Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of the Maximal Lactate Steady State in Junior Soccer Players

Abstract This study aimed to predict the velocity corresponding to the maximal lactate steady state (MLSSV) from non-invasive variables obtained during an incremental maximal running test (University of Montreal Track Test, UMTT) and to determine whether a single constant velocity test (CVT), performed several days after the UMTT, could estimate the MLSSV. During a period of 3 weeks, 20 male junior soccer players performed: 1) a UMTT, and 2) several 20-min CVTs to determine MLSSV to a precision of 0.35 km·h−1. Maximal aerobic velocity (MAV) and velocity at 80% of maximum heart rate (V80%HRmax) were strong predictors of MLSSV. A regression equation was obtained: MLSSV=(1.106·MAV) – (0.309·V80%HRmax) – 3.024; R2=0.60. Running velocity during CVT (VCVT) and blood lactate at 10 (La10) and 20 (La20) minutes further improved the MLSSV prediction: MLSSV=VCVT+0.26 – (0.812·ΔLa20–10); R2=0.66. MLSSV can be estimated from MAV and V80%HRmax during a single incremental maximal running test among a homogeneous group of soccer players. This estimation can be improved by performing an additional CVT. In terms of accuracy, simplicity and cost-effectiveness, the reported regression equations can be used for the assessment and training prescription of endurance in team sport players.
Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) gene delivery protects cortical neurons from dying following a traumatic brain injury.

PURPOSE The therapeutic potential of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) gene delivery was examined in a rodent model of traumatic brain injury (TBI), the controlled cortical impact (CCI). METHODS An adenoviral vector harboring human GDNF (AdGDNF) or green fluorescent protein (AdGFP) was injected unilaterally into the forelimb sensorimotor cortex (FL-SMC) of the rat one week prior to a unilateral CCI. Tests of forelimb function and asymmetry were administered for 2 weeks post-injury. At 2 weeks post-injury, animals were sacrificed and contusion size, neuronal survival, neurodegeneration, and virally-mediated GDNF and GFP protein expression were measured. RESULTS Rats injected with AdGDNF had significantly smaller contusions, more surviving neurons, and less neurodegeneration than AdGFP injected and uninjected injured animals. GDNF gene delivery also resulted in significantly faster recovery of forelimb coordination and a smaller initial preference for the uninjured forelimb during exploration of the walls of a platform. However, overall recovery of symmetrical forelimb use was not achieved. CONCLUSIONS The discrepancy between neural protection and behavioral recovery suggests that while GDNF gene delivery provided a high degree of protection of damaged cortical neurons in this model of TBI, it may not have fully protected their terminals and synaptic functioning, resulting in only mild protection against behavioral deficits.
Profit Regulation of Defense Contractors and Prizes for Innovation

This paper argues that regulatory institutions in defense procurement are (and necessarily must be) organized to create prizes for innovation in the form of positive economic profit on production contracts. This has a number of important policy implications. The values of the prizes on 12 major aerospace projects are estimated using stock market data and shown to be large.
Pattern of certain health problems among the elderly population in rural Aligarh

Background: With the increase in life expectancy, the number of people who have attained old age has increased throughout the globe, particularly more in the developing countries like India. Old age is associated with deterioration of health and increase in morbidity. To provide appropriate care for them there is a need to attain information about their morbidity pattern. Objective: To study the pattern of certain health problems in the elderly population and to find out the difference in health problems between males and females, if any. Materials and Methods: Community based cross-sectional study was carried out at field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre, JN Medical College, AMU, Aligarh using systematic random sampling with probability proportionate to size among 225 rural older individuals using pretested and predesigned questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS 20. Tests of proportion and χ2-test was used. P-value
Exploring the relationship between personal control and the hospital environment.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This paper describes the further development of the substantive theory Optimising Personal Control to Facilitate Emotional Comfort. In previous work, emotional comfort was identified as a therapeutic state that was influenced by several factors, one of which was the hospital environment. This paper focuses on aspects within the hospital environment that patients perceive to influence their feelings of personal control. BACKGROUND A relationship between control and health has been discussed in previous literature. There are indications that aspects of the hospital environment can impact on a patient's perception of control. This project explored personal control in relation to the hospital environment from the perspective of patients. METHOD Grounded theory method was used. Data were collected from patients' interviews and field observations and analysed using the constant comparative method. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A qualitative data computer program was used to manage the data. RESULTS The results confirmed the findings of the original study where hospitalised patients were found to experience feelings of reduced personal control. The conditions of level of security, level of knowing and level of personal value were described in terms of their contribution to the patient's feelings of personal control. CONCLUSIONS Specific directions for further research into the development and evaluation of therapeutic hospital environments that promote personal control and the associated emotional comfort are provided. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This research highlights the importance of considering patients' feelings of personal control during their hospital stay. Several directions for establishment of therapeutic environments within hospitals are provided, but more research in this area is recommended.
MEDICAL PRACTICE IN CHILDREN PRESENTING FEVER WITH PETECHIAL RASH TO AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT.

