Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Strength Training on Muscle Properties, Physical Function, and Physical Activity among Frail Older People: A Pilot Study

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a 10-week strength training intervention on isometric strength, rate of force development (RFD), physical function (stair climbing, rising from a chair, and preferred and maximal walking speed), and physical activity among frail elderly people receiving home-care services. Thirty participants were randomly assigned (by sex) to a control group (CON) or a strength training group (ST) performing a supervised training programme using elastic bands, box-lifting, and body weight exercises twice per week. Twenty-three participants were selected to complete the study (age 84.9 ± 6.1 years). For the ST, only improvement in muscle properties was the peak RFD in leg extension (p=0.04). No significant differences were observed in muscle properties for the control group (CON) (p=0.16–1.00) or between groups (p=0.39–1.00). There were no changes within and between the groups in physical function (p=0.12–0.19) or physical activity levels (p=0.06–0.73). The results of this pilot study did not demonstrate greater improvements in muscle properties and physical function and improved physical activity after attending a home-based resistance program compared to physical activity advise; however, larger population studies should examine these findings. This trial is registered with ISRCTN10967873.
Anticariogenic potential of white cheese, xylitol chewing gum, and black tea

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of these foods on plaque pH and the potential development of tooth decay. Materials and Methods: Plaque pH was measured using the sampling method before and after 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 45, and 60 min following consumption of these foods individually and after rinsing with a 10% sucrose solution. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey honestly significant difference post hoc tests (α = 0.05). Results: Although there were statistically significant differences in all test groups except the BT (P = 0.620) and sucrose + XCG (P = 0.550) groups in time, none of the participants chosen for this study were having a plaque pH value anywhere close to the critical value (pH = 5.5). Conclusion: WC, BT, and XCG are advisable as anticariogenic foods because pH values are not below critical value.
A new icriodontid conodont cluster with specific mesowear supports an alternative apparatus motion model for Icriodontidae

Increasing numbers of conodont discoveries with soft tissue preservation, natural assemblages and fused clusters of the hard tissue have strengthened the hypothesis regarding the function and mechanism of the conodont feeding apparatus. Exceptional fossil preservation serves as a solid basis for modern reconstructions of the conodont apparatus illustrating the complex interplay of the single apparatus elements. Reliable published models concern the ozarkodinid apparatus of Pennsylvanian and Early Triassic conodonts. Recognition of microwear and mammal-like occlusion, especially of platform elements belonging to individuals of the genus Idiognathodus, allows rotational closure to be interpreted as the crushing mechanism of ozarkodinid platform (P1) elements. Here we describe a new icriodontid conodont cluster of Caudicriodus woschmidti that consists of one pair of icriodontan (I) and 10 pairs of coniform (C1–5) elements, with I elements being preserved in interlocking position. The special kind of element arrangement within the fused cluster provides new insights into icriodontid apparatus reconstruction and notation of elements. However, orientation of coniform elements is limited to a certain degree by possible preservational bias. Four possible apparatus models are introduced and discussed. Recognition of specific wear on denticle tips of one of the icriodontan elements forms the basis for an alternative hypothesis of apparatus motion. Analysis of tip wear suggests a horizontal, slightly elliptical motion of opposed, antagonistically operating I elements. This is supported by similar tip wear from much better preserved, but isolated, elements of Middle Devonian icriodontids. More detailed interpretation of the masticatory movement will allow enhanced understanding of anatomical specifications, diet and palaeobiology of different euconodont groups.
Dietary trigger factors of migraine and tension-type headache in a South East Asian country

Background The literature on the dietary trigger factors of headache among the South East Asians is limited. Objective The objective of the study was to examine the dietary trigger factors of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) in Malaysian patients, consisting of Malays, Chinese and Indians. Methods In this prospective cross-sectional study, patients presenting with migraine and TTH to a neurology clinic between April 2010 and June 2017 were recruited. The patients were given a comprehensive dietary list consisting of 25 specified types of food and drink items as well as other unspecified types of food and drink items which were possible dietary triggers. The data on these dietary triggers and missing meals were collected. Results A total of 684 patients with headache (319 migraine and 365 TTH patients) were recruited. One hundred and fifty-eight (23.1%) patients had missing meals as trigger. Two hundred and fifty-five (37.3%) patients had dietary triggers; 141 (44.2%) patients with migraine and 114 (31.2%) patients with TTH had dietary triggers. Eighty-four (52.8%) Malay, 28 (41.8%) Chinese, 25 (32.5%) Indian migraine patients and five (38.5%) migraine patients from other ethnic groups, had dietary triggers. Some 58 (40.0%) Malay, 27 (25.2%) Chinese, 22 (23.9%) Indian patients and 7 (29.2%) patients from other ethnic groups with TTH had dietary triggers. The most common dietary trigger factors were coffee (19.9%), chocolate (7.5%) and food rich in monosodium glutamate (5.6%). Logistic regression showed that chocolate (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.06–4.41, p = 0.035) and coffee (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.12–2.68, p = 0.014) were significantly associated with migraine compared to TTH. Conclusion Chocolate and coffee significantly triggered migraine compared to TTH. Inter-ethnic differences were observed for dietary trigger factors.
Iranian healthcare professionals’ perspectives about factors influencing the use of telemedicine in diabetes management

