Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability and Variability of Lower Limb Muscle Activation as Indicators of Familiarity to Submaximal Eccentric Cycling

Submaximal eccentric (ECC) cycling exercise is commonly used in research studies. No previous study has specified the required time naïve participants take to familiarize with submaximal ECC cycling. Therefore, we designed this study to determine whether critical indicators of cycling reliability and variability stabilize during 15 min of submaximal, semi-recumbent ECC cycling (ECC cycling). Twenty-two participants, aged between 18–51 years, volunteered to complete a single experimental session. Each participant completed three peak eccentric torque protocol (PETP) tests, nine countermovement jumps and 15 min of submaximal (i.e., 10% peak power output produced during the PETP tests) ECC cycling. Muscle activation patterns were recorded from six muscles (rectus femoris, RF; vastus lateralis, VL; vastus medialis, VM; soleus, SOL; medial gastrocnemius, GM; tibialis anterior, TA), during prescribed-intensity ECC cycling, using electromyography (EMG). Minute-to-minute changes in the reliability and variability of EMG patterns were examined using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and variance ratios (VR). Differences between target and actual power output were also used as an indicator of familiarization. Activation patterns for 4/6 muscles (RF, VL, VM and GM) became more consistent over the session, the RF, VL and VM increasing from moderate (ICC = 0.5–0.75) to good (ICC = 0.75–0.9) reliability by the 11th minute of cycling and the GM good reliability from the 1st minute (ICC = 0.79, ICC range = 0.70–0.88). Low variability (VR ≤ 0.40) was maintained for VL, VM and GM from the 8th, 8th and 1st minutes, respectively. We also observed a significant decrease in the difference between actual and target power output (χ2 14 = 30.895, p = 0.006, W = 0.105), expressed primarily between the 2nd and 3rd minute of cycling (Z = -2.677, p = 0.007). Indicators of familiarization during ECC cycling, including deviations from target power output levels and the reliability and variability of muscle activation patterns stabilized within 15 min of cycling. Based upon this data, it would be reasonable for future studies to allocate ∼ 15 min to familiarize naïve participants with a submaximal ECC cycling protocol.
Somatic DNA Damage Response and Homologous Repair Gene Alterations and Its Association With Tumor Variant Burden in Breast Cancer Patients With Occupational Exposure to Pesticides

Homologous recombination is a crucial pathway that is specialized in repairing double-strand breaks; thus, alterations in genes of this pathway may lead to loss of genomic stability and cell growth suppression. Pesticide exposure potentially increases cancer risk through several mechanisms, such as the genotoxicity caused by chronic exposure, leading to gene alteration. To analyze this hypothesis, we investigated if breast cancer patients exposed to pesticides present a different mutational pattern in genes related to homologous recombination (BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and RAD51D) and damage-response (TP53) concerning unexposed patients. We performed multiplex PCR-based assays and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of all coding regions and flanking splicing sites of BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, TP53, and RAD51D in 158 unpaired tumor samples from breast cancer patients on MiSeq (Illumina) platform. We found that exposed patients had tumors with more pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants than unexposed patients (p = 0.017). In general, tumors that harbored a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant had a higher mutational burden (p < 0.001). We also observed that breast cancer patients exposed to pesticides had a higher mutational burden when diagnosed before 50 years old (p = 0.00978) and/or when carrying BRCA1 (p = 0.0138), BRCA2 (p = 0.0366), and/or PALB2 (p = 0.00058) variants, a result not found in the unexposed group. Our results show that pesticide exposure impacts the tumor mutational landscape and could be associated with the carcinogenesis process, therapy response, and disease progression. Further studies should increase the observation period in exposed patients to better evaluate the impact of these findings.
In Vivo Reductionist Approach Identifies miR-15a Protecting Mice From Obesity

Obesity is a growing medical and social problem worldwide. The control of energy homeostasis in the brain is achieved by various regions including the arcuate hypothalamic nucleus (ARH). The latter comprises a number of neuronal populations including the first order metabolic neurons, appetite-stimulating agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons and appetite-suppressing proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons. Using an in vivo reductionist approach and POMCCre-dependent CRISPR-Cas9, we demonstrate that miR-15a-5p protects from obesity. Moreover, we have identified Bace1, a gene previously linked to energy metabolism imbalance, as a direct target of miR-15a-5p. This work warrants further investigations of non-coding RNA-mediated regulation of energy homeostasis and might contribute to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to treat metabolic diseases.
Small Peptide Derivatives Within the Carbohydrate Recognition Domain of SP-A2 Modulate Asthma Outcomes in Mouse Models and Human Cells

