estimates of the mechanical power output to take into account the drag due to the leading edge vortex that has not been included in previous models. The scaling of overall efficiency of hovering flight in apid bees was not as pronounced as the scaling of myofibrillar efficiency. Therefore the scaling of myofibrillar efficiency with body mass (or frequency) only explained part of the scaling of overall efficiency, and it is likely that the efficiency of other steps in the transduction of chemical energy into mechanical work (e.g. the efficiency of mitochondrial oxidative recovery) may also scale with body mass.
Can the ETView VivaSight SL Rival Conventional Intubation Using the Macintosh Laryngoscope During Adult Resuscitation by Novice Physicians?

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess the performance of the ETView VivaSight SL (ETView) single-lumen airway tube with an integrated high-resolution imaging camera in a manikin-simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation scenario with and without chest compression.This was a randomized crossover manikin trial. Following a brief training session, 107 volunteer novice physicians who were inexperienced with airway management attempted to intubate a manikin using a Macintosh laryngoscope (MAC) and an ETView, with and without chest compressions. The participants were instructed to make 3 attempts in each scenario. In this trial, we compared intubation time, intubation success rates, and glottic visibility using a Cormack & Lehane Grade. Dental compression and ease of use of each device were also assessed.Median intubation times for the ETView and MAC without chest compressions were 17 (IQR, 15–19) s and 27 (IQR, 25–33) s, respectively (P < 0.001). The ETView proved more successful on the first intubation attempt than the MAC, regardless of compressions. Continuation of compressions caused an increase in intubation times for both the ETView (P = 0.27) and the MAC (P < 0.005). The ETView VivaSight SL is an effective tool for endotracheal intubation when used by novice physicians in a manikin-simulated cardiac arrest, both with and without chest compressions.Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02295618.
Economic effects of irrigation of basic field crops on family farms.

The main objective of the research presented in this paper is to assess the economic impact of the application of irrigation in the production of basic field crops (maize, sunflower, soybean and sugar beet) on family farms operating in the South Banat area. Based on the data collected from the survey conducted on 75 family farms specialized in market oriented production without irrigation, using the method of models, calculation and comparison of the obtained results, an assessment was made of the economic impact of the application of irrigation in the production of basic field crops, as well as the assessment of their business performance. It has been established that the most significant economic impact from the application of irrigation in the production of basic field crops can be achieved on farms with 10-20 ha of arable land. Gross margins per hectare of arable land, depending on the type of soil prevailing in the holding, increased from 87% to 146%, while income per active member of the family farm dealing exclusively with agriculture could double.
Temporal stride and force analysis of cane-assisted gait in people with hemiplegic stroke.

OBJECTIVE To understand the underlying biomechanics of temporal stride and force in people with hemiplegic stroke during cane-assisted walking. DESIGN Three forceplates, 6 cameras, and an instrumented cane were integrated to analyze the cane-assisted gait of people with hemiplegic stroke. Temporal-stride parameters, and peak vertical, anterior (propulsive), posterior (braking), and lateral shear forces, as well as propulsive-breaking impulses were analyzed. SETTING Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Medical Center, Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS Twenty people with hemiplegic stroke. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Temporal-stride and force parameters. RESULTS All patients walked at a relatively slow speed, ranging from 4.2 to 35.8cm/s. The triple and double support occupied most of the gait cycle (GC), whereas the single support occupied only 10% of GC. The applied vertical, propulsive, braking, and lateral shear forces on either foot and the cane were 89.7% to 97.6%, 2.2% to 4.8%, 2.9% to 3.9%, and 5.5% to 6.7% body weight (BW), respectively. Patients applied less than 25% BW of peak vertical forces on the cane. They applied greater peak propulsive forces and impulses on the sound foot, while applying greater peak braking forces and impulses on the affected foot and cane. CONCLUSIONS The cane provided support and a braking function for people with hemiplegic stroke. People with stroke walking with cane assistance rely mostly on the sound limb for propulsion, while using the affected limb and cane for braking. Data provided could be useful in assessing the nature of cane assistance and in planning therapeutic strategies for people with stroke.
The research on buying behaviour among group buyers: the case of Croatia