AIM To identify factors influencing the use of telemedicine in diabetes management from the perspectives of healthcare professionals. METHODS This was a quantitative study that was conducted in 2016. The participants were 240 nurses and 55 physicians from three teaching hospitals as well as from one endocrinology and metabolism research center. No sampling method was used and the data were collected by using a five-point (1 to 5) Likert scale questionnaire, which had 37 questions. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U test) were used to analyze the data. RESULTS The findings showed that both physicians (4.06 ± 0.69) and nurses (4.02 ± 0.61) tended to use telemedicine technology for managing diabetes. Overall, the lowest mean value for physicians (3.79 ± 0.82) was related to the compatibility of telemedicine with other clinical activities in diabetes management. For nurses, the lowest mean value pertained to the usefulness of telemedicine in diabetes management (3.99 ± 0.53) and their attitude toward using this technology (3.99 ±0.65). CONCLUSION Although physicians and nurses agreed on using telemedicine technology in diabetes management, it is necessary to consider their concerns prior to the implementation and deployment of new technologies. This approach will help to improve the level of technology acceptance among the users.
Move the Object or Move Myself? Walking vs. Manipulation for the Examination of 3D Scientific Data

Physical walking is consistently considered a natural and intuitive way to acquire viewpoints in a virtual environment. However, research findings also show that walking requires cognitive resources. To understand how this tradeoff affects the interaction design for virtual environments; we evaluated the performance of 32 participants, ranging from 18 to 44 years old, in a demanding visual and spatial task. Participants wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset counted features in a complex 3D structure while walking or while using a 3D interaction technique for manipulation. Our results indicate that the relative performance of the interfaces depends on the spatial ability and game experience of the participants. Participants with previous game experience but low spatial ability performed better using the manipulation technique. However, walking enabled higher performance for participants with high spatial ability or without significant game experience. These findings suggest that the optimal design choices for demanding visual tasks in VR should consider both controller experience and the spatial ability of the target users.
Edaravone and cyclosporine A as neuroprotective agents for acute ischemic stroke

It is well known that acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and subsequent reperfusion produce lethal levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neuronal cells, which are generated in mitochondria. Mitochondrial ROS production is a self‐amplifying process, termed “ROS‐induced ROS release”. Furthermore, the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) is deeply involved in this process, and its opening could cause cell death. Edaravone, a free radical scavenger, is the only neuroprotective agent for AIS used in Japan. It captures and reduces excessive ROS, preventing brain damage. Cyclosporine A (CsA), an immunosuppressive agent, is a potential neuroprotective agent for AIS. It has been investigated that CsA prevents cellular death by suppressing MPTP opening. In this report, we will outline the actions of edaravone and CsA as neuroprotective agents in AIS, focusing on their relationship with ROS and MPTP.
Masters of Time: An Overview of the NTP Ecosystem

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is currently the most commonly used approach to keeping the clocks of computing devices accurate. It operates in the background of many systems; however, it is often important because if NTP fails in providing the correct time, multiple applications such as security protocols like TLS can fail. Despite its crucial practical role, only a limited number of measurement studies have focused on the NTP ecosystem. In this paper, we report the results of an in-depth longitudinal study of the services provided by the NTP Pool Project, which enables volunteers to offer their NTP services to other Internet users in a straightforward manner. We supplement these observations with an analysis of other readily available NTP servers, such as those offered by OS vendors or those that can be freely found on the Internet. The analysis indicates a reliance on a small set of servers that are (at least indirectly) responsible for providing the time for the Internet. Furthermore, this paper considers the impact of several incidents that the authors observed between December 2016 and April 2017. To complement this study, we also perform an analysis of multiple geographical regions from the operator's perspective, spanning a period of 5 months. A coarse-grained categorization of client requests allows us to categorize 95 percent of our incoming traffic as NTP- and SNTP-like traffic (the latter being a simpler, but more error-prone, form of NTP); we observe that up to 75 percent of all requests originated from SNTPlike clients. With this in mind, we consider what kind of harm a rogue server administrator could cause to users.
Dysbiosis of oral microbiota and its association with salivary immunological biomarkers in autoimmune liver disease

