Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling the influence of crew movement on boat velocity fluctuations during the rowing stroke

Caplan and Gardner (2007: Journal of Sports Sciences, 25, 1025-1034) presented a rowing simulation which assumed that each rower moved as a single mass. Although validated against mean on- water shell velocity, instantaneous velocity was not modeled well. As any changes to rowing technique inherently influence the fluctuations in boat velocity throughout each stroke, the previous model was unable to fully explore the influences of technique on the progression of the boat during each stroke. The present study aimed to address this limitation by implementing a five-segment model of each crew member, in order to better simulate the movement of each body segment throughout each stroke, and the influence this movement has on boat velocity fluctuations. A Vicon motion analysis system was used to collect kinematic data of nine sub-elite club rowers rowing on a Concept 2 model C rowing ergometer, from which mean joint trajectories were extracted for the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, elbow and hand. From this data, kinematic relationships were determined to model the motion of the rowers for input into the simulation. The single segment and five-segment models were validated against previously published on-water mean boat velocity. Both models showed a close agreement with the measured on-water data, although the agreement was improved for the five-segment model. When compared to instantaneous velocity during one stroke for on- water rowing, the five-segment model was seen to better simulate the main features of the on-water data, which were not seen with the single segment model. This development of the model could have practical applications to rowers, coaches and sports scientists as individual rower kinematics could be used to estimate the influence of their technique (or technique changes) on both mean boat velocity and the velocity profile during each stroke.
Numerical Techniques for Multi-Objective Synthesis of an Inverted-S Antenna

The synthesis of a dual-frequency band Inverted-S Antenna (ISA) using low profile PCB configuration is studied. To manipulate the multi-objectives and the huge amount of turning work involved in the synthesis of a dual-frequency band Inverted-S Antenna, special numerical techniques such as approaches to integrating different objectives, an improved vector genetic algorithm and a modified radial basis function based response surface model are proposed. Numerical results as reported serve to demonstrate the pros and cons of the proposed techniques.
The nucleotide sequence of the argT locus of Aeromonas hydrophila.

Using a labelled DNA fragment containing the argT operon of E. col, we have isolated and fully sequenced the corresponding operon in Aeromonas hydroDhila, a member of the gamma subdivision of purple bacteria (1). The 3.3 kb BamHl fragment contains a cluster of four tRNA genes In the following order: 5'-tRNAArg-tRNAf8l-tRNALem-tRNAPro. This organization is identical to that found in E. coli (2) and Salmonella (3), but is unrelated to the operon from the vibrio, Photobacterium Rhosnhoreum Isolated with the same probe (4). A possible promoter is found 6' and a rho-independent terminator 3' to the tRNA gene clusters. In contrast to the Salmonella operon, which contains gene sequences identical to those of E. coli, each tRNA gene of the Aeromonas operon differs from those of E. colt (MRNA^r9 in 2 positions, tRNA"ll in 7, tRNALOU in 11 and tRNAPrO in I 1 positions). Other nucleotide differences are found in the spacer regions.
Is Choking under Pressure a Consequence of Skill-Focus or Increased Distractibility? Results from a Tennis Serve Task

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that athletes often choke in high pressure situations because anxiety can affect attention regulation and in turn performance. There are two competing theoretical approaches to explain the negative anxiety-performance relationship. According to skillfocus theories, anxious athletes’ attention is directed at how to execute the sport-specific movements which interrupts execution of already automatized movements in expert performers. According to distraction theories, anxious athletes are distractible and focus less on the relevant stimuli. We tested these competing assumptions in a between-subject design, as semi-professional tennis players were either assigned to an anxiety group (n = 25) or a neutral group (n = 28), and performed a series of second tennis serves into predefined target areas. As expected, anxiety was negatively related to serve accuracy. However, mediation analyses with the bootstrapping method revealed that this relationship was fully mediated by self-reported distraction and not by skill-focus.
Psychological interventions in managing postoperative pain in children: a systematic review

