Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex comparisons of non-local muscle fatigue in human elbow flexors and knee extensors

Objectives: To examine non-local muscle fatigue (NLMF) in both contralateral homologous and non-related heterogonous muscles for both sexes. Methods: Ten men and nine women participated in this study. After the familiarization visit, subjects completed four separate randomly sequenced experimental visits, during which the fatiguing interventions (six sets of 30-second maximal isometric contractions) were performed on either their right elbow flexors or knee extensors. Before (Pre-) and after (Post-) the fatiguing interventions, the isometric strength and the corresponding surface electromyographic (EMG) amplitude were measured for the non-exercised left elbow flexors or knee extensors. Results: For the non-exercised elbow flexors, the isometric strength decreased for both sexes (sex combined mean±SE: Pre vs. Post=339.67±18.02 N vs. 314.41±16.37 N; p<0.001). For the non-exercised knee extensors, there is a time ´ sex interaction (p=0.025), showing a decreased isometric knee extension strength for men (Pre vs. Post =845.02±66.26 N vs. 817.39±67.64 N; p=0.019), but not for women. Conclusions: The presence of NMLF can be affected by factors such as sex and muscle being tested. Women are less likely to demonstrate NLMF in lower body muscle groups.
Cerebral and Cerebellar Activation in Power and Precision Grip Movements: An H215O Positron Emission Tomography Study

Most human manual grip movements can be divided into power gripping and precision gripping, but central neural control during these tasks remains unclear. We investigated activation of the whole brain to analyze how simple hand movements are performed. The cerebral blood flow of seven healthy right-handed volunteers was measured by H215O positron emission tomography during right grip tasks without gripping a target object. Auditory-cued, repetitive power grips (i.e., fist making) and repetitive precision grips (i.e., opposition of the tip of the index finger and the tip of the thumb) were performed at 1.26 Hz. The areas activated during both tasks were the left primary sensorimotor cortex, caudal portion of the dorsal premotor, caudal portion of the supplementary motor area, cingulate motor area, and the right spinocerebellum and intermediate region of the cerebrocerebellum in comparison with the rest state. The analysis of power grip-precision grip tasks showed the activated peaks in the upper portion of the left sensorimotor area and right cerebellar vermis, but these areas were activated in both the tasks [(power grip-rest) and (precision grip-rest)] with uncorrected P < 0.001 as the statistical criterion. With P < 0.05 corrected as the statistical criterion, the results showed no significant activated peaks in regional cerebral blood flow. Our findings indicate no difference in brain activation between the acts of power grip and precision grip without a target object.
The role of the Kenya National Library Service in the provision of information for youth empowerment in Nairobi County, Kenya

This paper is developed from a study that investigated the role of the Kenya National Library Service in provision of information to empower the youth with the view of identifying gaps that may be addressed in order to enhance effectiveness of service provision. The study was informed by the uses and gratification theory which focuses on what people do with the media and also Wilson’s general model of information-seeking behaviour. Case study research method was used. The study population was the library users of Buruburu Knls library in Nairobi County aged between 15 and 30 years. Non-probability sampling method through quota sampling was used to get the required sample. The study population was categorized into three and the samples picked purposively. The main data collection method was face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. Data collected was analyzed using thematic analysis and presented in descriptive and narrative forms. The study established that the public library played a significant role in empowering the youth through the information it made available to them. Young people, however, face various challenges in accessing information in the library which showed that there were gaps that public libraries needed to fill to enhance their information services to youth. This study recommends that public libraries aim for youth-friendly programmes/services, provide information literacy, strengthen online information service provision, non-book materials and provide space for group discussions. It proposes a framework that can be followed to enhance the effectiveness of service provision.
Principles and practices for managing rangeland invasive plants.

