Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motor Performance as Predictor of Physical Activity in Children: The CHAMPS Study-DK.

PURPOSE Physical activity (PA) is associated with several health benefits in children, and PA habits developed in childhood tend to persist into adulthood. PA may be the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, and motor performance has been shown to be positively associated with PA in cross-sectional studies. The purpose of this study was to explore the longitudinal relation between motor performance and PA in a 3-yr follow-up study. METHODS Longitudinal analyses were performed using data from 673 participants (44% boys, 6-12 yr old) who had been included in the Childhood Health Activity and Motor Performance School study-DK. Baseline motor performance tests consisted of vertical jump, shuttle run, hand grip strength, backward balance, precision throw, and cardiovascular fitness. Composite z-scores were generated to express health-related fitness and performance-related fitness. PA was measured by accelerometer at baseline and at 3-yr follow-up and was expressed as a percentage of time in moderate-to-vigorous PA. RESULTS Cardiovascular fitness, vertical jump, health-related fitness, and performance-related fitness showed significant positive associations with 3-yr follow-up measures of PA in both sexes. Furthermore, shuttle run showed significant inverse associations with follow-up measures of PA for both sexes. CONCLUSIONS Cardiorespiratory fitness, shuttle run, vertical jump, health-related fitness, and performance-related fitness were significantly associated with time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA at 3-yr follow-up. The clinical relevance of the results indicates that cardiorespiratory fitness and shuttle run in childhood may be important determinants of PA in adolescence.
Effects of Tramadol on Substantia Gelatinosa Neurons in the Rat Spinal Cord: An In Vivo Patch-Clamp Analysis

Tramadol is thought to modulate synaptic transmissions in the spinal dorsal horn mainly by activating µ-opioid receptors and by inhibiting the reuptake of monoamines in the CNS. However, the precise mode of modulation remains unclear. We used an in vivo patch clamp technique in urethane-anesthetized rats to determine the antinociceptive mechanism of tramadol. In vivo whole-cell recordings of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) and spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) were made from substantia gelatinosa (SG) neurons (lamina II) at holding potentials of 0 mV and -70 mV, respectively. The effects of intravenous administration (0.5, 5, 15 mg/kg) of tramadol were evaluated. The effects of superfusion of tramadol on the surface of the spinal cord and of a tramadol metabolite (M1) were further analyzed. Intravenous administration of tramadol at doses >5 mg/kg decreased the sEPSCs and increased the sIPSCs in SG neurons. These effects were not observed following naloxone pretreatment. Tramadol superfusion at a clinically relevant concentration (10 µM) had no effect, but when administered at a very high concentration (100 µM), tramadol decreased sEPSCs, produced outward currents, and enhanced sIPSCs. The effects of M1 (1, 5 mg/kg intravenously) on sEPSCs and sIPSCs were similar to those of tramadol at a corresponding dose (5, 15 mg/kg). The present study demonstrated that systemically administered tramadol indirectly inhibited glutamatergic transmission, and enhanced GABAergic and glycinergic transmissions in SG neurons. These effects were mediated primarily by the activation of μ-opioid receptors. M1 may play a key role in the antinociceptive mechanisms of tramadol.
Cross-cultural comparison of Spanish and British “service-with-a-smile” outcomes

Purpose – Employees working in the leisure service industry are required to show positive emotions when dealing with customers. However, empirical evidence confirms that faking emotions can lead to burnout. In contrast, employees that try to experience the emotions required by the role (i.e. deep acting (DA)) can lead to healthier outcomes. However, little is known about the process that underpins the link between DA and positive outcomes. Building on Cote’s social interaction model of emotion regulation and evidence linking customer satisfaction and DA, it was hypothesized that DA would be associated with employees’ self-actualization through customer interactions. This, in turn, was expected to explain the influence that DA has on relevant job attitudes (i.e. commitment, efficacy, turnover intentions). The model was tested in two countries with different emotional culture: Spain (i.e. impulsive) and the UK (i.e. institutional). Although UK was expected to report higher levels of effortful DA, the hypoth.
Computer vision based general object following for GPS-denied multirotor unmanned vehicles

The motivation of this research is to show that visual based object tracking and following is reliable using a cheap GPS-denied multirotor platform such as the AR Drone 2.0. Our architecture allows the user to specify an object in the image that the robot has to follow from an approximate constant distance. At the current stage of our development, in the event of image tracking loss the system starts to hover and waits for the image tracking recovery or second detection, which requires the usage of odometry measurements for self stabilization. During the following task, our software utilizes the forward-facing camera images and part of the IMU data to calculate the references for the four on-board low-level control loops. To obtain a stronger wind disturbance rejection and an improved navigation performance, a yaw heading reference based on the IMU data is internally kept and updated by our control algorithm. We validate the architecture using an AR Drone 2.0 and the OpenTLD tracker in outdoor suburban areas. The experimental tests have shown robustness against wind perturbations, target occlusion and illumination changes, and the system's capability to track a great variety of objects present on suburban areas, for instance: walking or running people, windows, AC machines, static and moving cars and plants.
Family of FLP Peptides in Caenorhabditis elegans and Related Nematodes

