Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technology in Rehabilitation: Evaluating the Single Leg Squat Exercise with Wearable Inertial Measurement Units

Summary Background: The single leg squat (SLS) is a common lower limb rehabilitation exercise. It is also frequently used as an evaluative exercise to screen for an increased risk of lower limb injury. To date athlete/patient SLS technique has been assessed using expensive laboratory equipment or subjective clinical judgement; both of which are not without shortcomings. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) may offer a low cost solution for the objective evaluation of athlete/patient SLS technique. Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine if in combination or in isolation IMUs positioned on the lumbar spine, thigh and shank are capable of: (a) distinguishing between acceptable and aberrant SLS technique; (b) identifying specific deviations from acceptable SLS technique. Methods: Eighty-three healthy volunteers participated (60 males, 23 females, age: 24.68 +/− 4.91 years, height: 1.75 +/− 0.09 m, body mass: 76.01 +/− 13.29 kg). All participants performed 10 SLSs on their left leg. IMUs were positioned on participants’ lumbar spine, left shank and left thigh. These were utilized to record tri-axial accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data during all repetitions of the SLS. SLS technique was labelled by a Chartered Physiotherapist using an evaluation framework. Features were extracted from the labelled sensor data. These features were used to train and evaluate a variety of random-forests classifiers that assessed SLS technique. Results: A three IMU system was moderately successful in detecting the overall quality of SLS performance (77% accuracy, 77% sensitivity and 78% specificity). A single IMU worn on the shank can complete the same analysis with 76% accuracy, 75% sensitivity and 76% specificity. Single sensors also produce competitive classification scores relative to multi-sensor systems in identifying specific deviations from acceptable SLS technique. Conclusions: A single IMU positioned on the shank can differentiate between acceptable and aberrant SLS technique with moderate levels of accuracy. It can also capably identify specific deviations from optimal SLS performance. IMUs may offer a low cost solution for the objective evaluation of SLS performance. Additionally, the classifiers described may provide useful input to an exercise biofeed-back application.
Tornado Warnings at Night: Who Gets the Message?

Nocturnal tornadoes are a public health threat, over twice as likely to have fatalities as tornadoes during the day. While tornado warning receipt is an important factor in models of individual behavioral response, receipt of warnings at night has not been studied in the literature to date. This study uses survey data from a random sample of Tennessee residents (N = 1804) who were randomly assigned to day or night versions of a near-identical survey instrument. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses compare chance of warning receipt, warning sources, and predictors of warning receipt for day versus night scenarios of a tornadic event. Over 80% of participants asked about a daytime tornado said there was a high/very high chance of receiving the warning, compared to fewer than 50% of participants asked about a nighttime event. Whereas demographic and cognitive factors helped predict tornado warning receipt during the day, cognitive and geographic factors were salient for the night. Perceived county risk and prior experience with a tornado were positively associated with chance of nighttime receipt, while belief that luck is an important factor in surviving a tornado and living in east (compared to west) Tennessee were negatively associated. Future research should consider partnering with the National Weather Service, emergency managers, and local media to increase the likelihood that people will receive tornado warnings at night and to better understand the role that cognitive factors and particular beliefs play in individual efforts to ensure that warnings are received.
Meat Consumption and Risk of Stomach Cancer in Uruguay: A Case-Control Study