Invasive plants reduce the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services required by society, alter ecological processes, and can displace desirable species. They can reduce wildlife habitat quality, riparian area integrity, rangeland economic value, and enterprise net returns. The invasion process is regulated by characteristics of the invading plant and the community being invaded. The presence and spread of invasive plants is often symptomatic of underlying management problems that must be corrected before acceptable, long-term rangeland improvement can be achieved. Disturbance appears to be important early in the invasion process because it creates vacant niches that alien plants can occupy. Control of invasive plants may only open niches for establishment of other undesirable plants unless desirable plants are present to fill the vacated niches. In many instances, rangelands have deteriorated to the point that desirable species are either not present, or in such low abundance that plant community recovery is slow or will not occur without revegetation after invasive plants are controlled. Integrated weed management employs the planned, sequential use of multiple tactics (e.g. chemical, biological, cultural, and mechanical control measures) to improve ecosystem function (energy flow and nutrient cycling) and maintain invasive plant damage below economic levels, and emphasizes managing rangeland ecosystem functions to meet objectives rather than emphasizing a particular weed or control method. Sustainable, integrated invasive plant management strategies require assessing plant impacts, understanding and managing the processes influencing invasion, knowledge of invasive plant biology and ecology, and are based on ecological principles. Invasive plant management programs must be compatible with and integrated into overall rangeland resource management objectives and plans. Because of the complexity of managing invasive plants, it is imperative that relevant ecological and economic information be synthesized into user-friendly decision support systems. DOI:10.2458/azu_jrm_v54i5_masters
Nanopore sequencing technology and tools for genome assembly: computational analysis of the current state, bottlenecks and future directions

Nanopore sequencing technology has the potential to render other sequencing technologies obsolete with its ability to generate long reads and provide portability. However, high error rates of the technology pose a challenge while generating accurate genome assemblies. The tools used for nanopore sequence analysis are of critical importance, as they should overcome the high error rates of the technology. Our goal in this work is to comprehensively analyze current publicly available tools for nanopore sequence analysis to understand their advantages, disadvantages and performance bottlenecks. It is important to understand where the current tools do not perform well to develop better tools. To this end, we (1) analyze the multiple steps and the associated tools in the genome assembly pipeline using nanopore sequence data, and (2) provide guidelines for determining the appropriate tools for each step. Based on our analyses, we make four key observations: (1) the choice of the tool for basecalling plays a critical role in overcoming the high error rates of nanopore sequencing technology. (2) Read-to-read overlap finding tools, GraphMap and Minimap, perform similarly in terms of accuracy. However, Minimap has a lower memory usage, and it is faster than GraphMap. (3) There is a trade-off between accuracy and performance when deciding on the appropriate tool for the assembly step. The fast but less accurate assembler Miniasm can be used for quick initial assembly, and further polishing can be applied on top of it to increase the accuracy, which leads to faster overall assembly. (4) The state-of-the-art polishing tool, Racon, generates high-quality consensus sequences while providing a significant speedup over another polishing tool, Nanopolish. We analyze various combinations of different tools and expose the trade-offs between accuracy, performance, memory usage and scalability. We conclude that our observations can guide researchers and practitioners in making conscious and effective choices for each step of the genome assembly pipeline using nanopore sequence data. Also, with the help of bottlenecks we have found, developers can improve the current tools or build new ones that are both accurate and fast, to overcome the high error rates of the nanopore sequencing technology.
Noise-Robust Speaker Recognition Combining Missing Data Techniques and Universal Background Modeling

