-
Ergonomics Dec 2023The study aimed to examine physiological responses of firefighters performing a firefighting simulation test (FST) and to determine the relationship between physical...
The study aimed to examine physiological responses of firefighters performing a firefighting simulation test (FST) and to determine the relationship between physical fitness parameters and FST performance. Aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and anaerobic capabilities were evaluated in 37 firefighters (21-profesionals and 16-volunteers firefighters). Furthermore, participants carried out the FST during which we measured performance, respiratory gas exchange, heart rate (HR), perceived exertion and blood lactate concentrations. Males were significantly faster than females for all tasks of the FST ( < 0.01); however, final performance score (16.5 ± 2.9 and 14.5 ± 2.6 points for males and females, respectively), HR (94.0 ± 2.0% and 93.7 ± 2.3% of HR) and perceived exertion (8.1 ± 0.9 and 7.1 ± 1.3) were not significantly different. Prediction of FST performance by LASSO regression revealed a model that included mainly aerobic capacity and maximal strength. In conclusion, FST challenged both aerobic and anaerobic energy metabolisms for both males and females and requires various physiological abilities to perform. For the safety of firefighters and victims, firefighters must meet minimum physical requirements. 37 firefighters performed physical tests and a new firefighting test implemented for the recruitment of firefighters in France. The results revealed that this test is strenuous and that performance is associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength. : V̇O: oxygen consumption; V̇CO: carbon dioxyde production; V̇: expired ventilation; RER: respiratory exchange ratio; FST: firefighting simulation test; MAS: maximal aerobic speed; HR: heart rate; RPE: rating of perceived exertion; MVC: maximum voluntary contraction; IMTP: isometric mid-thigh pull; TTE: time to exhaustion; P: peak power; P: mean power; LASSO: least absolute shrinkage and selection operator; La-: blood lactate concentration.
Topics: Male; Female; Humans; Exercise Test; Physical Fitness; Muscle Strength; Physical Functional Performance; Oxygen Consumption; Lactic Acid; Firefighters; Heart Rate; Physical Exertion
PubMed: 36745493
DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2023.2177354 -
Annual International Conference of the... Jul 2023Intra- and inter-subject variability causes covariate shifts in training and testing feature spaces, resulting in low sensorimotor (SMR) brain-computer interface (BCI)...
Intra- and inter-subject variability causes covariate shifts in training and testing feature spaces, resulting in low sensorimotor (SMR) brain-computer interface (BCI) performance for practical implementation. Studies involving data-driven transfer learning strategies demonstrated improving BCI performance by covariate shift adaptation. In this study, we aim to illustrate if inter-subject associativity (e.g., subjects having similar SMR brain dynamics) can predict data-driven inter-subject BCI performance. We implemented a BCI classification pipeline with a common spatial pattern, principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis for performance evaluation. Both intra- and inter-subject BCI were evaluated in 5-Fold Validation settings. We further proposed a Bhattacharyya distance-based covariate shift score (CSS) for assessing the difference between training and testing feature domains. We performed Pearson correlation analysis to draw the relation-ship between BCI performance and CSS. Intra-subject BCI performances were significantly and negatively correlated with CSS (r = -0.94, p < 0.05). For the inter-subject experiment, BCI performances were also highly and negatively associated with CSS (r = -0.61, p < 0.05). However, this data-driven BCI evaluation framework does not necessarily manifest inter-subject associativity in BCI performance, requiring further investigations for a conclusion.Clinical relevance- If it predicts BCI performance successfully, inter-subject associativity could reduce time-consuming and annoying subject-specific calibration for the users.
Topics: Humans; Electroencephalography; Brain-Computer Interfaces; Brain
PubMed: 38082677
DOI: 10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340490 -
IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational... 2023The functions of proteins are largely determined by their three-dimensional (3D) structures. Loop modeling tries to predict the conformation of a relatively short...
