Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Cluster Loading Enhance Lower Body Power Development in Preseason Preparation of Elite Rugby Union Players?

Hansen, KT, Cronin, JB, Pickering, SL, Newton, MJ. Does cluster loading enhance lower body power development in preseason preparation of elite rugby union players? J Strength Cond Res 25(8): 2118-2126, 2011—The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether cluster training led to improved power training adaptations in the preseason preparation of elite level rugby union players. Eighteen highly trained athletes were divided into 2 training groups, a traditional training (TT, N = 9) group and a cluster training (CT, N = 9) group before undertaking 8 weeks of lower body resistance training. Force-velocity-power profiling in the jump squat movement was undertaken, and maximum strength was assessed in the back squat before and after the training intervention. Two-way analysis of variance and magnitude-based inferences were used to assess changes in maximum strength and force, velocity, and power values pretraining to posttraining. Both TT and CT groups significantly (p < 0.05) increased maximum strength posttraining. There was a possibly negative effect for the CT group on maximum strength when compared with that for the TT group (pretraining to posttraining change = 14.6 ± 18.0 and 18.3 ± 10.1%, respectively). There were no significant differences pretraining to posttraining for any jump squat force, velocity, or power measures. However, magnitude-based inferences showed that there was a likely positive effect of CT when compared with that of TT for peak power (pretraining to posttraining change = 7.5 ± 7.0 and 1.0 ± 6.2%, respectively) and peak velocity at 40 kg (pretraining to posttraining change = 4.7 ± 6.1 and 0.0 ± 5.0%, respectively) and for peak velocity at body weight (pretraining to posttraining change = 3.8 ± 3.4 and 0.5 ± 3.8%, respectively). Although both a traditional and cluster training loading pattern improved lower body maximum strength in a highly trained population, the traditional training structure resulted in greater maximum strength adaptation. There was some evidence to support the possible benefit of cluster type loading in training prescription for lower body power development.
Extending Software Project Agility with New Product Development Enterprise Agility

Many new product development (NPD) companies must nowadays work under turbulent conditions. The market competition is often fierce, while at the same time new and sometimes even disruptive technological uncertainties emerge. Speed and flexibility are then key success factors. Agility is thus a prospective strategy for such companies. The (embedded) software product development projects working in such environments face the turbulence either directly or indirectly, and agile software methods could potentially help to cope with the challenges. However, in large NPD environments the software project agility must be combined with the overall enterprise agility in order for the company to meet the ultimate business goals. This exploratory article investigates software project agility from that point of view by constructing a framework of the considerations for larger NPD companies to achieve more overarching agility. The software process improvement (SPI) activities can then be focused accordingly. An industrial product development case example is illustrated, suggesting how software product development agility should be improved within the larger organizational context (SPI-in-the-large). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mex67p, a novel factor for nuclear mRNA export, binds to both poly(A)+ RNA and nuclear pores

An essential cellular factor for nuclear mRNA export called Mex67p which has homologous proteins in human and Caenorhabditis elegans was identified through its genetic interaction with nucleoporin Nup85p. In the thermosensitive mex67‐5 mutant, poly(A)+ RNA accumulates in intranuclear foci shortly after shift to the restrictive temperature, but NLS‐mediated nuclear protein import is not inhibited. In vivo, Mex67p tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) is found at the nuclear pores, but mutant mex67‐5–GFP accumulates in the cytoplasm. Upon purification of poly(A)+ RNA derived from of UV‐irradiated yeast cells, Mex67p, but not nucleoporins Nup85p and Nup57p, was crosslinked to mRNA. In a two‐hybrid screen, a putative RNA‐binding protein with RNP consensus motifs was found to interact with the Mex67p carboxy‐terminal domain. Thus, Mex67p is likely to participate directly in the export of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.
Simultaneous Dual-Frequency Observations of Giant Pulses from the Crab Pulsar

