Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy cost of running and Achilles tendon stiffness in man and woman trained runners

The energy cost of running (Erun), a key determinant of distance running performance, is influenced by several factors. Although it is important to express Erun as energy cost, no study has used this approach to compare similarly trained men and women. Furthermore, the relationship between Achilles tendon (AT) stiffness and Erun has not been compared between men and women. Therefore, our purpose was to determine if sex‐specific differences in Erun and/or AT stiffness existed. Erun (kcal kg−1 km−1) was determined by indirect calorimetry at 75%, 85%, and 95% of the speed at lactate threshold (sLT) on 11 man (mean ± SEM, 35 ± 1 years, 177 ± 1 cm, 78 ± 1 kg, V˙O2max = 56 ± 1 mL kg−1 min−1) and 18 woman (33 ± 1 years, 165 ± 1 cm, 58 ± 1 kg, V˙O2max = 50 ± 0.3 mL kg−1 min−1) runners. AT stiffness was measured using ultrasound with dynamometry. Man Erun was 1.01 ± 0.06, 1.04 ± 0.07, and 1.07 ± 0.07 kcal kg−1 km−1. Woman Erun was 1.05 ± 0.10, 1.07 ± 0.09, and 1.09 ± 0.10 kcal kg−1 km−1. There was no significant sex effect for Erun or RER, but both increased with speed (P < 0.01) expressed relative to sLT. High‐range AT stiffness was 191 ± 5.1 N mm−1 for men and 125 ± 5.5 N mm−1, for women (P < 0.001). The relationship between low‐range AT stiffness and Erun was significant at all measured speeds for women (r2 = 0.198, P < 0.05), but not for the men. These results indicate that when Erun is measured at the same relative intensity, there are no sex‐specific differences in Erun or substrate use. Furthermore, differences in Erun cannot be explained solely by differences in AT stiffness.
Dynamic Hierarchical Classification for Patient Risk-of-Readmission

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a serious chronic condition often leading to 50% mortality within 5 years. Improper treatment and post-discharge care of CHF patients leads to repeat frequent hospitalizations (i.e., readmissions). Accurately predicting patient's risk-of-readmission enables care-providers to plan resources, perform factor analysis, and improve patient quality of life. In this paper, we describe a supervised learning framework, Dynamic Hierarchical Classification (DHC) for patient's risk-of-readmission prediction. Learning the hierarchy of classifiers is often the most challenging component of such classification schemes. The novelty of our approach is to algorithmically generate various layers and combine them to predict overall 30-day risk-of-readmission. While the components of DHC are generic, in this work, we focus on congestive heart failure (CHF), a pressing chronic condition. Since healthcare data is diverse and rich and each source and feature-subset provides different insights into a complex problem, our DHC based prediction approach intelligently leverages each source and feature-subset to optimize different objectives (such as, Recall or AUC) for CHF risk-of-readmission. DHC's algorithmic layering capability is trained and tested over two real world datasets and is currently integrated into the clinical decision support tools at MultiCare Health System (MHS), a major provider of healthcare services in the northwestern US. It is integrated into a QlikView App (with EMR integration planned for Q2) and currently scores patients everyday, helping to mitigate readmissions and improve quality of care, leading to healthier outcomes and cost savings.
Effect of selenium and vitamin E on risk of prostate cancer and other cancers: the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).

CONTEXT Secondary analyses of 2 randomized controlled trials and supportive epidemiologic and preclinical data indicated the potential of selenium and vitamin E for preventing prostate cancer. OBJECTIVE To determine whether selenium, vitamin E, or both could prevent prostate cancer and other diseases with little or no toxicity in relatively healthy men. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A randomized, placebo-controlled trial (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial [SELECT]) of 35,533 men from 427 participating sites in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico randomly assigned to 4 groups (selenium, vitamin E, selenium + vitamin E, and placebo) in a double-blind fashion between August 22, 2001, and June 24, 2004. Baseline eligibility included age 50 years or older (African American men) or 55 years or older (all other men), a serum prostate-specific antigen level of 4 ng/mL or less, and a digital rectal examination not suspicious for prostate cancer. INTERVENTIONS Oral selenium (200 microg/d from L-selenomethionine) and matched vitamin E placebo, vitamin E (400 IU/d of all rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) and matched selenium placebo, selenium + vitamin E, or placebo + placebo for a planned follow-up of minimum of 7 years and a maximum of 12 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prostate cancer and prespecified secondary outcomes, including lung, colorectal, and overall primary cancer. RESULTS As of October 23, 2008, median overall follow-up was 5.46 years (range, 4.17-7.33 years). Hazard ratios (99% confidence intervals [CIs]) for prostate cancer were 1.13 (99% CI, 0.95-1.35; n = 473) for vitamin E, 1.04 (99% CI, 0.87-1.24; n = 432) for selenium, and 1.05 (99% CI, 0.88-1.25; n = 437) for selenium + vitamin E vs 1.00 (n = 416) for placebo. There were no significant differences (all P>.15) in any other prespecified cancer end points. There were statistically nonsignificant increased risks of prostate cancer in the vitamin E group (P = .06) and type 2 diabetes mellitus in the selenium group (relative risk, 1.07; 99% CI, 0.94-1.22; P = .16) but not in the selenium + vitamin E group. CONCLUSION Selenium or vitamin E, alone or in combination at the doses and formulations used, did not prevent prostate cancer in this population of relatively healthy men. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00006392.
The effect of obesity degree on childhood pulmonary function tests.