The functions of proteins are largely determined by their three-dimensional (3D) structures. Loop modeling tries to predict the conformation of a relatively short stretch of protein backbone and sidechain. It is a difficult problem due to conformational variability. Recently, AlphaFold2 has achieved outstanding results in 3-D protein structure prediction and is expected to perform well on loop modeling. In this paper, we investigate the performances of AlphaFold2 variants on popular loop modeling benchmark datasets and propose an efficient protocol of using AlphaFold2 for loop modeling, called IAFLoop. To predict the structure of a loop region, IAFLoop gives a moderately extended segment of the target loop region as input to AlphaFold2, runs a fast version of AlphaFold2 using a reduced database without ensembling, and uses RMSD based consensus scores to select the final output models. Our experimental results on benchmark datasets show that IAFLoop generated highly accurate loop models. It achieves comparable performance to the original application of AlphaFold2 in terms of RMSD error, and achieving much better results on some targets, while only using half of the time. Compared to the best previous methods, IAFLoop reduces the RMSD error by almost half on the 8-residual loop dataset, and more than 70% on the 12-residual loop dataset.
Topics: Proteins; Protein Conformation; Databases, Factual
PubMed: 37037235
DOI: 10.1109/TCBB.2023.3264899 -
Journal of Robotic Surgery Aug 2023RAPN training usually takes place in-vivo and methods vary across countries/institutions. No common system exists to objectively assess trainee capacity to perform RAPN...
RAPN training usually takes place in-vivo and methods vary across countries/institutions. No common system exists to objectively assess trainee capacity to perform RAPN at predetermined performance levels prior to in-vivo practice. The identification of objective performance metrics for RAPN training is a crucial starting point to improve training and surgical outcomes. The authors sought to examine the reliability, construct and discriminative validity of objective intraoperative performance metrics which best characterize the optimal and suboptimal performance of a reference approach for training novice RAPN surgeons. Seven Novice and 9 Experienced RAPN surgeons video recorded one or two independently performed RAPN procedures in the human. The videos were anonymized and two experienced urology surgeons were trained to reliably score RAPN performance, using previously developed metrics. The assessors were blinded to the performing surgeon, hospital and surgeon group. They independently scored surgeon RAPN performance. Novice and Experienced group performance scores were compared for procedure steps completed and errors made. Each group was divided at the median for Total Errors score, and subgroup scores (i.e., Novice HiErrs and LoErrs, Experienced HiErrs and LoErrs) were compared. The mean inter-rater reliability (IRR) for scoring was 0.95 (range 0.84-1). Compared with Novices, Experienced RAPN surgeons made 69% fewer procedural Total Errors. This difference was accentuated when the LoErr Expert RAPN surgeon's performance was compared with the HiErrs Novice RAPN surgeon's performance with an observed 170% fewer Total Errors. GEARS showed poor reliability (Mean IRR = 0.44; range 0.0-0.8), for scoring RAPN surgical performance. The RAPN procedure metrics reliably distinguish Novice and Experienced surgeon performances. They further differentiated performance levels within a group with similar experiences. Reliable and valid metrics will underpin quality-assured novice RAPN surgical training.
Topics: Humans; Robotic Surgical Procedures; Robotics; Reproducibility of Results; Surgeons; Clinical Competence; Nephrectomy
PubMed: 36689078
DOI: 10.1007/s11701-023-01521-1 -
Clinical Child and Family Psychology... Jun 2024Parental monitoring is a construct of longstanding interest in multiple fields-but what is it? This paper makes two contributions to the ongoing debate. First, we review...
Parental monitoring is a construct of longstanding interest in multiple fields-but what is it? This paper makes two contributions to the ongoing debate. First, we review how the published literature has defined and operationalized parental monitoring. We show that the monitoring construct has often been defined in an indirect and nonspecific fashion and measured using instruments that vary widely in conceptual content. The result has been a disjointed empirical literature that cannot accurately be described as the unified study of a single construct nor is achieving a cumulative scientific character. Second, we offer a new formulation of the monitoring construct intended to remedy this situation. We define parental monitoring as the set of all behaviors performed by caregivers with the goal of acquiring information about the youth's activities and life. We introduce a taxonomy identifying 5 distinct types of monitoring behaviors (Types 1-5), with each behavior varying along five dimensions (performer, target, frequency, context, style). We distinguish parental monitoring from 16 other parenting constructs it is often conflated with and position monitoring as one element within the broader parent-youth monitoring process: the continuous, dyadic interplay between caregivers and youth as they navigate caregivers attempts' to monitor youth. By offering an explicit and detailed conceptualization of monitoring, we aim to foster more rigorous and impactful research in this area.
