Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of chronic ankle instability and induced mediolateral muscular fatigue of the ankle on competitive taekwondo athletes

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic ankle instability and induced mediolateral muscular fatigue of the ankle on competitive Taekwondo athletes during single-leg drop landing. [Subjects and Methods] Fourteen competitive taekwondo athletes with chronic ankle instability and 14 healthy adults participated, and they performed three single-leg drop landings from a 40-cm height before and after induced fatigue. Ankle angular position, peak vertical ground reaction force, loading rate, eccentric work, and contribution were calculated and analyzed. [Results] Athletes had lower ankle eversion and abduction angle than the controls did at maximum knee flexion both pre- and post-fatigue. Furthermore, athletes had lower eccentric work of the hip than the controls did post-fatigue, and they had lower eccentric work of the knee than controls at both pre- and post-fatigue. The eccentric work of the knee increased while, peak vertical ground reaction force decreased in both, athletes as well as controls post-fatigue. [Conclusion] Taekwondo athletes with chronic ankle instability who participate in a high-intensity training program are continuously exposed to potential injuries of their ankle or knee joints. Therefore, competitive taekwondo athletes with chronic ankle instability should limit their participation in regular training until they complete the rehabilitation process.
Pre-service Secondary Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education

The attitudes held by pre-service teachers have been shown to affect their willingness and ability to implement an inclusive approach to education. A sample consisting of 193 pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in secondary education courses at an Australian university were surveyed to determine their attitudes towards inclusive education, with a particular focus on attitudinal changes across the years of study. Results indicated that pre-service secondary teachers held positive attitudes towards inclusive education; however there was a significant decline in positive attitudes through the years of study. Pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in postgraduate programs were more inclusive than those enrolled in undergraduate courses. Attitudes towards training and perceived competence were less positive than other attitude scales for all participants, suggesting a concern regarding training effectiveness. Replication of the study is recommended across additional Australian and international universities to determine differences in training content and experiences which may impact on attitudes towards training and perceived competence.
The role of drug-induced sleep endoscopy in the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: our personal experience

SUMMARY Nowadays, drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is performed widely and its validity and reliability has been demonstrated by several studies; in fact, it provides clinical information not available by routine clinical inspection alone. Its safety and utility are promising, but still needs to be improved to reach the level of excellence expected of gold standard tests used in clinical practice. Our study compares the results of clinical and diagnostic evaluation with those of sleep endoscopy, evaluating the correlation between clinical indexes of routine clinical diagnosis and sites of obstruction in terms of number of sites involved, entity of obstruction and pattern of closure. This study consists in a longitudinal prospective evaluation of 138 patients who successfully underwent sleep endoscopy at our institution. Patients were induced to sleep with a low dose of midazolam followed by titration with propofol. Sedation level was monitored using bispectral index monitoring. Our results suggest that the multilevel complete collapse was statistically significantly associated with higher apnoea hypopnea index values. By including partial sites of obstruction greater than 50%, our results also suggest that multilevel collapse remains statistically and significantly associated with higher apnoea hypopnoea index values. Analyzing BMI distribution based on number of sites with complete and partial obstruction there was no significant difference. Finally, analyzing Epworth Sleepiness Score distribution based on number of sites with complete obstruction, there was a statistically significant difference between patients with 3-4 sites of obstruction compared to those with two sites or uni-level obstruction. In conclusion, our data suggest that DISE is safe, easy to perform, valid and reliable, as previously reported. Furthermore, we found a good correlation between DISE findings and clinical characteristics such as AHI and EPS. Consequently, adequate assessment by DISE of all sites of obstruction is very important, not only in patients with low-moderate AHI and EPS, but also in patients with a high AHI or/and high EPS, in particular to plan multilevel surgery that in these latter situations is more demanding since success may be harder to achieve.
Novel photo-thermally active polyvinyl alcohol-Prussian blue nanoparticles hydrogel films capable of eradicating bacteria and mitigating biofilms

