Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Recovery and Training Phases on Body Composition, Peripheral Vascular Function and Immune System of Professional Soccer Players

Professional soccer players have a lengthy playing season, throughout which high levels of physical stress are maintained. The following recuperation period, before starting the next pre-season training phase, is generally considered short but sufficient to allow a decrease in these stress levels and therefore a reduction in the propensity for injury or musculoskeletal tissue damage. We hypothesised that these physical extremes influence the body composition, blood flow, and endothelial/immune function, but that the recuperation may be insufficient to allow a reduction of tissue stress damage. Ten professional football players were examined at the end of the playing season, at the end of the season intermission, and after the next pre-season endurance training. Peripheral blood flow and body composition were assessed using venous occlusion plethysmography and DEXA scanning respectively. In addition, selected inflammatory and immune parameters were analysed from blood samples. Following the recuperation period a significant decrease of lean body mass from 74.4±4.2 kg to 72.2±3.9 kg was observed, but an increase of fat mass from 10.3±5.6 kg to 11.1±5.4 kg, almost completely reversed the changes seen in the pre-season training phase. Remarkably, both resting and post-ischemic blood flow (7.3±3.4 and 26.0±6.3 ml/100 ml/min) respectively, were strongly reduced during the playing and training stress phases, but both parameters increased to normal levels (9.0±2.7 and 33.9±7.6 ml/100 ml/min) during the season intermission. Recovery was also characterized by rising levels of serum creatinine, granulocytes count, total IL-8, serum nitrate, ferritin, and bilirubin. These data suggest a compensated hypo-perfusion of muscle during the playing season, followed by an intramuscular ischemia/reperfusion syndrome during the recovery phase that is associated with muscle protein turnover and inflammatory endothelial reaction, as demonstrated by iNOS and HO-1 activation, as well as IL-8 release. The data provided from this study suggest that the immune system is not able to function fully during periods of high physical stress. The implications of this study are that recuperation should be carefully monitored in athletes who undergo intensive training over extended periods, but that these parameters may also prove useful for determining an individual's risk of tissue stress and possibly their susceptibility to progressive tissue damage or injury.
Kinetics of Amyloid β-Protein Degradation Determined by Novel Fluorescence- and Fluorescence Polarization-based Assays*

Proteases that degrade the amyloid β-protein (Aβ) are important regulators of brain Aβ levels in health and in Alzheimer's disease, yet few practical methods exist to study their detailed kinetics. Here, we describe robust and quantitative Aβ degradation assays based on the novel substrate, fluorescein-Aβ-(1–40)-Lys-biotin (FAβB). Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometric analysis shows that FAβB is hydrolyzed at closely similar sites as wild-type Aβ by neprilysin and insulin-degrading enzyme, the two most widely studied Aβ-degrading proteases. The derivatized peptide is an avid substrate and is suitable for use with biological samples and in high throughput compound screening. The assays we have developed are easily implemented and are particularly useful for the generation of quantitative kinetic data, as we demonstrate by determining the kinetic parameters of FAβB degradation by several Aβ-degrading proteases, including plasmin, which has not previously been characterized. The use of these assays should yield additional new insights into the biology of Aβ-degrading proteases and facilitate the identification of activators and inhibitors of such enzymes.
Family cumulative risk and at-risk kindergarteners’ social competence: the mediating role of parent representations of the attachment relationship

ABSTRACT Secure attachment relationships have been linked to social competence in at-risk children. In the current study, we examined the role of parent secure base scripts in predicting at-risk kindergarteners’ social competence. Parent representations of secure attachment were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between lower family cumulative risk and children’s social competence. Participants included 106 kindergarteners and their primary caregivers recruited from three urban charter schools serving low-income families as a part of a longitudinal study. Lower levels of cumulative risk predicted greater secure attachment representations in parents, and scores on the secure base script assessment predicted children’s social competence. An indirect relationship between lower cumulative risk and kindergarteners’ social competence via parent secure base script scores was also supported. Parent script-based representations of the attachment relationship appear to be an important link between lower levels of cumulative risk and low-income kindergarteners’ social competence. Implications of these findings for future interventions are discussed.
Paradoxical increase of plasma vitamin B12 and folates with disease severity in anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex disorder involving severe psychological manifestations and multiple organ damage, including liver dysfunction. The primary aim of this study consisted in assessing plasma levels of vitamin B12 and folates with respect to liver function enzymes considering the liver-storage properties of this vitamin. METHOD We recruited 70 restrictive type AN adolescents and the severity of psychopathological traits was assessed using EDI-3 scale. Plasma levels of vitamin B12 , folates, transaminases (AST, ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and cholinesterase (CHE) were determined. RESULTS About 38.5% of patients displayed vitamin B12 values (H-B12) above the upper range of normal reference; 4.3% of patients had increased values of folates; 20 and 11.4% of patients displayed ALT and AST values above reference limits; none had GGT values above normal range. Albeit low CHE and ALP values were found in 55 and 20% of patients, respectively, a linear correlation with both transaminases was present only for vitamin B12 and folates; furthermore, H-B12 patients had both higher AST and ALT values. EDI- 3 subscores significantly correlated with vitamin B12 and folates plasma values and H-B12 patients displayed EDI-3 higher values. DISCUSSION These data suggest that plasma levels of vitamin B12 might be an early marker of liver dysfunction, possibly also related to more severe psychopathological aspects. The identification of patients with higher fasting plasma vitamin B12 levels could therefore lead to earlier and more careful refeeding interventions. Further studies will clarify the potential role of this vitamin in AN clinical practice.
Anti–high mobility group box‐1 antibody therapy for traumatic brain injury

