Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential training loads and individual fitness responses to pre-season in professional rugby union players

ABSTRACT We aimed to compare differentiated training loads (TL) between fitness responders and non-responders to an eight-week pre-season training period in a squad of thirty-five professional rugby union players. Differential TL were calculated by multiplying player’s perceptions of breathlessness (sRPE-B) and leg muscle exertion (sRPE-L) with training duration for each completed session. Performance-based fitness measures included the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIRTL1), 10-, 20-, and 30-m linear sprint times, countermovement jump height (CMJ) and predicted one-repetition maximum back squat (P1RM Squat). The proportion of responders (≥ 75% chance that the observed change in fitness was > typical error and smallest worthwhile change) were 37%, 50%, 52%, 82% and 70% for YYIRTL1, 20/30-m, 10-m, CMJ and P1RM Squat, respectively. Weekly sRPE-B-TL was very likely higher in YYIRTL1 responders (mean difference = 18%; ±90% confidence limits 11%), likely lower in 20/30-m (19%; ±20%) and 10-m (18%; ±17%) responders, and likely higher in CMJ responders (15%; ±16%). All other comparisons were unclear. Weekly sRPE-B discriminate between rugby union players who respond to pre-season training when compared with players who do not. Our findings support the collection of differential ratings of perceived exertion and the use of individual response analysis in team-sport athletes.
Rapid CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Cloning of Full-Length Epstein-Barr Virus Genomes from Latently Infected Cells

Herpesviruses have relatively large DNA genomes of more than 150 kb that are difficult to clone and sequence. Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) cloning of herpesvirus genomes is a powerful technique that greatly facilitates whole viral genome sequencing as well as functional characterization of reconstituted viruses. We describe recently invented technologies for rapid BAC cloning of herpesvirus genomes using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair. We focus on recent BAC cloning techniques of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genomes and discuss the possible advantages of a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated strategy comparatively with precedent EBV-BAC cloning strategies. We also describe the design decisions of this technology as well as possible pitfalls and points to be improved in the future. The obtained EBV-BAC clones are subjected to long-read sequencing analysis to determine complete EBV genome sequence including repetitive regions. Rapid cloning and sequence determination of various EBV strains will greatly contribute to the understanding of their global geographical distribution. This technology can also be used to clone disease-associated EBV strains and test the hypothesis that they have special features that distinguish them from strains that infect asymptomatically.
A sublimation technique for high-precision measurements of δ 13 CO 2 and mixing ratios of CO 2 and N 2 O from air trapped in ice cores

Abstract. In order to provide high precision stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13CO2 or δ13C of CO2) from small bubbly, partially and fully clathrated ice core samples we developed a new method based on sublimation coupled to gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS). In a first step the trapped air is quantitatively released from ~30 g of ice and CO2 together with N2O are separated from the bulk air components and stored in a miniature glass tube. In an off-line step, the extracted sample is introduced into a helium carrier flow using a minimised tube cracker device. Prior to measurement, N2O and organic sample contaminants are gas chromatographically separated from CO2. Pulses of a CO2/N2O mixture are admitted to the tube cracker and follow the path of the sample through the system. This allows an identical treatment and comparison of sample and standard peaks. The ability of the method to reproduce δ13C from bubble and clathrate ice is verified on different ice cores. We achieve reproducibilities for bubble ice between 0.05 ‰ and 0.07 ‰ and for clathrate ice between 0.05 ‰ and 0.09 ‰ (dependent on the ice core used). A comparison of our data with measurements on bubble ice from the same ice core but using a mechanical extraction device shows no significant systematic offset. In addition to δ13C, the CO2 and N2O mixing ratios can be volumetrically derived with a precision of 2 ppmv and 8 ppbv, respectively.
Ontogeny of the cranial system in Laonastes aenigmamus

Rodents, together with bats, are among the ecologically most diverse and most speciose groups of mammals. Moreover, rodents show elaborate specializations of the feeding apparatus in response to the predominantly fore‐aft movements of the lower jaw. The Laotian rock rat Laonastes aenigmamus was recently discovered and originally thought to belong to a new family. The difficulties in classifying L. aenigmamus based on morphological characters stem from the fact that it presents a mixture of sciurognathous and hystricognathous characteristics, including the morphology of the jaw adductors. The origin of the unusual muscular organization in this species remains, however, unclear. Here, we investigate the development of the masticatory system in Laonastes to better understand the origin of its derived morphology relative to other rodents. Our analyses show that skull and mandible development is characterized by an overall elongation of the snout region. Muscle mass increases with positive allometry during development and growth, and so does the force‐generating capacity of the jaw adductor muscles (i.e. physiological cross‐sectional area). Whereas fetal crania and musculature are more similar to those of typical rodents, adults diverge in the elongation of the rostral part of the skull and the disproportionate development of the zygomaticomandibularis. Our data suggest a functional signal in the development of the unusual cranial morphology, possibly associated with the folivorous trophic ecology of the species.
NUMERICAL PROCEDURE FOR DISCRETE FRACTURE PROPAGATION IN POROUS MATERIALS

