Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching on explosive power and agility

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) training on feet explosive power and agility among female students. Forty participants (age, 21.9 ± 3.95 yrs; weight, 58.52 ± 10.16 kg; height, 164.6 ± 5.50 cm) selected for this study. The subjects were randomized in two groups included experimental group (N=20) and control group (N=20). Experimental group performed PNF stretching protocol for 8 weeks, 3 times per week and at least 2 minutes after warm up. The control group didn’t participate in PNF protocol. The subjects measured in two sessions before and after training sessions. The results of the study revealed that a significantly improvement in PNF Stretching protocol compared to the control group in explosive power. This study was design to ascertain whether survey the effects of PNF Stretching protocol on vertical Jump and T test performances in female students. The finding of the study provide evidence that PNF stretching leads to more explosive power and no significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in agility in subjects is detected.
Risk of adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and gastric cardia in patients with gastroesophageal reflux diseases and after antireflux surgery.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Gastroesophageal reflux has been proposed as an important risk factor for esophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, but prospective data are lacking. Furthermore, the effect of antireflux surgery has not yet been studied. We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study to fill these gaps. METHODS A cohort of 35,274 male and 31,691 female patients with a discharge diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux diseases, and another cohort of 6406 male and 4671 female patients who underwent antireflux surgery, were identified in the Swedish Inpatient Register. Follow-up was attained through record linkage with several nationwide registers. Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was used to estimate relative risk of upper gastrointestinal cancers, using the general Swedish population as reference. RESULTS After exclusion of the first year follow-up, 37 esophageal and 36 gastric cardia adenocarcinomas were observed among male patients who did not have surgery (SIR, 6.3, 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5-8.7; SIR, 2.4, 95% CI, 1.7-3.3, respectively). SIR for esophageal adenocarcinoma increased with follow-up time (P = 0.03 for trend). Among male patients who had undergone antireflux surgeries, risks were also elevated (16 esophageal adenocarcinoma, SIR, 14.1, 95% CI, 8.0-22.8; 15 gastric cardia adenocarcinomas, SIR, 5.3, 95% CI, 3.0-8.7) and remained elevated with time after surgery. The cancer risk pattern in women was similar to that for men, but the number of cases were much smaller. CONCLUSIONS Gastroesophageal reflux is strongly associated with the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma, and to a lesser extent, with gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. The risk of developing adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and gastric cardia remains increased after antireflux surgery.
Predictive parameters for granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor‐induced peripheral blood stem cell mobilization

To improve the selection of donors for allogeneic stem cell transplantation, it is important to identify reliable parameters that predict CD34+‐cell yields after granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF)‐induced peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization. We retrospectively investigated the peripheral blood (PB) kinetics of white blood cells (WBCs), CD34+ cells, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)‐9 and ‐2, and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP)‐1 and ‐2 in 15 healthy donors during their treatment with G‐CSF. All donors received 10 μg/kg of recombinant human G‐CSF once a day subcutaneously. Leukapheresis was initiated after 4 days of G‐CSF treatment, and G‐CSF treatment continued until the last day of leukapheresis. WBC and CD34+ cell numbers in the PB rose after 2 and 3 or 4 days of G‐CSF treatment, respectively. The PB CD34+ cell numbers on day 4 correlated weakly with the increase in WBC counts from day 1 to day 2 (R2 = 0.254, P = 0.056). There were also positive correlations between the CD34+ cell numbers in the PBSC products on day 4 and the CD34+ cells in the PB on days 1 and 4 (R2 = 0.768, P < 0.0001 and R2 = 0.816, P < 0.0005, respectively). The MMP‐9 plasma levels on days 1 and 4 also correlated positively with the day 4 circulating CD34+ cell numbers (R2 = 0.393, P < 0.05 and R2 = 0.406, P = 0.01, respectively). In conclusion, the CD34+ cell numbers in the PB steady state may be a useful parameter selecting allogeneic PBSC donors. J. Clin. Apheresis, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Long‐Term Follow‐Up of Patients with Sick Sinus Syndrome: A Comparison of Clinical Aspects Among Unpaced, Ventricular Inhibited Paced, and Physiologically Paced Groups

