Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistent gene flow suggests an absence of reproductive isolation in an African antelope speciation model

African antelope diversity is a globally unique vestige of a much richer world-wide Pleistocene megafauna. Despite this, the evolutionary processes leading to the prolific radiation of African antelopes are not well understood. Here, we sequenced 145 whole genomes from both subspecies of the waterbuck, an African antelope believed to be in the process of speciation. We investigated genetic structure and population divergence and found evidence of a mid-Pleistocene separation on either side of the eastern Great Rift Valley, consistent with vicariance caused by a rain shadow along the so-called ‘Kingdon’s Line’. However, we also found pervasive evidence of not only isolated and recent, but also widespread historical gene flow across the Rift Valley barrier. By inferring the genome-wide landscape of variation among subspecies, we found 14 genomic regions of elevated differentiation, including a locus that may be related to each subspecies’ distinctive coat pigmentation pattern. We investigated these regions as candidate speciation islands. However, we observed no significant reduction in gene flow in these regions, nor any indications of selection against hybrids. Altogether, these results suggest a pattern whereby climatically driven vicariance is the most important process driving the African antelope radiation, and suggest that reproductive isolation may not set in until very late in the divergence process.
Adventures in level design: generating missions and spaces for action adventure games

This paper investigates strategies to generate levels for action adventure games. This genre relies more strongly on well-designed levels than rule-driven genres such as strategy or roleplaying games for which procedural level generation has been successful in the past. The approach outlined by this paper distinguishes between missions and spaces as two separate structures that need to be generated in two individual steps. It discusses the merits of different types of generative grammars for each individual step in the process.
Effects of Exercise on Quality of Life and Prognosis in Cancer Survivors

Cancer is a global health problem with over 10 million cancer survivors in the United States alone. Cancer and its treatments often produce side effects that undermine quality of life. The purpose of this article is to review research examining the effects of physical activity (PA) upon quality of life and disease prognosis in cancer survivors. We divide our review into PA studies focusing upon (a) quality of life during treatments, (b) quality of life during survivorship (after treatments), (c) quality of life during palliative care, and (d) disease prognosis end points. Compelling clinical trial data indicate that PA can improve quality of life end points during treatment and survivorship. Data during palliative care is limited. Observational data suggest that PA may reduce the risk of disease recurrence and extend survival in some cancer survivors. Research findings suggest that PA is an appropriate recommendation for most cancer survivors, although many research questions remain.
Development and Validation of an Index for Scoring Baseline Respiratory Disease in the Very Low Birth Weight Neonate

An accurate description of the population at risk for neonatal chronic lung disease is clearly of prime importance for comparative studies and the planning of interventions. Attempts to explain variations in chronic lung disease rates in such studies have been compromised by lack of a way of estimating the severity of the initial pulmonary disease as a risk factor. Therefore, a severity index was developed for use in very low birth weight (<1501 g) neonates. Special emphasis was placed on applicability of the index in the multicenter observational setting. Development followed a clinician panel approach, with the resulting index designed to capture clinical judgment of severity. The index was validated prospectively on neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit, and retrospectively using charts from nine hospitals nationwide. Correlations of the index with clinical judgment in the two samples were . 95 and . 93, respectively. In an additional validation the index combined with birth weight correctly predicted oxygen dependence status at 30 days in 36 of 42 neonates consecutively admitted to five neonatal intensive care units (P = .002). Birth weight and the severity index contributed about equally to the prediction, and therefore they seem to represent partly independent components of baseline propensity for prolonged oxygen dependence.
Tandem Palladium and Isothiourea Relay Catalysis: Enantioselective Synthesis of α-Amino Acid Derivatives via Allylic Amination and [2,3]-Sigmatropic Rearrangement

A tandem relay catalytic protocol using both Pd and isothiourea catalysis has been developed for the enantioselective synthesis of α-amino acid derivatives containing two stereogenic centers from readily accessible N,N-disubstituted glycine aryl esters and allylic phosphates. The optimized process uses a bench-stable succinimide-based Pd precatalyst (FurCat) to promote Pd-catalyzed allylic ammonium salt generation from the allylic phosphate and the glycine aryl ester. Subsequent in situ enantioselective [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement catalyzed by the isothiourea benzotetramisole forms syn-α-amino acid derivatives with high diastereo- and enantioselectivity. This methodology is most effective using 4-nitrophenylglycine esters and tolerates a variety of substituted cinnamic and styrenyl allylic ethyl phosphates. The use of challenging unsymmetrical N-allyl-N-methylglycine esters is also tolerated under the catalytic relay conditions without compromising stereoselectivity.
Effects of exercise during adjuvant chemotherapy on breast cancer outcomes.