Although the field of automatic speaker recognition (ASR) has been the subject of extensive research over the past decades, the lack of robustness against background noise has remained a major challenge. This paper describes a noise-robust speaker recognition system that combines missing data (MD) recognition with the adaptation of speaker models using a universal background model (UBM). For MD recognition, the identification of reliable and unreliable feature components is required. For this purpose, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) based mask estimation performance of various state-of-the art noise estimation techniques and noise reduction schemes is compared. Speaker recognition experiments show that the usage of a UBM in combination with missing data recognition yields substantial improvements in recognition performance, especially in the presence of highly non-stationary background noise at low SNRs.
Esophageal adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation arising in ectopic gastric mucosa in the cervical esophagus: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND Adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation is a subtype of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) producing adenocarcinoma. This type of tumor is associated with a poor prognosis and is prone to metastasize. Esophageal adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation is extremely rare. CASE PRESENTATION The patient was a 65-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital with dysphagia. Endoscopic examination revealed an elevated lesion 20mm in diameter at 17cm from the upper incisors. Endoscopic submucosa dissection (ESD) was performed and histopathological examination revealed tubular adenocarcinoma composed of cuboidal cells with clear cell cytoplasm. Immunohistochemical stain was diffusely positive for Sall-like protein 4 (SALL4) and weakly positive for AFP and glypican 3. From this result, we diagnosed esophageal adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation. The patient is still alive without recurrence of cancer 40 months after ESD. CONCLUSION To our knowledge, this is the first report to undergo ESD for esophageal adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation arising from ectopic gastric mucosa in the esophagus.
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Incidentally Diagnosed Prostatic Carcinoma among Patients Who Had Transurethral Prostatectomy in Tanzania: A Retrospective Study

Background Prostatic carcinoma carries a high morbidity and mortality if it is not diagnosed early. In resource limited countries, patients are at increased risk of being diagnosed late as they are operated for presumed benign prostatic hyperplasia. The information on the magnitude and risk factors of this problem in our setting could assist in the overall optimization of care of patients at risk. Methods A retrospective study of patients who underwent prostatectomy for presumed benign prostatic enlargement was done at Bugando University Hspital in Tanzania. Patients' age, creatinine levels, urological Ultrasound, prostate specific antigen and Biopsy results were analyzed using STATA 11. The prevalence of incidental prostatic cancer was calculated and logistic regression was done for factors associated with incidental prostatic cancer. Results In total, 152 patients were included in this study. The median age was 69 (SD 9.4) years, 16 (10.53%,) and 49 (32.24%) participants had Hydronephrosis and elevated creatinine levels respectively. Eighty six (58.56%) patients had PSA >10 ng/mL and in total; 33 (21.71%) had incidental prostatic carcinoma. The incidental prostatic carcinoma was independently associated with age of 70– 80years (AOR=2.8, p = 0.013) and PSA levels >10ng/mL (AOR=3.2, p=0.014). Conclusions The prevalence of incidental prostatic carcinoma is high among patients undergoing transurethral prostatectomy for presumed benign prostatic hyperplasia in Tanzania with increased risk at age of 70–80 years and among those with PSA >10ng/mL. A national awareness campaign coupled with focused screening of patients above 60 years could increase the detection rate of prostatic carcinoma and reduce the magnitude of incidental diagnosis of this disease.
New Pyrazolium Salts as a Support for Ionic Liquid Crystals and Ionic Conductors

Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) are a class of materials that combine the properties of liquid crystals (LCs) and ionic liquids (ILs). This type of materials is directed towards properties such as conductivity in ordered systems at different temperatures. In this work, we synthesize five new families of ILCs containing symmetrical and unsymmetrical substituted pyrazolium cations, with different alkyl long-chains, and anions such as Cl−, BF4−, ReO4−, p-CH3-6H4SO3− (PTS) and CF3SO3− (OTf). We study their thermal behavior by polarized light optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). All of them, except those with OTf as counteranion, show thermotropic mesomorphism. The observations by POM reveal textures of lamellar mesophases. Those agree with the arrangement observed in the X-ray crystal structure of [H2pzR(4),R(4)][ReO4]. The nature of the mesophases is also confirmed by variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction. On the other hand, the study of the dielectric properties at variable temperature in mesomorphic (Cl− and BF4−) and non-mesomorphic (OTf) salts indicates that the supramolecular arrangement of the mesophase favors a greater ionic mobility and therefore ionic conductivity.
Influence of humic acid applications on modulus of rupture, aggregate stability, electrical conductivity, carbon and nitrogen content of a crusting problem soil

