Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short biceps femoris fascicles and eccentric knee flexor weakness increase the risk of hamstring injury in elite football (soccer): a prospective cohort study

Background/aim To investigate the role of eccentric knee flexor strength, between-limb imbalance and biceps femoris long head (BFlh) fascicle length on the risk of future hamstring strain injury (HSI). Methods Elite soccer players (n=152) from eight different teams participated. Eccentric knee flexor strength during the Nordic hamstring exercise and BFlh fascicle length were assessed at the beginning of preseason. The occurrences of HSIs following this were recorded by the team medical staff. Relative risk (RR) was determined for univariate data, and logistic regression was employed for multivariate data. Results Twenty seven new HSIs were reported. Eccentric knee flexor strength below 337 N (RR=4.4; 95% CI 1.1 to 17.5) and possessing BFlh fascicles shorter than 10.56 cm (RR=4.1; 95% CI 1.9 to 8.7) significantly increased the risk of a HSI. Multivariate logistic regression revealed significant effects when combinations of age, history of HSI, eccentric knee flexor strength and BFlh fascicle length were explored. From these analyses the likelihood of a future HSI in older athletes or those with a HSI history was reduced if high levels of eccentric knee flexor strength and longer BFlh fascicles were present. Conclusions The presence of short BFlh fascicles and low levels of eccentric knee flexor strength in elite soccer players increases the risk of future HSI. The greater risk of a future HSI in older players or those with a previous HSI is reduced when they have longer BFlh fascicles and high levels of eccentric strength.
High Power CW Testing of 3.7-GHz Klystron for SST1 LHCD System

A 3.7-GHz lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system has been designed and installed for driving noninductive plasma current for steady-state operation of steady-state super-conducting tokamak-1 machine. Currently, its capability has been enhanced up to 2 MW by adding two additional klystrons, each capable of providing 500 kW, continuous wave (CW) power, to LHCD system. After performing factory acceptance test of these klystrons, they are installed and commissioned at site, at rated power, for more than 1000 s, before connecting them to main LHCD system. The auxiliary systems like supporting power supply system (magnet, filament, ion pump, etc.), active heat management system, protection system, transmission line pressurization system, low power RF drive system, and so on are interconnected with klystron system through versa module europa (VME)-based data acquisition and control system for remote CW operation of klystron at rated power. The klystron is protected by fast interlock protection in an event of arc or an electrical parameters excursion beyond a set window. The slow interlock is invoked in case of cooling failures, pressurization of waveguides, and so on. The klystron has two output arms and a recombiner is used to recombine power coming out from both the arms. The output power from the recombiner of the klystron is split into two arms, employing 3-dB power divider. This reduces the high power requirement of water dummy loads (DLs) to 250-kW CW. A directional coupler is included in both the arms for measuring forward and reflected power. The reflected power signal is fed to low power RF drive control, which removes the RF drive once reflected power beyond a threshold power is detected within 5 μs. The forward power signal is used for monitoring RF power being dumped into the water loads. The calorimetric measurements, employing Pt-100 sensors, are also carried out on water dummy loads. Our measurements suggest that the maximum RF power ( ~500-kW CW) extracted from klystron is dissipated on water cooled DLs. The unspent dc power ( ~800-kW CW) is dissipated in the collector that is heavily cooled with water flowing at ~1300 L/min. The power loss in the klystron body remained within 15 kW. The cavity temperature, measured using J-type thermocouple, remained below 150 °C. The output RF power, sampled through directional couplers and measured by RF detectors shows good agreement with calorimetric measurements. A detailed description of the klystron test setup and the test results obtained during its commissioning is presented in this paper.
A debate: La Guerra contra bacterias y virus: una lucha autodestructiva

Las dos obras fundacionales que constituyen la base teórico-filosófica del pensamiento occidental contemporáneo, de la concepción de la realidad, de la sociedad, de la vida, y que han sido determinantes en las relaciones de los seres humanos entre sí y con la Naturaleza son "La riqueza de las naciones" de Adam Smith y "Sobre el origen de las especies por medio de la selección natural o el mantenimiento de las razas favorecidas en la lucha por la existencia" de Charles Darwin.
Mutational analysis of the active site of indoleglycerol phosphate synthase from Escherichia coli

