Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute Effect of Ankle Kinesio- and Athletic Taping on Ankle Range of Motion During Various Agility Tests in Athletes With Chronic Ankle Sprain.

BACKGROUND Taping is a preventive measure commonly used for protecting and strengthening the ankle joint to prevent further musculoskeletal damage. Ankle taping prevents excessive range of motion (ROM) of the ankle joint, and allows the improvement of proprioception to adjust balance. Appropriate ankle stability is essential for various activities, such as sprinting, turning, cutting, and jumping, which are associated with agility. AIM The purpose of this study was to assess the acute effect of Kinesio taping (KT) and athletic taping (AT) on the ankle ROM of athletes with chronic ankle sprain during various agility tests that include sprinting, turning, and cutting actions. METHODS Twenty-five physically active volunteers with chronic ankle sprain performed the Illinois, 5-0-5, 10-m shuttle, hexagon, compass drill, and T agility tests in 3 (non-taped, Kinesio-taped, and athletic-taped) ankle conditions, in random order. Ankle ROM was recorded using the Vicon motion capture system. RESULTS In comparison with the non-taped ankle condition, in the ankle KT condition, the results showed a significant increase of ankle ROM in the sprinting part of the Illinois, 5-0-5, 10-m shuttle, and T agility tests (p ≤ 0.005), whereas in the ankle AT condition, no significant difference was found in ankle ROM during all agility tests. CONCLUSION In sports that need linear sprinting, KT seems to be a suitable intervention for the improvement of sports performance, as it provides increased ankle ROM.
Logic, graphs, and algorithms

Algorithmic meta theorems are algorithmic results that apply to whole families of combinatorial problems, instead of just specific problems. These families are usually defined in terms of logic and graph theory. An archetypal algorithmic meta theorem is Courcelle’s Theorem [9], which states that all graph properties definable in monadic second-order logi c can be decided in linear time on graphs of bounded tree width. This article is an introduction into the theory underlying s uch meta theorems and a survey of the most important results in this area.
Defensins induce the recruitment of dendritic cells in cervical human papillomavirus‐associated (pre)neoplastic lesions formed in vitro and transplanted in vivo

In addition to their direct antimicrobial activity, defensins might also influence adaptive immu‐nity by attracting immature dendritic cells (DC). As these cells have been shown to be deficient in uterine cervix carcinogenesis, we evaluated the ability of a‐de‐fensin (HNP‐2, human neutrophil defensin 2) and ß‐defensin (HßD2, human beta defensin 2) to stimulate their migration in human papillomavirus (HPV)‐associated (pre)cancers. We first observed, using RT‐PCR and immunohistology, that HßD2 is absent in HPV‐transformed keratinocytes and that it is weakly expressed in cervical (pre)neoplastic lesions in comparison with normal keratinocytes. We next demonstrated that defensins exert a chemotactic activity for DC in a Boyden Chamber assay and stimulate their infiltration in an in vitro‐formed (pre)neoplastic epithelium (orga‐notypic culture of HPV‐transformed keratinocytes). To evaluate the ability of defensins also to recruit DC in vivo, we developed a model of immunodeficient mice grafted with organotypic cultures of HPV+ keratino‐cytes, which form an epithelium similar to a high‐grade neoplastic lesion, with tumoral invasion and neovascu‐larization. Intravenously injected human DC were able to infiltrate grafts of HPV+ keratinocytes after administration of HNP‐2 in the transplantation chamber. Taken together, these results suggest that defensins could reverse a frequent immune alteration observed in cancer development. —Hubert, P., Herman, L. , Maillard, C. , Caberg, J‐H. , Nikkels, A. , Pierard, G. , Foidart, J‐M. , Noel, A. , Boniver, J., Delvenne, P. Defensins induce the recruitment of dendritic cells in cervical human papillomavirus‐associated (pre)neoplastic lesions formed in vitro and transplanted in vivo. FASEB J. 21, 2765–2775 (2007)
Broccoli-derived by-products--a promising source of bioactive ingredients.

