Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influences of Acute and Chronic Aerobic Exercise on the Plasma Homocysteine Level

Background and Aims: Elevated plasma homocysteine (PH) levels have been identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The aims of this study were to investigate the influences of submaximal acute aerobic exercise and aerobic training on PH levels and lipid profiles. Methods: 69 volunteersubjects (21.12 ± 2.08 years) were randomized to three groups as acute, training and control groups. Examination and blood samples were collected before and immediately after exercise in the acute group and before and 6 weeks later in the training and control groups. Results: A significant increase in PH concentration was recorded immediately after aerobic exercise, compared with baseline values (p = 0.001). Although, in the training group, total cholesterol (p = 0.00) and LDL cholesterol (p = 0.001) decreased significantly after training, no significant changes in PH concentration, HDL cholesterol (p = 0.087) and triglyceride (p = 194) levels were found. Conclusions: It can be said that the PH level increases following submaximal acute aerobic exercise, but does not alter after submaximal aerobic training due to training duration or intensity. Therefore, submaximal aerobic training decreases lipid profiles independent of the PH level.
The information activity of rail passenger information staff: a foundation for information system requirements

Introduction. This paper examines the goal-directed information activity of passenger information staff, working in the dynamic environment of rail network control. The explicit aim is to define a meaningful set of information system requirements. The report shows how dynamic situations may lead us to question a number of established theories of information science. Method. Passenger information officers (PIOs) were observed on duty within the rail command and control headquarters. Observation sessions totally eight hours involved the manual recording of sequential information flows and the associated activity of PIOs. A semi-structured management interview was also conducted to provide further insight into the organizational context. Analysis. A viewpoint-oriented analysis technique was used to analyse sequential data captured during observation sessions. Event sequences that represent and explain the viewpoints were identified and elaborated into detailed scenario descriptions. Results. The analysis both supports and contests a number of established theories from information science. Additionally, a range of 'mandatory' and 'desirable' system requirements are derived from the scenario and viewpoint analyses. Conclusion. Dynamic situations have a significant impact on information behaviour which is not always predicted by current theories of information science.
Optimization of linear control systems: analytical methods and computational algorithms[Book Review}

Fuzzy Controlby Passino and Yurkovich is an excellent textbook for a beginning graduate course on fuzzy logic control. It can also be a valuable reference book for practicing engineers who want to understand fuzzy control and gain insights on how to develop and implement such systems. The examples and case studies contained in this book are a valuable resource for both purposes. The exercises and design problems assigned at the end of chapters provide a necessary learning experience for readers who want to apply fuzzy control to real-world problems. The authors provided valuable suggestions throughout the book where, in the opinion of the reviewer, the solutions to challenging research problems will lead to further applications of real world problems. The serious readers of Fuzzy Controlwill find the extensive list of references provided by the authors to be very useful.
The relational compassion scale: development and validation of a new self rated scale for the assessment of self-other compassion

Objective: Previous research on the assessment of compassion focussed on self-reported self-compassion measures. This study reported on the development and evaluation of a new compassion scale that expands the previous conceptualisation by incorporating relational aspects of compassion. Methods: In an online study, 201 participants completed the relational compassion scale and a random sample of four questionnaires comprising measures of self-compassion, emotional approach coping, self-attacking/self-criticism and attachment. Moreover, the criterion-based validity of the scale was tested with an extreme group comparison design for which 30 Arts and Engineering students were recruited. Results: Consistent with a relational conceptualisation of compassion, findings supported a four-factor structure of the measure. Furthermore, the scale was positively correlated with measures of self-compassion, emotional approach coping, reassured self and a secure attachment style. However, the self to other compassion factor of the scale did not correlate with the self-attacking/self-criticism scale. Conclusions: Findings suggest that compassion can be conceptualised from within a relational framework. Moreover, this study indicates a need for further research investigating the relationship between self- and other-compassion in clinical samples and the interaction between different affect regulation systems.
Synaptotagmin-7 Is an Asynchronous Calcium Sensor for Synaptic Transmission in Neurons Expressing SNAP-23

