Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Falls Self-Management Interventions for People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review

Background: Falls are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Increased involvement of people with Parkinson’s (PwP) in their care has been associated with enhanced satisfaction. Self-management programmes in other long-term conditions (LTCs) have led to improvements in physical and psychological outcomes. These have been more effective when targeted toward a specific behavior. Objective: This paper aimed to identify and review falls self-management interventions for PwP. Methods: A systematic review was conducted. Electronic databases were searched in June 2018. Primary research studies (any design) reporting the delivery of falls self-management interventions to PwP were included. Data was extracted from each article and synthesised narratively. Results: Six articles were identified, relating to five different self-management interventions. All described a self-management intervention delivered alongside physiotherapy. Intervention delivery was through either group discussion (n = 3) or falls booklets (n = 3). Interventions were often incompletely described; the most common components were information about the condition, training/ rehearsal for psychological strategies and lifestyle advice and support. Arising from the design of articles included the effects of self-management and physiotherapy could not be separated. Three articles measured falls, only one led to a reduction. Four articles measured quality of life, only one led to improvement. No articles assessed skill acquisition or adherence to the self-management intervention. Conclusions: Few falls self-management interventions for PwP have been evaluated and reported. The components of an effective intervention remain unclear. Given the benefits of self-management interventions in other LTCs, it is important that falls self-management interventions are developed and evaluated to support PwP.
On the interaction of ribosomal protein RPL22e with microtubules

Microtubule (MT) protein preparations often contain components of the translation machinery, including ribosome proteins. To understand the biological meaning of it we studied the interaction of ribosomal protein RPL22e with the MT. We found that bacteria expressed purified RPL22e‐GFP‐6His did co‐sediment with brain tubulin MTs with 1.3 µM dissociation coefficient. Such a KD is comparable to some specific MT‐associated proteins. Distinct in vitro interaction of RPL22e‐GFP with MTs was also observed by TIRF microscopy. In real‐time assay, RPL22e‐GFP molecules stayed bound to MTs for several seconds, and 15% of them demonstrated random‐walk along MTs with diffusion coefficient 0.03 µ2/s. Deletion of basic areas of RPL22e did not have an impact on KD, and deletion of acidic tail slightly increased association with MTs. Interestingly, the deletion of acidic tail increased diffusion coefficient as well. The interaction of RPL22e with MTs is hardly noticeable in vivo in cultured cells, probably since a significant part of the protein is incorporated into the ribosomes. The mobility of ribosomal protein on the MTs probably prevents its interfering with MT‐dependent transport and could ameliorate its transport to the nucleus.
Effects of plant functional group removal on structure and function of soil communities across contrasting ecosystems.

Loss of plant diversity has an impact on ecosystems worldwide, but we lack a mechanistic understanding of how this loss may influence below-ground biota and ecosystem functions across contrasting ecosystems in the long term. We used the longest running biodiversity manipulation experiment across contrasting ecosystems in existence to explore the below-ground consequences of 19 years of plant functional group removals for each of 30 contrasting forested lake islands in northern Sweden. We found that, against expectations, the effects of plant removals on the communities of key groups of soil organisms (bacteria, fungi and nematodes), and organic matter quality and soil ecosystem functioning (decomposition and microbial activity) were relatively similar among islands that varied greatly in productivity and soil fertility. This highlights that, in contrast to what has been shown for plant productivity, plant biodiversity loss effects on below-ground functions can be relatively insensitive to environmental context or variation among widely contrasting ecosystems.
Identification and Characterization of Differentially Expressed microRNAs and Target Gene Related to Flax Stem Development