UNLABELLED The regular dietary intake of broccoli on a weekly basis has been related to better health, but industrial use of broccoli by-products (crop remains) is negligible. Adding value to broccoli by-products in a country such as Spain, one of the main broccoli producers for the EU, is of scientific and economic interest. The present article is focused on the bioactive compounds (glucosinolates, phenolic acids, and flavonoids) and nutrients (vitamin C, minerals, and trace elements), as well as the in vitro radical-scavenging capacity (DPPH. test), of the broccoli products (harvest remains) resulting from greenhouse cultivation using 80 mM NaCl treatment, representative of the currently available irrigation water in the production areas of Murcia (SE Spain). The bioactive compounds and nutrient contents varied according to the cultivar, organ (leaves or stalks), and the saline stress (80 mM NaCl), in the cultivars Marathon, Nubia, and Viola. Cultivar Nubia was not affected dramatically by 80 mM NaCl and the contents of phytochemicals and nutrients in the by-products of Nubia fell within the range of health-promoting levels of edible commercial parts (inflorescences or flower heads). Therefore, adding value to broccoli agrowaste by obtaining bioactive ingredients and nutrients could benefit the food and drug industry. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Many by-products of the agrifood industry may be useful as sources of nutrients and potentially functional ingredients, giving the opportunity to obtain added-value products. Previous studies have been focused on edible florets, but in this case we are interested in adding value to broccoli by-products that represent a real problem in the production sites because no intended use for this material has been envisaged. Therefore, the aim of this study was to add value to the broccoli-derived by-products, since recycling all this agrowaste to obtain bioactive ingredients for industry can boost profits and reduce costs and environmental problems.
Hardware spiking neurons design: Analog or digital?

Neuromorphic circuits aim at emulating biological spiking neurons in silicon hardware. Neurons can be implemented either as analog or digital components. While the respective advantages of each approach are well known, i.e., digital designs are more simple but analog neurons are more energy efficient, there exists no clear and precise quantitative comparison of both designs. In this paper, we compare the digital and analog implementations of the same Leaky Integrate-and-Fire neuron model at the same technology node (CMOS 65 nm) with the same level of performance (SNR and maximum spiking rate), in terms of area and energy. We show that the analog implementation requires 5 times less area, and consumes 20 times less energy than the digital design. As a result, the analog neuron, in spite of its greater design complexity, is a serious contender for future large-scale silicon neural systems.
Normalized protein nitrogen appearance is correlated with hospitalization and mortality in hemodialysis patients with Kt/V greater than 1.20.

OBJECTIVES Normalized protein nitrogen appearance (nPNA), also known as protein catabolic rate (nPCR), reflects the daily protein intake in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Several studies indicate that nPNA and Kt/V correlate with clinical outcome and also with each other. Thus, the relationship between low nPNA and poor outcome could be due to uremia, low Kt/V or due to reported mathematical coupling between nPNA and Kt/V. We therefore investigated whether nPNA is associated with outcome in patients who have adequate or high Kt/V. DESIGN Prospective cohort. SETTINGS Outpatient dialysis unit affiliated with a tertiary-care community medical center. PATIENTS From a pool of 135 MHD outpatients in one dialysis unit, 122 patients with a delivered, Kt/V(sp)>1.20, independent of their residual renal function, were evaluated. Patients (61 women, 61 men), aged from 23 to 89 years (53.4+/-14.0 years)(+/-SD), had been undergoing MHD for one month to 17 years. INTERVENTION Review of laboratory values and clinical outcome. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Twelve-month mortality and hospitalization. RESULTS Delivered Kt/V(sp) ranged from 1.23 to 2.71 (1.77+/-0.34), nPNA from 0.5 to 2.15 (1.13+/-0.29 g/kg/day), and serum albumin, from 1.9 to 4.6 (3.76+/-0.37 g/dL). During the 12-month follow-up, 55 patients were hospitalized overnight at least once; 12 patients died; 5 patients underwent renal transplantation, and 6 patients left the study. The nPNA and Kt/V(sp) did not correlate significantly (r=.09) except when analysis was limited to Kt/V values < 1.5 (r=.54). Serum nPNA and albumin were the only variables with statistically significant correlations with both mortality and 3 measures of hospitalization (H): total days of H (H(D)), total number of H (H(F)), and time to first H (H(T)). The case-mix adjusted correlations for serum albumin and nPNA versus total days (r(HD)) and frequency of H (r(HF)) were significant, and Cox analysis based on H(T) and time to death resulted in significant odds ratios for each standard deviation decrement for both serum albumin and nPNA. Serum total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and creatinine concentrations also correlated with some but not all outcome measures: lower serum concentrations of these values were each significantly associated with poor clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Both nPNA and serum albumin predict prospective hospitalization and mortality in MHD patients with Kt/V > 1.20. Serum TIBC and creatinine concentrations appear to have association with some outcome measures as well. These data are consistent with the possibility that protein intake affects the clinical course even in the setting of an adequate to high hemodialysis dose. Studies based on randomized assignments to different protein intakes would be helpful to confirm these conclusions.
Factors that influence the approach to leadership: directors of nursing working in rural health services.

