Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Index of Non-Linear HRV as a Proxy of the Aerobic Threshold Based on Blood Lactate Concentration in Elite Triathletes

A non-linear index of heart rate (HR) variability (HRV) known as alpha1 of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA a1) has been shown to change with increasing exercise intensity, crossing a value of 0.75 at the aerobic threshold (AT) in recreational runners defining a HRV threshold (HRVT). Since large volumes of low-intensity training below the AT is recommended for many elite endurance athletes, confirmation of this relationship in this specific group would be advantageous for the purposes of training intensity distribution monitoring. Nine elite triathletes (7 male, 2 female) attended a training camp for diagnostic purposes. Lactate testing was performed with an incremental cycling ramp test to exhaustion for the determination of the first lactate threshold based on the log–log calculation method (LT1). Concurrent measurements of cardiac beta-to-beat intervals were performed to determine the HRVT. Mean LT1 HR of all 9 participants was 155.8 bpm (±7.0) vs. HRVT HR of 153.7 bpm (±10.1) (p = 0.52). Mean LT1 cycling power was 252.3 W (±48.1) vs. HRVT power of 247.0 W (±53.6) (p = 0.17). Bland–Altman analysis showed mean differences of −1.7 bpm and −5.3 W with limits of agreement (LOA) 13.3 to −16.7 bpm and 15.1 to −25.6 W for HR and cycling power, respectively. The DFA a1-based HRVT closely agreed with the LT1 in a group of elite triathletes. Since large volumes of low-intensity exercise are recommended for successful endurance performance, the fractal correlation properties of HRV show promise as a low-cost, non-invasive option to that of lactate testing for identification of AT-related training boundaries.
scInTime: A Computational Method Leveraging Single-Cell Trajectory and Gene Regulatory Networks to Identify Master Regulators of Cellular Differentiation

Trajectory inference (TI) or pseudotime analysis has dramatically extended the analytical framework of single-cell RNA-seq data, allowing regulatory genes contributing to cell differentiation and those involved in various dynamic cellular processes to be identified. However, most TI analysis procedures deal with individual genes independently while overlooking the regulatory relations between genes. Integrating information from gene regulatory networks (GRNs) at different pseudotime points may lead to more interpretable TI results. To this end, we introduce scInTime—an unsupervised machine learning framework coupling inferred trajectory with single-cell GRNs (scGRNs) to identify master regulatory genes. We validated the performance of our method by analyzing multiple scRNA-seq data sets. In each of the cases, top-ranking genes predicted by scInTime supported their functional relevance with corresponding signaling pathways, in line with the results of available functional studies. Overall results demonstrated that scInTime is a powerful tool to exploit pseudotime-series scGRNs, allowing for a clear interpretation of TI results toward more significant biological insights.
A Comparison of Regenerative-Pump Theories Supported by New Performance Data

Several theories of the fluid-dynamic mechanism of a regenerative pump have been presented in the literature. The author has compared these theories and believes that in principle they are compatible. The differences occur in the assumptions made. Experimental data show that, although each assumption is useful for a limited operating condition and geometry, none covers a wide enough range for a complete analysis of the phenomenon. In addition, he presents a series of experimental data concerning the geometry of the pumping channel. Although the influence of the geometry of the pumping channel on performance is complicated, consistent tendencies are found. These tendencies and experimental data are available not only as an aid to design but also may serve as a guide for the improvement of any simple semiempirical theory of the regenerative pump as well as for testing any complete theories.
Measurement Invariance of the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale: A Cross-Cultural Study

The current study assessed the measurement invariance of the Self-stigma of Mental Illness scale (SSOMI) across Chinese and US samples and assessed whether the SSOMI differentially relates to distress levels across Chinese and US participants. We included 487 participants in China and 550 in the US (mean age was 19.52 in China and 19.29 in the US). The results indicated that partial measurement invariance of the SSOMI scale across China and the United States participants was established. Furthermore, we observed validity evidence for the SSOMI scale through its correlations with a well-established self-stigma measure and measures of depression, anxiety, and stress. Finally, we found that the SSOMI scale is more strongly linked to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in China than it is in the United States, supporting previous research. These findings enable researchers to utilize the scale cross-culturally (i.e., with participants of Chinese and US origin), and to develop and implement interventions targeting mental illness stigma in both China and the United States.
Evaluation of Diagnostic Performance of Automatic Breast Volume Scanner Compared to Handheld Ultrasound on Different Breast Lesions: A Systematic Review