ABSTRACT Flax fiber was one of the earliest natural fibers utilized by humans. Current research on flax fiber development is mainly focused on functions of key genes, with few reports investigating regulation of microRNA expression. Here, miRNA-seq was employed to explore miRNA expression profiles of middle stem tissues of high-fiber flax variety Agatha-MB and low-fiber flax variety White Flower during the rapid growth period (RGP) and mature green stage (MGS) to reveal miRNAs related to flax stem fiber development. The results revealed that 24 and 26 known miRNAs were identified that exhibited significant expression differences during MGSAgatha-MB-vs-RGPAgatha-MB and MGSWF-vs-RGPWF, respectively. Forty-one miRNA-target pairs exhibited inverse expression pattern changes as compared to our previously reported transcriptome profiling results. Pathway enrichment analysis of miRNA target genes showed that the plant hormone signal transduction pathway yielded the highest number of miRNA target genes in both varieties between the two developmental stages. To confirm the accuracy and reliability of these miRNA-seq results, qRT-PCR analysis of expression changes of six selected Lus-miRNA demonstrated similar trends as observed using miRNA-seq. These findings will enhance our understanding of miRNA regulatory mechanisms in flax stem development and will provide a foundation for future functional studies of these key miRNAs.
Defining granularity levels for supply chain traceability based on IoT and blockchain

Identifying the optimal granularity level of traceable units is necessary when implementing traceability, particularly in food supply chains. In this paper we propose a generic framework for defining granularity levels based on product's unique characteristics, supply chain processes and stakeholders engagement. We determine different levels of granularity by using smart contracts within a blockchain-enabled supply chain traceability architecture. The granularity relates to different levels depending on the application of information within a company and between companies across complex supply chain networks. The applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated with a food supply chain use case scenario by developing a local private blockchain-enabled architecture. The overall benefits of the proposed model are discussed along with several fruitful areas for further research directions.
Probabilistic-WCET Reliability: On the experimental validation of EVT hypotheses

The interest in probabilistic real-time is increasing, in response to the lack of traditional static WCET analysis methods for applications running on complex systems, like multi/many-cores and COTS platforms. However, the probabilistic theory is still immature and, furthermore, it requires strong guarantees on the timing traces, in order to provide safe probabilistic-WCET estimations. These requirements can be verified with appropriate statistical tests, as described in this paper, and tested with synthetic and realistic sources, to assess their ability to detect unreliable results. In this work, we identified also the challenges and the problems of using statistical test based procedures for probabilistic real-time computing.
Mowgli: Finding Your Way in the DBMS Jungle

Big Data and IoT applications require highly-scalable database management system (DBMS), preferably operated in the cloud to ensure scalability also on the resource level. As the number of existing distributed DBMS is extensive, the selection and operation of a distributed DBMS in the cloud is a challenging task. While DBMS benchmarking is a supportive approach, existing frameworks do not cope with the runtime constraints of distributed DBMS and the volatility of cloud environments. Hence, DBMS evaluation frameworks need to consider DBMS runtime and cloud resource constraints to enable portable and reproducible results. In this paper we present Mowgli, a novel evaluation framework that enables the evaluation of non-functional DBMS features in correlation with DBMS runtime and cloud resource constraints. Mowgli fully automates the execution of cloud and DBMS agnostic evaluation scenarios, including DBMS cluster adaptations. The evaluation of Mowgli is based on two IoT-driven scenarios, comprising the DBMSs Apache Cassandra and Couchbase, nine DBMS runtime configurations, two cloud providers with two different storage backends. Mowgli automates the execution of the resulting 102 evaluation scenarios, verifying its support for portable and reproducible DBMS evaluations. The results provide extensive insights into the DBMS scalability and the impact of different cloud resources. The significance of the results is validated by the correlation with existing DBMS evaluation results.
Mathematical modeling and parametric optimization of surface roughness for evaluating the effects of fused deposition modeling process parameters on ABS material

— Fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology is production devices that use plastic material in the semi-molten state to harvest the products directly from the CAD model. This study describes the development of mathematical models to predict the effects of significant process parameters of the FDM on the surface roughness of ABS material. Experiments were planned as per Taguchi orthogonal array. Experiments were conducted under different printing input parameters of layer thickness, orientation angle, and infill angle. Response surface methods (RSM) have been employed to develop a predictive mathematical model in terms of controllable input parameters. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), main effect and interaction plot, 3D surface, and contour plot were used to investigate the influence of various printing parameters on surface roughness. Finally, Taguchi methodology and RSM approaches have been applied successfully for the optimization of surface roughness (Ra) in FDM printing parts. It was observed that the models can adequately describe the responses within the ranges considered as the maximum error percent
Seed Cryostorage Enhances Subsequent Plant Productivity in the Forage Species Teramnus Labialis (L.F.) Spreng.

BACKGROUND Teramnus labialis is an herbaceous legume that serves as a source of carbohydrates and proteins for animals and humans, and is valued for its nitrogen contribution to soil. The benefits of this species are, however, limited by low seed availability, small seed size and low in situ seed germination levels, due to physical dormancy. Cryostorage has been shown to be beneficial for both seed storage and breaking physical dormancy in seeds of various species. However, its potential effects on subsequent seedling emergence, plant growth and seed production need to be studied before large-scale implementation for T. labialis. OBJECTIVE To record agricultural traits of T. labialis after seed exposure to liquid nitrogen. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seeds were maintained at 5 degree C (control) or stored in LN before sowing. Seedling emergence percentage and traits related to plant growth and seed production were evaluated for 6 months. RESULTS Except for seed weight, all traits differed significantly between seedlings generated from cryostored and control seeds. Except for pod number, seedling emergence and plant growth traits were enhanced by cryostorage to a greater extent than seed production traits. Cryostorage resulted in cracks and breaks in the seed coat which were absent in control seeds (scanning electron microscopy), and in breaking physical dormancy may have facilitated more rapid seedling emergence than for control seeds. CONCLUSION Seed cryostorage enhances subsequent plant productivity in terms of growth and to a lesser extent seed production in Teramnus labialis, validating its use for commercial growth of this species.
Synthesis, molecular docking and ADMET study of ionic liquid as anticancer inhibitors of DNA and COX-2, TOPII enzymes

Abstract A new ionic liquid was synthesized by the reaction of caprolactam with salicylic acid (CL-SA) and characterized by analysis of spectroscopic and DSC data. The optimized geometry and the electrostatic potential map of CL-SA were calculated with DFT method using the wb97xd/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory. Molecular docking study of the CL-SA was carried out to clarify the probable binding modes between the title compound and DNA and COX-2 and TOPII enzymes. In silico ADMET study was also performed for predicting pharmacokinetic and toxicity profile of the synthesized ionic liquid which expressed good oral drug-like behavior and non-toxic nature. It was revealed that the compound has a potential to become a lead molecule in drug discovery process. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
Comparison of the musculoskeletal effects of different iso-inertial resistance training modalities: Flywheel vs. electric-motor

Abstract This study aimed to analyse whether increasing the eccentric overload (EO) during resistance training, in terms of range of motion and/or velocity using an electric-motor device, would induce different muscle adaptations than conventional flywheel-EO resistance training. Forty physically active university students (21.7 ± 3.4 years) were randomly placed into one of the three training groups (EX1, EX2, FW) and a control group without training (n = 10 per group). Participants in the training groups completed 12 sessions (4 sets of 7 repetitions) of iso-inertial single-leg squat training over 6 weeks for the dominant leg. Resistance was generated either by an electric-motor device at two different velocities for the eccentric phase; 100% (EX1) or 150% (EX2) of concentric speed, or by a conventional flywheel device (FW). Thigh lean tissue mass, unilateral leg press one-repetition maximum (1-RM), unilateral muscle power at different percentages of the 1-RM and bilateral/unilateral vertical jump were assessed before and after the 6-week training. There were significant (p < 0.05–0.001) main effects of time in the 3 training groups, indicating increased thigh lean tissue mass (2.5–5.8%), 1-RM load (22.4–30.2%), vertical jump performance (9.1–32.9%) and muscle power (8.8–21.7%), without differences across experimental groups. Participants in the control group did not improve any of the variables measured. In addition, EX2 showed greater gains in eccentric average peak power during training than EX1 and FW (p < 0.001). Despite the different EO offered, 6 weeks of resistance training using flywheel or electric-motor devices induced similar significant gains in muscle mass, strength, muscle power and vertical jump.
Characterization of Electroless Nickel–Boron Deposit from Optimized Stabilizer-Free Bath

