Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationships Between Concentric and Eccentric Strength and Countermovement Jump Performance in Resistance Trained Men

Abstract Bridgeman, LA, McGuigan, MR, Gill, ND, and Dulson, DK. Relationships between concentric and eccentric strength and countermovement jump performance in resistance trained men. J Strength Cond Res 32(1): 255–260, 2018—The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between concentric and eccentric peak force (PF) and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance in resistance trained men. Subjects were 12 men (mean ± SD; age: 25.4 ± 3.5 years; height: 177.2 ± 4.5 cm; mass: 84.0 ± 10.1 kg). The men were tested for concentric and eccentric PF using the Exerbotics squat device. Subjects then completed 3 CMJs to allow for the calculation of peak power (PP), peak ground reaction force, and jump height (JH). Correlations between the variables of interest were calculated using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. A large relationship was found between absolute concentric PF and absolute CMJ PP (r = 0.66, p ⩽ 0.05). Absolute eccentric PF had a very large relationship with absolute CMJ PP and CMJ JH (r = 0.74, p < 0.01 and r = 0.74, p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, absolute eccentric PF was found to have a moderate relationship with relative CMJ PP (r = 0.58, p ⩽ 0.05). Relative eccentric PF was had a very large relationship with relative CMJ PP and CMJ JH (r = 0.73, p < 0.001 and r = 0.79, p < 0.001, respectively). Based on these findings, strength and conditioning coaches and athletes who wish to enhance CMJ performance may wish to include exercises, which enhance lower-body eccentric strength within their training.
Infection Efficiency of Four Phytophthora infestans Clonal Lineages and DNA-Based Quantification of Sporangia

The presence and abundance of pathogen inoculum is with host resistance and environmental conditions a key factor in epidemic development. Therefore, several spore-sampling devices have been proposed to monitor pathogen inoculum above fields. However, to make spore sampling more reliable as a management tool and to facilitate its adoption, information on infection efficiency and molecular tools for estimating airborne sporangia concentration are needed. Experiments were thus undertaken in a growth chamber to study the infection efficiency of four clonal lineages of P. infestans (US-8, US-11, US-23, and US-24) by measuring the airborne sporangia concentration and resulting disease intensity. The relationship between the airborne sporangia concentration and the number of lesions per leaf was exponential. For the same concentration, the sporangia of US-23 caused significantly more lesions than the sporangia of the other clonal lineages did. Under optimal conditions, an airborne sporangia concentration of 10 sporangia m−3 for US-23 was sufficient to cause one lesion per leaf, whereas for the other clonal lineages, it took 15 to 25 sporangia m−3 to reach the same disease intensity. However, in terms of diseased leaf area, there was no difference between clonal lineages US-8, US-23 and US-24. Also, a sensitive quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) tool was developed to quantify P. infestans airborne sporangia with detection sensitivity of one sporangium. The specificity of the qPCR assay was rigorously tested for airborne inoculum and was either similar to, or an improvement on, other published PCR assays. This assay allows rapid and reliable detection and quantification of P. infestans airborne sporangia and thereby, facilitates the implementation of spores-sampling network.
A randomized–controlled study to compare the efficacy of sequential therapy with standard triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication in an Irish population

Introduction Eradication rates for the standard first-line triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection have decreased in recent years. Sequential therapy has been suggested as an alternative. The efficacy of sequential therapy has not been assessed to date in an Irish population. Objective The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of standard triple therapy with sequential therapy for H. pylori eradication. Patients and methods A prospective randomized–controlled study was carried out. Treatment-naive H. pylori-infected patients were randomized to receive either standard triple therapy or sequential therapy. Results In all, 87 eligible patients were recruited into the study, one of whom dropped out. Fifty-one per cent (N=44) patients received standard triple therapy and 49% (N=42) patients received sequential therapy. The eradication efficacy by intention-to-treat analysis was 56.8% [N=25/44; 95% confidence interval (CI) 42.2–71.4%] for standard triple therapy and 69% (N=29/42; 95% CI 55.0–83.0%) for sequential therapy. The eradication rates by per-protocol analysis for standard triple therapy and sequential therapy were 61% (N=25/41; 95% CI 46.1–76.0%) and 69% (N=29/42; 95% CI 55.0–83.0%), respectively. The differences in eradication rates for each treatment by either intention-to-treat or per-protocol analysis were not statistically significant (P=0.24 and 0.44, respectively). In addition, incidence in adverse events was not significantly different between the study groups. The most common adverse event reported was mild nausea at 15% (95% CI 7.5–22.6%). Conclusion Sequential therapy had a nonstatistically significant advantage over standard triple therapy in our patient cohort. However, eradication rates for both standard triple therapy and sequential therapy were suboptimal. Further studies are required to identify potential alternatives to standard first-line triple therapy.
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce Stochastic Frontier Approach for Measuring Online Bank Efficiency in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Market

