Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective management of low back pain: it’s time to accept the evidence

Abstract Low back pain is a ubiquitous and economically costly problem. Unfortunately, the clinical management of low back pain is not yet well understood. Chiropractic management of back pain, long the black sheep of back care, has undergone a transition and is now a more respected and understood alternative to conservative medical care, itself under increased scrutiny due to unsatisfactory outcomes and unacceptable iatrogenic side effects. The substantial amount of clinical and related research on the effectiveness of manipulation for low back pain is summarized here from a larger study, divided into randomized control trials, case-control trials, meta-analyses and descriptive studies. The chiropractic management of low back pain is found to be a more effective way of dealing with this medical, social and economic problem. It is suggested that greater utilization of chiropractors be encouraged such that the “right people are doing the right things at the right time”.
Effects of Backward Walking on Hamstring Flexibility and Low Back Range of Motion

Int J Exerc Sci 4(3) : 192-198, 2011. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of backward walking on hamstring flexibility and low back range of motion. Ten healthy female volunteers (29.9±10.0 yr; 165.1±8.2 cm; 68.53±18.4 kg) completed pre-post laboratory testing surrounding a 4-week intervention of backward walking. During the pretest, each participant walked forward on a treadmill at a preferred velocity for 3-5 min. A biaxial electrogoniometer was secured externally to the low back and a sit-and-reach test was performed. Each participant then walked backward at their preferred pace on a treadmill for 10 min, during which time low back motion data were obtained (1000 Hz). Following the pretest, participants completed an intervention of walking backward at a self-selected velocity for 10-15 min/day, 4 days/week. This was followed by a posttest, using the exact protocol as the pretest. Dependent variables consisted of pre-post measures of: 1) backward walking velocity (VEL), 2) flexibility of the hamstrings (HF), low back sagittal plane range of motion (sROM), and low back coronal plane range of motion (cROM). Correlated t-tests (α = 0.05) with Bonferroni correction identified significant (p 0.0125) following the intervention. Results of the study suggest that a 4-week intervention of backward walking appears to provide an appropriate stimulus for an increase in flexibility of the hamstrings. A possible interaction between VEL and sROM or cROM limited the interpretation of observed non-significant changes in low back
To Move or not to Move: Community Members’ Reaction to Surface Mining Activities in the Upper West Region of Ghana

Abstract Despite the impact of mining-induced environmental change on community livability, we know little about how disparities in knowledge of health risks associated with mining influence residents’ response, especially in an already environmentally stressed context. Guided by theoretical insights from solastalgia, we examined residents’ decision to relocate due to increasing gold mining activities in the fragile Northern Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana. Fitting complementary log-log regression models to cross-sectional data from the Upper West Region (UWR) of Ghana, we found that residents with limited knowledge of potential health impacts of mining and those who believe mining activities were not meeting environmental standards were more likely to consider relocating. Given the centrality of land in community health and wellbeing in the UWR, Ghana’s mining guidelines should promote local participation in the regulation of mining activities and guarantee the rights of indigenes to livable native lands.
Variation in Runoff of the Arys River and Keles River Watersheds (Kazakhstan), as Influenced by Climate Variation and Human Activity

Runoff formation is a complex meteorological-hydrological process impacted by many factors, especially in the inland river basin. In this study, long-term (1960–2015) river runoff and climate data in the Arys and Keles River watersheds (Kazakhstan) were gathered to analyze the impacts of climate variation and human activity on runoff. The non-parametric Kendall test and the Pettitt test were used to identify trends and change points in the time data series. It was found that both watersheds had significant upward trends in temperature and potential evapotranspiration data, and insignificant upward trends in the runoff. Change points in annual runoff were identified around the year 1973. The hydrological sensitivity method was employed to evaluate the impacts of climate variation and human activity on mean annual runoff based on precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. It was found that the decline in annual runoff over both catchments can be mainly attributed to human activity, the reduction percentages due to human activities range from 59% to 99%. The results of this study can provide a reference for the development and water management of the regional water resources.
The difference of paraspinal muscle between patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and normal middle-aged and elderly people, studying by propensity score matching

