Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Running quietly reduces ground reaction force and vertical loading rate and alters foot strike technique

ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine if a quantifiable relationship exists between the peak sound amplitude and peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) and vertical loading rate during running. It also investigated whether differences in peak sound amplitude, contact time, lower limb kinematics, kinetics and foot strike technique existed when participants were verbally instructed to run quietly compared to their normal running. A total of 26 males completed running trials for two sound conditions: normal running and quiet running. Simple linear regressions revealed no significant relationships between impact sound and peak vGRF in the normal and quiet conditions and vertical loading rate in the normal condition. t-Tests revealed significant within-subject decreases in peak sound, peak vGRF and vertical loading rate during the quiet compared to the normal running condition. During the normal running condition, 15.4% of participants utilised a non-rearfoot strike technique compared to 76.9% in the quiet condition, which was corroborated by an increased ankle plantarflexion angle at initial contact. This study demonstrated that quieter impact sound is not directly associated with a lower peak vGRF or vertical loading rate. However, given the instructions to run quietly, participants effectively reduced peak impact sound, peak vGRF and vertical loading rate.
The LUNDEX, a new index of drug efficacy in clinical practice: results of a five-year observational study of treatment with infliximab and etanercept among rheumatoid arthritis patients in southern Sweden.

OBJECTIVE To describe the use of the LUNDEX, a new index for comparing the long-term efficacy and tolerability of biologic therapies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated in clinical practice. METHODS Patients (n = 949) with active RA that had not responded to at least 2 disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) including methotrexate, in whom biologic therapy was being initiated, were included in a structured clinical followup protocol. The protocol included collection of data on diagnosis, disease duration, previous and ongoing DMARD treatment, and dates on which biologic treatment was started and terminated. In addition, data on efficacy measures used for calculating validated response criteria, i.e., the European League Against Rheumatism and American College of Rheumatology response criteria, were collected at fixed time points. Data were prospectively registered from March 1999 through January 2004. The LUNDEX, a new index combining the proportion of patients fulfilling a selected response criteria set with the proportion of patients adhering to a particular therapy, was designed to compare the efficacy of the different therapies. RESULTS Etanercept had higher overall LUNDEX values compared with infliximab, mostly because of a lower rate of adherence to therapy with infliximab. The relationship between the drugs was consistent irrespective of the response criteria used. CONCLUSION The LUNDEX is a valuable tool for evaluating drug efficacy in observational studies. It has the advantage of integrating clinical response as well as adherence to therapy in a composite value. Moreover, the LUNDEX has a practical and potentially universal application independent of diagnosis and response criteria.
Nonlinear Fault-tolerant Guidance and Control for Damaged Aircraft

Nonlinear Fault-Tolerant Guidance and Control for Damaged Aircraft Gong Xin Xu g.xu@utoronto.ca Master of Applied Science Graduate Department of Aerospace Science and Engineering University of Toronto 2011 This research work presents a fault-tolerant flight guidance and control framework to deal with damaged aircraft. Damaged scenarios include the loss of thrust, actuator malfunction and airframe damage. The developed framework objective is to ensure that damaged aircraft can be stabilized and controlled at all times. The guidance system is responsible for providing the airspeed, vertical and horizontal flight path angle commands while considering aircraft dynamics. The control system, designed by the nonlinear state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) control method, is used to track the guidance commands and to stabilize the damaged aircraft. The versatility of SDRE allows it to passively adapt to the aircraft parameter variations due to damage. A novel nonlinear adaptive control law is proposed to improve the controller performance. The new control law demonstrated improved tracking ability. The framework is implemented on the nonlinear Boeing 747 and NASA Generic Transport Model (GTM) to investigate the simulation results.
Autofluorescence spectroscopy for in vivo diagnosis of DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch pre-cancers and cancers.