UNLABELLED Observational studies suggest that physical activity after a breast cancer diagnosis is associated with improved cancer outcomes; however, no randomized data are available. Here, we report an exploratory follow-up of cancer outcomes from the Supervised Trial of Aerobic versus Resistance Training (START). METHODS The START was a Canadian multicenter trial that randomized 242 breast cancer patients between 2003 and 2005 to usual care (n = 82), supervised aerobic (n = 78), or resistance (n = 82) exercise during chemotherapy. The primary end point for this exploratory analysis was disease-free survival (DFS). Secondary end points were overall survival, distant DFS, and recurrence-free interval. The two exercise arms were combined for analysis (n = 160), and selected subgroups were explored. RESULTS After a median follow-up of 89 months, there were 25/160 (15.6%) DFS events in the exercise groups and 18/82 (22.0%) in the control group. Eight-year DFS was 82.7% for the exercise groups compared with 75.6% for the control group (HR, 0.68; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.37-1.24; log-rank, P = 0.21). Slightly stronger effects were observed for overall survival (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.27-1.33; log-rank, P = 0.21), distant DFS (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.32-1.19; log-rank, P = 0.15), and recurrence-free interval (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.30-1.11; Gray test, P = 0.095). Subgroup analyses suggested potentially stronger exercise effects on DFS for women who were overweight/obese (HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.27-1.27), had stage II/III cancer (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.31-1.20), estrogen receptor-positive tumors (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.26-1.29), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive tumors (HR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.04-1.02), received taxane-based chemotherapies (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.19-1.15), and ≥85% of their planned chemotherapy (HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.25-1.01). CONCLUSIONS This exploratory follow-up of the START provides the first randomized data to suggest that adding exercise to standard chemotherapy may improve breast cancer outcomes. A definitive phase III trial is warranted.
Gestural interfaces: a step backward in usability

mentation is in the lab. After all, most new ideas fail, and the more radically they depart from previous best practices, the more likely they are to fail. Sometimes a radical idea turns out to be a brilliant radical breakthrough. Those designs should indeed ship, but it's important to realize radical breakthroughs are extremely rare in any discipline. Most progress is made through small and sustained incremental steps. Bold explorations should remain inside the company and university research laboratories and not be inflicted on any customers until those recruited to participate in user research have validated the approach. There are several fundamental principles of interaction design that are completely independent of technology: • Visibility (also called perceived affordances or signifiers) • Feedback • Consistency (also known as standards) • Non-destructive operations (hence the importance of undo) • Discoverability: All operations can be discovered by systematic exploration of menus. • Scalability: The operation should work on all screen sizes, small and large. One step forward, two steps back. Once again, the usability crisis is upon us. We suspect most of you thought it was over. After all, HCI certainly understands how to make things usable, so the emphasis has shifted to more engaging topics, such as new applications, new technological developments, and the challenges of social networks and ubiquitous connection and communication. Well, you were wrong. In a recent column for interactions , Norman pointed out that in the rush to develop gestural (or " natural ") interfaces, well-tested and understood standards of interaction design were being overthrown, ignored, and violated [1]. Yes, new technologies require new methods, but the refusal to follow well-established principles leads to usability disaster. Recently, Raluca Budui and Hoa Loranger from the Nielsen Norman Group performed usability tests on Apple's iPad, reaching much the same conclusion. The new applications for gestural control in smart cell phones (notably the iPhone and Android devices) and the coming arrival of larger screen devices built upon gestural operating systems (starting with Apple's iPad) promise even more opportunities for well-intended developers to screw things up. Nielsen put it this way: " The first crop of iPad apps revived memories of Web designs from 1993, when Mosaic first introduced the image map that made it possible for any part of any picture to become a UI element. As a result, graphic designers went wild: Anything they could draw could be a UI, …
Cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, and quality of life in patients with McArdle disease.

BACKGROUND This study sought to determine whether health-related quality of life (HRQoL) could be related to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and/or physical activity (PA) in patients with McArdle disease and to compare the CRF and HRQoL data obtained with normative data for age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. METHODS Eighty-one adult patients with McArdle disease underwent aerobic capacity testing to determine peak oxygen uptake (V˙O2peak), among other variables. HRQoL (Short Form 36-Item Health Survey questionnaire version 2 (SF-36 version 2)) and PA (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) questionnaires were completed by 45 of the patients. HRQoL and V˙O2peak data were compared with published normative data. RESULTS Positive correlations were observed between V˙O2peak and leisure time PA versus the physical component summary score and scores for several domains of the SF-36 questionnaire after adjusting for age, body mass index, and disease severity (R values, 0.42-0.68; all P < 0.01). In a regression analysis, the physical component summary score was directly linked to V˙O2peak (B = 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 0.78-1.78; P < 0.001; R = 0.422). The mean V˙O2peak recorded for patients with McArdle disease was 57% lower than the normative value (17.1 ± 5.3 vs 40.0 ± 9.5 mL·kg·min, respectively; P < 0.001). All patients showed a CRF below their age-/sex-matched normality value and scored clinically lower in the physical component summary and in most SF-36 domains compared with the Spanish general population. CONCLUSIONS Patients showed a consistent link between higher physical HRQoL scores and higher CRF. Patients fulfilling leisure time PA recommendations showed higher CRF and physical HRQoL scores than those not meeting guideline recommendations. According to normative data for healthy subjects, CRF and physical HRQoL are severely impaired in adult patients with McArdle disease.
Effects of Reducing Sedentary Time on Glucose Metabolism in Immigrant Pakistani Men