Abstract Pediatric surgeries are common and painful for children. Postoperative pain is commonly managed with analgesics; however, pain is often still problematic. Despite evidence for psychological interventions for procedural pain, there is currently no evidence synthesis for psychological interventions in managing postoperative pain in children. The purpose of this review was to assess the efficacy of psychological interventions for postoperative pain in youth. Psychological interventions included Preparation/education, distraction/imagery, and mixed. Four databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, EMBASE, and Certified Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) were searched to July 2015 for published articles and dissertations. We screened 1401 citations and included 20 studies of youth aged 2 to 18 years undergoing surgery. Two reviewers independently screened articles, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using RevMan 5.3. Fourteen studies (1096 participants) were included in meta-analyses. Primary outcome was pain intensity (0-10 metric). Results indicated that psychological interventions as a whole were effective in reducing children's self-reported pain in the short term (SMD = −0.47, 95% CI = −0.76 to −0.18). Subgroup analysis indicated that distraction/imagery interventions were effective in reducing self-reported pain in the short term (24 hours, SMD = −0.63, 95% CI = −1.04 to −0.23), whereas preparation/education interventions were not effective (SMD = −0.27, 95% CI = −0.61 to 0.08). Data on the effects of interventions on longer term pain outcomes were limited. Psychological interventions may be effective in reducing short-term postoperative pain intensity in children, as well as longer term pain and other outcomes (eg, adverse events) require further study.
Application of a Model for the Development of a Mental Health Service Delivery Collaboration Between Police and the Health Service

Changing societal trends have revealed an increased prevalence of mental illness and diminished health resources from which to offer services. This has lead to a need to develop new and more efficient police and health service models of practice. Services offered by the police department in the management of mental health crisis in the community are essential in minimising the risk of individuals with mental health problems causing harm to themselves or a member of the public. In addressing the difficulties associated with police playing an important role in the management of mental health crisis in the community, but having little training in mental health issues, this paper discusses a proposed innovation for New South Wales police in Australia through the development of a Crisis Intervention Team model.
Success and failure in Cenozoic global correlations using golden spikes: A geochemical and magnetostratigraphic perspective

We review examples of placement of select Cenozoic Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSP = “golden spikes”) from a geochemical and magnetostratigraphic perspective. Though biostratigraphy is the sine qua non for placing modern chronologic tools (high-resolution radiometric dates, magnetochronology, and astrochronology) into proper stratigraphic context, its use as the primary correlation tool for GSSP is less desirable than using magnetostratigraphic or chemostratigraphic markers. Here, we advocate for defining of GSSPs at lithologic levels that are globally correlatable using magnetic reversals and/or abrupt geochemical changes, and the avoidance of biostratigraphic datum levels (that are necessarily biogeographically restricted) as primary criterion for correlation. We provide two examples where placement of golden spikes in association with global geochemical events has been successful: the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/ Pg) and Paleocene/Eocene boundaries. We discuss three boundaries where placement of the GSSP is unfortunately not at distinct isotopic or magnetostratigraphic events (the Eocene/Oligocene, Oligocene/Miocene, and Pliocene/ Pleistocene (= Neogene/Quaternary) boundaries. Lectostratotypes for isotopic reference are proposed for the Eocene/Oligocene boundary at South Atlantic Site 522 and for the Oligocene/Miocene boundary at Southern Ocean Site 1090.
Association between socioeconomic status and metabolic syndrome in women: testing the reserve capacity model.

OBJECTIVE Low socioeconomic status (SES) environments may impede the development of a bank of resources, labeled reserve capacity, and may also be stressful, thereby depleting available reserves. In consequence, lower SES persons may experience more negative emotions, leading to adverse health consequences. The authors tested the reserve capacity model in relation to the metabolic syndrome. DESIGN There were 401 initially healthy women who followed longitudinally for 12 years. Self-reported characteristics, stressors, and cardiovascular risk factors were measured repeatedly. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate hypothesized relationships. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Metabolic syndrome factor. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis verified reserve capacity as the aggregate of optimism, self-esteem, and social support, and negative emotion as the aggregate of depressive symptoms, anger, and tension. Structural equation modeling showed two pathways to the metabolic syndrome factor, (chi2(59) = 111.729, p < . 0001 chi2/df = 1.894; CFI = . 956; RMSEA = . 047): direct from low SES to the metabolic syndrome factor (B = -0.19, t = -3.24, p = .001); and indirect, from low SES to low reserve capacity to high negative emotions to the metabolic syndrome factor (B = -0.024, t = -2.05, p = .04). CONCLUSION Low SES may increase risk for metabolic syndrome, in part, through reserve capacity and negative emotions.
Explicit Formulas for Error Correction in Microwave Measuring Sets with Switching-Dependent Port Mismatches