His areas of interest are Stochastic optimization models in control and growth theory; Inventory production models; Stochastic frontier and Meta-frontier production function models; Data Envelopment Analysis. His research publications include papers in prestigious journals such as IEEE She is an active researcher, and currently is supervising post graduate students in the area of multi criteria decision modelling and multi-criteria performance evaluation. interests are in optimization, meta-heuristics, evolutionary algorithms, planning and scheduling problems, and mixed-methods. Dr. Ramli is a member of the Management Science and Operations Research Society of Malaysia (MSORSM), and also a member of International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology (IACSIT). majority of her research focuses on data mining issues related to pre-processing data analyses, especially the quality issues and handling missing data; and application of data mining models. She furthermore has interests in areas of partial least squares structural equation modeling as well as decision support system and other statistical techniques in solving problems in diverse area. Abstract Bank Efficiency is important and receives greater attention as it plays an essential role in the economic development. This study formulated an appropriate stochastic frontier model to investigate the efficiency of banks traded on Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) market during the period 2005-2009. All data were analyzed using the maximum likelihood method to estimate the parameters of stochastic frontier production model. Unlike the earlier studies which use balance sheet and income statements data, this study used market data as the input and output variables. It was observed that banks traded in KLSE exhibited a commendable overall efficiency level of 96.2% during 2005-2009 hence suggesting minimal input waste of 3.8%. The technical efficiency effects were observed increasing over time. Among the banks, the COMS (Cimb Group Holdings) bank was found to be highly efficient with a score of 0.9715 and BIMB (Bimb Holdings) bank was noted to have the lowest efficiency with a score of 0.9582. The results also showed that Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier model with truncated normal distributional assumption was found preferable than Translog stochastic frontier model.
MEASURED METALLICITIES AT THE SITES OF NEARBY BROAD-LINED TYPE IC SUPERNOVAE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SN-GRB CONNECTION

We compare the chemical abundances at the sites of 12 nearby (z <0.14) Type Ic supernovae (SN Ic) that showed broad lines, but had no observed Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), with the chemical abundances in 5 nearby (z <0.25) galaxies at the sites of GRB where broad-lined SN Ic were seen after the fireball had faded. It has previously been noted that GRB hosts are low in luminosity and low in their metal abundances. If low metallicity is sufficient to force the evolution of massive stars to end their lives as GRB with an accompanying broad-lined SN Ic, then we would expect higher metal abundances for the broad-lined SN Ic that have no detected GRB. This is what we observe, and this trend is independent of the choice of metallicity calibration we adopt, and the mode of SN survey that found the broad-lined SN. A unique feature of this analysis is that we present new spectra of the host galaxies and analyze all the measurements of both samples in the same set of ways, using the galaxy emission-line measurements corrected for extinction and stellar absorption, via independent metallicity diagnostics of Kewley & Dopita (2002), of McGaugh (1991) and of Pettini & Pagel (2004). In our small sample, the boundary between galaxies that have GRB accompanying their broad-lined SN Ic and those that have broad-lined SN Ic without a GRB lies at an oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H)KD02 ∼ 8.5, which corresponds to 0.2−0.6 Z⊙ depending on the adopted metallicity scale and solar abundance value. Even when we limit the comparison to SN Ic that were found in untargeted supernova surveys, the environment of every broad-lined SN Ic that had no GRB is more metal rich than the site of any broad-lined SN Ic where a GRB was detected. Subject headings: galaxies: distances and redshifts — gamma rays: bursts supernovae: general galaxies: abundances
The magic of the Z-Buffer: A Survey

The wide availability of hardwired Z-buffer has sparked an explosion in the number of applications of the algorithm whose origins lie in hidden surface elimination. This paper presents a much-needed survey of key applications of the Z-buffer from the fields of rendering, modelling and vision in a common notation in order to help users make better use of this resource.
Regional Disadvantage? Non-Compete Agreements and Brain Drain

We construct inventor career histories using the U.S. patent record from 1975 to 2005 and demonstrate a brain drain among patenting inventors from states that enforce employee non-compete agreements to those that do not. Non-compete enforcement appears to drive away inventors with greater human and social capital. We address causality-related concerns with a difference-in-differences study design based on an inadvertent reversal of Michigan's non-compete enforcement policy.
Ischemic heart disease and stroke before and during endocrine treatment for prostate cancer in PCBaSe Sweden

