Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The categorisation of swimming start performance with reference to force generation on the main block and footrest components of the Omega OSB11 start blocks

Abstract Work presented in this paper provides a methodology for categorising swimming start performance based on peak force production on the main block and footrest components of the Omega OSB11 starting block. A total of 46 elite British swimmers were tested, producing over 1000 start trials. Overwater cameras were synchronised to a specifically designed start block that allowed the measurement of force production via two sets of four, tri-axis, force transducers; one set in the main block and one in the footrest. Data were then analysed, segregating trials for gender. Each start was categorised, with respect to the peak force production in horizontal and vertical components, into one of nine categories. Three performance indicators, i.e. block time, take-off velocity and distance of entry, were used to assess whether differences in performance could be correlated with these categories. Results from these data suggest that swimmers generating higher than average peak forces were more likely to produce a better overall start performance than those who produced forces lower than the average, for this population of athletes.
DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS AMONG CHILDREN IN THE TRANSFORMING CHINA: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF PREVALENCE, CORRELATES, AND SERVICE USE

To date, no one‐phase survey of childhood depression has been performed in China that involves both urban and rural community children. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, correlates, and mental health service utilization of depressive disorders (DDs) in a community‐based sample of 6–14‐year‐old children in south‐central China.
Papaverine selectively inhibits human prostate cancer cell (PC-3) growth by inducing mitochondrial mediated apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and downregulation of NF-κB/PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.

PURPOSE The main objective of the current research work was to investigate the antitumor effects of papaverine in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells along with testing its toxicity in the normal human fibroblast (NHF) cells. METHODS The cytotoxic effects of papaverine were examined by the MTT cell viability assay. Flow cytometry using annexin V-FITC/PI was used to study the effects on apoptosis, including its quantification. Effects on cell cycle progression were analyzed by flow cytometry while as effects on apoptosis-related proteins, NF-kB and PI3K/Akt pathways were estimated by Western blot assay. RESULTS The results indicated that papaverine could induce significant, highly selective and dose-dependent cytotoxic effects in PC-3 cells without causing too much toxicity in normal cells. Papaverine also led to induction of early and late apoptosis along with inducing sub-G1 cell cycle arrest in a dose-dependent manner. Papaverine induced a dose-dependent reduction in the expression levels of Blc-2 proteins and a dose-dependent increase in the expression levels of Bax protein. The expression levels of NF-kB were decreased markedly in comparison to the untreated control. Papaverine treatment also led to a dose-dependent downregulation of PI3K and phospho-Akt expression. CONCLUSION Papaverine showed selective antitumor properties against PC-3 human prostate cancer cells by inducing early and late apoptosis, sub-G1 cell cycle arrest, modulation of apoptosis-related proteins like Bcl-2, Bax, Bid, XIAP and cytochrome C along with downregulation of NFkB, PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.
Parenting and child behavioral adjustment in early childhood: a quantitative genetic approach to studying family processes.

The aim of this study was to examine environmental and gene-environment processes linking parenting (i.e., affect, control, responsiveness) and preschool children's behavioral adjustment difficulties (e.g., noncompliance, conduct problems) by using bivariate genetic analyses of parents' and observers' ratings. The sample included 120 identical and same-sex fraternal twin pairs (M age = 43 months). Data sources included in-home observations, interviews, and parents' reports. Observers' ratings of children's difficult behaviors included shared and nonshared environmental variance. In contrast, parents' ratings of children's conduct problems showed genetic and nonshared environmental variance. Observer-rated maternal behavior included shared and nonshared environmental variance, although maternal responsiveness also included child genetic variance. Parent self-reported negative and positive affect included shared and nonshared environment as well as child genetic variance. There was no evidence for gene-environment interaction or dominance. Higher levels of difficult behavior and conduct problems covaried with higher levels of maternal negative affect and control and lower levels of maternal positive affect and control. Shared environmental mediation of these correlations was found for observations, whereas genetic and nonshared environmental mediation was found for parents' ratings. In general, estimates of shared environmental variance and mediation were greatest for observational data, and estimates of child genetic variance and mediation were greatest for parent-rated data. The implications of this pattern of findings for genetic research on family processes are discussed.
Topology Description for Data Distributions Using a Topology Graph With Divide-and-Combine Learning Strategy

The topologies of data distributions are very important for data description. Usually, it is not easy to find a description that can give us an intuitional understanding of the topologies for general distributions. In this paper, a novel concept, a topology graph, is proposed as a description for the principal topology of data distribution. The topology graph builds a one-to-one correspondence between the principal topology of the distribution and the topology itself: annularity features of the principal topology correspond to the loops of the graph, and the divarification features correspond to the branches of the graph. In general, the topology graph can be considered as the skeleton of the data distribution. A divide-and-combine learning strategy is developed to find the topology graphs for general data distributions. The learning strategy is focused on the constrained local description learning and automatic topology generation. Following the learning strategy, a cluster growing algorithm is developed. Experimental results on both artificial datasets and real-world applications show good performance of the proposed algorithm
Pediatric adenoidal hypertrophy and nasal airway obstruction: reduction with aqueous nasal beclomethasone.