Indoleglycerol phosphate synthase catalyzes the ring closure of 1‐(2‐carboxyphenylamino)‐1‐deoxyribulose 5′‐phosphate to indoleglycerol phosphate, the fifth step in the pathway of tryptophan biosynthesis from chorismate. Because chemical synthesis of indole derivatives from arylamino ketones requires drastic solvent conditions, it is interesting by what mechanism the enzyme catalyzes the same condensation reaction. Seven invariant polar residues in the active site of the enzyme from Escherichia coli have been mutated directly or randomly, to identify the catalytically essential ones. A strain of E. coli suitable for selecting and classifying active mutants by functional complementation was constructed by precise deletion of the trpC gene from the genome. Judged by growth rates of transformants on selective media, mutants with either S58 or S60 replaced by alanine were indistinguishable from the wild‐type, but R186 replaced by alanine was still partially active. Saturation random mutagenesis of individual codons showed that E53 was partially replaceable by aspartate and cysteine, whereas K114, E163, and N184 could not be replaced by any other residue. Partially active mutant proteins were purified and their steady‐state kinetic and inhibitor binding constants determined. Their relative catalytic efficiencies paralleled their relative complementation efficiencies. These results are compatible with the location of the essential residues in the active site of the enzyme and support a chemically plausible catalytic mechanism. It involves two enzyme‐bound intermediates and general acid‐base catalysis by K114 and E163 with the support of E53 and N184.
Impact of prosthesis–patient mismatch after mitral valve replacement: a multicentre analysis of early outcomes and mid-term survival

Background Prosthesis–patient mismatch (PPM) is characterised by the effects of inadequate prosthesis size relative to body surface area (BSA). It is uncertain whether PPM after mitral valve replacement impacts upon clinical outcome. This was examined in an Australian population. Methods From 2001 to 2009, 1006 mechanical and bioprosthetic mitral valves were implanted across 10 institutions. Effective orifice areas (EOA) were obtained from a literature review of in vivo echocardiographic data. Absent, moderate and severe PPM was defined as an indexed EOA (EOA/BSA) of >1.20 cm2/m2, >0.90 to ≤1.20 cm2/m2 and ≤0.9 cm2/m2, respectively. Early outcomes and 7-year survival were compared between these three groups. Results PPM was absent in 34%, moderate in 53% and severe in 13% of patients. Patients with PPM were more likely to be male (42% vs 52% vs 62%, p<0.0001) and obese (14% vs 20% vs 56%, p<0.0001). Postoperatively there was similar 30-day mortality (5% vs 5% vs 6%, p=0.83) and early any mortality/morbidity (24% vs 27% vs 29%, p=0.40). Seven-year survival was similar between groups (72±4.1% vs 76±3.2% vs 69±10.3%, p=0.76). PPM did not predict adverse events after logistic and Cox regressions with and without propensity score adjustment. Subgroup analyses of those with isolated mitral valve surgery, patients with preoperative congestive heart failure and non-obese patients failed to show an association between PPM and mid-term mortality. Conclusions Overall, PPM was not associated with poorer early outcomes or mid-term survival. Oversizing valves may be technically hazardous and do not yield superior outcomes. Easier implantation by appropriate sizing appears justified.
Rapid Development and Deployment of Ebola Readiness Training Across an Academic Health System: The Critical Role of Simulation Education, Consulting, and Systems Integration