Abstract. Soil structure is often said to be the key to soil productivity since a fertile soil, with desirable soil structure and adequate moisture supply, constitutes a productive soil. Soil structure influences soil water movement and retention, erosion, crusting, nutrient recycling, root penetration and crop yield. The objective of this work is to study humic acid (HA) application on some physical and chemical properties in weakly structured soils. The approach involved establishing a plot experiment in laboratory conditions. Different rates of HA (control, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 %) were applied to soil during three incubation periods (21, 42 and 62 days). At the end of the each incubation period, the changes in physicochemical properties were measured. Generally, HA addition increased electrical conductivity values during all incubation periods. HA applications decreased soil modulus of rupture. Application of HA at the rate of 4 % significantly increased soil organic carbon contents. HA applications at the rate of 4 % significantly increased both mean soil total nitrogen content and aggregate stability after three incubation periods (p
Slow Collateral Flow Is Associated with Thrombus Extension in Patients with Acute Large-Artery Occlusion

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It is still poorly understood about the dynamic changes of the thrombus after intravenous thrombolysis and how the remaining thrombus affects clinical outcome in human stroke. Collateral flow was assumed to help to deliver endo/exogenous tissue-type plasminogen activator to the clot. We aimed to analyze the impact of collateral flow on the dynamic changes of the thrombus in patients with acute large-artery occlusion who received intravenous thrombolysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke with M1 segment or distal internal carotid artery occlusion who underwent multimodal MR imaging or CT perfusion before and 24 hours after intravenous thrombolysis without recanalization. Patients were divided into 3 groups (thrombus extension, shortening, and no change) according to thrombus-length change between baseline and 24 hours. Collateral flow was measured with arrival time delay and the collateral scoring system. Poor outcome was defined as a 3-month modified Rankin Scale score of ≥3. RESULTS: Among 51 patients, 18 (35.3%) had thrombus extension, 14 (27%) had thrombus shortening, and 19 (37.3%) had thrombus without change. Arrival time delay was independently associated with thrombus extension (OR = 1.499; 95% CI, 1.053–2.135; P = .025). Similarly, the collateral score on the peak artery phase was independently associated with thrombus extension (OR = 0.456; 95% CI, 0.211–0.984; P = .045), whereas baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (OR = 0.768; 95% CI, 0.614–0.961; P = .021) and baseline thrombus length (OR = 1.193; 95% CI, 1.021–1.394; P = .026) were associated with thrombus shortening. All patients with thrombus extension had poor outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Slow collateral flow was related to thrombus extension in patients with large-artery occlusion without recanalization after intravenous thrombolysis.
Acceleration of the EM algorithm

The EM algorithm is used for many applications, including the Boltzmann machine, stochastic Perceptron, and HMM. This algorithm gives an iterating procedure for calculating the MLE of stochastic models which have hidden random variables. It is simple, but the convergence is slow. We also have the Fisher scoring method.  Its convergence is faster, but the calculation load is heavy. We show that by using the EM algorithm recursively, we can connect these two methods and accelerate the EM algorithm. Also, Louis, Meng, and Rubin showed they can accelerate the EM algorithm, but our algorithm is simpler. We present some numerical simulations using our algorithm. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Syst Comp Jpn, 31(2): 1018, 2000
EFFECTS OF NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ON MINERAL CONTENT OF SMOOTH BROMEGRASS ( Bromus inermis Leyss . )

This study aimed to determine the effects of five nitrogen doses (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg.ha) on mineral content of smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.). Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and tetany ratio were determined in this research. Nitrogen rates significantly affected all components determined in smooth bromegrass. Nitrogen applications increased N, P, K and tetany ratio but decreased Ca and Mg concentrations. The highest N, P, K concentrations and tetany ratio were obtained from 160 kg ha N treatment, while the lowest values were obtained from control treatment.
Striking Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Liver Cancer Incidence Rates and Temporal Trends in California, 1988–2012

