Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute effects of differential learning on football kicking performance and in countermovement jump

The aim of this study was to identify the acute effects of a differential-learning training program on football kicking performance and countermovement jump. Twenty youth Portuguese under-15 football players participated in this study. All players were exposed to two training approaches: i) traditional, in which the players performed a total of 36 kicks in a blocked and repetitive approach; and ii) differential learning, which consisted in the 36 kicks using differential variations in each kick. Football kicking impact and velocity were assessed using a Stalker radar gun, while the kicking accuracy was assessed by aggregating the total number of points achieved during 12 kicks into a goal, which was divided into quantifiable scoring zones. Lastly, leg power was measured using a countermovement jump. Measurements were performed at baseline, post-intervention, and following a 35-minute training match. The comparisons between the baseline and post-test revealed that the differential learning approach promoted a possibly ~5% increase in the countermovement jump (small effects) and a likely ~3% increase in the average velocity (small effects) when compared with the traditional training approach. From the accuracy perspective, there was a moderate decrease from the baseline to the post-test and post-match in accurate kicks into zone 1 (centre of the goal) and a moderate decrease from the baseline to the post-match in accurate kicks into zone 5 (lateral zones at short height) in the differential intervention. In turn, a small increase in the accurate kicks into zones 4 and 6 (lateral zones of the goal and nearest to the bar, respectively) was found from the baseline to the post-match in the differential intervention. Overall, the differential learning intervention was more beneficial than a traditional training protocol with respect to acute improvements in countermovement jump performance, football kicking velocity and higher scoring zones kicking accuracy.
Command Filter-Based Adaptive NN Control for MIMO Nonlinear Systems With Full-State Constraints and Actuator Hysteresis

This article studies the issue of adaptive neural network (NN) control for strict-feedback multi-input and multioutput (MIMO) nonlinear systems with full-state constraints and actuator hysteresis. Radial basis function NNs (RBFNNs) are introduced to approximate unknown nonlinear functions. The command filter is adopted to solve the issue of “explosion of complexity. ” By applying a one-to-one nonlinear mapping, the strict-feedback system with full-state constraints is converted into a new pure-feedback system without state constraints, and a novel NN control method is proposed. The stability of the closed-loop system is proved via the Lyapunov stability theory, and the tracking errors converge to small residual sets. The simulation results are given to confirm the validity of the proposed method.
Impact of an electronic hard-stop clinical decision support tool to limit repeat Clostridioides difficile toxin enzyme immunoassay testing on test utilization

Abstract We performed an intervention evaluating the impact of an electronic hard-stop clinical decision support tool on repeat Clostridioides difficile (CD) toxin enzyme immunoassay (T-EIA) testing. The CD testing rate and number of admissions with repeat tests decreased significantly postintervention (P < .01 for both); the percentage of positive tests was unchanged (P = .27).
Patterns and predictors of outpatient opioid use after cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy

Abstract Background: Long-term opioid use is a well-known complication after surgery. In this retrospective study of adults who had undergone cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC), we sought to determine the rates and factors associated with outpatient opioid use within the sixth and twelfth postoperative months. Methods: Records of 288 opioid-naïve patients were included. Logistic regression models were used to determine factors prognostic of outpatient opioid use. Results: The median patient age was 54 years, and 63% were female. Rates of outpatient opioid use within the sixth and twelfth postoperative months were 21 and 13%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, every doubling in the amount of in-hospital postoperative opioid consumption was associated with a 44% increase in odds of opioid use within the sixth postoperative month (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.11–1.87, p = .006) and a 70% increase within the twelfth postoperative month (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.70–2.37, p = .001). Other factors associated with opioid use within the sixth postoperative month included physical status (OR 5.26, 95% CI 1.08–25.55, p = .039) and recent additional surgery (OR 23.02, 95% CI 2.03–261.30, p = .011). Age (OR 4.39, 95% CI 1.77–10.89, p = .001) and tumor grade (OR 3.31, 95% CI 1.31–8.41, p = .012) were associated with opioid use within the twelfth postoperative month. Conclusion: In this study, the amount of in-hospital postoperative opioid consumption was an important contributory factor to outpatient opioid use in the sixth and twelfth postoperative months. Synopsis In this study of adults who had undergone CRS-HIPEC, higher postoperative opioid consumption during hospitalization was associated with higher odds of opioid use within the sixth and twelfth postoperative months.
The focal adhesion scaffold protein Hic-5 regulates vimentin organization in fibroblasts

