Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Vestibular Training on the Quality of Life and Components of Physical Fitness in the Inactive Elderly

Introduction: The aim of this research was to determine the effect of twelve sessions of Vestibular training on the quality of life and physical fitness components in the inactive elderly. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with the pretest, post-test and control group, in which 30 inactive male volunteers over age 60 were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In order to assess the quality of life, agility and strength of the lower extremity, a questionnaire, a TUG test, and sit-to-stand test were used. The exercise protocol included Vestibular training for twelve sessions, three sessions per week and 60 minutes each session. Data obtained from pre-test and post-test measurements were analyzed using covariance analysis. Findings: There was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the post-test regarding the quality of life, agility and strength of the lower extremity. Conclusion: Vestibular training interventions for 12 weeks can improve the quality of life and the components of physical fitness of elderly men.
Securing Credentials from SQL Injection Attack Using Encryption and Hashing

In our daily life, we use web applications for most of the purposes like banking, food ordering and online shopping. Most of the web applications hold the information like our username and password, using which the card details and other such sensitive information can be acquired. According to OWASP, today most of the web applications are vulnerable to SQL Injection Attack. SQL Injection attack can show the sensitive data like passwords on the screen that can be used by other unauthorised users. These passwords are usually hashed, but from the hash we can identify the algorithm used and hence break it. This paper aims the full stack web application developers, who use SQL database for storing the credentials. This paper proposes a system in which the user credentials are not only hashed, but also encrypted. Also the system filters the input, so that no malicious code can be inserted into the database to prevent SQL Injection Attack. The system uses the Argon2 hashing algorithm that was the winner of Password Hashing competition held in July 2015.
Musculoskeletal abnormality detection on x-ray using transfer learning

Radiographic studies are a common technique employed to detect a variety of diseases, in which the detection of musculoskeletal abnormalities has proven to be a crucial task. This thesis proposes the use of deep learning techniques to detect musculoskeletal abnormalities in the MURA dataset, one of the largest collections of radiographic studies. In particular, we use transfer learning techniques such as feature extraction and fine-tuning to well-known models for visual tasks such as InceptionV3, VGG and SqueezeNet, among others. Additionally, we present a tool based on class activation mappings to aid in visualizing the decision of our models. The results obtained show that transfer learning techniques can be applied to deep convolutional neural networks pre-trained on non-medical images, while achieving comparable results to the state-of-the-art.
Single dose oral toxicity study of Picrorhiza kurroa rhizome extract in Wistar rats

Picrorhiza kurroa is a well-known ayurvedic or herbal medicine which is used very commonly in the treatment of various diseases. Therefore, we studied the oral toxicity of Picrorhiza kurroa rhizome extract in rats. A single high dose of the extract at 2000 mg/kg body weight was tested on Wistar rats. Mortality/viability and clinical signs were recorded on test day 0 (prior to administration), 7, 14 and at death. All animals appeared normal from day one to throughout the experimental procedure. Picrorhiza kurroa rhizome extract is non-toxic to rats and helped in weight gain with LD50 > 2000 mg/kg body weight. Oral administration of Picrorhiza kurroa is not connected with any toxicologically significant effects and the data could provide satisfactory preclinical evidence of safety to launch a clinical trial on a standardized formulation of the plant extracts. Language: en
The Pennsylvania State University

As cross-cultural comparisons are becoming more prevalent, there is an increasing need for linguistic and cultural equivalence of original and translated tests. With increasing popularity of Kuder ® assessments in career guidance counseling, it is imperative that great efforts and attention are placed on obtaining cultural and linguistic equivalent tests. Recently, Kuder ® assessments have been translated from English to Korean. Based on the Holland theory of Career Choice, test developers constructed equivalent tests using their understanding of existing cultural and linguistic difference and back translation method. However, test translation can lead to construct, method, and item bias. In order to ensure valid assessments, both statistical and judgmental methods are utilized to address issues. In addition to context and cultural sensitivity review by experts, statistical methods for item level analysis are critical in detecting potentially biased items for the Kuder ® Skills Confidence Assessment (KSCA). The purpose of the study was to analyze the KSCA for potentially biased items for test fairness in the translated Korean version. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) method using Logistic Regression (LR) Model was effective at controlling between group differences by including multiple traits in the model and the interaction term in its model. DIF analysis using the LR method was implemented on the 56-item KSCA with 6 subscales (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) to measure career self-efficacy. Results of the analysis revealed that a majority of the items, with the exception of item 10 in the Conventional scale, have no DIF and that they are adequate for measuring career self-efficacy in relation to Holland type tasks among
The Sense of Self-Efficacy of Teachers Working in Special Schools – A Research Communiqué