This paper addresses the problem of correction of systematic measurement errors in computer-operated microwave network analyzers whose measuring sets employ automated switches for establishing the various measurement modes. Two measuring sets with switching-dependent port mismatches are studied, and the associated error models are identified from the hardware configurations. Finally, explicit formulas are given for error correction in these sets.
Probiotics as immunomodulators: substances, mechanisms and therapeutic benefits

The human gut symbionts in whole and probiotics in particular promote intestinal function and health, partially via modulation of gut associated lymphoid tissue. Molecular basis of microbiota-host interaction is pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and their ligands, viz., microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMP). Immunomodulatory effects of probiotics are strain-specific, which is important to select specific strains suitable for treatment/prevention of infectious diseases, food allergy and non-infectious inflammatory diseases including autoimmune disorders.
A switch scheduling algorithm for periodic messages using laxity decomposition method

This paper presents a very unique and analytic method for scheduling real time messages routed through a non-blocking switch. The laxities of schedulable messages are decomposed and rearranged so that the packets to be scheduled in the next time instance are placed in the diagonal of the traffic matrix. The MLF algorithm we modified is utilized to schedule the messages. We present some examples and simulation results which show that the success rate is improved significantly regardless of the size of switch.
Aerosol black carbon radiative forcing at an industrial city in northern India

During a comprehensive aerosol field campaign as part of ISRO‐GBP, extensive measurements of aerosol black carbon were made during December 2004, for the first time, at Kanpur, an urban continental location in northern India. BC diurnal variation is associated with changes in boundary layer mixing and anthropogenic activities. BC concentration in Kanpur is comparable to those measured in other mega cities of India but much higher than in similar locations of Europe, USA and Asia. High BC concentration is found both in absolute terms (6–20 μg m−3) and mass fraction (∼10%) yielding very low single scattering albedo (0.76). The estimated surface forcing is as high as −62 ± 23 W m−2 and top of the atmosphere (TOA) forcing is +9 ± 3 W m−2, which means the atmospheric absorption is +71 W m−2. The short wave atmospheric absorption translates to a lower atmospheric heating of ∼1.8°K/day. Large surface cooling and lower atmospheric heating may have impacts to regional climate.
Unique role of consumer studies in nonprescription drug development.

OBJECTIVE To inform the health care community about nonprescription drug labeling and consumer studies unique and integral to the nonprescription drug development process. SETTING Data from consumer studies are essential for many nonprescription drug approvals. These studies are conducted to help predict actual consumer behavior in the marketplace if the product is approved. They test whether potential consumers understand a label (label comprehension study), can properly decide if a product is appropriate for them to use (self-selection study), and can use a product in accordance with the label (actual use study). The design and interpretation of these studies often pose unique challenges. CONCLUSION Consumer studies are often part of a nonprescription drug development program. Continued efforts to improve consumer research should result in greater access to safe and effective nonprescription drug products for the American public.
Robustness of iterative learning control – algorithms with experimental benchmarking

Iterative learning control is a technique especially developed for application to processes which are required to repeat the same operation over a finite duration. The exact sequence of operation is that the task is completed, the process is reset and then the operation is repeated. Applications are widespread among many industries, e.g. a gantry robot which is required to place items on a conveyor under synchronization as part of a food manufacturing process. In effect, iterative learning control exploits the fact that once a single execution of the task is complete then the input control action and output response produced are available to update the control input for the next trial and thereby sequentially improve performance. Moreover, it may be possible to undertake the required computations during the time between completing one trial and the start of the next. This paper gives an overview of some very significant recent progress in this general area, including results from experimental benchmarking, and also some areas for on-going/future research are outlined.
Variants in the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Gene and Prostate Cancer Risk, Survival, and Circulating PSA

