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The aim of this study was to examine associations between patellofemoral pain (PFP) and musculoskeletal features (such as tendon structure and bone properties) in young (pre- and post-pubertal) female dancers. A total of 49 dancers participated in this study (mean age 13.6 ± 2.9; weight 47.0 ± 13.2; height 153.7 ± 12.9 and body mass index (BMI) 19.4 ± 3.1) and were assessed for the following factors: dance background and Tanner stage through interviews; ultrasonography assessments of bone properties and patellar tendon structure through ultrasonographic tissue characterization and quantitative ultrasound, respectively; and anthropometric measurements, muscle strength, range of motion (ROM), hypermobility and PFP through physical examinations. PFP was found in 49% of the participants. Post-pubertal dancers with no-PFP were found to have greater muscle strength, greater radial and tibial properties, and better tendon structure compared to pre-pubertal dancers with PFP and compared to pre-pubertal dancers with no-PFP [F(2, 41) = 18.64, p <.001; F(2, 41) = 20.46, p <.001; F(2, 41) = 33.06, p <.001; and, F(2, 41) = 6.02, p =.007, respectively]. Logistic regression showed that tibial bone properties and range of movement (ROM) in hip external rotation were significantly associated with PFP [odds ratio (OR) =.889 and OR = 2.653, respectively; Cox & Snell R2 =.701]. The study revealed a high prevalence of PFP among young dancers, with low bone properties and hyperjoint ROM emerging as the main factors that are related to PFP. These findings should be addressed by medical teams, athletic trainers, and dance teachers regarding the need for implementing modifications to dance training programmes and injury-prevention strategies in young pre-pubertal dancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness and the outcomes of the association between different types of biofeedback techniques and therapeutic exercises in the conservative treatment of patellar femoral pain (PFP). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines have been used and followed the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Between April and June 2023, the following electronic databases were searched: PubMed, ScienceDirect, BIOMED Central, Cochrane Library, and PEDro. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected. Following the search, 414 records were found, and after using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 RCTs were retrieved to include in this systematic review, assessing 513 patients. The association between biofeedback and therapeutic exercise may be beneficial for pain, function (AKPS), extensor muscle strength, reduction of the dynamic knee valgus and vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) (EMG) optimization. All these results were valued in the short term. Regarding the intervention type, it was possible to correlate the EMG biofeedback with the benefits of the knee extensor strength and the EMG activity of VM and VL. Conversely, using mirror, verbal, and somesthetic (hands and band) feedback seems to be linked to the reduction of the knee dynamic valgus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of Review: In this review, we present recent findings and advancements in the use of neuroimaging to evaluate neural activity relative to ACL injury risk and patellofemoral pain. In particular, we describe prior work using fMRI and EEG that demonstrate the value of these techniques as well as the necessity of continued development in this area. Our goal is to support future work by providing guidance for the successful application of neuroimaging techniques that most effectively expose pain and injury mechanisms. Recent Findings: Recent studies that utilized both fMRI and EEG indicate that athletes who are at risk for future ACL injury exhibit divergent brain activity both during active lower extremity movement and at rest. Such activity patterns are likely due to alterations to cognitive, visual, and attentional processes that manifest as coordination deficits during naturalistic movement that may result in higher risk of injury. Similarly, in individuals with PFP altered brain activity in a number of key regions is related to subjective pain judgements as well as measures of fear of movement. Although these findings may begin to allow objective pain assessment and identification, continued refinement is needed. One key limitation across both ACL and PFP related work is the restriction of movement during fMRI and EEG data collection, which drastically limits ecological validity. Summary: Given the lack of sufficient research using EEG and fMRI within a naturalistic setting, our recommendation is that researchers target the use of mobile, source localized EEG as a primary methodology for exposing neural mechanisms of ACL injury risk and PFP. Our contention is that this method provides an optimal balance of spatial and temporal resolution with ecological validity via naturalistic movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both PFP and SLIM are ultra-lightweight block ciphers having Feistel structure, which have