Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of RPE-based training load in soccer.

PURPOSE The ability to accurately control and monitor internal training load is an important aspect of effective coaching. The aim of this study was to apply in soccer the RPE-based method proposed by Foster et al. to quantify internal training load (session-RPE) and to assess its correlations with various methods used to determine internal training load based on the HR response to exercise. METHODS Nineteen young soccer players (mean +/- SD: age 17.6 +/- 0.7 yr, weight 70.2 +/- 4.7 kg, height 178.5 +/- 4.8 cm, body fat 7.5 +/- 2.2%, VO2max, 57.1 +/- 4.0 mL x kg x min) were involved in the study. All subjects performed an incremental treadmill test before and after the training period during which lactate threshold (1.5 mmol x L above baseline) and OBLA (4.0 mmol x L) were determined. The training loads completed during the seven training weeks were determined multiplying the session RPE (CR10-scale) by session duration in minutes. These session-RPE values were correlated with training load measures obtained from three different HR-based methods suggested by Edwards, Banister, and Lucia, respectively. RESULTS Individual internal loads of 479 training sessions were collected. All individual correlations between various HR-based training load and session-RPE were statistically significant (from r = 0.50 to r = 0.85, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION The results of this study show that the session-RPE can be considered a good indicator of global internal load of soccer training. This method does not require particular expensive equipment and can be very useful and practical for coaches and athletic trainer to monitor and control internal load, and to design periodization strategies.
Responding to Industry Needs: Reorienting Management Education

1 I n 2010, Srikant Datar, David Garvin, and Patrick Cullen presented their assessment of the state of management education in a seminal work titled Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads (Datar, Garvin, & Cullen, 2010). They identified three trends that were shaping management education. One was questioning by employers of the value of an MBA degree—the others were the shift away from traditional educational offerings towards diverse programmes and changing enrollment patterns. For institutions, these trends, especially the criticism from employers of MBAs, imply both taking into account stakeholder feedback and revisiting institutional assumptions about preparing leaders for the world of management. True, Datar and his colleagues were studying only top-ranked programmes in the Western context, but their claim is that their results are generalizable to other contexts as well. Accepting this, we offer a perspective on the first trend identified above— employer feedback and its implications for assumptions about preparing MBAs for business leadership in the Indian context.
Characterization of butyrate transport across the luminal membranes of equine large intestine

What is the central question of this study? Butyrate, a product of colonic microbial fermentation of dietary fibre (grass), is a major source of energy for the horse and plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestine. What are the properties of the membrane protein and what is the mechanism by which butyrate is absorbed in equine large intestine (colon)? What is the main finding and its importance? We have identified the mechanism of and membrane protein involved in butyrate transport in equine large intestine. This knowledge will allow rational approaches to the design of dietary formulations to enhance butyrate production and absorption in equine colon, in order to provide more energy for the horse and maintain its gut health.
Sleep disturbances in asymptomatic BRCA1/2 mutation carriers: women at high risk for breast–ovarian cancer

This study investigated the association between positive genetic diagnosis for BRCA1/2 mutations and sleep quality in Ashkenazi asymptomatic women. Seventy‐three women, including 17 asymptomatic BRCA1/2 carriers and 20 non‐carriers from the oncogenetic clinic, and 36 community controls, participated in a cross‐sectional design. Women completed sociodemographic, clinical, general psychological distress, cancer‐related worry (CRW), fatigue and sleep questionnaires in their homes, and wore actigraphs for 5–7 nights. Impaired global subjective sleep quality was demonstrated in BRCA1/2 carriers compared to non‐carriers and controls [mean Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) total scores 7.29 ± 4.34; 3.94 ± 2.49; 4.21 ± 2.80, respectively, P = 0.021] and poor sleep quality (PSQI total score >5) was significantly higher in carriers (53%) compared to non‐carriers (20%) and controls (28%, P = 0.03). Based on actigraphic measures, sleep latency tended to be longer in carriers compared to counterparts, albeit not significantly. Increased sleep disturbance was related significantly to increased fatigue in the entire sample and in the control group; to psychological distress in the entire sample and in non‐carriers; and to CRW in the entire sample. In carriers, sleep disturbance was related strongly but non‐significantly to fatigue, psychological distress and CRW. Fatigue and carrier status were significant predictors of sleep quality, accounting for 15.7% of the variance. In conclusion, asymptomatic BRCA1/2 carriers experience poor sleep quality compared to non‐carriers and controls. Our study design is unique in that it offers insight regarding the nature of being an asymptomatic carrier, and affords the opportunity to examine factors that may contribute to the development of insomnia in women at risk for breast–ovarian cancer.
Dynamic Pricing Usage in Sports for Revenue Management