Neuropeptides regulate all aspects of behavior in multicellular organisms. Because of their ability to act at long distances, neuropeptides can exert their effects beyond the conventional synaptic connections, thereby adding an intricate layer of complexity to the activity of neural networks. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a large number of neuropeptide genes that are expressed throughout the nervous system have been identified. The actions of these peptides supplement the synaptic connections of the 302 neurons, allowing for fine tuning of neural networks and increasing the ways in which behaviors can be regulated. In this review, we focus on a large family of genes encoding FMRFamide-related peptides (FaRPs). These genes, the flp genes, have been used as a starting point to identifying flp genes throughout Nematoda. Nematodes have the largest family of FaRPs described thus far. The challenges in the future are the elucidation of their functions and the identification of the receptors and signaling pathways through which they function.
Closed G-networks with Resets: product form solution

We consider a closed queueing network of generalized queues with customers and signals. each queue has an infinite capacity and one server. the service time is exponential. after its service completion a customer moves to another queue and may become a signal. when the signal enters a non empty queue it vanishes while it resets the queue when it enters an empty queue. we prove that the steady state-distribution for such a closed network of queues has a product form solution. to the best of our knowledge it is the first closed network of generalized queues with product form solution. we also consider a more complex system where the reset acts upon a set of queues rather than a single one. we also prove that the steady-state distribution exists and has a product form.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Hypernatremia Elevates Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Blood Pressure via the Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla

Elevated NaCl concentrations of the cerebrospinal fluid increase sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) in salt-sensitive hypertension. Neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) play a pivotal role in the regulation of SNA and receive mono- or polysynaptic inputs from several hypothalamic structures responsive to hypernatremia. Therefore, the present study investigated the contribution of RVLM neurons to the SNA and pressor response to cerebrospinal fluid hypernatremia. Lateral ventricle infusion of 0.15 mol/L, 0.6 mol/L, and 1.0 mol/L NaCl (5 µL/10 minutes) produced concentration-dependent increases in lumbar SNA, adrenal SNA, and arterial blood pressure, despite no change in splanchnic SNA and a decrease in renal SNA. Ganglionic blockade with chlorisondamine or acute lesion of the lamina terminalis blocked or significantly attenuated these responses, respectively. RVLM microinjection of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) agonist muscimol abolished the sympathoexcitatory response to intracerebroventricular infusion of 1 mol/L NaCl. Furthermore, blockade of ionotropic glutamate, but not angiotensin II type 1, receptors significantly attenuated the increase in lumbar SNA, adrenal SNA, and arterial blood pressure. Finally, single-unit recordings of spinally projecting RVLM neurons revealed 3 distinct populations based on discharge responses to intracerebroventricular infusion of 1 mol/L NaCl: type I excited (46%; 11/24), type II inhibited (37%; 9/24), and type III no change (17%; 4/24). All neurons with slow conduction velocities were type I cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that acute increases in cerebrospinal fluid NaCl concentrations selectively activate a discrete population of RVLM neurons through glutamate receptor activation to increase SNA and arterial blood pressure.
A Trial of Parent Training for Mothers Being Released From Incarceration and Their Children

Children of incarcerated mothers are considered at risk for disruptive behavior problems and later delinquency. Parenting may play a key role in this intergenerational transmission of delinquency. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Incredible Years parent training, enhanced with home visits, for (formerly) incarcerated mothers to prevent disruptive behavior problems in their 2- to 10-year-old children, by means of a nationwide randomized controlled trial. Mothers of 133 children (M age = 76.91 months; 48.9% boys) were assigned to an intervention, consisting of group sessions and individual home visits, or a no-intervention control group. The intervention yielded significant effects on parenting and child behavior for maternal report. Marginally significant effects on child behavior were found for teacher report. The results show short-term effectiveness of parent training for the high-risk and hard-to-reach population of (formerly) incarcerated mothers and their children.
Factors Determining Peer Status in Outdoor Adventure Groups.

