Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of recreational sports and combined training on blood pressure and glycosylated hemoglobin in middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Combined resistance and aerobic training (CT) is the most suitable form of exercise training to simultaneously improve cardiometabolic profile and functional capacity in middle-aged and older adults. Recreational sports (RS) emerge as an alternative to traditional exercises to improve these outcomes that could be used as a retention and continuity strategy, promoting health benefits associated with pleasure and satisfaction during the physical activity. Objectives The aim was to conduct a meta-analysis on the effects of RS and CT on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in middle-aged and older adults and to compare these exercise interventions to a non-exercising control group (CON). Data Sources A literature search was conducted using the databases at PubMed, COCHRANE and SciELO between July and August 2020. Study Eligibility Criteria Studies that included men and women aged 45 years, healthy or with values of baseline for SBP 130mmHg or DBP 80 mmHg or with type II diabetes, in which the participants performed RS or CT versus CON, and evaluated SBP, DBP and HbA1c. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods Two independent reviewers screened search results, performed data extraction, and assessed of methodological quality of studies. Random effects modeling was used to compare pre to postintervention changes in BP and HbA1c from RS and CT versus CON, and the effect size were calculated through the weighted mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Conclusions RS and CT are effective exercise interventions to improve blood pressure in middle-aged and older adults. Additionally, CT seems to be an excellent strategy to reduce HbA1c, and future studies are necessary to confirm the effectiveness of recreational sports to improve HbA1c.
Research on Leisure Needs, Leisure Participation and Leisure Obstacles of Family Caregivers with Intellectual Disabilities

This study explores the current situation of leisure needs, leisure participation, and leisure barriers of family caregivers with intellectual disabilities, and then analyzes the differences between the different background characteristics of each facet and the correlation between facets. According to the difference analysis, the most important leisure needs were psychological needs, physiological needs and achievement needs. The participation frequency of leisure activities of family caregivers with intellectual disabilities was in the following order: recreational type, social type, sports type and hobby type. Family caregivers with mental retardation had the highest perception of structural retardation, followed by personal intrinsic retardation and interpersonal retardation. There were significant differences between gender and weekly leisure participation on the leisure needs of caregivers with intellectual disabilities. The relationship, age, education level, marital status, monthly family income and weekly leisure participation had significant differences on the leisure participation of caregivers with intellectual disabilities. Education level, monthly family income and weekly leisure participation had significant differences in the leisure barriers of caregivers with intellectual disabilities. The correlation analysis found that there was a low positive correlation between leisure needs and leisure participation of family caregivers with intellectual disabilities (P 0.05). There was a low negative correlation between leisure participation and leisure retardation in family caregivers with mental retardation (P
The Triangulation WIthin a STudy (TWIST) framework for causal inference within pharmacogenetic research

In this paper we review the methodological underpinnings of the general pharmacogenetic approach for uncovering genetically-driven treatment effect heterogeneity. This typically utilises only individuals who are treated and relies on fairly strong baseline assumptions to estimate what we term the `genetically mediated treatment effect' (GMTE). When these assumptions are seriously violated, we show that a robust but less efficient estimate of the GMTE that incorporates information on the population of untreated individuals can instead be used. In cases of partial violation, we clarify when Mendelian randomization and a modified confounder adjustment method can also yield consistent estimates for the GMTE. A decision framework is then described to decide when a particular estimation strategy is most appropriate and how specific estimators can be combined to further improve efficiency. Triangulation of evidence from different data sources, each with their inherent biases and limitations, is becoming a well established principle for strengthening causal analysis. We call our framework `Triangulation WIthin a STudy' (TWIST)' in order to emphasise that an analysis in this spirit is also possible within a single data set, using causal estimators that are approximately statistically uncorrelated, but reliant on different sets of assumptions. We illustrate these approaches by re-analysing primary-care-linked UK Biobank data relating to CYP2C19 genetic variants, Clopidogrel use and stroke risk, and data relating to APOE genetic variants, statin use and Coronary Artery Disease.
Remote-Sensing-Based Analysis of Spatiotemporal
Variation of ET and Related Parameters
in Xilingol Steppe, China