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which dynamic pricing is utilized in North American professional sports. While industries such as airlines and travel services have employed dynamic pricing for decades, professional sports is only now starting to adopt it.Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors survey and interview high ranking executives and managers in North American sports organizations. A total of 72 managers and executives from the four major North American professional sports leagues as well as other sport properties were surveyed. Descriptive statistics and a basic regression provide insight into perceptions v. actual practice among sports organizations.Findings: While most sports organizations perceive high usage of dynamic pricing within their organization, current procedures lag. Nearly 70% of respondents believe that their organizations frequently or always apply business analytics to dynamic pricing, but only 30% update their prices daily. Fully 50% of organizations do not automate decision-making processes, which is a hallmark of dynamic pricing. The perception of constant use of analytics in dynamic pricing intensifies as job title increases.Originality/Value: As one of the initial surveys looking at the usage of dynamic pricing in North American professional sports, this study provides a glimpse into both the perception and the reality. It suggests that there is still ample room for improvement.
Study of speaker recognition system based on Feed Forward Deep Neural Networks exploring text-dependent mode

We aim by this work to follow the significant progress in speaker recognition systems getting the benefits of the advancement in the artificial intelligence (AI). Indeed, the deep learning algorithms have proved a real performance in the recognition and classification data. In this contest, we present a study of three different speaker recognition system based in Feed Forward neural networks. The first one is the logic regression, the second one is the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and the third one is the Stacked Denoising Autoencodeurs (SDA). We evaluated these recognition rates using the parameterization technique Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC). To find the best results and to better optimize automatic recognition algorithms, we tested our speaker recognition system under the text-dependent database RSR2015. We studied the recognition rates by varying the values of neural networks parameters, number of neurons and number of hidden layers…etc. We discussed the different results obtained and we selected best parameter values which lead the minimum rate error of recognition.
A Role for 3-O-Sulfated Heparan Sulfate in Promoting Human Cytomegalovirus Infection in Human Iris Cells

ABSTRACT Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has emerged as a clinically opportunistic pathogen that targets multiple types of ocular cells and tissues, including the iris region of the uveal tract during anterior uveitis. In this report, we used primary cultures of human iris stroma (HIS) cells derived from human eye donors to investigate HCMV entry. The following lines of evidence suggested the role of 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate (3-OS HS) during HCMV-mediated entry and cell-to-cell fusion in HIS cells. First, 3-O-sulfotransferase-3 (3-OST-3) expression in HIS cells promoted HCMV internalization, while pretreatment of HIS cells with heparinase enzyme or with anti-3-OS HS (G2) peptide significantly reduced the HCMV-mediated formation of plaques/foci. Second, coculture of the HCMV-infected HIS cells with CHO-K1 cells expressing 3-OS HS significantly enhanced cell fusion. Finally, a similar trend of enhanced fusion was observed with cells expressing HCMV glycoproteins (gB, gO, and gH-gL) cocultured with 3-OS HS cells. Taken together, these results highlight the role of 3-OS HS during HCMV plaque formation and cell-to-cell fusion and identify a novel target for future therapeutic interventions.
Where Do People Get Their News?