OBJECTIVE Pediatric adenoidal obstruction of the nasal airway is associated with significant morbidity and is a frequent indication for surgery. Because efficacious medical alternatives to adenoidectomy are lacking, we assessed the potency of standard-dose topical nasal beclomethasone in reduction of adenoidal obstruction of the nasal airway. METHODS Seventeen children, 5 to 11 years of age, exhibiting chronic obstructive nasal symptoms and a group mean (+/- SE) adenoid/choana ratio of 91 +/- 1% on rhinoscopic examination, completed an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of standard-dose aqueous nasal beclomethasone (total 336 micrograms/day) in the treatment of adenoidal hypertrophy. In a 16-week, open-label, follow-on study, subjects received beclomethasone 1 spray in each nostril twice daily (168 micrograms/day). RESULTS Over the initial 4 weeks, improvements in the mean adenoidal obstruction of the choanae were significantly greater in the group receiving beclomethasone than in the group receiving placebo (right, -14.0% vs. +0.4%, P = .0002) (left, -15.0% vs. -2.0%, P = .0006). In the subsequent crossover 4 weeks, a significant beclomethasone carryover effect resulted in further adenoid size reduction in both treatment groups. All patients demonstrated a decrease in adenoid size with beclomethasone treatment, compared with a mixed response to placebo. Over the full 8-week crossover study, the mean (+/- SE) obstructive symptom score after beclomethasone treatment (20.5 +/- 3.0) was significantly improved compared to patients' initial (43.1 +/- 2.9) and placebo scores (31.1 +/- 4.2, P < or = .05), despite the active drug carryover effect into the placebo treatment period. Significant improvements in adenoidal obstruction and symptom scores over the 8-week crossover study were enhanced in the subsequent 16-week open-label period (P = .0001). By 24 weeks, an 82% reduction in group mean nasal obstruction symptom score accompanied a 29% mean reduction in adenoid/choana ratio. No clinical or demographic characteristic predicted a patient's degree of response to treatment. CONCLUSIONS Properly administered aqueous nasal beclomethasone in standard doses can significantly reduce adenoidal hypertrophy and nasal airway obstructive symptoms in children.
Psychiatric symptomatology in persons with organic solvent exposure.

This study investigated psychiatric symptomatology, self-concept, locus of control, and daily events in persons with a history of exposure to mixtures of organic solvents. Exposed subjects were more likely than controls to report depression, anxiety, fatigue, confusion, and somatic concerns, which in turn were associated with certain exposure-related variables (e.g., cacosmia). There were no differences between the groups in self-concept, locus of control, or ratings of daily hassles and uplifts. Exposed persons may be able to accurately identify what they perceive as changes that are due to the exposure (e.g., anxiety) without attributing these specific adverse outcomes to dispositional variables.
Effect of Oral Insulin on the Severity and Recovery of Methotrexate-Induced Gastrointestinal Mucositis in the Rat

Objectives: Gastrointestinal (GI) mucositis is an adverse-effect of chemo- and radiotherapy. Oral insulin has been suggested as possible intestinal growth factor and possible intervention for GI mucositis. We aimed to determine the effect of oral insulin on the severity and recovery of mucositis in a methotrexate (MTX)-induced GI mucositis rat model. Methods: Male Wistar rats (n = 24) received a single injection of 60 mg/kg MTX intravenously at day 0. From day −3 oral insulin was added to the drinking water. Group MTX received normal drinking water, group MTX+INS0.5 received 0.5 U/mL insulin, and group MTX+INS1 received 1 U/mL insulin in drinking water. The severity of mucositis was determined by intake, bodyweight, illness, and plasma citrulline. In the recovery phase, the function of the gut was tested with an oral glucose tolerance test, and villus and crypt length of the small intestine were measured. Results: MTX-induced mucositis in all 3 groups and oral insulin did not cause a change in the severity of mucositis, with comparable bodyweight, food intake, and water intake. Oral insulin did not alter the enterocyte mass, determined with plasma citrulline. The glucose level after bolus was higher in the MTX group than the MTX+INS1 group (P < 0.05). Histology was not significant different between all groups. Conclusions: Oral insulin does not alter the severity or the acceleration of recovery of mucositis. Therefore, we conclude that it is not useful to further study oral insulin as possible intervention to prevent or treat chemotherapy-induced GI mucositis.
Activation of High‐Affinity Uptake of Glutamate by Phorbol Esters in Primary Glial Cell Cultures