To analyze the prognosis of the sick sinus syndrome (SSS), we compared the clinical aspects among unpaced, ventricular paced, and physiologically paced patients who were followed over a long period. Unpaced intrinsic SSS was not always progressive and patients did not necessarily require permanent pacing. The incidence of concomitant AV conduction disturbance was 65.6% before pharmacologic autonomic block, (PAB), but this was significantly reduced to 31.7% after PAB. Follow‐up study of the physiologically paced groups revealed no development of either new or more than second degree AVB. The VVI group had significantly more complications (68%) than the physiologically paced groups, mainly chronic atrial fibrillation (36%) and thromboembolism (20%). In addition, cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) in the VVI group was significantly greater compared with that in the physiologic groups. Nine deaths occurred during the follow‐up period in the pacing groups, including six with VVI and three with physiologic pacing. In the VVI pacing group, heart failure and thromboembolism were most commonly the causes of death, while in the physiologic pacing groups, the causes of death were noncardiac. Although the survival rate in the ventricular paced group was not significantly different from that in the physiologic pacing groups, cardiac deaths were fewer in the latter group. Considering our clinical data, the decision to use ventricular pacing needs to be carefully weighed in patients with sick sinus syndrome, and physiologic pacing is more highly recommended. (PACE, Vol. 11. November 1988)
Secret Key Generation Based on Estimated Channel State Information for TDD-OFDM Systems Over Fading Channels

One of the fundamental problems in cryptography is the generation of a common secret key between two legitimate parties to prevent eavesdropping. In this paper, we propose an information-theoretic secret key generation (SKG) method for time division duplexing (TDD)-based orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems over multipath fading channels. By exploring physical layer properties of the wireless medium, i.e., the reciprocity, randomness, and privacy features of the radio channel, an SKG method is proposed to maximize the number of secret bits given a target secret key disagreement ratio (SKDR). In the proposed SKG method, the phase information of the estimated channel state information (CSI) is distilled for SKG, and a special guard band (GB) scheme is designed to achieve the target SKDR with a small phase information loss. The proposed GB consists of both the amplitude GB (AGB) and phase GB (PGB), where the AGB is determined by the average signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), whereas the PGB adapts itself to the instantaneous SINR and thus incurs a smaller phase information loss in the higher SINR region. Analyses show that this GB scheme trades off a small loss of channel phase information for a better SKDR performance, and achieves a much larger number of quantization levels for a given SKDR due to the fact that the PGB decreases quickly as the SINR increases. Based on the performance analysis on the SKDR, the average secret key length, the phase information loss percentage (PILP), and the optimal GB and quantization level of the adaptive quantizor are derived for a given target SKDR. Both analytical and simulation results are presented to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme for TDD-OFDM systems over frequency-selective fading channels.
Comparative evaluation of equations predicting methane production of dairy cattle from feed characteristics

Techniques that allow direct measurements on animals to quantify methane (CH4) emissions are costly and difficult to transfer to herd level. Mathematical approaches have been developed to predict methane emissions of cattle based on diet and intake characteristics, which were calibrated against largely varying calorimetry data. In this study, nine CH4 prediction equations were applied to five typical Central European dairy cow diets in order to compare their applicability. The five diets differed in respect of forage proportion and type. In a first attempt, regression equations were selected containing easily accessible data such as dry matter intake (DMI, kg/d) forage proportion, as well as neutral and acid detergent fibre that can also be extracted from on-farm datasets. Smallest differences to mean values were observed with the application of equations using neutral detergent fibre, while standard deviations were highest. Therefore, the best capability to differentiate between diets was shown, when using equations that operated with forage proportion and DMI. Nevertheless, the role of CH4 prediction equations should not be overestimated. The differences in CH4 estimates show that frequently used equations are still inaccurate and may only serve as implications to locate trends. It should be taken into consideration to expand datasets, involving future CH4 measurements, on animal and herd level, feeding typical, up-to-date regional diets in order to get more precise equations, suitable for a greater range of estimations. To ease and simplify the future applications, the prediction equations could be classified into groups, clearly stating by which data they were derived, for example, regional origin and diet composition.
What delay should there be between primary infectious mononucleosis and renal transplantation?

