LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Heat effects of complex formation between maleic acid and zinc(II) and nickel(II) ions

The heat effects of formation of zinc(II) and nickel(II) complexes with maleic acid were determined by the direct calorimetric method at 298.15 K and several ionic strength values against the background of NaNO3. The standard thermodynamic characteristics of complex formation in aqueous solution were calculated.
SYNTHESES Running to stand still: adaptation and the response of plants to rapid climate change

Alistair S. Jump* and Josep Peñuelas Unitat d’Ecofisiologia CSICCEAB-CREAF, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain *Correspondence: E-mail: a.s.jump@creaf.uab.es Abstract Climate is a potent selective force in natural populations, yet the importance of adaptation in the response of plant species to past climate change has been questioned. As many species are unlikely to migrate fast enough to track the rapidly changing climate of the future, adaptation must play an increasingly important role in their response. In this paper we review recent work that has documented climate-related genetic diversity within populations or on the microgeographical scale. We then describe studies that have looked at the potential evolutionary responses of plant populations to future climate change. We argue that in fragmented landscapes, rapid climate change has the potential to overwhelm the capacity for adaptation in many plant populations and dramatically alter their genetic composition. The consequences are likely to include unpredictable changes in the presence and abundance of species within communities and a reduction in their ability to resist and recover from further environmental perturbations, such as pest and disease outbreaks and extreme climatic events. Overall, a range-wide increase in extinction risk is likely to result. We call for further research into understanding the causes and consequences of the maintenance and loss of climate-related genetic diversity within populations.
Short communication: rapid detection of milk fat adulteration with vegetable oil by fluorescence spectroscopy.

This study assessed the potential application of fluorescence spectroscopy in detecting adulteration of milk fat with vegetable oil and characterizing the samples according to the source of the fat. Pure butterfat was adulterated with different vegetable oils at various concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40%). Nonfat and reduced-fat milk were also adulterated with vegetable oils to simulate full-fat milk (3.2%). The 2- and 3-dimensional front-face fluorescence spectroscopy and gas chromatography were used to obtain the fluorescence spectra and fatty acid profile, respectively. Principal component analysis and 3-way partial least squares regression analysis were applied to analyze the data. The pure and adulterated samples were discriminated based on the total concentration of saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids, and also on the 3 major fluorophores: tryptophan, tocopherols, and riboflavin. Fluorescence spectroscopy was able to detect up to 5% of adulteration of vegetable oil into the butterfat. The saturated fatty acids showed higher predictability than the unsaturated fatty acids (R(2) = 0.73-0.92 vs. 0.20-0.65, respectively). The study demonstrated the high potential of fluorescence spectroscopy to rapidly detect adulteration of milk fat with vegetable oil, and discriminate commercial butter and milk according to the source of the fat.
Validation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Comprehensive Core Set for Osteoporosis: the perspective of physical therapists.

OBJECTIVE
The "Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Osteoporosis" is an application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and represents the typical spectrum of functioning problems of patients with osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to validate this ICF Core Set from the perspective of physical therapists.


METHODS
Using a 3-round Delphi technique survey, physical therapists, experienced in the treatment of patients with osteoporosis, were surveyed about patient problems, resources, and aspects of the environment relevant to the physical therapy management of individuals with OP. Responses were translated ("linked") into ICF language by using standardized rules.


RESULTS
Fifty-seven physical therapists across 25 countries representing each World Health Organization region named 816 factors (patient problems, available resources, and environmental influences). These 816 factors were linked to 160 ICF categories. Twenty-five categories with an agreement among the participants exceeding 75% were not represented in the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Osteoporosis. Fifteen concepts were linked to the as yet undeveloped ICF component. Personal Factors and 9 concepts were found not to be covered by the ICF.


CONCLUSION
The validity of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Osteoporosis was largely supported by the participants. Nine concepts (eg, "posture," "alignment," "ergonomics") identified by participants are not covered by the ICF and require further investigation.
Access to Psychosocial Services Prior to Starting Antipsychotic Treatment Among Medicaid-Insured Youth.

OBJECTIVE
To examine rates and predictors of receiving a psychosocial service before initiating antipsychotic treatment among young people in the Medicaid program.


METHOD
A retrospective new-user cohort study of 8 state Medicaid programs focused on children and adolescents 0 to 20 years, initiating antipsychotic treatment (N = 24,372). The proportion receiving a psychosocial service in the 3 months before initiating antipsychotic treatment was calculated and stratified by socio-demographic and diagnostic characteristics arranged in 9 hierarchical groups, as follows: developmental, psychotic/bipolar, disruptive, attention-deficit/hyperactivity, obsessive-compulsive, stress, major depressive, anxiety, and other disorders.