In this study of 227 students enrolled on 30-day backpacking courses, we examined how certain demographic factors relate to status within the task (goal-related) and social (interpersonal) domains of group functioning. Of particular interest were socioeconomic status (SES) and gender. Using a mixed methods approach, we found that female students had less status in task-based and social contexts, even when controlling for previous experience. Students with low SES had lower status than did their peers in the task-based contexts, but this difference disappeared when also considering previous multinight backpacking experience. As we expected, sources of status differed based on the situational context, with competence driving status for task-based contexts and interpersonal relationships taking precedence in social situations. The findings have important implications for practice in outdoor adventure education, as student demographics change and programs seek greater diversity in a field in which students are traditionally White and male.
Multilingual Semantic Parsing : Parsing Multiple Languages into Semantic Representations

We consider multilingual semantic parsing ‐ the task of simultaneously parsing semantically equivalent sentences from multiple different languages into their corresponding formal semantic representations. Our model is built on top of the hybrid tree semantic parsing framework, where natural language sentences and their corresponding semantics are assumed to be generated jointly from an underlying generative process. We first introduce a variant of the joint generative process, which essentially gives us a new semantic parsing model within the framework. Based on the different models that can be developed within the framework, we then investigate several approaches for performing the multilingual semantic parsing task. We present our evaluations on a standard dataset annotated with sentences in multiple languages coming from different language families.
Deletion of GPR40 Impairs Glucose-Induced Insulin Secretion In Vivo in Mice Without Affecting Intracellular Fuel Metabolism in Islets

OBJECTIVE The G-protein–coupled receptor GPR40 mediates fatty acid potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, but its contribution to insulin secretion in vivo and mechanisms of action remain uncertain. This study was aimed to ascertain whether GPR40 controls insulin secretion in vivo and modulates intracellular fuel metabolism in islets. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Insulin secretion and sensitivity were assessed in GPR40 knockout mice and their wild-type littermates by hyperglycemic clamps and hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps, respectively. Transcriptomic analysis, metabolic studies, and lipid profiling were used to ascertain whether GPR40 modulates intracellular fuel metabolism in islets. RESULTS Both glucose- and arginine-stimulated insulin secretion in vivo were decreased by ∼60% in GPR40 knockout fasted and fed mice, without changes in insulin sensitivity. Neither gene expression profiles nor intracellular metabolism of glucose and palmitate in isolated islets were affected by GPR40 deletion. Lipid profiling of isolated islets revealed that the increase in triglyceride and decrease in lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine species in response to palmitate in vitro was similar in wild-type and knockout islets. In contrast, the increase in intracellular inositol phosphate levels observed in wild-type islets in response to fatty acids in vitro was absent in knockout islets. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that deletion of GPR40 impairs insulin secretion in vivo not only in response to fatty acids but also to glucose and arginine, without altering intracellular fuel metabolism in islets, via a mechanism that may involve the generation of inositol phosphates downstream of GPR40 activation.
Exogenous Melatonin Alleviates Alkaline Stress in Malus hupehensis Rehd. by Regulating the Biosynthesis of Polyamines

Since melatonin was identified in plants decades ago, much attention has been devoted to discovering its role in plant science. There is still a great deal to learn about the functional importance of melatonin, as well as its functional mode. In this paper, we examine the role of melatonin treatment in the response of Malus hupehensis Rehd. to alkaline conditions. Stressed seedlings showed chlorosis and suppressed growth. However, this phenotype was ameliorated when 5 µM melatonin was added to the irrigation solution. This supplementation was also associated with a reduction in cell membrane damage and maintenance of a normal root system architecture. Fewer reactive oxygen species (ROS) were accumulated due to the enhanced scavenging activity of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase. In addition, alkaline-stressed seedlings that received the melatonin supplement accumulated more polyamines compared with untreated seedlings. Transcript levels of six genes involved in polyamine synthesis, including SAMDC1, -3, and -4, and SPDS1, -3, and -5, -6, were upregulated in response to melatonin application. All of these results demonstrate that melatonin has a positive function in plant tolerance to alkaline stress because it regulates enzyme activity and the biosynthesis of polyamines.
Contact Pressure Prediction in Total Knee Joint Replacements Part 2: Application to the Design of Total Knee Joint replacements

The general elasticity contact theory for elliptical geometry developed in Part 1 (1) has been applied to the design of current total knee joint replacements. A two-step curve-fitting technique using cubic spline interpolation routines has been adopted to represent the full elasticity solutions. The curve fit results of the maximum contact pressure have been compared with the full elasticity solution for a specified elliptical geometry and different polyethylene thicknesses and good agreement has been demonstrated. The computing time required by the curve-fitting technique is very small compared with the full elasticity solution and therefore can readily be applied to the design of knee joint replacements. Furthermore, reasonable agreement has also been found for the contact area for a typical knee joint design between the present theoretical prediction and the experimental measurement using pressure-sensitive film. Predictions of the maximum contact pressure have been made for an existing knee joint replacement in order to illustrate the present analysis in the design cycle. It has been shown that the effect of the thickness of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene is relatively small on contact stress predictions provided a sufficiently large value is chosen. On the other hand, the effect of conformity has a much greater influence on the contact stress distribution, particularly in the direction of the smaller principal radius.
A Participatory Action Research Method in a Rural Community of Mexico