Antibacterial treatment is an essential issue in many diverse fields, from medical device treatments (for example prostheses coating) to food preservation. However, there is a need of novel and light-weight materials with high antibacterial efficiency (preferably due to the physical activation). Utilization of photo-thermally active nanoparticles can lead to novel and re-usable materials that can be remotely activated on-demand to thermally eradicate bacteria and mitigate biofilm formation, therefore meeting the above challenge. In this study polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel films containing non-toxic and highly photo-thermally active Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles were fabricated. The confocal microscopy studies indicated a uniform nanoparticle distribution and a low degree of aggregation. Upon near-infrared (NIR; 700 and 800 nm) light irradiation of PVA–PB films, the local temperature increases rapidly and reaches a plateau (up to ΔT ≅ 78 °C), within ≈6–10 s under relatively low laser intensities, I ≅ 0.3 W cm−2. The high and localized increase of temperature on the fabricated films resulted in an efficient antibacterial effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) bacteria. In addition, the localized photo-thermal effect was also sufficient to substantially mitigate biofilms growth.
Families Affected by Huntington’s Disease Report Difficulties in Communication, Emotional Involvement, and Problem Solving

Background: Family functioning in Huntington’s disease (HD) is known from previous studies to be adversely affected. However, which aspects of family functioning are disrupted is unknown, limiting the empirical basis around which to create supportive interventions. Objective: The aim of the current study was to assess family functioning in HD families. Methods: We assessed family functioning in 61 participants (38 HD gene-expanded participants and 23 family members) using the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD; Epstein, Baldwin and Bishop, 1983), which provides scores for seven domains of functioning: Problem Solving; Communication; Affective Involvement; Affective Responsiveness; Behavior Control; Roles; and General Family Functioning. Results: The most commonly reported disrupted domain for HD participants was Affective Involvement, which was reported by 39.5% of HD participants, followed closely by General Family Functioning (36.8%). For family members, the most commonly reported dysfunctional domains were Affective Involvement and Communication (both 52.2%). Furthermore, symptomatic HD participants reported more disruption to Problem Solving than pre-symptomatic HD participants. In terms of agreement between pre-symptomatic and symptomatic HD participants and their family members, all domains showed moderate to very good agreement. However, on average, family members rated Communication as more disrupted than their HD affected family member. Conclusion: These findings highlight the need to target areas of emotional engagement, communication skills and problem solving in family interventions in HD.
Net Community Production in the Southern Ocean: Insights From Comparing Atmospheric Potential Oxygen to Satellite Ocean Color Algorithms and Ocean Models

The contribution of oceanic net community production (NCP) to the observed seasonal cycle in atmospheric potential oxygen (APO) is estimated at Cape Grim, Tasmania. The resulting APONCP signal is compared to satellite and ocean model‐based estimates of POC export and NCP across the Southern Ocean. The satellite products underestimate the amplitude of the observed APONCP seasonal cycle by more than a factor of 2. Ocean models suggest two reasons for this underestimate: (1) Current satellite products substantially underestimate the magnitude of NCP in early spring. (2) Seasonal O2 outgassing is supported in large part by storage of carbon in DOC and living biomass. More DOC observations are needed to help evaluate this latter model prediction. Satellite products could be improved by developing seasonally dependent relationships between remote sensing chlorophyll data and in situ NCP, recognizing that the former is a measure of mass, the latter of flux.
Decrease of Staphylococcus aureus Virulence by Helcococcus kunzii in a Caenorhabditis elegans Model

