Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of high-intensity interval training on athletic performance measures: a systematic review

Background: Athletic performance consists of attributes including: technique, strength, power, and endurance. There are many training methods designed to optimize athletic performance. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one method of athletic performance training that has been found effective in increasing certain physiologic variables such as VO2max. It is unknown if HIIT has positive effects on objective measures of athletic performance. Objective: To systematically review the effects of HIIT on objective, athletic performance measures. Method: A systematic review of literature indexed in the following databases: Medline, CINAHL, SportsDiscus, and PubMed was conducted. The methodological quality of the studies was graded using the PEDro scale. Results: Fourteen studies satisfied the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Methodological scores based on the PEDro scale were 4/10–7/10. HIIT resulted in improvements in running: 3000 and 5000 m track time (TT), (p = 0.04, p < 0.05, respectively) and 40-m sprint TT (p = 0.091), rowing: 2000-m TT (p = 0.02), cycling increase in 5 mile time trial (p < 0.05), softball significant increase in peak pitch velocity (3%), and hockey skating 33 m sprint (p < 0.05). HIIT training was not significant for swimming endurance trials (p = 0.97). Although HIIT had significant effects on many outcome measures, it was not always more effective than other methods. Conclusion: The findings of this review indicate that HIIT can have beneficial effects on certain athletic performance measures. Although varying HIIT dosages were found effective, there is no clear indication of what HIIT prescription is most effective for specific sports activities.
Essays on political economy, inequality and development

This thesis comprises three chapters. The first chapter investigates how wealth inequality affects preferences for redistribution and voting behavior. Exploiting house price shocks in England and Wales, it evaluates the effect of wealth inequality on the preferences and voting behavior of homeowners relative to renters. It tests whether homeowners become less supportive of redistribution and in turn more likely to vote for the Conservative Party. The results show that homeowners experiencing positive shocks to their housing wealth are more likely to vote for stated party, but do not decrease their support for the government ownership of public services. Heterogeneity in home value and endowment effects might explain the results. The second chapter looks at the effect of conscription on political ideology, voting participation and national identity. The motivation of this analysis comes from a renewed policy interest in bringing back conscription to foster civic participation. Considering the costs of conscription identified in the economic literature, this chapter aims at evaluating the effectiveness of this policy in achieving its proposed goal. Using a regression discontinuity design, it uses the introduction of conscription in West Germany to investigate its long-term effects on right-wing ideology and voting participation. The results show no statistically significant effect of conscription on any of the outcomes considered. These results are corroborated when conducting the analysis using a similar empirical methodology and Spanish data. Lastly, the third chapter analyses the effect of migration on household consumption in rural Ethiopia. Using panel data, it analyses the effect of having at least one migrant in the household on total, food and non-food consumption. Variation in migration over time allows me to unpack heterogeneous effects by duration of migration, possibly explained by changes in the composition of the household.
The complete mitochondrial genome of loliginid squid (Uroteuthis chinensis) from Minnan–Taiwan bank fishing ground

Abstract The squid Uroteuthis chinensis is commercially important fishery species in many coastal regions of Asia. In this study, we described the complete mitochondrial genome of U. chinensis. The genome is 17,353 bp in length, encoding the standard set of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, with circular organization. The overall base composition of the whole mitochondrial genome was A (39.56%), T (31.71%), G (9.05%) and C (19.68%) with an AT bias of 71.27%. The longest protein-coding genes of these species was ND5, whereas the shortest ATP8.
Is there a Title Role for Renal Sympathetic Denervation in Patients with Symptomatic Myocardial Bridging Refractory to Clinical Treatment and Ventricular Arrhythmias

The connection concerning the autonomic nervous system and coronary spasm during the systole is multifaceted. An augmentation in sympathetic activity, due to pain caused by angina and the several transient ischemic episodes may origin an augment in noradrenaline, the neurotransmitter of efferent sympathetic fibers, triggering more vasoconstriction by stimulating vascular smooth muscle cells, besides may lead the cardiac hypertrophy. Based on these concepts we aim to find a role to renal sympathetic denervation in patients with symptomatic myocardial bridging refractory to standard clinical treatment and ventricular arrhythmias. In conclusion, our findings suggest that RSD can be a role in myocardial bridging treatment, augmenting the LVEF, diminishing the LV mass and the number of transient ischemic segments measured by CMRI, besides to reduce the number of individuals presenting symptoms, the mean of NSVT recorded by 24-hour-Holter monitoring, and the number of patients with SVT inducible by the EPS. Perhaps such benefits are due to the decrease in the LV mass and sympathetic cardiac activity, consequently, there being less constriction of the arteries with myocardial bridges and less ventricular arrhythmias. We report preliminary data on 6 patients with controlled hypertension, with normal renal function, with symptomatic myocardial bridging refractory to clinical treatment and ventricular arrhythmias who underwent a pilot renal sympathetic denervation (RSD) procedure. At baseline, the 6 (100%) patients presented symptoms while 6 months after RSD only 1 (17%) subject still complained of the symptoms (P=0.0152). Our findings suggest that RSD can play a role in myocardial bridging treatment, augmenting LVEF, diminishing LV mass and the number of transient ischemic segments measured by CMRI.
A Study of the Assimilative Behavior of the Voiced Labio-Dental Fricative in American English