In observational studies of men with prostate cancer, men on endocrine treatment (ET) have had an increased risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke. However, prostate cancer per se may increase risk of IHD and stroke and men on ET may have been at increased risk already prior to initiation of ET. We assessed the incidence of IHD and stroke in men with prostate cancer before and during different endocrine treatments. The hazard ratio (HR) of IHD and stroke in 39,051 men with prostate cancer vs. a matched control population without prostate cancer was assessed by use of Cox proportion hazard models. An increased risk was found among 30,883 men with prostate cancer who did not receive ET, with a HR of 1.08 (95% CI 1.00–1.18) for IHD and 1.10 (95%CI 1.00–1.21) for stroke. In 8,168 men who initiated ET during the observation period, the risk of IHD was significantly higher (p = 0.014), during ET (HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.17–1.67) compared with before initiation of ET (HR of 0.98, 95% CI 0.72–1.33), whereas no such increase was found for stroke. Regardless of treatment, men with prostate cancer had a small increase in risk of IHD and stroke and initiation of ET was associated with a further increase in risk of IHD. Our data underline the importance of a proper indication for ET because many men with low‐risk prostate cancer currently receive ET.
Investigating the psychological functioning of athletes: the integration of attachment theory and self-determination theory

This thesis is presented as a collection of four studies in which the associations between athlete attachment styles, perceptions of basic psychological needs, and experiences of well/ill-being are examined. The first study of this thesis examined the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction, within the coach and parent relational contexts, in the associations between athletes (N = 430) global attachment styles and their experiences of well-being. Results demonstrated that satisfaction of the athletes basic psychological needs did mediate the associations between attachment styles and well-being. Study 2 examined whether mean differences and changes in athletes (N = 110) attachment style predicted psychological need satisfaction, within two relational contexts (coach and parent), and well-being, and whether mean differences and changes in need satisfaction within the relational contexts predicted well-being. Findings from the study provide further support for the role of attachment in need satisfaction and well-being within sport psychology, as well as highlighting important within- and between-person effects. Study 3 aimed to examine the possible social mechanisms that affect insecure athletes (N = 215) perceptions of basic need satisfaction. The social factors investigated as possible mediators were social support, interpersonal conflict, autonomy supportive behaviours, and controlling behaviours, each examined within both the coach and parent relational contexts. The findings of Study 3 highlighted that social factors have an important role in explaining the associations between athletes insecure attachment styles and their perceptions of basic psychological need satisfaction within two important relationships. The final study presented in this thesis aimed to focus on how thwarting of athletes basic psychological needs impacted upon athletes experiences of both well- and ill-being. Study 4 also measured athletes (N = 241) attachment styles to the coach specifically. Findings revealed that when athletes perceptions of their basic psychological needs were actively thwarted, within both aforementioned contexts, athletes insecure attachment to the coach impacted upon experiences of well- and ill-being. Overall, the findings of the current research have supplied new knowledge and understanding concerning athletes psychological functioning through the employment of established theoretical frameworks.
Now, Discover Your Strengths

Based on a massive Gallup study of 2 million people, this book shows 1) individuals how to cultivate their own career strengths and strengths, 2) managers how to capitalize the talents of their people, and 3) executives how to build an entire organization around the talents of each employee. By the principal author of the national bestseller "First, Break All the Rules. " "Most Americans do not know what their strengths are. When you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer. " With this remark last year, Peter Drucker captured an enduring and unfortunate truth: most of us fail to build our lives around our strengths and talents. Instead, guided by our parents, by our teachers, by our managers and by psychology's fascination with pathology, we become experts in our weaknesses and spend our lives trying to paper over these cracks. Our talents remain in the background, like sundials in the shade. This book will right our skewed perspective. It will throw light on each person's unique set of strengths and talents and show him how to focus and perfect these strengths. At the heart of the book is the StrengthFinder Profile, the product of a twenty-five year, multimillion dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human talents. Gallup has conducted psychological profiles with over 2 million individuals--from the world's best teachers to the world's best hockey players, from great nurses to great insurance salespeople. This last year the data was meta-analysed and from all these interviews emerged thirty-four distinct talents or "themes. " In this book we introduce these thirty-four themes and, using the StrengthsFinder Profile, reveal to each reader which of the thirty-four represent his or her most dominant. Here are just a few of the individual talent themes, of which there are countless possible combinations: Achiever: Your Achiever talent helps explain your drive. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must rack up some numbers to feel good about yourself. Achiever is the power supply that causes you the set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your workgroup. Activator: "When can we start? " is the recurring question in your life. You believe that action is the best device for learning. You know that often you have to make a decision without every last bit of desirable information. This does not frighten you. Belief: If you possess strong Belief talent, you have certain core values that are Each copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths includes a unique access code to the Clifton Strengthsfinder assessment and website. This code is valid for one use only. If you have a problem with your code please visit strengthsfinder.com for help.
Novel recombinant glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored ADAMTS13 and variants for assessment of anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Summary Immunoglobulin Gs (IgGs) against ADAMTS13 are major causes of acquired (idiopathic) thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). We report here a novel cell-based assay using glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored ADAMTS13 or variants expressed on cell membrane for assessment of autoantibodies in patients with TTP. We showed that IgGs from all 26 patients with acquired TTP bound to cells expressing a GPI anchored full-length ADAMTS13 (gFL) and a variant truncated after the spacer domain (gS). Also, IgGs from 25/26 (96.7%) of these TTP patients bound to cells expressing a GPI-anchored C-terminal fragment, TSP1 2–8 plus CUB (gT2C). In contrast, none of the 20 healthy blood donors showed detectable binding of their IgGs to the cells expressing gFL, gS, and gT2C. A moderate, but statistically significant correlation was observed between plasma concentrations of anti-ADAMTS13 IgG and positive cells expressing gFL (r=0.65), gS (r=0.67), and gT2C (r=0.42). These results suggest that the microtiter-plate assay and the cell-based assay may detect differential antigenic epitopes. Moreover, antigens clustered on cell membranes may enhance antibody binding affinity, thereby increasing analytical sensitivity. Finally, our assay was able to determine kinetic changes of plasma levels of anti-ADAMTS13 IgGs in TTP patients during plasma therapy. Together, our findings suggest that the novel cell-based assay may be applicable for rapid identification and mapping of anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies in patients with acquired TTP.
A mathematical model for fibroblast and collagen orientation

