Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of vegetarian diets on blood pressure

: Hypertension is a major independent risk factor for coronary artery diseases, and the prevalence of hypertension is continuously increasing. Diet is an important factor that can be modified to prevent hypertension. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, dietary patterns are defined as the quantities, proportions, and variety or combinations of different foods and beverages in diets and the frequency with which they are habitually consumed. In this review, the vegetarian dietary pattern is introduced with a focus on the effect on blood pressure (BP). Although the available evidence is limited, according to a previous meta-analysis of controlled trials, vegetarian dietary patterns significantly reduced systolic and diastolic BPs. One of the common features of a vegetarian diet is weight loss, which might, at least partially, explain the effect on BP. Other possible factors such as sodium, potassium, protein, amino acids, vitamin B-12, antioxidants, fiber, and the microbiome are introduced as possible mechanisms. Further studies are needed with non-Western populations to determine the most effective vegetarian dietary pattern and to explore the exact mechanisms by which these dietary patterns affect BP.
Angiotensin-(1-9) ameliorates pulmonary arterial hypertension via angiotensin type II receptor

Angiotensin-(1-9) [Ang-(1-9)], generated from Ang I by Ang II converting enzyme 2, has been reported to have protective effects on cardiac and vascular remodeling. However, there is no report about the effect of Ang-(1-9) on pulmonary hypertension. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether Ang-(1-9) improves pulmonary vascular remodeling in monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary hypertensive rats. Sprague-Dawley rats received Ang-(1-9) (576 µg/kg/day) or saline via osmotic mini-pumps for 3 weeks. Three days after implantation of osmotic mini-pumps, 50 mg/kg MCT or vehicle were subcutaneously injected. MCT caused increases in right ventricular weight and systolic pressure, which were reduced by co-administration of Ang-(1-9). Ang-(1-9) also attenuated endothelial damage and medial hypertrophy of pulmonary arterioles as well as pulmonary fibrosis induced by MCT. The protective effects of Ang-(1-9) against pulmonary hypertension were inhibited by Ang type 2 receptor (AT2R) blocker, but not by Mas receptor blocker. Additionally, the levels of LDH and inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-1β, and IL-6, in plasma were lower in Ang-(1-9) co-treated MCT group than in vehicle-treated MCT group. Changes in expressions of apoptosis-related proteins such as Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3 and -9 in the lung tissue of MCT rats were attenuated by the treatment with Ang-(1-9). These results indicate that Ang-(1-9) improves MCT-induced pulmonary hypertension by decreasing apoptosis and inflammatory reaction via AT2R.
Enhanced Latent Heat Method to Incorporate Superheat Effects into Fixed-Grid Multiphysics Simulations

An efficient new method has been developed to incorporate the effects of heat transfer in a liquid pool into models of heat conduction with solidification. The procedure has been added into the commercial package Abaqus [1] as a user-defined subroutine (UMATHT). Computational results of fluid flow and heat transfer in a liquid domain can be characterized by the heat flux crossing the boundary representing the solidification front, or liquidus temperature. This “superheat flux” can be incorporated into an uncoupled transient simulation of heat transfer phenomena in the mushy and solid regions by enhancing latent heat. The new method has been validated and compared to semianalytical solutions and two other numerical methods on simple test problems: two-dimensional, steady-state ledge formation in cryolite in aluminum extraction cells, and shell thinning in continuous casting of steel. Its real power, however, is for multiphysics simulations involving complex phenomena, such as solidification stress analysis with nonlinear constitutive equations. Including the superheat flux from a thermal-fluid flow simulation of the liquid pool into the latent heat provides a very efficient and robust method for incorporating the effects of fluid flow in the liquid pool into thermal-stress problems, especially for transient problems.
How to Test Questions About Similarity in Personality and Social Psychology Research