BACKGROUND Our previous ex vivo study has shown that autofluorescence spectroscopy at 330-nm excitation can discriminate specimens of normal buccal pouch mucosa (normal), epithelial hyperkeratosis (hyperkeratosis), epithelial dysplasia (dysplasia), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) taken from DMBA-treated hamsters by using the method of partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). METHODS This study used a fiber optics-based fluorescence spectroscopy system to measure the autofluorescence spectra of 23 normal, 14 hyperkeratosis, 28 dysplasia, and 10 SCC samples in vivo. PLSDA with cross-validation was used to analyze the autofluorescence spectral data of all samples. RESULTS We found that at 330-nm excitation, the autofluorescence spectra of all samples had two main peaks: one at 380 nm and the other at 460 nm. The hyperkeratosis samples had a higher 380-nm emission peak (EP) and a lower 460-nm EP than normal samples. On the contrary, the dysplasia samples had a lower 380-nm EP and a higher 460-nm EP than normal samples. Furthermore, the SCC samples had a much lower 380-nm EP and a much higher 460-nm EP than all other samples. To quantify the spectral changes during the progression of oral carcinogenesis, ratios of the area under the spectrum of 380 +/- 15 nm to that under the spectrum of 460 +/- 15 nm (denoted as A(380 +/- 15 nm)/A(460 +/- 15 nm)) for all samples were calculated. The mean ratio values of A(380 +/- 15 nm)/A(460 +/- 15 nm) decreased gradually from hyperkeratosis to normal, to dysplasia, and to SCC samples. Significant differences in this mean ratio were found between any two groups of normal, hyperkeratosis, dysplasia, and SCC samples. By choosing proper thresholds, PLSDA with cross-validation could provide an accurate identification rate of 86% for hyperkeratosis, of 87% for normal, and of 89% for dysplasia samples. In addition, by choosing a proper threshold, we could separate benign (normal and hyperkeratosis) from dysplasia or SCC tissues with a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 95%. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that the autofluorescence spectroscopy technique is a useful diagnostic tool for in vivo diagnosis of oral pre-cancers and cancers in DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis model.
Parametric Approximation of Surface Clusters driven by Isotropic and Anisotropic Surface Energies

We present a variational formulation for the evolution of surface clusters in R3 by mean curvature flow, surface diffusion and their anisotropic variants. We introduce the triple junction line conditions that are induced by the considered gradient flows, and present weak formulations of these flows. In addition, we consider the case where a subset of the boundaries of these clusters are constrained to lie on an external boundary. These formulations lead to unconditionally stable, fully discrete, parametric finite element approximations. The resulting schemes have very good properties with respect to the distribution of mesh points and, if applicable, volume conservation. This is demonstrated by several numerical experiments, including isotropic double, triple and quadruple bubbles, as well as clusters evolving under anisotropic mean curvature flow and anisotropic surface diffusion, including for regularized crystalline surface energy densities.
Zidovudine/lamivudine contributes to insulin resistance within 3 months of starting combination antiretroviral therapy

Background:Patients with antiretroviral therapy (ART)-associated lipodystrophy frequently have disturbances in glucose metabolism associated with insulin resistance. It is not known whether changes in body composition are necessary for the development of these disturbances in ART-naive patients starting treatment with different combination ART regimens. Methods:Glucose metabolism and body composition were assessed before and after 3 months of ART in a prospective randomized clinical trial of HIV-1-positive ART-naive men taking lopinavir/ritonavir within either a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)-containing regimen (zidovudine/lamivudine; n = 11) or a NRTI-sparing regimen (nevirapine; n = 9). Glucose disposal, glucose production and lipolysis were measured after an overnight fast and during a hyperinsulinaemic–euglycaemic clamp using stable isotopes. Body composition was assessed by computed tomography and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results:In the NRTI-containing group, body composition did not change significantly in 3 months; insulin-mediated glucose disposal decreased significantly (25%; P < 0.001); and fasting glycerol turnover increased (22%; P < 0.005). Hyperinsulinaemia suppressed glycerol turnover equally before and after treatment. The disturbances in glucose metabolism were not accompanied by changes in adiponectin or other glucoregulatory hormones. In contrast, glucose metabolism did not change in the NRTI-sparing arm. Glucose disposal significantly differed over time between the arms (P < 0.01). Conclusions:Treatment for 3 months with a NRTI-containing, but not a NRTI-sparing, regimen resulted in a 25% decrease in insulin-mediated glucose disposal and a 22% increase in fasting lipolysis. In the absence of discernable changes in body composition, NRTI may directly affect glucose metabolism, the mechanism by which remains to be elucidated.
Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Consumer Adoption of Online Transactions

The growth of online transactions over the Internet largely depends on the consumers' adoption of the electronic markets, but today, many consumers remain reluctant to adopt electronic transactions over the Internet. Using data from a survey of 180 consumers, the study explored the relationship between hypothesized factors influencing online transactions such as the consumers' attitude towards online products, transaction process, cultural diversity, facilitating conditions and the consumer adoption online Transactions. The empirical findings suggests that most of the proposed relationships between the constructs postulated by the research model are well supported, accounting for 28.1% of the total variance in the adoption of online Transactions. In addition, the findings also suggests that factors such as consumers' attitude towards online products and services, cultural related factors, and facilitating conditions significantly influence consumers' adoption of online Transactions.
Partnership, Equity-Financing and Islamic Finance: Whither Profit-Loss Sharing?

