Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generating ActiGraph Counts from Raw Acceleration Recorded by an Alternative Monitor

Purpose This study aimed to implement an aggregation method in Matlab for generating ActiGraph counts from raw acceleration recorded with an alternative accelerometer device and to investigate the validity of the method. Methods The aggregation method, including the frequency band-pass filter, was implemented and optimized based on standardized sinusoidal acceleration signals generated in Matlab and processed in the ActiLife software. Evaluating the validity of the aggregation method was approached using a mechanical setup and with a 24-h free-living recording using a convenient sample of nine subjects. Counts generated with the aggregation method applied to Axivity AX3 raw acceleration data were compared with counts generated with ActiLife from ActiGraph GT3X+ data. Results An optimal band-pass filter was fitted resulting in a root-mean-square error of 25.7 counts per 10 s and mean absolute error of 15.0 counts per second across the full frequency range. The mechanical evaluation of the proposed aggregation method resulted in an absolute mean ± SD difference of −0.11 ± 0.97 counts per 10 s across all rotational frequencies compared with the original ActiGraph method. Applying the aggregation method to the 24-h free-living recordings resulted in an epoch level bias ranging from −16.2 to 0.9 counts per 10 s, a relative difference in the averaged physical activity (counts per minute) ranging from −0.5% to 4.7% with a group mean ± SD of 2.2% ± 1.7%, and a Cohen’s kappa of 0.945, indicating almost a perfect agreement in the intensity classification. Conclusion The proposed band-pass filter and aggregation method is highly valid for generating ActiGraph counts from raw acceleration data recorded with alternative devices. It would facilitate comparability between studies using different devices collecting raw acceleration data.
Meta-analysis of Cigarette Smoking and Musculoskeletal Injuries in Military Training

Purpose Tobacco use is common among military personnel, as is musculoskeletal injury during training. In a review of the literature on musculoskeletal injuries, there was mixed evidence on the role of smoking as a risk factor. The purpose of this study is to review and analyze the literature on the impact of cigarette smoking on lower-extremity overuse injuries in military training. Methods We performed a literature search on articles published through October 2016. Search terms focused on lower-extremity overuse musculoskeletal injuries and cigarette smoking in military populations. We conducted a meta-analysis overall and by sex, including smoking intensity. Results We identified 129 potential studies and selected 18 based on quality. The overall rate ratio for smoking was 1.31, 1.31 for men, and 1.23 for women. Overall and for each sex, rate ratios were significantly greater than 1.0 for each intensity level of smoking. Conclusions Smoking is a moderate risk factor for musculoskeletal injury and may account for a meaningful proportion of injuries among men and women due to the high prevalence of smoking and injury in this population. Although enlistees are not allowed to smoke during basic training, their risk of injury remains high, indicating that smokers may remain at increased risk for medium- to long-term duration.
An induced population of Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes more resistant to complement lysis promotes a phenotype with greater differentiation, invasiveness, and release of extracellular vesicles

Introduction Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, which uses blood-feeding triatomine bugs as a vector to finally infect mammalian hosts. Upon entering the host, the parasite needs to effectively evade the attack of the complement system and quickly invade cells to guarantee an infection. In order to accomplish this, T. cruzi expresses different molecules on its surface and releases extracellular vesicles (EVs). Methods Here, we have selected a population of epimastigotes (a replicative form) from T. cruzi through two rounds of exposure to normal human serum (NHS), to reach 30% survival (2R population). This 2R population was characterized in several aspects and compared to Wild type population. Results The 2R population had a favored metacyclogenesis compared with wild-type (WT) parasites. 2R metacyclic trypomastigotes had a two-fold increase in resistance to complementmediated lysis and were at least three times more infective to eukaryotic cells, probably due to a higher GP82 expression in the resistant population. Moreover, we have shown that EVs from resistant parasites can transfer the invasive phenotype to the WT population. In addition, we showed that the virulence phenotype of the selected population remains in the trypomastigote form derived from cell culture, which is more infective and also has a higher rate of release of trypomastigotes from infected cells. Conclusions Altogether, these data indicate that it is possible to select parasites after exposure to a particular stress factor and that the phenotype of epimastigotes remained in the infective stage. Importantly, EVs seem to be an important virulence fator increasing mechanism in this context of survival and persistence in the host.
Effects of Creatine and Carbohydrate Loading on Cycling Time Trial Performance