AIM To identify factors that influence directors of nursing in their approach to leadership when working in rural Victoria, Australia. BACKGROUND In rural areas, nurses account for the largest component of the health workforce and must be equipped with leadership knowledge and skills to lead reform at a service level. METHOD A qualitative descriptive design was used. In-depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken with directors of nursing from rural Victoria. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and a thematic network was developed. RESULTS Empowerment emerged as the highest order category in the thematic network. This was derived from three organising themes: influence, capital and contextual understanding and the respective basic themes: formal power, informal power, self-knowledge; information, support, resources; and situational factors, career trajectory, connectedness. CONCLUSION Rural nurse leaders contend with several issues that influence their approach to leadership. This study provides a platform for further research to foster nurse leadership in rural healthcare services. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Acknowledgement of what influences the rural nurse leaders' approach to leadership may assist in the implementation of initiatives designed to develop leadership in a manner that is contextually sensitive.
Sustainability of Smallholder Agriculture in Semi-Arid Areas under Land Set-aside Programs: A Case Study from China’s Loess Plateau

This article analyzes agricultural sustainability in the context of land degradation, rural poverty and social inequality, taking China’s Loess Hills as an example. The analysis attempts to understand the multi-dimensionality of sustainability at the farm level and its relationship with physical-socio-economic-infrastructural-technological framework conditions in the context of the land set-aside program viz. the Grain for Green Project (GGP). We developed composite indices of sustainability and its environmental, economic and social dimensions using a principal component analysis (PCA)-based weighting scheme. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the estimated sustainability indicators and the variables representing framework conditions of knowledge, demographics, resource endowment and production techniques. The stated analysis was conducted on a dataset collected by means of household surveys in 2014 in valleys and flood plain areas in Yanhe Township. Findings reveal hidden correlations among the indicators of environmental, economic, and social pillars of sustainability. The ratio of land under the conservation program to actual farmland emerged as a key determinant of overall agricultural sustainability and its social dimension, which reaches the maximum when the ratio is around 0.56 and 0.64, respectively. The results also show that there is need to balance off-farm and on-farm income diversification as well as highlight the role of women in ensuring the sustainability of farming households. The core achievement of the article is the definition of the thresholds for the land set-aside program and the identification of major determinants of agricultural sustainability in the rural Chinese context in particular and in rural farming communities in general.
Investigation of Water Diffusion Mechanisms in Relation to Polymer Relaxations in Polyamides

Diffusion in semicrystalline polymers is a complex phenomenon because of the existence of specific interactions (nonpolar or polar), dynamic heterogeneities, and crystalline phases. The diffusion of water in two semicrystalline polyamides (PA6,6 and PA6,10) was investigated in order to determine the diffusion mechanisms and the influence of polymer relaxations on this process. Liquid water diffusion follows a Fickian mechanism in PA6,10 and a non-Fickian or anomalous mechanism in PA6,6. Through a quasi-equilibrium experiment in dynamic vapor sorption, it is shown that this difference results from the dependence of the diffusion coefficients on water concentration. Moreover, the influence of the polymer relaxations was assessed by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The dielectric characteristic relaxation times of the α relaxation, associated with the glass transition, and of the β relaxation, related to more local dynamics, have been measured. A simple comparison with the time scale of diffusion suggests .
PATIENT ASSAULT SUPPORT GROUP: ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

As violence increases in society at large, violence is also increasing in hospitals and other health care facilities. Assault is one of the most serious occupational hazards reported in both public and private hospitals and their outpatient clinics. Despite prevention and intervention measures, experts predict that assault in hospitals will continue to be a serious problem. This paper describes using a support group to decrease the negative consequences to staff that have been assaulted. This paper explores in detail the program content and reactions by member of the group.
Biological and cultural bases of human inference

Contents: Preface. R. Viale, Introduction: Local or Universal Principles of Reasoning? R. Viale, D. Osherson, Cognitive Development, Culture, and Inductive Judgment. R.E. Nisbett, T. Masuda, Culture and Point of View. A. Norenzayan, Cultural Variation in Reasoning. S. Atran, D.L. Medin, N. Ross, Thinking About Biology: Modular Constraints on Categorization and Reasoning in the Everyday Life of Americans, Maya, and Scientists. L.A. Hirschfeld, Who Needs a Theory of Mind? J. Perner, A. Kuhberger, Framing and the Theory-Simulation Controversy: Predicting People's Decisions. D. Sperber, An Evolutionary Perspective on Testimony and Argumentation. J.M. Weinberg, S. Nichols, S. Stich, Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions. L. Macchi, M. Bagassi, Probabilistic Reasoning and Natural Language.
Production and excretion of hydrogen gas in man.