Focal adhesion (FA)-stimulated reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton regulates cellular size, shape, and mechanical properties. However, FA cross-talk with the intermediate filament cytoskeleton is poorly understood. Genetic ablation of the FA-associated scaffold protein Hic-5 in mouse cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promoted a dramatic collapse of the vimentin network, which was rescued following EGFP-Hic-5 expression. Vimentin collapse correlated with a loss of detergent-soluble vimentin filament precursors and decreased vimentin S72/S82 phosphorylation. Additionally, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis indicated impaired vimentin dynamics. Microtubule (MT)-associated EB1 tracking and Western blotting of MT posttranslational modifications indicated no change in MT dynamics that could explain the vimentin collapse. However, pharmacological inhibition of the RhoGTPase Cdc42 in Hic-5 knockout CAFs rescued the vimentin collapse, while pan-formin inhibition with SMIFH2 promoted vimentin collapse in Hic-5 heterozygous CAFs. Our results reveal novel regulation of vimentin organization/dynamics by the FA scaffold protein Hic-5 via modulation of RhoGTPases and downstream formin activity.
The clinical features associated with mutated BRCA1 and 2 genes in ovarian cancer patients.

PURPOSE The treatment of ovarian cancer continues to pose a challenge especially through the development of platinum-resistant disease and still has the highest mortality rate among gynecologic cancers. Patients are usually diagnosed with advanced stages where complete cytoreduction and standard platinum-based chemotherapy are the mainstay of treatment. Advances into the molecular underpinnings of DNA damage repair highlighted BRCA 1/2 and other related genes as key regulators of platinum sensitivity. Our study characterizes clinical features and outcomes associated with BRCA mutations in a cohort of ovarian cancer patients. METHODS Patient data from our Institute was retrospectively extracted for all patients that were tested for the presence of BRCA germline or somatic mutations through next generation sequencing between May 2016 and August 2018. RESULTS Eighty-eight patients were included in the present analysis. Advanced FIGO stage IIIC-IV was common at presentation (71.6%), with 58% of patients undergoing primary debulking surgery. BRCA mutant cases represented 44% and were associated with a significantly higher frequency for complete pathologic response, first and second platinum sensitive relapse and a significantly longer overall survival for advanced stage cases treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Mean age at presentation was significantly lower in the BRCA mutated (52 years) compared to BRCA wildtype patients (54.2 years, p=0.045). CONCLUSIONS Upfront knowledge of BRCA status is encouraged, given the recent advent of targeted therapies and for the decision regarding optimal sequence of available therapeutic strategies.
Affective calculus: The construction of affect through information integration over time.

Humans receive a constant stream of input that potentially influence their affective experience. Despite intensive research on affect, it is still largely unknown how various sources of information are integrated into the single, unified affective features that accompany consciousness. Here, we aimed to investigate how a stream of evocative input we receive is dynamically represented in self-reported affect. In 4 experiments, participants viewed a number of sequentially presented images and reported their momentary affective experience on valence and arousal scales. The number and duration of images in a trial varied across studies. In Study 4, we also measured participants' physiological responses while they viewed images. We formulated and compared several models with respect to their capacity to predict self-reported affect based on normative image ratings, physiological measurements, and prior affective experience (measured in the previous trial). Our data best supported a model incorporating a temporally sensitive averaging mechanism for affective integration that assigns higher weights to affectively more potent and recently represented stimuli. Crucially, affective averaging of sensory information and prior affect accounted for distinct contributions to currently experienced affect. Taken together, the current study provides evidence that prior affect and integrated affective impact of stimuli partly shape currently experienced affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Isotonic muscle function is selectively reduced after muscle damage induced by isometric exercise at a long muscle length

This study investigated the hypothesis that isotonic muscle performance following mild muscle damage would be disproportionately affected when measured at different parts of the range of motion. Seven male volunteers performed 50 maximal isometric contractions with the elbow flexors at a lengthened position. Maximal isotonic performance was measured before and for four days post-exercise at two parts of the range of motion of elbow flexion, including mainly the descending (L) or the ascending limb (S) of the angle-force curve. On day 1 post-exercise, muscle damage was evidenced by a decrease in peak isometric force (-20.3 ± 2.7%, p < 0.01), a shift in optimum angle for force generation towards a greater elbow angle (by 0.12 ± 0.03 rad, p < 0.05), and an increase in serum creatine kinase activity and muscle soreness (P < 0.01). Isotonic performance indices were decreased only in the S condition (p < 0.01). Shift in optimum angle and isotonic performance indices recovered on day 2. The disproportionate decrease in isotonic performance in the S condition may be explained by the shift of the optimum angle towards a longer muscle length, which would benefit force generation at elbow angles beyond the optimum angle but impair force at the more acute elbow angles.
Comparison of In Vitro and In Vivo Percutaneous Absorption Across Human Skin Using BAY1003803 Formulated as Ointment and Cream