Objective The purpose of this study was to elaborate the characteristics of paraspinal muscles in lower lumbar, to compare the differences of paraspinal muscle between patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and normal people and to explore the influencing factors of paraspinal muscle degeneration in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Method The 39 pairs of patients and normal people were selected by propensity score matching. The differences of multifidus muscle and erection spine muscle parameters between the two groups were compared by independent-samples t-test and the relationship between age, paraspinal muscle degeneration and other factors in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis was analyzed by Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis. Result The general conditions of the two groups (patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and normal people) were well matched. There were significant differences in the relative fatty cross sectional area, fatty infiltration and relative signal intensity of multifidus muscle at L3 level. The fatty infiltration and relative signal intensity of multifidus muscle at L4 level and the relative signal intensity of multifidus muscle at L5 level were also significantly different. For male, the relative fatty cross sectional area, the fatty infiltration and relative signal intensity of multifidus muscle in patients were higher than those in healthy peers. For female, the relative signal intensity of multifidus muscle in patients was higher, too. In patients group, age was significantly correlated with the relative fatty cross sectional area, fatty infiltration and relative signal intensity of multifidus muscle and erector spinae muscle. Weight and BMI were significantly correlated with the relative total cross-sectional area of erector spinae muscle. The fatty infiltration increased more significantly with age in patients than that in normal people. Conclusion The change rules of paraspinal muscles in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis are similar to those in normal people. The degeneration of paraspinal muscle in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis was more severe than that in normal people, mostly in multifidus muscle. The paraspinal muscle degeneration was related to age in patients, and the effect of age on atrophy of paraspinal muscle was greater than that of normal people.
Forecasting Hotel Accommodation Demand Based on LSTM Model Incorporating Internet Search Index

Accurate forecasting of the hotel accommodation demands is extremely critical to the sustainable development of tourism-related industries. In view of the ever-increasing tourism data, this paper constructs a deep learning framework to handle the prediction problem in the hotel accommodation demands. Taking China’s Hainan province as an empirical example, the internet search index is used from August 2008 to May 2019 to forecast the overnight passenger flows for hotels accommodation in Hainan Province, China. Forecasting results indicate that compared to benchmark models, the constructed forecasting method can effectively simulate dynamic characteristics of the overnight passenger flows for the hotel accommodation and significantly improve the forecasting performance of the model. Forecasting results can provide necessary references for decision-making in tourism-related industries, and this forecasting framework can also be extended to other similar complex time series forecasting problems.
Genome-wide and molecular characterization of the DNA replication helicase 2 (DNA2) gene family in rice under drought and salt stress

Rice plants experience various biotic (such as insect and pest attack) and abiotic (such as drought, salt, heat, and cold etc.) stresses during the growing season, resulting in DNA damage and the subsequent losses in rice production. DNA Replication Helicase/Nuclease2 (DNA2) is known to be involved in DNA replication and repair. In animals and yeast DNA2 are well characterized because it has the abilities of both helicase and nuclease, it plays a crucial role in DNA replication in the nucleus and mitochondrial genomes. However; they are not fully examined in plants due to less focused on plants damage repair. To fill this research gap, the current study focused on the genome-wide identification and characterization of OsDNA2 genes, along with analyses of their transcriptional expression, duplication, and phylogeny in rice. Overall, 17 OsDNA2 members were reported to be found on eight different chromosomes (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11). Among these chromosomes (Chr), Chr4 contained a maximum of six OsDNA2 genes. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the OsDNA2 gene members were clustered into three different groups. Furthermore, the conserved domains, gene structures, and cis-regulatory elements were systematically investigated. Gene duplication analysis revealed that OsDNA2_2 had an evolutionary relationship with OsDNA2_14, OsDNA2_5 with OsDNA2_6, and OsDNA2_1 with OsDNA2_8. Moreover, results showed that the conserved domain (AAA_11 superfamily) were present in the OsDNA2 genes, which belongs to the DEAD-like helicase superfamily. In addition, to understand the post-transcriptional modification of OsDNA2 genes, miRNAs were predicted, where 653 miRNAs were reported to target 17 OsDNA2 genes. The results indicated that at the maximum, OsDNA2_1 and OsDNA2_4 were targeted by 74 miRNAs each, and OsDNA2_9 was less targeted (20 miRNAs). The three-dimensional (3D) structures of 17 OsDNA2 proteins were also predicted. Expression of OsDNA2 members was also carried out under drought and salt stresses, and conclusively their induction indicated the possible involvement of OsDNA2 in DNA repair under stress when compared with the control. Further studies are recommended to confirm where this study will offer valuable basic data on the functioning of DNA2 genes in rice and other crop plants.
Compact Frequency Reconfigurable Antennas Based on Composite Right/Left-Handed Transmission Line