Abstract: A 17‐yr‐old girl in end‐stage renal failure was due to undergo living‐related pre‐emptive renal transplantation when she developed acute infectious mononucleosis (AIM) from Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). In view of the risk of post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) we were unsure as to the optimal delay between AIM and renal transplantation. This report describes the process used to determine maturation of the immune response to EBV using a combination of serology, immunophenotyping and molecular viral load estimation. These tests showed that EBV had not been cleared and dialysis was instituted rather than proceed directly to transplantation. After EBV viral load became undetectable in the blood, living‐related donor was successfully performed 13 months after AIM. With 42‐month post‐transplant follow up there has been no evidence of PTLD.
Morphological and morphometric characterisation of Onuf's nucleus in the spinal cord in man

In the absence of a systematic morphometric study of Onuf's nucleus in man, this investigation defines the limits of variation of segmental position and the range of length and volume of Onuf's nucleus in 6 normal humans displaying no neurological disease (2 males, 4 females). Serial section reconstruction methods in conjunction with the disector method provided information on the numbers, sizes and shapes of the constituent motor neurons of Onuf's nucleus. In contrast to previous descriptions, the cranial origin of Onuf's nucleus occurred in rostral S1 in 50% of subjects, and midcaudal S1 in the remaining subjects. Onuf's nucleus varied in length between 4 and 7 mm, and was 0.2–0.37 mm3 in volume. Differences in length or volume between males or females, or between the left and right side of the cord were not statistically significant. Neurons in Onuf's nucleus varied in diameter between 10 μm and 60 μm (mean 26 μm) and their mean number was 625±137. A higher density of neurons occurred at the cranial and caudal ends of the nucleus relative to the middle. While 37% of neurons were approximately spherical (shape index ∼1), 44% were ellipsoid and 19% fusiform (shape indices varying between 0.26 and 0.8). These findings are compared with previous studies of Onuf's nucleus in man and animals. The results form a basis for further studies on Onuf's nucleus in normality and neurodegenerative diseases.
Hindlimb Growth after a Transphyseal Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament

Background There is a lot of controversy in the recent literature with regard to the optimal treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries during growth. Iatrogenic growth disturbance due to physeal damage is a potential complication, forcing many orthopaedic surgeons to treat these injuries conservatively. Hypothesis It is possible to perform a fully transphyseal ACL reconstruction in an ovine model with wide-open physes without creating growth disturbances. Study Design Descriptive laboratory study. Materials and Methods Four-month-old skeletally immature sheep underwent a transphyseal ACL reconstruction of the right knee. The surgical technique followed the criteria known to be essential to avoid growth disturbances in humans; the tibial tuberosity was spared to prevent a genu recurvatum, thermal damage to the growth plates was avoided, the physes were perforated with a small-diameter drill in the center of the growth plate, a soft tissue graft was used, graft fixation was achieved far away from the growth plates, the perforated growth plates were filled by the soft tissue graft, and the graft was moderately pretensioned before fixation. The left knee served as a control. A computer-assisted evaluation of long radiographs (frontal and sagittal plane) of the exarticulated hindlimbs was performed to exactly evaluate the limb alignment, joint orientation, and leg length. The animals were sacrificed in groups of 6 after 3, 6, 12, and 24 weeks. Results No angular deformities or leg-length discrepancies occurred after this transphyseal ACL reconstruction procedure throughout the remaining growth. Conclusion This large-animal study supports the clinical observation that it is possible to perform an ACL reconstruction without creating growth disturbances as long as a number of key principles are followed. Clinical Relevance Previous animal studies argued against ACL reconstruction in skeletally immature patients. This large-animal study provides support for early operative treatment of ACL ruptures even in young patients with open physes.
The influence of feeding on aerial and aquatic oxygen consumption, nitrogenous waste excretion, and metabolic fuel usage in the African lungfish, Protopterus annectens

