Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECTS OF WHOLE BODY VIBRATION INTERVENTION ON HANDGRIP STRENGTH OF BRAZILIAN HEALTHY SOLDIERS

Background: Whole body vibration (WBV) exercises have been investigated as an alternative and complementary method to traditional resistance programs for fitness improvements in healthy subjects. Active militaries must have a high fitness level and have to improve some physical abilities to accomplish some specific tasks in Army, as climb ropes, climb walls and pull up. Materials and methods: Seven young and healthy soldiers from Brazilian Army were exposed to mechanical vibration in a push-up position, with different frequencies, as 25 (first session), 30 (second session), 35 (third session), 40 (fourth session) and 45 Hz (fifth session). The WBV intervention consisted of five WBV sessions over a consecutive two and a half-weeks period of time. A WBV session consisted of twenty bouts, each one with 10- second vibration, interspersed with 10 seconds of passive rest and 4 minutes pause after the first 10 bouts. Handgrip strength was measured, as proposed by American Society of Hand Therapists – ASHT, before and after the session using 25 Hz of frequency and 45 Hz of frequency (1st and 5th sessions). Results: No significant results were found between groups. Conclusion: Intervention of WBV exercises with 25 and 45 Hz of frequency applied by hands of healthy and young soldiers had no significant results. Further investigations should focus on the efficacy of WBV in the improvement of handgrip strength of young and healthy people.
LDA based User-Tag model for Automatic Image GeoTagging

Determining the precise location of the immense amounts of visual data on the internet would be beneficial to many applications, such as construction of detailed 3D location models and providing location-based services. In this work, we propose two latent dirichlet allocation (LDA)-based approaches to model user-tags for automatic geo-tagging of images. Specifically, as a first step in the task of geo-tagging, we consider the problem of determining a query photo’s city of origin based on user-provided textual tags. Our first approach involves training separate LDA models for each city using images from Flickr, then comparing various likelihood metrics to obtain an estimate of the city location. We implemented this approach for eight cities and found classification accuracies ranging between 75% and 95%. The second approach involves finding a single LDA model for the entire dataset user-tags. The estimated posterior topic mixture provides a representation for each image in the topic space. Then, given a query image, task of location estimation is one of multi-label classification.
DOAP1 Promotes Flowering in the Orchid Dendrobium Chao Praya Smile

APETALA1 (AP1) encodes a key MADS-box transcription factor that specifies the floral meristem identity on the flank of the inflorescence meristem, and determines the identity of perianth floral organs in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Orchids are members of the Orchidaceae, one of the largest families of angiosperms. Although the expression patterns of a few AP1-like genes in orchids have been reported, their actual functions in orchid reproductive development are so far largely unknown. In this study, we isolated and characterized an AP1 ortholog, DOAP1, from Dendrobium Chao Praya Smile. DOAP1 was highly expressed in reproductive tissues, including inflorescence apices and flowers at various developmental stages. Overexpression of DOAP1 resulted in early flowering in Arabidopsis, and was able to rescue the floral organ defects of Arabidopsis ap1 mutants. Moreover, we successfully created transgenic Dendrobium Chao Praya Smile orchids overexpressing DOAP1, which displayed earlier flowering and earlier termination of inflorescence meristems into floral meristems than wild-type orchids. Our results demonstrate that DOAP1 plays an evolutionarily conserved role in promoting flowering and floral meristem specification in the Orchidaceae family.
Stimuli and normative data for detection of Ling-6 sounds in hearing level.

PURPOSE The purpose of this work was to develop and evaluate a calibrated version of the Ling-6 sounds for evaluation of aided detection thresholds. Stimuli were recorded, and data from calibration values in dB HL were developed. Aided performance was characterized in adults and children. METHOD Stimuli were recorded, prepared, and transferred to a CD for testing. Initial testing was completed on 29 normally hearing young adults to determine typical responses in dB SPL and reliability. Corrections to dB HL were determined for each stimulus. Twenty-seven adults and 5 children with hearing losses were tested. RESULTS Average normal sound field thresholds were 1 dB HL. Aided thresholds for adults varied with unaided hearing level and were better for low-frequency sounds. Adults and children performed differently, possibly because of greater hearing aid gain for children. CONCLUSIONS Stimulus preparation and shaping resulted in a recorded, calibrated set of Ling-6 stimuli that provide flat normal thresholds in hearing level for normally hearing listeners. Typical performance ranges may vary with hearing level and prescription. More data are required to fully characterize this trend in the pediatric population.
A Hyper-Crosslinked Carbohydrate Polymer Scaffold Facilitates Lineage Commitment and Maintains a Reserve Pool of Proliferating Cardiovascular Progenitors