Direct comparisons between skin absorption data and clinical pharmacokinetic data are rare. Here we use the lipophilic nonsteroidal selective glucocorticoid receptor agonist BAY1003803 to make such a comparison. The objective is to find the extent to which measurements of skin permeation in vitro can be used to predict the corresponding permeation in vivo for human pharmacokinetics of topically applied substances. BAY1003803 was prepared in various formulations: ointment, hydrophilic cream, lipophilic cream, and milk. Its ability to permeate healthy human skin was measured in vitro in static diffusion cells, and percutaneous absorption as well as dermal delivery was measured thereafter, for 2 selected formulations, in vivo in healthy volunteers. Absorption in vivo comparing ointment and lipophilic cream was correlated with expectation based on the dermal delivery obtained in vitro. A 2.17‐fold higher systemic exposure to BAY1003803 was achieved by the ointment formulation. This is well in line with the predicted exposure difference of 2.74 based on the in vitro data. In conclusion, in vitro skin absorption studies using human skin are suitable for the prediction of systemic exposure and formulation effects in vivo; they can therefore be applied to guide the design of clinical investigations of dermatological preparations.
Preliminary study of the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) in detecting cognitive impairment in patients with traumatic brain injury

Abstract The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) has been shown to be useful in the cognitive assessment in older adults and patients with dementia. The aim of this study was to preliminarily explore the effectiveness of the Chinese version of the SLUMS in the detection of cognitive impairment in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to provide an objective basis for its clinical application in China. In this cross-sectional study, 42 patients with TBI and 30 matched normal controls were administered. Participants were assessed by the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Assessment scale (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (MoCA) and SLUMS. Results showed that the Chinese version of the SLUMS had satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α coefficient: 0.723), excellent interrater reliability (ICC: 0.990–0.998) and intrarater reliability (ICC: 0.968), as well as good validity. In the TBI group, the total SLUMS score was moderately positively correlated with the MMSE score (r = 0.702, p = .000) and highly positively correlated with the MoCA score (r = 0.831, p = .000). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analyses showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the SLUMS, MMSE and MoCA were 0.872, 0.756 and 0.916, respectively. The optimal cutoff score of 22.5 or fewer points are suggested for the SLUMS to discriminate cognitive impairment, with a sensitivity of 0.844 and a specificity of 0.825. The Chinese version of the SLUMS has excellent reliability and validity, and can be used as a screening tool for cognitive impairment of patients with TBI in China.
Synergism of cellulase, pectinase and xylanase on hydrolyzing differently pretreated sweet potato residues

Abstract The synergism of cellulase (C), pectinase (P), and xylanase (X) for the saccharification of sweet potato residues (SPR) was investigated. The removal of starch from SPR was easily achieved by using amylase, but the cellulose conversion of de-starched SPR was relatively low, thus dilute H2SO4, NaOH, and H2O2 pretreatment was conducted to improve the enzymatic digestibility. The lignin content of NaOH pretreated SPR was the lowest, whereas H2SO4 pretreatment resulted in the lowest contents of hemicellulose and pectin. The combination of C, P, and X exhibited different sugar production patterns, C–P displayed synergistic action on glucose and galactose production from each type of SPR, C–X also exhibited synergistic effect on glucose production except when H2SO4 pretreated SPR was used, whereas no synergism between P–X on monosaccharide production was observed. The presence of synergism between cellulase and mixed accessory enzymes [C–(PX)] on glucose formation was determined by C–X, and the degree of synergism between C–P and C–(PX) on glucose production had a positive relationship with pectin content. The highest cellulose conversion of 96.2% was obtained from NaOH pretreated SPR using mixed enzymes comprising C, P, and X with the ratio of 8:1:1.
RhythmNet: End-to-End Heart Rate Estimation From Face via Spatial-Temporal Representation

Heart rate (HR) is an important physiological signal that reflects the physical and emotional status of a person. Traditional HR measurements usually rely on contact monitors, which may cause inconvenience and discomfort. Recently, some methods have been proposed for remote HR estimation from face videos; however, most of them focus on well-controlled scenarios, their generalization ability into less-constrained scenarios (e.g., with head movement, and bad illumination) are not known. At the same time, lacking large-scale HR databases has limited the use of deep models for remote HR estimation. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end RhythmNet for remote HR estimation from the face. In RyhthmNet, we use a spatial-temporal representation encoding the HR signals from multiple ROI volumes as its input. Then the spatial-temporal representations are fed into a convolutional network for HR estimation. We also take into account the relationship of adjacent HR measurements from a video sequence via Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) and achieves efficient HR measurement. In addition, we build a large-scale multi-modal HR database (named as VIPL-HR1), which contains 2,378 visible light videos (VIS) and 752 near-infrared (NIR) videos of 107 subjects. Our VIPL-HR database contains various variations such as head movements, illumination variations, and acquisition device changes, replicating a less-constrained scenario for HR estimation. The proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on both the public-domain and our VIPL-HR databases.1VIPL-HR is available at: http://vipl.ict. ac.cn/view_database. php? id=15
Towards a model of GCN2 activation