Gradation is one of the main features of colloquial speech. It implies the presence of certain phonological processes that ease the transition between phonemes with different articulatory features. For English, one of these implied processes is assimilation, which is when the articulation of a segment is modified into another one already existing in the system. Our study takes Gimson (1994) ’s suggestion that /v/ assimilates into /m/ when it is followed by the bilabial nasal. After observing and describing different cases of assimilation, we suggest more possible explanations to this phenomenon and more assimilative behaviors of /v/. Therefore, we conduct an experiment with six American-English L1s where they evaluate sentences whose articulation includes our suggested proposals . The results show Gimson’s theory not to be as accurate as expected. Furthermore, we prove that /v/ can assimilate into /b/, / ɂ / and /d/ when it is followed by bilabial, velar and alveolar phonemes.
MAX-DOAS measurements of NO2, SO2, HCHO and BrO at the Mt. Waliguan WMO/GAW global baseline station in the Tibetan Plateau

Mt. Waliguan Observatory (WLG) is a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) global baseline station in China. WLG is located at the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau (3617 N, 10054 E, 3816 m a.s.l.) and is representative of the pristine atmosphere over the Eurasian continent. We made long-term ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements at WLG during the period 2012–2015. In this study, we retrieve the differential slant column densities (dSCDs) and estimate the tropospheric background mixing ratios of different trace gases, including NO2, SO2, HCHO, and BrO, using the measured spectra at WLG. Averaging of 10 original spectra is found to be an “optimum option” for reducing both the statistical error of the spectral retrieval and systematic errors in the analysis. The dSCDs of NO2, SO2, HCHO, and BrO under clear-sky and low-aerosol-load conditions are extracted from measured spectra at different elevation angles at WLG. By performing radiative transfer simulations with the model TRACY-2, we establish approximate relationships between the trace gas dSCDs at 1 elevation angle and the corresponding average tropospheric background volume mixing ratios. Mixing ratios of these trace gases in the lower troposphere over WLG are estimated to be in a range of about 7 ppt (January) to 100 ppt (May) for NO2, below 0.5 ppb for SO2, between 0.4 and 0.9 ppb for HCHO, and lower than 0.3 ppt for BrO. The chemical box model simulations constrained by the NO2 concentration from our MAX-DOAS measurements show that there is a little net ozone loss (−0.8 ppb d−1) for the free-tropospheric conditions and a little net ozone production (0.3 ppb d−1) for the boundary layer conditions over WLG during summertime. Our study provides valuable information and data sets for further investigating tropospheric chemistry in the background atmosphere and its links to anthropogenic activities.
Profitability and technical efficiency of leafy vegetable production: a stochastic frontier production function analysis

ABSTRACT Smallholder leafy vegetable farmers are often faced with resource-use inefficiency in production. This work examined the profitability and technical efficiency of leafy vegetable production to determine sources of inefficiencies in smallholder production. The Maximum Likelihood Estimates of the Stochastic frontier production function indicated factors positively influencing production gross margin were education level, experience, seed, labor costs, fertilizer and farm-size; farmer age negatively influenced results, especially those who have less contact with extension agents. The mean efficiency score was 0.804 with R2 of 0.912. With more education, the application of required inputs could improve the yield of leafy vegetables.
Telomere relocalization to the nuclear pore complex in response to replication stress

Mutations in the telomere binding protein, POT1 are associated with solid tumors and leukemias. POT1 alterations cause rapid telomere elongation, ATR kinase activation, telomere fragility, and accelerated tumor development. Here, we investigated the impact of mutant POT1 alleles through complementary genetic and proteomic approaches based on CRISPR-interference and biotin-based proximity labelling, respectively. These screens revealed that replication stress is a major vulnerability in cells expressing mutant POT1 and manifest in increased mitotic DNA synthesis (MiDAS) at telomeres. Our study also unveiled a role for the nuclear pore complex (NPC) in resolving replication defects at telomeres. Depletion of NPC subunits in the context of POT1 dysfunction increased DNA damage signaling and telomere fragility. Furthermore, we observed telomere repositioning to the nuclear periphery driven by nuclear F-actin polymerization in cells with POT1 mutations. In conclusion, our study establishes that relocalization of dysfunctional telomeres to the nuclear periphery is critical to preserve telomere repeat integrity.
Discover prognostic RNAs through identifying lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA triplets in lung squamous cell carcinoma