Background Cardiovascular progenitor cells (CPCs) have been cultured on various scaffolds to resolve the challenge of cell retention after transplantation and to improve functional outcome after cell-based cardiac therapy. Previous studies have reported successful culture of fully differentiated cardiomyocytes on scaffolds of various types, and ongoing efforts are focused on optimizing the mix of cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells as well as on the identification of a source of progenitors capable of reversing cardiovascular damage. A scaffold culture that fosters cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells while maintaining a progenitor reserve would benefit allogeneic cell transplantation. Methods Isl-1 + c-Kit + CPCs were isolated as clonal populations from human and sheep heart tissue. After hyper-crosslinked carbohydrate polymer scaffold culture, cells were assessed for differentiation, intracellular signaling, cell cycling, and growth factor/chemokine expression using real time polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and calcium staining. Results Insulin-like growth factor 1, hepatocyte growth factor, and stromal cell derived factor 1&agr; paracrine factors were induced, protein kinase B signaling was activated, extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation was reduced and differentiation into both cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells was induced by scaffold-based cell culture. Interestingly, movement of CPCs out of the G1 phase of the cell cycle and increased expression of pluripotency genes PLOU5F1 (Oct4) and T (Brachyury) within a portion of the cultured population occurred, which suggests the maintenance of a progenitor population. Two-color immunostaining and 3-color fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis confirmed the presence of both Isl-1 expressing undifferentiated cells and differentiated cells identified by troponin T and von Willebrand factor expression. Ki-67 labeling verified the presence of proliferating cells that remained in situ alongside the differentiated functional derivatives. Conclusions Cloned Isl-1 + c-kit + CPCs maintained on a hyper-cross linked polymer scaffold retain dual potential for proliferation and differentiation, providing a scaffold-based stem cell source for transplantation of committed and proliferating cardiovascular progenitors for functional testing in preclinical models of cell-based repair.
Blue light dose–responses of leaf photosynthesis, morphology, and chemical composition of Cucumis sativus grown under different combinations of red and blue light

The blue part of the light spectrum has been associated with leaf characteristics which also develop under high irradiances. In this study blue light dose–response curves were made for the photosynthetic properties and related developmental characteristics of cucumber leaves that were grown at an equal irradiance under seven different combinations of red and blue light provided by light-emitting diodes. Only the leaves developed under red light alone (0% blue) displayed dysfunctional photosynthetic operation, characterized by a suboptimal and heterogeneously distributed dark-adapted Fv/Fm, a stomatal conductance unresponsive to irradiance, and a relatively low light-limited quantum yield for CO2 fixation. Only 7% blue light was sufficient to prevent any overt dysfunctional photosynthesis, which can be considered a qualitatively blue light effect. The photosynthetic capacity (Amax) was twice as high for leaves grown at 7% blue compared with 0% blue, and continued to increase with increasing blue percentage during growth measured up to 50% blue. At 100% blue, Amax was lower but photosynthetic functioning was normal. The increase in Amax with blue percentage (0–50%) was associated with an increase in leaf mass per unit leaf area (LMA), nitrogen (N) content per area, chlorophyll (Chl) content per area, and stomatal conductance. Above 15% blue, the parameters Amax, LMA, Chl content, photosynthetic N use efficiency, and the Chl:N ratio had a comparable relationship as reported for leaf responses to irradiance intensity. It is concluded that blue light during growth is qualitatively required for normal photosynthetic functioning and quantitatively mediates leaf responses resembling those to irradiance intensity.
Semantic Annotation of the ACL Anthology Corpus for the Automatic Analysis of Scientific Literature

This paper describes the process of creating a corpus annotated for concepts and semantic relations in the scientific domain. A part of the ACL Anthology Corpus was selected for annotation, but the annotation process itself is not specific to the computational linguistics domain and could be applied to any scientific corpora. Concepts were identified and annotated fully automatically, based on a combination of terminology extraction and available ontological resources. A typology of semantic relations between concepts is also proposed. This typology, consisting of 18 domain-specific and 3 generic relations, is the result of a corpus-based investigation of the text sequences occurring between concepts in sentences. A sample of 500 abstracts from the corpus is currently being manually annotated with these semantic relations. Only explicit relations are taken into account, so that the data could serve to train or evaluate pattern-based semantic relation classification systems.
Distributed coordination of energy storage with distributed generators