good performance both in software and hardware, especially in resource-constrained environments. So far, the integral analysis of the PFP cipher and SLIM cipher has not yet been conducted thoroughly. In this paper, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is constructed by analyzing the structural characteristics of PFP cipher and SLIM cipher, and combining with the automatic search method of bit division property. The Gurobi optimizer is used to establish the model to determine whether there is an r-round integral distinguisher, and the integral distinguisher is selected to carry out key recovery attack on the cipher. The results show that a 11-round integral distinguisher of the PFP cipher is found, and a 12-round key recovery attack is carried out by using 10-round integral distinguisher to extend 2 rounds backward. The data complexity is 262:39 chosen plaintext, time complexity is 263:12 of 12round encryption, and storage complexity is 240. A 10-round integral distinguisher of SLIM cipher is also found, and a 9-round integral distinguisher is selected to carry out 12-round key recovery attack. The data complexity is 231:81 of chosen plaintext, the time complexity is 262:42 of 12-round encryption, and the storage complexity is 240. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness and the outcomes of the association between different types of biofeedback techniques and therapeutic exercises in the conservative treatment of patellar femoral pain (PFP). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines have been used and followed the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Between April and June 2023, the following electronic databases were searched: PubMed, ScienceDirect, BIOMED Central, Cochrane Library, and PEDro. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected. Following the search, 414 records were found, and after using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 RCTs were retrieved to include in this systematic review, assessing 513 patients. The association between biofeedback and therapeutic exercise may be beneficial for pain, function (AKPS), extensor muscle strength, reduction of the dynamic knee valgus and vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) (EMG) optimization. All these results were valued in the short term. Regarding the intervention type, it was possible to correlate the EMG biofeedback with the benefits of the knee extensor strength and the EMG activity of VM and VL. Conversely, using mirror, verbal, and somesthetic (hands and band) feedback seems to be linked to the reduction of the knee dynamic valgus.

The highest incidence of death in systemic sclerosis due to pulmonary disease raises the need for early detection and treatment. The study aim is the assessment of interstitial pulmonary disease by Multi Detector High Resolution CT (MDCT) and finds its relationship with the other disease parameters and the Pulmonary Function tests (PFT). A prospective cross-sectional study was performed in Assiut University Hospitals from May 2018 to January 2020 and included 62 consecutive SSc female patients. Demographic, clinical, Laboratory, PFT and MDCT assessment were conducted for all participants. The coarseness of fibrosis was 8.32 (range 0.0–17), the average proportion of ground-glass opacification was 28.3% (range, 0.0%–75%). Honey-comb pattern was seen in (52.5%). Mean Extent of disease was 46.25 ± 3.7 (range 5–81). Restrictive deficit found in 42 patients. Significant relation was found between the extent of disease and the percentage predicted FVC (r = 0.373, p 0.018) and FEV1/FVC (r = 0.593, p 0.000) and coarseness of fibrosis and proportion of ground glass opacification correlated inversely with VC (r = −0.385, p = 0.014, r = −0.376, p = 0.017 respectively), Rayanud's phenomena, modified Rodnan Skin Score and Medsger's general are positively correlated with MDCT disease extent. Scoring of systemic sclerosis (SSc) related interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) could be applicable as one of the important tools for disease assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a toxic substance on human health produced in food thermal treatment, simple analytical approaches are highly desired for the detection of acrylamide (ACR) in foods. With the aid of exonuclease III (Exo III), a simple fluorescence sensor was proposed based on carboxyfluorescein-labeled double-stranded DNA (FAM-dsDNA) and a cationic conjugated polymer (PFP). Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency between FAM and PFP was changed with and without ACR. When ACR was present, ACR and single-stranded DNA (P1, ssDNA) formed an adduct, allowing free FAM-labeled complementarity strand DNA (P2, FAM-csDNA) to appear in the solution and avoiding the digestion of P2 by Exo III. After the addition of PFP, the interaction of PFP and FAM induced strong FRET. Under optimized conditions, ACR was detected with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.16 μM. According to this biosensor, a LOD of 1.3 μM in water extract samples was observed with a good recovery rate (95–110 %). A fluorescence biosensor is described for the detection of acrylamide (ACR) based on double-stranded DNA and a cationic conjugated polymer (PFP) coupled with exonuclease III (Exo III). [Display omitted] • A simple and accurate fluorescence biosensor for ACR detection is developed. • The biosensor is achieved based on the FRET between PFP and FAM-csDNA. • The biosensor exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity for ACR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Densities, speed of sound and refractive index were measured for binary mixtures. • All experiments were done in the temperatures range of (298.15–318.15) K. • The excess molar volumes, deviation in isentropic compressibility and refractive index were obtained. • Derived properties were correlated by Redlich–Kister polynomial equation. • The PFP and ERAS models were applied to correlate the excess molar volume. Thermodynamic properties like excess volume V m E , excess partial volume V ¯ m , i E , in isentropic compressibility deviations Δ K s , and refractive index deviations Δ n D , have been calculated based on experimental density ρ , speed of sound u , and refractive index n D , by an Anton Paar / DSA 5000/ densimeter and Anton Paar Abbemat / 500/ refractometer. The systems of diethylene glycol monoethyl ether (DEGEE) + 2-propanol, or + 2-butanol, or + 2-pentanol, or + 2-hexanol, or + 2-heptanol, were given at T = (298.15–318.15) in 10 K intervals at ambient pressure (81.5 kPa) have been investigated. Data was fitted by Redlich-Kister relation. T h e V m E is negative for + 2-propanol and positive sign for other systems observed. The Δ K s is negative for all systems, except for + 2-heptanol system is positive. The Δ n D is negative for + 2-hexanol or + 2-heptanol systems and is positive for all the rest. The The intermolecular interactions and structure factors were discussed for the binary mixtures. In addition the Prigogine–Flory–Patterson theory (PFP) and Extended Real Associated Solutions (ERAS) models were used to correlate V m E data of binary mixtures. The fitting data for all systems reasonable consistency with experimental data for all the systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objective: Hip- and knee-muscle-strengthening programs are effective in improving short-term patient-reported and disease-oriented outcomes in individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP), but few to no data exist on moderate- to longterm postrehabilitative outcomes. The first purpose of the study was to assess differences in pain, function, strength, and core endurance in individuals with PFP before, after, and 6 mo after successful hip- or knee-muscle-strengthening rehabilitation. The second purpose was to prospectively follow these subjects for PFP recurrence at 6, 12, and 24 mo postrehabilitation. Methods: For 24 mo postrehabilitation, 157 physically active subjects with PFP who reported treatment success were followed. At 6 mo postrehabilitation, pain, function, hip and knee strength, and core endurance were measured. At 6, 12, 18, and 24 mo, PFP recurrence was measured via electronic surveys. Results: Sixty-eight subjects (43%) returned to the laboratory at 6 mo. Regardless of rehabilitation program, subjects experienced significant improvements in pain and function, strength, and core endurance pre- to postrehabilitation and maintained improvements in pain and function 6 mo postrehabilitation (Visual Analog Scale/Pain--pre 5.12 ± 1.33, post 1.28 ± 1.14, 6 mo 1.68 ± 2.16 cm, P < .05; Anterior Knee Pain Scale/ Function--pre 76.38 ± 8.42, post 92.77 ± 7.36, 6 mo 90.27 ± 9.46 points, P < .05). Over the 24 mo postrehabilitation, 5.10% of subjects who responded to the surveys reported PFP recurrence. Conclusions: The findings support implementing a hip- or knee-muscle-strengthening program for the treatment of PFP. Both programs improve pain, function, strength, and core endurance in the short term with moderate- and long-term benefits of improved pain and function and low PFP recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To identify the neural substrates of a clinician-based test and associated pain perception in young female athletes with patellofemoral pain.Design: Cross-sectional.Methods: Females with patellofemoral pain (n = 14; 14.3 ± 3.2 years) completed a patella displacement test during brain functional magnetic resonance imaging. The neuroimaging protocol included 18 s of interspersed rest/test blocks during which an experimenter manually applied intermittent frontal plane stress to the patella during test blocks. Patients rated their pain unpleasantness and pain intensity immediately after testing using a visual analog scale.Results: During the patella displacement test, increased activation was observed in previously identified sensorimotor and neural pain regions, including the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices, primary motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and other cognitive-related brain regions (z's > 4.4, p's < 0.05). Furthermore, pain unpleasantness during the test was positively correlated with increased activation of the posterior cerebellum (z = 4.51, p = 0.02), which is involved in both motor and pain processing as well as cognitive and affective feedback.Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that the posterior cerebellum may represent a critical modulator in the cognitive appraisal of pain in patellofemoral pain through cortico-cerebellar loops, which may have downstream effects on motor function. However further exploration of task-based functional connectivity between the posterior cerebellum and cortical regions is necessary to support these novel findings and associated interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Many young girls with generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) choose to participate in dance because their bodies are suited for this activity. Scoliosis tends to occur often in thin girls, who also are more likely to choose dance. Both anomalies (GJH and scoliosis) may be related to reduced abilities such as diminished strength and insufficient postural balance, with increased risk for musculoskeletal conditions. The main objectives of the present study were to determine the prevalence of dancers with GJH, the prevalence of dancers with scoliosis, and the prevalence of dancers with these two anomalies; and, to determine differences in physical abilities and the presence of patellofemoral pain (PFP) between young female dancers with and without such anomalies. Methods One hundred thirty-two female dancers, aged 12–14 years, were assessed for anthropometric parameters, GJH, scoliosis, knee muscle strength, postural balance, proprioception ability, and PFP. Results GJH was identified in 54 dancers (40.9%) and scoliosis in 38 dancers (28.8%). Significant differences were found in the proportion of dancers with no anomalies (74 dancers, 56.1%) and dancers with both anomalies (34 dancers, 25.8%) (p

Computational function prediction is one of the most important problems in bioinformatics as elucidating the function of genes is a central task in molecular biology and genomics. Most of the existing function prediction methods use protein sequences as the primary source of input information because the sequence is the most available information for query proteins. There are attempts to consider other attributes of query proteins. Among these attributes, the three-dimensional (3D) structure of proteins is known to be very useful in identifying the evolutionary relationship of proteins, from which functional similarity can be inferred. Here, we report a novel protein function prediction method, ContactPFP, which uses predicted residue-residue contact maps as input structural features of query proteins. Although 3D structure information is known to be useful, it has not been routinely used in function prediction because the 3D structure is not experimentally determined for many proteins. In ContactPFP, we overcome this limitation by using residue-residue contact prediction, which has become increasingly accurate due to rapid development in the protein structure prediction field. ContactPFP takes a query protein sequence as input and uses predicted residue-residue contact as a proxy for the 3D protein structure. To characterize how predicted contacts contribute to function prediction accuracy, we compared the performance of ContactPFP with several well-established sequence-based function prediction methods. The comparative study revealed the advantages and weaknesses of ContactPFP compared to contemporary sequence-based methods. There were many cases where it showed higher prediction accuracy. We examined factors that affected the accuracy of ContactPFP using several illustrative cases that highlight the strength of our method.

Background Assessment of knee kinematics plays an important role in the clinical examination of patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP). There is evidence that visual assessments are reliable in healthy subjects, but there is a lack of evidence in injured populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the intra- and interrater agreement in the visual assessment of dynamic knee joint alignment in patients with PFP. Methods The study was a cross-sectional agreement study. Sixty participants (42 females) were included. We assessed the intra- and interrater agreement of two functional tests: The single leg squat (SLS) and the forward lunge (FL). One investigator scored the movement according to preset criteria while video recording the movement for retest. Moreover, the performance was scored by another investigator using the video recording. Agreement was assessed using weighted kappa statistics. Results The intrarater agreement ranged from moderate to good (Kappa 0.58 (FL) to 0.70 (SLS)) whereas the interrater agreement ranged from fair to moderate (Kappa 0.22 (SLS) to 0.50 (FL)). Conclusion The agreement within raters was better than between raters, which suggests that assessments should preferably be performed by the same tester in research and in a clinical setting, e.g., to evaluate any treatment effect. We promote FL as a reliable clinical tool for evaluating dynamic knee alignment, since it shows equally good intra- and interrater agreement, and it is an inexpensive and easy method to use.

