Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of physical activity on sleep quality, well-being, and affect in academic stress periods

The stress-buffering hypothesis postulates that physical activity and exercise can buffer the negative effects of (academic) stress on health. It still remains an open question whether students, who regularly engage in physical activity and exercise within their academic examination period, can successfully diminish these negative effects. Sixty-four subjects participated in this study and completed a total of five surveys, with T1 at the end of the semester break (baseline) and T2-T5 being presented every Friday in the last 4 weeks of the semester (examination period). They were asked to answer questions about their activity level, sleep quality, well-being and affect. Hierarchical linear models showed significant dependencies on time for all dependent measures. The expansion of the model for exercise also showed significant main effects of this predictor on well-being and positive affect (PA) and negative affect. Moreover, significant interactions with time for sleep quality and PA were found. Results suggest that physical activity and exercise in the academic examination period may be able to buffer the negative effects of stress on health-related outcomes. Therefore, activity levels should be maintained in times of high stress to prevent negative effects on sleep, well-being and affect in students.
Assessment of smoothing methods and complex stochastic language modeling

This paper studies the overall effect of language modeling on perplexity and word error rate, starting from a trigram model with a standard smoothing method up to complex state–of–the– art language models: (1) We compare different smoothing methods, namely linear vs. absolute discounting, interpolation vs. backing-off, and back-off functions based on relative frequencies vs. singleton events. (2) We show the effect of complex language model techniques by using distant-trigrams and automatically selected word classes and word phrases using a maximum likelihood criterion (i.e. minimum perplexity). (3) We show the overall gain of the combined application of the above techniques, as opposed to their separate assessment in past publications. (4) We give perplexity and word error rate results on the North American Business corpus (NAB) with a training text of about 240 million words and on the German Verbmobil corpus.
Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist suppresses allosensitization in corneal transplantation.

OBJECTIVE To delineate the mechanisms by which topical interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) treatment promotes orthotopic corneal allograft survival. METHODS Corneal buttons were prepared from eyes of C57BL/6 mice and placed orthotopically in normal or neovascularized (high-risk) eyes of BALB/c mouse recipients. Topical IL-1RA (or vehicle alone) was applied to grafts 3 times daily until the grafted eyes were enucleated. Corneal specimens were evaluated for content of Langerhans cells. A week after enucleation, 1 group of recipients was tested for allospecific delayed-type hypersensitivity elicited by intrapinnae injections of donor splenocytes. In companion experiments, a second group of mice that underwent transplantation, IL-1RA treatment, and enucleation was challenged with orthotopic skin grafts from B10.D2 donor mice (sharing minor H antigens with C57BL/6 mice) to determine whether the second group of mice could reject grafts bearing corneal donor minor H alloantigens in an accelerated fashion. RESULTS Mice whose orthotopic corneal allografts were treated topically with IL-1RA acquired neither donor-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (P<.001) nor the capacity to reject orthotopic donor-type skin allografts in an accelerated manner (P<.05), whereas controls treated with vehicle alone developed delayed-type hypersensitivity and rejected B10.D2 grafts in an accelerated manner. Moreover, IL-1RA-treated grafts placed in both high-risk (P = .01) and normal-risk (P = .004) eyes displayed significantly reduced levels of infiltrating Langerhans cells compared with vehicle-treated controls. CONCLUSIONS Topical IL-1RA promotes corneal allograft survival in large part by preventing activity of recipient Langerhans cells, and thereby preventing these cells from inducing systemic allosensitization. These data suggest that IL-1 plays a key role in promoting allosensitization when corneal allografts are placed orthotopically. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Suppression of allosensitization by topical IL-1RA may prove a clinically useful method for enhancing corneal transplant survival.
Neuromuscular endplate pathology in recessive desminopathies