In Croatia, first group buying website appeared in 2009 and today there are 40 active group buying websites. For the purpose of this paper, a primary research was conducted among social network fans of group buying websites. The research instrument was online questionnaire. The purpose of the research was to profile group buyers in Croatia regarding their demographic and behavioural characteristics and to identify factors customers take into consideration when deciding whether to make a purchase and which group buying websites to use. Results analysis was conducted using parametric and non-parametric test for comparing means and assessment of characteristics independence. Research findings imply that customers' demographic characteristics significantly affect their group buying behaviour and that some factors have detrimental effect on adopting of online group buying. Research findings are expected to help group buying websites to attract new customers, keep existing ones satisfied and learn how to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
Clinical effectiveness of acupuncture on Parkinson disease

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second-most-common chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease. The long-term use of levodopa leads to a loss of efficacy and to complications. Therefore, many patients with PD have turned to complementary therapies to help relieve their symptoms. Acupuncture is most commonly used as a complementary therapy in patients with PD. This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of acupuncture for patients with PD. This study was performed to summarize and evaluate evidence regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture in the relief of PD symptoms. Methods: Seven databases, namely, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], and three Korean medical databases, were searched from their inception through August 2015 without language restrictions. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included if they contained reports of acupuncture compared with no treatment and conventional treatment alone or acupuncture plus conventional treatment compared with conventional treatment alone for PD symptoms. Assessments were performed with the unified PD rating scales (UPDRS) I, II, III, and IV and the total score, the Webster scale, and effectiveness rating. Methodological quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale and the Cochrane risk of bias (ROB). Results: In all, 982 potentially relevant articles were identified; 25 RCTs met our inclusion criterion, 19 of 25 RCTs were high-quality studies (i.e., a score of 6 or higher). The included RCTs showed favorable results for acupuncture plus conventional treatment compared with conventional treatment alone in the UPDRS II, III, and IV and the total score. Acupuncture was effective in relieving PD symptoms compared with no treatment and conventional treatment alone, and acupuncture plus conventional treatment had a more significant effect than conventional treatment alone. Conclusions: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the use of acupuncture for relief of PD symptoms and found that acupuncture has significant positive effects. Acupuncture can be considered as a combination treatment with conventional treatment for patients with PD. Further studies on this topic should be carried out according to rigorous methodological designs in both the East and the West.
Assessment of Customers’ Satisfaction Management in Selected Commercial Banking Industry in Kaduna State Metropolis

Customer satisfaction has been regarded as a key to business strategy of every organization and a benchmark against which many commercial banks have set their standard. The Banking system in Nigeria was designed to provide simple, quick, easily accessible and flexible financial solution to meet the needs of the shareholder and borrowers in the Nigerian financial system. Lack of customer satisfaction in the banking industry would have problems on the resources of any kind, profits, and consequently, lack market niches that enable them compete in a chaotic environment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess customers’ satisfaction in selected commercial banking industry in Kaduna State Metropolis. The data for the study was obtained using a structured questionnaire administered on a sample of two hundred (200) customers from five (5) banks namely: Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, Wema Bank and First Bank. The data was subjected to percentage (%) analysis and the Chi-square to test the hypotheses respectively. The result signifies that the customer satisfaction has positive significant effect on the Nigerian banking industry. The study recommends that Banks should seek to develop strategies that boost positive behavioral responses in terms of satisfaction decision and forbid pessimistic ones . In addition, all the factors influencing customer satisfaction recognized in the study should continuously be assessed and improve.
A new baseline of organic carbon stock in European agricultural soils using a modelling approach

Proposed European policy in the agricultural sector will place higher emphasis on soil organic carbon (SOC), both as an indicator of soil quality and as a means to offset CO2 emissions through soil carbon (C) sequestration. Despite detailed national SOC data sets in several European Union (EU) Member States, a consistent C stock estimation at EU scale remains problematic. Data are often not directly comparable, different methods have been used to obtain values (e.g. sampling, laboratory analysis) and access may be restricted. Therefore, any evolution of EU policies on C accounting and sequestration may be constrained by a lack of an accurate SOC estimation and the availability of tools to carry out scenario analysis, especially for agricultural soils. In this context, a comprehensive model platform was established at a pan‐European scale (EU + Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Norway) using the agro‐ecosystem SOC model CENTURY. Almost 164 000 combinations of soil‐climate‐land use were computed, including the main arable crops, orchards and pasture. The model was implemented with the main management practices (e.g. irrigation, mineral and organic fertilization, tillage) derived from official statistics. The model results were tested against inventories from the European Environment and Observation Network (EIONET) and approximately 20 000 soil samples from the 2009 LUCAS survey, a monitoring project aiming at producing the first coherent, comprehensive and harmonized top‐soil data set of the EU based on harmonized sampling and analytical methods. The CENTURY model estimation of the current 0–30 cm SOC stock of agricultural soils was 17.63 Gt; the model uncertainty estimation was below 36% in half of the NUTS2 regions considered. The model predicted an overall increase of this pool according to different climate‐emission scenarios up to 2100, with C loss in the south and east of the area (involving 30% of the whole simulated agricultural land) compensated by a gain in central and northern regions. Generally, higher soil respiration was offset by higher C input as a consequence of increased CO2 atmospheric concentration and favourable crop growing conditions, especially in northern Europe. Considering the importance of SOC in future EU policies, this platform of simulation appears to be a very promising tool to orient future policymaking decisions.
Influence of sex on the relation between heart rate and aortic stiffness

