Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Musculoskeletal Disorders: Does Medical Skepticism Matter?

Medical skepticism is the reservation about the ability of conventional medical care to significantly improve health. Individuals with musculoskeletal disorders seeing specialists usually experience higher levels of disability; therefore it is expected they might be more skeptical of current treatment and thus more likely to try Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The goal of this study was to define these relationships. These data were drawn from a cross-sectional survey from two cohorts: those seeing specialists (n=1,344) and non-specialists (n=724). Site-level fixed effects logistic regression models were used to test associations between medical skepticism and 10 CAM use categories. Some form of CAM was used by 88% of the sample. Increased skepticism was associated with one CAM category for the non-specialist group and six categories for the specialist group. Increased medical skepticism is associated with CAM use, but medical skepticism is more often associated with CAM use for those seeing specialists.
Entanglement Distribution in Optical Networks

The ability to generate entangled photon pairs over a broad wavelength range opens the door to the simultaneous distribution of entanglement to multiple users in a network by using centralized sources and flexible wavelength-division multiplexing schemes. Here, we show the design of a metropolitan optical network consisting of tree-type access networks, whereby entangled photon pairs are distributed to any pair of users, independent of their location. The network is constructed employing commercial off-the-shelf components and uses the existing infrastructure, which allows for moderate deployment costs. We further develop a channel plan and a network-architecture design to provide a direct optical path between any pair of users; thus, allowing classical and one-way quantum communication, as well as entanglement distribution. This allows the simultaneous operation of multiple quantum information technologies. Finally, we present a more flexible backbone architecture that pushes away the load limitations of the original network design by extending its reach, number of users and capabilities.
TRANSLOCATION OF EXOGENOUS GROWTH-REGULATORS IN THE BEAN SEEDLING.

Localized presentation of growth-regulatory chemicals to a particular organ of a plant can give rise to responses in other, more or less distant, parts, a circumstance that may be taken as evidence of the translocation of a stimulating substance which may be termed the "stimulus. " In most instances there is no information at hand to permit a decision as to whether the translocated stimulus is the applied chemical itself, a derivative of the applied compound, or some endogenous hormone, the formation or movement of which has been influenced by the treatment. In a few cases, however, there is rather clear-cut evidence that the applied compound is transported as such (6, 8, 17) and at present there seems to be no cogent argument to gainsay that this may be universally true. It has been shown (7) that the stem curvature response of bean seedlings to leaf application of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid requires the exposure of the plants to relatively intense light and carbon dioxide concurrently. Such exposure need not take place while the plant is responding but is effective even though terminated some time before application of the growth-regulator. The response itself may occur in absence of light or of CO2. No stem curvatures occur in leaf-treated plants which have been maintained in darkness, or in light of low intensity, for several hours preceding treatment, or in plants which have been exposed to bright light in a CO2-free atmosphere. However, under such environmental conditions, plants do give stem curvature responses to growth-regulators applied directly to the stem, to the cotyledons, or to the roots. Furthermore, under conditions in which leaf presentations do not lead to stem curvatures, there may occur localized torsions of the lamina in the vicinity of the applications. Conversely, a latent response may be elicited by holding treated carbohydrate-depleted plants in darkness for a considerable period and then exposing them to conditions favorable to photosynthesis as shown by the following experiment. Seven-day-old bean seedlings (Phaseolus vulgaris var. Black Valentine) were placed in a dark room for 24 hours after which a 0.01 ml. drop containing 10 micrograms of ammonium 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate in 1% aqueous Carbowax 1500 was placed on one primary leaf of each plant. Groups of the treated plants were transferred from the darkroom to the greenhouse at intervals up to 72 hours. No responses, other than localized leaf torsions, were evident while the plants were in 140
Scaling Laws for Overlaid Wireless Networks: A Cognitive Radio Network vs. a Primary Network

We study the scaling laws for the throughputs of two coexisting wireless networks that operate in the same geographic region. The primary network consists of Poisson distributed legacy users of density n, and the secondary network consists of Poisson distributed cognitive users of density m, with m > n. The primary users have a higher priority to access the spectrum without particular considerations for the secondary users, while the secondary users have to act conservatively in order to limit interference to the primary users. With a practical assumption that the secondary users only know the locations of the primary transmitters, we show that both networks can achieve the same throughput scaling law as a stand-alone wireless network if proper transmission schemes are deployed, where a finite throughput is achievable for each individual secondary user (i.e., zero outage) with high probability.
Study of depression, anxiety and stress among school going adolescents