Background. Assessment of knee kinematics plays an important role in the clinical examination of patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP). There is evidence that visual assessments are reliable in healthy subjects, but there is a lack of evidence in injured populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the intra- and interrater agreement in the visual assessment of dynamic knee joint alignment in patients with PFP. Methods. The study was a cross-sectional agreement study. Sixty participants (42 females) were included. We assessed the intra- and interrater agreement of two functional tests: The single leg squat (SLS) and the forward lunge (FL). One investigator scored the movement according to preset criteria while video recording the movement for retest. Moreover, the performance was scored by another investigator using the video recording. Agreement was assessed using weighted kappa statistics. Results. The intrarater agreement ranged from moderate to good (Kappa 0.58 (FL) to 0.70 (SLS)) whereas the interrater agreement ranged from fair to moderate (Kappa 0.22 (SLS) to 0.50 (FL)). Conclusion. The agreement within raters was better than between raters, which suggests that assessments should preferably be performed by the same tester in research and in a clinical setting, e.g., to evaluate any treatment effect. We promote FL as a reliable clinical tool for evaluating dynamic knee alignment, since it shows equally good intraand interrater agreement, and it is an inexpensive and easy method to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pleurotus pulmonarius (Fr.) is an edible and medicinal fungus. Here, we isolated polysaccharides from P. pulmonarius and evaluated their physicochemical properties, anti-tumor activity, and gut microbiota regulation. Freeze-dried powder of P. pulmonarius fruiting body polysaccharide (PFP) is a heteropolysaccharide, mainly composed of galactose (295.52 μg/mg). PFP significantly inhibited glioma cell survival in vitro and U251 glioma cell tumor growth in nude mice (inhibition rate, 53.70%). PFP inhibited YAP1 and TAZ protein expression levels, upregulated those of MST1 and LAST1, regulated Hippo signaling, stimulated E-cadherin, and downregulated N-cadherin proteins, inhibiting tumor migration. PFP downregulated Bcl-2 protein expression, upregulated that of Cleaved Caspase 3, and induced tumor cell apoptosis. PFP regulated gut microbiota structure in tumor-bearing nude mice and increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria. In summary, PFP is a natural, safe, and non-toxic anti-cancer drug, and a potential probiotic. Our data provide theoretical guidance for the treatment of glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees may experience and respond to the coexistence of guanxi human resource management (HRM) practice and individual pay for performance (PFP) in transition economies within China. Based on conservation of resources theory, this study addresses the question of how guanxi HRM practice and individual PFP interact to impact employee emotional exhaustion and job performance. We hypothesized and tested the theoretical model using data collected across three phases over six months from 42 supervisors and 189 subordinates. We found that the presence of high individual PFP renders the negative effect of guanxi HRM practice even worse. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion mediates the interactive effect of guanxi HRM practice with individual PFP on employee job performance. In particular, the indirect effect is negative and significant when individual PFP is high rather than low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many young girls with generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) choose to participate in dance because their bodies are suited for this activity. Scoliosis tends to occur often in thin girls, who also are more likely to choose dance. Both anomalies (GJH and scoliosis) may be related to reduced abilities such as diminished strength and insufficient postural balance, with increased risk for musculoskeletal conditions. The main objectives of the present study were to determine the prevalence of dancers with GJH, the prevalence of dancers with scoliosis, and the prevalence of dancers with these two anomalies; and, to determine differences in physical abilities and the presence of patellofemoral pain (PFP) between young female dancers with and without such anomalies.Methods: One hundred thirty-two female dancers, aged 12-14 years, were assessed for anthropometric parameters, GJH, scoliosis, knee muscle strength, postural balance, proprioception ability, and PFP.Results: GJH was identified in 54 dancers (40.9%) and scoliosis in 38 dancers (28.8%). Significant differences were found in the proportion of dancers with no anomalies (74 dancers, 56.1%) and dancers with both anomalies (34 dancers, 25.8%) (p < .001). Dancers with both anomalies had reduced dynamic postural balance in the anterior direction (p = .023), reduced proprioception ability (p < .001), and weaker knee extensors (p = .036) and flexors (p = .040) compared with dancers with no anomalies. Among dancers with both anomalies, 73.5% suffered bilateral PFP, 17.6% suffered unilateral PFP, and 8.8% had no PFP (p < .001).Conclusions: A high prevalence of young girls participating in dance classes had GJH, as the increased joint flexibility probably provides them with some esthetic advantages. The high prevalence of scoliosis found in these young dancers might be attributed to their relatively low body mass, their delayed maturation, and the selection process of dancers. Dancers with both GJH and scoliosis had decreased muscle strength, reduced