Social and personality psychologists are often interested in the extent to which similarity, agreement, or matching matters. The current article describes response surface analysis (RSA), an approach designed to answer questions about how (mis)matching predictors relate to outcomes while avoiding many of the statistical limitations of alternative, often-used approaches. We explain how RSA provides compressive and often more valid answers to questions about (mis)matching predictors than traditional approaches provide, outline steps on how to use RSA (including modifiable syntax), and demonstrate how to interpret RSA output with an example. To bolster our argument that RSA overcomes many limitations of traditional approaches (i.e., incomplete or misleading inferences), we compare results from four popular approaches (i.e., difference scores, residuals, moderated regression, and the truth and bias model) to those obtained from RSA. We discuss specific applications of RSA to social and personality psychology research.
The Hurdles From Bench to Bedside in the Realization and Implementation of a Universal Influenza Vaccine

Influenza viruses circulate worldwide causing annual epidemics that have a substantial impact on public health. This is despite vaccines being in use for over 70 years and currently being administered to around 500 million people each year. Improvements in vaccine design are needed to increase the strength, breadth, and duration of immunity against diverse strains that circulate during regular epidemics, occasional pandemics, and from animal reservoirs. Universal vaccine strategies that target more conserved regions of the virus, such as the hemagglutinin (HA)-stalk, or recruit other cellular responses, such as T cells and NK cells, have the potential to provide broader immunity. Many pre-pandemic vaccines in clinical development do not utilize new vaccine platforms but use “tried and true” recombinant HA protein or inactivated virus strategies despite substantial leaps in fundamental research on universal vaccines. Significant hurdles exist for universal vaccine development from bench to bedside, so that promising preclinical data is not yet translating to human clinical trials. Few studies have assessed immune correlates derived from asymptomatic influenza virus infections, due to the scale of a study required to identity these cases. The realization and implementation of a universal influenza vaccine requires identification and standardization of set points of protective immune correlates, and consideration of dosage schedule to maximize vaccine uptake.
Physical Dynamical Systems for Prediction and Control : A Survey

This paper reviews recent papers in learning physical dynamics as a function of image or video data. The ability to describe the evolution of dynamical systems is essential to constructing accurate algorithms for a variety of tasks in computer vision. Capturing the physics of a system is critical to video prediction, due to the necessity of simulating the interaction between various agents and their environment, such as motion prediction of a bouncing ball. Accurate physical models are also essential to controlling an agent which can interact with the visual environment, such as a robotic arm which learns to manipulate physical objects by collecting visual information through a camera. We survey the various methods for representing a dynamical system in isolation, methods for prediction and control, and multi-modal extensions. We summarize the major roadblocks and prospective trends in each domain, and highlight several notable works for their contributions towards building robust, generalizable models.
Seroprevalence of antibodies to Chlamydophila abortus shown in Awassi sheep and local goats in

A cold complement fixation test (CFT) was used to identify C. abortus infection in ewes and does in northern Jordan. Sera from 36 flocks of sheep and 20 flocks of goats were collected randomly. The results showed that 433 (21.8%) out of 1 984 ovine sera, and 82 (11.4%) out of 721 caprine sera, were seropositive for C. abortus infection, as indicated by a titre ≥ 1:40. However, all the tested sheep flocks and goat flocks (100%) revealed at least one seropositive animal. There was a strong association (P < 0.05) between the rate of C. abortus infection and the size of the sheep flock, when larger flocks had higher infection rates. However, in goats, the flock size had no relationship with seropositivity. Age had no significant (P > 0.05) impact on C. abortus seropositivity. In sheep, there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the rates of the chlamydial infection in the four studied areas of northern Jordan. The highest infection rate in sheep (31.2%) was recorded in Mafraq area, while the rates in Irbid, Ajloun and Jerash were 18.5%, 11.2% and 13.9%, respectively. In goats, there was no significant difference between the rates of the chlamydial infection in the two areas studied. The rates of goat infections were 10.8% and 11.8% in Ajloun and Jerash areas, respectively.
Evaluation of a simple technique for recovering fish from capture stress: integrating physiology, biotelemetry, and social science to solve a conservation problem