The article presents the results of research on the sense of self-efficacy of teachers working in schools that are an integral part of social rehabilitation and educational centres (for children and young people at risk of social maladjustment and the socially maladjusted) and penal institutions. The main aim of the research was to search for predictors of the sense of self-efficacy of teachers in special schools. The theoretical basis of the research was the theory of social learning by A. Bandura. The research was conducted with the use of a research tool - the “Sense of Efficacy Test” by Chomczynska-Rubacha and Rubacha. It has been found that the sense of self-efficacy of special school teachers depends on their gender, place of residence, level of education of their mothers and the type of centre in which they are employed. Cluster analysis made it possible to distinguish two independent groups of teachers who achieve high and low scores in terms of the sense of self-efficacy, and to construct a model explaining their assignment to the groups. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18. 10.10
ePubWU Institutional Repository

Spahl, Wanda and Österle, August ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2213-8815 (2019) Stratified membership: health care access for urban refugees in Turkey. Comparative Migration Studies, 7 (1). pp. 1-17. ISSN 2214-594X This version is available at: https://epub.wu. ac.at/7289/ Available in ePubWU: November 2019 License: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) ePubWU, the institutional repository of the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, is provided by the University Library and the IT-Services. The aim is to enable open access to the scholarly output of the WU. This document is the publisher-created published version.
CEA as a risk factor in predicting ocular metastasis from colorectal cancer

Objective: Colorectal, closely following pulmonary and breast, is the third predilection site of cancer that lead to death all over the world. Ocular metastasis (OM) of colorectal cancer (CRC) is becoming increasingly common and presents a poor prognosis. In this study, we detected some recognized tumor biomarkers and tried to differentiate the discrepancy between CRC patients with and without OM in order to clarify the risk factor for OM in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: 1735 patients with colorectal cancer in total from August 2005 to August 2017 were involved in this study. Nonparametric rank sum test and Chi-square test were applied to prescribe whether there were significant differences between OM group and non-ocular metastasis (NOM) group. And binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factor. Then, we used receiver operating curve (ROC) to assess the diagnostic value of OM in CRC patients. Results: The incidence of OM in CRC patients was 1.12%. No significant differences were found in gender, age, histopathological type, tumor classification and tumor differentiation between OM group and NOM group. Nonparametric rank sum test approved that OM group had higher serum CEA level compared with NOM group. Binary logistic regression indicated that CEA was a risk factor for OM in colorectal cancer patients (p<0.001). ROC curve showed that AUC of CEA was 0.877. The cutoff value of CEA was 12.45 ng/ml, whose sensitivity is 1.000 and its specificity is 0.877. Conclusion: Based on our study, CEA was a risk factor of ocular metastasis in colorectal cancer patients.
Effect of Pelvic Rocking Exercise Using the Birth Ball on Fetal Lie, Attitude, and Presentation

Objectives: For decades, scholars have debated the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. Birthing ball exercise is the latest among the antenatal exercises which pregnant women commonly perform in Indonesia. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate whether pelvic rocking exercise using the birth ball is effective in correcting the fetal lie, presentation, and attitude in the late third trimester of pregnancy. Materials and Methods: To this end, pregnant women (n=114) enjoying the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into intervention (who were assigned to perform pelvic rocking using the birth ball) and control (without exercise) groups. Fetal lie, attitude, and presentation before and after the trials were determined in both groups by performing the abdominal palpation of Leopold’s maneuver. Results: Based on the results, the intervention group showed a higher proportion of fetus with flexed attitude (P<0.001) as compared to the control group. In addition, 49.1% of women in the intervention group indicated longitudinal lie compared to 29.8% of those in the control groups (P<0.001). Finally, 56 out of 57 women in the intervention group demonstrated head presentation whereas only 45 out of 57 women in the control group showed the same presentation (P<0.01). Conclusions: Overall, it is suggested that pelvic rocking exercises using the birth balls are useful for maintaining lies, fetal attitudes, and presentations and thus it is worth recommending for pregnant women.
Antibacterial activity of Origanum compactum essential oil tested on vaginal and cervical clinical bacterial strains