INTRODUCTION The association of fever and petechiae in children is one of the most alarming findings for a paediatrician. To quickly distinguish between benign and life-threatening conditions is challenging in many cases. We aimed to evaluate the clinical practice of children presenting with fever and petechiae as initial symptoms. METHODS 41 patients (age 3 months-11 years) presenting with fever and petechiae were identified in an Emergency Paediatric Assessment Unit over a period of 9 months. General data, symptoms and signs were assessed for each patient. The work-up consisted in: complete blood count, inflammatory tests, coagulation tests, Monospot test, nasopharyngeal rapid tests, blood culture, and cerebrospinal fluid culture where appropriate. RESULTS Most children were <5 years of age (70.7%). Female to male ratio was 1:2.4. The most common clinical diagnoses were: viral respiratory illness (48.8%, 20/41) and upper respiratory tract infection (17.1%, 7/41). Meningococcal disease was found in one case. CRP>6 mg/l was poorly correlated with serious illness. The following variables were strongly associated with serious illness: ill appearance, shivering, lethargy, back rigidity, ESR>50 mm/h and prolonged capillary refill time. 59% (24/41) of children were treated with antibiotics, however, at discharge 42%(10/24) of them, did not have a work-up suggestive for a bacterial illness. CONCLUSIONS Screening for low prevalence but high morbidity conditions, as the meningococcal disease, with an extensive work-up is time and resource consuming and may lead to unmotivated antibiotic use. Larger studies are needed to change the emergency practice for management of fever and rash.
The clearance of antigen antibody complexes from the blood by the reticuloendothelial system.

Soluble complexes of antigens with rabbit antibody interfere by a phenomenon of competition with the phagocytosis of carbon particles by the reticuloendothelial system, when injected intravenously into mice and rabbits. Evidence is presented that at least the larger soluble antigen-antibody aggregates are phagocytized by the Kupffer cells of the liver. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the localization of antigen-antibody complexes in the sites of pathologic lesions of serum sickness.
Do Tournaments Solve the Adverse Selection Problem?

This paper provides a solution to a puzzle in the analysis of tournaments, that of why there is no agent discrimination or differential contracting in certain business practice settings. The paper examines the problem of a principal contracting with multiple agents whose activities are subject to common shocks. The presence of common shocks invites the use of relative performance evaluation to minimize the costs of moral hazard. But, in the additional presence of adverse selection, the analysis shows that there may be no need for ex ante screening through menus of offers. This is so because the principal becomes better informed ex post about agent types, via the realization of common uncertainty, and can effectively penalize or reward the agents ex post. Thus, unlike the standard adverse selection problem without common uncertainty where the principal always benefits from ex ante screening, it is shown that ex post sorting through relative performance evaluation reduces the scope for ex ante screening through menus, and can eliminate it completely if agents are known to not be very heterogeneous. This is consistent with observed practice in industries where the primary compensation mechanism is a cardinal tournament which is uniform among employees. The analysis connotes that by using relative instead of absolute performance measures, firms with employees who are not substantially heterogeneous not only can alleviate the agency problem, but there is also no need to extract the agents' ex ante private information about their innate abilities via a screening menu.
Supplemental antibiotics to enhance the action of gentamicin in pseudomonas and mixed infections.

A survey of 66 patients treated with gentamicin alone indicated that 14 patients showed persistence of Pseudomonas or a mixed flora, and they required additional treatment. A study of a mixed infection (peritonitis) in mice and of an experimental infection of mice with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was made with gentamicin treatment alone or in combination with other antibiotics. The challenge organisms were given ip, and the treatment sc 1 hr later. Gentamicin was significantly beneficial in the treatment of peritonitis. Ampicillin, chloramphenicol, penicillin G, or streptomycin could be added without any loss of benefit, but only kanamycin-gentamicin treatment was better than gentamicin alone. Gentamicin was also effective in treating the challenge with Pseudomonas. Ampicillin or carbenicillin in addition to gentamicin did not produce any less benefit, but no clear-cut gain was produced by adding one of a variety of antibiotics to the basic gentamicin regimen.
High-Elevation Cliffs and Outcrops of the Southern Appalachians: Vascular Plants and Biogeography