We studied the utilization of air versus water as a respiratory medium for O2 consumption (Mo2) in the bimodally breathing African lungfish, Protopterus annectens (Owen, 1839), (151.2 ± 3.7 g) at 26–28 °C. We also investigated the impact of a single meal on this respiratory allocation and nitrogenous waste excretion in lungfish entrained to a 48 h feeding cycle. Correction for the “microbial blank” was found to be critically important in assessing the aquatic component of Mo2. After correction, total Mo2 was low (~1000 μmol·kg–1·h–1), and lungfish took about 40% of Mo2 from water and 60% from air. Following a meal of chironomid larvae (3.3% of body mass), Mo2 values from both air and water increased in proportion over the first 3 h and continued to increase to a peak at 5–8 h postfeeding, at which point total Mo2 (still 40% from water) was approximately 2.5-fold greater than the prefeeding level. When the same fish, entrained to the same 48 h feeding regime, were fasted, Mo2 declined then later increased .
Sequence and Structural Elements at the 3′ Terminus of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Genomic RNA: Functional Role during RNA Replication

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), a member of the genus Pestivirus in the family Flaviviridae, has a positive-stranded RNA genome consisting of a single open reading frame and untranslated regions (UTRs) at the 5' and 3' ends. Computer modeling suggested the 3' UTR comprised single-stranded regions as well as stem-loop structures-features that were suspected of being essentially implicated in the viral RNA replication pathway. Employing a subgenomic BVDV RNA (DI9c) that was shown to function as an autonomous RNA replicon (S.-E. Behrens, C. W. Grassmann, H. J. Thiel, G. Meyers, and N. Tautz, J. Virol. 72:2364-2372, 1998) the goal of this study was to determine the RNA secondary structure of the 3' UTR by experimental means and to investigate the significance of defined RNA motifs for the RNA replication pathway. Enzymatic and chemical structure probing revealed mainly the conserved terminal part (termed 3'C) of the DI9c 3' UTR containing distinctive RNA motifs, i.e., a stable stem-loop, SL I, near the RNA 3' terminus and a considerably less stable stem-loop, SL II, that forms the 5' portion of 3'C. SL I and SL II are separated by a long single-stranded intervening sequence, denoted SS. The 3'-terminal four C residues of the viral RNA were confirmed to be single stranded as well. Other intramolecular interactions, e.g., with upstream DI9c RNA sequences, were not detected under the experimental conditions used. Mutagenesis of the DI9c RNA demonstrated that the SL I and SS motifs do indeed play essential roles during RNA replication. Abolition of RNA stems, which ought to maintain the overall folding of SL I, as well as substitution of certain single-stranded nucleotides located in the SS region or SL I loop region, gave rise to DI9c derivatives unable to replicate. Conversely, SL I stems comprising compensatory base exchanges turned out to support replication, but mostly to a lower degree than the original structure. Surprisingly, replacement of a number of residues, although they were previously defined as constituents of a highly conserved stretch of sequence of the SS motif, had little effect on the replication ability of DI9c. In summary, these results indicate that RNA structure as well as sequence elements harbored within the 3'C region of the BVDV 3' UTR create a common cis-acting element of the replication process. The data further point at possible interaction sites of host and/or viral proteins and thus provide valuable information for future experiments intended to identify and characterize these factors.
Effect of Two Warning Signs on Adult Supervision and Risky Activities by Children in Grocery Shopping Carts