The gut microbiota has recently been recognized to play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune liver disease (AILD), mainly primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). This study aimed to analyze and compare the composition of the oral microbiota of 56 patients with AILD and 15 healthy controls (HCs) and to evaluate its association with salivary immunological biomarkers and gut microbiota. The subjects included 39 patients with PBC and 17 patients with AIH diagnosed at our hospital. The control population comprised 15 matched HCs. Salivary and fecal samples were collected for analysis of the microbiome by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of 16S rDNA. Correlations between immunological biomarkers measured by Bio-Plex assay (Bio-Rad) and the oral microbiomes of patients with PBC and AIH were assessed. Patients with AIH showed a significant increase in Veillonella with a concurrent decrease in Streptococcus in the oral microbiota compared with the HCs. Patients with PBC showed significant increases in Eubacterium and Veillonella and a significant decrease in Fusobacterium in the oral microbiota compared with the HCs. Immunological biomarker analysis showed elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-8) and immunoglobulin A in the saliva of patients with AILD. The relative abundance of Veillonella was positively correlated with the levels of IL-1β, IL-8 and immunoglobulin A in saliva and the relative abundance of Lactobacillales in feces. Dysbiosis of the oral microbiota is associated with inflammatory responses and reflects changes in the gut microbiota of patients with AILD. Dysbiosis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of AILD.
Assessing data processing using Wilcoxon signed-ranks test for polyclinic management system — Case study

The main objective of the study is to analyze the importance and benefits of using a Hospital Management system and design, develop and asses the interfaces and its data processing performance in order to improve the efficiency of the polyclinic management system. Within the reviewed published literature have been evidenced that there is a lot of published research on usability of user interfaces but not sufficient enough regarding the assessment of user interface performance. The research study aim and goal is to present coherent ways to assess the interface performance by incorporating the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test and assessment of usability issues. Final objective is to investigate the importance of data processing efficiency and effectiveness for polyclinic management system and use these insights to improve the system. The aim of the test was to compare participants' performance in the two conditions to investigate the difference between the scores obtained and assess the data processing efficiency. This test is the non-parametric equivalent of the related t-test. The example used here are data from a group of participants who used two different methods of interaction. After using each version the participants have been used to assess different dimensions of the usability of the system, learn ability, efficiency, visibility, alternative flows, performance, etc. Insights and recommendations are provided, argumented and discussed.
[18F]ML-10 Imaging for Assessment of Apoptosis Response of Intracranial Tumor Early after Radiotherapy by PET/CT

[18F]ML-10 is a novel apoptosis radiotracer for positron emission tomography (PET). We assess the apoptosis response of intracranial tumor early after CyberKnife (CK) treatment by [18F]ML-10 PET imaging. 29 human subjects (30 lesions), diagnosed with intracranial tumors, underwent CK treatment at 14–24 Gy in 1–3 fractions, had [18F]ML-10 positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) before (pre-CK) and 48 hours after (post-CK) CK treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were taken before and 8 weeks after CK treatment. Voxel-based analysis was used for the imaging analysis. Heterogeneous changes of apoptosis in tumors before and after treatment were observed on voxel-based analysis of PET images. A positive correlation was observed between the change in radioactivity (X) and subsequent tumor volume (Y) (r=0.862, p < 0.05), with a regression equation of Y=1.018∗X − 0.016. Malignant tumors tend to be more sensitive to CK treatment, but the treatment outcome is not affected by pre-CK apoptotic status of tumor cells; [18F]ML-10 PET imaging could be taken as an assessment 48 h after CK treatment.
Assessment of schoolteachers' knowledge about management of traumatic dental injuries in Al-Madinah city, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge of primary and intermediate schoolteachers about the management of TDIs in Al-Madinah city, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A previously validated, self-administered, anonymous, close-ended structured questionnaire was administered to schoolteachers in 13 different schools. It included two parts: basic demographic information (part one) and questions regarding the management of dental traumatic injuries (part two). Results: A total of 178 schoolteachers voluntarily completely filled in the questionnaire. Nearly 28.1% of the teachers acquired a first-aid training program and 6.2% only learned about dental injury management in first-aid training. Concerning the knowledge about the management of dental traumatic injuries, 55.1% of teachers realized the appropriate time for treatment of dental traumatic injuries. A few percentage of teachers selected correct answers for the suitable storage medium. The most commonly selected storage media were found to be cold milk, physiological saline, and patient's saliva at 14.6%, 6.7%, and 2.2%, respectively. Conclusion: The knowledge among primary and intermediate schoolteachers in the management of dental traumatic injuries is unsatisfactory.
Geminin Orchestrates Somite Formation by Regulating Fgf8 and Notch Signaling