Proponents of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) regard their conventional counterparts as Islamically unacceptable, because the latter are interest-based, not based on fair profit-loss sharing (PLS) and risk sharing. Idealization of the PLS mode is questionable as it is not explicitly mandated in Islam’s primary texts. The preference for PLS is based on juristic interpretation that evolved in response to the prohibition of riba, commonly equated with interest. Contrary to theory, IFIs in practice have marginalized PLS modes and instead adopted mark-up type, interestsubstituting, risk-avoiding modes of finance. In this paper it is argued that despite the theoretical idealization, IFIs as businesses are rational in avoiding PLS modes. Partnership is the least common form of business organization for practical reasons. In this context these reasons also cover equity-financing. IFIs are organized as banks, but rather than being financial intermediaries, they are primarily merchant banks. Accordingly, this paper contends that legally restricting or religiously idealizing PLS modes is untenable. The conclusion is that, while paying lip service to PLS modes to define themselves as interest-free aka Islamic entities, IFIs continue to marginalize PLS, packaging conventional banking products under Islamic labels.
[Expression and activity of Cdk5/p35 in a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain].

PURPOSE To test the hypothesis that Cdk5/p35 plays important roles during trigeminal neuropathic pain. METHODS Trigeminal neuralgia rat model was established with a chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the infraorbital branch of the trigeminal nerve (ION). The change of Cdk5 activity, expression of Cdk5 and p35 in Vc after CCI-ION were studied by Western blot, immunoprecipitation and Kinase assay. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS13.0 software package. RESULTS Western blot showed CCI-ION induced a time-dependent upregulation of p35 primarily within the ipsilateral superficial laminae of Vc (day 1:1.23±0.15, day 3:1.36±0.12, day 7:1.62±0.17, day 14:1.83±0.16). In contrast, the expression of Cdk5 was constant during day 1-14 in Vc after CCI-ION. Cdk5 activity on day 14 in Vc after CCI-ION (115.5 Kcpm) was 6 times as that on day 1 in Vc after CCI-ION (19.0 Kcpm). The difference was significant (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that cdk5/p35 may plays important roles on synaptic reorganization of Vc after CCI-ION, expression of p35 may be a novel regulatory mechanism to control cdk5 activity in Vc after CCI-ION.
Distinguishing the Roles of Thylakoid Respiratory Terminal Oxidases in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 68031[OPEN]

In Synechocystis PCC 6803, electron sinks, comprising the O2 utilizing respiratory terminal oxidases and flavodiiron proteins, contribute to photoprotection and regulation of photosynthesis in the light. Various oxygen-utilizing electron sinks, including the soluble flavodiiron proteins (Flv1/3), and the membrane-localized respiratory terminal oxidases (RTOs), cytochrome c oxidase (Cox) and cytochrome bd quinol oxidase (Cyd), are present in the photosynthetic electron transfer chain of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. However, the role of individual RTOs and their relative importance compared with other electron sinks are poorly understood, particularly under light. Via membrane inlet mass spectrometry gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence, P700 analysis, and inhibitor treatment of the wild type and various mutants deficient in RTOs, Flv1/3, and photosystem I, we investigated the contribution of these complexes to the alleviation of excess electrons in the photosynthetic chain. To our knowledge, for the first time, we demonstrated the activity of Cyd in oxygen uptake under light, although it was detected only upon inhibition of electron transfer at the cytochrome b6f site and in ∆flv1/3 under fluctuating light conditions, where linear electron transfer was drastically inhibited due to impaired photosystem I activity. Cox is mostly responsible for dark respiration and competes with P700 for electrons under high light. Only the ∆cox/cyd double mutant, but not single mutants, demonstrated a highly reduced plastoquinone pool in darkness and impaired gross oxygen evolution under light, indicating that thylakoid-based RTOs are able to compensate partially for each other. Thus, both electron sinks contribute to the alleviation of excess electrons under illumination: RTOs continue to function under light, operating on slower time ranges and on a limited scale, whereas Flv1/3 responds rapidly as a light-induced component and has greater capacity.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND TOURISM ACTIVITIES IN BACKWATERS OF KERALA

Kerala is one among the unique destinations of travel lovers. Its unique attraction makes Kerala as the most popular tourist destination in the world. Lakes, beaches, backwaters and houseboats are the unique selling point of Kerala’s tourism industry. Most of the travelers are enchanted by the backwaters. It becomes the most enjoyable and not-to-miss tourist products in Kerala for the holiday, leisure trips of domestic and international tourists. The main objective of this study is to identify factors that encourage tourists to visit backwater regions of Kerala and host community’s perception of the impact of tourism on the environmental sustainability of Backwaters of Kerala. In order to accomplish the study objectives, a survey questionnaire was developed for this research. The questionnaire included questions regarding tourists’ perception and attitude towards the backwater tourism, as well as consumer preference and the factors affecting tourism demand for backwater tourism. Descriptive statistics, T-test were conducted to accomplish study objective.
Design and analysis of the location of an online resale business distribution centre in Japan