We evaluate the utility of an inexpensive, portable recovery bag designed to facilitate recovery of fish from capture stress by combining physiological assays, biotelemetry, and social science surveys. Adult migrating Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) were used as a model, since some of their populations are threatened. While catch-and-release is common, there is a need to ensure that it is sustainable. A social science survey revealed that anglers generally have positive attitudes towards recovery bag use, particularly if research identifies that such techniques could be effective. Physiological assays on pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) revealed benefits of both high- and low-velocity recovery, but high velocity was most effective with reduced plasma cortisol concentrations and similar plasma sodium and chloride concentrations as those found in controls at all recovery durations. A biotelemetry study on sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) captured by anglers and stressed by air exposure then placed in recovery bags had 20% higher, but not significantly different, survival than no-recovery salmon. The integration of natural science and social science provides an important step forward in developing methods for promoting recovery of fish from capture. Resume : Nous evaluons l'utilite d'un sac de recuperation portable et peu dispendieux pour ce qui est de favoriser la recuperation de poissons apres un stress de capture, en combinant des essais physiologiques, des donnees de biotelemetrie et des etudes sociologiques. Des saumons du Pacifique (Oncorhynchus spp.) adultes en migration ont ete utilises comme modele etant donne que certaines de leurs populations sont menacees et que, bien que la peche avec remise al'eau soit repandue, il importe de verifier qu'il s'agit d'une pratique durable. Une etude sociologique a revele que les pecheurs ala ligne voient generalement d'un bon œil l'utilisation d'un sac de recuperation, en particulier si la recherche etablit l'efficacite de telles methodes. Des essais physi- ologiques sur des saumons roses (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) ont revele que la recuperation tant ahaute vitesse qu'abasse vitesse presentait des avantages, mais que la recuperation ahaute vitesse etait plus efficace, se traduisant par une reduction des concentrations de cortisol plasmatique et des concentrations semblables de sodium et de chlorure, utilisees comme temoins, pour toutes les durees de recuperation. Dans une etude biotelemetrique, des saumons sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) captures par des pecheurs ala ligne et soumis au stress de l'exposition al'air, puis places dans des sacs de recuperation presentaient un taux de survie de 20 % superieur acelui des saumons n'ayant pas recupere, bien que cette difference ne soit pas significative. L'integration des sciences naturelles et de la sociologie a donc permis une importante avancee dans la mise au point de methodes favorisant la recuperation de poissons suite aleur capture. (Traduit par la Redaction)
Response of Critical Speed to Different Macrocycle Phases during Linear Periodization on Young Swimmers

Sport training programs to young swimmers have to aggregate different physical stimulus to collaborate with overall physical development, which can lead to reach best results in competitions. Linear periodization seems to be a powerful tool that allow the organization of these stimulus. However, this model has been not studied. Regarding physical capacities, aerobic fitness is inversely related with fatigue and exercise performance. Although aerobic capacity evaluation used to be expensive, critical speed (CS) is easy and non-expensive tool capable to make this measurement.Thus, the aim of this study was evaluate the effects of linear periodization in CS on well-trained young swimmers. Sixteen athletes (age: 14.06 1.22 years, height: 163.5210.99 cm, weight: 57.412.7 kg, body mass index: 21.2437; 7 ♀), were underwent to a linear macrocycle training with 23 weeks divided in four mesocycles: general endurance (i.e., 4 weeks), specific endurance (i.e., 8 weeks), competitive (i.e., 7 weeks) and taper (i.e., 4 weeks). Results showed significantly improve on CS after competitive and taper mesocycle phases, which was composed by higher training intensity in comparison with other macrocycle phases. Therefore, the results of the present study indicate a collaboration of mesocycle intensity on the cumulative effects of linear periodization in CS improve on young swimmers.
Actinomycetes: A Source of Industrially Important Enzymes

