Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physique and Body Composition in Soccer Players across Adolescence

Purpose Although the contribution of physique and body composition in soccer performance was recognized, these parameters of physical fitness were not well-studied in adolescent players. Aim of this study was to investigate physique and body composition across adolescence. Methods Male adolescents (N=297 aged 12.01–20.98 y), classified into nine one-year age-groups, child (control group, N=16 aged 7.34–11.97 y) and adult players (control group, N=29 aged 21.01–31.59 y), all members of competitive soccer clubs, performed a series of anthropometric measures (body mass, height, skinfolds, circumferences and girths), from which body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (BF%), fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM) and somatotype (Heath-Carter method) were calculated. Results Age had a positive association with FM (r=0.2, P<0.001) and FFM (r=0.68, P<0.001), and a negative association with BF (r=−0.12, P=0.047). Somatotype components changed across adolescence as well; age was linked to endomorphy (r=−0.17, P=0.005), mesomorphy (r=0.14, P=0.019) and ectomorphy (r=−0.17, P=0.004). Compared with age-matched general population, participants exhibited equal body mass, higher stature, lower body mass index and lower BF. Conclusion During adolescence, soccer players presented significant differences in terms of body composition and physique. Thus, these findings could be employed by coaches and fitness trainers engaged in soccer training in the context of physical fitness assessment and talent identification.
To Pay or to Get Paid: Enriching a Valency Lexicon with Diatheses

Valency lexicons typically describe only unmarked usages of verbs (the active form); however, verbs prototypically enter different surface structures. In this paper, we focus on the so-called diatheses, i.e., the relations between different surface syntactic manifestations of verbs that are brought about by changes in the morphological category of voice, e.g., the passive diathesis. The change in voice of a verb is prototypically associated with shifts of some of its valency complementations in the surface structure. These shifts are implied by changes in morphemic forms of the involved valency complementations and are regular enough to be captured by syntactic rules. However, as diatheses are lexically conditioned, their applicability to an individual lexical unit of a verb is not predictable from its valency frame alone. In this work, we propose a representation of this linguistic phenomenon in a valency lexicon of Czech verbs, VALLEX, with the aim to enhance this lexicon with the information on individual types of Czech diatheses. In order to reduce the amount of necessary manual annotation, a semi-automatic method is developed. This method draws evidence from a large morphologically annotated corpus, relying on grammatical constraints on the applicability of individual types of diatheses.
Approximation algorithms for power minimization of earliest deadline first and rate monotonic schedules

We address power minimization of earliest deadline first and rate monotonic schedules by voltage and frequency scaling. We prove that the problems are NP-hard, and present (1+ϵ) fully polynomial time approximation techniques that generate solutions which are guaranteed to be within a specified quality bound (QB= ϵ) (say within 1% of the optimal). We demonstrate that our techniques can match optimal solutions when QB is set at 1%, out perform existing approaches even when QB is set at 10%, generate solutions that are quite close to optimal (<; 5%) even when QB is set at higher values (25%), and execute in a fraction of a second (with QB > 5%) for large 100 node task sets.
Sharpness and contrast measures on videos

Video analysis, whether in computer graphics or in computer vision, is often confronted with the task to evaluate frame quality or to identify changes in scenes, or changes in frame properties. In this paper we consider sharpness and contrast of frames. Both properties are often used in an intuitive way for single images, and there are also various definitions available. In this paper we specify definitions for both properties (inspired by related definitions found elsewhere) which can be calculated very time-efficiently, and which provide generic ways of specifying sharpness or contrast, without depending, for example, on identifying an “object” versus a “background”. We verify that our proposed simple measures relate well to operations such as blurring, sharpening, or histogram equalisation. We also show that such measures provide a way for identifying scene or frame quality changes in recorded video.
Astrojumper: Motivating Exercise with an Immersive Virtual Reality Exergame

We present the design and evaluation of Astrojumper, an immersive virtual reality exergame developed to motivate players to engage in rigorous, full-body exercise. We performed a user study with 30 people between the ages of 6 and 50 who played the game for 15 min. Regardless of differences in age, gender, activity level, and video game experience, participants rated Astrojumper extremely positively and experienced a significant increase in heart rate after gameplay. Additionally, we found that participants' ratings of perceived workout intensity positively correlated with their level of motivation. Overall, our results demonstrate that Astrojumper effectively motivates both children and adults to exercise through immersive virtual reality technology and a simple, yet engaging, game design.
On the degrees of freedom of the cognitive broadcast channel