With a growing emphasis on energy efficiency and system flexibility, a great effort has been made recently in developing distributed energy resources (DER), including distributed generators and energy storage systems. This paper first formulates an optimal DER coordination problem considering constraints at both system and device levels, including power balance constraint, generator output limits, and storage operational constraints such as energy and power capacity and charging/discharging efficiencies. An algorithm is then proposed to dynamically and automatically coordinate DERs in a distributed manner. With the proposed algorithm, the coordination agent at each DER only maintains a local incremental cost and updates it through information exchange with a few neighbors. Simulation results are used to illustrate and validate the proposed algorithm.
Sildenafil Citrate Increases Fetal Weight in a Mouse Model of Fetal Growth Restriction with a Normal Vascular Phenotype

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is defined as the inability of a fetus to achieve its genetic growth potential and is associated with a significantly increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Clinically, FGR is diagnosed as a fetus falling below the 5th centile of customised growth charts. Sildenafil citrate (SC, Viagra™), a potent and selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, corrects ex vivo placental vascular dysfunction in FGR, demonstrating potential as a therapy for this condition. However, many FGR cases present without an abnormal vascular phenotype, as assessed by Doppler measures of uterine/umbilical artery blood flow velocity. Thus, we hypothesized that SC would not increase fetal growth in a mouse model of FGR, the placental-specific Igf2 knockout mouse, which has altered placental exchange capacity but normal placental blood flow. Fetal weights were increased (by 8%) in P0 mice following maternal SC treatment (0.4 mg/ml) via drinking water. There was also a trend towards increased placental weight in treated P0 mice (P = 0.056). Additionally, 75% of the P0 fetal weights were below the 5th centile, the criterion used to define human FGR, of the non-treated WT fetal weights; this was reduced to 51% when dams were treated with SC. Umbilical artery and vein blood flow velocity measures confirmed the lack of an abnormal vascular phenotype in the P0 mouse; and were unaffected by SC treatment. 14C-methylaminoisobutyric acid transfer (measured to assess effects on placental nutrient transporter activity) per g placenta was unaffected by SC, versus untreated, though total transfer was increased, commensurate with the trend towards larger placentas in this group. These data suggest that SC may improve fetal growth even in the absence of an abnormal placental blood flow, potentially affording use in multiple sub-populations of individuals presenting with FGR.
Summer drought alters carbon allocation to roots and root respiration in mountain grassland

Drought affects the carbon (C) source and sink activities of plant organs, with potential consequences for belowground C allocation, a key process of the terrestrial C cycle. The responses of belowground C allocation dynamics to drought are so far poorly understood. We combined experimental rain exclusion with 13C pulse labelling in a mountain meadow to analyse the effects of summer drought on the dynamics of belowground allocation of recently assimilated C and how it is partitioned among different carbohydrate pools and root respiration. Severe soil moisture deficit decreased the ecosystem C uptake and the amounts and velocity of C allocated from shoots to roots. However, the proportion of recently assimilated C translocated belowground remained unaffected by drought. Reduced root respiration, reflecting reduced C demand under drought, was increasingly sustained by C reserves, whilst recent assimilates were preferentially allocated to root storage and an enlarged pool of osmotically active compounds. Our results indicate that under drought conditions the usage of recent photosynthates is shifted from metabolic activity to osmotic adjustment and storage compounds.
Detection of the first heart sound using fibre-optic interferometric measurements and neural networks

Fiber-optic interferometry is used to measure subtle changes of the optical fibre length. It has been shown that in this way also the heart activity can be detected if the fibre is in direct or indirect contact with human body. The measured interferometric signal must be first demodulated and band-pass filtered to separate superimposed contributions of signal components. Only then their detection and classification is feasible. In this paper, we deploy feedforward neural network for detecting the first heart sound (S1) from fibre-optic interferometric signals. A reliable and robust classification of S1 and finding its location in time importantly support diagnosing of cardiac arrhythmias and valve abnormalities. Our experimental results on a group of ten healthy subjects that underwent submaximal stress testing before fibre-optic measurements yield 98.2±1.5% and 98.4±0.9% for sensitivity and precision of S1 detection, respectively.
Protocol investigating the clinical utility of an objective measure of activity and attention (QbTest) on diagnostic and treatment decision-making in children and young people with ADHD—‘Assessing QbTest Utility in ADHD’ (AQUA): a randomised controlled trial