High mobility group box‐1 (HMGB1) plays an important role in triggering inflammatory responses in many types of diseases. In this study, we examined the involvement of HMGB1 in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and evaluated the ability of intravenously administered neutralizing anti‐HMGB1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) to attenuate brain injury.
Forecasting with estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models: The role of nonlinearities

In this paper we study the e®ects of nonlinearities on the forecast- ing performance of a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. We compute ¯rst and second-order approximations to a New Keyne- sian monetary model, and use arti¯cial data to estimate the model's structural parameters based on its linear and quadratic solution. We and that, although our model in not far from being linear, the fore- casting performance improves by capturing the second-order terms in the solution. Our ¯ndings suggest that accounting for nonlinearities will improve the predictive abilities of DSGE models in many appli- cations.
Effects of Nitrogen and Calcium Carbonate on Growth, Rosmarinic Acid Content and Yield of Satureja hortensis L.

Because of the presence of free phenolic acids, especially rosmarinic acid, extracts of Satureja hortensis L. possess antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The production of rosmarinic acid by plant cells can be modified by many factors. In the present study, the changes induced by calcium carbonate and nitrogen application on rosmarinic acid content, plant growth, and yield of S. hortensis cv. Saturn were investigated. Nitrogen fertilization significantly increased plant height, fresh and dry weights of herb as well as rosmarinic acid content and yield. CaCO3 treatments did not affect rosmarinic acid content or yield, while the fresh and dry weights of herb were increased by applying 5 t ha -1 CaCO3.
Effects of Cynodon dactylon on Stress-Induced Infertility in Male Rats

Cynodon dactylon (Family: Poaceae) is known to be a tackler in Indian mythology and is offered to Lord Ganesha. It is found everywhere, even on waste land, road side, dry places, and spreads vigorously on cultivated ground. This study was carried out with an objective to test if the constituents of this plant are useful in coping stress-induced sexual In this study, we considered immobilization stress to induce male infertility and the effect of C. dactylon in restoration of the dysfunction was evaluated by considering sexual behavioral observations, sexual performance, fructose content of the seminal vesicles, epididymal sperm concentration and histopathological examinations as parameters. Treatment of rats under stress with methanolic extract of C. dactylon has shown a promising effect in overcoming stress-induced sexual dysfunction, sexual performance, fructose content, sperm concentration and its effect on accessory sexual organs and body weight. We conclude that active constituents of C. dactylon present in methanolic extract have a potent aphrodisiac and male fertility activity.
Creating Conversations: Improvisation in Everyday Discourse

Conversation is one of those everyday, commonsense abilities that we can all do without thinking. But paradoxically, understanding how conversation works is one of the most difficult problems for scientists - for example, even after decades of research, computers are still miserable conversationalists. This text explores this paradox: how can conversation be so difficult, and at the same time come to us so naturally. The answer to the paradox is found in the creativity of everyday conversation. The author, a psychologist and an expert in the sciences of creativity of everyday conversation, shows that the same basic creativity - improvisational creativity - is found in conversation, jazz, children's play, and theatre.
Disturbance Observer Based Composite Learning Fuzzy Control of Nonlinear Systems with Unknown Dead Zone