Introduction Creatine (Cr) and carbohydrate loadings are dietary strategies used to enhance exercise capacity. This study examined the metabolic and performance effects of a combined CR and CHO loading regiment on time trial (TT) cycling bouts. Methods Eighteen well-trained (~65 mL·kg−1·min−1 V˙O2peak) men completed three performance trials (PT) that comprised a 120-km cycling TT interspersed with alternating 1- and 4-km sprints (six sprints each) performed every 10 km followed by an inclined ride to fatigue (~90% V˙O2peak). Subjects were pair matched into either CR-loaded (20 g·d−1 for 5 d + 3 g·d−1 for 9 d) or placebo (PLA) groups (n = 9) after the completion of PT1. All subjects undertook a crossover application of the carbohydrate interventions, consuming either moderate (6 g·kg−1 body mass (BM) per day; MOD) or CHO-loaded (12 g·kg−1 BM·d−1; LOAD) diets before PT2 and PT3. Muscle biopsies were taken before PT1, 18 h after PT1, and before both PT2 and PT3. Results No significant differences in overall TT or inclined ride times were observed between intervention groups. PLA + LOAD improved power above baseline (P < 0.05) during the final 1-km sprint, whereas CR + MOD and CR + LOAD improved power (P < 0.05) during the final 4-km sprint. Greater power was achieved with MOD and LOAD compared with baseline with PLA (P < 0.05). CR increased pre-PT BM compared with PLA (+1.54% vs +0.99% from baseline). CR + LOAD facilitated greater [total CR] (P < 0.05 vs baseline) and muscle [glycogen] (P < 0.01 vs baseline and MOD) compared with PLA + LOAD. Mechanistic target of rapamycin decreased from baseline after glycogen depletion (~30%; P < 0.05). Conclusions Power output in the closing sprints of exhaustive TT cycling increased with CR ingestion despite a CR-mediated increase in weight. CR cosupplemented with carbohydrates may therefore be beneficial strategy for late-stage breakaway moments in endurance events.
Menstrual Disruption with Exercise Is Not Linked to an Energy Availability Threshold

IntroductionChronic reductions in energy availability (EA) suppress reproductive function. A particular calculation of EA quantifies the dietary energy remaining after exercise for all physiological functions. Reductions in luteinizing hormone pulse frequency have been demonstrated when EA using this calculation is <30 kcal·kg−1·fat-free mass (ffm)·d−1. PurposeWe determined whether menstrual disturbances (MD) are induced when EA is <30 kcal·kg−1 ffm·d−1. MethodsThirty-five sedentary, ovulatory women age 18 to 24 yr (weight, 59.0 ± 0.8 kg; body mass index, 21.8 ± 0.4 kg·m−2) completed a diet and exercise intervention over three menstrual cycles. Participants were randomized to groups that varied in the magnitude of negative energy balance created by the combination of exercise and energy restriction. Menstrual disturbances were determined using daily urinary estrone-1-glucuronide and pregnanediol glucuronide, midcycle luteinizing hormone, and menstrual calendars. In a secondary analysis, we calculated EA from energy balance data and tested the association of EA with MD. ResultsA generalized linear mixed-effects model showed that the likelihood of a MD decreased by 9% for each unit increase in EA (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.84–0.98; P = 0.010). No specific value of EA emerged as a threshold below which MD were induced. When participants were partitioned into EA tertile groups (low EA, 23.4–34.1; n = 11; moderate EA, 34.9–40.7; n = 12, and high EA, 41.2–50.1; n = 12 [kcal·kg−1 ffm·d−1]), estrone-1-glucuronide (P < 0.001), pregnanediol glucuronide (P < 0.001), and luteal phase length (P = 0.031) decreased significantly, independent of tertile. ConclusionsThese findings do not support that a threshold of EA exists below which MD are induced but do suggest that MD increase linearly as EA decreases. Menstrual disturbances can likely be prevented by monitoring EA using a simplified assessment of metabolic status.
An Exploratory Intra-School Study of How Professional Learning Communities Have Benefitted a High Performing Southwestern Pennsylvania Middle School.