ABSTRACT Purpose This study aimed to examine the association between changes in objectively measured overall physical activity (PA) and changes in fasting and postprandial plasma insulin, C-peptide, and glucose concentrations in type 2 diabetes-prone immigrant Pakistani men living in Norway and to examine whether this association is explained by changes in moderate and vigorous PA (MVPA) or changes in sedentary time. Methods The current study is a secondary cohort analysis on data collected from the Physical Activity and Minority Health study, a randomized controlled trial aimed at increasing the PA level, and not sedentary time per se, in a group of sedentary immigrant Pakistani men (n = 150). For the present analyses, the two groups were merged and a cohort analysis was performed. Overall PA (counts per minute) and its subcomponents, sedentary time and MVPA, were measured with accelerometry. Outcome variables were measured after a 2-h standardized glucose tolerance test. Results Change in overall PA was significantly associated with postprandial log-transformed plasma insulin (β = −0.002; 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.003 to 0.000; P = 0.008), C-peptide (β = −2.7; 95% CI, −4.9 to −0.5; P = 0.01), and glucose concentration (β = −0.006; 95% CI, −0.01 to −0.002; P = 0.002). Change in sedentary time was significantly and beneficially associated with changes in postprandial log-transformed plasma insulin (β = 0.002; 95% CI, 0.001–0.003; P = 0.001), C-peptide (β = 3.7; 95% CI, 1.5–6.0; P = 0.001), and glucose concentration (β = 0.006; 95% CI, 0.002–0.1; P = 0.002), independent of changes in MVPA, waist circumference, and other confounders. Conclusions Increasing overall PA by reducing sedentary time seems as important as increasing time spent at MVPA in relation to postprandial plasma insulin and glucose levels in diabetes-prone immigrant men.
Identifying children's nocturnal sleep using 24-h waist accelerometry.

PURPOSE The purposes of this study were 1) to add layers and features to a previously published fully automated algorithm designed to identify children's nocturnal sleep and to exclude episodes of nighttime nonwear/wakefulness and potentially misclassified daytime sleep episodes and 2) to validate this refined sleep algorithm (RSA) against sleep logs. METHODS Forty-five fourth-grade school children (51% female) participants were asked to log evening bedtime and morning wake time and wear an ActiGraph GT3X+ (ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL) accelerometer at their waist for seven consecutive days. Accelerometers were distributed through a single school participating in the Baton Rouge, USA, site of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle, and the Environment. We compared log-based variables of sleep period time (SPT), bedtime, and wake time to corresponding accelerometer-determined variables of total sleep episode time, sleep onset, and sleep offset estimated with the RSA. In addition, SPT and sleep onset estimated using standard procedures combining sleep logs and accelerometry (Log + Accel) were compared to the RSA-derived values. RESULTS RSA total sleep episode time (540 ± 36 min) was significantly different from Log SPT (560 ± 24 min), P = 0.003, but not different from Log + Accel SPT (549 ± 24 min), P = 0.15. Significant and moderately high correlations were apparent between RSA-determined variables and those using the other methods (r = 0.61 to 0.74). There were no differences between RSA and Log + Accel estimates of sleep onset (P = 0.15) or RSA sleep offset and log wake time (P = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS The RSA is a refinement of our previous algorithm, allowing researchers who use a 24-h waist-worn accelerometry protocol to distinguish children's nocturnal sleep (including night time wake episodes) from daytime activities.
Gerotranscendence from a Nursing Perspective – from Theory to Implementation

