Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Active Lessons on Physical Activity, Academic, and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of classroom-based physical activity interventions that integrate academic content and assess the effectiveness of the interventions on physical activity, learning, facilitators of learning, and health outcomes. Method: Six electronic databases (ERIC, PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE) and reference lists were searched for English-language articles, published January 1990 through March 2015, reporting classroom-based interventions that deliberately taught academic content using physically active teaching methods for at least 1 week duration, with physical activity, health, learning, or facilitators-of-learning outcomes. Two authors reviewed full-text articles. Data were extracted onto an Excel spreadsheet, and authors were contacted to confirm accuracy of the information presented. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Six studies reporting on physical activity levels were found to have medium-to-large effect sizes. All 4 studies reporting learning outcomes showed positive effects of intervention lessons. Teachers and students were pleased with the programs, and enhanced on-task behavior was identified (n = 3). Positive effects were also reported on students’ body mass index levels (n = 3). Conclusions: Physically active academic lessons increase physical activity levels and may benefit learning and health outcomes. Both students and teachers positively received and enjoyed these teaching methods. These findings emphasize the need for such interventions to contribute toward public health policy.
The contribution of posttraumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury to persistent post concussive symptoms following motor vehicle accidents.

OBJECTIVE Persistent postconcussive symptoms (PPCS) are a set of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that often follow mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Some of these symptoms also occur in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study examined the unique contribution of mTBI and PTSD to PPCS. The roles of neurocognitive and motivational factors were also addressed. METHOD Sixty one children and adolescents (ages 6-18), at least 3 months post motor vehicle accident (MVA), participated in the study. All participants were diagnosed with PTSD symptoms. Thirty three participants met mTBI criteria, and 28 did not. Standard instruments for assessment included a semistructured clinical interview, self-report questionnaires, and a neuropsychological evaluation. RESULTS No differences were found between the mTBI and non-TBI groups on any of the emotional or neurocognitive measures, including PPCS symptoms. Multiple regression analyses revealed that emotional status, such as state anxiety and depression, were the best predictors of PPCS. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses revealed a double mediation model, in which suboptimal effort mediated the relationship between neurocognitive performance and PPCS, and emotional status mediated the relationship between suboptimal effort and PPCS. CONCLUSION These findings underscore the importance of emotional status in the diagnosis of PPCS among children who suffer from PTSD. It is possible that PPCS reflect a more general expression of accident-related emotional distress, rather than being a direct result of the injury. (PsycINFO Database Record
Experimental supratrigonal cystectomy. Evaluation of long-term complications.

OBJECTIVE The present study aims at assessing the occurrence of pyelonephritis and long-term complications in rats submitted to surgical reduction of bladder capacity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sprague-Dawley rats were submitted to supratrigonal cystectomy (animals) or sham operation ( animals) and sacrificed 2, 4 and 6 months after the surgical procedure. The arterial blood pressure and serum creatinine levels were assessed before the surgery and at the time of the sacrifice. After the sacrifice a careful inspection of the urinary apparatus was performed to the characterization of the hydronephrosis and for the detection of the presence of calculi. With sterile technique, the urine was aspirated from the bladder and the kidneys removed and sent to a microbiologic study. RESULTS Pyelonephritis was frequent in animals submitted to supratrigonal cystectomy. The most frequent and isolated microorganisms were Staphylococcus sp. and E. coli. The presence of urinary calculi was correlated significantly to the presence of urinary tract infection (p < 0.003). Arterial hypertension was frequent amongst animals submitted to supratrigonal cystectomy. Serum creatinine was high in 72.4% of the animals in the group submitted to supratrigonal cystectomy. The presence of calculi and pyelonephritis were frequent in rats presenting renal insufficiency and in hypertensive rats. CONCLUSIONS The long-term course of urinary infection in rats submitted to supratrigonal cystectomy was characterized by a high incidence of renal insufficiency and arterial hypertension that seem to be related to dysfunction and bladder obstruction induced by an extensive surgical procedure and the presence of urolithiasis and pyelonephritis.
A functional fatiguing protocol and deceleration time of the shoulder from an internal rotation perturbation.

