Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seasonal Change in Body Composition and Physique of Team Sport Athletes

Abstract Walker, EJ, Aughey, RJ, McLaughlin, P, and McAinch, AJ. Seasonal change in body composition and physique of team sport athletes. J Strength Cond Res 36(2): 565–572, 2022—Body composition of team sport athletes was measured at 3 points across the preseason and competitive season. This repeated-measures study was conducted in 46 professional Australian football (AF) (age 23.8 ± 3.8 years), 26 soccer (age 22.7 ± 4.7 years), and 33 rugby union players (age 28.1 ± 4.2 years). A mixed-design analysis of variance was used to determine change across the season, and Pearson's correlation was used to determine the relationship between different measures. Anthropometry, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and 3-dimensional (3D) scan technology were used in AF and soccer, whereas only DXA was used in rugby. Body mass remained unchanged for both AF and soccer with gains in lean mass (p < 0.01), from preseason to early in the competitive season. Skinfold measures declined in AF (p < 0.001) and soccer (p < 0.05) across the season, whereas DXA-measured fat mass only declined in soccer (p < 0.01). Rugby backs (p < 0.01) and forwards (p < 0.001) reduced body fat and gained lean mass from preseason to in-season with forwards having greater relative and absolute changes as measured by DXA. 3D technology did not show change across the season. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry body fat percent and the sum of skinfold correlation were large (r = 0.74 [p < 0.001, CI 0.67–0.81]). The greatest change in body composition occurs from the beginning of preseason to the start of competition, with changes returning to baseline levels toward the end of season. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and skinfold measures were moderately correlated, providing a good alternative to track change in subcutaneous fat in AF and soccer athletes.
Protective effect of magnolol on oxaliplatin‐induced intestinal injury in mice

Oxaliplatin (OXL) is the first line treatment therapy for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and often combines with other chemotherapy. However, few reports have studied on its GI toxicity. Magnolol (MG), one of the mainly active constituents in Magnolia, has been reported to treat digestive diseases. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the intestinal protective effect of MG in OXL treatment group. OXL administration mice showed body weight loss, diarrhea, and intestinal damage characterized by the shortening of villi and destruction of intestinal crypts, as well as the colon length change. MG significantly reduced body weight loss, alleviated diarrhea, reversed histopathological changes, and prevented colon length reduction. Oxidative stress and inflammation were activated after OXL, and these responses were repressed by MG through increasing the activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione, decreasing level of nuclear factor of kappa b and downregulating the following pro‐inflammatory cytokines. Although the expression of tight junction protein occludin and numbers of proliferative crypt cells were reduced on ileum and colon after OXL, MG administration promoted these expressions. The fecal gut microbiota composition disturbed by OXL was significantly reversed by MG. Thus, MG could prevent the development and progression of mucositis induced by oxaliplatin through multipathway.
Neuropsychological and Neuroimaging Examinations of Self‐Reported Sleep Quality in Alcohol Use Disorder With and Without Korsakoff's Syndrome

BACKGROUND Alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients without Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) report a variable self-rated sleep quality. Their ability to accurately judge their sleep quality may be related to their alcohol-related cognitive deficits and brain damage. KS patients, who present severe brain dysfunction, may be cognitively unable to judge their sleep quality. The aim of the present study is to examine, in AUD and KS patients, whether the absence of sleep complaint is associated with altered brain structure and impaired cognitive abilities within specific cerebral networks. METHODS An assessment of subjective sleep quality was conducted in 20 healthy controls, 37 AUD patients, and 17 KS patients. Patients were first pooled together and then classified into 2 groups (no-complaintAUD + KS and complaintAUD + KS ) according to the total Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index score. Cognitive scores, gray matter (GM) volume, and white matter (WM) integrity were compared between these 2 groups, and then in AUD and KS patients separately. RESULTS Poor sleep quality was reported by 70% of AUD and 18% of KS patients. Compared to controls, both no-complaintAUD + KS and complaintAUD + KS presented cortical and subcortical alterations as well as episodic memory deficits, which were more severe in patients without sleep complaint. Only no-complaintAUD + KS presented executive deficits. Then, considering the clinical diagnosis, GM volume in frontotemporal regions, WM integrity, and executive functions were affected to the same extent in AUD and KS patients without sleep complaint. CONCLUSIONS Our results confirm the high prevalence of sleep complaint in AUD patients and the rare complaint in KS patients. In AUD and KS patients, the absence of sleep complaint may not indicate good sleep quality but rather reflect executive deficits and frontothalamic damage. Alcohol-related cognitive deficits may indeed alter the ability to self-evaluate sleep quality, suggesting that the use of sleep questionnaire should be considered with caution in patients with executive deficits.
Circulating MiR-210 and MiR-1246 as Potential Biomarkers for Differentiating Hepatocellular Carcinoma from Metastatic Tumors in the Liver