Background: Adolescents; the bright hope of the future are characterized by many physical, emotional and developmental changes. However, during this stage, some of adolescents, experience anxious feeling, overwhelming sense of fear, depression and academic stress. Adolescents can experience various life stresses ranging from catastrophic or traumatic life events, persistent strain and daily hassles. Thus Present study was carried out to check the depression, anxiety and stress in this population . Material and Method: It is a cross sectional study, in which 200 adolescents were taken; equally boy and girls using purposive sampling. Assessment was done using Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-DASS (Hindi Version). The statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS Windows 16.0 software package. The analysis of the obtained data was done using various descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The scores of students in all three domains of Depression, anxiety, and Stress scale were found to be remarkably correlated. It was seen that depression was significantly more among the female students than the male students. Conclusion: Overall findings suggest that these adolescents are at high risk of developing depression and anxiety disorder. Adolescents with stress need to be identified early and interventions to reduce academic stress needs to be provided which are likely to affect the occurrence and severity of depression and anxiety. Key words: Adolescents, depression, anxiety, stress
The impact of textile wastewater irrigation on the growth and development of apple plant

ABSTRACT In this work, the effect of irrigation with textile wastewaters on the growth and development of “Golden Delicious” apple sapling was examined over a one-year period. Municipal water prepared as a control sample (T0), 1/3 diluted (T1), and undiluted (T2) raw textile wastewater was used as the three different irrigation water samples. Two replications of each test were performed on three random samples each time. When examining the effects of T0, T1, and T2 irrigation water on plant growth, it was found that T1 irrigation water significantly increased the weight, the shoot length, and the diameter of the sapling. Despite increasing Ni and Cr metals in the apple saplings’ leaves when irrigated with T2 water, plant growth was restricted due to the lack of basic nutrients. When taking certain aspects into account, such as the proper treatment of wastewater, then 1/3 diluted textile wastewater can be used as agricultural irrigation water for the apple plants.
Evolutionary Rate Heterogeneity of Core and Attachment Proteins in Yeast Protein Complexes

In general, proteins do not work alone; they form macromolecular complexes to play fundamental roles in diverse cellular functions. On the basis of their iterative clustering procedure and frequency of occurrence in the macromolecular complexes, the protein subunits have been categorized as core and attachment. Core protein subunits are the main functional elements, whereas attachment proteins act as modifiers or activators in protein complexes. In this article, using the current data set of yeast protein complexes, we found that core proteins are evolving at a faster rate than attachment proteins in spite of their functional importance. Interestingly, our investigation revealed that attachment proteins are present in a higher number of macromolecular complexes than core proteins. We also observed that the protein complex number (defined as the number of protein complexes in which a protein subunit belongs) has a stronger influence on gene/protein essentiality than multifunctionality. Finally, our results suggest that the observed differences in the rates of protein evolution between core and attachment proteins are due to differences in protein complex number and expression level. Moreover, we conclude that proteins which are present in higher numbers of macromolecular complexes enhance their overall expression level by increasing their transcription rate as well as translation rate, and thus the protein complex number imposes a strong selection pressure on the evolution of yeast proteome.
Long-Term Immunity to Trypanosoma cruzi in the Absence of Immunodominant trans-Sialidase-Specific CD8+ T Cells

ABSTRACT Trypanosoma cruzi infection drives the expansion of remarkably focused CD8+ T cell responses targeting epitopes encoded by variant trans-sialidase (TS) genes. Infection of C57BL/6 mice with T. cruzi results in up to 40% of all CD8+ T cells committed to recognition of the dominant TSKB20 and subdominant TSKB18 TS epitopes. However, despite this enormous response, these mice fail to clear T. cruzi infection and subsequently develop chronic disease. One possible reason for the failure to cure T. cruzi infection is that immunodomination by these TS-specific T cells may interfere with alternative CD8+ T cell responses more capable of complete parasite elimination. To address this possibility, we created transgenic mice that are centrally tolerant to these immunodominant epitopes. Mice expressing TSKB20, TSKB18, or both epitopes controlled T. cruzi infection and developed effector CD8+ T cells that maintained an activated phenotype. Memory CD8+ T cells from drug-cured TSKB-transgenic mice rapidly responded to secondary T. cruzi infection. In the absence of the response to TSKB20 and TSKB18, immunodominance did not shift to other known subdominant epitopes despite the capacity of these mice to expand epitope-specific T cells specific for the model antigen ovalbumin expressed by engineered parasites. Thus, CD8+ T cell responses tightly and robustly focused on a few epitopes within variant TS antigens appear to neither contribute to, nor detract from, the ability to control T. cruzi infection. These data also indicate that the relative position of an epitope within a CD8+ immunodominance hierarchy does not predict its importance in pathogen control.
Please Scroll down for Article International Review of Psychiatry Mild Cognitive Impairment: Believe It or Not? Mild Cognitive Impairment: Believe It or Not?