Microbial enzymes play a key role as metabolic catalysts, leading to their diverse applications and use in various industries. The constant search for novel microbial enzymes has led to improvisations in the industrial processes which is the key for profit growth. Actinomycetes form a significant group of microbial populations in soil, plant tissues and marine environments. Actinomycetes produce many valuable extracellular enzymes which can decompose a variety of organic materials. Enzymes produced by Actinomycetes and applied in different industries are cellulases, proteases, amylases, lipases xylanases, chitinases, cutinases and pectinases. Actinomycetes identified from the extreme environments are known to be producers of novel enzymes with great industrial potential. This review attempts to summarize the applications of enzymes from Actinomycetes in different industries such as food, medicine, pulp and paper, detergent, textile, agriculture and biorefineries.
CONIC S-PROCEDURE AND CONSTRAINED DISSIPATIVITY FOR LINEAR SYSTEMS 1

Abstract A new proof and extension of the recent results of T. Iwasaki, S. Hara, A. Fradkov (Systems & Control Letters, 2005. Vol 54 (7), pp. 681-691) concerning equivalence of frequency domain inequality on finite frequency range and constrained dissipativity property for linear systems is given. The results of this paper employ an extended version of S-procedure based on duality in the space of positive definite matrices and introduction of matrix Lagrange multipliers, proposed by V.A. Yakubovich in 1992.
A COMPARITIVE STUDY ON EFFECTIVENESS OF TAPING WITH IONTOPHORESIS AND TAPING ALONE IN CHRONIC PLANTAR FASCITIS

Background: Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition caused by microtrauma to plantar fascia due to overuse. It is a most common cause of heel pain in runners. Various studies proved taping and Iontophoresis as effective in the treating plantar fasciitis. But there are no studies comparing the combined effect of iontophoresis with taping and taping alone in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Methods: 50 patients suffering from plantar fasciitis who met the inclusion criteria were selected. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups i.e. Group A and Group B. Group A received taping, iontophoresis with plantar fascia stretching. Group B received taping and plantar fascia stretching. A total of 6 treatment sessions were given on alternate days over a period of two weeks for both the groups. Results: VAS and FFI scores across baseline and post intervention showed a significant improvement statistically in their mean scores between Groups A and B (P<0.05). Between group comparison of VAS and FFI scores, it showed that subject treated with Iontophoresis in combination with taping and plantar fascia stretch (Group A) had significant improvement in VAS and functional ability when compared to subjects treated with taping and plantar fascia stretching alone (Group B). Conclusion: Iontophoresis along with Taping and plantar fascia stretching gave an additional benefit when compared with Taping and plantar fascia stretching alone in reducing pain and improving function in plantar fasciitis.
Yinyang K-means clustering for hyperspectral image analysis

Hyperspectral images are widely used in remote sensing applications due to their wealth of information in the spectral domain, that allows for very detailed scene classification. Clustering is one of the most used unsupervised techniques for the analysis of these scenes. Popular clustering techniques such as K-means are computationally expensive, particularly when applied to hyperspectral images characterized by their large dimensionality. An efficient implementation of K-means is the so-called Yinyang K-means, which outperforms K-means algorithms by clustering the centers in the initial stage, and leveraging efficiently maintained lower and upper bounds between each point and the cluster centers. In this work, we have adapted an efficient implementation of this algorithm using graphics processing units (GPUs) for hyperspectral image analysis. We have carried out a comparison of this technique with other existing implementations with the aim of demonstrating its usefulness in hyperspectral imaging. Our obtained results suggest that this technique is ideal for working with big hyperspectral data repositories.
Effect of Shoulder Side Pack on Dynamic Postural Stability in Young Healthy Female