Summary Background To date few reports have pointed out the role of circulating miRNAs in discriminating metastatic liver tumors from primary hepatocellular (HCC) tumors. Such discrimination will have significant therapeutic and prognostic implications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential value of a panel of HCC-related circulating miRNAs (miR-142, miR-182, miR-200a, mir-210, miR-211, miR-302b, miR-324, miR-338, miR-340 and miR-1246) as noninvasive biomarkers for discriminating primary HCC from metastatic tumors in the liver. Methods The expression level of the selected miRNAs was quantified by quantitative real time PCR in 33 patients with HCC, 22 patients with metastatic tumors in the liver, and 30 healthy volunteers as control. Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate the difference in miRNAs expression between primary and metastatic liver tumors and to study the associations between their relative expression levels and the clinicopathological factors. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the individual miRNAs. Results Statistical analyses revealed a differential expression in the level of serum miR-210 and miR-1246 between the two groups of patients. The sensitivity and specificity of miR-210, for differentiating HCC from metastatic malignancies in the liver were found to be 73.7% and 64.28%, respectively. Whilst, of miR-1246 were 72.2% and 67.8%, respectively. In addition, the differential expression of the two miRNAs was also found to be associated with clinicopathological parameters in the two studied groups. Conclusions Serum miR-210 and miR-1246 have some diagnostic value for discriminating patients with metastatic tumors to patients with primary HCC
Healthy Hearts via Live Videoconferencing: An Exercise and Diet Intervention in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

Background Pediatric heart transplant recipients have high‐risk cardiovascular profiles that can affect their long‐term outcomes; however, promoting exercise and healthy diet has not been a major focus in the field. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility and impact of a supervised exercise and diet intervention delivered via live videoconferencing in this population. Methods and Results Patients 8 to 19 years of age at least 1 year post heart transplantation were enrolled. The 12‐ to 16‐week intervention phase included live video–supervised exercise (×3/week) and nutrition (×1/week) sessions. The 12‐ to 16‐week maintenance phase included ×1/week live video–supervised exercise and nutrition sessions and ×2/week self‐directed exercise sessions. Cardiac, vascular, nutritional, and functional health indices were obtained at baseline, after intervention, and after maintenance. Fourteen patients (median age, 15.2; interquartile range, 14.3–16.7 years) at a median of 3.3 (interquartile range, 1.5–9.7) years after heart transplant completed the intervention. Patients attended 89.6±11% of exercise and 88.4±10% of nutrition sessions during the intervention and 93.4±11% of exercise and 92.3±11% of nutrition sessions during maintenance. After intervention, body mass index percentile (median, −27%; P=0.02), endothelial function (median, +0.29; P=0.04), maximum oxygen consumption (median, +2 mL/kg per minute; P=0.002). Functional Movement Screening total score (median, +2.5; P=0.002) and daily consumption of saturated fat (median, −6 g; P=0.02) improved significantly. After maintenance, improvements in maximum oxygen consumption (median, +3.2 mL/kg per minute; P=0.02) and Functional Movement Screening total score (median, +5; P=0.002) were sustained. Conclusions In pediatric heart transplant recipients, a live video–supervised exercise and diet intervention is feasible. Our results demonstrate excellent adherence with significant improvements in cardiovascular and functional health. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT02519946.
The membrane binding and deformation property of vaccinia virus K1 ankyrin repeat domain protein

Membrane lipids are essential participants in cellular events, but only a small number of lipid‐interacting proteins have been characterized. Taking advantage of the small genome (~270 genes) of the vaccinia virus, we screened for soluble lipid‐binding proteins and found 27 proteins to be soluble after expression in Escherichia coli. Among them, 4 proteins were found to strongly bind to the total bovine brain lipid extract (Folch I fraction) that contained large amounts of phosphatidylserine in vitro. Out of the 4 proteins, 3 were unique proteins to viruses. Another protein, K1, solely contained an ankyrin repeat domain (ARD). ARD is conserved in large numbers of proteins in bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes and viruses, suggesting the possibilities of the membrane binding of ARDs in varieties of proteins. Furthermore, K1 deformed the lipid membrane dependently on the charged lipids. The tubulation and membrane binding was enhanced with increased negative membrane charge from phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2). The basic amino acid residues in the ARD were essential for membrane deformation, suggesting electrostatic interactions between K1 and the membrane for membrane deformation.
Heterogeneity of Streptococcus anginosus ß-hemolysis in relation to CRISPR/Cas.