RESULTS
Less than one-half of youth received a psychosocial service before initiating antipsychotic treatment (48.8%). Compared to younger adolescents (12-17 years) initiating antipsychotic treatment (51.5%), corresponding younger children (0-5 years; 39.2%) and older adolescents (18-20 years; 40.1%), but not older children (6-11 years; 51.5%), were significantly less likely to have received a psychosocial service. In relation to youth diagnosed with psychotic or bipolar disorder (52.7%), those diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity (43.3%), developmental (41.4%), depressive (46.5%), or anxiety (35.6%) disorder were significantly less likely to have received a psychosocial service during the 3 months before antipsychotic initiation. By contrast, youth diagnosed with stress disorders (61.2%) were significantly more likely than those diagnosed with psychotic or bipolar disorders (52.7%) to have received a psychosocial service before starting an antipsychotic.


CONCLUSION
A majority of Medicaid-insured youth initiating antipsychotic treatment have not received a psychosocial service in the preceding 3 months. This service pattern highlights a critical gap in access to psychosocial services.
A pilot study on using acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to treat chronic non-specific low back pain.

OBJECTIVE
The present study tests whether a combined treatment of acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is more effective than acupuncture or TENS alone for treating chronic low back pain (LBP).


METHODS
Thirty-two patients with chronic LBP were randomly allocated to four groups. The acupuncture group (ACP) received only acupuncture treatment at selected acupoints for low back pain; the TENS group (TENS) received only TENS treatment at pain areas; the acupuncture and TENS group (A&T) received both acupuncture and TENS treatments; the control group (CT) received topical poultice (only when necessary). Each group received specific weekly treatment five times during the study. Outcome measures were pain intensity in terms of visual analogue scale (VAS) and QOL of low back in terms of Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ).


RESULTS
The ACP, TENS and A&T groups all reported lower VAS and RDQ scores. Significant reduction in pain intensity (P<0.008) and significant improvement in QOL (P<0.008) were shown in the A&T group.


CONCLUSION
Combined acupuncture and TENS treatment is effective in pain relief and QOL of low back improvement for the sampled patients suffering from chronic LBP.
Milk proteins as precursors of bioactive peptides

Milk proteins, a source of bioactive peptides, are the subject of numerous research studies aiming to, among others, evaluate their properties as precursors of biologically active peptides. Physiologically active peptides released from their precursors may interact with selected receptors and affect the overall condition and health of humans. By relying on the BIOPEP database of proteins and bioactive peptides, developed by the Department of Food Biochemistry at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (www.uwm.edu.pl/biochemia), the profiles of potential activity of milk proteins were determined and the function of those proteins as bioactive peptide precursors was evaluated based on a quantitative criterion, i.e. the occurrence frequency of bioactive fragments (A). The study revealed that milk proteins are mainly a source of peptides with the following types of activity: antihypertensive (Amax = 0.225), immunomodulating (0.024), smooth muscle contracting (0.011), antioxidative (0.029), dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors (0.148), opioid (0.073), opioid antagonistic (0.053), bonding and transporting metals and metal ions (0.024), antibacterial and antiviral (0.024), and antithrombotic (0.029). The enzymes capable of releasing bioactive peptides from precursor proteins were determined for every type of activity. The results of the experiment indicate that milk proteins such as lactoferrin, α-lactalbumin, -casein and -casein hydrolysed by trypsin can be a relatively abundant source of biologically active peptides.
River Blindness: A Success Story under Threat?

he accomplishments of this Programme inspire all of us in public health to dream big dreams. It shows we can reach 'impossible' goals and lighten the burden of millions of the world's poorest people .... " These were the concluding words by former World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland at the closure ceremony of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) in December 2002 [1]. The success of the OCP is so undeniable and exemplary, with 600,000 cases of blindness prevented, 18 million children born in areas freed from the risk of blindness, and 25 million hectares of land safe for resettlement, that river blindness is currently considered a disease of the past. This perception nonetheless forgets that OCP covered, at most, 1,200,000 square kilometers to protect 30 million people in 11 countries, leaving a remaining 100 million people in areas where active transmission of onchocerciasis still occurs. After its 28-year fi ght OCP may have won a battle, but a much more diffi cult task lies ahead before we can claim victory against river blindness [2]. Human onchocerciasis is caused by the fi larial parasitic nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Adult worms (macrofi lariae) live in subcutaneous nodules and deeper worm bundles, where fertilized females can produce, during an average of 10 years, millions of microfi lariae responsible for the morbidity associated with the infection. Ingested during a bloodmeal by Simulium (black fl y) vectors, microfi lariae develop within the fl y to infective (L3) stages, that are then transmissible to other people (Figure 1). Many simuliid species have been incriminated to a greater or lesser degree in the transmission of O. volvulus [3], their relative vectorial roles contributing to shape diverse transmission patterns across endemic areas. In Africa, the Simulium damnosum sensu lato (s.l.) species complex, which includes approximately 60 cytoforms, is responsible for more than 95 percent of onchocerciasis cases globally [3,4]. In Latin America, and was imported through the slave trade to six Latin American countries. Previous estimates have placed the number of people infected worldwide at 18 million [7], 99 percent of them in Africa. Since then, the true extent of the disease has been estimated by REMO (rapid epidemiological mapping of onchocerciasis). Villages are selected in each river basin according to appropriate criteria, and levels of endemicity are assessed by onchocercal nodule prevalence in adult host samples [8]. By 2005, more than 22,000 villages …
Privacy Preserving Machine Learning: Threats and Solutions

