Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of short-term exercise training on insulin-stimulated PI 3-kinase activity in human skeletal muscle.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the improvement in insulin sensitivity with exercise training is associated with enhanced phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) activity. Nine sedentary men were studied before and after 7 days of exercise training (1 h/day, ≈75% maximal oxygen consumption). Insulin sensitivity was determined with a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp in the sedentary state and 15-17 h after the final exercise bout. PI 3-kinase activity was determined from samples (vastus lateralis) obtained in the fasted condition and after 60 min of submaximal insulin stimulation during the clamp. After exercise, glucose infusion rate increased ( P < 0.05) significantly (means ± SE, 7.8 ± 0.5 vs. 9.8 ± 0.8 mg ⋅ kg-1 ⋅ min-1), indicating improved insulin sensitivity. Insulin-stimulated (insulin stimulated/fasting) phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitable PI 3-kinase activity also increased significantly ( P < 0.05) with exercise (3.1 ± 0.8-fold) compared with the sedentary condition (1.3 ± 0.1-fold). There was no change in fasting PI 3-kinase activity. These data suggest that an enhancement of insulin signal transduction in skeletal muscle may contribute to the improvement in insulin action with exercise.
Evaluating Muscle Activation Models for Elbow Motion Estimation

Adoption of wearable assistive technologies relies heavily on improvement of existing control system models. Knowing which models to use and how to improve them is difficult to determine due to the number of proposed solutions with relatively little broad comparisons. One type of these models, muscle activation models, describes the nonlinear relationship between neural inputs and mechanical activation of the muscle. Many muscle activation models can be found in the literature, but no comparison is available to guide the community on limitations and improvements. In this research, an EMG-driven elbow motion model is developed for the purpose of evaluating muscle activation models. Seven muscle activation models are used in an optimization procedure to determine which model has the best performance. Root mean square errors in muscle torque estimation range from 1.67–2.19 Nm on average over varying input trajectories. The computational resource demand was also measured during the optimization procedure, as it is an important aspect for determining if a model is feasible for use in a particular wearable assistive device. This study provides insight into the ability of these models to estimate elbow motion and the trade-off between estimation accuracy and computational demand.
Yogurt and gut function.

In recent years, numerous studies have been published on the health effects of yogurt and the bacterial cultures used in the production of yogurt. In the United States, these lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB) include Lactobacillus and Streptococcus species. The benefits of yogurt and LAB on gastrointestinal health have been investigated in animal models and, occasionally, in human subjects. Some studies using yogurt, individual LAB species, or both showed promising health benefits for certain gastrointestinal conditions, including lactose intolerance, constipation, diarrheal diseases, colon cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, Helicobacter pylori infection, and allergies. Patients with any of these conditions could possibly benefit from the consumption of yogurt. The benefits of yogurt consumption to gastrointestinal function are most likely due to effects mediated through the gut microflora, bowel transit, and enhancement of gastrointestinal innate and adaptive immune responses. Although substantial evidence currently exists to support a beneficial effect of yogurt consumption on gastrointestinal health, there is inconsistency in reported results, which may be due to differences in the strains of LAB used, in routes of administration, or in investigational procedures or to the lack of objective definition of "gut health. " Further well-designed, controlled human studies of adequate duration are needed to confirm or extend these findings.
Evidence for extensive horizontal gene transfer from the draft genome of a tardigrade

Significance Despite fascinating scientists for over 200 years, little at the molecular level is known about tardigrades, microscopic animals resistant to extreme stresses. We present the genome of a tardigrade. Approximately one-sixth of the genes in the tardigrade genome were found to have been acquired through horizontal transfer, a proportion nearly double the proportion of previous known cases of extreme horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in animals. Foreign genes have impacted the composition of the tardigrade genome: supplementing, expanding, and replacing endogenous gene families, including those families implicated in stress tolerance. Our results extend recent findings that HGT is more prevalent in animals than previously suspected, and they suggest that organisms that survive extreme stresses might be predisposed to acquiring foreign genes. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the transfer of genes between species, has been recognized recently as more pervasive than previously suspected. Here, we report evidence for an unprecedented degree of HGT into an animal genome, based on a draft genome of a tardigrade, Hypsibius dujardini. Tardigrades are microscopic eight-legged animals that are famous for their ability to survive extreme conditions. Genome sequencing, direct confirmation of physical linkage, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that a large fraction of the H. dujardini genome is derived from diverse bacteria as well as plants, fungi, and Archaea. We estimate that approximately one-sixth of tardigrade genes entered by HGT, nearly double the fraction found in the most extreme cases of HGT into animals known to date. Foreign genes have supplemented, expanded, and even replaced some metazoan gene families within the tardigrade genome. Our results demonstrate that an unexpectedly large fraction of an animal genome can be derived from foreign sources. We speculate that animals that can survive extremes may be particularly prone to acquiring foreign genes.
Energy-spectral efficiency tradeoff of visible light communication systems