We previously reported an association between meat intake and stomach cancer in Uruguay: in that analysis, we did not control for total energy intake. To better study the relationship between intake of meat and meat constituents and gastric cancer, we conducted a further case-control study including 123 cases and 282 controls who were enrolled between September 1997 and August 1999. Total meat intake (highest tertile) was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 4.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.3-9.0]. After adjustment for total energy intake and intake of proteins and total fat by the residuals method, the OR was 1.7 (95% CI = 0.7-4.0). The energy-adjusted OR for high intake of processed meat was 1.9 (95% CI = 1.1-3.5). Intake of fried, barbecued, and salted meat and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine was not associated with risk of gastric cancer. The energy-adjusted OR of high intake of nitrosodimethylamine was 1.5 (95% CI = 0.9-2.8). These results suggest that, in a country with elevated meat consumption, total energy intake and intake of proteins and fat are powerful confounders in the relationship between meat intake and gastric cancer risk. However, a modest independent effect of meat, in particular of processed meat, is suggested.
Board Business Connections and Firm Profitability: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Using a unique dataset on board directors from 2008 to 2016, we document a positive relationship between board business connections and firm profitability for listed firms in China. The positive relationship is robust to various estimation methods and is stronger when the connections are possessed by independent directors or extended to listed firms. Finally, well-connected firms are more likely to have access to external financing and to obtain favorable audit opinions. Overall, our findings signify the importance of connections (guanxi) in business activities in China.
Insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity and glucose‐mediated glucose disposal in Cushing's disease: a minimal model analysis

objective We wished to assess the contributions of Insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity and glucose‐mediated glucose disposal to glucose tolerance in subjects exposed to chronic glucocorticoid excess. DESIGN Patients with Cushing's disease were subjected to a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test before and at least 3 months after curative surgery and compared to a control group
Industrial Structure and Economic Performance: The Role of Productive Public Expenditure

I consider productive government spending and preference for diversity in an imperfectly competitive macroeconomic framework, and analyze how differences in industrial structure affect economic growth and the welfare level. Two main findings emerge from the analysis. First, the optimal ratio of government spending is related to the extent of public expenditure externalities and preference for diversity. Second, the vertical separation regime leads to a higher economic growth rate and welfare level than the vertical integration regime, provided that the degree of monopoly power is relatively small.
Sensorimotor modulation of human cortical swallowing pathways

1 Transcranial magnetic stimulation over motor areas of cerebral cortex in man can activate short latency bilateral cortical projections to the pharynx and oesophagus. In the present paper we investigate the interaction between pathways from each hemisphere and explore how activity in these pathways is modulated by afferent feedback from the face, pharynx and oesophagus. 2 Comparison of unilateral and bilateral stimulation (using interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 1, 5 or 10 ms between shocks) showed spatial summation of responses from each hemisphere at an ISI of 1 ms, indicating that cortical efferents project onto a shared population of target neurones. Such summation was not evident at ISIs of 5 or 10 ms. There was little evidence for transcallosal inhibition of responses from each hemisphere, as described for limb muscles. 3 Single stimuli applied to the vagus nerve in the neck or the supraorbital nerve, which alone produce intermediate (onset 20‐30 ms) and long (50‐70 ms) latency reflex responses in the pharynx and oesophagus, were used to condition the cortical responses. Compared with rest, responses evoked by cortical stimulation were facilitated when they were timed to coincide with the late part of the reflex. The onset latency was reduced during both parts of the reflex response. No facilitation was observed with subthreshold reflex stimuli. 4 Single electrical stimuli applied to the pharynx or oesophagus had no effect on the response to cortical stimulation. However, trains of stimuli at frequencies varying from 0.2 to 10 Hz decreased the latency of the cortically evoked responses without consistently influencing their amplitudes. The effect was site specific: pharyngeal stimulation shortened both pharyngeal and oesophageal response latencies, whereas oesophageal stimulation shortened only the oesophageal response latencies. 5 Cortical swallowing motor pathways from each hemisphere interact and their excitability is modulated in a site‐specific manner by sensory input. The latter may produce a mixture of excitation and inhibition at both brainstem and cortical levels.
Why Do Firms in Emerging Markets Report? A Stakeholder Theory Approach to Study the Determinants of Non-Financial Disclosure in Latin America