Surfactant Protein-A (SP-A) is an innate immune modulator that regulates a variety of pulmonary host defense functions. We have shown that SP-A is dysfunctional in asthma, which could be partly due to genetic heterogeneity. In mouse models and primary bronchial epithelial cells from asthmatic participants, we evaluated the functional significance of a particular single nucleotide polymorphism of SP-A2, which results in an amino acid substitution at position 223 from glutamine (Q) to lysine (K) within the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). We found that SP-A 223Q humanized mice had greater protection from inflammation and mucin production after IL-13 exposure as compared to SP-A-2 223K mice. Likewise, asthmatic participants with two copies the major 223Q allele demonstrated better lung function and asthma control as compared to asthmatic participants with two copies of the minor SP-A 223K allele. In primary bronchial epithelial cells from asthmatic participants, full-length recombinant SP-A 223Q was more effective at reducing IL-13-induced MUC5AC gene expression compared to SP-A 223K. Given this activity, we developed 10 and 20 amino acid peptides of SP-A2 spanning position 223Q. We show that the SP-A 223Q peptides reduce eosinophilic inflammation, mucin production and airways hyperresponsiveness in a house dust mite model of asthma, protect from lung function decline during an IL-13 challenge model in mice, and decrease IL-13-induced MUC5AC gene expression in primary airway epithelial cells from asthmatic participants. These results suggest that position 223 within the CRD of SP-A2 may modulate several outcomes relevant to asthma, and that short peptides of SP-A2 retain anti-inflammatory properties similar to that of the endogenous protein.
Comparing Individuals With PPA to Individuals With AD: Cognitive and Linguistic Profiles

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a degenerative condition characterized by the progressive loss of language function. In PPA, aphasia is the most prominent deficit at onset. On the other hand, memory deficits are the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The first aim of the study was to establish differences on neuropsychological testing and connected speech production between Greek-speaking individuals with AD and PPA. The second aim was to investigate the executive deficit involvement in the two conditions. Ten individuals with PPA and 9 individuals with AD took part in a comprehensive cognitive-linguistic evaluation. Fifteen demographically matched neurologically healthy adults served as controls. Participants were evaluated using a battery of neuropsychological measures. Quantitative production analysis and acoustic analysis were performed to calculate narrative and temporal measures of the participants' speech. Participants with PPA differed significantly from participants with AD on linguistic measures. They performed worse on the long frequent sentences' subtest of the Sentence Repetition Test and they produced fewer narrative and unique words in picture description. They also produced shorter, less elaborated sentences, and made more phonological errors. The two groups did not differ significantly on memory, executive, visuospatial and semantic composite measures. Compared to neurotypical adults, participants with AD were impaired in memory, and executive function. They also exhibited lexical retrieval difficulties, as well as difficulties in linguistic tasks with an increased processing load. Participants with PPA performed within normal limits on the delay conditions of episodic memory measures. However, they too were impaired in executive tasks, especially for short-term memory and verbal fluency. The production of phonological errors, difficulty in repeating long frequent sentences, and the production of simple and short sentences has differentiated participants PPA not only from neurotypical controls but also from participants with AD. No single measure could differentiate the AD group from the other two groups. These findings should be interpreted with caution considering the small sample size.
A Review of Research on Technology-Supported Language Learning and 21st Century Skills

Modern society needs people to be equipped with 21st century skills (e.g., critical thinking, creativity, communication, digital literacy, or collaboration skills). For this reason, teaching and learning nowadays should promote not only students' knowledge acquisition in various learning contexts but also their 21st century skills, and language learning context is no exception. This study reviewed research on technology-supported language learning and 21st century skills. The reason is that earlier studies reviewed only articles related to language learning supported by technology and mostly focused on languages, language skills and technologies used. That is to say, 21st century skills were not considered in earlier review studies. The present study selected and reviewed 34 articles published between 2011 and 2022 (February) and focused on the following dimensions: (1) research focus such as language skills and 21st century skills; (2) theoretical foundations; (3) technologies; (4) learning activities; (5) methodology; and (6) findings. The present research found that reviewed studies had focused most frequently on such language skills as speaking and writing and on such 21st century skills as communication and collaboration. The social constructivism theory was often used by scholars to base their studies on. Facebook, Google Docs, and Moodle were popular technologies in reviewed studies to facilitate language and 21st century skills. Scholars in reviewed studies reported that technology-supported language learning activities provided learners with good learning experiences and enhanced their learning motivation, engagement, and confidence. However, some challenges that learners faced during learning activities were also reported. Based on the results of the review, this study made several recommendations for stakeholders such as educators and researchers in the field.
Nanomedicines in the Management of Alzheimer’s Disease: Current View and Future Prospects