Conventional electroless nickel–boron deposits are produced using solutions that contain lead or thallium, which must be eliminated due to their toxicity. In this research, electroless nickel–boron deposits were produced in a stabilizer-free bath that does not include any toxic heavy metal. During processing, the plating rate increased from 10 to 14.5 µm/h by decreasing the concentration of the reducing agent, leading to increased bath stability. The thickness, composition, roughness, morphology, hardness, wear, and corrosion resistance of the deposits were characterized. The new deposit presents an excellent hardness of 933 ± 56 hv50, 866 ± 30 hk50, and 12 GPa from the instrumented indentation test (IIT), respectively, which are similar to that of hexavalent hard chromium coating. Moreover, by using both potentiodynamic polarization and salt spray tests it was shown that the coating presents higher corrosion resistance as compared to standard nickel-boron coatings. The new deposit exhibits properties close to those of the conventional electroless nickel–boron deposits. Therefore, it could replace them in any industrial applications.
Cell Biology International

Light is an indispensable part of routine laboratory work in which conventional light is generally used. Light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) have come to replace conventional light, and thus could be a potent target in biomedical studies. Since blue light is a major component of visible light wavelength, in this study, using a somatic cell from the African green monkey kidney, we assessed the possible consequences of the blue spectra of LED light in future animal experiments and proposed a potent mitigation against light‐induced damage. COS‐7 cells were exposed to blue LED light (450 nm) and the growth and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage were assessed at different exposure times. A higher suppression in cell growth and viability was observed under a longer period of blue LED light exposure. The number of apoptotic cells increased as the light exposure time was prolonged. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was also elevated in accordance to the extension of light exposure time. A comparison with dark‐maintained cells revealed that the upregulation of ROS by blue LED light plays a significant role in causing cellular dysfunction in DNA in a time‐dependent manner. In turn, antioxidant treatment has been shown to improve cell growth and viability under blue LED light conditions. This indicates that antioxidants have potential against blue LED light‐induced somatic cell damage. It is expected that this study will contribute to the understanding of the basic mechanism of somatic cell death under visible light and maximize the beneficial use of LED light in future animal experiments.
Homocysteine Status Modifies the Treatment Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cognition in a Randomized Clinical Trial in Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: The OmegAD Study.

BACKGROUND Trials of supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids (ω3-FAs) in patients with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease (AD) have produced inconsistent effects on cognitive decline. There is evidence of an interaction between B vitamin status and ω3-FAs in relation to brain atrophy and cognitive decline. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether baseline levels of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), a marker of B vitamin status, modify the effects of ω3-FAs supplementation on cognitive performance in moderate AD. METHODS This post hoc analysis of the OmegAD trial included 171 community-based patients with AD (MMSE≥15): 88 patients received daily doses of 1.7 g docosahexaenoic acid and 0.6 g eicosapentaenoic acid for 6 months. Treatment outcome on cognition was analyzed according to baseline levels of tHcy using a general linear model and ANCOVA. RESULTS We found significant interactions between ω3-FA supplementation and tHcy on cognition and clinical stage assessed by MMSE (p = 0.040), global CDR (p = 0.059), and CDRsob (p = 0.023), but not on ADAS-cog (p = 0.649). In patients with tHcy levels <11.7μmol/L, ω3-FA supplementation improved cognitive performance as measured by MMSE (+7.1%, 95% CI: 0.59 to 13.7%, p = 0.033) and clinical status as measured by CDRsob (-22.3%, 95% CI: -5.8 to -38.7%, p = 0.009) compared with placebo. CONCLUSION The effect of ω3-FA supplementation on MMSE and CDR appears to be influenced by baseline tHcy, suggesting that adequate B vitamin status is required to obtain beneficial effects of ω3-FA on cognition.
Impact of Pre-Analytical Differences on Biomarkers in the ADNI and PPMI Studies: Implications in the Era of Classifying Disease Based on Biomarkers.