postural balance, reduced proprioception, with higher risk of PFP. The main clinical implications are the need to reduce the risk of PFP among dancers by developing appropriate strength and stabilizing exercises combined with proprioceptive and postural balance training, to improve the correct alignment of the hyperextended and hypermobile joints, and to improve their supporting muscle strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As various private sector practices have been introduced into the public sector, some were adopted without careful assessment of potential policy and management implications. One such example is the adoption of pay-for-performance (PFP). While previous research has corroborated that this performance incentive mechanism was implemented without thorough assessment, the diffusion process of PFP has not been empirically tested or evaluated. This study applies a regional diffusion model among American (U.S.) states to examine the diffusion process. Findings show that state governments tend to adopt PFP plans when they become aware of their neighbouring states adopting them, but the marginal probability of adoption decreases as the numbers of neighbours adopting such plans

Aiming to follow the prevalence of patellofemoral pain (PFP) among young dancers over 2-years, and to assess the prevalence of re-injured/recovered dancers; 67 dancers (aged 12.8 ± 0.5) were screened for PFP at baseline, 65 dancers at 1st follow-up and 51 dancers at 2nd follow-up. All dancers (46) that took part in all the 3 screenings had at least one episode of PFP along the screenings. No dancers recovered in the 1st follow-up, yet 40.5% of the dancers with PFP at the 1st follow-up recovered in the 2nd follow-up. Along the 3 screenings, 23.9%, 34.8%, and 41.3% of the dancers had 1,2 or 3 PFP episodes, respectively. None of the dancers skipped PFP along the 3 screenings. A high prevalence of dancers had sustained PFP along the 2 follow-ups, with low recovery rate. Dancers and teachers should be alert to the need for devising modifications of training and injury prevention strategies from young age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the safety demands of various progressively complex structures (e.g., in aerospace, automotive engineering, and wind power technology) and the parallel goal of reducing inspection costs set new objectives in the field of ultrasonics and guided elastic wave measurements. The focus is to deliver applicable sensors attached permanently to a particular structure for on-demand inspections. Piezoelectric fiber patches (PFPs) are known as lightweight and structure-conforming transducers for guided elastic wave generation and detection. We propose a new PFP concept combining advantages of different previous designs. With the new approach, a user can switch between a Lamb wave and a shear horizontal wave excitation by partially changing the polarity of the transducer electrodes. After summarizing the existing PFP variants, the new concept is introduced and experimentally verified by a three-dimensional laser Doppler vibrometer visualization of excited waves. Moreover, the first prototype of the new PFP transducer is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of selected phenolic compounds in dried apple pulps with pentafluorophenyl (PFP) reversed-phase HPLC-UV-FL is presented. Three new apple cultivars named Nicoter Kanzi®, Shinano Gold yello®, and the red-fleshed one Luresweet Redlove® grown in one site in South Tyrol (Italy) have been investigated and compared with cv. Golden Delicious. Phenolics belonging to different classes (hydroxybenzoic acids, flavan-3-ols, caffeoylquinic derivatives, flavonols, and dihydrochalcones) have been analyzed. Extraction with aqueous methanolic mixture yielded good analytical recovery. Luresweet Redlove® showed the highest content of quercetin-3-O-glucoside, gallic acid, and chlorogenic acid and the lowest content of catechins and procyanidins; on the other hand, Nicoter Kanzi® showed the lowest concentration of quercetin-3-O-glucoside. The analytical procedure described is an easy and affordable methodology to investigate other apple varieties from local cultivations, to study their phytochemical composition, and to determine their potential nutraceutical values. The content of phenolic compounds in the three apple varieties Nicoter Kanzi®, Shinano Gold yello®, and Luresweet Redlove® was reported for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates the assessment of physicochemical and thermodynamic properties of aqueous solutions of novel deep eutectic solvent (DES) built of tetrabutylammonium chloride and 3-amino-1-propanol or tetrabutylammonium bromide and 3-amino-1-propanol or 2-(methylamino)ethanol or 2-(butylamino)ethanol. Densities, speeds of sound, refractive indices, and viscosities for both pure and aqueous mixtures of DES were investigated over the entire range of compositions at atmospheric pressure and T = (293.15 ‒ 313.15) K. It was concluded that the experimental data were successfully fitted using the Jouyban–Acree model with respect to the concentration. Obtained results showed that this mathematical equation is an accurate correlation for the prediction of aqueous DES properties. Key physicochemical properties of the mixtures—such as excess molar volumes, excess isentropic compressibilities, deviations in viscosity, and deviations in refractive indices—were calculated and correlated by the Redlich–Kister equation with temperature-dependent parameters. The non-ideal behavior of the studied systems were also evaluated by using the Prigogine−Flory−Patterson theory and the results were interpreted in terms of interactions between the mixture components.