Even though literature studying the determinants of non-financial disclosure (NFD) is pervasive, Latin America has been overlooked in this tradition. In this sense, scholars have not evidenced which factors compel companies in this context to report this information despite its voluntary nature. Drawing on Stakeholder Theory as a basis, we derive eight possible antecedents of NFD from extant literature and test them in a sample of 643 Latin American firms for a 10 year span (2006–2015). Using a logit panel model, our evidence indicates that firm size, market-to-book ratio, systematic risk, and industry membership are factors that pressure companies to report. However, contrary to our conceptual development we find that profitability and regulatory quality inversely affects NFD. This leads us to posit that Latin America is unique in terms of reporting because agency costs may arise when disclosing data and also that feeble regulations could summon firms to fill this void through NFD. We thus contribute to this strand by revealing that stakeholders in this milieu are essentially different than in developed countries, and therefore the underlying reasons to engage in NFD also differ.
Positive and negative inotropic effects of DL-sotalol and D-sotalol in failing and nonfailing human myocardium under physiological experimental conditions.

BACKGROUND DL-Sotalol has class III antiarrhythmic activity through prolongation of the repolarization phase of the action potential as well as beta-adrenoceptor-blocking properties. Although the former effect was found to exert positive inotropic effects in animal experimental studies, the latter may be detrimental in heart failure due to negative inotropism. In contrast to DL-sotalol, D-sotalol is suggested to exert only positive inotropic effects, which were never tested in isolated human myocardium. METHODS AND RESULTS Therefore, we investigated the effects of racemic DL-sotalol and its enantiomer D-sotalol in human right atrial muscle strip preparations and in left ventricular muscle strip preparations from nonfailing and end-stage failing human hearts. DL-sotalol and D-sotalol significantly (P < .01) increased peak developed force in atrial preparations by 14.0 +/- 3.4% and 16.7 +/- 3.8%, respectively, but had no effect in ventricular myocardium. In nonfailing ventricular myocardium, both DL-sotalol and D-sotalol shifted the dose-response curve for isoproterenol to higher concentrations (P < .01); however, DL-sotalol was 100-fold more effective than D-sotalol. In non-failing myocardium, a positive force-frequency relation was found between 30 and 120 beats per minute, but isoproterenol was much more powerful in its inotropic effects. In failing myocardium, reduction in stimulation rate from 120 to 30 beats per minute increased peak developed force more pronounced than did the application of isoproterenol. CONCLUSIONS (1) D-Sotalol has no relevant beta-adrenoceptor-blocking activity compared with DL-sotalol. (2) Neither DL-sotalol nor D-sotalol exhibit positive inotropic effects in human left ventricular myocardium. (3) Heart rate reduction increases contractile force in end-stage failing human myocardium due to an inverse force-frequency relation and thereby counteracts the potential negative inotropic properties of beta-blockade.
Essays on forecasting and misreporting

In this dissertation, I examine two relevant topics for managers and capital market participants, namely firms’ forecasting and their reporting choices. Increasing our understanding of firms forecasting practices is relevant as we learn about the means of firms to assess economic uncertainty. The findings presented in chapter 2 suggest that well-connected board members are able to provide managers with information about macroeconomic or industry-wide developments, which facilitates the quality of managers forecasts. These findings indicate the importance of directors’ advisory role, as opposed to their well-studied monitoring duties. In chapter 4, I show how forecasting processes interplay with managers reporting choices. The results indicate that more elaborate forecasting processes lead to less misreporting, suggesting that focus on forecasting processes reduces the need for potentially costly misreporting at the end of the fiscal year. In chapter 3, I examine the impact of firm-initiated clawbacks on the firm’s incentive compensation design decisions. The results suggest that the increased misreporting costs enable firms to increase the incentives for productive effort while at the same time safeguarding financial reporting integrity. I examine the research questions outlined in this dissertation by means of standard as well as more sophisticated microeconometric techniques. I collect data of U.S.-listed firms from public available sources. The data collected of Dutch firms are confidential and were collected by means of a survey. This dissertation contains three stand-alone studies, where two are co-authored with my promoter Frank Verbeeten and my co-promoter Peter Kroos.
Effect of creatine supplementation on oxygen uptake kinetics during submaximal cycle exercise.