Due to the increasing importance of the extracellular matrix in many biological problems, in this paper we develop a model for fibroblast and collagen orientation with the ultimate objective of understanding how fibroblasts form and remodel the extracellular matrix, in particular its collagen component. The model uses integrodifferential equations to describe the interaction between the cells and fibers at a point in space with various orientations. The equations are studied both analytically and numerically to discover different types of solutions and their behavior. In particular we examine solutions where all the fibroblasts and collagen have discrete orientations, a localized continuum of orientations and a continuous distribution of orientations with several maxima. The effect of altering the parameters in the system is explored, including the angular diffusion coefficient for the fibroblasts, as well as the strength and range of the interaction between fibroblasts and collagen. We find the initial conditions and the range of influence between the collagen and the fibroblasts are the two factors which determine the behavior of the solutions. The implications of this for wound healing and cancer are discussed including the conclusion that the major factor in determining the degree of scarring is the initial deposition of collagen.
Cyberbullying: An Ethnographic Case Study of One Australian Upper Primary School Class

The issue of cyberbullying has been reported on widely in the press, with extreme cases generally presented as the norm. In this article, the interactions of Australian primary children aged 11 to 12 years old are presented to illustrate some bullying practices that young people engage in. The findings suggest that while cyberbullying occurs, it is generally not extreme in nature. Some differences in cyberbullying between girls and boys were found and examined. The article concludes with several recommendations to help minimise and manage cyberbullying.
Effects of Routine Infant Vaccination With the 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine on Nasopharyngeal Colonization With Streptococcus pneumoniae in Children in Calgary, Canada

Background: All Streptococcus pneumoniae disease is preceded by nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization. We studied the impact of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) on colonization in healthy children. Methods: Routine PCV7 vaccination began in Alberta in 2002. Six point prevalence surveys were conducted from 2003 to 2005, in 7 community health centers in Calgary where children had their routine vaccinations. A questionnaire was administered and a single NP swab was obtained for culture. Serotyping was performed on all S. pneumoniae isolates. Results: There were 3398 children with complete data, 1307, 1225, and 866 in 12-month, 18-month, and 4–6 year groups, respectively. None had received PCV7 in survey 1. From survey 2 onwards, 92–98% of 12-month-olds had 3 or more doses of PCV7, and from survey 3 onwards, 95–99% of 18-month-olds had 3 or more doses. By survey 6, only 4% of 4–6 year olds had 3 or more doses. The overall S. pneumoniae colonization rate was 20%. In all age groups, including unvaccinated 4–6 year olds, there were significant declines in PCV7 serotypes, and increases in non-PCV7 serotypes. The largest increases were serotypes 6A, 15C, and 11A. Multivariate analysis found that factors including age, siblings, daycare attendance, episodes of otitis media, and antibiotic use affected S. pneumoniae colonization but only PCV7 vaccination was associated with decreased PCV7 serotype colonization and increased non-PCV7 colonization. Conclusions: Routine PCV7 vaccination has led to significant changes in the predominant S. pneumoniae serotypes found in NP colonization in both vaccinated and unvaccinated children, indicating both a direct and herd effect.