Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of age on the reciprocal peak torque ratios during knee muscle contractions in elite soccer players

To investigate the effects of age on the reciprocal peak torque ratios during knee muscle contractions, 25 elite male soccer players, aged 22.3±3.8 yr (18–28), volunteered for the present study. The players were grouped as adult (>21 years, n=13) and young players (≤21 years, n=12). Maximal concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) isokinetic thigh muscle strength was measured at angular velocities of 30°, 180°, 240° and 300°/s. ECC and CON peak torques of knee flexors (hamstring, HAM) and CON peak torques of knee extensors (quadriceps, QUA) in the dominant knee were greater (P<0.05) in adult players than in young players at 180, 240 and 300°/s. ECC HAM/CON QUA peak torque ratio at 300°/s was greater (P<0.05) for adult players compared to young players in the dominant knee but not in the nondominant knee. Furthermore, conventional HAM/QUA peak torque ratios of the dominant knee at all angular velocities for ECC contraction were higher (P<0.05) in adult players than in young players. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicate that the reciprocal torque ratio is influenced by age in the dominant knee of elite soccer players. Because there was no effect of age for the nondominant leg, the findings of the present study are more likely to be the result of the training background of the players than their age.
Parathyroid Hormone-related Protein in Normal and Neoplastic Canine Tissues: Immunohistochemical Localization and Biochemical Extraction

Two polyclonal antibodies, directed against N-terminal amino acids (1–36) or the midregion (amino acids 34–53) of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), were used to localize PTHrP in a variety of normal and neoplastic canine tissues. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) immunoreactivity was demonstrated using anti-bovine PTH (amino acids 14–34). The following tissues (among others) stained strongly positive for PTHrP: all layers of epidermal keratinocytes, with the most intense staining of the basal layer; hair follicle keratinocytes; myoepithelial cells of dermal apocrine glands, mammary glands, and apocrine glands of the anal sac; anal sac epithelium; mammary duct epithelium; and thyroid C cells. Adenocarcinomas of the anal sac stained moderately positive (5/22 dogs), weakly positive (11/22 dogs), or did not stain (6/22 dogs). Most parathyroid gland adenomas stained moderately (2/6 dogs) or weakly positive (3/6 dogs) for PTHrP. Squamous cell carcinomas (6/6 dogs) stained strongly positive. Lymphomas stained weakly positive (2/10 dogs) or did not stain (8/10 dogs). There was no consistent relationship between the staining intensity of the tumors and serum calcium concentrations of the dogs. The anti-PTH antibodies stained only parathyroid chief cells strongly positive. Concentrations of PTHrP were measured by radioimmunoassay in protein extracts from an adenocarcinoma derived from the apocrine glands of the anal sac, pancreas, kidney, liver, heart, thyroid, adrenal, and parathyroid glands. PTHrP concentrations varied from undetectable up to 150 pg/mg in normal tissues as compared with 2,000 pg/mg in apocrine adenocarcinoma of the anal sac. These findings demonstrate the widespread localization of PTHrP in normal and neoplastic canine tissues and suggest a physiological role for PTHrP as a paracrine or autocrine factor.
Bistable Systems of Differential Equations with Applications to Tunnel Diode Circuits

A mathematical analysis is developed for nonlinear circuits which have at least two stable steady states, and therefore are of interest as computing or memory elements. Circuits containing one or two tunnel diodes will be analyzed in detail as applications of the theory. The method is based on the study of certain “potential function” whose extrema are the steady states of the circuit and whose minima correspond to the stable switching states. This study leads to a qualitative description of all solutions in the large and results in quantitative restrictions on the parameters (R, L, C and nonlinear characteristics) which seem of practical importance.
The involvement of glia in long-term plasticity in the spinal dorsal horn of the rat