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a kind of dementia that creates serious challenges for sufferers’ memory, thinking, and behavior. It commonly targeting the aging population and decay the brain cells, despite attempts have been performed to enhance AD diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Hence, AD remains incurable owing to its complex and multifactorial consequences and still there is lack of appropriate diagnostics/therapeutics option for this severe brain disorder. Therefore, nanotechnology is currently bringing new tools and insights to improve the previous knowledge of AD and ultimately may provide a novel treatment option and a ray of hope to AD patients. Here in this review, we highlighted the nanotechnologies-based findings for AD, in both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects and explained how advances in the field of nanotechnology/nanomedicine could enhance patient prognosis and quality of life. It is highly expected these emerging technologies could bring a research-based revolution in the field of neurodegenerative disorders and may assist their clinical experiments and develop an efficacious drug for AD also. The main aim of review is to showcase readers the recent advances in nanotechnology-based approaches for treatment and diagnosing of AD.
Deviant Behavior of Pedestrians: A Risk Gamble or Just Against Automated Vehicles? How About Social Control?

Recent evidence suggests that the assumed conflict-avoidant programming of autonomous vehicles will incentivize pedestrians to bully them. However, this frequent argument disregards the embedded nature of social interaction. Rule violations are socially sanctioned by different forms of social control, which could moderate the rational incentive to abuse risk-avoidant vehicles. Drawing on a gamified virtual reality (VR) experiment (n = 36) of urban traffic scenarios, we tested how vehicle type, different forms of social control, and monetary benefit of rule violations affect pedestrians’ decision to jaywalk. In a second step, we also tested whether differences in those effects exist when controlling for the risk of crashes in conventional vehicles. We find that individuals do indeed jaywalk more frequently when faced with an automated vehicle (AV), and this effect largely depends on the associated risk and not their automated nature. We further show that social control, especially in the form of formal traffic rules and norm enforcement, can reduce jaywalking behavior for any vehicle. Our study sheds light on the interaction dynamics between humans and AVs and how this is influenced by different forms of social control. It also contributes to the small gamification literature in this human–computer interaction.
Periodic Motion in the Chaotic Phase of an Unstirred Ferroin-Catalyzed Belousov Zhabotinsky Reaction

The Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction, a self-organized oscillatory color-changing reaction, can show complex behavior when left unstirred in a cuvette environment. The most intriguing behavior is the transition from periodicity to chaos and back to periodicity as the system evolves in time. It was shown that this happens thanks due to the decoupling of reaction, diffusion and convection. We have recently discovered that, as the so-called chaotic transient takes place, periodic bulk motions in form of convective cells are created in the reaction solution. In this work we investigated this phenomenon experimentally by changing cuvette size and reaction volume, in order to allow different types of convection patterns to appear. So far, we have observed single and double convection cells in the system. There are indications that the convection patterns are connected to the duration of the chaotic phase. A simplified mathematical model confirms the form and dynamics of the observed convection cells and explains the connection between chemical chaos and hydrodynamical order.
Longitudinal Associations Between Core Self-Evaluation, Vital Exhaustion and Hair Cortisol in Teachers and the Mediating Effects of Resignation Tendency

Work-related stress appears to be especially high among teachers. However, most research on teacher stress relies exclusively on teachers’ self-reports. Little is known about the physiological correlates of affective stress in teachers. This longitudinal study investigates the relationship between core self-evaluation and adverse psychological and physiological stress outcomes in 42 teachers. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess core self-evaluation, vital exhaustion, and resignation tendency. The concentration of cortisol was assessed using hair samples. One year after the initial measurement, vital exhaustion and hair cortisol were assessed again. Path-analytic mediational models showed that core self-evaluation strongly predicted vital exhaustion, and resignation tendency partially mediated this relationship. However, core self-evaluation did not predict hair cortisol concentration. These findings suggest that core self-evaluation plays a crucial role in preventing vital exhaustion among teachers. A positive core self-evaluation seems beneficial for teachers’ primary and secondary appraisal and an essential resource for the long-term prevention of self-reported vital exhaustion.
Impact of Managerial Reputation and Risk-Taking on Enterprise Innovation Investment From the Perspective of Social Capital: Evidence From China

China’s enterprises established in the emerging economy are relatively short of technological innovation resources; therefore, these enterprises need to make use of managerial reputation to break through organizational boundaries in order to obtain richer social capital and reshape their technological creativity to cope with the complex and a changeable international economic situation. This corporate phenomenon also serves as the key for China’s economy to advance to the stage of high-quality development. Based on the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2016, this paper adopts the Heckman two-stage evaluation model to empirically study the impact of managerial reputation on enterprise innovation activities, the moderating role of corporate governance, and the mediating role of risk taking. From the standpoint of social capital, the findings indicate that managerial reputation promotes enterprise innovation investment. The mechanism test reveals that this correlation is realized through the mediating role of risk taking. Furthermore, the promotion effect of management reputation on enterprise innovation investment is stronger when the enterprises adopt the CEO duality, the larger board size, higher management ownership, and stronger equity restriction. The conclusions of this study confirm the important role of social capital in enterprise innovation in the context of the Chinese economy. The study implications also enrich and expand the research on the influencing factors of enterprise innovation investment that focus on the managerial reputation and provide important business inspiration for enterprises to build reputation management strategy and promote the transformation and upgrading of local enterprises.
Advances in the Regulation of Macrophage Polarization by Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Implications for ALI/ARDS Treatment

Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) is a common condition with high mortality. ALI/ARDS is caused by multiple etiologies, and the main clinical manifestations are progressive dyspnea and intractable hypoxemia. Currently, supportive therapy is the main ALI/ARDS treatment, and there remains a lack of targeted and effective therapeutic strategies. Macrophages are important components of innate immunity. M1 macrophages are pro-inflammatory, while M2 macrophages are anti-inflammatory and promote tissue repair. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are stem cells with broad application prospects in tissue regeneration due to their multi-directional differentiation potential along with their anti-inflammatory and paracrine properties. MSCs can regulate the balance of M1/M2 macrophage polarization to improve the prognosis of ALI/ARDS. In this paper, we review the mechanisms by which MSCs regulate macrophage polarization and the signaling pathways associated with polarization. This review is expected to provide new targets for the treatment of ALI/ARDS.
Microheater Array Powder Sintering (MAPS) for Printing Flexible Electronics

Microheater array powder sintering (MAPS) is a novel additive manufacturing process that uses an array of microheaters to selectively sinter powder particles. MAPS shows great promise as a new method of printing flexible electronics by enabling digital curing of conductive inks on a variety of substrates. MAPS operation relies on establishing a precision air gap of a few microns between an array of microheaters, which can reach temperatures of 600°C, and a layer of conductive ink which can be deposited onto a flexible substrate. This system presents challenges, being: the fabrication of a microheater that can reach suitable temperatures in an acceptable time frame and is reliable, electronic control of a single microheater, electronic control of an array of microheaters, and precise control of the position of the array of microheaters relative to the substrate. This work describes the design and fabrication of a printer which uses this novel technology to print flexible circuit boards. Various simulations are discussed which are used to explore the parameters affecting the MAPS printing process. Then, a small microheater array is fabricated and controlled using an electronic circuit using a PID feedback loop. This microheater array is used in an experimental proof of concept machine to print conductive lines onto a flexible substrate. Finally, a prototype MAPS printer is developed which is capable of using an improved microheater array to print simple circuits onto flexible substrates. Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge the help of my lab mates for their continued support throughout my graduate career: Chao Sui, Edidiong Udofia, and Mahsa Montezeri. I would also like to thank Lucas Galvan Marques for his role in designing electronic components that were used for this project. I would also like to credit Steven Brown, who helped tremendously in creating the first proof of concept printer described in this thesis. Thank you to Errol Porter, Clint Hardee, and other members of the HiDEC staff at the University of Arkansas for their expert advice when fabricating components for this project. Lastly, thank you to my advisor Dr. Wenchao Zhou for helping me reach my potential; I have not met anyone else with as much passion for a project as him. And of course, thank you to the University of Arkansas and Oak Ridge Associated Universities for the funding which made this project possible.
Application of Multi-Omics Approach in Sarcomas: A Tool for Studying Mechanism, Biomarkers, and Therapeutic Targets

Sarcomas are rare, heterogeneous mesenchymal neoplasms with various subtypes, each exhibiting unique genetic characteristics. Although studies have been conducted to improve the treatment for sarcomas, the specific development from normal somatic cells to sarcoma cells is still unclear and needs further research. The diagnosis of sarcomas depends heavily on the pathological examination, which is yet a difficult work and requires expert analysis. Advanced treatment like precise medicine optimizes the efficacy of treatment and the prognosis of sarcoma patients, yet, in sarcomas, more studies should be done to put such methods in clinical practice. The revolution of advanced technology has pushed the multi-omics approach to the front, and more could be learnt in sarcomas with such methods. Multi-omics combines the character of each omics techniques, analyzes the mechanism of tumor cells from different levels, which makes up for the shortage of single-omics, and gives us an integrated picture of bioactivities inside tumor cells. Multi-omics research of sarcomas has reached appreciable progress in recent years, leading to a better understanding of the mutation, proliferation, and metastasis of sarcomas. With the help of multi-omics approach, novel biomarkers were found, with promising effects in improving the process of diagnosis, prognosis anticipation, and treatment decision. By analyzing large amounts of biological features, subtype clustering could be done in a better precision, which may be useful in the clinical procedure. In this review, we summarized recent discoveries using multi-omics approach in sarcomas, discussed their merits and challenges, and concluded with future perspectives of the sarcoma research.