Cognitive broadcast channel, where two multiantenna transmitters communicate with their respective receivers, is considered. One of the transmitters is said to be cognitive (secondary) as it is assumed to know the messages of the other (primary) transmitter non-causally. The goal is to design cooperative schemes between the two transmitters, which impose only minimal changes to the primary broadcast channel (compared to the non-cognitive scenario). Towards this end, an achievable scheme is provided under which both intra cell and inter cell interferences at the primary receivers are aligned. The interference at the secondary receivers, on the other hand, is canceled by dirty paper coding. The corresponding achievable region and an outer bound region are provided in terms of the degrees of freedom (DoF) metric. Special cases shows the optimality of the proposed scheme in the high SNR regime for those cases. We also illustrate the advantage of the cognitive cooperation over the non-cognitive system by proving that the achieved sum DoF is strictly larger than the non-cognitive case.
Max-Margin Nonparametric Latent Feature Models for Link Prediction

Link prediction is a fundamental task in statistical network analysis. Recent advances have been made on learning flexible nonparametric Bayesian latent feature models for link prediction. In this paper, we present a max-margin learning method for such nonparametric latent feature relational models. Our approach attempts to unite the ideas of max-margin learning and Bayesian nonparametrics to discover discriminative latent features for link prediction. It inherits the advances of nonparametric Bayesian methods to infer the unknown latent social dimension, while for discriminative link prediction, it adopts the max-margin learning principle by minimizing a hinge-loss using the linear expectation operator, without dealing with a highly nonlinear link likelihood function. For posterior inference, we develop an efficient stochastic variational inference algorithm under a truncated mean-field assumption. Our methods can scale up to large-scale real networks with millions of entities and tens of millions of positive links. We also provide a full Bayesian formulation, which can avoid tuning regularization hyper-parameters. Experimental results on a diverse range of real datasets demonstrate the benefits inherited from max-margin learning and Bayesian nonparametric inference.
Remote Effects of Hippocampal Sclerosis on Effective Connectivity during Working Memory Encoding: A Case of Connectional Diaschisis?

Accumulating evidence suggests a role for the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in working memory (WM). However, little is known concerning its functional interactions with other cortical regions in the distributed neural network subserving WM. To reveal these, we availed of subjects with MTL damage and characterized changes in effective connectivity while subjects engaged in WM task. Speciﬁcally, we compared dynamic causal models, extracted from magnetoencephalographic recordings during verbal WM encoding, in temporal lobe epilepsy patients (with left hippocampal sclerosis) and controls. Bayesian model comparison indicated that the best model (across subjects) evidenced bilateral, forward, and backward connections, coupling inferior temporal cortex (ITC), inferior frontal cortex (IFC), and MTL. MTL damage weakened backward connections from left MTL to left ITC, a decrease accompanied by strengthening of (bidirectional) connections between IFC and MTL in the contralesional hemisphere. These ﬁndings provide novel evidence concerning functional interactions between nodes of this fundamental cognitive network and sheds light on how these interactions are modiﬁed as a result of focal damage to MTL. The ﬁndings highlight that a reduced (top-down) inﬂuence of the MTL on ipsilateral language regions is accompanied by enhanced reciprocal coupling in the undamaged hemisphere providing a ﬁrst demonstration of ‘‘connectional diaschisis. ’’
Lack of Effect of Islet Amyloid Polypeptide in Causing Insulin Resistance in Conscious Dogs During Euglycemic Clamp Studies

In this study, we administered constant intravenous infusions of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) to conscious dogs during euglycemic glucose-clamp studies. The doses of hIAPP used (5 and 50 pmol · kg−1 · min−1) raised the circulating IAPP levels ∼12- and 50-fold above basal levels, respectively. Studies were conducted at two different insulin infusion rates, resulting in steady-state plasma insulin levels of ∼600 and 2800 pM. According to our results, the hIAPP infusions did not lead to any measurable change in the insulin-stimulated glucose disposal rate at either insulin infusion rate. Additionally, we observed no effect of IAPP on hepatic glucose production. Although we did not observe any effect of hIAPP on any of the aspects of glucose or insulin metabolism measured, we did find a consistent hypocalcemic effect of this peptide at the 50-pmol · kg−1 · min−1 infusion rate. Shortly after the onset of hIAPP infusion, serum calcium levels fell by 10–15% and remained at these levels throughout the course of the hIAPP infusion. In summary, 1) infusion of hIAPP at doses of 5 or 50 pmol · kg−1 · min−1 in conscious dogs raised the circulating IAPP level 12- to 50-fold above basal; 2) during these infusion studies, no effect of hIAPP was observed on any of the aspects of glucose or insulin homeostasis measured; 3) 50 pmol · kg−1 · min−1 hIAPP lead to a prompt reduction in plasma calcium concentrations with intravenous administration.
An Enhanced Edge Adaptive Steganography Approach Using Threshold Value for Region Selection

