Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Plyometric Warm-Up Protocol Improves Running Economy in Recreational Endurance Athletes

This study explored the impact of two differing warm-up protocols (involving either resistance exercises or plyometric exercises) on running economy (RE) in healthy recreationally active participants. Twelve healthy university students [three males, nine females, age 20 ± 2 years, maximal oxygen uptake (38.4 ± 6.4 ml min–1 kg–1)] who performed less than 5 h per week of endurance exercise volunteered to participant in this study. All participants completed three different warm-up protocols (control, plyometric, and resistance warm-up) in a counterbalanced crossover design with trials separated by 48 h, using a Latin-square arrangement. Dependent variables measured in this study were RE at four running velocities (7, 8, 9, and 10 km h–1), maximal oxygen uptake; heart rate; respiratory exchange rate; expired ventilation; perceived race readiness; rating of perceived exertion, time to exhaustion and leg stiffness. The primary finding of this study was that the plyometric warm-up improved RE compared to the control warm-up (6.2% at 7 km h–1, ES = 0.355, 9.1% at 8 km h–1, ES = 0.513, 4.5% at 9 km h–1, ES = 0.346, and 4.4% at 10 km h–1, ES = 0.463). There was no statistically significant difference in VO2 between control and resistance warm-up conditions at any velocity. There were also no statistically significant differences between conditions in other metabolic and pulmonary gas exchange variables; time to exhaustion; perceived race readiness and maximal oxygen uptake. However, leg stiffness increased by 20% (P = 0.039, ES = 0.90) following the plyometric warm-up and was correlated with the improved RE at a velocity of 8 km h–1 (r = 0.475, P = 0.041). No significant differences in RE were found between the control and resistance warm-up protocols. In comparison with the control warm-up protocol, an acute plyometric warm-up protocol can improve RE in healthy adults.
Activation energies of water molecular dynamics and Stokes-Einstein equation

An analysis of the values and signs of the activation energies of temperature dependences (TDs) of the self-diffusion coefficient (D) and dynamic viscosity ({\eta}) in the range from 0 °C to 100 °C confirmed that the molecular dynamics of water is based on the synergism of endo and exo reactions of rearrangement of hydrogen bonds in the supramolecular structure water. The ratio of linear approximation coefficients TD of the complex characteristic D{\eta} before and after 25 °C correlates with the ratio of cluster sizes prevailing in the water structure in these temperature ranges. This result is consistent with the Stokes-Einstein equation and the hypothesis that the decomposition of hexagonal ice-like clusters is completed in the vicinity of 25 °C. A reliable approximation of the TD complex D{\eta} by a bimodal function of type Texp (E/RT) was used to refine the Stokes-Einstein equation.
Mechanical, rheological and thermal properties of montmorillonite-modified polyhydroxybutyrate composites

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a bio-derived and biodegradable polyester, has the potential to be a substitute for traditional polymers. PHB was modified with montmorillonite (MMT), a nanoclay, with the aim of improving its mechanical properties. The clay dispersion, mechanical, rheological and thermal properties of untreated and acid-treated MMT-modified PHB nanocomposites were investigated. Nanocomposite specimens at three different clay loading were prepared using extruder and injection moulding machine. Energy dispersive X-ray mapping revealed that nanocomposites with clay content of 3 phr exhibited better dispersion compared to nanocomposites with higher clay content. The mechanical properties of the MMT-modified PHB, such as the tensile and flexural modulus, were enhanced when compared to neat PHB. From rheology, PHB and PHB nanocomposites modified with untreated MMT exhibited Newtonian fluid behaviour in the tested frequency range. However, for nanocomposites modified with acid-treated MMT, shear thinning behaviour was observed at higher clay content. The nanocomposites also exhibited higher complex viscosity compared to PHB. From transmission electron microscopy analysis, exfoliation of the MMT was observed for the treated MMT nanocomposites at all clay loading. MMT-modified PHB has lower melting temperature when compared to neat PHB. Furthermore, it was found that the addition of MMT influenced the crystallisation behaviour of PHB. The presence of acid-treated MMT also reduced the degree of crystallinity with increasing clay content.
A new joint species distribution model for faster and more accurate inference of species associations from big community data

Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) explain spatial variation in community composition by contributions of the environment, biotic associations and possibly spatially structured residual covariance. They show great promise as a general analytical framework for community ecology and macroecology, but current JSDMs, even when approximated by latent variables, scale poorly on large datasets, limiting their usefulness for currently emerging big (e.g. metabarcoding and metagenomics) community datasets. Here, we present a novel, more scalable JSDM (sjSDM) that circumvents the need to use latent variables by using a Monte Carlo integration of the joint JSDM likelihood together with flexible elastic net regularization on all model components. We implemented sjSDM in PyTorch, a modern machine learning framework, which allows making use of both CPU and GPU calculations. Using simulated communities with known species–species associations and different number of species and sites, we compare sjSDM with state‐of‐the‐art JSDM implementations to determine computational runtimes and accuracy of the inferred species–species and species–environment associations. We find that sjSDM is orders of magnitude faster than existing JSDM algorithms (even when run on the CPU) and can be scaled to very large datasets. Despite the dramatically improved speed, sjSDM produces more accurate estimates of species association structures than alternative JSDM implementations. We demonstrate the applicability of sjSDM to big community data using eDNA case study with thousands of fungi operational taxonomic units (OTU). Our sjSDM approach makes the analysis of JSDMs to large community datasets with hundreds or thousands of species possible, substantially extending the applicability of JSDMs in ecology. We provide our method in an R package to facilitate its applicability for practical data analysis.
Low level of awareness among Iranian women concerning cervical cancer and screening: the role of knowledge, risk perceptions and cues to action

Background Iran has a low incidence of, but a higher rate of death from, cervical cancer (CC). The country is in the process of implementing an organized screening program including HPV testing and cytology. Studies show high drop-out in continued testing among eligible women. This qualitative study aimed to explore women’s awareness regarding CC and CC testing, and the role of knowledge, perceived risk and cues to action in this process. Methods We recruited 81 women aged between 25-65 years, who participated in 15 focus group discussions (FGDs) and two in-depth interviews in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Data were acquired through 11 open-ended questions and 32 related probe questions. All interviews were transcribed and independently analyzed by two researchers (Kappa and agreement testing respectively: 0.77, 97.11%). Results Coded texts were categorized under three themes and 13 subthemes. The three thematic areas referred to knowledge, cues to action and perceived risks regarding cervical cancer and screening. Results showed that women had inadequate and unspecified knowledge about cervical cancer and screening, compounded by misconceptions regarding infection and cancer prevention measures. Social and cultural barriers hindered proper communication between health system/providers and clients, and within communities on subjects related to cervical cancer and screening. Perceived risk of getting CC was low due to insufficient knowledge regarding the causes of cancer, difficulty in differentiating between cancer and sexually transmitted infections, and the absence of visible symptoms. Conclusions The results indicate a strong need to invest more efforts to improve health education and communication in the current national health program to promote awareness of the need to screen for CC, through, for example, establishing correct knowledge and risk perceptions among women. In addition, this intervention should address women’s social environment in order to prevent misconceptions being communicated to women.
Resonance in the K2-19 system is at odds with its high reported eccentricities

K2-19 hosts a planetary system composed of two outer planets, b and c, with size of 7.0 ± 0.2 R⊕ and 4.1 ± 0.2 R⊕, and an inner planet, d, with a radius of 1.11 ± 0.05 R⊕. A recent analysis of Transit-Timing Variations (TTVs) suggested b and c are close to but not in 3:2 mean motion resonance (MMR) because the classical resonant angles circulate. Such an architecture challenges our understanding of planet formation. Indeed, planet migration through the protoplanetary disc should lead to a capture into the MMR. Here, we show that the planets are in fact, locked into the 3:2 resonance despite circulation of the conventional resonant angles and aligned periapses. However, we show that such an orbital configuration cannot be maintained for more than a few hundred million years due to the tidal dissipation experienced by planet d. The tidal dissipation remains efficient because of a secular forcing of the innermost planet eccentricity by planets b and c. While the observations strongly rule out an orbital solution where the three planets are on close to circular orbits, it remains possible that a fourth planet is affecting the TTVs such that the four planet system is consistent with the tidal constraints.
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Mechanisms in Young Obese Subjects