Background Heart rate and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) are both cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of sex on the heart rate–PWV relationship in two populations of normotensive and hypertensive men and women. Patients and methods In a first study, steady-state data describing the heart rate–PWV relationship were determined in 558 normotensive men, 308 normotensive women, 323 hypertensive men and 93 hypertensive women. In a second study, the changes in blood pressure and PWV under atrial pacing at 60, 80 and 100 beats/min were investigated in 15 men and 15 women who were either normotensive or hypertensive. Results In women in study 1, 26.8% of PWV variance in normotensive patients and 15.4% of PWV variance in hypertensive patients was explained by a multiple regression including only age and systolic blood pressure as covariates. In men in study 1, 27% of PWV variance in normotensive patients and 28.5% of PWV variance in hypertensive patients was explained by a multiple regression including age, systolic blood pressure, weight, and also heart rate, as covariates. In study 2, atrial pacing in the overall population tended to decrease mean blood pressure (P = 0.05) and increase pulse pressure (P = 0.003), with no substantial change in PWV. However, when heart rate increased, PWV tended to decrease in women and to increase in men (interaction: P = 0.07). Conclusion Accelerated heart rate influences PWV in both normotensive and hypertensive men and, through this mechanism, could influence cardiovascular risk. However, heart rate does not influence PWV in women.
Knowledge Transformation and Enterprise Growth

In order to reveal the incentive functions of independent technology innovation during the process of knowledge transformation, the structure equation modeling (SEM) is used in the paper. By the choice of research elements, research hypotheses, establishment of research model and model checking, the SEM can effectively reveal the correlation between independent technology innovation, knowledge transformation and enterprise growth of the technology venture enterprises in Guangdong Province. For illustration, 500 questionnaires are distributed, 374 questionnaires return, the returns ratio is 87%, which satisfy the requirement that the questionnaire returns-ratio is not lower than 20% in the data investigation. The empirical results show that model fitting work well, and the model has high convergence validity. The research conclusions provide a realistic theory reference for the implementation of independent technological innovation strategies and knowledge transformation strategies for the purpose of enterprise growth in Guangdong high-tech venture enterprises.
THE EFFECT OF SEX AND AGE

ABSTRACT Subjects were 65 sixT, eight-, ten-, and twelve-year olds from after-school daycare piograms. The subjects were unobtrusively observed in free play situations involving peers and` the duration f their interactions in six types of peer-groups of varying size were recorded. Subjects were also administered a picture card test, composed of 20 setsbof cards representng six different types of peer groups engaged in particular activrties; they were instructed to potnt out-'the qne characteristic of them and their choices were recorded. The six peer group categories were 4 hypothesized to be stages in children's peer relations but no clear patterns Or eiphasis on the types of peer groups were found with age. A correlation of 81 _between scores derived from direct observation and those obtained using the picture test was found, suggesting the possibility of developing the picture test for future reseArch or other purposes in lieu of lengthy direct observation.Sex did not interact with other variables. The major trends appeared,to be , towards increasing size and homogeneity of age and sex in preference of peer groups with increasing age in.the subject. (Author)
Peroxovanadates have full insulin-like effects on glycogen synthesis in normal and insulin-resistant skeletal muscle.