Background: Control of balance is a complex motor skill that involves integration of sensory inputs and the planning and execution of flexible movement patterns. Carrying side packs is famous in our society especially shoulder side packs. Most students carry shoulder side packs and they don't care about the way to carry them to be more balanced. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of carrying shoulder side pack on dynamic postural stability and to determine the best way of carrying a shoulder side pack either on the dominant side or non-dominant side that doesn’t affect dynamic postural stability in young healthy female. Methods: Sixty female volunteers aged from 18 to 25 years old participated in the study. Biodex balance system was used to measure the dynamic postural stability in three different occasions (without carrying a shoulder side pack, with carrying a shoulder side pack on the dominant side, and on the non-dominant side) with a rest period in between. Results: Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni post hoc test were used to compare dynamic posture balance without carrying and during carrying a shoulder side pack on dominant and non-dominant sides. Analysis revealed that overall, anteroposterior and mediolateral stability indexes reduced significantly (P<0.0001) when carrying shoulder side pack on dominant side in comparison with when carrying shoulder side pack on non-dominant side and without carrying bag. Conclusion: It was concluded that carrying a shoulder side pack on the non-dominant side didn't disturb the postural stability when compared to carrying on the dominant side so, we recommend the students to carry shoulder side packs on the non-dominant side.
Degree Days to 50% Flowering for 12 Cultivars of Spring Canola-Like Mustard

Texas A&M AgriLife Research, 720 E. Blackland Rd., Temple, TX 76502, USA. Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 1701 10 Ave. SW, Mandan, ND 58554, USA. North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 803 Iowa Ave., Morris, MN 56267, USA. Central Great Plains Research Station, USDA-ARS, 40335 Co Rd. GG, Akron, CO 80720, USA. National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, USDA-ARS, 1015 N University Blvd., Ames IA 50011, USA. North Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 1500 N Central Ave., Sidney, MT 59270, USA. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, 1299 Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA. Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 808 E. Blackland Road, Temple, TX 76502, USA.
LOWER AND UPPER BOUNDS FOR THE RAYLEIGH CONDUCTIVITY OF A PERFORATED PLATE

Lower and upper bounds for the Rayleigh conductivity of a perforation in a thick plate are usually derived from intuitive approximations and by physical reasoning. This paper addresses a mathematical justification of these approaches. As a byproduct of the rigorous handling of these issues, some improvements to previous bounds for axisymmetric holes are given as well as new estimates for tilted perforations. The main techniques are a proper use of the Dirichlet and Kelvin variational principles in the context of Beppo-Levi spaces. The derivations are validated by numerical experiments in 2D for the axisymmetric case as well as for the full three-dimensional problem.
Strength scaling in fiber composites

A research program was initiated to study and isolate the factors responsible for scale effects in the tensile strength of graphite/epoxy composite laminates. Four layups were chosen with appropriate stacking sequences so as to highlight individual and interacting failure modes. Four scale sizes were selected for investigation including full scale size, 3/4, 2/4, and 1/4, with n = to 4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively. The full scale specimen sizes was 32 piles thick as compared to 24, 16, and 8 piles for the 3/4, 2/4, and 1/4 specimen sizes respectively. Results were obtained in the form of tensile strength, stress-strain curves and damage development. Problems associated with strength degradation with increasing specimen sizes are isolated and discussed. Inconsistencies associated with strain measurements were also identified. Enchanced X-ray radiography was employed for damage evaluation, following step loading. It was shown that fiber dominated layups were less sensitive to scaling effects compared to the matrix dominated layups.
Activity of roniciclib in medullary thyroid cancer

Altered cyclin-dependent kinase activity is observed in many human malignancies. Cyclin-dependent kinases that promote cell cycle progression may be promising targets in the treatment of cancer. The therapeutic effects of roniciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor for medullary thyroid cancer were investigated in the present study. Roniciclib inhibited medullary thyroid cancer cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Roniciclib induced caspase-3 activity and contributed to apoptosis. Cell cycle progression was arrested in the G2 phase. In vivo, roniciclib treatment retarded the growth of tumors of medullary thyroid cancer xenografts. In addition, roniciclib in combination with sorafenib was more effective than either single treatment in a xenograft model. No morbidity was observed in animals treated with single roniciclib therapy and combination treatment of roniciclib and sorafenib. These data provide a rationale for clinical assessment of using roniciclib in the treatment of patients with medullary thyroid cancer.