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which teachers in one high performing Southwestern Pennsylvania Middle School view the model and use of Professional Learning Community teams in their school with an existing survey instrument. Twenty-three of twenty-four teachers participated in this voluntary mail survey. The researcher used Shirley Hord’s School Professional Staff as a Learning Community survey instrument in an attempt to measure the maturity level of Professional Learning Communities within one high performing middle school. Prior to this study, the survey was used to compare schools to other schools. Upon receiving completed surveys, the researcher, based on Frick and Semmel’s (1978) use of marginal agreement, measured observer agreement in three seventh and three eighth grade Professional Learning Communities. In doing so, the researcher provided summary tables of the variation within teams and grade levels. Further data analysis led the researcher to recognize that many participants responded to survey items with a four or five on the survey’s five point Likert Scale. Also, the survey’s format included descriptions only under the 1, 3, and 5 rating levels that were designed to measure maturity. Additionally, the descriptions were written in a vague manner which does not measure the maturity or internal processes of the school, evidence of change, or the school’s high ranking. While it is important to see the number of responses to the specific questions of the survey’s five constructs, it is equally important to have data that demonstrate the lack of overall observer agreement so that teachers and administrators are aware that the survey itself is insufficient for measuring the maturity of Professional Learning Communities within one school. Finally, after making several recommendations for school administrators and teachers with regard to Professional Learning Communities and school policy, it is important for individual schools to do their own research and recognize that the administration of one survey on one occasion may not provide adequate data for program planning and/or evaluation.
Representing development history in software cities

In this paper we describe a systematic approach to utilize the city metaphor for the visualization of large software systems as evolving software cities. The main contribution is a new layout approach which explicitly takes the development history of software systems into account and makes history directly visible in the layouts. These layouts incrementally evolve in a very smooth and stable way during the development of the represented software system. They are used as a visualization platform for integrating a large variety of product and process data and thus create a coherent set of specialized visualizations. To illustrate this we present some example maps capturing specific development history aspects.
Pedunculated Hamartoma of the Œsophagus

POLYPI of the oesophagus are rare. They are of submucosal origin with a flat ribbon-like pedicle. This would be expected as the substance of the polyp is treated as a bolus and is drawn downwards by deglutition. The dynamics of the upper cesophagus are more forceful than the lower and the stalk thus produced may be quite long. Not only is the polyp repeatedly tugged downwards by deglutition but it can be regurgitated, often after a bout of vomiting. Not uncommonly the regurgitated polyp is aspirated leading to laryngeal obstruction and death. The earliest available reference to oesophageal polypi is that of Arrowsmith (1847) who reported a man of 48 with a 2 inch pedunculated polyp attached to the posterior wall of the oesophagus immediately behind its commencement. Holt in 1853 reported the sudden death of a man aged 80 who had regurgitated an cesophageal polyp and blocked his laryngeal airway. Four years earlier he had regurgitated his polyp when vomiting. In 1872 Coats described a large 4f in. x 2 in. X i j in. polyp in a man of 61 who died 3 months after his first symptom of dysphagia. Annandale (1878) was the first to report treating this condition; his patient was a man of 76 who was able to regurgitate the polyp very easily. The polyp was insensitive and Annandale divided the pedicle with an ecraseur. Morell Mackenzie in his Manual (1884) quotes an Italian reference (Schmieder) of 1717 as the earliest reported case. Harrington (1949) however, quotes Minski (1895) crediting Sussius (1559) with one of the earliest descriptions of an cesophageal polyp which extended from the middle part of the oesophagus to the cardia causing obstruction and death. Morell Mackenzie supplies three cases of his own, two women and one man, all with dysphagia. Two of these were removed with the parasol probang and one with an cesophagoscope of his own design. All proved to be fibrous polypi on histological section. Targett in 1895 reported the finding of a soft polypoid tumour 4 in. above a malignant annular stricture of the lower cesophagus.
Managing technical debt in software-reliant systems