Simultaneous measurements of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar were taken at two widely spaced frequencies, using the real-time detection of a giant pulse at 1.4 GHz at the Very Large Array to trigger the observation of that same pulse at 0.6 GHz at a 25 m telescope in Green Bank, WV. Interstellar dispersion of the signals provided the necessary time to communicate the trigger across the country via the Internet. About 70% of the pulses are seen at both 1.4 and 0.6 GHz, implying an emission mechanism bandwidth of at least 0.8 GHz at 1 GHz for pulse structure on timescales of 1 to 10 μs. The giant pulse spectral indices fall between -2.2 and -4.9, which may be compared to the average main pulse value for this pulsar of -3.0. The arrival times at both frequencies display a jitter of 100 μs within the window defined by the average main pulse profile and are tightly correlated. This tight correlation places limits on both the emission mechanism and the frequency-dependent propagation within the magnetosphere. At 1.4 GHz, the giant pulses are resolved into several closely spaced components. Simultaneous observations at 1.4 and 4.9 GHz show that the component splitting is frequency independent. We conclude that the multiplicity of components is intrinsic to the emission from the pulsar, and reject the hypothesis that this is the result of multiple imaging as the signal propagates through the perturbed thermal plasma in the surrounding nebula. At both 1.4 and 0.6 GHz, the pulses are characterized by a fast rise time and an exponential decay time that are correlated. At 0.6 GHz, the rise time is not resolved. The rise and fall times of the 1.4 GHz components vary from component to component and from pulse to pulse. The pulse broadening, with its exponential decay form, is most likely the result of multipath propagation in intervening ionized gas. These decay times, and that seen in contemporaneous 0.3 GHz average pulse data, are large compared to normal conditions for the Crab pulsar. The most likely location for the perturbed plasma is the interface region between the pulsar-driven synchrotron nebula and the overlying supernova ejecta.
Robust Mode-Independent Control over Markov Communication Networks with Stochastic Latency

This paper investigates the stabilization problem for continuous-time stochastic latency networked control sys- tems(NCS) with non-accessible jumping modes. Based on mode- dependent Lyapunov functional and descriptor system approach, a new method for mode-independent control of such systems is developed in terms of the solvability of linear matrix inequali- ties(LMIs). Illustrative example demonstrates the validity of our results. Index Terms—Continuous-time systems, Markov chain, net- worked control systems(NCS), network-induced delays.
The Effect of the Use of Full Body Harnesses on Their Protective Properties

A full body harness is a component of personal systems protecting against falls from a height. To ensure users’ safety, the harness must retain its protective properties during its whole service period. All the elements of a harness (webbings, threads, metal buckles, etc.) are exposed to destructive factors. Harnesses stored and used for a few years were tested. The paper discusses the most frequent types of damage and their effect on the essential resistance parameters. The effect of atmospheric conditions, sunlight, mechanical damage and dust on the parameters of webbings was tested. Conclusions on the main causes of the loss of the protective properties of harnesses are drawn; periodic checks of the physical conditions and guidelines for estimating acceptable service time are recommended.
Re-expression of the Mannose 6-Phosphate Receptors in Receptor-deficient Fibroblasts

We have previously generated primary embryonic fibroblasts lacking either the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor II receptor (MPR) or the cation-dependent MPR, two trans-membrane proteins that bind the mannose 6-phosphate (Man-6-P) recognition marker on soluble lysosomal enzymes (Ludwig, T., Munier-Lehmann, H., Bauer, U., Hollinshead, M., Ovitt, C., Lobel, P., and Hoflack, B. (1994) EMBO J. 13, 3430-3437). These two cell types partially missort phosphorylated lysosomal enzymes. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, we show here that they secrete, in a large part, different phosphorylated ligands. In order to better understand the sorting function of the MPRs, we have re-expressed each MPR in MPR-negative fibroblasts. We show that the MPRs have similar capacities for transporting the bulk of the newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes and that they target individual ligands with various efficiencies. However, high levels of one MPR do not fully compensate for the absence of the other, demonstrating that the two MPRs have complementary targeting functions, perhaps by recognizing different features on lysosomal enzymes. The analysis of the phosphorylated oligosaccharides shows that the ligands missorted in the absence of the cation-dependent MPR are slightly but significantly depleted in oligosaccharides with two Man-6-P residues, when compared with those missorted in the absence of the cation-independent MPR. While these results could explain some differences between the structure and the sorting function of the two MPRs, they strongly suggest that the reason why cells express two different but related MPRs is to maintain an efficient Man-6-P-dependent targeting process that could be potentially regulated by MPR expression.
Breaking-up sedentary time is associated with physical function in older adults.