Summary Statement In this article, we describe an Ebola preparedness initiative with implementation across an academic health system. Key stakeholder centers of various disciplines and clinical experts collaborated in the development and design. Subject matter experts in the areas of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization protocols for personal protective equipment donning and doffing conducted initial train-the-trainer sessions for program instructors. These trainers represented a cross-section of key clinical responders and environmental services. Through a parallel development process, a blended learning curriculum consisting of online modules followed by on-site training sessions was developed and implemented in both the simulation laboratory and the actual clinical care spaces in preparation for a Department of Health inspection. Lessons learned included identification of the need for iterative refinement based on instructor and trainee feedback, the lack of tolerance of practitioners in wearing full-body personal protective equipment for extended periods, and the ability of a large system to mount a rapid response to a potential public health threat through leveraging of expertise of its Simulation Program, Center for Quality, Safety and Innovation as well as a wide variety of clinical departments.
Online data segmentation based on clustering algorithm and autoregressive model for human actions recognition

Recognition of human actions by using wearable sensors has become an important research field. Segmentation to sensor data is a vital issue in reconstructing and understanding human daily actions, and strongly affects the accuracy of human actions recognition. Traditional online segmentation approaches are mostly designed for one-dimensional sensor data, which greatly limits these approaches to multi-dimensional wearable sensor data. In this study, an online data segmentation approach based on clustering algorithm and autoregressive model (AR) is proposed, which can dynamically choose suitable dimensions. First, rough classification is done by clustering algorithm. Then, ARs are used to determine the changing point of different human actions. Precision, recall and F-measure are introduced to evaluate the segmentation results. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method outperforms some existing approaches, including HMMs, adaptive models and fixed-threshold method. By using the proposed method, the accuracy of human actions recognition reached 86.5% against ground-truth, which was better than other methods mentioned in this paper.
Effectiveness of Specific Neck Stabilization Exercises or a General Neck Exercise Program for Chronic Neck Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective. In a cohort of primary care patients with chronic neck pain, to determine whether specific neck stabilization exercises, in addition to general neck advice and exercise, provide better clinical outcome at 6 weeks than general neck advice and exercise alone. Methods. This was a multicenter randomized controlled trial in 4 physical therapy departments. Seventy-four participants (mean age 51.3 yrs) were randomized to specific neck stabilization exercises with a general neck advice and exercise program (n = 37) or a general neck advice and exercise program alone (n = 37). They attended a 1-hour clinical examination, followed by a maximum of 4 treatment sessions. Assessments were undertaken at baseline, 6 weeks, and 6 months. The primary outcome was the Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NPDS). Analysis was by intention to treat. Results. Seventy-one (96%) participants received their allocated intervention. There was 91% followup at 6 weeks and 92% followup at 6 months. The mean (SD) 6-week improvement (reduction) in NPDS score was 10.6 (20.2) for the specific exercise program and 9.3 (15.7) for the general exercise program. There were no significant between-group differences in the NPDS at either 6 weeks or 6 months. For secondary outcomes, participants in the specific exercise group were less likely to be taking pain medication at 6-week followup (p = 0.02). There were no other significant between-group differences. Conclusion. Adding specific neck stabilization exercises to a general neck advice and exercise program did not provide better clinical outcome overall in the physical therapy treatment of chronic neck pain.
Assembly of 3D probe array for wireless implantable neuroprobe microsystem