Abstract Technics employing intestinal infusions of gas were used to study H2 production in the human intestine. The volume of H2 in the bowel of 10 normal subjects varied from 0.06 to 29 ml. H2 production, which averaged 0.24 ml per minute in the fasting state, sharply increased after intestinal instillation of lactose to a mean peak rate of 1.6 ml per minute. Ingestion of food also increased H2 production by seven-fold to 30-fold. In the normal intestine, more than 99 per cent of H2 production was colonic, but small-bowel production was increased in a patient with excessive numbers of small-bowel bacteria. H2 production in man is primarily dependent upon the delivery of ingested, fermentable substrates to an abundant intestinal flora that normally is present only in the colon. A mean of 14 per cent of the total H2 production was excreted by the lungs, and rates of breath H2 excretion and H2 production correlated well (r = 0.94). Respiratory H2 excretion can therefore be used as an indicator of intestina.
An Observer's View on the Future of Asteroseismology

Scientific research is a continuous process, and the speed of future progress can be estimated by the pace of finding explanations for previous research questions. In this observer’s based view of stellar pulsation and asteroseismology, we start with the earliest observations of variable stars and the techniques used to observe them. The earliest variable stars were large amplitude, radial pulsators but were followed by other classes of pulsating stars. As the field matured, we outline some cornerstones of research into pulsating star research with an emphasis on changes in observational techniques. Improvements from photographs, to photometry, CCDs, and space telescopes allowed researchers to separate out pulsating stars from other stars with light variations, recognize radial and nonradial pulsation courtesy of increased measurement precision, and then use nonradial pulsations to look inside the stars, which cannot be done any other way. We follow several highlighted problems to show that even with excellent space data, there still may not be quick theoretical explanations. As the result of technical changes, the structure of international organizations devoted to pulsating stars has changed, and an increasing number of conferences specialized to space missions or themes are held. Although there are still many unsolved problems, such as mode identification in non-asymptotic pulsating stars, the large amount of data with unprecedented precision provided by space missions (MOST, CoRoT, Kepler) and upcoming missions allow us to use asteroseismology to its full potential. However, the enormous flow of data will require new techniques to extract the science before the next missions. The future of asteroseismology will be successful if we learn from the past and improve with improved techniques, space missions, and a properly educated new generation.
Semantic Tag Extraction from WordNet Glosses

We propose a method that uses information from WordNet glosses to assign semantic tags to individual word meanings, rather than to entire words. The produced lists of annotated words will be used in sentiment annotation of texts and phrases and in other NLP tasks. The method was implemented in the Semantic Tag Extraction Program (STEP) and evaluated on the category of sentiment (positive, negative or neutral) using two human-annotated lists. The lists were first compared to each other and then used to assess the accuracy of the proposed system. We argue that significant disagreement on sentiment tags between the two human-annotated lists reflects a naturally occurring ambiguity of words located on the periphery of the category of sentiment. The category of sentiment, thus, is believed to be structured as a fuzzy set. Finally, we evaluate the generalizability of STEP to other semantic categories on the example of the category of words denoting increase/decrease in magnitude, intensity or quality of some state or process. The implications of this study for both semantic tagging system development and for performance evaluation practices are discussed.
APSIPA Transactions on Signal and Information Processing

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Optimal Transport for Particle Image Velocimetry: Real Data and Postprocessing Algorithms

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a method used to measure the velocity field of a fluid flow. Traditionally, cross correlation algorithms are used to retrieve the flow velocity. Recently, a new method for PIV based on the L$^2$ optimal mass transportation problem (OT-PIV) was introduced and analyzed in [L. P. Saumier, B. Khouider, and M. Agueh, Comm. Math. Sci., 13 (2015), pp. 269--296] for the case of synthetically generated data and for particles of equal mass or brightness. Here, we extend the work of Saumier et al. to the case of particles with different masses and randomly seeded particles. More importantly, we compare the OT-PIV method with a typical cross-correlation algorithm for the case of real data. Using a combination of theory and numerical experiments, we demonstrate that in the presence of particles with different weights/brightness, the OT method is more accurate for the largest/brightest particles, and it is more faithful when the particles are far enough from each other. This makes it.
Osteoporosis – a current view of pharmacological prevention and treatment

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is the most common bone disease, associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and pathological fractures which lead to significant morbidity. It is defined clinically by a BMD of 2.5 standard deviations or more below the young female adult mean (T-score =−2.5). Osteoporosis was a huge global problem both socially and economically – in the UK alone, in 2011 £6 million per day was spent on treatment and social care of the 230,000 osteoporotic fracture patients – and therefore viable preventative and therapeutic approaches are key to managing this problem within the aging population of today. One of the main issues surrounding the potential of osteoporosis management is diagnosing patients at risk before they develop a fracture. We discuss the current and future possibilities for identifying susceptible patients, from fracture risk assessment to shape modeling and in relation to the high heritability of osteoporosis now that a plethora of genes have been associated with low BMD and osteoporotic fracture. This review highlights the current therapeutics in clinical use (including bisphosphonates, anti-RANKL [receptor activator of NF-κB ligand], intermittent low dose parathyroid hormone, and strontium ranelate) and some of those in development (anti-sclerostin antibodies and cathepsin K inhibitors). By highlighting the intimate relationship between the activities of bone forming (osteoblasts) and bone-resorbing (osteoclasts) cells, we include an overview and comparison of the molecular mechanisms exploited in each therapy.