In this paper, we propose a new definition of the energy efficiency (EE) for indoor visible light communication (VLC) systems and further investigate the tradeoff between the EE and spectral efficiency (SE). Different from the conventional concept of the EE in wireless communication systems, the newly defined EE in VLC systems utilizes the optical communication power instead of radio frequency power to evaluate the consumed energy. Some key parameters (e.g., horizontal distance and vertical distance) in optical transmission circumstances are included when calculating the SE. The nonlinearity of light-emitting diode (LED) is also considered in the EE-SE tradeoff and such nonlinearity can be eliminated by pre-distortion. In particular, the relation between the electrical power and optical power can be derived based on the LED nonlinearity. Numerical results verify the presented EE-SE tradeoff. It is shown that the geometric parameters and the LED turn-on voltage (TOV) can significantly affect the relationship of the EE and SE.
A case study of non-adoption: the values of location tracking in the family

A number of commercial location tracking systems exist which enable parents to monitor where their children are when outdoors. The adoption of these services and whether, through their design, they reflect parental values has not been investigated. This question was pursued with a large-scale survey of 920 parents from the UK. The use of location tracking was not prevalent amongst parents and only a minority had considered using these technologies. Parents favoring location tracking described it in the context of security, peace of mind and the need to reduce uncertainty. Parents who were against location tracking described a general lack of need as they had established reliable mechanisms for security and valued trust in the family as well as children's self-direction. Our findings show that location tracking concurrently supports and threatens parental values. By focusing on the values it undermines, we are able to suggest new directions for location systems.
Evaluating the effects of nature-based tourism on cetaceans

Public demand for close-up experiences with whales, dolphins and porpoises at sea is at an all time high. Commercial tourist ventures include opportunities for people to observe, swim with, touch, or feed wild cetaceans from the shore, sea or air. In 1998, a total of 87 nations and territories offered commercial tourist activities that target wild cetaceans, with more than nine million people participating (Hoyt 2001). Current projections indicate a continued annual growth of well beyond 5% over the next several years (Hoyt 2001).
Carbohydrate intake and HDL in a multiethnic population.

BACKGROUND Ethnic differences in serum lipids are not explained by genetics, central adiposity, lifestyle, or diet, possibly because dietary carbohydrate has not been considered. OBJECTIVE The aim was to evaluate the relation between carbohydrate intake and HDL and triacylglycerol concentrations in a multiethnic population. DESIGN We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of 619 Canadians of Aboriginal, South Asian, Chinese, and European origin with no previously diagnosed medical conditions. Energy-adjusted carbohydrate intake was measured by a validated food-frequency questionnaire. RESULTS South Asians consumed the most carbohydrate, followed by European, Aboriginal, and Chinese persons. Mean (95% CI) HDL concentrations in the lowest and highest categories of carbohydrate intake after adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, physical activity, smoking, the waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index, alcohol intake, and intakes of total energy, protein, and fiber were 1.21 mmol/L (1.16, 1.27 mmol/L) and 1.08 mmol/L (1.02, 1.13 mmol/L), respectively, and HDL cholesterol was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in the lowest tertile of carbohydrate intake than in the highest tertile. High carbohydrate intake was associated with higher fasting triacylglycerols (P = 0.04); the adjusted mean fasting triacylglycerol concentrations in the lowest and highest categories of carbohydrate intake were 1.43 mmol/L (1.28, 1.60 mmol/L) and 1.71 mmol/L (1.57, 1.87 mmol/L), respectively. Fewer servings of sugar-containing soft drinks, juices, and snacks were associated with higher HDL (P for trend = 0.02); the multivariate-adjusted mean HDL in the lowest and highest categories of carbohydrate intake was 1.22 mmol/L (1.17, 1.27 mmol/L) and 1.11 mmol/L (1.06, 1.26 mmol/L), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Differences in HDL and triacylglycerols observed in different ethnic groups may be due in part to carbohydrate intake. Reducing the frequency of intake of sugar-containing soft drinks, juices, and snacks may be beneficial.
Generalized cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: a study of first-episode patients.

BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is recognized as a core characteristic of schizophrenia. There has always been a debate about the nature, selectivity, and time of onset of these deficits in relationship to the onset of illness and treatment factors. To our knowledge, the present study represents the largest sample of mostly neuroleptic-naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia that has been reported to date. METHODS A group of 94 patients experiencing their first episode of schizophrenic illness and 305 normal comparison subjects were administered a comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluation. Seventy-three patients were neuroleptic naive, 14 had received treatment for less than 1 week, and the remaining 7 had been medicated for less than 2 weeks. RESULTS Patients performed significantly worse than the comparison subjects on every neuropsychological variable except those assessing savings scores (ie, forgetting over time). Twenty-five of 30 tests had an effect size (ES) greater than 0.75 when the 2 groups were compared. An ES analysis within the schizophrenia group revealed that the greatest relative impairments were on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised digit symbol (ES, -0.52) and comprehension (ES, -0.42) subscales. CONCLUSIONS Our findings are in concert with others demonstrating that significant cognitive impairment across multiple ability domains is a core characteristic of schizophrenia and is not caused by chronic illness, treatment, or institutionalization. The ES analysis emphasizes that patients with schizophrenia have a generalized deficit that is not easily explained by a single anatomical region or ability area.
The mediating effect of organizational reputation on customer loyalty and service recommendation in the banking industry

Purpose – The overall purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the mediating effect of organizational reputation on service recommendation and customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – Four models were developed that were variations of the American Customer Satisfaction Model (ACSM). These models were then tested by using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) procedure on a data collected from a survey that yielded 8,098 respondents.Findings – It was found that customer satisfaction enhances reputation in the service environment. It was also discovered that reputation partially mediates the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, and that reputation partially mediates the relationship between satisfaction and recommendation.Research limitations/implications – More research needs to be undertaken to explore the role of reputation within the ACSM. It is necessary to conduct research employing experimental design with longitudinal data captured from across industries using robust measur.
Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

Quality of life (QoL) is a broad multidimensional concept that usually includes subjective evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of life [1]. What makes it challenging to measure is that, although the term “quality of life”has meaning for nearly everyone and ev‐ ery academic discipline, individuals and groups can define it differently. Philosophers were concerned with the nature of human existence and defined the “good life”, ethicists debated the shift in health-care decision-making for the concept of “sanctity of life” to “QoL” and so‐ cial utility, environmentalists have placed emphasis upon attributes and conditions of the physical and biological environment, economists were concerned with the allocation of re‐ sources to achieve alternating goals, psychologists considered human needs and their fulfill‐ ment, where as sociologists have advanced a social systems approach in which indicators of QoL are seen as variables in the total system and its subsystems. Physicians focused on healthand illness-related variables and nurses, on keeping with the discipline’s holistic ap‐ proach, took the broadest view in defining life quality, yet because of their frequent preoccu‐ pation with the physiological status, they tend to contaminate their operationalization of the concept with disease-specific items [2,3]. And within these disciplines, scientists have de‐ fined QoL from different perspectives, such considerations as objective indicators, subjective view, life goals, needs satisfaction, and components of life. WHO defines Quality of Life as individuals perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person's physical health, psycho‐ logical state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and their relation‐ ship to salient features of their environment [4,5].
Attackers in Wireless Sensor Networks Will Be

Partially compromised network is a pragmatic assumption in many real-life scenarios. Secrecy amplification protocols provide a significant increase in the number of secure communication links by re-establishing new keys via different communication paths. Our paper shows that so far research in the area of secrecy amplification protocols for wireless sensor networks has been based on rather simplified foundations with respect to attacker models. The attacker does not behave randomly and different attacker capabilities and behaviour have to be considered. We provide means to experimental work with parametrisable attacker capabilities and behaviour in realistic simulations, and evaluate the impact of the realistic attacker properties on the performance of major amplification protocols. We also show which secrecy amplification protocols perform best in different attacker settings and help to select a protocol that exhibits good results in a prevalent number of inspected scenarios. This is the extended version of our paper that is to be presented at 15th International Conference on Cryptology and Network Security (CANS 16) in Milan, Italy, November 14-16, 2016. ∗This author was partly supported by the Czech Science Foundation project GBP202/12/G061.
A New Algorithm for the On-Board Compression of Hyperspectral Images