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Abstract Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was previously defined as a transitional state that can precede dementia, but the condition and the rates of conversion remain controversial. MCI is now the focus of natural history studies, along with Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevention. The objective of our review will be to consider the question of whether MCI is a well enough established entity that it can be a diagnosis in medical practice and a valid target of Alzheimer's prevention therapy. MCI was originally defined by Petersen et al. (1999) as progressive memory loss, prodrome of Alzheimer's disease. More recently MCI has been expanded to other cognitive domains with other potential causes like normal aging, fronto-temporal dementia, and vascular dementia. Despite many consensus conferences, experts cannot agree on critical aspects of the MCI, particularly with respect to its clinical utility. Based on neuropsychological studies, a hippocampal memory profile has been proposed for MCI as prodromal AD. Further research is needed to advance these criteria. We have no doubt, however, that in the future, the diagnosis of AD as disease (not only a dementia syndrome) will be made in the early pre-dementia stage and will be drawn from a combination of neuropsychological, neuro-imaging and CSF biomarkers.
Impact of Guideline Conformity on Breast Cancer Therapy: Results of a 13-Year Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: To date, few studies have investigated whether the implementation of national breast cancer guidelines fulfills the goal to optimize the national standard of care. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate retrospectively the guideline-related 13-year data on breast cancer patients treated at our institution. Patients and Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, the records of a total of 2,231 patients with primary breast cancer treated during the period of 1992–2005 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ulm, Germany, were analyzed. Based on the German national Step 3 (S3) guideline, a model was created to classify groups according to therapy ‘conforming’ and ‘non-conforming’ to guideline recommendations. Results: In 2005, 70.2% of all patients included received both surgical and systemic adjuvant therapies conforming to the guideline. Guideline-conforming treatment was accompanied with significant advantages in terms of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OAS) rates. Conclusions: It has to be demanded that breast cancer patients are treated in con-formity with the S3 guidelines. The reasons for a treatment not conforming to the guidelines should be analyzed for the detection of barrier factors, in order to optimize adherence to the guidelines and therefore to prolong RFS and OAS.
SPA: a short peptide assembler for metagenomic data

The metagenomic paradigm allows for an understanding of the metabolic and functional potential of microbes in a community via a study of their proteins. The substrate for protein identification is either the set of individual nucleotide reads generated from metagenomic samples or the set of contig sequences produced by assembling these reads. However, a read-based strategy using reads generated by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, results in an overwhelming majority of partial-length protein predictions. A nucleotide assembly-based strategy does not fare much better, as metagenomic assemblies are typically fragmented and also leave a large fraction of reads unassembled. Here, we present a method for reconstructing complete protein sequences directly from NGS metagenomic data. Our framework is based on a novel short peptide assembler (SPA) that assembles protein sequences from their constituent peptide fragments identified on short reads. The SPA algorithm is based on informed traversals of a de Bruijn graph, defined on an amino acid alphabet, to identify probable paths that correspond to proteins. Using large simulated and real metagenomic data sets, we show that our method outperforms the alternate approach of identifying genes on nucleotide sequence assemblies and generates longer protein sequences that can be more effectively analysed.
Deciding Equivalence of Finite Tree Automata

We show: for every constant m it can be decided in polynomial time whether or not two m-ambiguous finite tree automata are equivalent. In general, inequivalence for finite tree automata is DEXPTIME-complete w.r. t. logspace reductions, and PSPACE-complete w.r. t. logspace reductions, if the automata in question are supposed to accept only finite languages. For finite tree automata with coefficients in a field R we give a polynomial time algorithm for deciding ambiguity-equivalence provided R-operations and R-tests for 0 can be performed in constant time. We apply this algorithm for deciding ambiguity-inequivalence of finite tree automata in randomized polynomial time.
Blood pressure, glucose, insulin and lipids of young Ethiopian recent immigrants to Israel and in those resident for 2 years