We have examined the potential role of spinal glial cells in the induction of C fiber-evoked long-term potentiation (LTP) in the spinal cord. Tetanic stimulation of the sciatic nerve induced long-term potentiation of C-fiber-evoked field potentials in the spinal dorsal horn in all rats. Following intrathecal fluorocitrate (1 nmol), a glial metabolic inhibitor, tetanic stimulation induced long-term depression (LTD) but not LTP. The effects of fluorocitrate were abolished by kynurenic acid or 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP-5), but not by 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX), picrotoxin or strychnine. These data suggest that spinal glial cells may modulate the central sensitization of nociceptive neurons via NMDA receptors.
Impact of Laboratory Cross-Contamination on Molecular Epidemiology Studies of Tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Laboratory cross-contamination by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is known to be responsible for the misdiagnosis of tuberculosis, but its impact on other contexts has not been analyzed. We present the findings of a molecular epidemiology analysis in which the recent transmission events identified by a genotyping reference center were overestimated as a result of unnoticed laboratory cross-contamination in the original diagnostic laboratories.
Social stressors associated with antepartum depressive symptoms in low-income African American women.

OBJECTIVES To describe depressive symptomatology and examine the relationship between social stressors and depressive symptoms in pregnant African American women. DESIGN AND SAMPLE Cross-sectional study of 119 women receiving care at 2 prenatal clinics in Northern California. MEASURES Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Social stress variables included discrimination, trauma exposure, social conflict, and economic stress. RESULTS In this sample, mean CES-D score was 15.88. Forty-two percent of the women had CES-D scores ≥ 16 (possible risk), and 23% had CES-D scores ≥ 23 (probable risk). There were significantly positive relationships between the social stress variables (discrimination, trauma exposure, social conflict, economic stress) and CES-D scores. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that together discrimination and social conflict accounted for 36% of the variance in antepartum depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Discrimination and social conflict are considerable sources of stress that contribute to levels of antepartum depressive symptoms in African American women. While the results reinforce the importance of universal prenatal screening, comprehensive strategies are also needed to help ameliorate the impact that social stressors such as discrimination and social conflict have on the mental health of pregnant African American women.
Title Strong Lp Convergence Associated with Rellich-type Discrete Compactness for Discontinuous Galerkin FEM

In a preceding paper, we proved the discrete compactness properties of Rellich type for some 2D discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods (DGFEM), that is, the strong L2 convergence of some subfamily of finite element functions bounded in an H1-like mesh-dependent norm. In this note, we will show the strong Lp convergence of the above subfamily for 1 ≤ p< ∞. To this end, we will utilize the duality mappings and special auxiliary problems. The results are applicable to numerical analysis of various semi-linear problems.
Compact Ultra-Wideband Bandpass Filter With Improved Upper Stopband Using Open/Shorted Stubs

A compact ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filter with improved upper stopband using open/shorted stubs is proposed in this letter. Seven transmission zeros in the upper stopband can be realized by different open/shorted stubs. The bandwidth of the UWB bandpass filter can be adjusted easily by changing the characteristic impedance of the open/shorted stubs. A UWB bandpass filter with 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 123% (0.5-1.9 GHz) is fabricated and measured. Good agreement can be observed between simulated and measured performances.
Paralelización de estructuras métricas para búsquedas por similaridad en servidores web

La búsqueda por similaridad consiste en recuperar todos aquellos objetos dentro de una base de datos que sean parecidos o relevantes a una determinada consulta. Este concepto tiene una amplia gama de aplicaciones en áreas como bases de datos multimediales, reconocimiento de patrones, mineŕıa de datos, recuperación de información, etc. La posibilidad de fusionar dos ĺıneas de investigación independiente, como es, el desarrollo de estructuras de datos para búsquedas por similitud y la necesidad de procesar grandes volúmenes de datos usando computación paralela, permitirá la utilización de estas nuevas estructuras en aplicaciones reales. El presente art́ıculo describe la ĺınea de investigación conjunta de un grupo de investigadores de la Universidad de Magallanes y de la Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral a través del programa de investigación “Paralelización de Estructuras de Datos y Algoritmos para la Recuperación de Información”, el cual permitirá el diseño, implementación y evaluación de estructuras métricas paralelas.
Phase transformations in Ag70.5Cu26.5Ti3 filler alloy during brazing processes