For privacy concerns to be addressed adequately in today’s machine learning systems, the knowledge gap between the machine learning and privacy communities must be bridged. This article aims to provide an introduction to the intersection of both fields with special emphasis on the techniques used to protect the data.
Circuit Simulator Models for the Diode and IGBT with full temperature dependent features

The problems faced in generating analytical models for the IGBT and power diode are devising correct equations and determining realistic boundary conditions, especially for 2D features, while ensuring convergence of the models. These issues are addressed in this paper in relation to the temperature dependent modelling of IGBTs and diodes.
IEEE 802.22: The first cognitive radio wireless regional area network standard

This article presents a high-level overview of the IEEE 802.22 standard for cognitive wireless regional area networks (WRANs) that is under development in the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee.
Potential for the use of mHealth in the management of cardiovascular disease in Kerala: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES
To assess the potential for using mHealth in cardiovascular disease (CVD) management in Kerala by exploring: (1) experiences and challenges of current CVD management; (2) current mobile phone use; (3) expectations of and barriers to mobile phone use in CVD management.


DESIGN
Qualitative, semistructured, individual interviews.


SETTING
5 primary health centres in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India.


PARTICIPANTS
15 participants in total from 3 stakeholder groups: 5 patients with CVD and/or its risk factors, 5 physicians treating CVD and 5 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). Patients were sampled for maximum variation on the basis of age, sex, CVD diagnoses and risk factors. All participants had access to a mobile phone.


RESULTS
The main themes identified relating to the current challenges of CVD were poor patient disease knowledge, difficulties in implementing primary prevention and poor patient lifestyles. Participants noted phone calls as the main function of current mobile phone use. The expectations of mHealth use are to: improve accessibility to healthcare knowledge; provide reminders of appointments, medication and lifestyle changes; save time, money and travel; and improve ASHA job efficacy. All perceived barriers to mHealth were noted within physician interviews. These included fears of mobile phones negatively affecting physicians' roles, the usability of mobile phones, radiation and the need for physical consultations.


CONCLUSIONS
There are three main potential uses of mHealth in this population: (1) as an educational tool, to improve health education and lifestyle behaviours; (2) to optimise the use of limited resources, by overcoming geographical barriers and financial constraints; (3) to improve use of healthcare, by providing appointment and treatment reminders in order to improve disease prevention and management. Successful mHealth design, which takes barriers into account, may complement current practice and optimise use of limited resources.
Energetics, stability, and prediction of transmembrane helices.

We show that the peptide backbone of an alpha-helix places a severe thermodynamic constraint on transmembrane (TM) stability. Neglect of this constraint by commonly used hydrophobicity scales underlies the notorious uncertainty of TM helix prediction by sliding-window hydropathy plots of membrane protein (MP) amino acid sequences. We find that an experiment-based whole-residue hydropathy scale (WW scale), which includes the backbone constraint, identifies TM helices of membrane proteins with an accuracy greater than 99 %. Furthermore, it correctly predicts the minimum hydrophobicity required for stable single-helix TM insertion observed in Escherichia coli. In order to improve membrane protein topology prediction further, we introduce the augmented WW (aWW) scale, which accounts for the energetics of salt-bridge formation. An important issue for genomic analysis is the ability of the hydropathy plot method to distinguish membrane from soluble proteins. We find that the method falsely predicts 17 to 43 % of a set of soluble proteins to be MPs, depending upon the hydropathy scale used.
United States Acculturation and Cancer Patients’ End-of-Life Care

BACKGROUND
Culture shapes how people understand illness and death, but few studies examine whether acculturation influences patients' end-of-life treatment preferences and medical care.