Hyperspectral sensors are able to provide information that is useful for many different applications. However, the huge amounts of data collected by these sensors are not exempt of drawbacks, especially in remote sensing environments where the hyperspectral images are collected on-board satellites and need to be transferred to the earth’s surface. In this situation, an efficient compression of the hyperspectral images is mandatory in order to save bandwidth and storage space. Lossless compression algorithms have been traditionally preferred, in order to preserve all the information present in the hyperspectral cube for scientific purposes, despite their limited compression ratio. Nevertheless, the increment in the data-rate of the new-generation sensors is making more critical the necessity of obtaining higher compression ratios, making it necessary to use lossy compression techniques. A new transform-based lossy compression algorithm, namely Lossy Compression Algorithm for Hyperspectral Image Systems (HyperLCA), is proposed in this manuscript. This compressor has been developed for achieving high compression ratios with a good compression performance at a reasonable computational burden. An extensive amount of experiments have been performed in order to evaluate the goodness of the proposed HyperLCA compressor using different calibrated and uncalibrated hyperspectral images from the AVIRIS and Hyperion sensors. The results provided by the proposed HyperLCA compressor have been evaluated and compared against those produced by the most relevant state-of-the-art compression solutions. The theoretical and experimental evidence indicates that the proposed algorithm represents an excellent option for lossy compressing hyperspectral images, especially for applications where the available computational resources are limited, such as on-board scenarios.
Imaging studies after a first febrile urinary tract infection in young children.

BACKGROUND Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend obtaining a voiding cystourethrogram and a renal ultrasonogram for young children after a first urinary tract infection; renal scanning with technetium-99m-labeled dimercaptosuccinic acid has also been endorsed by other authorities. We investigated whether imaging studies altered management or improved outcomes in young children with a first febrile urinary tract infection. METHODS In a prospective trial involving 309 children (1 to 24 months old), an ultrasonogram and an initial renal scan were obtained within 72 hours after diagnosis, contrast voiding cystourethrography was performed one month later, and renal scanning was repeated six months later. RESULTS The ultrasonographic results were normal in 88 percent of the children (272 of 309); the identified abnormalities did not modify management. Acute pyelonephritis was diagnosed in 61 percent of the children (190 of 309). Thirty-nine percent of the children who underwent cystourethrography (117 of 302) had vesicoureteral reflux; 96 percent of these children (112 of 117) had grade I, II, or III vesicoureteral reflux. Repeated scans were obtained for 89 percent of the children (275 of 309); renal scarring was noted in 9.5 percent of these children (26 of 275). CONCLUSIONS An ultrasonogram performed at the time of acute illness is of limited value. A voiding cystourethrogram for the identification of reflux is useful only if antimicrobial prophylaxis is effective in reducing reinfections and renal scarring. Renal scans obtained at presentation identify children with acute pyelonephritis, and scans obtained six months later identify those with renal scarring. The routine performance of urinalysis, urine culture, or both during subsequent febrile illnesses in all children with a previous febrile urinary tract infection will probably obviate the need to obtain either early or late scans.
A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults

Objective We performed a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression to determine if dietary protein supplementation augments resistance exercise training (RET)-induced gains in muscle mass and strength. Data sources A systematic search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL and SportDiscus. Eligibility criteria Only randomised controlled trials with RET ≥6 weeks in duration and dietary protein supplementation. Design Random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions with four a priori determined covariates. Two-phase break point analysis was used to determine the relationship between total protein intake and changes in fat-free mass (FFM). Results Data from 49 studies with 1863 participants showed that dietary protein supplementation significantly (all p<0.05) increased changes (means (95% CI)) in: strength—one-repetition-maximum (2.49 kg (0.64, 4.33)), FFM (0.30 kg (0.09, 0.52)) and muscle size—muscle fibre cross-sectional area (CSA; 310 µm2 (51, 570)) and mid-femur CSA (7.2 mm2 (0.20, 14.30)) during periods of prolonged RET. The impact of protein supplementation on gains in FFM was reduced with increasing age (−0.01 kg (−0.02,–0.00), p=0.002) and was more effective in resistance-trained individuals (0.75 kg (0.09, 1.40), p=0.03). Protein supplementation beyond total protein intakes of 1.62 g/kg/day resulted in no further RET-induced gains in FFM. Summary/conclusion Dietary protein supplementation significantly enhanced changes in muscle strength and size during prolonged RET in healthy adults. Increasing age reduces and training experience increases the efficacy of protein supplementation during RET. With protein supplementation, protein intakes at amounts greater than ~1.6 g/kg/day do not further contribute RET-induced gains in FFM.