Assembly methods with specially designed Si interposer and Si platform are described for low profile 3D neural probe array assembly in this paper. In this method, in order to assemble the probe array with low profile and connect the probe with ASIC chips, an interposer is designed to connect the electrical pads on the sidewall of the probe and the electrical pads on the surface of the Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip. To hold the probe array and ASIC chip, a Si platform is designed with through Si slot for insertion of probe and cavity for holding the interposer. The electrical interconnections between the probe and the ASIC chip are formed by conventional flip chip bonding method. Therefore the throughput for the 3D probe array can be improved. Another advantage of the developed assembly method is that the backbone of the probe can be embedded inside the cavity of the Si platform, as a results, the profile of the probe array on top of the Si platform is controlled lower than 1mm easily, which make sure it does not touch skull after implant into the brain.
Prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable disease in a rural area of Faridabad district of Haryana.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES To estimate the prevalence and levels of common risk factors for noncommunicable disease in a rural population of Haryana. METHODS The study involved a survey of 1359 male and 1469 female respondents, aged 15-64 years. Multistage sampling was used for recruitment (PHCs/sub-centres/villages). All households in the selected villages were covered, with one male and one female interviewed in alternate household. WHO STEP-wise tool was used as the study instrument which included behavioural risk factor questionnaire and physical measurements of height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure. The age adjusting was done using rural Faridabad data from Census 2001. RESULTS The age adjusted prevalence of daily smoked tobacco was 41% for men and 13% for women. Daily smokeless tobacco use was 7.1% and 1.2% for men and women respectively. The prevalence of current alcohol consumption was 24.6% among men and none of the women reported consuming alcohol. The mean number of servings of fruits and vegetables per day was 3.7 for men and 2.7 for women. The percentage of people undertaking at least 150 minutes of physical activity in a week was 77.8% for men and 54.5% for women. Among men 9.0% had BMI > or = 25.0 compared to 15.2% among women. The prevalence of measured hypertension, i.e. > or = 140 SBP and/or > or = 90 DBP or on antihypertensive drugs was 10.7% among men and 7.9% among women. CONCLUSION The study showed a high burden of tobacco use and alcohol use among men, inactivity and overweight among women and low fruit and vegetable consumption among both sexes in rural areas.
Obstructed axonal transport of BDNF and its receptor TrkB in experimental glaucoma.

PURPOSE In both animal model system and in human glaucoma, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) die by apoptosis. To understand how RGC apoptosis is initiated in these systems, the authors studied RGC neurotrophin transport in experimental glaucoma using acute intraocular pressure (IOP) elevations in rats and chronic IOP elevation and unilateral optic nerve transections in monkeys. METHODS Eyes were studied in masked fashion by light and electron microscopy and by immunohistochemistry with antibodies directed against the tyrosine kinase receptors (TrkA, B, and C) and against brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as well as by autoradiography to identify retrograde axonal transport of 125I-BDNF injected into the superior colliculus. RESULTS With acute glaucoma in the rat, RGC axons became abnormally dilated, accumulating vesicles presumed to be moving in axonal transport at the optic nerve head. Label for TrkB, but not TrkA, was relatively increased at and behind the optic nerve head with IOP elevation. Abnormal, focal labeling for TrkB and BDNF was identified in axons of monkey optic nerve heads with chronic glaucoma. With acute IOP elevation in rats, radiolabeled BDNF arrived at cells in the RGC layer at less than half the level of control eyes. CONCLUSIONS Interruption of BDNF retrograde transport and accumulation of TrkB at the optic nerve head in acute and chronic glaucoma models suggest a role for neurotrophin deprivation in the pathogenesis of RGC death in glaucoma.
Dyspnea during Thalidomide Treatment for Advanced Ovarian Cancer

OBJECTIVE: To detail the dyspnea encountered in women receiving thalidomide as therapy for advanced ovarian cancer. CASE SUMMARIES: Eight of 18 (44%) patients with recurrent ovarian cancer developed dyspnea while receiving thalidomide 200 mg daily as part of a prospective Phase II study. Dyspnea was evaluated with pulse oximetry, chest X-ray and, if indicated, spiral computed tomography scan. Four patients had abnormal chest X-ray findings (1 pleural effusion, 1 pneumonia, 2 mild congestive heart failure), and one of these patients also had a pulmonary embolus. The other 4 patients had no objective test findings to explain their dyspnea. Five patients had resolution of symptoms when thalidomide was discontinued and, when the drug was resumed at a 50% dose reduction, experienced no further shortness of breath. DISCUSSION: While dyspnea in association with thalidomide has not previously been reported as a common adverse event, it was a frequent complaint of patients receiving this drug as part of a Phase II study. Comorbid conditions causing dyspnea were evaluated since they are common in this patient population; however, half of our patients had no objective evidence of such conditions. The Naranjo probability scale indicated a probable relationship between dyspnea and thalidomide therapy in the patients with no objective evidence of comorbidity. We advocate discontinuation of thalidomide until symptoms have resolved, at which time reintroduction of thalidomide at a reduced dose may be considered. CONCLUSIONS: Patients receiving thalidomide may develop dyspnea as an adverse effect of the drug. In selected patients, thalidomide may be safely reintroduced once symptoms resolve.
A Pivotal Role for Interleukin-4 in Atorvastatin-associated Neuroprotection in Rat Brain*