Vascular plants of high-elevation cliffs and rock outcrops were sampled on 42 peaks in the Southern Appalachians. Species found were predominantly native, summer-flowering, herbaceous perennials. Species endemic to the Southern and Central Appalachians comprise over 25% of the total flora; species restricted to eastern North America include nearly 50% of the flora. The diversity of biogeographic affinities shows that the northern alpine element (those species found above treeline in the Northern Appalachians) is only a small subset of the total flora. At least 17% of species were likely components of the Pleistocene alpine flora. An annotated checklist of the 288 species is provided.
Land surface temperature retrieval from thermal infrared data: An assessment in the context of the Surface Processes and Ecosystem Changes Through Response Analysis (SPECTRA) mission

[1] SPECTRA (Surface Processes and Ecosystem Changes Through Response Analysis) is one of the core candidate missions which is being proposed for implementation in the European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Explorer program of research oriented missions. The scientific objective of the SPECTRA mission is to describe, understand, and model the role of terrestrial vegetation in the global carbon cycle and its response to climate variability under the increasing pressure of human activity. The SPECTRA satellite will embark an optical hyperspectral payload covering the solar spectral range (0.4 to 2.4 μm) and thermal infrared region (10.3 to 12.3 μm). This paper is focused on the land surface temperature retrieval from SPECTRA thermal infrared data. In the first part of the paper, generalized single-channel and split-window methods are discussed and compared, showing that single-channel methods provide similar or better results than split-window methods for low atmospheric water vapor content, whereas split-window methods always provide better results for high atmospheric water vapor content. In the second part of the paper, split-window and dual-angle algorithms have been developed for SPECTRA thermal channels. A sensitivity analysis of the algorithms has been also carried out, revealing total errors for split-window algorithms of around 1.5 K. For dual-angle algorithms, total errors less than 1 K are obtained when the combination nadir-60° is considered. Finally, a dual-angle algorithm for sea surface temperature retrieval has been developed for different view angles. The study of the variation of the total error with observation angle allows estimation of the best nadir-forward combination. Hence an optimal forward view of 52° referred to the observer zenithal angle (or 45° for satellite view angle) has been obtained, leading to an error of 0.4 K when the sensor noise error is 0.1 K and 0.3 K when the sensor noise error is 0.05 K.
Assessing the spastic condition of individuals with upper motoneuron involvement: validity of the myotonometer.

OBJECTIVES To examine the validity of a newly developed tissue compliance device to measure muscle tone and to quantify the level of severity of the spastic condition. DESIGN Validity study. SETTING Research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Twenty subjects, 10 with upper motoneuron (UMN) disorders (spastic-type cerebral palsy or adult-onset cerebrovascular accident) who comprised the experimental group; and 10 nondisabled, age-equivalent subjects, who served as controls. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Muscle tone of the biceps brachii muscle was assessed with the Myotonometer and Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). The Myotonometer was used to quantify the muscle's resistance to stretch in a relaxed state and during maximal voluntary isometric contractions. Analyses of variance determined differences among subjects. Correlations between Myotonometer measurements and MAS scores were calculated. RESULTS Significant differences (p < .05) were observed between experimental and control groups and between the involved and uninvolved extremities of the experimental group with Myotonometer measurements. Correlations between MAS scores and Myotonometer measurements ranged from . 64 to . 81. CONCLUSION The Myotonometer effectively identified differences in the spastic condition of the biceps brachii muscle in subjects with UMN involvement. Correlations with the MAS were moderate to high.
GRIP1 in GABAergic synapses

The glutamate receptor‐interacting protein GRIP1 is present in glutamatergic synapses and interacts with the GluR2/3/4c subunits of the AMPA receptors. This interaction plays important roles in trafficking, synaptic targeting, and recycling of AMPA receptors as well as in the plasticity of glutamatergic synapses. Although GRIP1 has been shown to be present at GABAergic synapses in cultured neurons, the use of EM (electron microscopy) immunocytochemistry in the intact brain has failed to convincingly reveal the presence of GRIP1 in GABAergic synapses. Therefore, most studies on GRIP1 have focused on glutamatergic synapses. By using mild tissue fixation and embedding in EM, we show that in the intact brain the 7‐PDZ domain GRIP1a/b is present not only in glutamatergic synapses but also in GABAergic synapses. In GABAergic synapses GRIP1a/b localizes both at the presynaptic terminals and postsynaptically, being frequently localized on the synaptic membranes or the synaptic junctional complex. Considerably higher density of GRIP1a/b is found in the presynaptic GABAergic terminals than in the glutamatergic terminals, while the density of GRIP1a/b in the postsynaptic complex is similar in both types of synapses. The results also show that the 7‐PDZ and the shorter 4‐PDZ domain splice forms of GRIP1 (GRIP1c 4‐7) frequently colocalize with each other in individual GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses. The results suggest that GRIP1 splice forms might play important roles in brain GABAergic synapses. J. Comp. Neurol. 488:11–27, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Chemical composition and antibacterial activities of the essential oil from Abies koreana