Wireless Sensor Network is easy to configure and deployment of network is also simple. It is very useful in gathering the information. As sensor device are small in size and it is operated by the battery which once die is not rechargeable, so minimizing energy consumption and node death rate is challenging issues in WSN. Once node die it can’t take part in information gathering which is not good for the overall system performance. Making cluster is a way to reduce the energy consumption in WSN by making cluster head which only communicate with base station and rest of the node communicate with cluster head, because distance is major factor for energy consumption in transmission of data. Wireless Sensor Network need more improvement and hence proposed intra and inter-cluster communication with sleep/active rate of node in WSN. Author establish a tradeoff between active node and energy consumption because if more node in sleep state then for achieving the target packet failure probability or error free communication all node take more energy take part in Sub-cluster head communication or more hop-distance communication with more energy. Result in terms of network life time, energy consumption, node decay rate and communication overhead shows that presented work performed well when compare with existing technique.

In 2017 the UK Health and Safety Executive commissioned a report (MH/17/27) on the suitability of the ISO 22899-1:2007 jet fire resistance test (JFRT) as a means of demonstrating performance of Passive Fire Protection (PFP) materials or systems to a range of jet fire scenarios. The aim was to address current industry concerns regarding the suitability of the test for characterising PFP materials response in' high heat flux' scenarios. The characterisation of a jet fire in terms of a single heat flux value is found to be an inadequate means of specifying the severity of the hazard. Instead, a detailed description of the nature of the release should be provided. To this end the flame characteristics are compared that influence PFP materials response for a range of release scenarios, including gas, flashing liquids, crude-oil, gas-liquid mixes (two-phase), hydrogen, cryogenic releases and releases into confined areas. The applicability of the JFRT to the various release scenarios is assessed through comparison of the conditions within the scenarios to those within the large-scale natural gas release scenario used during validation of the JFRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The excess molar volume, ultrasonic speed and refractive index data of diethyl. • ether and alkanol system are reported. • The excess properties data are correlated with the Redlich-Kister polynomial. • The excess molar volume values analyzed by the FTB and PFP theory. • Deviation in ultrasonic and refractive index data is predicted by various. • correlations. Density (ρ), ultrasonic speed (u), and refractive index (n D) of binary liquid mixtures such as diethyl ether (DEE) (1) + alkanol (isomers of propanol and 1-butanol) (2) were experimentally measured at T = 293.15 K to 303.15 K and at 0.1 MPa pressure. By using these measurements excess molar volume (V m E), deviation in ultrasonic speed (Δ u), excess isentropic compressibility (κ s E), and deviation in refractive index (Δ n D) were computed and associated with the Redlich-Kister polynomial equation. It was found that deviation parameters are influenced by H–bonding, interstitial accommodation, and dipole–dipole molecular interactions between binary mixtures. The V m E values have been interpreted by the Prigogine–Flory–Patterson (PFP) theory and the Flory–Treszczanowicz–Benson (FTB) model. The FTB model and PFP theory anticipated the V m E curves and were able to depict the perfect shape and magnitude of V m E values. The numeric values of u and n D were computed by using several empirical correlations and mixing rules. This study discusses the comparative significance of these relationships with the measured values of u and n D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the Prigogine–Flory–Patterson (PFP) theoretical model and the extended real association solution (ERAS) model for the prediction of the excess molar volumes of 17 binary sets of alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol, butan-2-ol and pentan-1-ol) with benzene, chlorobenzene, acetonitrile, hexan-1-amine and n-heptane were tested at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The binary sets contained 333 experimental data points for 11 different compounds. The ERAS model demonstrated better correlative characteristics for binary mixtures comparing to PFP model. The ERAS model is successfully applied on all binary systems except ethanol + benzene and propan-1-ol + benzene. PFP model gave less satisfactory results for all systems except butan-1-ol + hexan-1-amine, for which obtained results were acceptable. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 172063]

We developed a simple and robust liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric method (LC-MS) for the quantitative analysis of 10 sterols from the late part of cholesterol synthesis (zymosterol, dehydrolathosterol, 7-dehydrodesmosterol, desmosterol, zymostenol, lathosterol, FFMAS, TMAS, lanosterol, and dihydrolanosterol) from cultured human hepatocytes in a single chromatographic run using a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) stationary phase. The method also avails on a minimized sample preparation procedure in order to obtain a relatively high sample throughput. The method was validated on 10 sterol standards that were detected in a single chromatographic LC-MS run without derivatization. Our developed method can be used in research or clinical applications for disease-related detection of accumulated cholesterol intermediates. Disorders in the late part of cholesterol synthesis lead to severe malformation in human patients. The developed method enables a simple, sensitive, and fast quantification of sterols, without the need of extended knowledge of the LC-MS technique, and represents a new analytical tool in the rising field of cholesterolomics.