CONTEXT Muscular fatigue impedes sensorimotor function and may increase the risk of shoulder injury during activity. The effects of fatigue on the sensorimotor system of the shoulder have been studied with various results. Deceleration times have been used to study neuromuscular control of the shoulder; however, no studies involving the effects of fatigue on deceleration times have been reported. OBJECTIVE To compare shoulder deceleration times after a shoulder internal rotation perturbation before and after a repetitive throwing exercise protocol. DESIGN A 2 x 2 repeated-measures design. SETTING Exercise and sport injury laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Twenty healthy, recreationally active men (age = 24.76 +/- 4.03 years, height = 178.41 +/- 8.36 cm, mass = 80.16 +/- 15.20 kg) volunteered to participate in the study. To ensure familiarity with the overhead motion, all subjects chosen had previously participated in an overhead throwing sport. INTERVENTION(S) The independent variables were time (preintervention and postintervention) and session (experimental and control). The intervention consisted of continuous overhead throwing. The subjects were considered fatigued when a 10% decrease in velocity was noted on 3 consecutive pitches. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Time necessary to decelerate from an internal rotation perturbation. RESULTS Deceleration time was significantly increased by the fatiguing intervention ( P = .001). CONCLUSIONS The decreased ability to decelerate may be an adaptive response by the subjects to dissipate a lower percentage of force per second.
Active Fiber Gas Sensor for Methane Detecting Based on a Laser Heated Fiber Bragg Grating

An active optical fiber gas sensor was developed in a cobalt-doped single mode fiber. This fiber can be heated up to a few hundred degrees Celsius by a heating laser, and a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) was fabricated inside this fiber as a thermometer. The Bragg wavelength of the FBG is sensitive to the thermal conductivity of the gas surrounding the fiber and can be used to monitor the concentration of a special gas once we know in advance the kind of gas. The proposed sensor is ideal for detecting explosive or corrosive gases in some practical application scenarios, such as gas pipeline, coal mine, flow meters, and so on. We have measured the methane concentration ranging from 0% to 4.8% (5% is its explosion limit) as a demonstration.
Sequential data visualization

Creating appropriate methods to facilitate the analysis of sequential data is a key issue in many applications. In this talk, we focus on the unique role of the parameter time in the context of visually driven data analysis. We will discuss three major aspects - visualization, analysis, and user interaction. It is necessary to consider the characteristics of sequentiality when generating visual representations. Integrating visual and analytical methods has become an increasingly important issue. We present our experiences in temporal data abstraction, principal component analysis, and clustering of large-sized sequential data. Finally, we describe our experiences on supporting user-centered visual analysis.
Genre Matters: Textual and Contextual Constraints on Contemporary English Speech Behaviour

Abstract In the present paper a plea is made for a more differentiated view of speech behaviour which takes intra-lingual variation into account. More specifically, this paper examines the factors constraining pragmatic variation in contemporary spoken English. Macro-social as well as textual parameters are considered, notably region and genre. Thanking exchanges serve as an example. In particular, responses to thanks are studied in British and American English by comparing their realizations in everyday conversation, different types of interviews, and also in some other genres. Previous findings are discussed in the light of these new data. The aim is to gain a further insight into the interaction of (con)textual variables.
Control region mtDNA variants: Longevity, climatic adaptation, and a forensic conundrum

Mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) has been observed to decline with age in association with the accumulation of somatic mtDNA rearrangement (1) and base substitution (2–4) mutations. These observations have lead to the theory that the mtDNA is the aging clock. To this aging story was added a new twist in a recent issue of PNAS, an mtDNA mutation that promotes longevity (5).
Wellcome Trust Genome-Wide Association Study of Ischemic Stroke Genetics of Stroke: The Impact and Limitations of Evolving Technology

Previous associations with cardioembolic stroke at PITX2 and ZFHX3, and for large artery stroke at the 9p21 locus, were confirmed. In addition, a novel association for large artery stroke was identified on chromosome 7p21.1. This association was further replicated in an additional 735 cases with large artery stroke and 28 583 controls. The top SNP (RS11984041) was associated with a combined P value of 1.87×10 –11 . The odds ratio was 1.42 (95% confidence intervals, 1.28–1.57).
Children Learn When Their Teacher's Gestures and Speech Differ

Teachers gesture when they teach, and those gestures do not always convey the same information as their speech. Gesture thus offers learners a second message. To determine whether learners take advantage of this offer, we gave 160 children in the third and fourth grades instruction in mathematical equivalence. Children were taught either one or two problem-solving strategies in speech accompanied by no gesture, gesture conveying the same strategy, or gesture conveying a different strategy. The children were likely to profit from instruction with gesture, but only when it conveyed a different strategy than speech did. Moreover, two strategies were effective in promoting learning only when the second strategy was taught in gesture, not speech. Gesture thus has an active hand in learning.
Impedance measurement for improved power quality-Part 2: a new technique for stand-alone active shunt filter control

This work describes the development of a new "stand-alone" active shunt filter. The control employs online power system impedance measurement to optimize the current control algorithm and to provide the filter's reference currents. The current control employs additional rotating frames of reference at fifth and seventh harmonic frequencies and is specifically for high kilovolt-ampere applications where the switching frequency is constrained to 4 kHz. This results in an improved immunity to disturbances such as supply distortion, pulse-width modulation (PWM) imperfections and processing delays, and provides excellent steady-state current control. Experimental results confirm the operation of the new controller.
Decoy Receptor 3 Enhances Tumor Progression via Induction of Tumor-Associated Macrophages