This paper presents a numerical procedure for cohesive hydraulic fracture propagation. The quasi static problem of crack nucleation and/or advancement is solved by successive remeshing when domain changes are originated and projections are required in a backward solution scheme. This projection is directly applied to residual nodal vectors (forces and fluxes) of the previous step. This vector is projected using the element shape functions of the old mesh, hence ensuring the fulfilment of the balance equations. The resulting procedure is simple, however checks have to be made on its capability of conserving the energy.
Design and Implement of Spring Security-Based T-RBAC

Aimed at the problem of resource protection in Web system and it is not suitable for maintenance in the process of Web system development due to the tight interleaving of business logic and security logic, based on the open source security framework Spring Security, this paper proposes a task-role-based-access-control (T-RBAC) implementation scheme for Web systems. This scheme can realize the effective protection of Web resources and service methods, and can realize fine access control of Web resources. Through the security analysis and performance tests show that this scheme can manage permissions based on tasks and roles, and it meets the requirements of task based access control for Web systems, and has dynamic access control capability and good system performance. At the same time, the scheme is implemented on the basis of Spring Security framework, which can effectively develop the program, and has strong security. It has certain popularization value in practical application development.
Prehospital Intubation and Outcome in Traumatic Brain Injury—Assessing Intervention Efficacy in a Modern Trauma Cohort

Background Prehospital intubation in traumatic brain injury (TBI) focuses on limiting the effects of secondary insults such as hypoxia, but no indisputable evidence has been presented that it is beneficial for outcome. The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics of patients who undergo prehospital intubation and, in turn, if these parameters affect outcome. Material and methods Patients ≥15 years admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, Stockholm, Sweden with TBI from 2008 through 2014 were included. Data were extracted from prehospital and hospital charts, including prospectively collected Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) after 12 months. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to examine parameters independently correlated to prehospital intubation and outcome. Results A total of 458 patients were included (n = 178 unconscious, among them, n = 61 intubated). Multivariable analyses indicated that high energy trauma, prehospital hypotension, pupil unresponsiveness, mode of transportation, and distance to the hospital were independently correlated with intubation, and among them, only pupil responsiveness was independently associated with outcome. Prehospital intubation did not add independent information in a step-up model versus GOS (p = 0.154). Prehospital reports revealed that hypoxia was not the primary cause of prehospital intubation, and that the procedure did not improve oxygen saturation during transport, while an increasing distance from the hospital increased the intubation frequency. Conclusion In this modern trauma cohort, prehospital intubation was not independently associated with outcome; however, hypoxia was not a common reason for prehospital intubation. Prospective trials to assess efficacy of prehospital airway intubation will be difficult due to logistical and ethical considerations.
The fetal programming of telomere biology hypothesis: an update

Research on mechanisms underlying fetal programming of health and disease risk has focused primarily on processes that are specific to cell types, organs or phenotypes of interest. However, the observation that developmental conditions concomitantly influence a diverse set of phenotypes, the majority of which are implicated in age-related disorders, raises the possibility that such developmental conditions may additionally exert effects via a common underlying mechanism that involves cellular/molecular ageing–related processes. In this context, we submit that telomere biology represents a process of particular interest in humans because, firstly, this system represents among the most salient antecedent cellular phenotypes for common age-related disorders; secondly, its initial (newborn) setting appears to be particularly important for its long-term effects; and thirdly, its initial setting appears to be plastic and under developmental regulation. We propose that the effects of suboptimal intrauterine conditions on the initial setting of telomere length and telomerase expression/activity capacity may be mediated by the programming actions of stress-related maternal–placental–fetal oxidative, immune, endocrine and metabolic pathways in a manner that may ultimately accelerate cellular dysfunction, ageing and disease susceptibility over the lifespan. This perspectives paper provides an overview of each of the elements underlying this hypothesis, with an emphasis on recent developments, findings and future directions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics’.
Architecture of the complete oxygen-sensing FixL-FixJ two-component signal transduction system