This paper attempts to improve the quality and the modification rate of a Stego Image. The input image provided for estimating the quality of an image and the modified rate is a bitmap image. The threshold value is used as a parameter for selecting the high frequency pixels from the Cover Image. The data embedding process are performed on the pixels that are found with the help of Threshold value by using LSBMR. The quality of an image is estimated by the value of PSNR and the modification rate of an image is estimated by the value of MSE. The proposed approach achieves about 0.2 to 0.6 % of improvement in the quality of an image and about 4 to 10 % of improvement in the modification rate of an image compared to the edge detection techniques such as Sobel and Canny.
Classifying XML tags through "reading contexts"

Some tags used in XML documents create arbitrary breaks in the natural flow of the text. This may constitute an impediment to the application of some methods of document engineering. This article introduces the concept of ``reading contexts'', and gives clues to handle it theorically and in practice. This work should notably allow to recognize emphasis tags in a text, to define a new concept of term proximity in structured documents, to improve indexing techniques, and also to open up the way to advanced linguistic analyses of XML corpora.
THE EXPRESSION PROFILES OF SELECTED GENES IN DIFFERENT BEAN SPECIES (PHASEOLUS SPP.) AS RESPONSE TO WATER DEFICIT

The aim of this study was to compare expression profiles of a number of transcripts from leaves of different Phaseolus species under drought stress, in order to ascertain whether changes in their expression in Phaseolus spp. are part of a general or a species specific response to drought. Relative gene expression analysis using quantitative PCR were carried out in P. coccineus, P. lunatus and P. acutifolius for 13 transcripts previously identified as up- or down-regulated in leaves of P. vulgaris. The mode of expression was found consistent within Phaseolus spp. , despite the fact that the four species differ in their responses to drought at the physiological and morphological levels. The present results suggest that this is a common feature of the response of Phaseolus spp. The majority of the genes shown here to be influenced by water deficit in beans have been reported in other plant species under similar conditions, suggesting that they play a role in the general response to drought stress.
Interlaminar stresses in tapered laminates

Tapered laminates of unidirectional layers of glass/epoxy and graphite/epoxy are investigated. These laminates have a thickness variation along their length. This was accomplished by having layers dropped off near the midlength of the laminate. Stress and strain variations were obtained using three-dimensional finite element models. Calculated values using the finite element method compare well with experimental results for the point of first delamination. This agreement allows the determination of a suitable finite element mesh for subsequent models of other tapered laminates with fiber orientations other than unidirectional.
Standing balance control using a trajectory library

This paper presents a standing balance controller that explicitly handles pushes. We employ a library of optimal trajectories and the neighboring optimal control method to generate local approximations to the optimal control. We take advantage of a parametric nonlinear optimization method, SNOPT, to generate initial trajectories and then use Differential Dynamic Programming (DDP) to further refine them and get their neighboring optimal control. A library generation method is proposed, which keeps the trajectory library to a reasonable size. We compare the proposed controller with an optimal controller and an LQR based gain scheduling controller using the same optimization criterion. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.
A drug evaluation of 1% tenofovir gel and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate tablets for the prevention of HIV infection

Introduction: More than a million people acquire HIV infection annually. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) using antiretrovirals is currently being investigated for HIV prevention. Oral and topical formulations of tenofovir have undergone preclinical and clinical testing to assess acceptability, safety and effectiveness in preventing HIV infection. Areas covered: The tenofovir drug development pathway from compound discovery, preclinical animal model testing and human testing were reviewed for safety, tolerability and efficacy. Tenofovir is well tolerated and safe when used both systemically or applied topically for HIV prevention. High drug concentrations at the site of HIV transmission and concomitant low systemic drug concentrations are achieved with vaginal application. Coitally applied gel may be the favored prevention option for women compared with the tablets, which may be more suitable for prevention in men and sero-discordant couples. However, recent contradictory effectiveness outcomes in women need to be better understood. Expert opinion: Emerging evidence has brought new hope that antiretrovirals can potentially change the course of the HIV epidemic when used as early treatment for prevention, as topical or oral PrEP. Although some trial results appear conflicting, behavioral factors, adherence to dosing and pharmacokinetic properties of the different tenofovir formulations and dosing approaches offer plausible explanations for most of the variations in effectiveness observed in different trials.
Evaluating the viscoelastic properties of glass above transition temperature for numerical modeling of lens molding process

Glass molding process has emerged as a promising way to produce complex optical elements with high precision. Glass material shows explicit viscoelasticity at molding temperature, therefore studying the viscoelastic properties of glass at elevated temperature is important for the molding process. In this paper, Young's modulus and viscosity of glass were tested by compressing cylindrical glass gobs above the transition temperature, and obtained by curve fitting using the Burgers model of viscoelastic deformation. Based on the viscoelastic parameters obtained from experiments, a numerical model was developed to simulate the glass molding process with the help of a commercial finite element method software package. The simulation results provide an easy way to analyze and understand the molding process in detail, such as temperature distribution, stress, strain and strain rate, which are difficult or impossible to measure in experiments. A good agreement between the calculated pressing loads and the experimental results verified the validity of the numerical model, which can be applied to predict the pressing load during complex-shape glass lens molding process.
Ascomycota Members Dominate Fungal Communities during Straw Residue Decomposition in Arable Soil