Carcinogenesis involves multi-level RNA dysregulations, including long noncoding RNA, microRNA and mRNA. Therefore, only looking into one RNA level of cancer is not sufficient to uncover the intricate underlying mechanisms. In this study, an integrative strategy was conducted to systematically analyze the characterized molecular patterns of lung squamous cell carcinoma. Paired samples (cancer and adjacent normal tissues) in each RNA level were retrieved to identify differentially expressed RNAs. The regulatory triplets of lncRNA-microRNA-mRNA were identified after considering dysregulation pattern and evidence of publicly available databases. Thus, 32 significant mRNAs were retrieved by means of random walk algorithm. In four independent datasets, Kaplan–Meier survival and Cox regression analyses both confirmed that the expression of these genes was significantly associated with overall survival of LUSC patients.
Experiences with two detached eddy simulation approaches through use of a high‐order finite volume solver

In the present study, two advanced detached eddy simulation (DES) approaches, shear‐layer‐adapted delayed DES and zonal DES in mode II, which are known to help transition from RANS to LES mode, are employed in various flow problems in conjunction with a high‐order finite volume solver. The numerical scheme, being only applicable on structured grids, has low‐dissipation and low‐dispersion features. Such features benefit mostly in the LES mode, minimizing the interference of numerical diffusion with subgrid eddy viscosity. First, corresponding subgrid models are validated via decaying homogeneous turbulence benchmark case. Then, a channel flow problem is chosen to examine these models in attached flow situations. Finally, flow around an airfoil at low Reynolds number is solved using the shear‐layer‐adapted delayed DES approach only, in an aim to obtain trailing‐edge noise spectrum at an observer location. Despite some log‐layer mismatch over turbulent boundary layers, which is typical of most DES methods, the combined application of high‐resolution numerical method and advanced DES approaches, which are implemented on a stabilized Spalart‐Allmaras turbulence model, shows merit in resolution of turbulence in regions of interest.
Microbiota Alterations in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Commensal microbiota plays a critical role in the maintenance of human health. Microbes influence energy metabolism and nutrient absorption and help defend the host organism against pathogens. The composition of the gut microbiota is delicately balanced, and any alterations may lead to proinflammatory immune responses and initiation of disease processes, including cancer. Experimental evidence indicates that the human intestinal microbiota can influence tumour development and progression in the gastrointestinal tract by damaging DNA, activation of oncogenic signaling pathways, production of tumour-promoting metabolites, and suppression of the anti-tumour immune response. The aim of this article was to outline differences in human microbiota between healthy subjects and patients with gastrointestinal malignancies such as esophageal, stomach, liver, biliary tract, pancreas and colon inflammations, and cancers. A better understanding of microbiota changes in various gastrointestinal malignancies will enable a greater insight into the relationship between human microbiota composition and cancer development.
Path planning for wheeled mobile robots using an optimal control approach

The capability and practical use of wheeled mobile robots in real-world applications have resulted in them being a topic of recent interest. These systems are most prevalent because of their simple design and ease to control. In many cases, they also have an ability to move around in an environment without any human intervention. A main stream of research for wheeled mobile robots is that of planning motions of the robot under nonholonomic constraints. A typical motion planning problem is to find a feasible path in the configuration space of the mobile robot that starts at the given initial state and reaches the desired goal state while satisfying robot kinematic or dynamic constraints. A variety of methods have been used to solve various aspects of the motion planning problem. Depending on the desired quality of the solution, an optimal path is often sought. In this dissertation, optimal control is employed to obtain optimal collision-free paths for two-wheeled mobile robots and manipulators mounted on wheeled mobile platforms from an initial state to a goal state while avoiding obstacles. Obstacle avoidance is mathematically modelled using the potential field technique. The optimal control problem is then solved using an indirect method approach. This approach employs Pontryagin’s minimum principle where analytical solutions for optimality conditions are derived. Solving the optimality condition leads to two sets of differential equations that have to be solved simultaneously and whose conditions are given at different times. This set of equations is known as a two-point boundary value problem (TPBVP) and can be solved using numerical techniques. An indirect method, namely Leapfrog, is then implemented to solve the TPBVP. The Leapfrog method begins with a feasible trajectory, which is divided into smaller subdivisions where the local optimal controls are solved. The locally optimal trajectories are added and following a certain scheme of updating the number of subdivisions, the algorithm ends with the generation of an optimal trajectory along with the corresponding cost. An advantage of using the Leapfrog method is that it does not depend on the provision of good initial guesses along a path. In addition, the solution provided by the method satisfies both boundary conditions at every step. Moreover, in each iteration the paths generated are feasible and their cost decreases asymptotically. ii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za
From data to dynamics: discovering governing equations from data