Cells must be able to sense and adapt to their surroundings to thrive in a dynamic environment. Key to adapting to a low nutrient environment is the Integrated Stress Response (ISR), a short-lived pathway that allows cells to either regain cellular homeostasis or facilitate apoptosis during periods of stress. Central to the ISR is the protein kinase General Control Non-depressible 2 (GCN2), which is responsible for sensing starvation. Upon amino acid deficiency, GCN2 is activated and initiates the ISR by phosphorylating the translation initiation factor eIF2α, stalling protein translation, and activating the transcription factor ATF4, which in turn up-regulates autophagy and biosynthesis pathways. A key outstanding question is how GCN2 is activated from an autoinhibited state. Until recently, a model of activation focussed on the increase of deacylated tRNA associated with amino acid starvation, with deacylated tRNA binding directly to GCN2 and releasing autoinhibition. However, in vivo experiments have pointed towards an alternative, deacylated-tRNA-independent mechanism of activation. Here, we review the various factors that may facilitate GCN2 activation, including recent research showing that the P-stalk complex, a ribosome-associated heteropentameric protein complex, is a potent activator of GCN2.
Integrated fundal assessment pathway for patients with suspected shunt malfunction via digital retinal images

Abstract Introduction: Papilloedema is an important clinical sign in the assessment of neurosurgical patients presenting with suspected shunt malfunction. Methods: We describe our 18-month experience using a newly acquired nonmydriatic digital retinal camera to acquire fundal photographs for this purpose. Results: It was used to take digital photographs in 67 patients presenting with suspected shunt malfunction and 54% of these images were discussed with the on-call ophthalmology team for advice. Of these 81% had instant input provided by ophthalmology and the remainder were sent to the ophthalmology department for formal assessment. Of all shunt related regional referrals in the same time period, we found that only 13% of the referred patients were discussed with the on-call ophthalmology team. The rest had decisions made by the on-call neurosurgical team. Conclusions: We believe this new integrated pathway is clinically and cost-effective and recommend it as a useful tool in other neurosurgical units.
Motor activity and Becker’s muscular dystrophy: lights and shadows

ABSTRACT Becker’s disease is an inherited muscular dystrophy caused by mutations in the gene coding for the dystrophin protein that leads to quantitative and/or qualitative protein dysfunction and consequent muscle degeneration. Studies in animal models demonstrate that, while eccentric or high-intensity training are deleterious for dystrophic muscles, low-intensity aerobic training may slowdown the disease process and progression. Based on these preclinical data, the available studies in patients with Becker’s muscular dystrophy undergoing workout on a cycle ergometer or on a treadmill, at a heart rate ≤65% of their maximal oxygen uptake, showed that aerobic exercise counteracts physical deterioration and loss of functional abilities. These findings suggest an improvement of physical performance through an increase of muscle strength, fatigue resistance, and dexterity capacities, without substantial evidence of acceleration of muscular damage progression. Therefore, individually tailored mild-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise should be considered as part of the management of these patients. However, further research is necessary to define specific and standardized guidelines for the prescription of type, intensity, frequency, and duration of motor activities. In this review, we provided a summary of the impact of physical activity both in animal models and in patients with Becker’s muscular dystrophy, with the intent to identify trends and gaps in knowledge. The potential therapeutic implications and future research directions have been also highlighted.
The Associations between Mothers' and Grandmothers' Depressive Symptoms, Parenting Stress, and Relationship with Children: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model.

Three-generation households that include parents and grandparents raising children together have become increasingly common in China. This study examined the relations among depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and caregiver-child relationships in the mother-grandmother dyadic context. Participants were mothers and grandmothers from 136 three-generation households. Results from Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Modeling indicated that mothers' depressive symptoms were indirectly related to mother-child conflict/closeness through own parenting stress; grandmothers' depressive symptoms were indirectly related to grandmother-child conflict through own parenting stress. Mothers' depressive symptoms were indirectly related to grandmothers' conflict with children through grandmothers' parenting stress, and grandmothers' depressive symptoms were indirectly related to mothers' conflict/closeness with children through mothers' parenting stress. The relation between mothers' parenting stress and mother-child closeness was stronger than the relation between grandmothers' parenting stress and grandmother-child closeness. Findings highlight the implications of using a family system perspective and the dyadic approach in understanding and improving family functioning in Chinese three-generation households.