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of the automatic breast volume scanner (ABVS) against the handheld ultrasound (HHUS) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions. Methods: A systematic search and review of studies involving ABVS and HHUS for breast cancer screening were performed. The search involved the data taken from Scopus, PubMed, and science direct databases and was conducted between the year 2011 to 2020. The prospective method was used in determining the inclusion and exclusion criteria while the evidence level was determined using the BI-RADS categories for diagnostic studies. In addition, the parameters of specificity, mean age, sensitivity, tumor number, and diagnostic accuracy of the ABVS and HHUS were summarized. Results: No systematic review or randomized controlled trial were identified in the systematic search while one cross-sectional study, eight retrospective studies, and 10 prospective studies were found. Sufficient follow-up of the subjects with benign and malignant findings were made only in 10 studies, in which only two had used ABVS and HHUS after performing mammographic screening and MRI. Analysis was made of 21 studies, which included 5448 lesions (4074 benign and 1374 malignant) taken from 6009 patients. The range of sensitivity was (0.72–1.0) for ABVS and (0.62–1.0) for HHUS; the specificity range was (0.52–0.98)% for ABVS and (0.49–0.99)% for HHUS. The accuracy range among the 11 studies was (80–99)% and (59–98)% for the HHUS and ABVS, respectively. The identified tumors had a mean size of 2.1 cm, and the detected cancers had a mean percentage of 94% (81–100)% in comparison to the non-cancer in all studies. Conclusions: The evidence available in the literature points to the fact that the diagnostic performance of both ABVS and HHUS are similar with reference to the differentiation of malignant and benign breast lesions.
Novel RF quasi-optical components for THZ astronomy

There have been many successful THz instruments used in ground and space based telescopes that operate over a range of frequencies from 10s of GHz up to 10s of THz. For some instruments, their operation depends on precise ltering of the received radiation, which can be achieved by using metal mesh lters. These lters can also be referred to as frequency selective surface, which are part of a broad category of metamaterials. By controlling the geometry of these surfaces and combining multiple layers, it is possible to steer the radiation or control the polarisation. This thesis expands on using existing knowledge and fabrication techniques of metal mesh structures to build new quasi-optical devices, which could be a lightweight replacement for existing components, such as lenses, or new devices with properties that are not possible using traditional materials. Initially an analysis of suitable modelling methods to predict the behaviour of the individual gird structures is performed. It is then shown that multiple girds can be combined to create an arti cial dielectric. By using the developed modelling tools a parameter space is found which sets a practical limit on devices that can be built. This theory is also applied to rectangular grids, which have the same properties, but are polarisation dependent. With this framework in place, a series of devices are designed and characterised. This includes a broadband gradient index at lens, which was characterised using a VNA from 90 to 220GHz. This design was modi ed to produce a lens that is capable of separating out two orthogonal linear polarisations and focusing them separated on the same focal plane. Finally an analysis of di erent of arti cial waveplates is performed, to determine which metamaterial structures are best suited for replacing traditional sapphire waveplates.
Automated modal identification and tracking: Application to an iron arch bridge

Challenges concerning the automation of modal identification and tracking procedures in permanent monitoring systems for Structural Health Monitoring purposes are discussed. In this context, an automated procedure based on parametric identification methods that involve the interpretation of stabilization diagrams is proposed. The methodology comprehends two key points: (i) automatic analysis of stabilization diagrams, performed through a first check of reasonable damping ratio, a subsequent modal complexity check and a final clustering of structural modes; (ii) automated tracking of the evolution in time of the identified modal properties. The proposed modal clustering and tracking steps exploit the introduction of self‐adaptable dynamic thresholds, that do not require any a priori manual tuning for the different recorded data set. Finally, the proposed approach was successfully validated using real data collected on a historic iron arch bridge. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Readiness for autonomous English language learning: The case of Indonesian undergraduate students

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to investigate how Indonesian undergraduate students perceive their teachers’ and their responsibilities in English language learning; (2) to investigate how the students perceive their abilities related to autonomous English language learning; (3) to examine if there are differences in the students’ perceptions of their responsibilities and abilities concerning gender and majors of study. The study employed a mixed-methods research approach with a sequential explanatory design and recruited 402 participants in the quantitative phase and 30 participants in the qualitative phase. The data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that the majority of students deemed the teacher to be the one in charge of their learning despite their positive perceptions of their abilities. No significant difference was found between males and females in their perceptions of responsibilities and abilities. Regarding majors of study, no significant difference was found between English major students and non-English majors in their perceptions of their abilities; however, there was a significant difference between the groups’ perceptions of their responsibilities. The research advocates the need for awareness-raising on the benefits of learner autonomy and appropriate teacher training for the Indonesian context.
Caracterização física do resíduo de uma estação de tratamento de água para sua utilização em materiais de construção