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and imbalance between its sympathetic and parasympathetic components are important factors contributing to the initiation and progression of many cardiovascular disorders related to obesity. The results on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) magnitude changes as a parasympathetic index were not straightforward in previous studies on young obese subjects. Considering the potentially unbalanced ANS regulation with impaired parasympathetic control in obese patients, the aim of this study was to compare the relative contribution of baroreflex and non-baroreflex (central) mechanisms to the origin of RSA in obese vs. control subjects. To this end, we applied a recently proposed information-theoretic methodology – partial information decomposition (PID) – to the time series of heart rate variability (HRV, computed from RR intervals in the ECG), systolic blood pressure (SBP) variability, and respiration (RESP) pattern measured in 29 obese and 29 age- and gender-matched non-obese adolescents and young adults monitored in the resting supine position and during postural and cognitive stress evoked by head-up tilt and mental arithmetic. PID was used to quantify the so-called unique information transferred from RESP to HRV and from SBP to HRV, reflecting, respectively, non-baroreflex and RESP-unrelated baroreflex HRV mechanisms, and the redundant information transferred from (RESP, SBP) to HRV, reflecting RESP-related baroreflex RSA mechanisms. Our results suggest that obesity is associated: (i) with blunted involvement of non-baroreflex RSA mechanisms, documented by the lower unique information transferred from RESP to HRV at rest; and (ii) with a reduced response to postural stress (but not to mental stress), documented by the lack of changes in the unique information transferred from RESP and SBP to HRV in obese subjects moving from supine to upright, and by a decreased redundant information transfer in obese compared to controls in the upright position. These findings were observed in the presence of an unchanged RSA magnitude measured as the high frequency (HF) power of HRV, thus suggesting that the changes in ANS imbalance related to obesity in adolescents and young adults are subtle and can be revealed by dissecting RSA mechanisms into its components during various challenges.
Impact of early chronic kidney disease on left atrial function and volume

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most important factors affecting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Left atrial (LA) volume indexed (LAVI) for body surface area is the most accurate measure of LA size that was obtained by standard echocardiography. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of strain analysis and LA volume in the detection of myocardial involvement in early CKD. Methods: The study included 60 patients divided into two groups: Group I: patients with early CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate >30 ml/min/1.73 m2) without any previous cardiac illness and Group II: healthy age-matched controls with normal renal function. Echocardiographic examinations including LAVI and LA strain were measured in all participants. Results: LA wall systolic strain values decreased in the CKD group compared to the healthy control group (16.23% ± 6.33% vs. 38.84% ± 9.37%, P < 0.0001, on the lateral wall; 14.16% ± 3.64% vs. 26.66% ± 9.75%, P < 0.0001, on the septal wall; 17.23% ± 8.41% vs. 32.23% ± 7.92%, P < 0.0001, on the anterior wall; and 19.65% ± 7.58% vs. 47.48%–11.24%, P < 0.0001, on the inferior wall). LA systolic strain was more reduced in Stage 3 CKD than Stages 1 and 2. LAVI was significantly larger in the CKD group compared to healthy controls (36.20 ± 8.21 vs. 22.18 ± 3.00 ml/m2, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: LA function evaluated by strain is reduced and LA volume is increased in the early stages of CKD, and Stage 3 CKD is the most affected stage.
Effect of Organizational Justice on Work Engagement in Healthcare Sector of Turkey