Combined experimental and modeling techniques reveal the mechanism of signal relay in the oxygen-sensing FixL-FixJ two-component system. Signal relay through a two-component system In two-component systems, a sensor histidine kinase undergoes autophosphorylation and transfers a phosphate group to its cognate response regulator, which then mediates cellular responses by binding to DNA, performing enzymatic reactions, or interacting with other proteins. In the FixL-FixJ two-component system of the plant root nodule symbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the histidine kinase FixL undergoes autophosphorylation only when it is not bound to oxygen. This ensures that its cognate response regulator FixJ stimulates the expression of genes required for nitrogen fixation only under low-oxygen conditions. Wright et al. combined high- and low-resolution structural analyses with modeling techniques and functional analysis to generate a model of signal relay through the FixL-FixJ two-component system. The model shows how the dissociation of oxygen from FixL stimulates FixL autophosphorylation and phosphotransfer from FixL to FixJ. The symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum is critical to the agro-industrial production of soybean because it enables the production of high yields of soybeans with little use of nitrogenous fertilizers. The FixL and FixJ two-component system (TCS) of this bacterium ensures that nitrogen fixation is only stimulated under conditions of low oxygen. When it is not bound to oxygen, the histidine kinase FixL undergoes autophosphorylation and transfers phosphate from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to the response regulator FixJ, which, in turn, stimulates the expression of genes required for nitrogen fixation. We purified full-length B. japonicum FixL and FixJ proteins and defined their structures individually and in complex using small-angle x-ray scattering, crystallographic, and in silico modeling techniques. Comparison of active and inactive forms of FixL suggests that intramolecular signal transduction is driven by local changes in the sensor domain and in the coiled-coil region connecting the sensor and histidine kinase domains. We also found that FixJ exhibits conformational plasticity not only in the monomeric state but also in tetrameric complexes with FixL during phosphotransfer. This structural characterization of a complete TCS contributes both a mechanistic and evolutionary understanding to TCS signal relay, specifically in the context of the control of nitrogen fixation in root nodules.
Demographic and migration-related risk factors for low-level smoking in a farm working sample of Latinos (the MICASA study)

Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the U.S. Research regarding the phenomenon of low-level smoking, defined as smoking one to five cigarettes per day (CPD) on average, is increasing as its high prevalence is better recognized. The Mexican Immigration to California: Agricultural Safety and Acculturation (MICASA) study is a prospective cohort study of Latino hired farm worker families that assesses respiratory health, including patterns and behaviors of cigarette smoking. The purpose of the present analysis was to establish demographic, migration-related, and psychosocial characteristics and risk factors for low-level smoking. Seven percent of participants were current smokers, 61% of them being low-level smokers. Low-level smokers did not smoke as many days during the past month as those who smoke 6+ CPD (p=0.04). Low-level smokers were more likely than never and former smokers combined not to be married and to experience frequent mental distress. Those who smoke 6+ CPD were also more likely than never and former smokers combined to experience frequent mental distress and to be more acculturated. Low-level smokers have characteristics and risk factors that set them apart from other types of smokers. This increased understanding of low-level smokers can enhance public health education and smoking cessation programs targeted at Latinos.
PAMELA: Pattern Matching Engine with Limited-Time Update for NIDS/NIPS

Several hardware-based pattern matching engines for network intrusion/prevention detection systems (NIDS/NIPSs) can achieve high throughput with less hardware resources. However, their flexibility to update new patterns is limited and still challenging. This paper describes a PAttern Matching Engine with Limited-time updAte (PAMELA) engine using a recently proposed hashing algorithm called Cuckoo Hashing. PAMELA features on-the-fly pattern updates without reconfiguration, more efficient hardware utilization, and higher performance compared with other works. First, we implement the improved parallel exact pattern matching with arbitrary length based on Cuckoo Hashing and linked-list technique. Second, while PAMELA is being updated with new attack patterns, both stack and FIFO are utilized to bound insertion time due to the drawback of Cuckoo Hashing and to avoid interruption of input data stream. Third, we extend the system for multi-character processing to achieve higher throughput. Our engine can accommodate the latest Snort rule-set, an open source NIDS/NIPS, and achieve the throughput up to 8.8 Gigabit per second while consuming the lowest amount of hardware. Compared to other approaches, ours is far more efficient than any other implemented on Xilinx FPGA architectures.
Use of trait information in the attribution of intentions by popular, average and rejected children