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by disparate risk patterns by race/ethnicity. We examined HCC incidence patterns and temporal trends among detailed racial/ethnic populations, including disaggregated Asian-American subgroups. Methods Using data from the population-based California Cancer Registry, we identified 41 929 invasive HCC cases diagnosed during 1988-2012. Patients were grouped into mutually exclusive racial/ethnic groups of non-Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, Hispanic, and NH Asian/Pacific Islander (API), as well as Asian subgroups of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and South Asian. Age-adjusted and age-specific incidence rates by sex, race/ethnicity, and time period were calculated. The average annual percent change (AAPC) in incidence rates was estimated using joinpoint regression. All estimates were provided with the 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results Aggregated NH API had higher HCC risk than NH whites, NH blacks, and Hispanics. When disaggregated, Southeast Asians (Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians) had overall HCC incidence rates eight to nine times higher than NH whites and more than twice that of other ethnic Asians. Statistically significant rising temporal trends of HCC were found in NH whites, NH blacks, and Hispanics, especially those older than age 50 years. Overall HCC risk declined in Chinese males (AAPC = -1.3%, 95% CI = -2.0 to -0.6), but rose in Filipino (AAPC = +1.2%, 95% CI = 0.3 to 2.1) and Japanese males (AAPC = +3.0%, 95% CI = 0.4 to 5.6) and Vietnamese (AAPC = +4.5%, 95% CI = 0.7 to 8.5) and Laotian (+3.4%, 95% CI = 0.1 to 6.8) females. Conclusions Our findings provide valuable information for the identification of at-risk ethnic subgroups of Asian Americans while underscoring the importance of disaggregating ethnic populations in cancer research.
Nanotechnology and Glycosaminoglycans: Paving the Way Forward for Ovarian Cancer Intervention

Ovarian cancer (OC) has gained a great deal of attention due to its aggressive proliferative capabilities, high death rates and poor treatment outcomes, rendering the disease the ultimate lethal gynaecological cancer. Nanotechnology provides a promising avenue to combat this malignancy by the niche fabrication of optimally-structured nanomedicines that ensure potent delivery of chemotherapeutics to OC, employing nanocarriers to act as “intelligent” drug delivery vehicles, functionalized with active targeting approaches for precision delivery of chemotherapeutics to overexpressed biomarkers on cancer cells. Recently, much focus has been implemented to optimize these active targeting mechanisms for treatment/diagnostic purposes employing nanocarriers. This two-part article aims to review the latest advances in active target-based OC interventions, where the impact of the newest antibody, aptamer and folate functionalization on OC detection and treatment is discussed in contrast to the limitations of this targeting mechanism. Furthermore, we discuss the latest advances in nanocarrier based drug delivery in OC, highlighting their commercial/clinical viability of these systems beyond the realms of research. Lastly, in the second section of this review, we comprehensively discussed a focus shift in OC targeting from the well-studied OC cells to the vastly neglected extracellular matrix and motivate the potential for glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) as a more focused extracellular molecular target.
Gene Co-expression Network analysis of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma data

We performed a gene co-expression analysis on Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma data to find modules (groups) of genes that may highly impact the growth of these type of tumors. Additionally, we used cancer survival data to relate modules to prognostic significance in terms of survival time. Analysis on RNA-seq data revealed modules which are significant in gene enrichment analysis. Specifically, two genes - RFC4 and ECT2 - have been found to be significant in terms of survival time. We also performed a second gene co-expression analysis on a second dataset of microarray data, and many significant genes found in this analysis could also be found in the RNA-seq data implying that these genes might indeed play a crucial role in Lung Squamous Cancer. All the R code for the analysis can be found at: \url{this https URL}