Evapotranspiration (ET), as the main ecological water consumer, is crucial to assess the ecological water budget and dry conditions in arid and semi-arid areas. The objective of this study was to characterize the spatiotemporal variations of ET and determine the major parameters affecting ET by using remote sensing data and climate data at annual and seasonal scales in Xilingol steppe, China. The results of this study showed that the annual ET gradually reduced from northeast to southwest in the Xilingol steppe, with the values fluctuating around 200 mm per year during 2000-2014. The seasonal value of the spatially averaged ET was in reducing order from summer, fall, and winter to spring, accounting for approximately 35%, 23%, 22%, and 20% of the annual ET, respectively. The largest ET appeared in summer in meadow steppe, typical steppe, and sandy vegetation steppe, while in the desert steppe, it occurred in winter, accounting for 39% of the annual ET. Precipitation and NDVI are the major parameters positively affecting ET in spring, summer, and fall. However, in winter, ET was positively correlated with temperature and negatively correlated with precipitation. The results indicated that the spatiotemporal characteristics and the affecting parameters of the actual ET vary seasonally and that the characteristics of the annual ET are mainly determined by the growing season (spring-fall). Moreover, vegetation growth is directly correlated with ET and sunshine hours rather than other parameters. Combining with the natural conditions, the conclusions can be deduced that the dry conditions in the meadow and typical steppes are probably caused by uneven precipitation distribution and high ET demands during the growing season, while the low annual precipitation combined with high winter evaporation is the main reason for water scarcity in the desert steppe.
Depth profile of plant nutrients and acidity in a non-allophanic Andosol as affected by a half-century of fertilization

ABSTRACT To clarify the effects of long-term fertilization on the depth profile of plant nutrients and soil acidity in non-allophanic Andosols, a soil survey was conducted on fertilized grassland and adjacent secondary forest in Kuju highland, Oita Prefecture, Japan. Both of the experimental plots had been managed as a semi-natural grassland (managed by cutting, mowing, and burning for raising cows) before mid of the 1960s, and then, the former had been converted into reclaimed grassland with applying agricultural materials such as fertilizers, manure, and lime, and the latter had been abandoned which resulted in secondary succession into the secondary forest. The comparison of the depth profiles between the two plots revealed that the applied Ca2+ and Mg2+ reached at least 100 cm depth of the non-allophanic Andosol profile. The soil pH was increased at least at the depth of 100 cm, and the plant-toxic level of soil acidity (≥12 mmol kg−1), which is one of the characteristic properties of non-allophanic Andosols, was decreased in the fertilized grassland soil. Soil available P was also observed to be increased at least 80 to 100 cm depth, although the mobility was smaller than those of exchangeable cations and soil acidity. Other soil chemical properties, such as cation exchange capacity, total C and N contents, pyrophosphate-extractable Al (Alp) and Fe (Fep), acid-oxalate-extractable Al (Alo), Fe (Feo), and Si (Sio), Alp/Alo ratio, and Alo + 1/2 Feo, were not significantly altered by the modern grassland management activities. This study reveals considerable loss of plant nutrients from the fertilized grassland soil of a non-allophanic Andosol during a half-century. The loss of plant nutrients should be reduced for sustainable agriculture and conserving the natural environment.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, MSME Growth and the Mediating Role of Firm Strategic Capabilities in the Manufacturing Sector in Nairobi County, Kenya

Growth among Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) is of eminence to economic progression in both developed and developing economies, credited for employment creation, driving innovation and contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in both contexts. Whereas entrepreneurial orientation has been identified to underpin MSME growth, several studies on entrepreneurial orientation -growth nexus have provided mixed results based on the aggregated one-dimensional measure of entrepreneurial orientation. While some report a significant association, some report no significance. The mixed findings imply that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth is not linear, pointing to other causal factors either internal or external to the enterprise. against this backdrop, this study set out to assess the mediating effect of firm strategic capabilities on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth of manufacturing sector MSMEs in Kenya. Anchored on the contingency fit view, the resource-based view and the life-cycle theory, the study adopted a positivist approach, employing the explanatory research design of a cross sectional nature. With a target population of 98,607, a stratified sample of 384 MSMEs from the manufacturing sector in Nairobi County was drawn. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaires and analyzed by both descriptive and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation and regression analyses. The study controlled for both age and sub-sector, as they have been previously found to affect firm growth. Results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation has a significant effect on firm strategic capabilities (β = .276, p = .000<.05). The study also found that firm strategic capabilities have a significant effect on MSME growth at 95% confidence level (β = .124, p = .026<.05). Firm strategic capabilities did not however have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and MSME Growth (β = .0617, p = 111>.05; LLCI=-.0020; ULCI=.0273). The study concludes that among MSMEs in the manufacturing sector in Kenya, innovative, risk tolerant and proactive owners/managers are likely to achieve growth, regardless of their strategic capabilities. It is recommended that MSME owners/managers innovate, take risks and stay proactive in their businesses in order to grow. It is also recommended that strategic policy decisions of MSMEs should focus on enhancing their positions in respect of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk propensity.
Populist and nativist attitudes: Does ingroup-outgroup thinking spill over across domains?