Work engagement is a concept that reflects a positive way of thinking that relates to commitment and involvement to one’s organization, his/her enthusiasm and energy. In relevant literature there is a wide range of studies focusing on the relation between work engagement and a set of variables. Thus this study was executed to analyze the effect of organizational justice on work engagement. Implementation stage of the research was conducted on healthcare personnel working in a state hospital in Turkey and data were collected from 414 healthcare employees. Conducted analyses revealed that the correlations between subdimensions of organizational justice and work engagement were positive and in medium level. In the regression analysis which was implemented to measure the effect of subdimensions of organizational justice on work engagement it was identified that subdimensions of organizational justice perception in tandem explained 33 per cent of total variance. It can thus be claimed that climbing organizational justice perception increases in turn in a statistically significant way the work engagement level of the personnel. As regards work engagement, the most significant effect was created by procedural justice subsequently followed by distributive and interactional justice.
The Impacts of Reassortant Avian Influenza H5N2 Virus NS1 Proteins on Viral Compatibility and Regulation of Immune Responses

Avian influenza virus (AIV) can cause severe diseases in poultry worldwide. H6N1 AIV was the dominant enzootic subtype in 1985 in the chicken farms of Taiwan until the initial outbreak of a low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H5N2 virus in 2003; thereafter, this and other LPAIs have been sporadically detected. In 2015, the outbreak of three novel H5Nx viruses of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) emerged and devastated Taiwanese chicken and waterfowl industries. The mechanism of variation in pathogenicity among these viruses is unclear; but, in light of the many biological functions of viral non-structural protein 1 (NS1), including interferon (IFN) antagonist and host range determinant, we hypothesized that NS genetic diversity contributes to AIV pathogenesis. To determine the impact of NS1 variants on viral infection dynamics, we established a reverse genetics system with the genetic backbone of the enzootic Taiwanese H6N1 for generation of reassortant AIVs carrying exogenous NS segments of three different Taiwanese H5N2 strains. We observed distinct cellular distributions of NS1 among the reassortant viruses. Moreover, exchange of the NS segment significantly influenced growth kinetics and induction of cytokines [IFN-α, IFN-β, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)] in an NS1- and host-specific manner. The impact of NS1 variants on viral replication appears related to their synergic effects on viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity and IFN response. With these approaches, we revealed that NS1 is a key factor responsible for the diverse characteristics of AIVs in Taiwan.
Relation between regularity of powers of edge ideals and (im, reg)-invariant extension

In this paper, we define (im, reg)-invariant extension of graphs and propose a new approach for Nevo and Peeva's conjecture which said that for any gap-free graph $G$ with $reg(I(G)) = 3$ and for any $k \geq 2$, $I(G)^k$ has a linear resolution. Moreover, we consider new conjectures related to the regularity of powers of edge ideals of gap-free graphs.
Dominant marker (inter-simple sequence repeat-polymerase chain reaction) versus codominant marker (RLEP-polymerase chain reaction) for laboratory diagnosis of leprosy: A comparative evaluation

Background: Leprosy is a contagious disease and was eliminated globally in 2002. Since then, new cases were continuously detected from different parts of the world. Untreated leprosy cases shed millions of bacteria and are the main cause of dissemination of the disease. Currently, leprosy is detected by acid-fast bacilli (AFB) microscopy and has a low sensitivity ranging from 10% to 50%. The correlation between clinical findings and microscopy is unable to provide a conclusive case detection. Thus, in the present study, we compared to molecular methods, namely RLEP-polymerase chain reaction (RLEP-PCR) and inter-simple sequence repeat-PCR (ISSR-PCR) taking AFB microscopy as a gold standard for the detection of leprosy. Methods: A total of 168 clinically diagnosed leprosy patients were recruited in this study including 58 multibacillary and 110 paucibacillary patients. Slit-skin smear samples were taken for both microscopy and molecular study. Primers for RLEP-PCR were taken from the previous reports. The primers for ISSR-PCR were designed by screening the whole genome of Mycobacterium leprae TN strain (GenBank accession AL450380) for the presence of simple sequence repeats. One primer (TA)8CA3was synthesized and used for molecular amplification of ISSR-PCR. Results: We found that the efficacy of the AFB microscopy was 24.40%, whereas the efficacy of RLEP-PCR and ISSR-PCR was 63.09% and 73.21% (P = 0.000, 0.000, and 0.469), respectively. The area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic curve for the comparison of three diagnostic methods was 0.845. An enhancement of 48.81% in the case detection rate by ISSR-PCR over AFB microscopy and 10.12% over RLEP-PCR was also found. Our study clearly reveals that ISSR-PCR is a better tool for diagnosis of leprosy than AFB microscopy and RLEP-PCR. Interestingly, both the PCR techniques RLEP-PCR and ISSR-PCR are able to detect samples which were negative for AFB microscopy. Conclusion: Thus, the demonstration of ISSR-PCR in SSS samples can provide a better sensitive and confirmative tool for early diagnosis of leprosy.
Arthroscopic debridement versus refixation of the acetabular labrum associated with femoroacetabular impingement: Updated mean 7 year follow-up