Phase transformations that occur in the brazing all oy Ag70.5Cu26. 5Ti3 are described. The liquid segreg ation paths and the liquid composition path are presented . The evolution of the liquid and the concentration of titanium in the liquid are plotted versus temperature. With increasing temperature the activity of titanium in the liquid increases and is sufficient for reactive brazing even before the alloy is completely melted and liquid is segregated. In the liquid, copper suppresses the activity of titanium while silver enhances it. The activities of titanium in both segregated liquids are identical, though the concentrations are very different. Thus, both liquids – Ag-Cu-rich L1 and Cu-Ti-rich L2 – are equally reactive and responsible for wetting and sprea ding, not just L2, as often believed. The major differenc es (including gravimetric) between L1 and L2 and the effect of preferential segregation of Ag to the fre surface of the liquid on surface tension are disc ussed.
Identification and treatment of comorbidities in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other fibrotic lung diseases

Purpose of review The interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) frequently result in considerable disability and reduced survival in affected patients. Unfortunately, they are often poorly responsive to available therapies. Comorbidities, both pulmonary and nonpulmonary, frequently accompany ILDs and contribute to adverse outcomes. Recent findings Multiple comorbidities, including gastroesophageal reflux disease, venous thromboembolism, coronary artery disease, sleep-disordered breathing, depression, emphysema, pulmonary hypertension, and lung cancer contribute to the morbidity and mortality of fibrotic lung disease. Summary The identification and treatment of comorbidities may improve morbidity and potentially impact mortality in patients with ILD. A high index of suspicion and an awareness of the spectrum of comorbidities are important in optimizing outcomes in this group of patients.
Demystifying AlphaGo Zero as AlphaGo GAN

The astonishing success of AlphaGo Zero\cite{Silver_AlphaGo} invokes a worldwide discussion of the future of our human society with a mixed mood of hope, anxiousness, excitement and fear. We try to dymystify AlphaGo Zero by a qualitative analysis to indicate that AlphaGo Zero can be understood as a specially structured GAN system which is expected to possess an inherent good convergence property. Thus we deduct the success of AlphaGo Zero may not be a sign of a new generation of AI.
Optimization of Automatic Generation Control Scheme with Pso Tuned Fuzzy Pid Controller And Comparision With Conventional Pso Pid Controller

Automatic generation control or AGC system is substantial control process that operates perpetually to balance the generation and load in power system at minimum cost. If any kind of mismatch occurs between generation and demand causes the variation in the system frequency from its nominal value. This high frequency deviation may cause system breakdown. In order to maintain the stability, a very fast, reliable and accurate controller is needed to maintain the system frequency within the range. This paper presents the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to tune the Fuzzy based PID controller gains for the automatic generation control (AGC) of the interconnected two area power system. Each control area includes the dynamics response of the power systems. The results reported in this paper present the potency of the particle swarm optimizer in the tuning of the Fuzzy based PID controller parameter for two area power system. The improvement in the dynamic response of the power system is verified. The output response of the proposed work is compared with PSO-PID controller.
Adaptive scheme for classification of MPEG video frames

In this paper, we describe our recent work attempting to improve the motion estimation and compensation performance in MPEG, without introducing any significant computing cost. To achieve low complexity, MPEG used fixed frame classification or allocation of I, B, P-frames to do the motion estimation and compensation. By introducing an adaptive mechanism to connect the frame content and previous record analysis with the arrangement of video frames, the classification inside the video stream can be determined according to the nature of its content in relation to those neighboring video frames. During this process, records of motion estimation and compensation for previous frames are taken into consideration to form a basis of analysis. As a result, a histogram of those major directions is formulated to allow information flow being analyzed before the frame is classified. Thresholds are then applied along the analyzed direction to video frames, and their classification of I, B, or P-frames is determined on the fly. Hence, the performance of motion estimation and compensation can be improved towards the whole compression system. Extensive experiments are carried out to support our work and the results reported show that our proposed method outperforms the existing MPEG-2 scheme, when assessed in mean-square-errors.
A Natural Language Processing based Automated Knowledge Provider System with Speech Recognition