Origanum compactum (O. compactum) is an endemic Moroccan medicinal herb. Numerous studies have shown that O. compactum organic extracts, essential oil and its main components possess a broader spectrum of pharmacological and therapeutic activities such as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and antitumour activity. This research was designed to examine the antibacterial activity of O. compactum essential oil tested on clinical bacterial strains isolated from vaginal and cervical swabs. First, antibacterial activity was tested against standard bacterial cultures: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 51299, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and after that on clinical strains. For testing the antibacterial activity, agar diffusion and microdilution methods were used. The inhibition zones (IZ) for standard bacterial cultures were from 31.0 ± 0.57 mm to 35.0 ± 1.15 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentracion (MIC) for essential oil was tested using the broth dilution method. The values were in the range of 0.098 mg/ml - 1.562 mg/ml. O. compactum essential oil provided strong antibacterial activity for all tested microorganisms. The antibacterial activity of essential oil depends largely on the main components: carvacrol and thymol. Clinical isolates, which are more resistant in comparison with laboratory strains, are almost equally sensible to O. compactum essential oil. This essential oil could be an ideal replacement for conventional antimicrobial products, especially if we consider the increasing resistance to implemented antibiotics. In the future, O. compactum essential oil could be an option in the treatment of gynecological infections.
Hatha Yoga for Pediatric Obesity: A Pilot Study

Objective: Little is known about the benefits of yoga for pediatric obesity, and no studies have examined the benefits of yoga for physical activity in either adults or children. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine whether Hatha yoga would improve overall, physical and psychosocial functioning in youth with severe obesity. We also sought to determine whether participants would increase the vigor of, and time spent in, physical activity. Methods: This study utilized a pre-test/post-test design. Sixteen youth with severe obesity completed an 8 week Hatha yoga intervention involving fifteen, 60-minute classes. Physical and psychosocial functioning, fitness and state-anxiety were assessed at baseline and post-intervention; parents completed proxy-reports of physical and psychosocial functioning at both time points. To assess physical activity, participants wore an Actical Accelerometer for 7 days pre and post-yoga. Results: Significant improvements were found in: Overall, Physical and Psychosocial functioning, back and hamstring flexibility, and state-anxiety. Changes in the proportion of time spent in both light and moderate levels of physical activity were marginally significant. Although 3 tests of fitness, and time spent in physical activity did not improve significantly, trends were in the expected direction. Conclusions: Youth with severe obesity may benefit from a Hatha yoga intervention. Yoga may also offer a way to engage in physical activity that is not precluded by bodily pain.
Characteristics of Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Flour and Its Application in Cake

Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate the physicochemical, sensory and functional properties of coconut flour (CF), coconut wheat composite flour (CWCF) and Cake produced from CF and CWCF. Methodology: Flour was prepared from matured ripe coconut fruit (CF). It was then blend with wheat flour (WF) into coconut wheat composite flour (CWCF) to produce cake. The CF and CWCF were subjected to proximate composition and functional properties analyses. Also, the physical properties, proximate composition and the sensory attributes of the cakes produced from CF and CWCF were determined. Results: The moisture content of CF and CWCF ranged from 4.5 to 9.04 g/100 g, the ash content of CF and CWCF ranged from 4.10 to 6.41 g/100 g and the dietary fiber content of CF was 11.16 g/100 g. CWCF exhibited a higher (87.1± 0.6) water absorption capacity and packed bulk density (0.79 ± 0.3 g/ mL). In this study, the cake volumes increased significantly (P < 0.05) in wheat flour (WF) as compared to CWCF and CF. The specific cake volume observed ranged from 1.48 to 2.01 mL/g. The blend of 50% coconut and 50% wheat flour increased significantly (P < 0.05) the moisture content of the CWCF cakes. The total carbohydrate content of the cakes varied from 20.40 ± 0.02 g/ 100 g to 63.05±0.14 g/ 100 g. Fat, ash and crude fiber and minerals (Ca, K, P Zn, Mg and Fe) increased in CWCF cakes. The sensory analysis conducted showed that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between CF cakes, WF cakes and CWCF cakes in the sensory qualities of appearance, texture, flavour and overall acceptability. In terms of appearance, the panelists scored coconut cake highest, but was significantly different (P < 0.05) from coconut wheat cake and wheat one. The least liked sample in terms of texture was wheat one. Conclusion: The present study underscored the potential application of coconut flour in the production of cake and possibly other bakery products.
Evaluating climate emulation: fundamental impulse testing of simple climate models

Abstract. Simple climate models (SCMs) are numerical representations of the Earth's gas cycles and climate system. SCMs are easy to use and computationally inexpensive, making them an ideal tool in both scientific and decision-making contexts (e.g., complex climate model emulation, parameter estimation experiments, climate metric calculations, and probabilistic analyses). Despite their prolific use, the fundamental responses of SCMs are often not directly characterized. In this study, we use fundamental impulse tests of three chemical species (CO2, CH4, and black carbon – BC) to understand the fundamental gas cycle and climate system responses of several comprehensive (Hector v2.0, MAGICC 5.3, MAGICC 6.0) and idealized (FAIR v1.0, AR5-IR) SCMs. We find that while idealized SCMs are widely used, they fail to capture the magnitude and timescales of global mean climate responses under emissions perturbations, which can produce biased temperature results. Comprehensive SCMs, which have physically based nonlinear forcing and carbon cycle representations, show improved responses compared to idealized SCMs. Even the comprehensive SCMs, however, fail to capture the response timescales to BC emission perturbations seen recently in two general circulation models. Some comprehensive SCMs also generally respond faster than more complex models to a 4×CO2 concentration perturbation, although this was not evident for lower perturbation levels. These results suggest where improvements should be made to SCMs. Further, we demonstrate here a set of fundamental tests that we recommend as a standard evaluation suite for any SCM. Fundamental impulse tests allow users to understand differences in model responses and the impact of model selection on results.
Spexin alleviates insulin resistance and inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis via the FoxO1/PGC-1α pathway in high-fat-diet-induced rats and insulin resistant cells