Social bacterial interactions are considered essential in numerous infectious diseases, particularly in wounds. Foot ulcers are a common complication in diabetic patients and these ulcers become frequently infected. This infection is usually polymicrobial promoting cell-to-cell communications. Staphylococcus aureus is the most prevalent pathogen isolated. Its association with Helcococcus kunzii, commensal Gram-positive cocci, is frequently described. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of co-infection on virulence of both H. kunzii and S. aureus strains in a Caenorhabditis elegans model. To study the host response, qRT-PCRs targeting host defense genes were performed. We observed that H. kunzii strains harbored a very low (LT50: 5.7 days ± 0.4) or an absence of virulence (LT50: 6.9 days ± 0.5). In contrast, S. aureus strains (LT50: 2.9 days ± 0.4) were significantly more virulent than all H. kunzii (P < 0.001). When H. kunzii and S. aureus strains were associated, H. kunzii significantly reduced the virulence of the S. aureus strain in nematodes (LT50 between 4.4 and 5.2 days; P < 0.001). To evaluate the impact of these strains on host response, transcriptomic analysis showed that the ingestion of S. aureus led to a strong induction of defense genes (lys-5, sodh-1, and cyp-37B1) while H. kunzii did not. No statistical difference of host response genes expression was observed when C. elegans were infected with either S. aureus alone or with S. aureus + H. kunzii. Moreover, two well-characterized virulence factors (hla and agr) present in S. aureus were down-regulated when S. aureus were co-infected with H. kunzii. This study showed that H. kunzii decreased the virulence of S. aureus without modifying directly the host defense response. Factor(s) produced by this bacterium modulating the staphylococci virulence must be investigated.
Systematic Association of Genes to Phenotypes by Genome and Literature Mining

One of the major challenges of functional genomics is to unravel the connection between genotype and phenotype. So far no global analysis has attempted to explore those connections in the light of the large phenotypic variability seen in nature. Here, we use an unsupervised, systematic approach for associating genes and phenotypic characteristics that combines literature mining with comparative genome analysis. We first mine the MEDLINE literature database for terms that reflect phenotypic similarities of species. Subsequently we predict the likely genomic determinants: genes specifically present in the respective genomes. In a global analysis involving 92 prokaryotic genomes we retrieve 323 clusters containing a total of 2,700 significant gene–phenotype associations. Some clusters contain mostly known relationships, such as genes involved in motility or plant degradation, often with additional hypothetical proteins associated with those phenotypes. Other clusters comprise unexpected associations; for example, a group of terms related to food and spoilage is linked to genes predicted to be involved in bacterial food poisoning. Among the clusters, we observe an enrichment of pathogenicity-related associations, suggesting that the approach reveals many novel genes likely to play a role in infectious diseases.
Value of CNRIP1 promoter methylation in colorectal cancer screening and prognosis assessment and its influence on the activity of cancer cells

Introduction The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of CNRIP1 promoter methylation on the proliferative, invasive and migration potential of colorectal cancer cells, including its potential use for the early detection and prognostic assessment of colorectal cancer. Material and methods Quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) was used to detect the methylation status of the CNRIP1 promoter region in peripheral blood samples drawn from patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma, benign colorectal adenoma, and matched healthy controls. Putative CpG methylation sites were then pyrosequenced. We subsequently suppressed CNRIP1 methylation within colon cancer cells via treatment with 5-azacytidine and overexpressed colon cancer cells by transfection with a CNRIP1-overexpression pcDNA3.0 plasmid. Thereafter, the CNRIP1 methylation status and mRNA and protein expressions levels were determined. Finally, the proliferative, invasive and migration abilities of cell lines were determined with the CCK-8 and Transwell cell assays. Results There were differences in the methylation status at loci 2216, 2226, 2231, 2245, and 2254 within the promoter region of CNRIP1 between patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma, colorectal adenoma, and healthy volunteers. The methylation status of CpG sequence 2245 significantly correlated with tumor diameter, invasion depth, TNM stage, grade, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). The proliferative, invasive and migration abilities of colon cancer cells treated with 5-azaC or transfected with a CNRIP1-overexpression plasmid were significantly impaired relative to negative controls (p < 0.05). Conclusions The methylation status at locus 2245 within the CNRIP1 promoter region has potential value for the early detection and prognostic evaluation of colorectal cancers. Demethylation of the CNRIP1 promoter or overexpression of CNRIP1 can reduce the proliferative and migration abilities of colon cancer cells.
Differential immunocompetence of macrophages derived using macrophage or granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor

Macrophages derived in vitro from bone marrow progenitors (bone marrow–derived macrophages, BMDMs) using either macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (CSF‐1) or granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) as the myelopoietic stimulus display differential functional, morphological, and mRNA phenotypes. The data presented here demonstrate further that CSF‐1– and GM‐CSF–derived BMDMs differ in immunologic capacity. GM‐CSF–derived BMDMs, when compared to CSF‐1–derived BMDMs, showed greater cytolytic activity against tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α)–resistant, but not TNF‐α–sensitive, tumor targets. In contrast, CSF‐1–derived BMDMs produced nitrite in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alone, whereas GM‐CSF–derived BMDMs required interferon γ plus LPS treatment. The two BMDM populations also showed differential sensitivities to LPS for secretion of TNF‐α and nitrite, but the maximal inducible amounts of these factors and prostaglandin E2 were similar between the BMDM populations. Lastly, GM‐CSF–derived but not CSF‐1–derived BMDMs showed an L‐arginine–dependent listeriacidal activity. These results show that the functional heterogeneity of CSF‐1– and GM‐CSF–derived macrophages is limited and appears to result largely from differences in the activational signals required by each BMDM population to elicit a given function.
Doppler blind zone analysis for ground target tracking with bistatic airborne GMTI radar

This paper investigates the Doppler blind zone of bistatic transmitter and receiver configurations and its impact on the tracking of ground targets based on measurements from airborne ground moving target indication (GMTI) radar. The Doppler blind zone arises from the clutter cancellation by space-time adaptive processing (STAP). In general, this poses a significant challenge in ground target tracking because low-Doppler targets can easily be hidden within this blind zone, leading to sequences of missed detections that strongly deteriorate the performance of a standard tracking filter. In this study the width of the bistatic Doppler blind zone is calculated and this knowledge is incorporated into a UKF-MHT tracking algorithm. Based on simulation scenarios, it is demonstrated that in contrast to a monostatic configuration with sideways-looking radar, the minimum detectable velocity that characterizes the width of the Doppler blind zone does not need to be constant. Track results reveal the benefit of exploiting this additional knowledge.
Levodopa/benserazide microspheres reduced levodopa-induced dyskinesia by downregulating phosphorylated GluR1 expression in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats

Background Levodopa is the gold standard in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, long-term levodopa replacement therapy is accompanied by abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs), known as levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). Until now, the precise mechanisms of LID were only partially understood. Previous studies have shown that continuous dopamine stimulation was helpful in reducing the expression of LID. In addition to dopamine D1 receptor, glutamatergic receptors such as α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor also contribute to the expression of LID. The current authors have previously reported that levodopa/benserazide-loaded microspheres could ameliorate the expression of LID by reducing the protein kinase A signaling pathway in dyskinetic rats. However, whether AMPA receptor is involved in the mechanism by which levodopa/benserazide-loaded microspheres ameliorate the expression of LID in dyskinetic rats was unknown. Methods In the present study, as reported previously, levodopa and benserazide were loaded by poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres, which can release levodopa and benserazide in a sustained manner. 6-Hydroxydopamine was injected into the right medial forebrain bundle to produce a rat model of PD. Then valid PD rats were treated with levodopa plus benserazide for 3 weeks to induce a rat model of LID. Dyskinetic rats were treated with levodopa/beserazide-loaded microspheres containing levodopa (6 mg/kg) plus benserazide (15 mg/kg) or same dose of levodopa plus benserazide. Abnormal involuntary movements were measured in rats on days 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 during the treatment. The levels of GluR1 at serine-831 (pGluR1S831) and serine-845 (pGluR1S845) were determined by Western blot. Arc and proenkephalin (Penk) levels were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results Three-week levodopa plus benserazide treatment induced dyskinesia in PD rats. Levodopa/benserazide-loaded microsphere-treated dyskinetic rats showed lower AIM scores than levodopa plus benserazide-treated dyskinetic rats. Microsphere treatment downregulated the phosphrylated levels of pGluR1S831 and pGluR1S845 in the striatum of dyskinetic rats. In addition, microsphere treatment reduced the levels of Arc and Penk. Conclusion These data indicated that levodopa/benserazide-loaded microspheres could be used to ameliorate the expression of LID by reducing the expression of pGluR1S831 and pGluR1S845 as well as Arc and Penk.
Association of EPHA2 polymorphisms and age-related cortical cataract in a Han Chinese population