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the major component of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes. TAMs are heterogeneous, with distinct phenotypes influenced by the microenvironment surrounding tumor tissues. Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3), a member of the TNFR superfamily, is overexpressed in tumor cells and is capable of modulating host immunity as either a neutralizing decoy receptor or an effector molecule. Upregulation of DcR3 has been observed to correlate with a poor prognosis in various cancers. However, the mechanisms underlying the DcR3-mediated tumor-promoting effect remain unclear. We previously demonstrated that DcR3 modulates macrophage activation toward an M2-like phenotype in vitro and that DcR3 downregulates MHC class II expression in TAMs via epigenetic control. To investigate whether DcR3 promotes tumor growth, CT26-DcR3 stable transfectants were established. Compared with the vector control clone, DcR3-transfectants grew faster and resulted in TAM infiltration. We further generated CD68 promoter-driven DcR3 transgenic (Tg) mice to investigate tumor growth in vivo. Compared with wild-type mice, macrophages isolated from DcR3-Tg mice displayed higher levels of IL-10, IL-1ra, Ym1, and arginase activity, whereas the expression of IL-12, TNF-α, IL-6, NO, and MHC class II was downregulated. Significantly enhanced tumor growth and spreading were observed in DcR3-Tg mice, and the enhanced tumor growth was abolished by arginase inhibitor N-ω-hydroxy-l-norarginine and histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium valproate. These results indicated that induction of TAMs is an important mechanism for DcR3-mediated tumor progression. Our findings also suggest that targeting DcR3 might help in the development of novel treatment strategies for tumors with high DcR3 expression.
The Impact of an Online Social Network With Wireless Monitoring Devices on Physical Activity and Weight Loss

Background: Online social networks (OSNs) are a new, promising approach for catalyzing health-related behavior change. To date, the empirical evidence on their impact has been limited. Purpose: Using a randomized trial, we assessed the impact of a health-oriented OSN with accelerometer and scales on participant’s physical activity, weight, and clinical indicators. Methods: A sample of 349 PeaceHealth Oregon employees and family members were randomized to the iWell OSN or a control group and followed for 6 months in 2010-2011. The iWell OSN enabled participants to connect with “friends,” make public postings, view contacts’ postings, set goals, download the number of their steps from an accelerometer and their weight from a scale, view trends in physical activity and weight, and compete against others in physical activity. Both control and intervention participants received traditional education material on diet and physical activity. Laboratory data on weight and clinical indicators (triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, or low-density lipoprotein), and self-reported data on physical activity, were collected at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Results: At 6 months, the intervention group increased leisure walking minutes by 164% compared with 47% in the control group. The intervention group also lost more weight than the controls (5.2 pounds compared with 1.5 pounds). There were no observed significant differences in vigorous exercise or clinical indicators between the 2 groups. Among intervention participants, greater OSN use, as measured by number of private messages sent, was associated with a greater increase in leisure walking and greater weight reduction over the study period. Conclusions: The study provides evidence that interventions using OSNs can successfully promote increases in physical activity and weight loss.
Extracting mobile user behavioral similarity via cell-level location trace

We study mobile user behavior from cell-level location trace (CLLT). Since CLLT contains no GPS coordinates of mobile users, we infer approximate user locations from the cell locations they visit. We build upon the vast literature on user behavior analysis and demonstrate the ability to extract user behavior in the absence of the more precise GPS information. We focus on the “leisure time” behavior, i.e. activities outside home and office. In particular, we compare pairs of users and study their similarity or the lack of it. Such similarity comparison can be done directly using the users' actual cell-level locations and the times of their visits. We observe that a user's behavior on different days tends to be more similar to oneself than to others. We then compare users in terms of their activities irrespective of physical locations. We develop the notion of semantic cell type which classifies the cells according to the consistency of points of interest within the cells. In this way, we can compare two users based on the type of cells they visit and extract similarity from there. As a result, we gain understanding of the general profiles of the cells and the users. We are able to differentiate user behavior and cluster them in a meaningful way.
Recombination between genomic RNAs of two cucumoviruses under conditions of minimal selection pressure.