PubMed: 38869680
DOI: 10.1007/s10567-024-00490-7 -
Soft Robotics Jun 2024Artificial muscle is a kind of thread-like actuator that can produce contractile strain, generate force, and output mechanical work under external stimulations to...
Artificial muscle is a kind of thread-like actuator that can produce contractile strain, generate force, and output mechanical work under external stimulations to imitate the functions and achieve the performances of biological muscles. It can be used to actuate various bionic soft robots and has broad application prospects. The electrically controlled twisted and coiled polymer (TCP) artificial muscles, with the advantages of high power density, large stroke and low driving voltage, while also being electrolyte free, are the most practical. However, the relationship between the muscle performances and its preparation parameters is not very clear yet, and the complete procedure of designing and preparing TCP muscles according to actual needs has not been established. Besides, current preparation approaches are very time-consuming and cannot make ultra-long TCP muscles. These problems greatly limit wide applications of TCP artificial muscles. In this study, we studied and built the relationship between the actuating performances of TCP muscles and their preparation parameters, so that suitable TCP muscles can be easily designed and prepared according to actual requirements. Moreover, an efficient preparation method integrating one-step annealing technique has been developed to realize on-line performance modulation and continuous fabrication of ultra-long TCP muscles. By graphically assembling long muscles on heat-resist films, we designed and produced a series of fancy soft robots (butterfly, flower, starfish), which can perform various bionic movements and complete specific tasks. This work has achieved efficient on-demand preparation and large-scale assembly of ultra-long TCP muscles, laying solid foundations for their engineering applications in soft robot field.
Topics: Robotics; Polymers; Equipment Design; Artificial Organs; Muscles
PubMed: 38190210
DOI: 10.1089/soro.2023.0043 -
International Journal of Neural Systems Jul 2023Machine Learning (ML), among other things, facilitates Text Classification, the task of assigning classes to textual items. Classification performance in ML has been...
Machine Learning (ML), among other things, facilitates Text Classification, the task of assigning classes to textual items. Classification performance in ML has been significantly improved due to recent developments, including the rise of Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs), and Transformer Models. Internal memory states with dynamic temporal behavior can be found in these kinds of cells. This temporal behavior in the LSTM cell is stored in two different states: "Current" and "Hidden". In this work, we define a modification layer within the LSTM cell which allows us to perform additional state adjustments for either state, or even simultaneously alter both. We perform 17 state alterations. Out of these 17 single-state alteration experiments, 12 involve the Current state whereas five involve the Hidden one. These alterations are evaluated using seven datasets related to sentiment analysis, document classification, hate speech detection, and human-to-robot interaction. Our results showed that the highest performing alteration for Current and Hidden state can achieve an average 1 improvement of 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. We also compare our modified cell performance to two Transformer models, where our modified LSTM cell is outperformed in classification metrics in 4/6 datasets, but improves upon the simple Transformer model and clearly has a better cost efficiency than both Transformer models.
Topics: Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Memory, Long-Term; Neural Networks, Computer; Machine Learning; Speech
PubMed: 37300815
DOI: 10.1142/S0129065723500399 -
Plants (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2023Breeding of high-yielding and stable durum wheat varieties with improved kernel characteristics is needed for dry regions around the globe. The aim of this study was to...