BACKGROUND Neurodegenerative diseases require characterization based on underlying biology using biochemical biomarkers. Mixed pathology complicates discovery of biomarkers and characterization of cohorts, but inclusion of greater numbers of patients with different, related diseases with frequently co-occurring pathology could allow better accuracy. Combining cohorts collected from different studies would be a more efficient use of resources than recruiting subjects from each population of interest for each study. OBJECTIVE To explore the possibility of combining existing datasets by controlling pre-analytic variables in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) studies. METHODS Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected and processed from 30 subjects according to both the ADNI and PPMI protocols. Relationships between reported levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) biomarkers in the same subject under each protocol were examined. RESULTS Protocol-related differences were observed for Aβ, but not t-tau or α-syn, and trended different for p-tau and pS129. Values of α-syn differed by platform. Conversion of α-syn values between ADNI and PPMI platforms did not completely eliminate differences in distribution. DISCUSSION Factors not captured in the pre-analytical sample handling influence reported biomarker values. Assay standardization and better harmonized characterization of cohorts should be included in future studies of CSF biomarkers.
SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MORAL EDUCATION FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENTS IN THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION CONTEXT

As one of the forms of social consciousness, morality is seen as a mirror reflecting quite honestly the physical living conditions of society and is determined by those physical conditions. In this article, the author focuses on analyzing a number of solutions to improve the effectiveness of moral education for Vietnamese students in the current international integration context. Article visualizations:
Prevalence and Serotype Diversity of Salmonella in Apparently Healthy Cattle: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Published Studies, 2000–2017

Salmonellosis is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses in humans with cattle being one of the reservoirs for Salmonella. We estimated a pooled prevalence of Salmonella in apparently healthy cattle and examined serotype diversity through systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published between 2000 and 2017. Peer reviewed publications reporting the prevalence of Salmonella in cattle were searched through five electronic databases (PubMed, Google scholar, Agricola, Scopus, CAB direct) and through manual search. We obtained 71 publications with 75 datasets consisting a total of 52,766 animals examined and 5,010 Salmonella positive cattle from 29 countries in six continents (except from Antarctica). Pooled prevalence of Salmonella in cattle was 9% (95% confidence interval: 7–11%). Significantly high heterogeneity (I2 = 98.7%, P < 0.01) was observed among all studies as well as within continents. Prevalence varied from 2% (Europe) to 16% (North America). Overall, 143 different serotypes were reported with the most diverse serotypes being reported from Africa (76 different serotypes) followed by North America (49 serotypes). The 10 most frequently reported serotypes (Montevideo, Typhimurium, Kentucky, Meleagridis, Anatum, Cerro, Mbandaka, Muenster, Newport, and Senftenberg) accounted for 65% of the isolates for which specific serotype information was reported. Salmonella Montevideo and S. Dublin are the most frequently reported serotypes in North America and Europe, respectively, while S. Typhimurium was the most frequent in Africa, Asia and Australasia. Our results indicated variability both in the prevalence and serotype diversity of Salmonella in cattle across continents. Although all Salmonella serotypes are potentially pathogenic to humans, five (Montevideo, Typhimurium, Anatum, Mbandaka, and Newport) of the top 10 serotypes identified in this study are among the serotypes most commonly associated with clinical illnesses in humans.