Streptococcus anginosus is a commensal of the oral mucosa that can cause severe invasive infections. A considerable proportion of Streptococcus anginosus strains are ß-hemolytic due to the presence of an SLS-like gene cluster. However, the majority of strains do not display ß-hemolysis. To investigate ß-hemolysin heterogeneity in S. anginosus, we determined the presence of sag genes and correlated it with the presence of CRISPR/Cas genes in a collection of ß-hemolytic and non-ß-hemolytic strains. All of the ß-hemolytic strains carried the sag gene cluster. In contrast to other streptococci, clinical S. anginosus strains that do not display ß-hemolysis do not harbor sag genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the ß-hemolytic strains revealed that they belong to two previously defined clusters within S. anginosus. Correlation with CRISPR/Cas genes showed a significant difference for the presence of CRISPR/Cas in ß-hemolytic versus non ß-hemolytic isolates. The presence of the CRISPR/Cas type IIA or type IIC locus is associated with the absence of sag genes; in 65% of the non ß-hemolytic strains a CRISPR/Cas locus was found, while only 24% of ß-hemolytic strains carry CRISPR/Cas genes. Further analysis of the spacer content of the CRISPR systems revealed the presence of multiple self-targeting sequences directed against S. anginosus genes. These results support the hypothesis that horizontal gene transfer is involved in the acquisition of ß-hemolysin genes and that CRISPR/Cas may limit DNA uptake in S. anginosus.
An allometry between seed kernel and seed coat shows greater investment in physical defense in small seeds.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Numerous studies have treated the mass of a whole seed as an integrated unit, although the components seed kernel and seed coat play different roles and are subject to different evolutionary selection pressures. In this study, we provided the first global-scale quantification of the relative biomass investments in seed coats and seed kernels. We tested the following hypotheses: there is a negative allometry between seed kernel mass and seed coat mass, and therefore, seed coat ratio (SCR) is negatively correlated with seed mass. METHODS We compiled a global-scale data set from the published literature, including 680 plant species from 420 genera and 108 families. The relationships between seed components were quantified using standardized major axis regression, ordinary least squares regression, and phylogenetic independent analyses. KEY RESULTS We found a weak but significantly negative allometry between seed kernel mass and seed coat mass, which resulted in a negative relationship between seed mass and SCR. Similar results were found after accounting for the phylogeny. CONCLUSIONS The finding that smaller seeds invest more in protective tissues but less in stored reserves may explain the general prediction that larger seeds suffer greater predation than smaller seeds. Furthermore, this weak allometry may also explain, at least in part, why so many studies failed to identify a clear pattern of the effect of seed mass on many ecological processes. Our study suggests that the allometry between the two seed components must be considered when evaluating the ecological significance and evolutionary history of seed mass.
Ad Close Mitigation for Improved User Experience in Native Advertisements

Verizon Media native advertising (also known as Yahoo Gemini native) serves billions of ad impressions daily, reaching several hundreds of millions USD in revenue yearly. Although we strive to provide the best experience for our users, there will always be some users that dislike our ads in certain cases. To address these situations Gemini native platform provides an ad close mechanism that enables users to close ads that they dislike and also to provide a reasoning for their action. Surprisingly, users do care about their ad experience and their engagement with the ad close mechanism is quite significant. While the ad close rate (ACR) is lower than the click through rate (CTR), they are of the same order of magnitude, especially on Yahoo mail properties. Since ad close events indicate bad user experience caused mostly by poor ad quality, we would like to exploit the ad close signals to improve user experience and reduce the number of ad close events while maintaining a predefined total revenue loss. In this work we present our ad close mitigation (ACM) solution that penalizes ads with high closing likelihood, in our auctions. In particular, we use the ad close signal and other available features to predict the probability of an ad close event, and calculate the expected loss due to such event for using the true expected revenue in the auction. We show that this approach fundamentally changes the generalized second price (GSP) auction and provides incentive for advertisers to improve their ads' quality. Our solution was tested in both offline and large scale online settings, serving real Gemini native traffic. Results of the online experiment show that we are able to reduce the number of ad close events by more than 20%, while decreasing the revenue in less than 0.4%. In addition, we present a large scale analysis of the ad close signal that supports various design decisions and sheds light on ways the ad close mechanism affects different crowds.
On the α-Spectral Radius of Uniform Hypergraphs

Abstract For 0 ≤ α ---lt--- 1 and a uniform hypergraph G, the α-spectral radius of G is the largest H-eigenvalue of αD(G)+(1−α)A(G), where D(G) and A(G) are the diagonal tensor of degrees and the adjacency tensor of G, respectively. We give upper bounds for the α-spectral radius of a uniform hypergraph, propose some transformations that increase the α-spectral radius, and determine the unique hypergraphs with maximum α-spectral radius in some classes of uniform hypergraphs.
The activity of Levisticum officinale W.D.J. Koch essential oil against multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberclosis

Background and Objectives: Essential oils are used for controlling and preventing human diseases and the application of those can often be quite safe and effective with no side effect. The essential oils have been found to have antiparasitic, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant and especially antibacterial activity including antibacterial activity against tuberculosis. In this study the chemical composition and anti-TB activity of essential oil extracted from Levisticum officinale has been evaluated. Materials and Methods: The essential oil of L. officinale was obtained by the hydro distillation method and the oil was analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS techniques. The antibacterial activity of essential oil was evaluated through Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) assay using micro broth dilution method against multidrug-resistant Maycobacterium tuberculosis. The molecular modeling of major compounds was evaluated through molecular docking using Auto Dock Vina against-2-trans-enoyl-ACP reductase (InhA) as key enzyme in M. tuberclosis cell wall biosynthesis. Results: The hydrodistillation on aerial parts of L. officinale yielded 2.5% v/w of essential oil. The major compounds of essential oil were identified as α-terpinenyl acetate (52.85%), β- phellandrene (10.26%) and neocnidilide (10.12%). The essential oil showed relatively good anti-MDR M. tuberculosis with MIC = 252 μg/ml. The results of Molecular Docking showed that affinity of major compounds was comparable to isoniazid. Conclusion: The essential oil of aerial parts extracted from L. officinale was relatively active against MDR M. tuberculosis, and molecular docking showed the major compounds had high affinity to inhibit 2-trans-enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) as an important enzyme in M. tuberculosis cell wall biosynthesis.
Modelling the annual NHS costs and outcomes attributable to healthcare-associated infections in England

Objectives To estimate the annual health economic impact of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) to the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Design A modelling study based on a combination of published data and clinical practice. Setting NHS hospitals in England. Primary and secondary outcome measures Annual number of HCAIs, additional NHS cost, number of occupied hospital bed days and number of days front-line healthcare professionals (HCPs) are absent from work. Results In 2016/2017, there were an estimated 653 000 HCAIs among the 13.8 million adult inpatients in NHS general and teaching hospitals in England, of which 22 800 patients died as a result of their infection. Additionally, there were an estimated 13 900 HCAIs among 810 000 front-line HCPs in the year. These infections were estimated to account for a total of 5.6 million occupied hospital bed days and 62 500 days of absenteeism among front-line HCPs. In 2016/2017, HCAIs were estimated to have cost the NHS an estimated £2.1 billion, of which 99.8% was attributable to patient management and 0.2% was the additional cost of replacing absent front-line HCPs with bank or agency staff for a period of time. When the framework of the model was expanded to include all NHS hospitals in England (by adding specialist hospitals), there were an estimated 834 000 HCAIs in 2016/2017 costing the NHS £2.7 billion, and accounting for 28 500 patient deaths, 7.1 million occupied hospital bed days (equivalent to 21% of the annual number of all bed days across all NHS hospitals in England) and 79 700 days of absenteeism among front-line HCPs. Conclusion This study should provide updated estimates with which to inform policy and budgetary decisions pertaining to preventing and managing these infections. Clinical and economic benefits could accrue from an increased awareness of the impact that HCAIs impose on patients, the NHS and society as a whole.
Taking a look into the orbit of mammalian carnivorans

In this study, we explore the relationship between orbit anatomy and different ecological factors in carnivorous mammals from a phylogenetic perspective. We calculated the frontation (α), convergence (β), and orbitotemporal (Ω) angles of the orbit from 3D coordinates of anatomical landmarks in a wide sample of carnivores with different kinds of visual strategy (i.e. photopic, scotopic, and mesopic), habitat (i.e. open, mixed, and closed), and substrate use (i.e. arboreal, terrestrial, and aquatic). We used Bloomberg's K and Pagel's λ to assess phylogenetic signal in frontation, convergence, and orbitotemporal angles. The association of orbit orientation with skull length and ecology was explored using phylogenetic generalized least squares and phylogenetic manova, respectively. Moreover, we also computed phylomorphospaces from orbit orientation. Our results indicate that there is not a clear association between orbit orientation and the ecology of living carnivorans. We hypothesize that the evolution of the orbit in mammalian carnivores represents a new case of an ecological bottleneck specific to carnivorans. New directions for future research are discussed in light of this new evidence.
Automated Construction of Metric Maps using a Stochastic Robotic Swarm Leveraging Received Signal Strength

In this work, we present a novel automated procedure for constructing a metric map of an unknown domain with obstacles using uncertain position data collected by a swarm of resource-constrained robots. The robots obtain this data during random exploration of the domain by combining onboard odometry information with noisy measurements of signals received from transmitters located outside the domain. This data is processed offline to compute a density function of the free space over a discretization of the domain. We use persistent homology techniques from topological data analysis to estimate a value for thresholding the density function, thereby segmenting the obstacle-occupied region in the unknown domain. Our approach is substantiated with theoretical results to prove its completeness and to analyze its time complexity. The effectiveness of the procedure is illustrated with numerical simulations conducted on six different domains, each with two signal transmitters.