The effects of 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol 13‐acetate (TPA), a potent activator of protein kinase C, on high‐affinity Na+‐dependent glutamate transport were investigated in primary cultures of neurons and glial cells from rat brain cortex. Incubation of glial cells with TPA led to concentration‐ and time‐dependent increases in the glutamate transport that could be completely suppressed by the addition of the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor 1‐(5‐isoquinolinylsulfonyl)‐2‐methylpiperazine. The TPA effects could be mimicked by oleoylacetylglycerol and by the diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor R59022. The effects of TPA were potentiated by the Ca2+ ionophore A23187. Under the chosen experimental conditions TPA had no effect on glutamate transport in neurons. We conclude that PKC activates the sodium‐dependent high‐affinity glutamate transport in glial cells and that it has dissimilar effects on neurons and glial cells.
Quantitative gene expression deregulation in mantle-cell lymphoma: correlation with clinical and biologic factors.

PURPOSE There is evidence for a direct role of quantitative gene expression deregulation in mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL) pathogenesis. Our aim was to investigate gene expression associations with other pathogenic factors and the significance of gene expression in a multivariate survival analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Quantitative expression of 20 genes of potential relevance for MCL prognosis and pathogenesis were analyzed using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and correlated with clinical and genetic factors, tumor morphology, and Ki-67 index in 65 MCL samples. RESULTS Genomic losses at the loci of TP53, RB1, and P16 were associated with reduced transcript levels of the respective genes, indicating a gene-dosage effect as the pathomechanism. Analysis of gene expression correlations between the candidate genes revealed a separation into two clusters, one dominated by proliferation activators, another by proliferation inhibitors and regulators of apoptosis. Whereas only weak associations were identified between gene expression and clinical parameters or blastoid morphology, several genes were correlated closely with the Ki-67 index, including the short CCND1 variant (positive correlation) and RB1, ATM, P27, and BMI (negative correlation). In multivariate survival analysis, expression levels of MYC, MDM2, EZH2, and CCND1 were the strongest prognostic factors independently of tumor proliferation and clinical factors. CONCLUSION These results indicate a pathogenic contribution of several gene transcript levels to the biology and clinical course of MCL. Genes can be differentiated into factors contributing to proliferation deregulation, either by enhancement or loss of inhibition, and proliferation-independent factors potentially contributing to MCL pathogenesis by apoptosis impairment.
Model-based longitudinal vibration suppression control for electric vehicles with geared in-wheel motors

In vehicle motion control, it is important to improve both dynamic performance and ride comfort by vibration suppression. Vehicles with combustion engines or on-board motors can only suppress resonant modes in the low frequency band such as the heave, pitch, and roll modes due to the limitation in torque responsiveness. However, in the case of vehicles with in-wheel motors, it is possible to suppress vibration in the higher frequency range. In order to improve motion performance and ride comfort, we propose a two degrees of freedom control using an experimentally identified plant model of a geared in-wheel motor vehicle. Application of the proposed method improves the vehicle body longitudinal response characteristics while suppressing the vibration. In order to further improve the performance, a state observer that takes the delay of CAN communication into consideration is applied while securing stability margin. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated by simulations and experiments.
A Quantitative Analysis of the Countercyclical Capital Buffer

What are the quantitative macroeconomic effects of the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB)? I study this question in a nonlinear DSGE model with occasional financial crises, which is calibrated and combined with US data to estimate sequences of structural shocks. Raising capital buffers during leverage expansions can reduce the frequency of crises by more than half. A quantitative application to the 2007-08 financial crisis shows that the CCyB in the 2.5% range (as in the Federal Reserve’s current framework) could have greatly mitigated the financial panic of 2008, for a cumulative gain of 29% in aggregate consumption. The threat of raising capital requirements is effective even if this tool is not used in equilibrium. JEL Codes: E4, E6, G2
Why “monogamy” isn't good enough