398 children, 1 to 6 years of age, and the adults accompanying them in two supermarkets were exposed to one of four treatments. Two experimental treatments featured variations on a warning sign, prompting adults to prevent their children from standing while in the cart seat and basket portions of shopping carts. The two control treatments exposed the adults to advertisements rather than warning signs. No effect was observed of either warning on standing while in cart seats, standing while in baskets, climbing on carts, or standing on the ends or sides of carts; nor was any effect noted on three measures of adult supervision. This lack of effect is attributed to adults' perceptions of the low risk of serious injury to children in carts, their familiarity with carts, the costliness of ensuring compliance with the warnings, and the lack of natural contingencies supporting the prompts. Risky activities by children were related to the child's location in the cart, child's sex, and adult supervision.
Single LDL apheresis improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in hypercholesterolemic humans.

BACKGROUND Although long-term lipid-lowering therapy improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in humans, it remains unknown whether the short-term removal of LDL per se ameliorates endothelial dysfunction. METHODS AND RESULTS To examine the effects of a single session of LDL apheresis on endothelial function in patients with hypercholesterolemia, we measured forearm blood flow (FBF) by strain-gauge plethysmography before and after single LDL apheresis while infusing acetylcholine (ACh; 4 to 24 micrograms/min) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 0.2 to 1.2 micrograms/min). The single session of LDL apheresis reduced total LDL (from 142.2 +/- 15.0 to 32.6 +/- 5.0 mg/mL, P < .0005) and oxidized LDL (from 111.6 +/- 22.8 to 30.0 +/- 5.4 ng/mL, P < .005). Although ACh and SNP increased FBF dose-dependently before and after LDL apheresis, the endothelium-dependent vasodilatation responses to ACh were significantly augmented (P < .01) after the single session of LDL apheresis without changes in the endothelium-independent vasodilatation responses to SNP. The plasma levels of total and oxidized LDL correlated with the degree of ACh-induced vasodilatation. Furthermore, the local production of nitrate/nitrite, metabolites of NO, during ACh infusion was significantly (P < .05) augmented by LDL apheresis, and there was a significant correlation between the degree of ACh-induced vasodilatation and the production in nitrate/nitrite (r = .99, P < .0005). CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated that even a single session of LDL apheresis with the reduction of total LDL and oxidized LDL improved endothelial function. Our results suggest that total LDL and/or oxidized LDL may directly impair endothelial function in the human forearm vessel.
Family interactions of alcoholics as related to alcoholism type and drinking condition.

BACKGROUND Several studies have reported that the marital interactions of antisocial and aggressive, versus nonantisocial and nonaggressive, alcoholics exhibit higher rates of aversive-defensive communications and higher levels of negative reciprocity. To extend these findings, we examined the effect of alcoholism type (high- versus low-antisocial alcoholics: HAS, LAS) and drinking condition on family communication patterns. METHODS Marital and parent-child dyads from 100 alcoholic families were videotaped while they discussed personally relevant issues during drinking and no-drinking sessions (no children were offered any alcohol). All interactions were coded with the Marital Interaction Coding System, and the data were assessed for differences in rate of positive, negative, and problem-solving behaviors, as well as sequential structures. RESULTS HAS couples were more negative during the drink versus no-drink condition, whereas drinking did not affect negativity for LAS couples. In addition, the negative communications of HAS versus LAS alcoholics were more likely to increase spouse negativity during the drink versus no-drink condition. Group differences for parent-child interactions were few. CONCLUSIONS The nature of family interactions was related to both alcoholism type and alcohol consumption, and the marital interactions of alcoholism types could be differentiated on the basis of the frequency and sequential structure of negative exchanges. It is most important to note that it is the interactions of the HAS alcoholic that undergo the most change as a function of drinking condition, with little support for the "adaptive consequences" hypothesis that alcohol consumption leads to more effective problem-solving for couples in which the alcoholic exhibits fewer antisocial and more internalizing characteristics. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.