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of oral creatine (Cr) supplementation on pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO(2)) kinetics during moderate [below ventilatory threshold (VT)] and heavy (above VT) submaximal cycle exercise. Nine subjects (7 men; means +/- SD: age 28 +/- 3 yr, body mass 73.2 +/- 5.6 kg, maximal VO(2) 46.4 +/- 8.0 ml. kg(-1). min(-1)) volunteered to participate in this study. Subjects performed transitions of 6-min duration from unloaded cycling to moderate (80% VT; 8-12 repeats) and heavy exercise (50% change; i.e., halfway between VT and maximal VO(2); 4-6 repeats), both in the control condition and after Cr loading, in a crossover design. The Cr loading regimen involved oral consumption of 20 g/day of Cr monohydrate for 5 days, followed by a maintenance dose of 5 g/day thereafter. VO(2) was measured breath by breath and modeled by using two (moderate) or three (heavy) exponential terms. For moderate exercise, there were no differences in the parameters of the VO(2) kinetic response between control and Cr-loaded conditions. For heavy exercise, the time-based parameters of the VO(2) response were unchanged, but the amplitude of the primary component was significantly reduced with Cr loading (means +/- SE: control 2.00 +/- 0.12 l/min; Cr loaded 1.92 +/- 0.10 l/min; P < 0.05) as was the end-exercise VO(2) (control 2.19 +/- 0.13 l/min; Cr loaded 2.12 +/- 0.14 l/min; P < 0.05). The magnitude of the reduction in submaximal VO(2) with Cr loading was significantly correlated with the percentage of type II fibers in the vastus lateralis (r = 0.87; P < 0.01; n = 7), indicating that the effect might be related to changes in motor unit recruitment patterns or the volume of muscle activated.
Time to Yell “Cut?” An Evaluation of the California Film and Production Tax Credit for the Motion Picture Industry

Author(s): Thom, Michael | Abstract: Enacted in 2009, California’s Film and Production Tax Credit was a policy reaction to fears that the state had lost motion picture industry jobs to other states and countries. The incentive has since been allocated over $1 billion in taxpayer funding. Advocates hail the tax credit as a success, but is there evidence to support that claim? This study examines motion picture industry employment in California from 1991 through 2016 to determine the impact of the Film and Production Tax Credit and competing incentives offered by other governments. Results show the tax credit had no significant effect on changes in three occupational categories associated with the motion picture industry. Employment was similarly unaffected by competing incentives. Motion picture industry employment in California instead appears to track the national labor market. These findings were robust to several alternative measures and model specifications and advise that California policymakers should eliminate the Film and Production Tax Credit as soon as possible.
Smoking and health outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND This study was designed to describe the impact of smoking on health status and mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS A cohort of 271 consecutive PCI patients at the Mid-America Heart Institute of St Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo, were observed in a prospective, observational study. Surveys that included health status assessments were administered at baseline and at 6 and 12 months after intervention. Primary outcome was health status as measured by the Short Form-12 (SF-12) and the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). RESULTS Risk-adjusted statistical models demonstrated that, across a number of health-related quality of life domains, patients who were current smokers had poorer health status outcomes than other patients after revascularization. For instance, patients who had never smoked (P <.001) and patients who were former smokers (P <.001) scored significantly higher than patients who were current smokers on the physical component score of the SF-12, which indicated a better sense of overall physical function. Similarly, patients who had never smoked and patients who were former smokers reported significantly fewer physical limitations, less angina, and a higher quality of life on the SAQ than patients who were current smokers. Smoking status was unrelated to mortality rate in the 12 months after revascularization. CONCLUSIONS Smoking substantially limits the potential health status benefits of PCI.
Brace evaluation in children with diplegic cerebral palsy with a jump gait pattern.