The essential oils from an alpine needle leaf of Abies koreana, which is a species native to Korea, was obtained by hydrodistillation with 0.9% (v/w) yield and analysed by GC and GC‐MS. Sixty‐eight constituents, accounting for more than 95.9% of the total oil composition, were identified. The main compounds with concentrations higher than 3% were borneol (27.9%), α‐pinene (23.2%), β‐pinene (5.8%), terpinene‐4‐ol (3.8%), bornyl acetate (3.4%) and α‐terpineol (3.1%). The antibacterial activity of the oil was evaluated against nine microorganisms using disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods. The essential oil exhibited some broad spectrum antibacterial activity against the tested organisms, including methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Evolutionary ethics: can values change

The hypothesis that values change and evolve is examined by this paper. The discussion is based on a series of examples where, over a period of a few decades, new ethical issues have arisen and values have changed. From this analysis it is suggested that there are a series of core values around which most people would agree. These are unlikely to change over long time periods. There are then a series of secondary or derived values around which there is much more controversy and within which differences of view occur. Such changes need to be documented if we are to understand the process involved in the evolution of differences in ethical views.
Coordinator-master-worker model for efficient large scale network simulation

In this work, we propose a coordinator-master-worker (CMW) model for medium to extra-large scale network simulation. The model supports distributed and parallel simulation for a heterogeneous computing node architecture with both multi-core CPUs and GPUs. The model aims at maximizing the hardware usage rate while reducing the overall management overhead. In the CMW model, the coordinator is the toplevel simulation CPU process that performs an initial partitioning of the simulation into multiple instances and is responsible for load balancing and synchronization services among all the active masters. The master is also a CPU process and provides event scheduling, synchronization, and communication services to the workers. It manages workers operating potentially on different computing resources within the same shared memory context and communicates with the coordinator and others masters through the messages passing interface. The worker is the elementary actor of CMW model that performs the simulation routines and interacts with the input and output data, and can be a CPU or a GPU thread. Compared to existing master-worker models, the CMW is natively parallel and GPU compliant, and can be extended to support additional computing resources. The performance gain of the model is evaluated through different benchmarking scenarios using low-cost publicly available GPU platforms. The results have been shown that the speedup up to 3000 times can be achieved compared to a sequential execution and up to 6 times compared to a mono-GPU MW-based simulation. The hardware activities rate of the CMW services for both CPU and GPU are analyzed in detail.
Hepatic foci in rats after diethylnitrosamine initiation and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin promotion: evaluation of a quantitative two-cell model and of CYP 1A1/1A2 as a dosimeter.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent hepatic tumor promoter in female rats. We used a quantitative, stochastic initiation-promotion model based on R. B. Conolly and J. S. Kimbell (Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 124, 284-295, 1994) to analyze initiation-promotion results from a previously published study (H. C. Pitot et al., Carcinogenesis 8, 1491-1499, 1987) within the context of a negative selection model of tumor promotion. In this model, two types of initiated cells (called A and B cells) are produced by DEN initiation. Visually excellent correspondence between model predictions and data (i.e., foci/cm3 liver and percentage of liver occupied by foci) are obtained when TCDD is described as having dose-responsive effects on division and death (apoptotic) rates of these two cell types. For A cells, both the division and the death rates increase while the difference between division and apoptotic rates decreases. For B cells, the difference between division and apoptotic rates increases, primarily due to a decrease in the apoptotic rate. We also linked these alterations in cell kinetics to a pharmacokinetic model for TCDD incorporating a five subcompartment model of the liver acinus with induction of CYP1A1 and 1A2 genes in the subcompartments. Alterations in A cell kinetics correlate with effects of TCDD in the region most sensitive to induction (subcompartment 5-centrilobular region); B cell dynamics correlate with induction in subcompartments 3-5 (centrilobular and mid-zonal regions). In summary, these modeling exercises show that (1) the two-cell model, without presuming effects of TCDD on the mutation rate of normal hepatocytes, reproduces the data of Pitot et al. (1987) and (2) induction of CYP1A1/1A2 in different regions of the hepatic acinus can be used as a general correlate of these presumed changes in cell growth kinetics.
'It's Not the Easy Part'

Abstract Partners of women with breast cancer are intimately affected by their disease. This study describes the lived experience of the significant others of women with early stage breast cancer at the point of their partners' completion of adjuvant therapies. Significant others describe their need to adapt to the fear of losing their partner, the impact on their own mortality and their new role of caregiver for which they were unprepared. The greatest divergence between patient and partner was at the point of treatment completion. Whereas the women were continuing to experience difficulties at this time, their significant others were focused on ‘getting back to normal’ There is a need to increase our understanding of the psychosocial needs of primary carers in order to better support them, as integral members of the care team.