Delivering increasingly complex software-reliant systems demands better ways to manage the long-term effects of short-term expedients. The technical debt metaphor is gaining significant traction in the agile development community as a way to understand and communicate such issues. The idea is that developers sometimes accept compromises in a system in one dimension (e.g., modularity) to meet an urgent demand in some other dimension (e.g., a deadline), and that such compromises incur a "debt": on which "interest" has to be paid and which the "principal" should be repaid at some point for the long-term health of the project. We argue that the software engineering research community has an opportunity to study and improve this concept. We can offer software engineers a foundation for managing such trade-offs based on models of their economic impacts. Therefore, we propose managing technical debt as a part of the future research agenda for the software engineering field.
Human muscle gene expression following resistance exercise and blood flow restriction.

INTRODUCTION Blood flow restriction in combination with low-intensity resistance exercise (REFR) increases skeletal muscle size to a similar extent as compared with traditional high-intensity resistance exercise training. However, there are limited data describing the molecular adaptations that occur after REFR. PURPOSE To determine whether hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1alpha) and REDD1 mRNA are expressed differently in REFR compared with low-intensity resistance exercise with no blood flow restriction (CONTROL). Secondly, to determine whether low-intensity resistance exercise is able to induce changes in mRNA expression of several anabolic and catabolic genes as typically seen with high-intensity resistance exercise. METHODS Six subjects were studied at baseline and 3 h after a bout of leg resistance exercise (20% 1RM) in REFR and CONTROL subjects. Each subject participated in both groups, with 3 wk separating each visit. Muscle biopsy samples were analyzed for mRNA expression, using qRT-PCR. RESULT Our primary finding was that there were no differences between CONTROL and REFR for any of the selected genes at 3 h after exercise (P > 0.05). However, low-intensity resistance exercise increased HIF-1alpha, p21, MyoD, and muscle RING finger 1 (MuRF1) mRNA expression and decreased REDD1 and myostatin mRNA expression in both groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Low-intensity resistance exercise can alter skeletal muscle mRNA expression of several genes associated with muscle growth and remodeling, such as REDD1, HIF-1alpha, MyoD, MuRF1, and myostatin. Further, the results from REFR and CONTROL were similar, indicating that the changes in early postexercise gene expression were attributable to the low-intensity resistance exercise bout, and not blood flow restriction.
Improving aspect-oriented programming with dynamic code evolution in an enhanced Java virtual machine

Dynamic aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is a powerful approach for integrating new features into running applications without disrupting their execution. In Java, dynamic AOP frameworks often use runtime weaving of previously loaded classes, which is however severely restricted because of limitations in current Java Virtual Machines (JVMs). These constraints make it very difficult or even impossible to support important AOP features such as static join point information, around() advice, or explicit structural modifications of classes and the class hierarchy. In this position paper we advocate the idea of using advanced dynamic code evolution features to improve dynamic AOP. We present an enhanced JVM, based on a state-of-the-art production JVM, which offers unrestricted class redefiniton. Thanks to this feature, we are able to redesign the dynamic AOP framework HotWave in order to overcome the aforementioned restrictions in the programming model.
Burn-to-share: content sharing with mobile projectors

Projector-enabled mobile devices and handheld projectors will provide new possibilities for ubiquitous and mobile multimedia by creating novel interaction methods and use cases. In this paper, we introduce our Burn-to-Share concept, which is a novel system for sharing pictorial content on public surfaces with mobile projectors. Contrary to earlier methods in visual content sharing between mobile devices and public displays, our concept uses optical capture, making software installations, pairing and data connectivity unnecessary. Furthermore, with our approach the interaction is immediate and intuitive.
Peer Support Workers’ Experience of an Intentional Peer Support Scheme on an Acute Psychiatric Ward