During somitogenesis, Fgf8 maintains the predifferentiation stage of presomitic mesoderm (PSM) cells and its retraction gives a cue for somite formation. Delta/Notch initiates the expression of oscillation genes in the tail bud and subsequently contributes to somite formation in a periodic way. Whether there exists a critical factor coordinating Fgf8 and Notch signaling pathways is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the loss of function of geminin gave rise to narrower somites as a result of derepressed Fgf8 gradient in the PSM and tail bud. Furthermore, in geminin morphants, the somite boundary could not form properly but the oscillation of cyclic genes was normal, displaying the blurry somitic boundary and disturbed somite polarity along the AP axis. In mechanism, these manifestations were mediated by the disrupted association of the geminin/Brg1 complex with intron 3 of mib1. The latter interaction was found to positively regulate mib1 transcription, Notch activity, and sequential somite segmentation during somitogenesis. In addition, geminin was also shown to regulate the expression of deltaD in mib1-independent way. Collectively, our data for the first time demonstrate that geminin regulates Fgf8 and Notch signaling to regulate somite segmentation during somitogenesis.
Oral Tecovirimat for the Treatment of Smallpox

BACKGROUND Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, but variola virus (VARV), which causes smallpox, still exists. There is no known effective treatment for smallpox; therefore, tecovirimat is being developed as an oral smallpox therapy. Because clinical trials in a context of natural disease are not possible, an alternative developmental path to evaluate efficacy and safety was needed. METHODS We investigated the efficacy of tecovirimat in nonhuman primate (monkeypox) and rabbit (rabbitpox) models in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Animal Efficacy Rule, which was interpreted for smallpox therapeutics by an expert advisory committee. We also conducted a placebo‐controlled pharmacokinetic and safety trial involving 449 adult volunteers. RESULTS The minimum dose of tecovirimat required in order to achieve more than 90% survival in the monkeypox model was 10 mg per kilogram of body weight for 14 days, and a dose of 40 mg per kilogram for 14 days was similarly efficacious in the rabbitpox model. Although the effective dose per kilogram was higher in rabbits, exposure was lower, with a mean steady‐state maximum, minimum, and average (mean) concentration (Cmax, Cmin, and Cavg, respectively) of 374, 25, and 138 ng per milliliter, respectively, in rabbits and 1444, 169, and 598 ng per milliliter in nonhuman primates, as well as an area under the concentration–time curve over 24 hours (AUC0‐24hr) of 3318 ng×hours per milliliter in rabbits and 14,352 ng×hours per milliliter in nonhuman primates. These findings suggested that the nonhuman primate was the more conservative model for the estimation of the required drug exposure in humans. A dose of 600 mg twice daily for 14 days was selected for testing in humans and provided exposures in excess of those in nonhuman primates (mean steady‐state Cmax, Cmin, and Cavg of 2209, 690, and 1270 ng per milliliter and AUC0‐24hr of 30,632 ng×hours per milliliter). No pattern of troubling adverse events was observed. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of its efficacy in two animal models and pharmacokinetic and safety data in humans, tecovirimat is being advanced as a therapy for smallpox in accordance with the FDA Animal Rule. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02474589.)
3D distances of intuitionistic fuzzy sets based on hesitating index

To represent the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFSs) clearly and ordinarily, the 3D distances of IFSs based on hesitating index have been researched. After analyzing the limitation of IFSs information description, the definition of Hesitating Index (HI), including membership HI, non-membership HI and balanced-membership HI have been proposed. Above all, this paper compares the traditional 2D semantic distance of IFSs and 3D semantic distance based on HI. The results show that more details and data should be expressed through HI, and the veracity and celerity still reserved as 2D distance.
Can DSP48A1 adders be used for high-resolution delay generation?

Time to digital conversion is an important task in many systems. It involves the conversion of time-based signals (as opposed to the amplitude-based signals in analog-to-digital conversion) into digital numbers so that a purely digital system may process them. This is widely used in rangefinders, all-digital phase-locked loops and quantum experiments. In order to obtain high-resolution time-to-digital conversion, the generation of small delays is necessary. This paper examines the viability of using the DSP48A1 blocks present on Xilinx FPGAs to generate these small delays, and ultimately concludes they are unsuitable in isolation due to the high differential non-linearity, but may be suitable as a semi-fine stage of a multi-stage TDC or when combined in an equivalent coding line.