Objective: To assess the clinical, genetic, and myopathologic findings in 2 cousins with lack of desmin, the response to salbutamol in one patient, and the neuromuscular endplate pathology in a knock-in mouse model for recessive desminopathy. Methods: We performed clinical investigations in the patients, genetic studies for linkage mapping, exome sequencing, and qPCR for transcript quantification, assessment of efficacy of (3-month oral) salbutamol administration by muscle strength assessment, 6-minute walking test (6MWT), and forced vital capacity, analysis of neuromuscular endplate pathology in a homozygous R349P desmin knock-in mouse by immunofluorescence staining of the hind limb muscles, and quantitative 3D morphometry and expression studies of acetylcholine receptor genes by quantitative PCR. Results: Both patients had infantile-onset weakness and fatigability, facial weakness with bilateral ptosis and ophthalmoparesis, generalized muscle weakness, and a decremental response over 10% on repetitive nerve stimulation. Salbutamol improved 6MWT and subjective motor function in the treated patient. Genetic analysis revealed previously unreported novel homozygous truncating desmin mutation c.345dupC leading to protein truncation and consequent fast degradation of the mutant mRNA. In the recessive desminopathy mouse with low expression of the mutant desmin protein, we demonstrated fragmented motor endplates with increased surface areas, volumes, and fluorescence intensities in conjunction with increased α and γ acetylcholine receptor subunit expression in oxidative soleus muscle. Conclusions: The patients were desmin-null and had myopathy, cardiomyopathy, and a congenital myasthenic syndrome. The data from man and mouse demonstrate that the complete lack as well as the markedly decreased expression of mutant R349P desmin impair the structural and functional integrity of neuromuscular endplates.
Self-Employment: Way to End Unemployment? Empirical Evidence from German Pseudo-Panel Data

This paper contributes to the policy-relevant question whether self-employment is a way out of (long-term) unemployment. We estimate the relationship between the entry rate into self-employment and previous (long-term) unemployment on the basis of pseudo-panel data for Germany in the period 1996-2002. The estimation method accounts for cohort fixed effects and measurement errors induced by the pseudo panel structure. We find that previous (long-term) unemployment significantly increases entry rates into self-employment for both men and women. These effects are quantitatively important, both in absolute terms and compared to other potential determinants of self-employment transitions, such as age, the level of vocational qualification and certain household characteristics.
Protective Effect of Administered Rolipram against Radiation-Induced Testicular Injury in Mice

Purpose Pelvic irradiation for the treatment of cancer can affect normal cells, such as the rapidly proliferating spermatogenic cells of the testis, leading to infertility, a common post-irradiation problem. The present study investigated the radioprotective effect of rolipram, a specific phosphodiesterase type-IV inhibitor known to increase the expression and phosphorylation of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding protein (CREB), a key factor for spermatogenesis, with the testicular system against pelvic irradiation. Materials and Methods Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with pelvic irradiation (2 Gy) and rolipram, alone or in combination, and were sacrificed at 12 hours and 35 days after irradiation. Results Rolipram protected germ cells from radiation-induced apoptosis at 12 hours after irradiation and significantly increased testis weight compared with irradiation controls at 35 days. Rolipram also ameliorated radiation-induced testicular morphological changes, such as changes in seminiferous tubular diameter and epithelial height. Additionally, seminiferous tubule repopulation and stem cell survival indices were higher in the rolipram-treated group than in the radiation group. Moreover, rolipram treatment counteracted the radiation-mediated decrease in the sperm count and mobility in the epididymis. Conclusions These protective effects of rolipram treatment prior to irradiation may be mediated by the increase in pCREB levels at 12 hours post-irradiation and the attenuated decrease in pCREB levels in the testis at 35 days post-irradiation in the rolipram-treated group. These findings suggest that activation of CREB signaling by rolipram treatment ameliorates the detrimental effects of acute irradiation on testicular dysfunction and the related male reproductive functions in mice.
Correction: Detection of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) by Urinary Volatile Organic Compound Analysis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer related death in Europe and the USA. There is no universally accepted effective non-invasive screening test for CRC. Guaiac based faecal occult blood (gFOB) testing has largely been superseded by Faecal Immunochemical testing (FIT), but sensitivity still remains poor. The uptake of population based FOBt testing in the UK is also low at around 50%. The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) signature(s) for many cancer subtypes is receiving increasing interest using a variety of gas phase analytical instruments. One such example is FAIMS (Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometer). FAIMS is able to identify Inflammatory Bowel disease (IBD) patients by analysing shifts in VOCs patterns in both urine and faeces. This study extends this concept to determine whether CRC patients can be identified through non-invasive analysis of urine, using FAIMS. 133 patients were recruited; 83 CRC patients and 50 healthy controls. Urine was collected at the time of CRC diagnosis and headspace analysis undertaken using a FAIMS instrument (Owlstone, Lonestar, UK). Data was processed using Fisher Discriminant Analysis (FDA) after feature extraction from the raw data. FAIMS analyses demonstrated that the VOC profiles of CRC patients were tightly clustered and could be distinguished from healthy controls. Sensitivity and specificity for CRC detection with FAIMS were 88% and 60% respectively. This study suggests that VOC signatures emanating from urine can be detected in patients with CRC using ion mobility spectroscopy technology (FAIMS) with potential as a novel screening tool. Citation: Arasaradnam RP, McFarlane MJ, Ryan-Fisher C, Westenbrink E, Hodges P, et al. (2014) Detection of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) by Urinary Volatile Organic Compound Analysis. PLoS ONE 9(9): e108750. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0108750 Editor: Keping Xie, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States of America Received June 13, 2014; Accepted August 25, 2014; Published September 30, 2014 Copyright: 2014 Arasaradnam et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability: The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All relevant data are included within the paper. Funding: The work was supported by Bardhan Research and Education Charity (BRET) charity, Warwickshire Private Hospital charity, Eveson trust provided funding for materials. BRET was established by Professor Bardhan but he had no input into the funding decision made by the grant awarding committee. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * Email: r.arasaradnam@warwick.ac. uk
Expansion of revertant fibers in dystrophic mdx muscles reflects activity of muscle precursor cells and serves as an index of muscle regeneration