Synchronization of neurotransmitter release with the presynaptic action potential is essential for maintaining fidelity of information transfer in the central nervous system. However, synchronous release is frequently accompanied by an asynchronous release component that builds up during repetitive stimulation, and can even play a dominant role in some synapses. Here, we show that substitution of SNAP-23 for SNAP-25 in mouse autaptic glutamatergic hippocampal neurons results in asynchronous release and a higher frequency of spontaneous release events (mEPSCs). Use of neurons from double-knock-out (SNAP-25, synaptotagmin-7) mice in combination with viral transduction showed that SNAP-23-driven release is triggered by endogenous synaptotagmin-7. In the absence of synaptotagmin-7 release became even more asynchronous, and the spontaneous release rate increased even more, indicating that synaptotagmin-7 acts to synchronize release and suppress spontaneous release. However, compared to synaptotagmin-1, synaptotagmin-7 is a both leaky and asynchronous calcium sensor. In the presence of SNAP-25, consequences of the elimination of synaptotagmin-7 were small or absent, indicating that the protein pairs SNAP-25/synaptotagmin-1 and SNAP-23/synaptotagmin-7 might act as mutually exclusive calcium sensors. Expression of fusion proteins between pHluorin (pH-sensitive GFP) and synaptotagmin-1 or -7 showed that vesicles that fuse using the SNAP-23/synaptotagmin-7 combination contained synaptotagmin-1, while synaptotagmin-7 barely displayed activity-dependent trafficking between vesicle and plasma membrane, implying that it acts as a plasma membrane calcium sensor. Overall, these findings support the idea of alternative syt∶SNARE combinations driving release with different kinetics and fidelity.
The Exclusive-Writer Approach to Updating Replicated Files in Distributed Processing Systems

Consistency control protocols can be classified as either pessimistic or optimistic. Pessimistic protocols check for conflicting file accesses before a transaction references shared files; this prevents transaction restarts but adds intercomputer synchronization delays to execution response times TE. Optimistic protocols avoid intercomputer synchronization delays for TE, but existing optimistic protocols repeatedly restart a transaction until it executes without conflict. Repeated restarts lengthen the time to finalize an update TU, and can saturate the computing and communication resources. We present two new optimistic protocols that avoid repeated restarts: the exclusive-writer protocol (EWP) and the exclusive-writer protocol with locking option (EWL). EWP has no transaction restarts, database rollbacks, or deadlocks due to shared data access. But EWP ensures only a limited form of serializability. EWL is an extension of EWP that ensures full serializability. EWL has no database rollbacks. Also, EWL can guarantee that a transaction will be restarted at most once. To further reduce restarts, each site can independently and dynamically switch between primary site locking (PSL), which has no restarts, and EWL. Such switching requires no additional messages or delays to synchronize protocol selection. Analytic models are developed to study the response times (i.e., TE and TU) of EWP, EWL, PSL, and basic timestamps (BTS). Our study reveals that EWP and EWL have the smallest TF since neither requires update-log maintenance (unlike BTS) nor intercomputer synchronization delays for TE (unlike PSL). EWP has the smallest TU unless the cost of communicating and processing updates is high.
Design of a compact dual-band dual-mode microstrip filter with an adjustable transmission zero

A novel compact microstrip dual-band filter with an adjustable transmission zero is proposed in this paper. The filter mainly consists of a microstrip stub-loaded dual-mode resonator and a half-wavelength resonator, and both are folded to make a compact configuration. The center frequencies of the two passbands are determined by appropriately choosing the impedance ratio of the stub-loaded dual-mode resonator. Through adding the half-wavelength resonator, another resonance is produced to form a two-order filtering property in the second passband. The dual-bandwidths can be controlled independently. Three transmission zeros are obtained between the two passbands, and one of them is readily adjustable by changing the length of a microstrip tuning line.
A distributed algorithm for computing a common fixed point of a family of strongly quasi-nonexpansive maps

This paper studies a distributed algorithm for finding a common fixed point of a family of m > 1 nonlinear maps M<inf>i</inf>: ℝ<sup>n</sup> → ℝ<sup>n</sup> assuming that each map is strongly quasi-nonexpansive, and that at least one such common fixed point exists. A common fixed point is simultaneously and recursively computed by m agents assuming that each agent i knows only M<inf>i</inf>, the current estimates of the fixed point generated by its neighbors, and nothing more. Neighbor relationships are described by a time-varying directed graph ℕ(t) whose vertices correspond to agents and whose arcs depict neighbor relationships. It is shown that for any sequence of repeatedly jointly strongly connected neighbor graphs ℕ(t), t ∈ {1, 2, …}, the algorithm causes all agents' estimates to converge to a common fixed point of M<inf>i</inf>, i ∈ {1, 2, …, m}.
A report on the activity and clinical outcomes of renal non‐heart beating donor transplantation in the United Kingdom

Abstract: The use of kidneys from non‐heart beating donors (NHBDs) presents a paradox; whilst they provide more organs for transplantation, there is an increased risk of poor graft outcome, particularly in the short term. This study has highlighted the difference in early graft function and late graft survival between NHBD kidneys with short (controlled) and long (uncontrolled) warm ischaemic times. Whilst it would seem that it is preferable to use controlled donors only, their numbers are small. By employing a rational approach to the use of each of these types of kidney, such as structured viability assessment and risk analysis, it may be that the results of uncontrolled NHBD can be improved.
Toward the Validation of Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Replication