The media industry is unique in its ability to spread information that may influence the democratic process. This influence depends on where and how citizens get their political information. While previous research has examined news production and consumption on specific media platforms --- such as newspapers, television, or the Internet --- little is known about overall news consumption across platforms. To fill this gap, we use a model of media power and individual-level survey data on news consumption to estimate the potential electoral influence of major news organizations in 18 countries. Our analysis highlights three global patterns: high levels of concentration in media power, dominant rankings by television companies, and a link between socioeconomic inequality and information inequality. We also explore international differences in the role of public-service broadcasting.
Context incorporation using context — aware language features

This paper investigates the problem of context incorporation into human language systems and particular in Sentiment Analysis (SA) systems. So far, the analysis of how different features, when incorporated into such systems, improve their performance, has been discussed in a number of studies. However, a complete picture of their effectiveness remains unexplored. With this work, we attempt to extend the pool of the context — aware language features at the sentence level and to provide the foundations for a concise analysis of the importance of the various types of contextual features, using data from two different in type and size datasets: the Movie Review Dataset (MR) and the Finegrained Sentiment Dataset (FSD).
FDTD time series extrapolation by the least squares support vector machine method with the particle swarm optimization technique

A new combination of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and least-squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) technique for FDTD time series forecasting is presented. In this paper, the PSO is extended to optimize the hyperparameter used in the LS-SVM algorithm. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the PSO method can efficiently get the optimal value of the hyperparameter used in the LS-SVM algorithm. And the PSO/spl I.bar/LS-SVM method can improve the computational efficiency of the FDTD algorithm when compared with the direct FDTD method.
Hb A2/E Levels Found in Co-Inheritance with the α-Thalassemia-1 – –SEA/ Type Deletion and Either Hb E or β-Thalassemia

The α-thalassemia-1 (α-thal-1) Southeast Asian (– –SEA) type deletion, β-thalassemia (β-thal) and Hb E [β26(B8)Glu→Lys, GAG>AAG] are the most common genetic disorders in Southeast Asian populations. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) <80.0 fL with normal hemoglobin (Hb) is used for screening α- and β-thal, and a Hb E level of less than 25.0% is used for predicting α-thal-1 in Hb E trait. Thus, levels of Hb, MCV and Hb A2/E were reviewed and compared between the SEA type deletion co-inherited with β-thal trait (n = 61), with Hb E trait (n = 102) or homozygous Hb E (n = 13) and β-thal trait (n = 636), Hb E trait (n = 544) or homozygous Hb E (n = 83), respectively. When comparing the values of all three analyzed hematological parameters, only the – –SEA/βE values were shown to be significantly lower than those of Hb E trait. Furthermore, at a cut-off value of Hb A2/E of 21.54%, 95.0% of the – –SEA/βE had Hb A2/E levels lower than this cut-off value, while 94.0% of Hb E trait had Hb A2/E at higher levels. Accordingly, the Hb A2/E level at 21.54% is the best indicator for predicting co-inheritance of the α-thal-1 – –SEA/ deletion and Hb E trait.
Randomized Controlled Trials and Challenge Trials: Design and Criterion for Validity

This article is the third of six articles addressing systematic reviews in animal agriculture and veterinary medicine. This article provides an overview of clinical trials, both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and challenge trials, where the disease outcome is deliberately induced by the investigator. RCTs are not the only study design used in systematic reviews, but are preferred when available as the gold standard for evaluating interventions under real‐world conditions. RCTs are planned experiments, which involve diseased or at‐risk study subjects and are designed to evaluate interventions (therapeutic treatments or preventive strategies, including antibiotics, vaccines, management practices, dietary changes, management changes or lifestyle changes). Key components of the RCT are the use of one or more comparison (control) groups and investigator control over intervention allocation. Important design features in RCTs include as follows: how the population is selected, approach to allocation of intervention and control group subjects, how allocation is concealed prior to enrolment of study subjects, how outcomes are defined, how allocation to group is concealed (blinding) and how withdrawals from the study are managed. Guidelines for reporting important features of RCTs have been published and are useful tools for writing, reviewing and reading reports of RCTs.
Mechanistic insights into 1‐deoxy‐d‐xylulose 5‐phosphate reductoisomerase, a key enzyme of the MEP terpenoid biosynthetic pathway