In the Water Treatment Plants (WTPs), the production of treated water generates residues, which are usually called water treatment residues (WTR). Most of these WTPs discharge waste into watercourses, despite the national solid waste policy assigning responsibility for adopting sustainable ways to disposal the wastes to the generating source, because its launch "in natura" in water bodies is harmful. The aim of this work was to determine the physical characteristics of the waste generated in a Water Treatment Plant according to normative parameters in order to consider sustainable alternatives for its reuse in the production of building materials and, therefore, reducing the potential environmental impacts on water streams. Thus, the following tests were performed on the residue: consistency index, granulometry, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results show the potential application of the residue for partially replacing soil and/or sand in the production of construction and building materials.
The concept of moral integrity and its implications for business

[Introduction] Regarding moral concerns in the business sphere, integrity is often mentioned as one of the core values that guides the behavior of companies. Daimler for instance states: "Acting with integrity is the central requirement for sustainable success and a maxim that Daimler follows in its worldwide business practices. " Reference to integrity is mostly supposed to signal that the company acts morally responsibly. Although some companies specify what acting with integrity means for them, it generally remains unclear what the concept of integrity entails - both broadly speaking and referring to business. This conceptual gap shall be filled by developing a concept of integrity that can be transferred to the business context. For this purpose, the main criteria that constitute moral integrity will be discussed before reflecting on how these could be integrated into a practical and comprehensive concept of corporate integrity.
ISO 15489: helpful, hype or just not hot?

The publication of ISO 15489, the first ever international standars for records management, provided the profession with a unique opportunity and tool for enhancing the practice and profile on recors management. But will the opportunity be grasped? What impact will the standard have and why? This article examines the details of an ongoing two-year study which is assessing the impact of ISO 15489 in a range of organisations in the United Kingdom. It shares some of the early results in an attempt to pormote awareness and use of the standard and profides initial views on whether the standard is helpful, hype of just not not enough to handle yet.
Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists – Potential Game Changers in the Treatment of Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a common ocular neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells and their axons. It is the most common cause of irreversible blindness. With an increasing number of glaucoma patients and disease progression despite treatment, it is paramount to develop new and effective therapeutics. Emerging new candidates are the receptor agonists of the incretin hormone glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1), originally used for the treatment of diabetes. GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists have shown neuroprotective effects in preclinical and clinical studies on neurodegenerative diseases in both the brain (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and diabetic neuropathy) and the eye (e.g., diabetic retinopathy and AMD). However, there are currently very few studies investigating the protective effects of GLP-1R agonists in the treatment of specifically glaucoma. Based on a literature search on PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov, this review aims to summarize current clinical literature on GLP-1 receptor agonists in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases to elucidate their potential in future anti-glaucomatous treatment strategies.
Independent music marketing in the digital age: an examination of the decision making process and key issues facing an independent singer-songwriter producing and marketing an album (LP) in the digital age

It has been widely documented that the global music recording industries have been undergoing major structural transformations since the arrival of music piracy and digital downloading that began on a mass scale over the Internet at the start of the 21st century. Anderton, Dubber and James (2013) state: “the move to digital and online music is not merely a change in format but a complete change in the media environment and a radical restructuring of the whole industry” (p. 1). These changes have also happened in a relatively short timeframe compared to previous transitions. Today’s digital music revolution is moving to the next phase as consumers embrace streaming and subscription models in markets around the world. Along with these changing product formats, is an increased access to a larger global music catalogue at lower prices, the fragmentation of music broadcasting and media (from the dominance of radio and television to online and mobile alternatives) and the proliferation of new digital communication channels for music promotion. This exegesis situates an Australian independent singer songwriter in the context of this rapid transformation and considers key issues facing independent musicians from a practice-based perspective. Using autoethnographic analysis, this exegesis examines the decision-making processes and workflows required when releasing an album in the digital age, and explores the nexus between specific artistic and marketing processes.
Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Anticancer Flavonoid, 2′,4′-Dihydroxy-6′-methoxy-3′,5′-dimethyl Chalcone (DMC), Rich Extract from Syzygium nervosum Fruits