Introduction The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) state that young people need to have access to the best evidence-based care to improve outcome. The current ‘gold standard’ ADHD diagnostic assessment combines clinical observation with subjective parent, teacher and self-reports. In routine practice, reports from multiple informants may be unavailable or contradictory, leading to diagnostic uncertainty and delay. The addition of objective tests of attention and activity may help reduce diagnostic uncertainty and delays in initiating treatment leading to improved outcomes. This trial investigates whether providing clinicians with an objective report of levels of attention, impulsivity and activity can lead to an earlier, and more accurate, clinical diagnosis and improved patient outcome. Methods and analysis This multisite randomised controlled trial will recruit young people (aged 6–17 years old) who have been referred for an ADHD diagnostic assessment at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Community Paediatric clinics across England. Routine clinical assessment will be augmented by the QbTest, incorporating a continuous performance test (CPT) and infrared motion tracking of activity. The participant will be randomised into one of two study arms: QbOpen (clinician has immediate access to a QbTest report): QbBlind (report is withheld until the study end). Primary outcomes are time to diagnosis and diagnostic accuracy. Secondary outcomes include clinician's diagnostic confidence and routine clinical outcome measures. Cost-effective analysis will be conducted, alongside a qualitative assessment of the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating QbTest in routine practice. Ethics and dissemination The findings from the study will inform commissioners, clinicians and managers about the feasibility, acceptability, clinical utility and cost-effectiveness of incorporating QbTest into routine diagnostic assessment of young people with ADHD. The results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. The study has received ethical approval. Trial registration number NCT02209116.
Preliminary Evidence for Training-Induced Changes of Morphology and Phantom Limb Pain

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a special prosthetic training in phantom limb pain patients aimed at increasing the functional use of the prosthesis leads to neural morphological plasticity of brain structures and a reduction in phantom limb pain. For chronic pain disorders, it was shown that morphological alterations due to pain might become at least partially reversed by pain therapies. Phantom limb pain is a chronic pain disorder that is frequently followed by neural plasticity of anatomical brain structures. In our study, 10 patients with amputation of the upper limb participated in a two-week training with a myoelectric prosthesis with somatosensory feedback. Grip strength was fed back with electrocutaneous stimulus patterns applied to the stump. Phantom limb pain was assessed before and after the two-week training. Similarly, two T1 weighted MRI scans were conducted for longitudinal thickness analyses of cortical brain structures. As result of this treatment, patients experienced a reduction in phantom limb pain and a gain in prosthesis functionality. Furthermore, we found a change of cortical thickness in small brain areas in the visual stream and the post-central gyrus ipsilateral to the amputation indicating morphological alterations in brain areas involved in vision and pain processing.
Small-angle X-ray Scattering-based Three-dimensional Reconstruction of the Immunogen KLH1 Reveals Different Oxygen-dependent Conformations*

For decades the respiratory protein keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH1) from the marine gastropod Megathura crenulata has been used widely as a potent immunostimulant, useful hapten carrier, and valuable agent in the treatment of bladder carcinoma. Although much information on the immunological properties of KLH1 is available, biochemical and structural data are still incomplete. Small-angle x-ray scattering revealed the existence of two conformations, an oxy state being slightly more compact than the deoxy state. Based on small-angle scattering curves, a newly developed Monte Carlo algorithm delivered a surface representation of proteins. The massive changes of the surfaces of reconstructed didecameric KLH1 molecules are explained as a twist of the two non-covalently associated decameric half-molecules. Upon oxygenation, the KLH1 molecule becomes longer and skinnier. This study provides the first real evidence how a molluscan hemocyanin changes conformation during an allosteric transition.
Optimization of Cosine Modulated Filter Bank for Narrowband RFI

An optimization scheme is developed for a cosine modulated perfect- reconstruction (PR) filter bank that is tailored to mitigate the effects of narrowband radio frequency interference (RFI). The conventionally used optimization criterion for bandpass filtering is to maximize the sidelobe attenuation by minimizing the stopband energy and minimizing the maximum stopband ripple. The proposed optimization scheme is designed particularly to combat RFI with completely known or partially known statistics. Simulation results for the scenario of strong narrowband RFI show that the proposed optimization scheme offers about 14% data rate improvement in the system's data throughput when compared to the traditional schemes.
An examination of the architecture and system-level tradeoffs of employing steep slope devices in 3D CMPs

For any given application, there is an optimal throughput point in the space of per-processor performance and the number of such processors given to that application. However, due to thermal, yield, and other constraints, not all of these optimal points can plausibly be constructed with a given technology. In this paper, we look at how emerging steep slope devices, 3D circuit integration, and trends in process technology scaling will combine to shift the boundaries of both attainable performance, and the optimal set of technologies to employ to achieve it. We propose a heterogeneous-technology 3D architecture capable of operating efficiently at an expanded number of points in this larger design space and devise a heterogeneity and thermal aware scheduling algorithm to exploit its potential. Our heterogeneous mapping techniques are capable of producing speedups ranging from 17% for a high end server workloads running at around 90°C to over 160% for embedded systems running below 60°C.