The binding mode of 1‐deoxy‐d‐xylulose 5‐phosphate (DXP) to 1‐deoxy‐d‐xylulose 5‐phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) (EC 1.1.1.267) from Escherichia coli was investigated via 18O isotope exchange experiments and determination of the kinetic parameters of the reaction. The results support a C3–C4 substrate binding mode in which DXP chelates a DXR‐bound divalent cation via its hydroxyl groups at C3 and C4. Based on this binding mode and the early results, a catalytic cycle for the conversion of DXP to 2‐methyl‐d‐erythritol 4‐phosphate mediated by DXR including a pseudo‐single molecule transition state of the retro‐aldol intermediates is proposed. Taking into account the binding mode of DXP and the catalytic cycle of DXR, the mechanistic insights of DXR are disclosed and the current discrepancies concerning the catalysis of this enzyme are interpreted within the accepted retro‐aldol/aldol sequence.
Attitude estimation of a simulated flight and GPS positioning with Kalman filter

The Kalman filter is an algorithm used for data estimation and sensor fusion. It has been used for decades in several projects, especially in the aerospace industry, being the Apollo program for lunar explorations one of the first to apply the filter. As a way to analyze the practical Kalman filter application in real situations, this paper shows its use in the estimation of the horizontal attitude for an aircraft flight. The experiments were produced inside the X-Plane simulator, through its plugin system and with the estimation of data gathered from the simulated gyroscope. Additionally, a mobile application was developed to show the Kalman filter output for GPS positioning estimation under uncertainty conditions - in this case, inside a building. Results show the data obtained by the filter and a comparison of the values before and after its application.
Breathing and voice quality after surgical treatment for bilateral vocal cord paralysis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate long-term results of surgical treatment for bilateral vocal cord paralysis using objective and subjective measures of breathing and voice quality. DESIGN Prospective cross-sectional case series. SETTING Tertiary care otolaryngology and speech pathology referral center. PATIENTS Ten patients with bilateral vocal cord paralysis who underwent surgical treatment between October 1996 and May 2006 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Würzburg, were examined at a mean of 27.2 months after surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Glottal area, voice range profile, Voice Handicap Index, pulmonary function test results, Göttingen Hoarseness Diagram, microlaryngostroboscopic findings, chronic respiratory disease questionnaire, and European Organization for Research and the Treatment of Cancer quality-of-life questionnaire, including the head and neck module. RESULTS Residual recurrent nerve function was seen in 9 of 10 patients. Pulmonary data varied widely and did not correlate with the size of the glottal area. Quality of life, subjective dyspnea, and physical functioning correlated with expiratory airflow measures. Voice range was reduced in all patients. High breathiness and reduced maximum phonation time led to increased Voice Handicap Index scores. CONCLUSIONS Microlaryngostroboscopic findings did not necessarily correlate with subjective dyspnea and vocal complaints. Reduction of inspiratory speaking efforts and acquisition of special breathing techniques improve airflow stability and effectiveness of respiration, leading to enhanced quality of life.
Pseudomonas putida Mutants Defective in the Metabolism of the Products of meta Fission of Catechol and Its Methyl Analogues