An amplified fluorescence strategy is described for the detection of sinapine (SP) by using a cationic conjugated polymer (PFP) and graphene oxide (GO). It is observed that the fluorescein (FAM)-labeled single-stranded DNA (FAM-DNA) is absorbed on the surface of GO if SP is absent. This causes that fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from PFP to FAM is inefficient when adding PFP into FAM-DNA/GO complex. If SP is added to FAM-DNA/GO complex, FAM-DNA is desorbed from GO surface due to the competitive binding of SP and FAM-DNA toward GO. In this case, FAM-DNA is close to PFP in the presence of PFP through strong electrostatic interaction, leading to the occurrence of efficient FRET. Based on the above phenomenon, we demonstrate a method to amplify fluorescence signal of traditional GO-based SP assay by introducing PFP. In comparison to the use of single GO, the combination of PFP with GO-based strategy displays high turn-on ratio and enhanced sensitivity with a limit of detection as low as 7.3 ng mL −1 for SP detection. Satisfactory results in practical samples are also obtained by the recovery experiments, demonstrating the potential application of cationic conjugated polymer in plant-derived small molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a common injury that interferes with quality of life and physical activity. Clinical subgroups of patients may exist, one of which is caused by proximal muscle dysfunction. Objectives: To develop clinical prediction rules that predict a positive outcome after either a hip and core- or knee-focused strengthening program for individuals with PFP. Design: Secondary analysis of data from a randomized control trial. Setting: Four university laboratories. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 199 participants with PFP. Intervention(s): Participants were randomly allocated to either a hip and core-focused (n = 111) or knee-focused (n = 88) rehabilitation group for a 6-week program. Main Outcome Measure(s): Demographics, self-reported knee pain (visual analog scale) and function (Anterior Knee Pain Scale), hip strength, abdominal muscle endurance, and hip range of motion were evaluated at baseline. Treatment success was defined as a decrease in visual analog scale score by ≥2 cm or an increase in the Anterior Knee Pain Scale score by ≥8 points or both. Bivariate relationships between the outcome (treatment success) and the predictor variables were explored, followed by a forward stepwise logistic regression to predict a successful outcome. Results: Patients with more pain, better function, greater lateral core endurance, and less anterior core endurance were more likely to have a successful outcome after hip and core strengthening (88% sensitivity and 54% specificity). Patients with lower weight, weaker hip internal rotation, stronger hip extension, and greater trunk-extension endurance were more likely to have success after knee strengthening (82% sensitivity and 58% specificity). Conclusion: ThepatientswithPFPwhohavemore baseline pain and yet maintain a high level of function may experience additional benefit from hip and core strengthening. The clinical prediction rules from this study remain in the developmental phase and should be applied with caution until externally validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To identify whether a physical examination for patello-femoral pain (PFP) is related to ultrasonography findings at the knee, and to identify possible factors related to PFP in young dancers. Methods: Sixty-seven young female dancers (7th grade, aged 12.8 ± 0.5) from three schools with identical special dance programs were included in the study. All the dancers were interviewed for demographic details, dance background, and training intensity; were evaluated for anthropometric measurements; underwent physical examination of both knees for PFP and for knee range of motion (ROM); and, had ultrasonography assessment for pathologies and of anatomical parts of their knees. Results: PFP was found in 54.5% of the 134 knees physically examined. In ultrasonography assessment, infra-articular effusion was found in 46.2% of the knees examined. H/week of dance practice was significantly higher among dancers with PFP (in both knees) compared with dancers with no PFP (p < .05). Knees with PFP had a significantly higher prevalence of intra articular effusion (p = .018) and higher prevalence of genu-recurvatum (p = .042). Knees with PFP had significantly greater growth plate width-anterior tibial tuberosity (p = .022) and a greater bony trochlear groove angle (p = .048). Conclusion: This study describes the relationship between physical examination for PFP and the sonographic findings, and the factors related to knee injuries. The results showed a high prevalence of PFP and intra articular knee effusion among young dancers at the age of 12–13 years; and, that the number of hours of practice and anatomical structure are related to PFP. Our results should alert physicians, physiotherapists, athletic trainers and dance teachers to the need for devising modifications of training and injury prevention strategies from a young age (<12 years old). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]