1 The Current Position of Research in Psychotherapy. - 2 Design of the Second Study of Brief Psychotherapy. - Aims of the Study. - Design of the Replicated Study of Brief Psychotherapy. - 3 The Psychodynamic Assessment of Outcome. - Defining a Psychodynamic Hypothesis. - The Outcome Scale. - Reliability. - 4 Criteria for Rejection and the Nature of the Sample. - 5 The Clinical Material. - The Au Pair Girl. - The Car Dealer. - Mrs. Clifford. - The Company Secretary. - The Contralto. - The Factory Inspector. - The Gunner's Wife. - Mrs. Hopkins. - Mrs. Lewis. - The Maintenance Man. - The Playwright. - The Representative. - 6 The Observed Improvements, Clinical Considerations. - The Influence of External Events and Changes of Environment- "Spontaneous Remission" After Psychotherapy. - Evidence on the Validity of Psychotherapy from Time Factors. - 7 Further Follow-Up on the First Series. - Articled Accountant. - Biologist. - Civil Servant. - Dog Lady. - Draper's Assistant. - Falling Social Worker. - Girl with the Dreams. - Hypertensive Housewife. - Lighterman. - Neurasthenic's Husband. - Paranoid Engineer. - Pilot's Wife. - Railway Solicitor. - Storm Lady. - Student Thief. - Student's Wife. - Surgeon's Daughter. - Tom. - Unsuccessful Accountant. - Violet's Mother. - Discussion. - 8 Failure to Terminate and "Spontaneous Remission". - The "False" Cases. - Statistical Methods Used. - A Note on One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests of Significance. - Hypotheses of the Necessary Condition. - 9 Selection Criteria at Initial Assessment. - Methods Used in the Present Study. - Study of Motivation by Malan and Rayner. - 10 Selection Criteria at the Initial Stages of Therapy. - Focality. - The Practical Viewpoint. - The Relation Between Motivation and Focality. - Practical Considerations. - Theoretical Implications. - 11 Content Analysis, Preliminary. - 12 Number of Sessions, Passage of Time, and the Validity of Psychotherapy. - The Correlation Between Outcome and Passage of Time. - Number of Sessions and Passage of Time in the First Series. - Passage of Time and Outcome in Other Series. - Is a Certain Minimum Number of Sessions Necessary for a Good Therapeutic Result? - The Influence of Number of Sessions on Correlations Involving Outcome and Proportions of Various Types of Interpretation. - 13 The Transference/Parent Link. - Reliability. - Correlations with Outcome. - "Undirected" Interpretations. - Discussion. - Significance of This Observation. - 14 Other Correlations. - Early Transference and Work on Termination. - Negative Transference. - The Therapist's Involvement. - The Relation Between Working Through of the Transference and Behavior over Follow-up. - The Transference/"Other" Link and Length of Therapy. - The Patients Who Failed Follow-up. - More Light Relief. - A Note on Correlations and Chance. - 15 The Evidence and Its Implications. - The Long Cases. - The False Cases. - "Exceptional" Cases. - Overall View of Therapeutic Mechanisms Specific and Nonspecific Factors. - 16 The Question of the Validity of Psychotherapy. - References.
An Efficient Dialogue Control Method An Efficient Dialogue Control Method An Efficient Dialogue Control Method An Efficient Dialogue Control Method under System under System under System under System’’’’s Limited Knowledge s Limited Knowledge s Limited Knowledge s Limited Knowledge

This paper presents a novel method that controls a dialogue between a spoken dialogue system and a user efficiently so that the system responds as helpfully as possible within the limits of its knowledge. Due to speech recognition errors, a system and user must engage in a “confirmation dialogue” to clarify a user’s request. Although a confirmation dialogue is unavoidable, it should be as concise as possible. Previous methods do not sufficiently allow for the effect of the limits of the system’s knowledge on the efficiency of dialogue. The result is unnecessarily long dialogues to confirm a user’s request minutely even if the request is beyond the system’s knowledge. This paper describes a method that controls a dialogue efficiently so as to avoid an unnecessary confirmation dialogue and presents a computational efficiency criterion for dialogue control within the limits of the system’s knowledge.
Antisense Inhibition of Tomato Fruit Sucrose Synthase Decreases Fruit Setting and the Sucrose Unloading Capacity of Young Fruit