From data to dynamics: discovering governing equations from data Kathleen Champion Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor J. Nathan Kutz Applied Mathematics Governing laws and equations, such as Newton’s second law for classical mechanics and the Navier-Stokes equations thence derived, have been responsible throughout history for numerous scientific breakthroughs in the physical and engineering sciences. There are many systems of interest for which large quantities of measurement data have been collected, but the underlying governing equations remain unknown. While machine learning approaches such as sparse regression and deep neural networks have been successful at discovering governing laws and reduced models from data, many challenges still remain. In this work, we focus on the discovery of nonlinear dynamical systems models from data. We present several methods based on the sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (SINDy) algorithm. These approaches address a number of challenges that occur when dealing with scientific data sets, including unknown coordinates, multiscale dynamics, parametric dependencies, and outliers. Our methods focus on discovering parsimonious models, as parsimony is key for obtaining models that have physical interpretations and can generalize to predict previously unobserved behaviors.
Infeksi Saluran Kemih (Isk) Komplikata Di Rumah Sakit Ibnu Sina Makassar

Infeksi Saluran Kemih merupakan istilah umum yang menunjukkan keberadaan mikroorganisme dalam urin.Adanya bakteri dalam urin disebut baktteriuria.Bakteriuria bermakna menunjukkan pertumbuhan mikroorganisme murni lebih dari105 colony forming units (CFU) pada biakan urin. ISK complicated (rumit) adalah infeksi saluran kemih yang terjadi pada pasien yang menderita kelainan anatomik/struktur saluran kemih, atau adanya penyakit sistemik. Kelainan ini akan menyulitkan pemberantasan kuman olehantibiotika.Pasien masuk UGD dengan keluhan sesak napas yang di alami sejak 3 bulan yang laludan dirasakan memberat saat itu juga. Pasien mempunyai riwayat penyakit DM dan Hipertensi dimana pasien tidak minum obat teratur, pasien juga mengatakan bahwa dirinya pernah dirawat di RS Soppeng dengan gagal ginjal.Pada Pemeriksaan fisik didapatkan pasien tampak lemas dengan kesadaran baik. TD 150/100mmHg, Nadi 90x/menit, RR 18x/menit dan Suhu 36,8oC, kesan gizi cukup. konjungtiva mata anemis, Ekstremits superior dan inferior tampak udem. hasil uji laboratorium nilai Ureum=7g, kreatinin=166,Hb:7,4, WBC:8400, PLT:330.000, untuk hasil urinalisa didapatkan protein urin:+3, Blood:+3, Leukosit: 40-45uIU/mL dan diberikan Furosemide 40mg (2amp/8jam/iv) dan diberikan edukasi untuk dilakukan hemodialisis, pada pemeriksaan kultur urin dan didapatkan hasil pada hari ke 8 dari pemeriksaan kultur urin terdapat E.Coli
Modelling Length of Hospital Stay for Tuberculosis Treated in-Patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital: a Competing Risk Perspective

A retrospective cohort study was done on adult Tuberculosis (TB) in-patients from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) Surveillance Programme of In-patients and Epidemiology (SPINE) database to identify factors explaining time to discharge from hospital while accounting for a competing event: death. The study aimed to apply and compare competing risk models on TB data. Semi-parametric Cause-specific hazards (CSH) and Sub-distribution hazard (SDH) models were applied to model the effect of HIV status, age, and Sex in relation to death or discharge from hospital. Test for model assumptions and diagnostics were conducted. Findings showed that the SDH explained best the effect of the covariates to the probability of a patient being discharged or dying. Further the main factors affecting length of hospital stay among TB in-patients were age and HIV Status. HIV positive patients were 17.6% less likely to be discharged from hospital compared to HIV negative patients (p=0.048) and an increase in age, resulted in 2% decrease of chances of discharge. The study showed the importance of using cumulative incidence function for calculating probability of being discharged in the presence of a competing event death. To meet the objective of identifying prognostic factors of discharge in the presence of a competing event, the sub-distribution hazard model explained better the covariate effects on event discharge than the CSH model. The findings emphasize the importance to use competing risk methods which best meet the study objectives.
Research on image matching algorithm based on improved SIFT UAV

Aiming at the low accuracy of UAV image registration algorithm, and the complex calculation of SIFT algorithm feature descriptor and the low time efficiency, an image matching algorithm based on improved SIFT is proposed. Firstly, the image of UAV is preprocessed, and the feature point operator is detected by Shi-Tomasi corner, then is extracted by SIFT feature vector, and the dimension of feature vector is reduced by PCA. Then the nearest neighbor method is used for feature matching, and the BBF algorithm is used to search the feature values to improve the matching speed. Finally, the RANSAC algorithm is used to purify the feature points for accurate matching. Experiments show that compared with the traditional image matching method, the proposed algorithm improves the efficiency and accuracy of the UAV image registration technology.