For several decades, community interventions have promoted community development with strategies involving capacity building, advocacy, social change, and empowerment. Although community interventions intend to ameliorate social and economic inequalities, there is still a need to evaluate the outcomes of Participatory Action Research (PAR). PAR approaches have demonstrated to be a helpful tool for addressing and identifying community issues and strengths, while leading community members into action. The PAR approach described in this case study of “Ciudad Renace” (Town Reborn)—the Concerns Report Method (CRM)—provided a process for the community to come together and identify main issues, organize, and take actions. The findings suggest multiple activities and outcomes in areas like environmental contamination, social services, and education. Participatory methodologies like the Concerns report Method provided opportunities for community members to become engaged in pursing issues and addressing their own needs. The implications for community psychology research and practice are discussed.
A quantitative study on executive coaching from a learning transfer perspective

The purpose of this quantitative study employing an ex post facto, quantitative design was to research two forms of development, namely executive coaching and traditional methods of training, in relation to the level of learning transfer achieved through each method. One research question guided this study: To what extent are there differences in learning transfer between executives who have experienced executive coaching and executives who have experienced traditional methods of training? A random sample of participants in leadership positions and members of the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) completed the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI). After taking demographics into account, the data obtained were analyzed to see whether there were any differences between coaching and traditional methods of training. Findings showed that there was a substantial perceived transfer of learning in both groups. This study has an impact on the value of executive coaching for executives and managers.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION AMONG HEALTH PROFESSIONAL WORKING AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF PAKISTAN.

BACKGROUND Work environment is believed to be a major factor for better performance of human resource for health in any organization. This study concentrated on multiple factors involved in job satisfaction was appraised to critique their efficient significance in calculation of the health professional liking. Factors included job matched with workers' skills/experience, incentives, supervision, administrator support; convenient work load, training, appreciation, low pay and job protection were major contributors in job satisfaction. METHODS A mix method study was done in 2014; an initial descriptive cross sectional survey was done followed by qualitative approach. Eighteen in-depth interviews with health care providers were conducted after taking written consent. Nodes, sub-nodes and final themes were generated during qualitative data analysis. RESULTS Main findings and themes were, generated after making the nodes and sub-nodes from the most frequent responses. These themes were; absence of work pressure, work place safety, social support, learning opportunities, and employee influence on conditions and recognition individual or team efforts. CONCLUSION Work environment is a major contributing factor towards job satisfaction among the health workers.
Pregnancy and Stroke Risk in Women

Stroke, the sudden onset of brain dysfunction from a vascular cause, is one of the most common causes of long-term disability. Although rare during childbearing years, stroke is even more devastating when it occurs in a young woman trying to start a family. Pregnancy and the postpartum period are associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, although the incidence estimates have varied. There are several causes of stroke that are in fact unique to pregnancy and the postpartum period, such as preeclampsia and eclampsia, amniotic fluid embolus, postpartum angiopathy and postpartum cardiomyopathy. Data regarding these individual entities are scant. Most concerning is the lack of data regarding both prevention and acute management of pregnancy-related stroke. The purpose of this article is to summarize existing data regarding incidence, risk factors and potential etiologies, as well as treatment strategies for stroke in pregnancy.
Biosynthesis of the antimicrobial cyclic lipopeptides nunamycin and nunapeptin by Pseudomonas fluorescens strain In5 is regulated by the LuxR‐type transcriptional regulator NunF

Nunamycin and nunapeptin are two antimicrobial cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens In5 and synthesized by nonribosomal synthetases (NRPS) located on two gene clusters designated the nun–nup regulon. Organization of the regulon is similar to clusters found in other CLP‐producing pseudomonads except for the border regions where putative LuxR‐type regulators are located. This study focuses on understanding the regulatory role of the LuxR‐type‐encoding gene nunF in CLP production of P. fluorescens In5. Functional analysis of nunF coupled with liquid chromatography–high‐resolution mass spectrometry (LC‐HRMS) showed that CLP biosynthesis is regulated by nunF. Quantitative real‐time PCR analysis indicated that transcription of the NRPS genes catalyzing CLP production is strongly reduced when nunF is mutated indicating that nunF is part of the nun–nup regulon. Swarming and biofilm formation was reduced in a nunF knockout mutant suggesting that these CLPs may also play a role in these phenomena as observed in other pseudomonads. Fusion of the nunF promoter region to mCherry showed that nunF is strongly upregulated in response to carbon sources indicating the presence of a fungus suggesting that environmental elicitors may also influence nunF expression which upon activation regulates nunamycin and nunapeptin production required for the growth inhibition of phytopathogens.