Inflammatory changes, characterized by an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokine production and up-regulation of the corresponding signaling pathways, have been described in the brains of aged rats and rats treated with the potent immune modulatory molecule lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These changes have been coupled with a deficit in long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampus. The evidence suggests that anti-inflammatory agents, which attenuate the LPS-induced and age-associated increase in hippocampal interleukin-1β (IL-1β) concentration, lead to restoration of LTP. Here we report that atorvastatin, a member of the family of agents that act as inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, exerts powerful anti-inflammatory effects in brain and that these effects are mediated by IL-4 and independent of its cholesterol-lowering actions. Treatment of rats with atorvastatin increased IL-4 concentration in hippocampal tissue prepared from LPS-treated and aged rats and abrogated the age-related and LPS-induced increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, interferon-γ (IFNγ) and IL-1β, and the accompanying deficit in LTP. The effect of atorvastatin on the LPS-induced increases in IFNγ and IL-1β was absent in tissue prepared from IL-4–/– mice. The increase in IL-1β in LPS-treated and aged rats is associated with increased microglial activation, assessed by analysis of major histocompatibility complex II expression, and the evidence suggests that IFNγ may trigger this activation. We propose that the primary effect of atorvastatin is to increase IL-4, which antagonizes the effects of IFNγ, the associated increase in microglial activation, and the subsequent cascade of events.
Effect of 1-aminobenzotriazole on the in vitro metabolism and single-dose pharmacokinetics of chlorzoxazone, a selective CYP2E1 substrate in Wistar rats

The aim of this study was to study the effect of 1-aminobenzotriazole (ABT) on in vitro metabolism, oral, and intravenous (IV) pharmacokinetics of chlorzoxazone (CZX) in rats. Enzyme kinetics of CZX was performed with rat and human liver microsomes and pure isozyme (CYP2E1) with and without ABT. The enzyme kinetics (Vmax and Km) of the formation of 6-hydroxychlorzoxazone (OH-CZX) was found to be similar among rat liver microsomes (3486 pmol mg protein−1 min−1 and 345 µM), human liver microsomes (3194 pmol mg protein−1 min−1 and 335 µM) and pure isozyme (3423 pmol mg protein−1 min−1 and 403 µM), but KI and Kinact values for ABT towards the ability to inhibit the formation of OH-CZX from CZX varied between liver microsomes (rat: 32.09 µM and 0.12 min−1; human: 27.19 µM and 0.14 min−1) and pure isozyme (3.18 µM and 0.29 min−1). The novel robust analytical method was capable of quantifying CZX, OH-CZX, and ABT simultaneously in a single run, and the method was used for both in vitro and in vivo studies. Pre-treatment of rats with ABT prior to oral and IV administration of CZX significantly decreased the clearance (threefold) and consequently increased the AUC of CZX (approx. three- to fourfold). When rats were pre-treated with ABT, the formation of OH-CZX was completely blocked after oral and IV administration; however, we were able to measure OH-CZX in rats administered with CZX by oral and IV routes without pre-treatment of ABT. The oral bioavailability of CZX was ∼71% when dosed alone and reached 100% under pre-treatment with ABT. The t1/2 values of CZX was significantly prolonged for oral dosing compared with IV dosing under pre-treated conditions with ABT, suggesting an involvement of pre-systemic component in the disposition of CZX. The pharmacokinetic parameters of ABT did not change when it was dosed along with CZX (oral and IV), indicating that either CZX or OH-CZX had no effect on disposition of ABT. The plasma concentrations of ABT were above and beyond the required levels to inhibit CYP2E1 enzyme for at least 36 h post-treatment.