This paper investigates the disturbance observer-based composite fuzzy control of a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown dead zone. With fuzzy logic system approximating the unknown nonlinearities, composite learning is constructed on the basis of a serial–parallel identifier. By introducing the intermediate signal, the disturbance observer is developed to provide efficient learning of the compounded disturbance which includes the effect of time-varying disturbance, fuzzy approximation error, and unknown dead zone. Based on the disturbance estimation and fuzzy approximation, the adaptive fuzzy controller is synthesized with novel updating law. The stability analysis of the closed-loop system is rigorously established via Lyapunov approach. The performance of the proposed controller is verified via simulation that faster convergence and higher precision are obtained.
Production of leptospiral LipL32 antigen in Pichia pastoris and its use in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

The production of recombinant LipL32 protein using Escherichia coli has been used extensively for the development of vaccines and diagnostic tests for leptospirosis. However, E. coli has demonstrated limitations, including low yield and lack of post-translational modifications. In this study, rLipL32 was produced in eukaryotic expression system (Pichia pastoris) and evaluated the antigen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The yield obtained from the culture supernatant reached 270 mg/L and ELISA showed an accuracy of 95.34%. In summary, the production of rLipL32 using P. pastoris did not impair the antigenic characteristics of this antigen and ensured its use for detecting the leptospiral antibodies in swine sera.
Radiotherapy quality assurance of the IAEA-HypoX trial of the accelerated radiotherapy in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with or without the hypoxic radiosensitizer nimorazole

To cite this article: Mohamed A. Hassan Metwally, Rubina Ali, Maire Kuddu, Tarek Shouman, Primoz Strojan, Jens Overgaard & Cai Grau (2015) Radiotherapy quality assurance of the IAEAHypoX trial of the accelerated radiotherapy in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with or without the hypoxic radiosensitizer nimorazole, Acta Oncologica, 54:9, 1673-1677, DOI: 10.3109/0284186X.2015. 1074721
A DIRECT REALISTIC ALTERNATIVE TO THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPTION OF MEMORY

In this paper we criticize the commonly accepted theory of memory, and offer an alternative. According to the traditional view, memory is a stored men tal representation of things past. We show, through an analysis of a single act of recognition, the logical oddities to which this view leads. Since, however, these are generally ignored, we also consider those characteristics of the traditional view which apparently make it attractive to those who hold it, namely its con sonance with the commonly held conception of time, its explanation for the fallibility of memory, and its way of making behavior predictable. We then pre sent the alternative view, the direct realist theory. According to it, there is no such thing as a stored mental representation. The theory redefines memory as the perception of sequential structure, and in so doing successfully treats of the fallibility of memory and the necessity for making behavior predictable. More over, and perhaps most importantly, it does not lead to the logical difficulties of the traditional theory.
Towards developing general models of usability with PARADISE

The design of methods for performance evaluation is a major open research issue in the area of spoken language dialogue systems. This paper presents the PARADISE methodology for developing predictive models of spoken dialogue performance, and shows how to evaluate the predictive power and generalizability of such models. To illustrate the methodology, we develop a number of models for predicting system usability (as measured by user satisfaction), based on the application of PARADISE to experimental data from three different spoken dialogue systems. We then measure the extent to which the models generalize across different systems, different experimental conditions, and different user populations, by testing models trained on a subset of the corpus against a test set of dialogues. The results show that the models generalize well across the three systems, and are thus a first approximation towards a general performance model of system usability.
Hemodynamic Changes Following Endotracheal Intubation in Patients Undergoing Cesarean Section With General Anesthesia: Application of Glidescope® Videolaryngoscope Versus Direct Laryngoscope

Background Endotracheal intubation is usually associated with hemodynamic changes, especially in patients undergoing cesarean section by general anesthesia. GlideScope® videolaryngoscope (GVL) is a novel video laryngoscope, which does not need direct exposure of vocal cords and produces lesser hemodynamic changes due to lower degrees of trauma and stimuli to oropharynx than the Macintosh direct laryngoscope (MDL). Objectives The aim of this study was to compare hemodynamic changes following endotracheal intubation with GVL and MDL in patients undergoing cesarean section by general anesthesia. Materials and Methods Seventy patients undergoing elective cesarean section by general anesthesia requiring endotracheal intubation were randomly allocated to be intubated with either GVL (n = 35) or MDL (n = 35). Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), as well as pulse rates, and rate pressure product (RPP) were compared at baseline, after induction of anesthesia, and after intubation at one-minute interval for five minutes between the two groups. The patients were also compared for Mallampati score, sore throat, intubation time and neonates’ Apgar scores. Results The patients were similar regarding systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure. Pulse rate changes were significantly lower only at 1 and 3 minutes in the GVL group. The intubation times were 9.3 ± 1.4 and 10.6 ± 1.7 seconds in the MDL and GVL groups, respectively (P > 0.05). RPP was also lower in the GVL group at 1 and 2 minutes (P < 0.05) and returned to baseline afterwards. There was no significant difference between the groups for Mallampati score, sore throat and Apgar scores. Conclusions Our study revealed that hemodynamic parameters with GVL are only better preserved in the first three minutes after intubation in patients undergoing elective cesarean section and patients are similar regarding intubation time, sore throat and Apgar score.
Kinesin 5B Is Necessary for Delivery of Membrane and Receptors during FcγR-Mediated Phagocytosis