Objectives: The acetabular labrum provides sealing function and a degree of hip joint stability. Previous early (16 month) and mid-term (mean 3.5 years) follow-up of this cohort reported better patient related outcome measures in the refixation group. To update the results of labral refixation versus focal labral excision/debridement in a cohort of patients who underwent arthroscopic correction of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Methods: We reported patients who underwent labral debridement/focal labral excision during a period before the development of labral repair techniques. Patients with labral tears thought to be repairable with our current arthroscopic technique were compared with patients who underwent labral refixation. In 46 hips, the labrum was focally excised/debrided (group 1); in 54 hips, the labrum was refixed (group 2). Outcomes were measured with modified-Harris-Hip-Score (mHHS), Short Form-12 (SF-12), and a visual-analog-scale (VAS) for pain preoperatively and postoperatively. Results: Mean age was 33 years in group 1 and 28 years in group 2 with mean follow-up of 7 years (range, 2-13.6 years). At mean follow-up, subjective outcomes were significantly improved (P<.01) for both groups compared with preoperative scores. The mHHS (P=.004), SF-12 (P=.016), and VAS pain scores (P<.001) were all significantly better for refixation group compared with debridement group. Although most recent outcomes for both groups fell at mean 7 years’ follow-up in comparison to 16 month and 3.5 year follow-up, the disparity between groups was greater in favor of labral refixation. Good-to-excellent results were 47.7% in debridement and 82.4% in refixation (p<.001), and failure rates were 31.8% (debridement) and 13.7% (refixation group) (p =.034). There were 4 revisions in the debridement group and none in the refixation group. Conclusion: Longer term follow-up comparing focal labral debridement/excision to refixation revealed a decrease in patient related outcome scoring and good/excellent results in both groups. Ultimately, there was a greater drop in outcome measures and good/excellent results in the debridement group and better maintenance of results in the refixation group at mean 7 years follow-up.
Calcitriol Prevents Neuroinflammation and Reduces Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption and Local Macrophage/Microglia Activation

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that involves damage to the myelin sheath surrounding axons. MS therapy is based on immunomodulatory drugs that reduce disease recurrence and severity. Vitamin D is a hormone whose immunomodulatory ability has been widely demonstrated, including in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which is an animal model of CNS inflammation. In this study, we evaluated the potential of very early intervention with the active form of vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) to control neuroinflammation during EAE development. EAE was induced in C57BL/6J mice and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 administration began 1 day after disease induction. This procedure decreased prevalence, clinical score, inflammation, and demyelination. It also reduced MHCII expression in macrophages and microglia as well as the level of oxidative stress and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression for NLRP3, caspase-1, interleukin (IL)-1β, CX3CR1, CCL17, RORc and Tbx21 at the CNS. Otherwise, mRNA expression for ZO-1 increased at the lumbar spinal cord. These effects were accompanied by the stabilization of blood-spinal cord barrier permeability. The results of this study indicate that early intervention with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 can control the neuroinflammatory process that is the hallmark of EAE and MS immunopathogenesis and should thus be explored as an adjunct therapy for MS patients.