Abstract The location of distribution centres for online retailers has become an important issue for many companies. The operation of the distribution centre for e-commerce seems to be different from the traditional concept of distribution centres. This study considers how the location of distribution centres are designed and operated for online retailing using a computer simulation with actual data. This paper analyses current issues in order to propose an effective location for e-commerce distribution centres. An effective location for a multi-distribution system over a wide geographical area is required. This paper clearly points out the importance of locating e-commerce distribution centres over a wide geographical area by performing a computer simulation using actual data on the assumption that online resale business customers live in a metropolitan area. The study created a business model in which a buffer warehouse, which primarily handled commodities with high-frequency shipments, was located near a large consumption area and was used in addition to a large-scale distribution centre. The validity of the created business model was verified by performing a simulation based on actual data. The result revealed that these recommended improvement measures for the location of e-commerce distribution centres can function effectively.
Assessment of Bacillus subtilis Spores as a Possible Bioindicator for Evaluation of the Microbicidal Efficacy of Radiation Processing of Water

Gamma and electron‐beam irradiation of Bacillus subtilis spores suspended in different types of water was studied to evaluate the inactivation of the spores and assess their possible use as a bioindicator for radiation processing. We found that the inactivation proceeded endogenously, being dose‐rate‐dependent and affected by oxygen. The radiation resistance of the suspended spores was found to be rather high; therefore, B. subtilis spores used as a bioindicator for efficiency of water treatment by radiation under practical conditions might result in the spores being overly conservative surrogates for pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, the dose‐rate dependency impedes the use of the spores as a bioindicator. Thus, B. subtilis spores cannot be recommended as a bioindicator for evaluation of the microbicidal efficacy of ionizing radiation processing of water.
Neural mechanisms of bilateral deficit in maximal force production in specific groups of athletes

Škarabot, Jakob 2016. Neural mechanisms of bilateral deficit in maximal force production in specific groups of athletes. University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology of Physical Activity, Master’s Thesis in Biomechanics. 128 pp. The mechanisms of bilateral deficit (BLD) have been studied extensively, but remain obscure. Neural mechanisms have been proposed, including interhemispheric inhibition (IHI). In this study specific groups of athletes who were more likely to exhibit BLD or bilateral facilitation (BLF) were compared with controls. If IHI is truly the underlying cause of BLD it is of interest whether the nature of IHI is reflected in the magnitude of BLD. 20 male subjects (ALL) were split into three groups according to the nature of their activity: bilateral, unilateral and control. Additionally, they were split into two groups whether they exhibited BLD or BLF. Maximal unilateral (UL) and bilateral (BL) isometric knee extensions were performed while receiving electrical stimulation of the femoral nerve and both contralateral and ipsilateral transcranial magnetic stimulation. Main variables of interest included bilateral index in force and EMG activity, voluntary activation level, motor evoked potentials of target and ipsilateral muscles (MEPs), and cortical and ipsilateral silent periods. Significant BLD was observed for ALL (BI = -8.76 ± 13.43, p = 0.009), but not for any of the separate groups. No BLD was noted in EMG activity and no parallelisms between force and EMG was found. Voluntary activation level was significantly higher during BL compared to UL contractions (~ 97% vs. 93%, p = 0.045), with no differences between groups. MEPs during BL were significantly bigger (p = 0.042, and p = 0.005, respectively) than during UL contractions with no differences between groups. No differences in silent periods were noted regardless of grouping. Variability of BLD observed was likely due to poor testing specificity. Based on unaltered silent periods, BLD may not be related to inhibition at the cortical level. Conversely, higher values of voluntary activation level and motor evoked potentials during BL when compared to UL contractions may indicate involvement of cortical facilitation.
Engaging and marketing to stakeholders in World Heritage Site management: a United Kingdom multiple case study perspective

ABSTRACT This research addresses the limited studies which apply stakeholder theory to World Heritage Site (WHS) management and managerial theory to heritage management. WHS management highlights a context where sites rely on numerous interests uniting through goodwill. This is intensified by the multiple-ownership patterns which characterise many WHSs, necessitating a need for collective action. This study aims to explore how managers attempt to manage stakeholders and generate involvement and support. This study adopts a multiple case study approach, exploring three United Kingdom WHSs. Data were collected through interviews, documentation and physical artefacts. The analysis found that through representation, raising awareness and support, managers were able to generate stakeholder patronage. However, this required managers to look beyond informative engagement toward participatory means. Furthermore, the findings highlight the importance of the facilitators, time and money in successful stakeholder engagement. Lastly, conclusions, limitations and future research are offered. Underpinned by stakeholder theory, this paper contributes to the understanding of stakeholder engagement within WHS management and adds to limited empirical studies on multiple sites. This investigation found that engagement is constrained by managers’ limited time and resources. Furthermore, participatory engagement is essential in fostering stakeholders’ responsibility for site management and developing relationships with managers.