METHODS AND FINDINGS
In this multi-site, prospective, longitudinal cohort study of terminally-ill cancer patients and their caregivers (n = 171 dyads), trained interviewers administered the United States Acculturation Scale (USAS). The USAS is a 19-item scale developed to assess the degree of "Americanization" in first generation or non-US born caregivers of terminally-ill cancer patients. We evaluated the internal consistency, concurrent, criterion, and content validity of the USAS. We also examined whether caregivers' USAS scores predicted patients' communication, treatment preferences, and end-of-life medical care in multivariable models that corrected for significant confounding influences (e.g. education, country of origin, English proficiency). The USAS measure was internally consistent (Cronbach α = 0.98); and significantly associated with US birthplace (r = 0.66, P<0.0001). USAS scores were predictive of patients' preferences for prognostic information (AOR = 1.31, 95% CI:1.00-1.72), but not comfort asking physicians' questions about care (AOR 1.23, 95% CI:0.87-1.73). They predicted patients' preferences for feeding tubes (AOR = 0.68, 95% CI:0.49-0.99) and wish to avoid dying in an intensive care unit (AOR = 1.36, 95% CI:1.05-1.76). Scores indicating greater acculturation were also associated with increased odds of patient participation in clinical trials (AOR = 2.20, 95% CI:1.28-3.78), compared with lower USAS scores, and greater odds of patients receiving chemotherapy (AOR = 1.59, 95% CI:1.20-2.12).


CONCLUSION
The USAS is a reliable and valid measure of "Americanization" associated with advanced cancer patients' end-of-life preferences and care. USAS scores indicating greater caregiver acculturation were associated with increased odds of patient participation in cancer treatment (chemotherapy, clinical trials) compared with lower scores. Future studies should examine the effects of acculturation on end-of-life care to identify patient and provider factors that explain these effects and targets for future interventions to improve care (e.g., by designing more culturally-competent health education materials).
Performance and operation of a rotating biological contactor in a tilapia recirculating aquaculture system

This paper describes the performance characteristics of an industrial-scale air-driven rotating biological contactor (RBC) installed in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) rearing tilapia at 28 8C. This three-staged RBC system was configured with stages 1 and 2 possessing approximately the same total surface area and stage 3 having approximately 25% smaller. The total surface area provided by the RBC equaled 13,380 m. Ammonia removal efficiency averaged 31.5% per pass for all systems examined, which equated to an average ( standard deviation) total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) areal removal rate of 0.43 0.16 g/m/day. First-order ammonia removal rate (K1) constants for stages 1–3 were 2.4, 1.5, and 3.0 h , respectively. The nitrite first-order rate constants (K2) were higher, averaging 16.2 h 1 for stage 1, 7.7 h 1 for stage 2, and 9.0 h 1 stage 3. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) levels decreased an averaged 6.6% per pass across the RBC. Concurrently, increasing influent DOC concentrations decreased ammonia removal efficiency. With respect to dissolved gas conditioning, the RBC system reduced carbon dioxide concentrations approximately 39% as the water flowed through the vessel. The cumulative feed burden – describes the mass of food delivered to the system per unit volume of freshwater added to the system daily – ranged between 5.5 and 7.3 kg feed/m of freshwater; however, there was no detectable relationship between the feed loading rate and ammonia oxidation performance. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Troponin I release after intravenous treatment with high furosemide doses plus hypertonic saline solution in decompensated heart failure trial (Tra-HSS-Fur).

BACKGROUND
High values of cardiac troponin in acute decompensated congestive heart failure (ADHF) identify patients at higher risk and worsened prognosis. A cardiac troponin increase during therapy indicates the need for more appropriate intervention, aimed at compensating cardiac disease and effectively minimizing myocardial wall stress and subsequent cytolysis. This study evaluated the effects of an intravenous high dose of furosemide with (group A) or without small volume hypertonic saline solution (HSS) (group B) on myocardial cytolysis in patients with ADHF.


METHODS
A total of 248 consecutive patients with ADHF (148 men, mean age 74.9 ± 10.9 years) were randomly assigned to group A or B. Plasma levels of cardiac troponin-I, brain natriuretic peptide, glomerular filtration rate by Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula, bioelectrical impedance analysis measurements, and delta pressure/delta time (dP/dt) rate were observed on admission and discharge for all patients.


RESULTS
We observed a significant reduction of cardiac troponin in both groups and a significant improvement in renal function, hydration state, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (P < .0001), end diastolic volume (P < .01), ejection fraction (P < .01), and dP/dt (P < .004) in group A. We also observed a significant reduction in body weight (64.4 vs 75.8 kg) (P < .001), cardiac troponin I (0.02 vs 0.31 ng/mL) (P < .0001) and brain natriuretic peptide (542 vs 1,284 pg/mL) (P < .0001), and hospitalization time (6.25 vs 10.2 days) (P < .0001) in the HSS group.


CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrate that intravenous high doses of furosemide do not increase myocardial injury and, in addition, when associated to HSS, significantly reduce cardiac troponin I release. This behavior is mirrored by the achievement of improved hemodynamic compensation at echocardiography and body hydration normalization.