This paper reports on a study which formed part of a multi-perspective evaluation of an Intentional Peer Support scheme within an adult acute psychiatric inpatient setting. The objectives of the evaluation were twofold. Firstly, to explore the experience of Peer Support Workers (PSW) in their new role and, secondly, to examine the extent to which peer support may contribute towards recovery-based practice within the context of the NHS. PSWs were recruited by a mental health charity for the purpose of the scheme within an inner city borough. The study employed a qualitative methodology. Two focus groups were conducted with PSWs. The findings highlighted that participants described both positive aspects, such as personal growth and adaptation, and challenges in relation to their new role as PSW. Initial challenges, particularly around working relationships with staff, were subsequently overcome during the study period. These findings contribute towards developing an evidence base for the value of the Intentional Peer Support services within the context of recovery-based NHS mental health services.
Effects of obesity on the biomechanics of walking at different speeds.

PURPOSE Walking is a recommended form of exercise for the treatment of obesity, but walking may be a critical source of biomechanical loads that link obesity and musculoskeletal pathology, particularly knee osteoarthritis. We hypothesized that compared with normal-weight adults 1) obese adults would have greater absolute ground-reaction forces (GRF) during walking, but their GRF would be reduced at slower walking speeds; and 2) obese adults would have greater sagittal-plane absolute leg-joint moments at a given walking speed, but these moments would be reduced at slower walking speeds. METHODS We measured GRF and recorded sagittal-plane kinematics of 20 adults (10 obese and 10 normal weight) as they walked on a level, force-measuring treadmill at six speeds (0.5-1.75 m.s(-1)). We calculated sagittal-plane net muscle moments at the hip, knee, and ankle. RESULTS Compared with their normal-weight peers, obese adults had much greater absolute GRF (N), stance-phase sagittal-plane net muscle moments (N.m) and step width (m). CONCLUSIONS Greater sagittal-plane knee moments in the obese subjects suggest that they walked with greater knee-joint loads than normal-weight adults. Walking slower reduced GRF and net muscle moments and may be a risk-lowering strategy for obese adults who wish to walk for exercise. When obese subjects walked at 1.0 versus 1.5 m.s(-1), peak sagittal-plane knee moments were 45% less. Obese subjects walking at approximately 1.1 m.s(-1) would have the same absolute peak sagittal-plane knee net muscle moment as normal-weight subjects when they walk at their typical preferred speed of 1.4 m.s(-1).
How many days of pedometer monitoring predict monthly ambulatory activity in adults?

PURPOSE To determine how many days of pedometer monitoring are necessary to estimate monthly ambulatory activity in adults. METHODS Two hundred and twelve adults (64% female; age = 38.3 +/- 13.3 yr; body mass index = 27.9 +/- 5.3 kg x m(-2)) wore a pedometer (SW-200) for 28 consecutive days. About 76.4% were randomly allocated to a reliability group, whereas the remainder (n = 50) comprised a confirmation group. Mean step counts calculated over the 28-d period served as the criterion. Using the reliability group, intraclass correlations (ICC) were computed for the entire 4-wk period, for 3, 2, and 1 wk, and for different combinations of any 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 d. The reliability of the recommended time frame was tested in the confirmation group using regression analysis. RESULTS In the reliability group, the ICC for any single given day was 0.41. All combinations including 6 d or more had ICC above 0.80. The inclusion of participant characteristics into a regression, alongside mean steps reported during 1 wk of monitoring, failed to strengthen the prediction. When tested in the confirmation group, there was a significant relationship between mean step counts calculated from the first week of monitoring and the criterion (adjusted R2 = 0.91, P< 0.001). CONCLUSION It is recommended that researchers collect pedometer data over a 7-d period for a reliable estimate of monthly activity in adults. A 7-d period is recommended, as opposed to 6 d (where ICC > 0.80) because: 1) step counts are characteristically lower on a Sunday; thus, for a reliable estimate of habitual activity, Sunday activity should always be included; and 2) in the event of missing data (1 d), data collected on 6 d will remain sufficiently reliable to estimate mean monthly activity.