The compact reconfigurable antennas based on composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line are proposed and analyzed in this paper. The proposed antenna is fed by the asymmetric coplanar strip (ACPS) and consists of coupling radiation patch as well as a PIN diode. The differences of the antennas with meander line and without meander line are discussed. By utilizing a PIN diode as the CRLH transmission line termination, the termination states can be controlled, and the resonance of the antenna can thus be tuned between the two zeroth-order resonant frequencies. By switching the diode, the antenna with meander line is able to operate in single-band of 2.08–2.54 GHz and dual-bands of 1.65–1.84 GHz and 5.35–6.40 GHz, while the antenna without meander line is able to operation between two single-bands of 1.84–2.28 GHz and 4.6–6.0 GHz. All these operation bands cover the UMTS (1750 MHz–1780 MHz), ISM (2.4 GHz), WIMAX (2.5–2.69 GHz) and WLAN (2.4–2.484 GHz/5.725–5.825 GHz) applications. The radiation performance was simulated by High Frequency Structure Simulator, and the measurements were taken in an anechoic chamber to verify the simulation results. Good agreements are observed between the simulated and measured results. Moreover, the radiation patterns of the proposed antennas remain stable at different reconfigurable bands.
Lower insulin level is associated with sarcopenia in community-dwelling frail and non-frail older adults

Background Sarcopenia is common among older individuals with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There are conflicting evidence in support of the role of insulin in the development of age-related and T2DM-related sarcopenia. We investigated the relationships between the levels of fasting insulin and other blood biomarkers related to insulin or lipid metabolism with the presence of sarcopenia in two independent studies. Materials and methods In 246 pre-frail frail older individuals with (n = 41) and without T2DM (n = 205) in the Singapore Frailty Interventional Trial, sarcopenia was defined by low appendicular lean mass (ALM) relative to total body mass (skeletal muscle index, SMI = ALM/height2) and low lower limb strength or gait speed according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) criteria released in 2019, and related to levels of fasting insulin and glucose, C-peptide, IGF-1, leptin, and active ghrelin. This investigation was validated in another independent study sample of 189 robust and pre-frail frail elderly in the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study Wave 2 (SLAS-2). Results Compared to non-sarcopenic individuals, those with sarcopenia and possible sarcopenia showed significantly lower fasting insulin (p < 0.05) in pre-frail/frail and non-frail older individuals. Consistent trends of relationships were observed for serum levels of C-peptide, IGF-1, leptin, and active ghrelin. In multivariable logistic regression models, sarcopenia was independently associated with low insulin (p < 0.05). Levels of fasting insulin, C-peptide, and leptin were also significantly associated with BMI, SMI, knee extension strength, gait speed, and physical activity score. Conclusion Dysregulated insulin secretion in diabetic and non-diabetic older individuals may play an important role in age-related and diabetes-related sarcopenia.
The Impact of Multilateral Trading Facilities on Price Discovery: Further Evidence from the European Markets

This study examines relative price discovery for three major European indices, FTSE, CAC, and DAX, their futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs) using the data on 5-minute intraday transaction prices over a four-year period. We computed both Hasbrouck (1995) information share with error bounds and Gonzalo and Granger’s (1995) common factor weights approach. Gonzalo and Granger’s (1995) common factor weights suggest the index futures contracts play a dominant role in price discovery in the CAC market: the CAC 40 index futures lead the price discovery and Lyxor CAC 40 ETFs serving the second resort for information transmission. This could be due to the less frequent trading of ETFs. More importantly, CAC40 under the Gonzalo & Granger (1995) test shows upper and lower error bounds in good range may be the main reason to drive for the meaningful results. In contrast, the upper and lower bounds estimated from the Hasbrouck (1995) are far distant for most cases. Finally, FTSE and DAX markets offer compelling evidence to show that ETFs lead price discovery and spots and futures follows.
The Employment Consequences of Robots: Firm-level Evidence

As a new general-purpose technology, robots have the potential to radically transform industries and employment. In contrast to prior studies at the industry level that predict dramatic employment declines, we find that investments in robotics are associated with increases in total firm employment, but decreases in the total number of managers. Similarly, we find that robot investments are associated with an increase in the span of control for managers remaining within the organization. We also provide evidence that robot adoption is not motivated by the desire to reduce labor costs, but is instead related to improving product and service quality. Our findings are consistent with the notion that robots reduce variance in production processes, diminishing the need for managers to monitor worker activities to ensure production quality. Decreases in managerial headcount may also arise from changes in workforce composition. We find that investments in robotics are associated with decreases in employment for middle-skilled workers, but increases in employment for lowand high-skilled workers, potentially changing managerial activities required by the firm. With respect to organizational change, we show that robots predict both centralization and decentralization of decision-making authority, but decision rights in either case are reassigned away from the managerial level of the hierarchy. This result contrasts with prior studies of information technology that have generally found decentralizing effects on decision authority within organizations. Overall, our results suggest that the impact of robots on employment and organizational practices is more nuanced than prior studies have shown.
Influence of the fear of death on body image evaluation.