What are the attitudinal consequences of the growing pervasiveness of populism and nativism? We conceive of both populism and nativism as binary moral frameworks predicated on an antagonistic relationship between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Our study investigates the presence of spillover effects between these two forms of ingroup-outgroup thinking among survey respondents in the Netherlands. We posit that exposure to populist (nativist) messages fuels nativism (populism), but only among those positively predisposed toward these messages in the first place. A first survey experiment, focusing on antipathies toward refugees and Muslim immigrants, confirms the former expectation, but a second experiment calls into question the latter hypothesis. Moreover, the second experiment does not replicate the effects of populist message exposure on general immigration attitudes. We discuss several possible reasons for these mixed results.
Defining, Conceptualizing, and Measuring Organizational Resilience: A Multiple Case Study

Organizational resilience is an important means of coping with crises. This concept has received much attention within both academia and industry. However, research on the definition and measurement of organizational resilience is still in the exploratory stage. To date, studies on organizational resilience have yielded mixed conclusions, which makes it difficult to provide specific recommendations for coping with crises. This paper uses an exploratory case study approach to explore the process of organizational resilience among six highly resilient companies: Southwest Airlines, Apple, Microsoft, Starbucks, Kyocera, and Lego. We employed grounded theory to distill the main characteristics of organizational resilience, to explore and validate its structural dimensions, and to develop a measurement scale for organizational resilience. Further, we conducted reliability and validity analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and validation factor analysis on the 526 valid data collected. Results show that organizational resilience includes five dimensions: capital resilience, strategic resilience, cultural resilience, relationship resilience, and learning resilience. The measurement scale has good reliability and validity, which better reflects the notion of organizational resilience. This study bridges the gaps in the existing literature on organizational resilience and its measurement scales, and provides a foundation for future research.
Effect of Nano-micronutrients Fertilization on Yield and Quality of some Sugar Beet Varieties under Early and Late Sowing Dates

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is the second source of sugar around the world after sugar cane. Two field experiments were carried out in the Research Farm , Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, in two successive seasons of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 to study the effect of Nano-micronutrients fertilizer on yield and quality of sugar beet varieties under normal and late sowing conditions. The results showed the early sowing at 21st October increased the root, quality, sugar and root yields comparing with the late sowing at 21st November in both seasons. the foliar application at 60 days after sowing exhibited the higher values of all studied traits comparing with both of foliar application at 105 days and non-fertilizer in both seasons. The four sugar beet varieties (Nabila, Karta, Kosmas and Tesla) differed significantly on all studied traits in the two seasons. Tesla variety was superior than the others of all studied traits. The highest sucrose % (18.32 and 18.42 %) and sugar yield (5.20 and 5.83 ton/fed) were obtained from Tesla variety with Nano-fertilized at 60 days from sowing of early sowing in 21st October in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons respectively. According to principal component analysis, the most appropriate sugar beet varieties for selecting of sugar yield was Tesla variety under the most treatments of foliar Nano- micronutrients in the two environments (stable genotype and recommended for the test environments), especially under D1 (sowing at 21 October ) and F2 (spraying time of 60 day after planting).
Clinacanthus nutans (Belalai Gajah / Sabah Snake Grass): Antioxidant optimization on leaves and stems

This study focused on the effects of solvents, extraction time and repeated extraction towards antioxidant properties of Clinacanthus nutans (Belalai Gajah/ Sabah Snake Grass). Freeze-dried leaves and stems were homogenized and extractions were done using different solvents (absolute methanol, ethanol, acetone, and their aqueous solutions at 50%, 70%, and 100% concentrations), time of extraction (15, 30 and 60 min) and repeated extraction (1st, 2nd and 3rd times)before testing its antioxidant power: folin–ciocalteu index (TPC), ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) and radical-scavenging activity (DPPH). Significantly high antioxidant power was shown on the 1st extraction of C. nutans using 70% acetone in 60 minutes extraction time. In comparison between leaves and stems, leaves have significantly greater antioxidant potential than stems. In conclusion, different solvents, extraction time and repeated extraction give different antioxidant activity in C.nutans. This study focused on the effects of solvents, extraction time and repeated extraction towards antioxidant properties of Clinacanthus nutans (Belalai Gajah/ Sabah Snake Grass). Freeze-dried leaves and stems were homogenized and extractions were done using different solvents (absolute methanol, ethanol, acetone, and their aqueous solutions at 50%, 70%, and 100% concentrations), time of extraction (15, 30 and 60 min) and repeated extraction (1st, 2nd and 3rd times)before testing its antioxidant power: folin–ciocalteu index (TPC), ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) and radical-scavenging activity (DPPH). Significantly high antioxidant power was shown on the 1st extraction of C. nutans using 70% acetone in 60 minutes extraction time. In comparison between leaves and stems, leaves have significantly greater antioxidant potential than stems. In conclusion, different solvents, extraction time and repeated extraction give different antioxidant activity in C.nutans.
Thermal diffusity measurement of molten salts by use of a simple ceramic cell