BACKGROUND Childhood obesity has become a global epidemic. It is related to several chronic diseases such as essential hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and renal disease. The relationship between the degree of obesity and lung functions is well defined in adults, but limited information is available about the childhood period. AIMS This study aims to determine the impact of the degree of obesity on the pulmonary functions of school children and adolescents. STUDY DESIGN Cross sectional study. METHODS Included in the study were a total of 170 school children and adolescents (9-17 years old) referred to our paediatric outpatient clinic. Of these subjects, 42 were lean and non-obese (BMI % <85), 30 subjects were overweight (BMI % >85, <95), 34 subjects were obese (BMI % >95, <97), and 64 subjects were morbidly obese (BMI % >97). Anthropometric measurements were taken and spirometry was performed on all subjects. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity 25-75 (FEV25-75) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were used to measure the ventilatory functions for all the subjects. RESULTS The groups showed no significant differences in age or gender. Despite no statistically significant differences in FEV1, FVC, or FEV1/FVC, there were significant reductions in PEF (p<0.001) and FEV25-75 (p<0.001) in the overweight, obese and morbidly obese subjects, when compared with those who were non-obese. CONCLUSION Overweight, obese and morbidly obese children have no obstructive abnormalities compared with healthy lean subjects.
The potential for sociocultural factors in the diagnosis of ADHD in children.

PURPOSE The nongenetic contributors to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remain to be identified. A previous study in eastern Wisconsin (prevalence 13.5%) suggested that male gender, white race, lower block group median household income and population density, and greater distance to the nearest park were factors predictive of ADHD diagnosis. We performed a similar study in Dane County, Wisconsin. METHODS Cross sectional study of children age 5-17, with and without ADHD diagnosis, who received well child care in Dane County UW Family Medicine clinics (N=7954) 2007-2008. Street addresses were geocoded to 2000 Census block group. Univariate analysis was done by chi-square test or Mann-Whitney U test, multivariate analysis by logistic regression. RESULTS ADHD diagnosis was present in 309 (3.9%) children (74.1% male; P = 0.000, compared to females) and more frequently diagnosed in black children (6.8% of black children had ADHD diagnosis) than white (4%), Native American (2.7%), Hispanic (1.6%), or Asian (1.3%) children. In contrast to eastern Wisconsin and to Milwaukee County (a subset of the eastern Wisconsin study where black rates were identical to that of Dane County), black race rather than white race was predictive of ADHD in Dane County, while median household income, population density, and distance to nearest park were not associated. The range of ADHD within school district boundaries was 2.4%-7.1% (for N > 100/district). In the group of districts with >4% ADHD diagnosis, the increased rates were largely among whites. CONCLUSION ADHD diagnosis was much less common in this Dane County cohort than in eastern Wisconsin and was more common among blacks, but not predicted by other geo-demographic factors. Like eastern Wisconsin, ADHD diagnosis prevalence varied with apparent school district boundaries.
A fixed-point ICA algorithm with initialization constraint

We propose a novel approach, the fixed-point algorithm (FastICA) with initialization constraint, for performing independent component analysis (ICA). In order to achieve a reliable convergence during estimating the blind source components, both the third- and fourth-order statistics are taken into account when diagonalizing the cumulant tensors. By combining these high-order statistics, an initialization constraint is introduced into the decomposition procedure of the independent components by FastICA. The experimental results demonstrate that the improved algorithm can achieve a better performance than the original FastICA without increasing the computation cost dramatically. The simulations involving source signals with different distributions show that our algorithm can adapt most source signals, including some complicated and asymmetric distributions.
Synaptic Cytoskeletal Plasticity in the Prefrontal Cortex Following Psychostimulant Exposure