An Automated Knowledge Provider System (AKPS) is a tool for knowledge extraction, utilization and dissemination of knowledge. It is grammatical rules based automatic model. It reads the query in natural language, using parsing technique to create the E-R diagram and retrieves the information from the default database for the users. The system may accept text as well as voice query. The AKPS proposed in this paper uses Speech Recognition (SR) technique to convert the voice query to textual query. A database for synonym word checking has been added in the system.
Salivary gland scintigraphy in Sjögren's syndrome: are quantitative indices the answer?

We evaluated the role of quantitative indices derived from dynamic 99mTc-pertechnetate salivary scintigraphy in the differentiation between a group of patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS), a group of patients without xerostomia, but with underlying autoimmune disorders, and a group of controls. Seventeen patients with SS (group A), 18 patients with autoimmune disorders (group B) and 15 controls (group C) underwent dynamic salivary gland scintigraphy. Functional indices for the parotid and submandibular glands were calculated and comparisons were made between the groups. There were no significant differences between the three groups in terms of the maximum accumulation (MA), maximum secretion (MS) and pre-stimulatory oral index (PRI). The uptake ratios (URs) for both the right and left parotid glands and the left submandibular gland in group A were significantly lower than those in group C, but no different from those in group B. The URs for the parotid glands in group B were significantly less than those in group C. The percentage uptake by the right parotid gland at 4 min (U4) was significantly lower in group A than in groups B or C, and lower than the percentage uptake by the left parotid gland at 4 min in group A. The rest of the U4 values and all of the uptakes at 14 min (U14) were not significantly different between the three groups. The time taken for the right parotid gland to reach peak activity (Tmax) was significantly less in group A than in the other groups, but other glands showed no significant differences. It can be concluded that MA, MS and PRI cannot be used to differentiate between the three groups. The URs in groups A and B were no different, but were significantly lower than those in group C. However, the extensive overlap between xerostomic patients and normal controls for all the quantitative indices calculated imposes a severe limitation on their discriminatory power.
An educational setup for nonlinear control systems: Enhancing the motivation and learning in a targeted curriculum by experimental practices [Focus on Education]

As technology is evolving rapidly, the consumers of education systems, namely students, are exposed to more visual and audio media. Advertisements, computer games, movies, and all types of digital media are doing their best to attract young people's attention using the latest technologies. The question of whether or not this situation is beneficial for students is not discussed here. However, it is of vital importance to recognize the challenge that this situation poses for teachers. It is a tough job to attract the attention of students, especially at the undergraduate level, to a technical subject and motivate learning within a limited time. The control courses should also be logical, practical, up to date, and insightful. These objectives are best achieved with the aid of in-class experiments, laboratory practice, and newly emerging advances in technology.
Activation of Murine Macrophages

Our understanding of cell mediated immunity (CMI) has revealed the importance of activated macrophages as key immune effector cells. Over the past decade, we have come to realize that macrophages exhibit remarkable plasticity, and different populations of macrophages with distinct physiologies can develop in response to different stimuli. In fact, it is likely that the number of different macrophage populations that can arise may be as diverse as the activating stimuli that induce them. Some of these stimuli can instruct macrophages to kill microbes (classical activation), lay down extracellular matrix components to promote wound healing (alternative activation), or secrete anti‐inflammatory cytokines to terminate inflammation (regulatory macrophages). New ways to biochemically identify these cells have led to a better understanding of the heterogeneity of activated macrophages. As our understanding of the various macrophage populations increases, so does the potential for therapeutic intervention based on targeting specific populations of activated macrophages. Curr. Protoc. Immunol. 83:14.2. 1‐14.2. 8. © 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Moving Behavioral Science from Efficacy to Effectiveness