2′,4′-Dihydroxy-6′-methoxy-3′,5′-dimethyl chalcone (DMC) is a biological flavonoid that is present in the fruits of Syzygium nervosum (Ma-Kiang in Thai). Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), which utilizes microwave radiation to heat the extraction solvent quickly and effectively, was used to recover DMC-rich extract from Syzygium nervosum fruit. To determine the DMC content, a highly accurate and precise HPLC technique was developed. The influences of MAE conditions, including the solid–liquid ratio, microwave power, and microwave duration on the content of DMC, were sequentially employed by a single factor investigation and response surface methodology (RSM) exploratory design. The predicted quadratic models were fitted due to their highly significant (p < 0.0001) and excellent determination coefficient (R2 = 0.9944). The optimal conditions for producing DMC-rich extract were a ratio of sample to solvent of 1:35 g/mL, a microwave power of 350 W, and a microwave time of 38 min. Under the optimal MAE setting, the DMC content reached 1409 ± 24 µg/g dry sample, which was greater than that of the conventional heat reflux extraction (HRE) (1337 ± 37 µg/g dry sample) and maceration (1225 ± 81 µg/g dry sample). The DMC-rich extract obtained from MAE showed stronger anticancer activities against A549 (human lung cancer cells) and HepG2 (human liver cancer cells) than the individual DMC substance, which makes MAE an effective method for extracting essential phytochemicals from plants in the nature.
Brain tumour classification of magnetic resonance images using a novel CNN-based medical image analysis and detection network in comparison to VGG16.

AIM This study aims at developing an automatic medical image analysis and detection for accurate classification of brain tumors from MRI dataset. The study implemented our novel MIDNet18 CNN architecture in comparison with the VGG16 CNN architecture for classifying normal brain images from the brain tumor images. MATERIALS AND METHODS The novel MIDNet-18 CNN architecture comprises 14 convolutional layers, 7 pooling layers, 4 dense layers and 1 classification layer. The dataset used for this study has two classes: Normal Brain MR Images and Brain Tumor MR Images. This binary MRI brain dataset consists of 2918 images as training set, 1458 images as validation set and 212 images as test set. Independent sample size calculated was 7 for each group, keeping GPower at 80%. RESULT From the experimental results, the proposed MIDNet18 model obtained 98.7% accuracy. Whereas, the VGG16 model obtained an accuracy of 50%. Hence, the performance of the proposed MIDNet18 model achieved is better than VGG16. Conclusion: The proposed model is proved to be statistically significant with p value <0.001 (Independent sample t-test) than the existing model VGG16.
A New Method for the Assessment of the Oxidative Potential of Both Water-Soluble and Insoluble PM

Water-soluble and insoluble fractions of airborne particulate matter (PM) exhibit different toxicological potentials and peculiar mechanisms of action in biological systems. However, most of the research on the oxidative potential (OP) of PM is focused exclusively on its water-soluble fraction, since experimental criticisms were encountered for detaching the whole PM (soluble and insoluble species) from field filters. However, to estimate the actual potential effects of PM on human health, it is essential to assess the OP of both its water-soluble and insoluble fractions. In this study, to estimate the total OP (TOP), an efficient method for the detachment of intact PM10 from field filters by using an electrical toothbrush was applied to 20 PM10 filters in order to obtain PM10 water suspensions to be used for the DCFH, AA and DTT oxidative potential assays (OPDCFH, OPAA and OPDTT). The contribution of the insoluble PM10 to the TOP was evaluated by comparing the TOP values to those obtained by applying the three OP assays to the water-soluble fraction of 20 equivalent PM10 filters. The OP of the insoluble fraction (IOP) was calculated as the difference between the TOP and the WSOP. Moreover, each PM10 sample was analyzed for the water-soluble and insoluble fractions of 10 elements (Al, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Li, Ni, Rb, Sb, Sn) identified as primary elemental tracers of the main emission sources in the study area. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the data obtained to identify the predominant sources for the determination of TOP, WSOP, and IOP. Results showed that water-soluble PM10 released by traffic, steel plant, and biomass burning is mainly responsible for the generation of the TOP as well as of the WSOP. This evidence gave strength to the reliability of the results from OP assays performed only on the water-soluble fraction of PM. Lastly, the IOPDCFH and IOPDTT were found to be principally determined by insoluble PM10 from mineral dust.
Transit Amplifying Progenitors in the Cerebellum: Similarities to and Differences from Transit Amplifying Cells in Other Brain Regions and between Species

Transit amplification of neural progenitors/precursors is widely used in the development of the central nervous system and for tissue homeostasis. In most cases, stem cells, which are relatively less proliferative, first differentiate into transit amplifying cells, which are more proliferative, losing their stemness. Subsequently, transit amplifying cells undergo a limited number of mitoses and differentiation to expand the progeny of differentiated cells. This step-by-step proliferation is considered an efficient system for increasing the number of differentiated cells while maintaining the stem cells. Recently, we reported that cerebellar granule cell progenitors also undergo transit amplification in mice. In this review, we summarize our and others’ recent findings and the prospective contribution of transit amplification to neural development and evolution, as well as the molecular mechanisms regulating transit amplification.