This study investigated the development of fungal community composition in arable soil during the degradation of straw residue. We explored the short-term responses of the fungal community over 28 days of decomposition in soil using culture-independent polymerase chain reaction in combination with a clone library and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Fungal cellobiohydrolase I (cbhI) genes in the soil were also characterized, and their diversity suggested the existence of a different cellulose decomposer. The DGGE profiles based on fungal internal transcribed spacer analysis showed different successions of fungal populations during residue decomposition. Members of Lecythophora and Sordariales were dominant in the early succession, while Hypocrea and Engyodontium were better adapted in the late succession. The succession of fungal communities might be related to changes of residue quality during decomposition. Collectively, sequences assigned to Ascomycota members were dominant at different stages of the fungal succession during decomposition, revealing that they were key drivers responsible for residue degradation in the arable soil tested.
Lipid matters: nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-lipid interactions (Review)

Ligand-gated ion channels mediate fast intercellular communication in response to endogenous neurotransmitters. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is the archetype molecule in the superfamily of these membrane proteins. Early electron spin resonance studies led to the discovery of a lipid fraction in direct contact with the AChR, with rotational dynamics 50-fold slower than those of the bulk lipids. This AChR-vicinal lipid region has since been postulated to be a possible site of lipid modulation of receptor function. The polarity and molecular dynamics of solvent dipoles - mainly water - of AChR-vicinal lipids in the membrane have been studied with Laurdan extrinsic fluorescence, and Förster-type resonance energy transfer (FRET) was introduced to characterize the receptor-associated lipid microenvironment. FRET enabled one to discriminate between the bulk lipid and the AChR-vicinal lipid. The latter is in a liquid-ordered phase and exhibits a higher degree of order than the bulk bilayer lipid. Changes in FRET efficiency induced by fatty acids, phospholipids and cholesterol also led to the identification of discrete sites for these lipids on the AChR protein. After delineating the topography of the AChR membrane-embedded domains with fluorescence methods, sites for steroids are being explored with site-directed mutagenesis and patch-clamp recording. Pyrene-labelled Cys residues in f M1, f M4, n M1 and n M4 transmembrane regions were found to lie in a shallow position. For M4 segments, this is in agreement with a canonical linear f -helix; for M1, it is necessary to postulate a substantial amount of non-helical structure, and/or of kinks, to rationalize the shallow location of Cys residues. Mutations of Thr 422, a residue close to the extracellular-facing membrane hemilayer in f M4, affect the steroid modulation of AChR function, suggesting its involvement in steroid-AChR interactions.
Differential effect of bicycling exercise intensity on activity and phosphorylation of atypical protein kinase C and extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase in skeletal muscle

Atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) are emerging as important signalling molecules in the regulation of metabolism and gene expression in skeletal muscle. Exercise is known to increase activity of aPKC and ERK in skeletal muscle but the effect of exercise intensity hereon has not been studied. Furthermore, the relationship between activity and phosphorylation of the two enzymes during exercise is unknown. Nine healthy young men exercised for 30 min on a bicycle ergometer on two occasions. One occasion consisted of three consecutive 10 min bouts of 35, 60 and 85% of peak pulmonary oxygen uptake and the second of one 30 min bout at 35% of . Both trials also included 30 min recovery. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle before and after each exercise bout. Exercise increased muscle aPKC activity at 35%, whereupon no further increase was observed at higher exercise intensities. Activation of aPKC was not accompanied by increased phosphorylation of aPKC Thr410/403. ERK1/2 activity increased in a similar pattern to aPKC, reaching maximal activity at 35%, whereas ERK1 Thr202/Tyr204 and ERK2 Thr183/Tyr185 phosphorylation increased with increasing exercise intensity. Thus, aPKC and ERK1/2 activity in muscle during exercise did not correspond to phosphorylation of sites on aPKC or ERK1/2, respectively, which are considered important for their activation. It is concluded that assessment of aPKC and ERK1/2 activity in muscle using phosphospecific antibodies did not reflect direct activity measurements on immunoprecipitated enzyme in vitro. Thus, estimation of enzyme activity during exercise by use of phosphospecific antibodies should not be performed uncritically. In addition, increase in muscle activity of aPKC or ERK1/2 during exercise is not closely related to energy demands of the muscle but may serve other regulatory or permissive functions in muscle.