Duchenne muscular dystrophy and the mdx mouse myopathies reflect a lack of dystrophin in muscles. However, both contain sporadic clusters of revertant fibers (RFs) that express dystrophin. RF clusters expand in size with age in mdx mice. To test the hypothesis that the expansion of clusters is achieved through the process of muscle degeneration and regeneration, we analyzed muscles of mdx mice in which degeneration and regeneration were inhibited by the expression of micro-dystrophins or utrophin transgenes. Postnatal RF expansion was diminished in direct correlation to the protective effect of the transgene expression. Similarly, expansion of RFs was inhibited when muscle regeneration was blocked by irradiation. However, in irradiated muscles, irradiation-tolerant quiescent muscle precursor cells reactivated by notexin effectively restored RF expansion. Our observations demonstrate that revertant events occur initially within a subset of muscle precursor cells. The proliferation of these cells, as part of the regeneration process, leads to the expansion of RF clusters within degenerating muscles. This expansion of revertant clusters depicts the cumulative history of regeneration, thus providing a useful index for functional evaluation of therapies that counteract muscle degeneration.
The Development of Social Network Analysis: A Study in the Sociology of Science

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that social network analysis is a flourishing enterprise. Social network analysts have their own international organization, the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), which sponsors journals and organizes annual meetings for its burgeoning membership; the field has seen a steady accumulation of standard texts and software programs; there is a growing number of academic centers for network training and research; and the publication of social network articles has become almost routine across a range of elite scientific journals. These signs of vitality and respectability have given rise, naturally enough, to questions about the field’s origins, its development, and the reasons for its apparent success. There are some fragmentary notes in circulation that speak to these questions, but to date there has been no comprehensive account of the origins and development of social network analysis. Nor, apparently, was it Linton Freeman’s intent in this book to provide us with one.
Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Adults in Korea: 2008–2009 to 2011–2012 Seasons

The aim of this study was to examine seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccination coverage in adults from the 2008–2009 season to the 2011–2012 season, including pandemic and post-pandemic seasons in Korea. We collected data of self-reported vaccine use from the Korean Community Health Survey. We also collected information on socioeconomic status and health behaviors in subpopulations. We tested for linear trends among the data to investigate vaccine coverage before and after the pandemic; and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of obtaining the influenza vaccination. The results revealed a steady increase in vaccination coverage in every subgroup during four consecutive seasons. The highest rate of vaccine coverage (43.6%) occurred two years after the pandemic. Factors associated with vaccine receipt were: older age; lower education level; lower income; and health behaviors such as regular walking and receiving a health check-up. Smoking and drinking alcohol were inversely associated with vaccination. Having a chronic health condition was also a strong predictor of vaccine receipt. Though vaccination coverage rates were high in high-risk groups; disparities in coverage rates were substantial; particularly in young adults. Interventions are needed to minimize the coverage gaps among subgroups and to improve overall vaccination rates.
Plasmonic nanorod absorbers as orientation sensors

Nanoparticles are actively exploited as biological imaging probes. Of particular interest are gold nanoparticles because of their nonblinking and nonbleaching absorption and scattering properties that arise from the excitation of surface plasmons. Nanoparticles with anisotropic shapes furthermore provide information about the probe orientation and its environment. Here we show how the orientation of single gold nanorods (25 × 73 nm) can be determined from both the transverse and longitudinal surface plasmon resonance by using polarization-sensitive photothermal imaging. By measuring the orientation of the same nanorods separately using scanning electron microscopy, we verified the high accuracy of this plasmon-absorption-based technique. However, care had to be taken when exciting the transverse plasmon absorption using a large numerical aperture objective as out-of-plane plasmon oscillations were also excited then. For the size regime studied here, being able to establish the nanorod orientation from the transverse mode is unique to photothermal imaging and almost impossible with conventional dark-field scattering spectroscopy. This is important because the transverse surface plasmon resonance is mostly insensitive to the medium refractive index and nanorod aspect ratio allowing nanorods of any length to be used as orientation sensors without changing the laser frequency.
Impact of heat stress on germinal vesicle breakdown and lipolytic changes during in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes

Two studies were conducted with the overarching goal of determining the extent to which lipolytic changes relate to germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) in bovine oocytes matured under thermoneutral or hyperthermic conditions. To this end, cumulus-oocyte complexes underwent in vitro maturation for 0, 2, 4, 6 or 24 h at 38.5 (first study) or 38.5 and 41.0 C (second study; heat stress applied up through first 12 h only, then shifted to 38.5 C). Independent of maturation temperature, triglyceride and phospholipid content decreased markedly by 2 h of in vitro maturation (hIVM; P < 0.0005). Content was lowest at 24 hIVM with no detectable impact of heat stress when exposure occurred during first 12 hIVM. Germinal vesicle breakdown occurred earlier in oocytes experiencing heat stress with effects observed as soon as 4 hIVM (P < 0.0001). Germinal vesicle breakdown was associated with lipolytic changes (R2 = 0.2123 and P = 0.0030 for triglyceride content; R2 = 0.2243 and P = 0.0026 for phospholipid content). ATP content at 24 hIVM was higher in oocytes experiencing heat stress (P = 0.0082). In summary, GVBD occurs sooner in heat-stressed oocytes. Although marked decreases in triglyceride and phospholipid content were noted as early as 2 hIVM and preceded GVBD, lipolytic changes such as these are not likely serving as an initial driver of GVBD in heat-stressed oocytes because changes occurred similarly in oocytes matured at thermoneutral conditions.
Physical and biogeochemical transports structure in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre

[1] Physical (mass, heat, and salt) and biogeochemical (nutrients, oxygen, alkalinity, total inorganic carbon, and anthropogenic carbon) transports across the transoceanic World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) A25 section in the subpolar North Atlantic (4x line) obtained previously [Alvarez et al., 2002, 2003] are reanalyzed to describe their regional and vertical structure. The water mass distribution in the section is combined with the transport fields to provide the relative contribution from each water mass to the final transport values. The water mass circulation pattern across the section is discussed within the context of the basin-scale thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic. Eastern North Atlantic Central, influenced Antarctic Intermediate, Mediterranean, and Subarctic Intermediate Waters flow northward with 10.3, 5.6, 1.7, and 2.9 Sv, respectively. The total flux of Lower Deep Water (LDW) across the section is 1 Sv northward. A portion of LDW flowing northward in the Iberian Basin recirculates southward within the eastern basin and about 0.7 Sv flow into the western North Atlantic. About 7 Sv of Labrador Seawater (LSW) from the Labrador Sea cross the 4x section within the North Atlantic Current, and 12 Sv of LSW from the Irminger Sea flow southward within the East Greenland Current. Denmark Strait Overflow Water flows over the western flank of the Irminger basin (1.5 Sv), and Iceland Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) is mainly transported in the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone (6 Sv). ISOW remnants flow southward to the eastern basin, contributing to the eastern basin deep ventilation. LSW and the overflows transport CANT southward across the section. This southward CANT transport is overcome by the northward transport in upper layers; finally, CANT is injected into the subpolar gyre where it accumulates.
ArtDefo: accurate real time deformable objects

We present an algorithm for fast, physically accurate simulation of deformable objects suitable for real time animation and virtual environment interaction. We describe the boundary integral equation formulation of static linear elasticity as well as the related Boundary Element Method (BEM) discretization technique. In addition, we show how to exploit the coherence of typical interactions to achieve low latency; the boundary formulation lends itself well to a fast update method when a few boundary conditions change. The algorithms are described in detail with examples from ArtDefo, our implementation.
A new design of haptic texture display - Texture Display2 - and its preliminary evaluation

The authors describe a new design of haptic texture display consisting of fifty vibratory pins that evoke a virtual touch sensation of textured surfaces contacted to the user's fingerpad. A pin drive mechanism was fabricated by adjusting a natural frequency to expand the displacement of a piezoelectric actuator efficiently. An improved control system enabled fine amplitude changes in 200 steps. Sensation intensity was scaled and indicated by a power function of pin amplitude. As a fundamental evaluation data, we measured the difference threshold of an object's spatial frequency presented on the display, regarding four intensity waveforms. Moreover, matching tests between real and virtual textures were performed to evaluate the quality of presentation.