The gap between scientific knowledge and real world practice continues to be a major conundrum for the behavioral sciences. This paper briefly reviews the development of behavioral research and describes problems that have arisen in meeting the goal of improving behavioral interventions through science. Based on published literature and personal observations, the authors argue that behavioral research has followed too closely after the pharmaceutical research model, with reliance on small efficacy trials under optimal conditions. Specific problems are outlined along with three recommended solutions. In brief, real world feasibility testing is essential, and external validity must become as important as internal validity for evidence of effectiveness.
Cutting Edge: Bacterial Infection Induces Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Expansion in the Absence of TLR Signaling

Bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) can be activated by type I IFNs, TLR agonists, viruses, and bacteria to increase hematopoiesis. In this study, we report that endotoxin treatment in vivo induces TLR4, MyD88, and Toll/IL-1 resistance domain-containing adaptor-inducing IFN-β (TRIF)-dependent expansion of BM HSPCs. Bacterial infection by Staphylococcus aureus or cecal ligation and puncture also induces HSPC expansion, but MyD88, TRIF, type I IFN, cytokine, PG, or oxidative stress pathways are not required for their expansion. S. aureus-induced HSPC expansion in MyD88−/−TRIF−/− mice is also normal, but is associated with BM remodeling as granulocyte stores are released peripherally. Importantly, reduction in BM cellularity alone can reproduce HSPC expansion. These data show in vivo HSPC responses to bacterial infection are complex and not absolutely dependent upon key inflammatory signaling pathways.
The Effect of Mixing Time on the Homogeneity of Multi-Component Granular Systems

Mixing of granular materials is unquestionably important. Mixing solids is common in industrial applications and frequently represents a critical stage of the processes. The effect of mixing determines the quality of products. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of mixing time on the quality of multi-component granular mixtures. Experimental studies were conducted at the mixing process line in an industrial feed mill. The applied granular systems are feed mixtures with different weight proportions of individual components, varying in their diameter dimensions and bulk densities. Estimation of the degree of homogeneity was performed based on the scale of the mixture quality proposed by Boss according to the relation suggested by Rose. The mixing degree M as a function of time for granular mixtures was extended by presenting it according to different levels of collecting samples. Studies were performed for four mixtures varying according to their granular mixture formulas for five different mixing times. The quality of granular mixtures consisting of eight components was defined as 'very good' for mixing times of 30, 40, 50, and 60 minutes and as 'good' for the 20-minute mixing time. For the 12-component mixture BF, the quality was considered as 'excellent' for the 40-minute mixing time, and as 'very good' for mixing times of 20, 30, 50, and 60 minutes. For the 12-component mixture WM and the 14component mixture WW, the quality was considered as 'excellent' for all mixing times (M>0.96).
The effects of hypophysectomy, adrenalectomy and of thiouracil feeding on the cytology of brown adipose tissue.

The present investigation concerns the relation of the pituitary, adrenal, and thyroid glands to so-called “brown fat. ” This tissue was formerly considered to be a gland of internal secretion but is now generally regarded as a form of adipose tissue. Its embryological relationship to ordinary fat is poorly understood and its functional significance is unknown, but its gland-like appearance and unusually rich blood supply suggest that it is metabolically more active than ordinary depot fat (Fawcett, ’48). This belief has been strengthened by biochemical studies which reveal that brown adipose tissue has a more rapid rate of phosphorus turnover (Littrell, Martin and Hartman, ’44) and a much greater oxygen consumption than white fat (Hook and Barron, ’41; Mirski, ’42). A relationship between the endocrine glands and adipose tissue has long been inferred from the marked sex differences in fat distribution in humans and from clinical observations on the association of obesity with certain disorders of the pitu.