Objective: Recent studies demonstrate circulating serum spexin levels are reduced in obesity or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and may play a role in glucose metabolism. The mechanism underlying is not known. In this study, we explore whether spexin has a role in insulin resistance and hepatic glucose metabolism. Methods: The correlation between serum spexin levels and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was studied in newly diagnosed T2DM patients. After intraperitoneal injection of exogenous spexin for 8 weeks, the effect of spexin on exogenous glucose infusion rates (GIR), and hepatic glucose production (HGP) were assessed by extended hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced rats. Glucose concentration with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of spexin expression in HepG2 cells culture was observed. Expression of transcription factors (Forkhead box O1, FoxO1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha, PGC-1α) and key enzymes (G-6-Pase and PEPCK) of gluconeogenesis pathway were observed in vitro and in vivo. Results: The serum spexin level was significantly low in newly diagnosed T2DM patients as compared with healthy patients and significantly negatively correlated with the HOMA-IR values. Exogenous spexin treatment resulted in weight loss and decrease of HOMA-IR value in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced rats. The exogenous glucose infusion rates (GIR) were higher in the HFD + spexin group than that in the HFD group (358 ± 32 vs. 285 ± 24 μmol/kg/min, P < 0.05). Steady-state hepatic glucose production (HGP) was also suppressed by ~50% in the HFD + spexin group as compared with that in the HFD group. Furthermore, spexin inhibited gluconeogenesis in dose-dependent and time-dependent manner in the insulin-resistant cell model. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockdown of spexin in HepG2 cells activated gluconeogenesis. Moreover, spexin was shown regulating gluconeogenesis by inhibiting FoxO1/PGC-1α pathway, and key gluconeogenic enzymes, (PEPCK and G-6-Pase) in both HFD-induced rats and insulin-resistant cells. Conclusions: Spexin plays an important role in insulin resistance in HFD-induced rats and insulin-resistant cells. Regulation of the effects of spexin on insulin resistance may hold therapeutic value for metabolic diseases.
Geomagnetic jerk features produced using synthetic core flow models

Geomagnetic jerks are the shortest temporal variations of the magnetic field generated in the Earth's core. The physical mechanism producing such abrupt changes as well as their spatio-temporal characteristics are not well understood. In order to explore geomagnetic jerks generation and their characteristics, we use a set of synthetic core flow models to solve the radial magnetic induction equation. We analyze changes of trend in the secular variation time series using a cubic polynomial fit, by invoking a new formalism of jerk amplitude per unit duration time. A new visualization scheme allows interpreting jerk amplitudes and occurrences in space and time. We find that a mild time-dependence of flow amplitude, while keeping a fixed pattern, reproduces geomagnetic jerk amplitudes. The polynomial fits were compared with two line-segments fits at ten sampled magnetic observatories about historical jerk occurrences. The differences between the misfits in the two approaches are small, which may question the definition of geomagnetic jerks as sharp “V-shape”. The local time series in our models exhibit secular acceleration changes of sign that reproduce some main observed characteristics of geomagnetic jerks: (i) a range of amplitudes that encompass those observed in geomagnetic jerks, (ii) non-simultaneous occurrence, (iii) non-global occurrence, (iv) spatial variability of amplitudes and (v) strongest amplitudes in the radial component.
ePubWU Institutional Repository

This study investigates the entrepreneurial capabilities of MNE units at intermediate geographical levels, between the local subsidiary level and global corporate headquarters. In our conceptual development, we build on the entrepreneurship and MNE embeddedness literature to explain how MNE units at intermediate geographical levels differ from local subsidiaries and global corporate headquarters, and why those differences are important. We illustrate our arguments using data on European regional headquarters (RHQs). We find that RHQs’ entrepreneurial capabilities depend on their external embeddedness and on the heterogeneous information that is generated through dissimilar markets within the region. Our study opens up for an interesting discussion of the independence of these mechanisms. In sum, we contribute to the understanding of the entrepreneurial role of intermediate units in general and RHQs in