The overall aim of the present thesis was to gain further knowledge about the nursing theoretical basis of care of older people, to translate the theory of gerotranscendence into practical guidelines, and to implement the theory and guidelines in practical settings.Study I comprised a literature search and a review with qualitative analysis of nursing theories. The conclusion drawn was that nursing theories do not provide guidance on how to care for older people or on how to support them in the developmental process of ageing. Thus, there is a need to develop a nursing care model that, more than contemporary theories, takes human ageing into consideration.Study II was a qualitative interview study involving staff working in care of older people. The interviews were qualitatively analysed. The conclusion was that staff members need an interpretative framework that allows them to understand the signs they sometimes observe in older people. Such a framework would enable staff to develop a broader approach to their care for older people. Parts of this framework can be found in the theory of gerotranscendence.In Study III, guidelines for practical care of older people were derived from the theory of gerotranscendence. Focus group interviews were used and other sources supporting the guidelines were given. A qualitative analysis of the interviews was carried out, and the theory of gerotranscendence was used as the theoretical framework. The guidelines could be used to promote a development toward gerotranscendence and could also be of value for people who have already attained a state of gerotranscendence. The guidelines focus on the individual, activities and the organisation.In Study IV, the theory of gerotranscendence and practical guidelines were introduced in a nursing home. Data were collected via qualitative interviews with staff and residents, and observations were made. Qualitative analysis and triangulation were performed. As theoretical frameworks, both the theory of gerotranscendence and innovation theory were used. The result showed that the most used guidelines were those focusing on the individual; these concern what each staff member could do in his/her relation to the resident and care. The findings showed further that those staff members who interpreted signs in line with the theory of gerotranscendence also used the guidelines. The staff who were early to adopt and promote the guidelines were those individuals who described a feeling of harmony with essential parts of the gerotranscendence theory.The most important finding of this thesis was that it was possible to translate a theory such that it could generate practical guidelines that could be used by the staff. There are probably many theories that could be translated in order to be implemented in practical care, e.g. to build a bridge between theory and practice, thereby helping staff. Innovation theory could be of general interest in all contexts in which work towards change is being conducted.
Decline in cardiorespiratory fitness and odds of incident sleep complaints.

PURPOSE To examine longitudinal change in cardiorespiratory fitness and odds of incident sleep problems. METHODS A cohort of 7368 men and 1155 women, age 20-85 yr, was recruited from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. The cohort did not complain of sleep problems, depression, or anxiety at their first clinic visit. Cardiorespiratory fitness assessed at four clinic visits between 1971 and 2006, each separated by an average of 2-3 yr, was used as a proxy measure of cumulative physical activity exposure. Sleep complaints were made to a physician during follow-up. RESULTS Across visits, there were 784 incident cases of sleep complaints in men and 207 cases in women. After adjusting for age, time between visits, body mass index, smoking, alcohol use, chronic medical conditions, complaints of depression or anxiety at each visit, and fitness at visit 1, each minute of decline in treadmill endurance (i.e., a decline in cardiorespiratory fitness of approximately 0.5 MET) between the ages of 51 and 56 yr increased the odds of incident sleep complaints by 1.7% (range = 1.0%-2.4%) in men and by 1.3% (range = 0.0%-2.8%) in women. Odds were ∼8% higher per minute decline in people with sleep complaints at visits 2 and 3. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that maintenance of cardiorespiratory fitness during middle age, when decline in fitness typically accelerates and risk of sleep problems is elevated, helps protect against the onset of sleep complaints made to a physician.
Effects of Endurance Training at the Crossover Point in Women with Metabolic Syndrome.

INTRODUCTION On the basis of theoretical evidence, intensity at the crossover point (COP) of substrate utilization could be considered as potential exercise intensity for metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study aimed to examine the effects of a training program at COP on exercise capacity parameters in women with MetS and to compare two metabolic indices (COP and the maximal fat oxidation rate point LIPOXmax®) with ventilatory threshold (VT). METHODS Nineteen women with MetS volunteered to perform a 12-wk training program on a cycle ergometer, with intensity corresponding to COP. Pre- and posttraining values of anthropometric and exercise capacity parameters were compared to determine the effects of exercise training. The pre-post training change of COP, LIPOXmax®, and VT were also investigated. RESULTS After training, anthropometric parameters were significantly modified, with reduction of body mass (3.0% ± 3.0%, P < 0.001), fat mass (3.3% ± 3.4%, P < 0.001), and body mass index (3.2% ± 3.4%, P < 0.001). Exercise capacity was improved after the training program, with significant increase of maximal power output (25.0% ± 18.4%, P < 0.001) and maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max, 9.0% ± 11.2%; P < 0.01). Lastly, when expressed in terms of power output, COP, LIPOXmax®, and VT occurred at a similar exercise intensity, but the occurrence of these three indices is different when expressed in terms of oxygen uptake, HR, or RPE. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the effectiveness of a 12-wk training program at COP to improve physical fitness in women with MetS. The relations between metabolic indices and VT in terms of power output highlight the determination of VT from a shorter maximal exercise as a useful method for determining metabolic indices in MetS.