Recombination is considered to play a key role in RNA virus evolution; however, little is known about its occurrence under natural conditions. We inoculated tobacco plants with wild-type strains of two closely related cucumovirus species: cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and tomato aspermy virus (TAV). RNA from the inoculated leaves of doubly-infected plants was tested for the presence of recombination events in an 0.8-kb central portion of the viral RNA3. Using a sensitive and specific RT-PCR procedure, we amplified recombinant segments of RNA3 in 3 of 82 tobacco plants infected with both viruses. In each plant in which recombinant segments were amplified, several different crossover sites were observed, all of which were located within a short stretch of high sequence similarity. Two plants had both CMV-TAV and TAV-CMV recombinants. In all cases, precise homologous recombination had occurred. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of interspecific recombination between wild-type plant RNA viruses under conditions of minimal selection pressure in favor of the recombinants.
Pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension: a clarification is needed

The growing interest in pulmonary hypertension (PH) in many medical specialties including cardiology, rheumatology and respiratory medicine, is possibly due to the recent availability of specific drugs approved for a group of rare conditions defined as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The terms “pulmonary hypertension” and “pulmonary arterial hypertension” appear to be quite similar, and this has led to confusion and ambiguity in both common clinical practice and the medical literature 1. It is, therefore, important to clarify the different definitions of PH, the relationship between the haemodynamic measurement and the echocardiographic estimate, and the additional diagnostic methods required for the final clinical diagnosis. In addition, it is relevant to highlight the significant role of right heart catheterisation in the diagnostic algorithm of a patient with PH. PH cannot be considered to be a specific “disease”. PH has been defined as an increase in mean pulmonary arterial pressure ( P pa) ≥25 mmHg at rest, as assessed by right heart catheterisation 2–5. Recent re-evaluation of the available data has shown that the normal P pa±sd at rest is 14±3 mmHg with an upper limit of normal of ∼20 mmHg 6, 7. The significance of P pa 21–24 mmHg is unclear. Patients presenting with P pa in this range need further evaluation in epidemiological studies. The definition of PH on exercise as a P pa >30 mmHg, as assessed by right heart catheterisation, is not supported by published data and healthy individuals can reach much higher values 6, 8. Therefore, no definition for PH on exercise as assessed by right heart catheterisation can be provided at the present time. An additional, very important haemodynamic parameter that characterises the definitions of PH is pulmonary capillary wedge pressure ( P pcw). In fact, according to various …
Effects of nisin and temperature on survival, growth, and enterotoxin production characteristics of psychrotrophic Bacillus cereus in beef gravy

The presence of psychrotrophic enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus in ready-to-serve meats and meat products that have not been subjected to sterilization treatment is a public health concern. A study was undertaken to determine the survival, growth, and diarrheal enterotoxin production characteristics of four strains of psychrotrophic B. cereus in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth and beef gravy as affected by temperature and supplementation with nisin. A portion of unheated vegetative cells from 24-h BHI broth cultures was sensitive to nisin as evidenced by an inability to form colonies on BHI agar containing 10 micrograms of nisin/ml. Heat-stressed cells exhibited increased sensitivity to nisin. At concentrations as low as 1 microgram/ml, nisin was lethal to B. cereus, the effect being more pronounced in BHI broth than in beef gravy. The inhibitory effect of nisin (1 microgram/ml) was greater on vegetative cells than on spores inoculated into beef gravy and was more pronounced at 8 degrees C than at 15 degrees C. Nisin, at a concentration of 5 or 50 micrograms/ml, inhibited growth in gravy inoculated with vegetative cells and stored at 8 or 15 degrees C, respectively, for 14 days. Growth of vegetative cells and spores of B. cereus after an initial period of inhibition is attributed to loss of activity of nisin. One of two test strains produced diarrheal enterotoxin in gravy stored at 8 or 15 degrees C within 9 or 3 days, respectively. Enterotoxin production was inhibited in gravy supplemented with 1 microgram of nisin/ml and stored at 8 degrees C for 14 days; 5 micrograms of nisin/ml was required for inhibition at 15 degrees C. Enterotoxin was not detected in gravy in which less than 5.85 log10 CFU of B. cereus/ml had grown. Results indicate that as little as 1 microgram of nisin/ml may be effective in inhibiting or retarding growth of and diarrheal enterotoxin production by vegetative cells and spores of psychrotrophic B. cereus in beef gravy at 8 degrees C, a temperature exceeding that recommended for storage or for most unpasteurized, ready-to-serve meat products.
Ultrastructural and physiological changes occurring upon germination and outgrowth of Azotobacter vinelandii cysts

Dormant cysts of Azotobacter vinelandii germinated at 30 degrees C in Burk nitrogen-free media containing 1% glucose. Samples taken at intervals and examined by electron microscopy revealed that as germination progressed, vesicle-like and fibrillar structures became visible in the intine region. Lamellae associated with the cell membrane appeared in the central body at 6 h post-initiation of germination. Both electron micrographic and chemical analysis showed that the poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate content of cysts decreased significantly after 4 h of germination. Dormant cysts were resistant to sonic oscillation, but this property was lost during their conversion to metabolically active vegetative cells.