Addiction is characterized by maladaptive decision‐making, a loss of control over drug consumption and habit‐like drug seeking despite adverse consequences. These cognitive changes may reflect the effects of drugs of abuse on prefrontal cortical neurobiology. Here, we review evidence that amphetamine and cocaine fundamentally remodel the structure of excitatory neurons in the prefrontal cortex. We summarize evidence in particular that these psychostimulants have opposing effects in the medial and orbital prefrontal cortices (‘mPFC’ and ‘oPFC’, respectively). For example, amphetamine and cocaine increase dendrite length and spine density in the mPFC, while dendrites are impoverished and dendritic spines are eliminated in the oPFC. We will discuss evidence that certain cytoskeletal regulatory proteins expressed in the oPFC and implicated in postnatal (adolescent) neural development also regulate behavioral sensitivity to cocaine. These findings potentially open a window of opportunity for the identification of novel pharmacotherapeutic targets in the treatment of drug abuse disorders in adults, as well as in drug‐vulnerable adolescent populations. Finally, we will discuss the behavioral implications of drug‐related dendritic spine elimination in the oPFC, with regard to reversal learning tasks and tasks that assess the development of reward‐seeking habits, both used to model aspects of addiction in rodents.
Modernisation, New Labour and Criminal Justice Policy

£ £ I have always believed that politics is first and foremost about ideas. Furthermore, ideas need labels. The 'third way' is to my mind the best label for the new politics which the progressive centre-left is forging in Britain • • and beyond. (Tony Blair, 1998) On both sides of the Atlantic during the final decade of the last century, so-called centre-left political parties sought to revitalise their electoral appeal through a broad process of policy reformulation and image redesign. The process by which the Democrats and Labour became 'New Democrats' and 'New Labour' has been broadly characterised as one of 'modernisation'. In policy terms modernisation, according to advocates, meant an attempt to find a 'third way' a means of
Do Computer-Based Games Facilitate Knowledge Acquisition and Retention?

This study investigated the effects of a gaming approach on knowledge acquisition and retention in military trainees. Three groups of trainees were presented with subject matter in paper-based prose form (text), paper-based question-and-answer form (test), or computer-based gaming form (game). These conditions were selected to investigate potential benefits of computer-based gaming over traditional paper-and-pencil media in terms of trainee performance and reaction. Results showed that participants assigned to the game condition scored significantly higher on a retention test com- pared to pretest performance. Furthermore, participants assigned to the game condition scored significantly higher on a retention test than did participants assigned to the text condition. Participants assigned to the test and text conditions showed no benefit from training in performance at the retention test. In addition, participants assigned to the game condition rated the training they received as more enjoyable and more ef.
Improving the perforce of differential competitive learning model in clustering tasks

In this paper we propose two neural algorithms that can be considered a simplification and a generalization of the Differential Competitive Learning (DCL) neural network, respectively. Firstly, we suggest some simplifications for the original DCL model to eliminate redundant aspects of the competition mechanism. We get rid of the lateral connections arguing that it is possible because the winning neuron is chosen based solely on metrical similarity measures and the lateral feedback weights play no effective role. The activation rule is made simpler requiring less computational effort. In the second model, we show how to combine lateral connections with metrical relations on the activation and the learning rules of DCL to effectively estimate cluster centroids. This model is also less sensitive to weight initialization. A number of simulations are carried out to compare the presented models in unsupervised clustering tasks.
CD4+ T Cell Priming as Biomarker to Study Immune Response to Preventive Vaccines

T cell priming is a critical event in the initiation of the immune response to vaccination since it deeply influences both the magnitude and the quality of the immune response induced. CD4+ T cell priming, required for the induction of high-affinity antibodies and immune memory, represents a key target for improving and modulating vaccine immunogenicity. A major challenge in the study of in vivo T cell priming is due to the low frequency of antigen-specific T cells. This review discusses the current knowledge on antigen-specific CD4+ T cell priming in the context of vaccination, as well as the most advanced tools for the characterization of the in vivo T cell priming and the opportunities offered by the application of systems biology.
Selective attention along arbitrary axes

Selective attention, the ability to emphasise the relevant properties of an object and de-emphasise the irrelevant ones, is a central process in psychological models of category learning. The properties that can be attended to, or psychological dimensions as they are known in the field, are commonly assumed to remain unchanged through the course of a categorisation task. In this paper we show that, under certain conditions, new dimensions may emerge during learning by collapsing existing psychological dimensions. We analysed three previously published data sets, each containing multiple categorisation tasks. Stimuli were Munsell colours varying along the dimensions of brightness and saturation. We found that, in some cases, subjects attended to axes in the psychological space that did not coincide with the psychological dimensions, i.e., they had formed new psychological dimensions. This was the case for diagonal tasks in which the category boundary is oblique with respect to the psychological dimensions. Unexpectedly, this was also the case for some dimensional tasks in which the category boundary is perpendicular to one of the psychological dimensions.
NMR solution structure of calcium-saturated skeletal muscle troponin C.