This study aimed to examine the extent to which children's sociometric status is related to the use of trait information. Therefore, 99 children (aged 4-6) were asked to make inferences about protagonists' future actions when positive or negative trait information was given. Results showed that rejected children were less affected by the protagonist's trait information than their more popular peers (average and popular) in both conditions. As well as their frequently reported hostile bias, rejected children also showed a positive bias. This suggests a general delay in social reasoning among rejected children, but can also be explained by a difference in their development of social cognition based on their atypical daily interactions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
SCOM: Spatiotemporal Constrained Optimization for Salient Object Detection

This paper presents a novel model for video salient object detection called spatiotemporal constrained optimization model (SCOM), which exploits spatial and temporal cues, as well as a local constraint, to achieve a global saliency optimization. For a robust motion estimation of salient objects, we propose a novel approach to modeling the motion cues from optical flow field, the saliency map of the prior video frame and the motion history of change detection, which is able to distinguish the moving salient objects from diverse changing background regions. Furthermore, an effective objectness measure is proposed with intuitive geometrical interpretation to extract some reliable object and background regions, which provided as the basis to define the foreground potential, background potential, and the constraint to support saliency propagation. These potentials and the constraint are formulated into the proposed SCOM framework to generate an optimal saliency map for each frame in a video. The proposed model is extensively evaluated on the widely used challenging benchmark data sets. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed SCOM substantially outperforms the state-of-the-art saliency models.
Dietary glucosinolates and risk of type 2 diabetes in 3 prospective cohort studies.

Background Glucosinolates are a group of phytochemicals that are abundant in cruciferous vegetables and precursors of the potentially chemopreventive isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates may reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, but little is known regarding the association between glucosinolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Objective To evaluate the association between the intake of glucosinolates and the incidence of T2D in US men and women. Design This prospective cohort study investigated 200,907 women and men [71,256 women from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS; 1984-2012), 88,293 women from the NHS II (1991-2013), and 41,358 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2012)] who were free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at baseline. Diet was assessed using validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires. Self-reported T2D incidence was confirmed by a supplementary questionnaire. Results During follow-up in the 3 cohorts, we accumulated 4,303,750 person-years and 16,567 incident cases of T2D. After adjustment for major lifestyle and dietary risk factors for T2D, participants in the highest quintile of total glucosinolate intake had a 19% higher risk (95% CI: 13%, 25%; Ptrend < 0.001) of T2D than did those in the lowest quintile. The intake of 3 major glucosinolate subtypes was consistently and significantly associated with T2D risk, with pooled HRs ranging from 1.13 to 1.18 (all Ptrend < 0.001). A significant association was also observed between total cruciferous vegetable consumption and T2D (HR: 1.16; 95% CI :1.07, 1.25; Ptrend < 0.001). These associations persisted in subgroups defined by demographic, lifestyle, and other dietary factors. Conclusions Dietary glucosinolate intake was associated with a moderately higher risk of T2D in US adults. These results need to be replicated in further investigations, including biomarker-based studies. Mechanistic research is also needed to understand the relation between exposures to glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, and other metabolites with T2D risk. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03366532.
Recent Advances in Identification of RNA Modifications

RNA modifications are involved in a broad spectrum of biological and physiological processes. To reveal the functions of RNA modifications, it is important to accurately predict their positions. Although high-throughput experimental techniques have been proposed, they are cost-ineffective. As good complements of experiments, many computational methods have been proposed to predict RNA modification sites in recent years. In this review, we will summarize the existing computational approaches directed at predicting RNA modification sites. We will also discuss the challenges and future perspectives in developing reliable methods for predicting RNA modification sites.
Intrinsic Sensing and Evolving Internal Model Control of Compact Elastic Module for a Lower Extremity Exoskeleton

To achieve strength augmentation, endurance enhancement, and human assistance in a functional autonomous exoskeleton, control precision, back drivability, low output impedance, and mechanical compactness are desired. In our previous work, two elastic modules were designed for human–robot interaction sensing and compliant control, respectively. According to the intrinsic sensing properties of the elastic module, in this paper, only one compact elastic module is applied to realize both purposes. Thus, the corresponding control strategy is required and evolving internal model control is proposed to address this issue. Moreover, the input signal to the controller is derived from the deflection of the compact elastic module. The human–robot interaction is considered as the disturbance which is approximated by the output error between the exoskeleton control plant and evolving forward learning model. Finally, to verify our proposed control scheme, several experiments are conducted with our robotic exoskeleton system. The experiment shows a satisfying result and promising application feasibility.