Purpose The gene for Eph-receptor tyrosinekinase-type A2 (EPHA2) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of age-related cataract (ARC). The aim of this study was to examine whether EPHA2 polymorphisms were associated with the susceptibility to age-related cortical cataract in a Han Chinese population. Methods Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)—rs3768293, rs3754334, rs7548209, rs707455, and rs477558—in the EPHA2 gene were genotyped in 422 Han Chinese patients with age-related cortical cataract and 317 age-, sex-, and ethnically matched healthy controls using a PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. Data were analyzed by χ2 analysis. Results The results showed that the five analyzed polymorphisms in EPHA2 were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium both in the patients and in the controls. The frequency of the rs477558 AA genotype was signiﬁcantly increased in ARC patients compared with controls (χ2=8.649, pc=0.045, odds ratio [OR] 1.555, 95% CI 1.158 to 2.089). The frequency of the rs477558 AG genotype was signiﬁcantly decreased in ARC patients compared with controls (χ2=9.281, pc=0.030, OR 0.626, 95% CI 0.463 to 0.847). Signiﬁcantly higher frequencies of the GG genotype and the G allele of rs7548209 were observed in ARC patients compared with controls (χ2=10.430, pc=0.015, OR 1.660, 95% CI 1.219 to 2.261 and χ2=8.537, pc=0.015, OR 1.486, 95% CI 1.138 to 1.940, respectively). On the other hand, signiﬁcantly decreased frequencies of the rs7548209 CG genotype and the C allele were observed in ARC patients compared with controls (χ2=9.999, pc=0.030, OR 0.603, 95% CI 0.440 to 0.826 and χ2=8.537, pc=0.015, OR 0.673, 95% CI 0.515 to 0.879, respectively). There was no difference in the frequencies of the genotype and allele of the rs3768293, rs3754334, and rs707455 SNPs between the patients with ARC and the controls. Conclusions Our study suggests that both SNP rs477558 and SNP rs7548209 of EPHA2 are associated with age-related cortical cataract in a Han Chinese population.
Study of Subharmonically Injection-Locked PLLs

A complete analysis on subharmonically injection-locked PLLs develops fundamental theory for subharmonic locking phenomenon. It explains the noise shaping phenomenon, locking range and behavior, PVT tolerance, and pseudo locking issue. All of the analyses are verified by real chip measurements. Two 20-GHz PLLs based on the proposed theory are designed and fabricated in 90-nm CMOS technology to demonstrate the superiority and robustness of this technique. The first chip aims at low-noise/low-power/high-divide-ratio design, achieving 149-fs rms jitter (integrated from 100 Hz to 1 GHz) while consuming 38 mW from a 1.3-V supply. The second prototype shoots for the lowest noise performance, presenting 85-fs rms jitter (the same integration interval) with a power dissipation of 105 mW. The jitter generation (from 50 kHz to 80 MHz) measures 48 fs, which is at least twice as small as that of any other known circuits.
A 16-bit current sample/hold circuit using a digital CMOS process

In current-mode circuits clock feedthrough from sampling switches is a major source of error. While this error can be reduced to only an offset in switched-capacitor circuits, it produces more severe nonlinearities in switched-current designs. If the input is held constant over several cycles, clock feedthrough errors can be significantly reduced, but for a dynamic input, the ultimate solution has been to use a large sampling capacitor and small-switches. We propose a method of building a highly accurate oversampling current-mode sample/hold circuit using feedback architectures. First, second, and third-order feedback structures are proposed and simulated, with the results showing increased precision as oversampling ratio increases. A 16-bit current sample/hold circuit using a standard digital 2 /spl mu/m CMOS process is presently being designed and fabricated. <<ETX>>