BACKGROUND Physical function is a key determinant that corresponds to the physiological capacity of older adults to perform normal everyday activities, safely and independently, without undue fatigue. We examined the associations of sedentary behavior (SB), breaks in sedentary time (BST), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with physical function in older adults. METHODS Physical activity and SB were assessed with accelerometers (ActiGraph, GT1M) and physical function with the Senior Fitness Test battery, among 87 males and 128 females aged between 65 and 94 years. A composite Z-score was created based on the individual scores for each Senior Fitness Test battery item. Associations of SB, BST, and MVPA with physical function were examined, adjusting for demographic attributes, physical independence, and medical status. RESULTS A significant positive association was found between BST and the composite physical function Z-score, after adjusting for total SB, MVPA, and potential confounders. MVPA was also positively associated with physical function, after adjusting for SB, BST, and potential confounders. Those with low BST in conjunction with performing less than 30min/d of MVPA had lower physical function. CONCLUSIONS Breaking-up sedentary time is associated with better physical function in older adults; and, it may have an important place in future guidelines on preserving older adults' physical function to support activities of daily living.
Skin fluorescence correlates strongly with coronary artery calcification severity in type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is more severe and occurs at an earlier age in type 1 diabetes. Risk factors for this subclinical marker of atherosclerotic burden, like coronary artery disease (CAD) itself, are not fully identified. One postulated mechanism for the increased CAC observed in type 1 diabetes is the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). As certain collagen AGEs fluoresce, skin intrinsic fluorescence (SIF) can act as a novel marker of levels of collagen AGEs. We thus sought to determine the relationship between skin intrinsic fluorescence and CAC in type 1 diabetes. METHODS One hundred five participants in the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications study of childhood-onset (age <17 years) type 1 diabetes who had previously undergone electron beam tomography scanning for CAC (80 of whom had follow-up data) had SIF measurements taken using the SCOUT DM (VeraLight, Inc., Albuquerque, NM). Mean age and diabetes' duration were 49 and 40 years, respectively, at the time of SIF measurement. RESULTS Seventy-one percent of the study participants had some measurable CAC that was univariately (but not after age adjustment) cross-sectionally associated with SIF (odds ratio = 2.51, 1.37-4.59). However, for CAC severity using natural logarithmically transformed scores, SIF was both univariately (P < 0.0001) and multivariably (P = 0.03) associated with CAC. This relationship was independent of age, a history of CAD, renal function, or renal damage. Receiver operator characteristic analyses revealed that the discriminative ability of SIF to detect CAC went from an area under the curve of 71% for the presence of any CAC to 85% for those with a CAC score >400. CONCLUSIONS The relationship between SIF and CAC appears stronger with more severe calcification. Given the strong relationship of CAC with CAD this finding has important implications and suggests that SIF maybe a useful marker of CAC/CAD risk and potentially a therapeutic target.
New high rate LDPC codes for radio applications

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) code is linear-block error-correcting code defined by sparse parity-check matrix. LDPC codes have found wide application in various fields like satellite transmission, recording in magnetic discs etc. because of their capability to reach near Shannon limit performance. This paper presents 3 new high rates - 0.81, 0.84 and 0.89 of length 2512, 1843 and 2619 respectively, LDPC codes for radio application. The codes are constructed using shifted identity matrix and a lower staircase matrix. The complexity of encoding of these codes is low and decoding can be done by belief propagation. Simulation results of the codes show good bit error rate performance with min-sum decoding algorithm.
Cholesterol Loading Induces a Block in the Exit of VSVG from the TGN

Recent work from our laboratory demonstrated that increased cellular cholesterol content affects the structure of the Golgi apparatus. We have now investigated the functional consequences of the cholesterol‐induced vesiculation of the Golgi apparatus and the role of actin for these changes. The results showed that cholesterol‐induced vesiculation and dispersion of the Golgi apparatus is a reversible process and that reversal can be inhibited by cytochalasin D, an actin‐disrupting reagent. Furthermore, electron microscopy revealed that jasplakinolide, which stabilizes actin filaments, prevented the dispersion, but not the vesiculation of the Golgi cisternae. Importantly, the different Golgi markers seemed to be separated even after vesiculation. To investigate whether transport through the different steps of the exocytic pathway was affected in cholesterol‐treated cells, we visualized ER to plasma membrane transport by using ts045‐VSVG‐GFP. In COS‐1 cells expressing ts045‐VSVG‐GFP increased cholesterol levels did not affect transport of VSVG into the vesiculated Golgi apparatus. However, increased levels of cholesterol resulted in retention of the nascent G protein in vesicles with the TGN‐marker TGN46. Biotinylation of cell surface molecules to quantify arrival of VSVG at the plasma membrane confirmed that cholesterol treatment inhibited export of the VSVG protein. In conclusion, the data show that transport of VSVG into/through a vesiculated Golgi is feasible, but that cholesterol loading inhibits exit of VSVG from the vesicles containing TGN markers. Furthermore, the data illustrate the importance of actin filaments for Golgi structure.
CAMP-dependent Protein Kinase and Lipolysis in Rat Adipocytes