Objectives: To determine influence of residence in Israel on blood pressure, glucose, insulin and lipids levels in recent and resident young Ethiopian immigrants, and to compare them with Israeli students Design: Young male Ethiopians, resident in Israel for <3 months and residing in boarding schools, were compared, in a cross-sectional study, with those who had been living under the same conditions for 2 years. The food for both groups was provided from the same kitchen. A group of Israeli students served as an additional comparison group Methods: Body mass index, triceps skinfold width, sitting blood pressure and fasting glucose insulin, lipids and fructosamine levels were measured and a standard oral glucose tolerance test was performed, with glucose and insulin levels being measured 60 and 120 min after the load. Results: Body mass index did not differ by much between the two Ethiopian groups, but was significantly lower in the Ethiopian groups than in the Israeli student group. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were significantly higher in the resident immigrants than in the students, but the high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides, fructosamine and insulin response to oral glucose loading were all significantly lower, whereas the blood glucose response was actually higher. Resident immigrants had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension. SBP and DBP correlated weakly (r=0.25 and 0.24, respectively) with the sum of insulin after loading among the Ethiopian immigrants but not among the students Conclusion: After 2 years' residence in Israel, young male Ethiopian immigrants acquire in parallel a rise in blood pressure and an increase in lipidaemia, insulinaemia and glucose response. However, the hypertensive subjects are not hyperinsulinaemic, with increases in insulinaemia accounting for only approximately 6% of blood pressure variability. The increase in the prevalence of hypertension therefore cannot be explained by dietary-induced insulinaemia alone.
An Evaluation of ENSO Asymmetry in the Community Climate System Models: A View from the Subsurface

Abstract The asymmetry between El Nino and La Nina is a key aspect of ENSO that needs to be simulated well by models in order to fully capture the role of ENSO in the climate system. Here the asymmetry between the two phases of ENSO in five successive versions of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM1, CCSM2, CCSM3 at T42 resolution, CCSM3 at T85 resolution, and the latest CCSM3 + NR, with the Neale and Richter convection scheme) is evaluated. Different from the previous studies, not only is the surface signature of ENSO asymmetry examined, but so too is its subsurface signature. By comparing the differences among these models as well as the differences between the models and the observations, an understanding of the causes of the ENSO asymmetry is sought. An underestimate of the ENSO asymmetry is noted in all of the models, but the latest version with the Neale and Richter scheme (CCSM3 + NR) is getting closer to the observations than the earlier versions. The net surface heat flux is found to damp th.
Interhelical Salt Bridges, Coiled-Coil Stability, and Specificity of Dimerization

absorbed in the atmosphere, the NIR water vapor bands. Thus, we see no way of defending Stephen's statement that conclusions based on broad-band measurements (1) are inconsistent with other existing data sets where discrepancies were found to occur between measurements in spectral bands and theory. Instead, the broad-band solar absorption findings presented in our report (1) are entirely consistent with existing spectral data sets, as both show cloud absorption to be greater than the magnitude predicted by theory. Stephens makes another critical error when determining cloud absorption with the use of results shown in figure 6 of our report (1). Stephens determined cloud absorption, A, from the relationship A + R + T = 1, where R is reflectance and T is transmission, and he states that figure 6 in our report (1 ) indicates that a cloud with reflectance (albedo) 0.45 would absorb 0.40. His error is in assuming A occurs entirely in cloud. He does not account for the absorbing surface or for the lower 10 km of the atmosphere as well. An appropriate relationship between R and A is R + A = 1, where A now is the fractional absorption by the combined atmosphere-surface system (7). The analysis shown in figure 6 in our report is not by itself sufficient to determine cloud absorption; again we would refer the reader to figure 2 in our report (or Fig. 1 here). Consequently, contrary to Stephens erroneous conclusion, in our report (1) figure 1 is entirely consistent with figure 6 in our report, as those figures represent alternative ways of viewing
Treatment of polycythemia vera.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Current guidelines for the management of patients with polycythemia vera (PV) derive from a few clinical trials and several uncontrolled clinical studies. The purpose of this paper is to critically review the available evidence in literature for selecting the best treatment in the single patient. METHODS The authors have been working in this field contributing original papers whose data have been used for this study. In addition, the material analyzed in this article includes papers published in the journals covered by the Science Citation index and Medline. RESULTS Therapeutic strategies for patients with PV include both cytoreductive and antithrombotic drugs. Among cytoreductive treatments, phlebotomy is associated with poor compliance and an increased incidence of thrombosis in the first three-five years, whereas chemotherapy may induce an higher risk of secondary malignancies after seven-ten years of follow-up. New cytoreductive drugs virtually devoid of mutagenic risk include alpha-interferon and anagrelide, but their role in reducing thrombotic complications or mortality remains to be demonstrated. Antithrombotic drugs, such as aspirin, are frequently used in PV, despite doubts regarding safety and efficacy. CONCLUSIONS The management of patients with PV is a difficult balance between the prevention of thrombotic complications and the risk of drug side effects and toxicity. Appropriate studies are needed and an European collaboration has been set up for launching a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (European Collaboration on Low-Dose Aspirin-ECLAP study) aimed at testing the efficacy of low-dose aspirin in preventing thrombosis and prolonging survival in PV patients.