FcγR-mediated phagocytosis is a cellular event that is evolutionary conserved to digest IgG-opsonized pathogens. Pseudopod formation during phagocytosis is a limiting step in managing the uptake of particles, and in this paper, we show that the conventional kinesin is involved in both receptor and membrane delivery to the phagocytic cup. Expression of a mutant kinesin isoform (GFP dominant negative mutant of kinesin H chain [EGFP-Kif5B-DN]) in RAW264.7 cells significantly reduced binding of IgG–sheep RBCs when macrophages were faced with multiple encounters with opsonized particles. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of EGFP-Kif5B-DN–expressing cells challenged with two rounds of IgG–sheep RBCs showed sparse, extremely thin pseudopods. We saw disrupted Rab11 trafficking to the phagocytic cup in EGFP-Kif5B-DN–transfected cells. Our particle overload assays also implicated phagosome membrane recycling in pseudopod formation. We observed reduced phagosome fission and trafficking in mutant kinesin-expressing cells, as well as reduced cell surface expression of FcγRs and Mac-1 receptors. In conclusion, anterograde trafficking via kinesin is essential for both receptor recycling from the phagosome and delivery of Rab11-containing membrane stores to effect broad and functional pseudopods during FcγR-mediated phagocytosis.
Internal Rotation Behind-the-Back Angle

Background: The hand-behind-back method is the accepted technique to evaluate shoulder internal rotation, is highly popular, and is endorsed by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. It remains, however, subject to intra- and interexaminer discrepancy and has been challenged by several recent publications. Hypothesis: Internal rotation behind the back can be evaluated with a measurable angle, which eliminates the need to estimate spinal level, decreases the effect of unrelated joints, and allows collection of numeric rather than categoric data. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: We defined the internal rotation behind-the-back (IRB) angle as that between the ulna and the line of gravity. A pendulum is attached to a standard goniometer. The patient is asked to reach the highest point along the midline of the back. The goniometer is centered over the pisiform, and the angle between the ulnar axis and the pendulum is measured. Two examiners assessed both shoulders of 60 volunteers with no shoulder pathology using this technique on 2 occasions. Both examiners were blinded to each other’s values. We applied the paired Student t test and calculated Pearson correlation coefficients and weighted Cohen kappa values. Results: The IRB angles ranged from 50° to 125°. The difference of the mean, as measured with the Student t test, was 0.6° (95% confidence interval: 0.1°, 1.3°) and 0.6° (95% confidence interval: −0.8°, 1.8°); the Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.98 and 0.92; and the weighted kappa values were 0.88 and 0.77 for interobserver and intraobserver analyses, respectively. Conclusion: The IRB angle is easy to measure, is reproducible, and does not rely on determination of spinal level. It provides numeric data and may eliminate some of the uncertainty associated with the estimation of spinal level. Clinical Relevance: The IRB angle may eliminate some of the uncertainty associated with the estimation of spinal level.
A theoretical and methodological examination of cultural theory applied to environmental issues

The two main aims of this thesis were to comprehensively examine the predictions of cultural theory and to develop comprehensive measures of the main constructs of cultural theory (i. e. grid/group and worldviews). The predictions of cultural theory were applied to environmental issues (i. e. car use, pedestrianisation, nuclear power and waste incineration) and then investigated in Studies 1 and 3 of this thesis. Generally, the predictions of cultural theory appear to be supported by these findings. Although a number of cultural theory predictions were not supported in Study 3, this appeared to be due to methodological problems. Comprehensive measures of grid/group environments and worldviews were developed and examined in the empirical studies. Worldview measures for cultural, environmental and economic domains were developed. It appears that the cultural and environmental worldview measures had good construct validity, but the economic worldview measure appeared to lack construct validity. Grid/Group measures for household, work and leisure social environments were also developed. However, the concurrent validity could not be assessed for most of the grid/group measures. This thesis has conducted a comprehensive examination of the predictions of cultural theory and developed measures of the main constructs of the theory. It appears that the application of cultural theory to environmental issues has promising theoretical and methodological support from this thesis.