1. The insulin-like effects of orthovanadate (10 mM) and peroxides of vanadate (peroxovanadates, at 1 mM) on rates of lactate formation, glucose oxidation and glycogen synthesis were measured in incubated soleus-muscle preparations isolated from non-obese Wistar rats and lean (fa/? ) or insulin-resistant obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats. 2. The stimulation of the rates of lactate formation and glucose oxidation by either orthovanadate or peroxovanadates was of similar magnitude to the stimulation by a maximally effective concentration of insulin (1000 microunits/ml). 3. Peroxovanadates, but not orthovanadate, maximally stimulated the rate of glycogen synthesis in incubated soleus muscles isolated from Wistar rats. 4. When soleus-muscle preparations were incubated in the presence of both insulin (1000 microunits/ml) and peroxovanadates (1 mM), this did not result in a synergistic increase in the rate of total glucose utilization as compared with either agent alone. 5. Soleus muscles isolated from obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats exhibited a decrease in response to a physiologically relevant concentration of insulin (100 microunits/ml). Peroxovanadates, at 1 mM, maximally stimulated the rate of glycogen synthesis in soleus muscles isolated from obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats. 6. The findings indicate that peroxovanadates are useful and important agents for investigating the mechanism of action of insulin in skeletal muscle.
The fate of the Greenland Ice Sheet in a geoengineered, high CO2 world

Solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering has been proposed as one means of helping avoid the occurrence of dangerous climate change and undesirable state transitions (‘tipping points’) in the Earth system. The irreversible melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is a case in point—a state transition that could occur as a result of CO2-driven elevated global temperatures, and one leading to potentially catastrophic sea-level rise. SRM schemes such as the creation of a ‘sunshade’ or injection of sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere could reduce incoming solar radiation, and in theory balance, in a global mean, the greenhouse warming resulting from elevated concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere. Previous work has highlighted that a geoengineered world would have: warming towards the poles, cooling in the tropics, and a reduction in the global hydrological cycle, which may have important implications for the Greenland Ice Sheet. Using a fully coupled global climate model in conjunction with an ice sheet model, we assess the consequences for the mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet of the reorganization of climate patterns by the combination of high CO2 and geoengineering. We find that Greenland surface temperature and precipitation anomalies, compared to the pre-industrial situation, decrease almost linearly with increasing levels of SRM geoengineering, but that these combine to create a highly non-linear response of the ice sheet. The substantial melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet predicted for four times pre-industrial CO2 levels is prevented in our model with only a partial application of SRM, and hence without having to fully restore the global average temperature back to pre-industrial levels. This suggests that the degree of SRM geoengineering required to mitigate the worst impacts of greenhouse warming, such as sea-level rise, need not be as extensive as generally assumed.
Using the SSW ( Stratospheric Sudden Warming ) event in 2009 as a representative case , the temporal evolution of the responses of OH and O 2 infrared atmospheric ( 0 – 0 ) nightglow emissions to SSW events

[1] Using the SSW (Stratospheric Sudden Warming) event in 2009 as a representative case, the temporal evolution of the responses of OH and O2 infrared atmospheric (0–0) nightglow emissions to SSW events is analyzed using the TIMED (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics)/SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) data. The results show that during the mesospheric cooling that occurs during the stratospheric warming stage of SSW events, the brightness of OH and O2 nightglow emissions and the thicknesses of OH and O2 emission layers decrease noticeably and the peak heights of the emissions ascend. During the recovery stage in the mesosphere, the brightness of both nightglow emissions and the thicknesses of the emission layers increase dramatically and the peak heights of the emissions descend. These emission variations are mainly caused by perturbations in temperature and the transport of O in the MLT (Mesosphere Lower Thermosphere) region. For the SSW event that started in January 2009, the onset times of the cooling stage and recovery stage in the mesosphere are ∼2 days ahead of the onset times of the warming stage and recovery stage of the SSW event, respectively. For this event, the influence of the SSW on the OH and O2 nightglow emissions increases with latitude between 50°N and 80°N.
SPG 11 Presenting with Tremor

Background: Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of neurological diseases, which typically present with progressive lower extremity weakness and spasticity causing progressive walking difficulties. Complicating neurological or extraneurological features may be present. Case Report: We describe a 19-year-old male who was referred because of an action tremor of the hands; he later developed walking difficulties. Callosal atrophy was present on his cerebral magnetic resonance imaging scan, prompting genetic testing for SPG11, which revealed homozygous mutations. Discussion: The clinical features, differential diagnosis and management of SPG11, the most common form of autosomal recessive complicated HSP with a thin corpus callosum are discussed.