An A to G substitution, rs925013, in the promoter of the prostate-specific antigen gene (PSA) was recently found to be associated with promoter activity and circulating PSA levels. The objective of this study was to test the associations between rs925013 and another A to G substitution, rs266882, in the PSA gene with prostate cancer risk using a population-based case-control study of 821 prostate cancer cases and 734 controls carried out in Perth and Melbourne, Australia. The study focused on young (i.e., <70 years) and aggressive cases (i.e., well-differentiated tumors were excluded). Cases in the Melbourne arm of the study (N = 638) were followed up prospectively for an average period of 8.2 years and deaths from prostate cancer ascertained through record linkage to study the possible association between genetic variants and disease-specific survival. PSA-circulating levels were measured in controls to test the association with the genetic variants using a cross-sectional design. Linear regression of log PSA levels, unconditional logistic regression, Cox regression, and haplotype analyses were undertaken. For rs925013, the G allele was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer [odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.1-1.7; P = 0.001], and the hazard ratio for survival for cases homozygous for the G allele compared with cases homozygous for the A allele was increased but not statistically significant (hazard ratio, 2.3; 95% CI, 1-5.6; P = 0.06). For rs266882, there was no association with overall prostate cancer risk and survival (all P > 0.1). Men homozygous or heterozygous for the G/G (rs925013/rs266882) haplotype were at higher risk of prostate cancer than men homozygous for the A/A haplotype (odds ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7; P = 0.009). Adjusted geometric means of circulating PSA levels in controls were similar in men with zero, one, and two copies of the G allele in rs266882 (1.2, 1.1, and 1.3 ng/mL, respectively; all P ≥ 0.2) and rs925013 (1.1, 1.2, and 1.5 ng/mL, respectively; all P > 0.1). For rs925013, our study provides good evidence of association with prostate cancer risk, marginal evidence of association with survival, and little evidence of detectable association with circulating PSA levels in controls. We found no evidence of an independent association between rs266882 and any of the outcomes. The genotypes and haplotypes studied might be associated with the PSA gene function or be in linkage disequilibrium with other unmeasured and functional variants in the PSA or other genes. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(6):1142-7)
Osteochondral allograft in a femoral head chondroblastoma: A case report

Osteoarthritis of the hip joint secondary to femoral head collapse may develop after curettage of lesions in the femoral head. We report the case of a patient with chondroblastoma of the femoral head who was treated with wide curettage of the lesion and implantation of an osteochondral allograft to prevent femoral head collapse.
Map building of unknown environment using PSO-tuned enhanced Iterative Closest Point algorithm

Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm is widely used in 2D and 3D spatial and geometric alignment. There are many variants of the ICP algorithm, proposing methods to minimize the sum of Euclidean distances between two clouds of scanning points for map building of an unknown environment by a mobile robot. Considering simplicity and computational efficiency, this paper proposes an enhanced-ICP incorporating a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to effectively filter out outliers and avoid the false matching points during the map building process. Experimental results showed that, the proposed PSO-tuned enhanced-ICP can effectively reduce the accumulated errors to improve the map building accuracy by circumventing the problems of local optimal solutions resulted from the outliers and false matching points during the map building process.
Pilot‐testing a holistic approach to scoring performance on standardized‐patient examinations

BACKGROUND. Scoring protocols for most standardized-patient (SP) examinations have not received extensive scrutiny and their validity has not been well established. METHOD. A holistic method (i.e., one based on raters' overall impressions) of scoring performance on an SP examination was pilot-tested in the spring of 1992 by administering an examination to two cohorts of fourth-year students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. The examination consisted of eight SP stations, representing a range of medical problems. Two to three experienced clinical teachers independently reviewed all the written material for each encounter. In Phase I of the study, holistic ratings of outstanding, competent, marginal, or inadequate were given for overall clinical competence for a cohort of 16 students; in Phase II, holistic ratings were given separately for data-gathering and communication skills for a cohort of 26 students. Intercase and interrater reliability analyses were performed. RESULTS. Adequate reliability coefficients were obtained on a two-hour test; total scores (i.e., students' scores across all eight cases) discriminated between groups of examinees; and, on average, less than two minutes were required to score an encounter. CONCLUSION. Although based on a small sample, the study's results suggest that this holistic method of scoring performance may be useful in some situations. Since experienced clinical teachers know and agree about clinical competence when they see it, developers of scoring protocols for SP examinations need to establish that the results obtained are congruent with the judgments of expert teachers.
Automatic brain tumor segmentation with a fast Mumford-Shah algorithm

We propose a fully-automatic method for brain tumor segmentation that does not require any training phase. Our approach is based on a sequence of segmentations using the Mumford-Shah cartoon model with varying parameters. In order to come up with a very fast implementation, we extend the recent primal-dual algorithm of Strekalovskiy et al. (2014) from the 2D to the medically relevant 3D setting. Moreover, we suggest a new confidence refinement and show that it can increase the precision of our segmentations substantially. Our method is evaluated on 188 data sets with high-grade gliomas and 25 with low-grade gliomas from the BraTS14 database. Within a computation time of only three minutes, we achieve Dice scores that are comparable to state-of-the-art methods.