Description d'un appareil simple de mesure pratique et precise de la diffusivite thermique de sels fondus dans un large domaine de temperature. Resultats de mesure de la diffusivite de nitrates alcalins fondus (LiNO 3 , NaNO 3 et KNO 3 ) et de melanges de fluorures fondus (LIF−NaF−KF, LiF−BeF 2 )
Bounded Rationality in Strategic Decisions: Undershooting in a Resource Pool-Choice Dilemma

This research studies a resource pool-choice dilemma, in which a group of resource seekers independently choose between a larger pool containing more resources and a smaller pool containing fewer resources, knowing that the resources in each pool will be divided equally among its choosers, so that the more (fewer) people choose a certain pool, the fewer (more) resources each of them will get. This setting corresponds to many real-world situations, ranging from students choosing majors as a function of job opportunities to entrepreneurs choosing markets as a function of customer bases. Ten studies reveal a systematic undershooting bias: fewer people choose the larger pool relative to both the normative equilibrium benchmark and chance (random choice), thus advantaging those who choose the larger pool and disadvantaging those who choose the smaller pool. We present evidence showing that the undershooting bias is driven by bounded rationality in strategic thinking and discuss the relationship between our paradigm and other coordination games. This paper was accepted by Yuval Rottenstreich, decision analysis.
Drivers of past and predicted changes of rainfall in and around Mainland Southeast Asia

Observational rain gauge/satellite and reanalysis datasets since the 1950s are evaluated for trends in mean and extreme rainfall over Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Rain gauge data indicate strong increases exceeding 50% in both annual mean precipitation and various extreme precipitation indices over Vietnam and the northwestern part of the peninsula since 1979. A high degree of uncertainty is evident between reanalysis products in capturing long-term trends in continental precipitation. Evaporation increases over adjacent seas - the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the South China Sea in particular- may partially explain increasing precipitation in large parts of MSEA over the last 40 years. The remote influence of ENSO may also partially explain the recent precipitation trend towards a more intense regional hydrological cycle, in response to predominant La Niña states over recent decades. Increasing precipitation in MSEA is also associated with increased monsoon intensity in southeast Asia and a northward shift of the monsoon activity centre towards MSEA over 1979–2018. Long-term amplification of the regional hydrological cycle is further investigated, through analysis of CMIP5 coupled climate models in historical and RCP4.5/8.5 21st century scenario simulations. The CMIP5 ensemble mean shows robust wide-spread trends in wet season precipitation over the MSEA in both RCP scenarios linked with strong increases in evaporation in all major oceanic moisture sources. Results clearly demonstrate an intensification of the regional water cycle with increasing frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events.
MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS OF GAS HYDRATES: PREDICTIONS OF STRUCTURE STABILITY AND VIBRATIONAL BEHAVIOR.

Recent advances in computational power and simulation methods have led to the application of molecular modeling to larger and more complex gas hydrate systems. In the area of classical atomistic simulations, including Monte Carlo methods and molecular dynamics, nanometer (and larger) length scales, and nanosecond time scales are now accessible. This paper focuses on molecular dynamics simulations of structure I and structure II gas hydrates, using a general classical force field (CVFF) to treat guest-host interaction parameters. Molecular flexibility (bond stretch, angle bend, torsion) are included in the simulations, so computed molecular geometries and vibrational modes can be readily compared with experiment. Applications include methane hydrates for force field validation as well as hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) hydrates for potential use in water desalination. Thermal expansion results for sI methane hydrate are in good agreement with experiment. Vibrational power spectra show a difference in C-H stretch frequencies for methane molecules in large and small cages. Also, simulated vibrational frequencies of pure methane gas are more closely matched by methane molecules in large cages. We also consider a sII hydrate in which the large cages are occupied by 1,1-dichloro-1fluoroethane (R141b). R141b hydrate exhibits mild forming conditions (265 K), indicating that HCFC hydrates may have a potential use in water desalination. Despite evidence of hydrogen bonding between R141b and water, the guest molecule rotates freely within the large cage. The 1,2-dichloro isomer of R141b forms a sII hydrate at much lower temperatures (150 K) due to its larger molecular diameter. Electron density plots from quantum calculations show significant electronic overlap between the isomer and water molecules, while no overlap exists for R141b.