The relationship between CAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) activity ratios and lipolysis in the presence of insulin was compared to the standard relationship between these two parameters established with a variety of adenylate cyclase modulators (Honnor, R. C., Dhillon, G., and Londos, C. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 15130-15138). Three phases of insulin action were observed. First, when tested in control cells exhibiting A-kinase activity ratios up to approximately 0.25, insulin inhibition of lipolysis could be accounted for by the decrease in A-kinase activity. Second, in cells exhibiting A-kinase activity ratios >0.3, the decrease in kinase activity by insulin did not account for the decrease in lipolysis. Finally, as the Akinase activity ratio approached 0.6 the insulin effect on lipolysis was lost. The data suggest that protein phosphatase activation accounts for the CAMP-independent insulin action. Moreover, the insulin effect not accounted for by a decrease in A-kinase activity appears to be elicited only upon elevation of A-kinase activity. The method by which cells were stimulated determined the IC5,, for insulin inhibition of: 1) A-kinase activity ratios, 2) lipolysis explained by the decrease in A-kinase activity ratios, and 3) lipolysis not explained by a decrease in A-kinase activity ratios. For all three parameters, cells stimulated by lipolytic hormones were approximately 5 times more sensitive to insulin than cells stimulated by incubation in a ligandfree environment achieved with adenosine deaminase; insulin ICso values were approximately 120 and 600 PM, respectively. Such data establish a link between insulin actions in modifying cAMP concentrations and in modifying events apparently independent of changes in CAMP. It is proposed that the receptors and regulatory components associated with adipocyte adenylate cyclase are associated also with components of the insulin response system separate from cyclase.
On Creating Adaptive Web Servers Using Weblog Mining

Personalization of content returned from a web site is an important problem in general, and affects e-commerce and e-services in particular. Targeting appropriate information or products to the end user can significantly change (for the better) the users experience on a web site. One possible approach to web personalization is to mine typical user profiles from the vast amount of historical data stored in access logs. In the absence of any a priori knowledge, unsupervised classification or clustering methods are ideally suited to analyze the semi-structured log data of user accesses by examining user sessions. User access profiles are generated by clustering user sessions on the basis of pair-wise dissimilarities using a robust fuzzy clustering algorithm.We present a system that mines the logs to get profiles and uses them to automatically generate a web page containing URLs the user might be interested in. We also evaluate the efficacy of sessionizing the information with and without the use of cookies.
A Guided Mode Resonance Aptasensor for Thrombin Detection

Recent developments in aptamers have led to their widespread use in analytical and diagnostic applications, particularly for biosensing. Previous studies have combined aptamers as ligands with various sensors for numerous applications. However, merging the aptamer developments with guided mode resonance (GMR) devices has not been attempted. This study reports an aptasensor based home built GMR device. The 29-mer thrombin aptamer was immobilized on the surface of a GMR device as a recognizing ligand for thrombin detection. The sensitivity reported in this first trial study is 0.04 nm/μM for thrombin detection in the concentration range from 0.25 to 1 μM and the limit of detection (LOD) is 0.19 μM. Furthermore, the binding affinity constant (Ka) measured is in the range of 106 M−1. The investigation has demonstrated that such a GMR aptasensor has the required sensitivity for the real time, label-free, in situ detection of thrombin and provides kinetic information related to the binding.
Detection of Specific Strains and Variants of Streptococcus cremoris in Mixed Cultures by Immunofluorescence

Antisera against four different strains of Streptococcus cremoris were raised by injecting rabbits with washed suspensions of whole cells. These antisera interacted specifically with the corresponding strain in a mixture of up to nine different S. cremoris strains. The antisera could be used for analyzing the composition of mixed cultures containing these strains by immunofluorescence. Competition experiments were performed in batch and continuous cultures under amino acid limitation. A bacteriophage-sensitive variant of S. cremoris SK11 (SK1128) could be distinguished from a bacteriophage-resistant variant (SK1143) by the same immunofluorescence technique. The competition between the two variants and the stability of both variants in pure cultures were followed with the specific antibodies. Antibodies against the purified proteolytic system of S. cremoris Wg2 were used to determine the presence of proteases by immunofluorescence in several S. cremoris strains under different culture conditions. The described immunofluorescence methods can be used to analyze complex mixed starter cultures common in the dairy industry as the strains and variants present in these mixtures can be recognized microscopically.
Scoring function for automated assessment of protein structure template quality

We have developed a new scoring function, the template modeling score (TM‐score), to assess the quality of protein structure templates and predicted full‐length models by extending the approaches used in Global Distance Test (GDT) 1 and MaxSub. 2 First, a protein size‐dependent scale is exploited to eliminate the inherent protein size dependence of the previous scores and appropriately account for random protein structure pairs. Second, rather than setting specific distance cutoffs and calculating only the fractions with errors below the cutoff, all residue pairs in alignment/modeling are evaluated in the proposed score. For comparison of various scoring functions, we have constructed a large‐scale benchmark set of structure templates for 1489 small to medium size proteins using the threading program PROSPECTOR_3 and built the full‐length models using MODELLER and TASSER. The TM‐score of the initial threading alignments, compared to the GDT and MaxSub scoring functions, shows a much stronger correlation to the quality of the final full‐length models. The TM‐score is further exploited as an assessment of all ‘new fold’ targets in the recent CASP5 experiment and shows a close coincidence with the results of human‐expert visual assessment. These data suggest that the TM‐score is a useful complement to the fully automated assessment of protein structure predictions. The executable program of TM‐score is freely downloadable at http://bioinformatics.buffalo. edu/TM‐score. Proteins 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.