Troponin C (TnC) is an 18 kDa (162-residue) thin-filament calcium-binding protein responsible for triggering muscle contraction upon the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The structure of TnC with two calcium ions bound has previously been solved by X-ray methods. Shown here is the solution structure of TnC which has been solved using 3D and 4D heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques. The 1H, 13C, and 15N backbone chemical shifts have already been published [Slupsky, C. M. , Reinach, F. C. , Smillie, L. B. , & Sykes, B. D. (1995) Protein Sci. 4, 1279-1290]. Presented herein are the 1H, 13C, and 15N side-chain chemical shifts which are 80% complete. The structure of calcium-saturated TnC was determined on the basis of 2106 NOE-derived distance restraints, 121 phi dihedral angle restraints, and 76 psi dihedral angle restraints. The appearance of calcium-saturated TnC reveals a dumbbell-shaped molecule with two globular domains connected by a linker. The structures of the N-terminal and C-terminal domains are highly converged [backbone atomic root mean square deviations (rmsd) about the mean atomic coordinate position for residues 10-80 and 98-155 are 0.66 +/- 0.17 and 0.69 +/- 0.18 A, respectively]; however, the orientation of one domain with respect to the other is not well-defined, and thus each domain appears to be structurally independent. Comparison of the calcium-saturated form of TnC determined herein with the half-saturated form determined by X-ray methods reveals two major differences. First, there is a major structural change which occurs in the N-terminal domain resulting in the opening of a hydrophobic pocket presumably to present itself to its target protein troponin I. This structural change appears to involve only helices B and C which move away from helices N/A/D by the alteration of the backbone phi, psi angles of glutamic acid 41 from irregular in the crystal structure (-97 degrees, -7 degrees) to helical in the NMR calcium-saturated structure (-60 degrees, -34 degrees). The other difference between the two structures is the presence of a flexible linker between the two domains in the NMR structure. This flexible linker allows the two domains of TnC to adopt any orientation with respect to one another such that they can interact with a variety of targets.
Network structure, metadata and the prediction of missing nodes

The empirical validation of community detection methods is often based on available annotations on the nodes that serve as putative indicators of the large-scale network structure. Most often, the suitability of the annotations as topological descriptors itself is not assessed, and without this it is not possible to ultimately distinguish between actual shortcomings of the community detection algorithms on one hand, and the incompleteness, inaccuracy or structured nature of the data annotations themselves on the other. In this work we present a principled method to access both aspects simultaneously. We construct a joint generative model for the data and metadata, and a nonparametric Bayesian framework to infer its parameters from annotated datasets. We assess the quality of the metadata not according to its direct alignment with the network communities, but rather in its capacity to predict the placement of edges in the network. We also show how this feature can be used to predict the connections to missing nodes when only the metadata is available, as well as missing metadata. By investigating a wide range of datasets, we show that while there are seldom exact agreements between metadata tokens and the inferred data groups, the metadata is often informative of the network structure nevertheless, and can improve the prediction of missing nodes. This shows that the method uncovers meaningful patterns in both the data and metadata, without requiring or expecting a perfect agreement between the two.
Comparison of Automatic Keyphrase Extraction Systems in Scientific Papers

Nowadays the amount of digital information that found in internet has considerably increased that is why online search is needed to automatically find the corresponding documents. These documents must be verified in order to know whether they contain the required information. A way to simplify the online search is using keywords or keyphrases since they act as filters within a search field. The paper presents the comparison of automatic keyphrases extraction systems based on a collection of scientific papers used in task 5 of SemEval-2010 which calls “Automatic keyphrase extraction from scientific articles”. In the experimental section, the results are presented for installable and online systems. We found systems that can match better the author, reader, and combined-assigned keyphrases with the keyphrases proposed by an expert. Finally, the obtained results are compared to the results obtained in task 5 of SemEval-2010.
The student perspective on employability

Despite ongoing debate about whether they can and should, most higher education institutions include the development of employability skills within their curricula. However, employers continue to report that graduates are not ready for the world of work, and lack some of the most basic skills needed for successful employment. Research into why this might be abounds from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including government, employers, higher education institutions and graduates. Interestingly though, the views of undergraduates, the recipients of this employability development, are not well known. This could be important, because learning theory tells us that motivation and commitment of learners is an essential prerequisite for effective outcomes. So the question is raised as to whether undergraduate students are engaged with employability skills development. This article reports on a study exploring the views of over 400 business studies, marketing and human resource management undergraduate students about employability. Findings suggest there is only limited alignment between the views of students and other stakeholder groups. There are differences between first, second and final year students, which could explain an observed lack of engagement with employability-related development. Some suggestions for improving engagement are made, alongside ideas on what can, realistically, be done within higher education institutions.