Background: Research on the consequences of fear of death often consists of classical investigations within the sphere of social psychology. However, the aspect of body image regarding this issue remains largely unexplored. Aim of the study: The goal of the conducted experiment was to examine the mechanisms reducing the fear of death. The respondents had two options to choose from: (1) increasing self-esteem in terms of physical attractiveness, or (2) lowering the rating of the body image presented in the photographs. Material and methods: The study was conducted using the following tests: (1) the Memory Test, developed by Łukaszewski and Buczny; (2) the Body-Esteem Scale (BE S), developed by Franzoi and Shields; (3) the UMACL Mood Adjective Checklist, developed by Mathews, Chamberlain, and Jones; and (4) the Body Shape Attractiveness Questionnaire. In this report, we present results of an analysis of 221 respondents (108 women and 113 men). Results: Death-related thoughts influence the perception of female body attractiveness. Respondents with awareness of mortality salience rated the attractiveness of body shape as lower than respondents from the control group. Conclusions: The present experiment confirmed the influence of fear of death on the evaluation of cultural and biological standards of female physical attractiveness, as well as, the hesitation of participants’ self-esteem and mood related to sex. The lack of critical evaluation of others and a positive self-evaluation effectively protects an individual against mood deterioration, and these effects were observed among men. However, these mechanisms do not apply to women, since women reacted critically to both body shapes in the photographs and their own bodies.
Adaptation to American Culture

Abstract This naturalistic study explores the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual adaptation of Asian Indian elderly immigrants to American culture. The individuals interviewed suggested that while they physically adapted to American life, many of them encountered social, emotional, and spiritual obstacles that often impeded successful adaptation. Factors such as family proximity, reasons for immigration, and conflicting values helped predict the adaptation success of Asian Indian elderly immigrants. The study points to possible intervention strategies that social workers can use to promote more successful adaptation of Asian Indian elderly immigrants to American culture.
Capital Structures in German Small and Mid Caps: Does Trade-Off or Pecking Order Theory Explain Current Reality Better?

This paper analyzes the determinants of the capital structure of German companies. The data are based on the year-end values of 44 companies included in the SDAX for the 2017 financial year. The data are examined in a multiple regression analysis according to the ordinary least squares (OLS) method. The result basically shows a strong correlation for the market leverage ratio with the factors of company size and growth opportunities. Profitability plays only a subordinate role. No significant correlation with the capital structure of German companies in the SDAX has been found for the tangibility factor of the assets. Basically, the results of this work support trade-off theory more than pecking order theory and thus point to the existence of an optimal debt ratio.
Effect of gender diversity on the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of gender diversity on the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya. The study analyzed data from the 55 insurance firms licensed by the Insurance Regularity Authority (IRA) in Kenya. Gender diversity was operationalized by the number of female directors serving on the boards of insurance firms operating in Kenya. Primary data was collected from a sample of 412 board directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Finance Officers (CFOs), Audit Committee members (AUDIND) and Internal Auditorsusing a questionnaire instrument while secondary data was retrieved from audited financial reports of the year 2017. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Firm performance was measured by the two accounting-based measures Return On Assets (ROA) and Return On Equity (ROE). The findings from the regression analysis indicate that gender diversity significantly and positively affects the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya.
The impact of a web-based self-management programme on the psychological well-being of adults with type 2 diabetes

Psychological distress in people living with type 2 diabetes is associated with lowered glycaemic control and an increased risk of serious health complications. Therefore, interventions capable of improving the psychological well-being of people with diabetes may also positively affect physical health and quality of life. This thesis explores the impact of diabetes interventions on psychological well-being. Part one is a literature review of the efficacy of interventions at reducing diabetes-related distress. Twenty papers were included in the review and three types of intervention were identified: self-management, educational and psychological. Five self-management interventions and two psychological interventions showed a reduction in diabetes-related distress compared to the control group, indicating that the interventions were capable of improving psychological well-being. Part two is an empirical study of the impact of a web-based, self-management programme, called HeLP-Diabetes, on the psychological well-being of adults with type 2 diabetes. This study used a mixed method, quantitative and qualitative design with 18 participants. The qualitative data suggested that the participants felt some important psychological benefits from using the programme, although the quantitative data did not show any significant findings. Finally, part three is a critical appraisal of the research process. In particular, it examines how the researcher’s background and experiences affected the study approach. Methodological issues, such as the decision to use a mixed method design, are expanded upon from the discussion in part two. It concludes with a reflection on the personal impact of the study on the researcher.