Breeding of high-yielding and stable durum wheat varieties with improved kernel characteristics is needed for dry regions around the globe. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance and stability of eight durum wheat genotypes varying in their kernel characteristics across 15 contrasting environments. The tested material included three recombinant inbred lines (NUR-072, NUR-106 and NUR-238) derived from a cross between Norsi, a Jordanian landrace with special kernel characteristics and UC1113 , an elite line from USA. Field trials were carried out for three constitutive growing seasons under rainfed conditions, except for three environments where supplementary irrigation was provided. After the harvest, grain yield (GY), total yield (TW), and harvest index (HI) were recorded. Additionally, several kernel-related traits, including thousand kernel weight (TKW), kernel area (KA), kernel width (KW), kernel length (KL), kernel circularity (KC), and kernel length-width ratio (KL:KW) were evaluated. Analysis of variance for all tested traits revealed high significant variations () between the genotype (except for TW) and the genotype × environment (G × E) interaction. Genotype effect contributed to substantial percentage of variation (>75%) for KA, KL, KC and KL:KW, whereas KW showed a lower percentage similar to GY. Regarding the G × E effect, explained variation was highest for the TW (67.79%), and lowest for KL (6.47%). For GY, Norsi produced significantly the lowest mean value (249.99 g.m) while, Bolenga produced the highest mean value (377.85 g.m) although no significant differences were observed with the remaining genotypes. On the other hand, Norsi, NUR-072 and NUR-106 showed best performance for TKW and kernel-related traits with NUR-106 producing the highest mean value for KL (9.07 mm). The GGE biplot and AMMI analysis of GY identified Bolenga, Um Qais and NUR-106 as good performers across several environments, while Norsi exhibited the poorest performance. For TKW, Norsi was the best performer across different environments followed by NUR-106, which showed excellent performance under irrigated and saline conditions. For stability analysis, NUR-106 emerged as the most stable genotype in this study for GY and several kernel-related traits, particularly for KL and KC. In conclusion, the results of this study offer valuable insights for durum wheat breeders seeking to develop high-yielding and stable varieties with special kernel characteristics suitable for cultivation in dry areas.
PubMed: 37514278
DOI: 10.3390/plants12142664 -
Injury Nov 2023Resuscitative thoracotomy (RT) is a salvage procedure following traumatic cardiac arrest. We aim to evaluate RT trends and outcomes in adults with cardiac arrest... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Resuscitative thoracotomy (RT) is a salvage procedure following traumatic cardiac arrest. We aim to evaluate RT trends and outcomes in adults with cardiac arrest following penetrating trauma to determine the effect on mortality in this population. Further, we aim to estimate the effect of hospital teaching status on the performance of resuscitative thoracotomies and mortality.
METHODS
We reviewed the National Trauma Data Bank (2017-2021) for adults (≥16 years old) with penetrating trauma and prehospital cardiac arrest, stratified by the performance of a RT. We performed multivariable logistic regressions to estimate the effect of RT on mortality and the effect of hospital teaching status on the performance of resuscitative thoracotomies and mortality.
RESULTS
13,115 patients met our inclusion criteria. RT occurred in 12.7% (n = 1,664) of patients. Rates of RT trended up over the study period. Crude mortality was similar in RT and Non-RT patients (95.6% vs. 94.5%, p = 0.07). There was no statistically significant difference in the adjusted odds of mortality based on RT status (OR 0.82, 95%CI 0.56-1.21). University-teaching hospitals had an adjusted odds ratio of 1.68 (95% CI 1.31-2.17) for performing a RT than non-teaching hospitals. There was no difference in the adjusted odds of mortality in patients that underwent RT based on hospital teaching status.
CONCLUSION
Despite up-trending rates, a resuscitative thoracotomy may not improve mortality in adults with penetrating, traumatic cardiac arrest. University teaching hospitals are nearly twice as likely to perform a RT than non-teaching hospitals, with no subsequent improvement in mortality.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Adolescent; Thoracotomy; Resuscitation; Wounds, Penetrating; Heart Arrest; Hospitals, Teaching; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 37716863
DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2023.111033 -
Journal of the American College of... Nov 2023Performance anxiety is fear, anxiety, or avoidance of performative tasks, due to possible evaluation or criticism by others. Performance anxiety is well described in...
Performance anxiety is fear, anxiety, or avoidance of performative tasks, due to possible evaluation or criticism by others. Performance anxiety is well described in public speakers, musicians, and even surgeons. Its impact on radiologists and especially radiology trainees has not been explored. This article details performance anxiety, framing radiologists as performers, and highlights its potential impact on trainees and practicing radiologists. We offer strategies to manage and enhance the effects of performance anxiety that can be implemented in a training environment.
Topics: Humans; Radiology; Radiologists; Internship and Residency; Performance Anxiety; Anxiety
PubMed: 37634799
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacr.2023.06.038