Rare in mammals but more common in primates, there remains a considerable controversy concerning whether primate species traditionally described as monogamous actually express this highly specialized breeding pattern. Unfortunately the definition of “monogamy” varies greatly, inhibiting our understanding of this trait and two related traits with which monogamy is often conflated: pair‐living and pair‐bonding. Strepsirrhine primates are useful models to study factors that select for pair‐living, pair‐bonding, and monogamy because this taxon exhibits high incidences of each trait, in addition to species that exhibit behaviors that reflect combinations of these traits. Several hypotheses have been articulated to help explain the evolution of “monogamy,” but again, these hypotheses often conflate pair‐living, pair‐bonding, and/or monogamy. In this review, we (1) propose clear, discrete, and logical definitions for each trait; (2) review variation in strepsirrhines with respect to these three traits; (3) clarify which of these traits can be explained by existing hypotheses; and (4) provide an example of the applicability of the Resource Defense Hypothesis (RDH) to understand two of these traits, pair‐living and pair‐bonding, in the red‐bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer). Available data support the RDH for pair‐living in red‐bellied lemurs. They live in stable family groups with one adult pair. Both sexes actively codefend territories that overlap little with other pairs’ territories. Agonism is extremely rare within groups and intergroup and interspecific agonism varies with food availability. Available data also support the RDH for pair‐bonding. Pair‐bonds are cohesive year‐round. Pairs coordinate behaviors to defend territories with auditory and olfactory signals. Cohesion increases with food abundance and both sexes reinforce bonds. We indicate where additional data will help to more rigorously test the RDH for each trait and encourage others to test alternative hypotheses. Am. J. Primatol. 78:340–354, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optimizing stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: better adherence and compliance from patients and physicians leads to better outcomes.

This editorial refers to ‘Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants: considerations on once- vs. twice-daily regimens and their potential impact on medication adherence’ by B. Vrijens and H. Heidbuchel, on page 514–523. This editorial refers to ‘Drug persistence with rivaroxaban therapy in atrial fibrillation patients—results from the Dresden non-interventional oral anticoagulation registry’ by J. Beyer-Westendorf et al. , on page 530–538. For adequate stroke prevention, most patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) would need oral anticoagulant therapy (OAC), with either vitamin-K antagonists (VKAs) or non-vitamin-K oral anticoagulants (NOACs). 1 Once AF has been diagnosed (which itself may be challenging2,3), the very first priority is effective stroke prevention based on guidelines, but physicians' adherence to the guidelines for AF management is still suboptimal.4–7 Indeed, guideline adherent therapy is associated with better outcomes.5 An equally important step is the patient's actual uptake of recommended therapy, as well as good adherence and persistence to long-term treatment, which makes the patient a key proactive part of the process.6 Current AF guidelines mandate discussion with patients about their values and treatment preferences.1 In order to reach an informed decision about treatment acceptance …
Bacillus subtilis DNA polymerases, PolC and DnaE, are required for both leading and lagging strand synthesis in SPP1 origin-dependent DNA replication

Abstract Firmicutes have two distinct replicative DNA polymerases, the PolC leading strand polymerase, and PolC and DnaE synthesizing the lagging strand. We have reconstituted in vitro Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1 θ-type DNA replication, which initiates unidirectionally at oriL. With this system we show that DnaE is not only restricted to lagging strand synthesis as previously suggested. DnaG primase and DnaE polymerase are required for initiation of DNA replication on both strands. DnaE and DnaG synthesize in concert a hybrid RNA/DNA ‘initiation primer’ on both leading and lagging strands at the SPP1 oriL region, as it does the eukaryotic Pol α complex. DnaE, as a RNA-primed DNA polymerase, extends this initial primer in a reaction modulated by DnaG and one single-strand binding protein (SSB, SsbA or G36P), and hands off the initiation primer to PolC, a DNA-primed DNA polymerase. Then, PolC, stimulated by DnaG and the SSBs, performs the bulk of DNA chain elongation at both leading and lagging strands. Overall, these modulations by the SSBs and DnaG may contribute to the mechanism of polymerase switch at Firmicutes replisomes.
Clinical outcomes of flexor hallucis longus transfer for the treatment of Achilles tendinosis rupture.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical outcomes of flexor hallucis longus transfer for the treatment of Achilles tendinosis rupture and the postoperative morbidity of the hallux. MATERIAL AND METHOD A retrospective study was performed in the patients with Achilles tendinosis rupture who underwent the flexor hallucis longus transfer from January 2001 to December 2007. The preoperative and postoperative AOFAS scale for ankle-hindfoot of the affected ankle and the hallux metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal scale of both halluces were compared and analyzed. RESULTS 12 patients were included in the study, with the average age of 50 and the average duration of the symptoms of 4.7 weeks. After the average follow-up period of 22.5 months, all patients were satisfied with their clinical outcomes and the AOFAS score for ankle-hindfoot significantly improved from 54.6 points to 92.9 points whereas the hallux metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal scale of the hallux was slightly decrease. CONCLUSION Good functional outcomes of the ankle and less morbidity of the hallux could be achieved through the use of flexor hallucis longus transfer for the treatment of Achilles tendinosis rupture. Further studies aimed at the confirming the results should be performed due to the small number of patient and the mix of acute and chronic ruptures.