The role of sucrose synthase (SuSy) in tomato fruit was studied in transgenic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants expressing an antisense fragment of fruit-specific SuSy RNA (TOMSSF) under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Constitutive expression of the antisense RNA markedly inhibited SuSy activity in flowers and fruit pericarp tissues. However, inhibition was only slight in the endosperm and was undetectable in the embryo, shoot, petiole, and leaf tissues. The activity of sucrose phosphate synthase decreased in parallel with that of SuSy, but acid invertase activity did not increase in response to the reduced SuSy activity. The only effect on the carbohydrate content of young fruit was a slight reduction in starch accumulation. The in vitro sucrose import capacity of fruits was not reduced by SuSy inhibition at 23 days after anthesis, and the rate of starch synthesized from the imported sucrose was not lessened even when SuSy activity was decreased by 98%. However, the sucrose unloading capacity of 7-day-old fruit was substantially decreased in lines with low SuSy activity. In addition, the SuSy antisense fruit from the first week of flowering had a slower growth rate. A reduced fruit set, leading to markedly less fruit per plant at maturity, was observed for the plants with the least SuSy activity. These results suggest that SuSy participates in the control of sucrose import capacity of young tomato fruit, which is a determinant for fruit set and development.
DNA damage in human sperm is related to urinary levels of phthalate monoester and oxidative metabolites.

BACKGROUND The ubiquitous use of phthalate esters in plastics, personal care products and food packaging materials results in widespread general population exposure. In this report, we extend our preliminary study on the relationship between urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and sperm DNA damage among a larger sample of men and include measurements of mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) and mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), two oxidative metabolites of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). METHODS Among 379 men from an infertility clinic, urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites were measured using isotope-dilution high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Sperm DNA damage measurements, assessed with the neutral comet assay, included comet extent (CE), percentage of DNA in tail (Tail%) and tail distributed moment (TDM). RESULTS Monoethyl phthalate (MEP), a metabolite of diethyl phthalate, was associated with increased DNA damage, confirming our previous findings. Mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), a metabolite of DEHP, was associated with DNA damage after adjustment for the oxidative DEHP metabolites. After adjustment for MEHHP, for an interquartile range increase in urinary MEHP, CE increased 17.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 8.7-25.7%], TDM increased 14.3% (95% CI = 6.8-21.7%) and Tail% increased 17.5% (95% CI = 3.5-31.5%). CONCLUSIONS Sperm DNA damage was associated with MEP and with MEHP after adjusting for DEHP oxidative metabolites, which may serve as phenotypic markers of DEHP metabolism to 'less toxic' metabolites. The urinary levels of phthalate metabolites among these men were similar to those reported for the US general population, suggesting that exposure to some phthalates may affect the population distribution of sperm DNA damage.
Accelerometer-based measures in physical activity surveillance: current practices and issues

Objective Self-reports of physical activity (PA) have been the mainstay of measurement in most non-communicable disease (NCD) surveillance systems. To these, other measures are added to summate to a comprehensive PA surveillance system. Recently, some national NCD surveillance systems have started using accelerometers as a measure of PA. The purpose of this paper was specifically to appraise the suitability and role of accelerometers for population-level PA surveillance. Methods A thorough literature search was conducted to examine aspects of the generalisability, reliability, validity, comprehensiveness and between-study comparability of accelerometer estimates, and to gauge the simplicity, cost-effectiveness, adaptability and sustainability of their use in NCD surveillance. Conclusions Accelerometer data collected in PA surveillance systems may not provide estimates that are generalisable to the target population. Accelerometer-based estimates have adequate reliability for PA surveillance, but there are still several issues associated with their validity. Accelerometer-based prevalence estimates are largely dependent on the investigators’ choice of intensity cut-off points. Maintaining standardised accelerometer data collections in long-term PA surveillance systems is difficult, which may cause discontinuity in time-trend data. The use of accelerometers does not necessarily produce useful between-study and international comparisons due to lack of standardisation of data collection and processing methods. To conclude, it appears that accelerometers still have limitations regarding generalisability, validity, comprehensiveness, simplicity, affordability, adaptability, between-study comparability and sustainability. Therefore, given the current evidence, it seems that the widespread adoption of accelerometers specifically for large-scale PA surveillance systems may be premature.
Charge-Carrier Velocity Distributions in High-Mobility Polymer Dual-Gate Thin-Film Transistors

We report charge-carrier velocity distributions in high-mobility polymer thin-film transistors (PTFTs) employing a dual-gate configuration. Our time-domain measurements of dual-gate PTFTs indicate higher effective mobility as well as fewer low-velocity carriers than in single-gate operation. Such nonquasi-static (NQS) measurements support and clarify the previously reported results of improved device performance in dual-gate devices by various groups. We believe that this letter demonstrates the utility of NQS measurements in studying charge-carrier transport in dual-gate thin-film transistors.