A selection procedure is described which was used to isolate mutants of Pseudomonas putida strain U in the following enzymes of the meta-fission pathway of phenol and cresols: hydrolase, tautomerase, and decarboxylase. Strains deficient in the hydrolase are unable to use either o- or m-cresol as a sole carbon source and were shown to accumulate 2-hydroxy-6-keto-2,4-heptadienoate when incubated in the presence of o- or m-cresol. When 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde (plus nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, oxidized form) was metabolized by phenol-induced extracts of tautomerase-deficient strains, the enol tautomer of 4-oxalocrotonate accumulated and was then converted slowly to the keto tautomer by a nonenzymatic reaction. Phenol-induced extracts of decarboxylase-deficient strains accumulated the keto tautomer of 4-oxalocrotonate from 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde (plus nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, oxidized form). Strains with an inactive decarboxylase are unable to completely metabolize either phenol or p-cresol. Tautomerase-defective strains are unable to grow with p-cresol as the sole carbon source and grow only very slowly on phenol.
T2-weighted MR imaging of the abdomen: fast spin-echo vs conventional spin-echo sequences.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare one optimized T2-weighted fast spin-echo sequence with one T2-weighted conventional spin-echo sequence to determine the impact of fast spin echo on image quality and diagnostic efficacy for evaluation of the abdomen. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A total of 32 patients with 43 lesions involving various abdominal organs were examined. T2-weighted fast spin-echo (4000/119/4, echo train length = 16, matrix = 256 x 256) and T2-weighted conventional spin-echo (3400-3800/80/2, matrix = 128 x 256) images were compared qualitatively and quantitatively to determine whether the two types of images differed with respect to tissue contrast, conspicuousness of lesions, image quality, and artifacts. RESULTS The signal intensity of all abdominal structures (except gallbladder and fat) was significantly lower on fast spin-echo images than on conventional spin-echo images. Qualitative liver-to-spleen contrast was significantly reduced on fast spin-echo images, whereas quantitative liver-to-spleen contrast was not significantly different. Blurring of anatomic structures, vascular pulsation, and chemical-shift misregistration artifacts were significantly reduced on fast spin-echo images. The qualitative conspicuousness and contrast-to-noise ratio for all lesions evaluated together were not significantly different (p = .5 and p = .069, respectively) on fast spin-echo vs conventional spin-echo images. However, qualitative conspicuousness and contrast-to-noise ratio of solid lesions were significantly reduced on fast spin-echo images (p = .022 and p = .01, respectively). The contrast-to-noise ratio of cystic lesions was significantly better (p = .002) on fast spin-echo images than on conventional spin-echo images. CONCLUSION Although the fast spin-echo protocol used in this study provides better image quality and contrast-to-noise ratio for cystic abdominal lesions than does conventional spin echo, the qualitative conspicuousness and contrast-to-noise ratio of solid abdominal lesions are decreased. Fast spin echo provides high-quality images with fewer artifacts in significantly less time than is possible with conventional spin-echo images. Further evaluation is necessary to determine the optimal protocol for T2-weighted fast spin-echo MR imaging of the abdomen.
Microneedle Arrays Permit Enhanced Intradermal Delivery of a Preformed Photosensitizer

Silicon microneedle (MN) arrays were used to puncture excised murine and porcine skin in vitro and transdermal and intradermal delivery of meso‐tetra (N‐methyl‐4‐pyridyl) porphine tetra tosylate (TMP) investigated using topical application of a bioadhesive patch containing 19 mg TMP cm−2. Animal studies, using nude mice, were then conducted to investigate the in vivo performance of the bioadhesive patch following MN puncture of skin. MN puncture significantly enhanced both intradermal and transdermal delivery of TMP in vitro, though the total amounts of drug delivered (25.22% into porcine skin and 0.07% across murine skin) were still quite small in each case. Notwithstanding this, in vivo experiments showed that MN puncture was capable of permitting a prolonged increase in TMP fluorescence at the site of application. Importantly, fluorescence was negligible at distant sites, meaning systemic delivery of the drug was not sufficient to induce TMP accumulation other than at the application site. In this study we have conclusively demonstrated proof of principle; MN puncture allows true intradermal delivery of a preformed photosensitizer in animal skin models in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, transdermal delivery was much reduced in each case. Increasing MN density would allow increased amounts of photosensitizer to be delivered. However, as MNs create aqueous pores in the stratum corneum, a preformed photosensitizer must possess at least some degree of water solubility in order to permit enhanced intradermal delivery in this way. We believe that use of MN array technology in this way has the potential to significantly improve topical photodynamic therapy of skin tumors.