BACKGROUND Brace prescription for children with diplegic cerebral palsy challenges the clinician with a variety of options and little evidence for rational decisions. Previous studies have indicated that ankle-foot orthoses improve toe-walking, but it is unclear if any brace is better than another. The goal of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of hinged and dynamic ankle-foot orthoses in terms of improving gait and motor function in a homogeneous group of children with diplegic cerebral palsy exhibiting a jump gait pattern. METHODS Fifteen children (mean age, 7.5 years) with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy who were able to walk independently with a jump gait pattern and twenty children (mean age, 10.6 years) with normal gait participated in the study. Standardized Gross Motor Function Classification System scores, Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument scores, and gait data were collected, analyzed, and compared. The subjects were tested while barefoot and while wearing hinged and dynamic ankle-foot orthoses. Data were analyzed to detect differences among these conditions. RESULTS Significant improvements in gait metrics were seen during brace wear. No significant differences were seen between the two different braces used. The barefoot and braced conditions differed most significantly in terms of ankle kinematics and kinetics. Among the patients with cerebral palsy, no significant differences in the standardized outcome measurements were found between the braced and unbraced conditions or between the two braced conditions. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that gait improves with brace wear in children with cerebral palsy with a level-I Gross Motor Function Classification System score. The Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument and the Gross Motor Function Measure were not sensitive to brace treatment in the population studied. The hinged and dynamic braces were equally effective for improving ankle kinematics and kinetics in these relatively highly functioning children with cerebral palsy.
Assessing the production and economic benefits from preventing cows grazing on wet soils in New Zealand.

BACKGROUND Intensive grazing by cattle on wet pasture can have a negative effect on soil physical quality and future pasture production. On a North Otago dairy farm in New Zealand, experimental plots were monitored for four years to assess whether preventing cow grazing of wet pastures during the milking season would improve soil structure and pasture production compared with unrestricted access to pastures. The DairyNZ Whole Farm Model was used to scale up results to a farm system level and ascertain the cost benefit of deferred grazing management. RESULTS Soils under deferred grazing management had significantly higher total porosity, yet no significant improvement in macroporosity (values ranging between 0.112 and 0.146 m(3) m(-3) ). Annual pasture production did not differ between the control and deferred grazing treatments, averaging 17.0 ± 3.8 and 17.9 ± 4.1 t DM ha(-1) year(-1) respectively (P > 0.05). Furthermore, whole farm modelling indicated that farm operating profit was reduced by NZ$1683 ha(-1) year(-1) (four-year average) under deferred grazing management. CONCLUSION Deferring dairy cow grazing from wet Pallic soils in North Otago was effective in improving soil structure (measured as total soil porosity), yet did not lead to a significant increase in pasture production. Whole farm modelling indicated no economic benefit of removing cows from wet soils during the milking season. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
Marking Effects in Instrumental Performance on DRH Schedules

Three experiments investigated the effect of presenting a brief stimulus after a response sequence on the rate of lever-pressing by rats on differential reinforcement of high rate (DRH) schedules. In Experiment 1 enhanced responding was produced by a visual stimulus presented during a 500-msec delay of reinforcement compared to a condition in which no stimulus was presented. In Experiment 2 rats responded on a multiple DRH DRH schedule in which the DRH contingency was reinforced on a 50% schedule in each component. Equivalent levels of responding occurred in the components when reinforcement was signalled in one component and when the signal was presented following the non-reinforced schedules in the other components. A further group of rats received the stimulus presented after non-reinforced schedules in one component but not at all in the other component; responding was enhanced in the former component relative to the latter component. In Experiment 3 brief stimuli presented after the completion of DRH components on a second-order VR (DRH) schedule elevated response rates irrespective of whether the signal was presented paired or unpaired with reinforcement. The present data support the view that a brief signal may serve to mark a response sequence in memory and facilitate instrumental performance.