Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Salivary cortisol levels as a biological marker of stress reaction.

AIM To determine the validity and psychobiological significance of salivary cortisol as a biomarker of stress in the experiments. RESULTS Stress is defined as a state in which homeostasis is jeopardized by the action of various external and internal stressors. The effect of cortisol is made through specific receptors located in the cytoplasm of the target cells. Determining blood cortisol levels, which has been the most widely used method, is characterized by certain shortcomings. The process of taking blood samples from the vein is accompanied by additional stress, which results in falsely positive results. Another flaw is found in the fact that cortisol taken and measured from serum or plasma represents total cortisol, not the free, biologically active one. Cortisol response lags behind ACTH by 5-20 minutes, with peak blood levels achieved in 10-30 min. The transfer of cortisol from blood to saliva takes place rather quickly, within no more than 2-3 min. CONCLUSION Although, the studies on correlation between saliva cortisol concentrations and free levels of this hormone in blood samples are lacking, salivary cortisol offer a novel approach in research of stress biomarkers with its ease of collection and potentially wide scope for application.
The systems hacker's guide to the galaxy energy usage in a modern smartphone

Modern smartphones are increasingly performant and feature-rich but remain highly power-constrained. Effective energy management demands an informed policy, and to that end we present a detailed power analysis of the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. We measure power consumption by instrumentation at the circuit level, and present a breakdown by the major components including CPU, RAM, display, GPU, wireless radios, camera, GPS and environmental sensors.
Behind Armour Blunt Trauma - an emerging problem

Behind Armour Blunt Trauma (BABT) is the non-penetrating injury resulting from the rapid deformation of armours covering the body. The deformation of the surface of an armour in contact with the body wall arises from the impact of a bullet or other projectile on its front face. The deformation is part of the retardation and energy absorbing process that captures the projectile. In extreme circumstances, the BABT may result in death, even though the projectile has not perforated the armour. An escalation of the available energy of bullets and the desire of armour designers to minimise the weight and bulk of personal armour systems will increase the risk of BABT in military and security forces personnel. In order to develop materials that can be interposed between the armour and the body wall to attenuate the transfer of energy into the body, it is essential that the mechanism of BABT is known. There is a great deal of activity within UK and NATO to unravel the interactions; the mechanism is likely to be a combination of stress (pressure) waves generated by the rapid initial motion of the rear of the armour, and shear deformation to viscera produced by gross deflection of the body wall. Physical and computer model systems are under development to characterise the biophysical processes and provide performance targets for materials to be placed between armours and the body wall in order to attenuate the injuries (trauma attenuating backings - TABs). The patho-physiological consequences of BABT are being clarified by research, but the injuries will have some of the features of blunt chest trauma observed in road traffic accidents and other forms of civilian blunt impact injury. The injuries also have characteristics of primary blast injury. An overview diagnosis and treatment is described.
Semianalytical Dark Matter Halos and the Jeans Equation

Although N-body studies of dark matter halos show that the density profiles, ρ(r), are not simple power laws, the quantity ρ/σ3, where σ(r) is the velocity dispersion, is in fact a featureless power law over ~3 decades in radius. In the first part of the paper we demonstrate, using the semianalytic Extended Secondary Infall Model (ESIM), that the nearly scale-free nature of ρ/σ3 is a robust feature of virialized halos in equilibrium. By examining the processes in common between numerical N-body and semianalytic approaches, we argue that the scale-free nature of ρ/σ3 cannot be the result of hierarchical merging; rather it must be an outcome of violent relaxation. The empirical results of the first part of the paper motivate the analytical work of the second part of the paper, where we use ρ/σ3 ∝ r-α as an additional constraint in the isotropic Jeans equation of hydrostatic equilibrium. Our analysis shows that the constrained Jeans equation has different types of solutions, and in particular, it admits a unique "periodic" solution with α = 1.9444. We derive the analytic expression for this density profile, which asymptotes to inner and outer profiles of ρ ~ r-0.78 and ρ ~ r-3.44, respectively.
Draco, a flawless dwarf galaxy★

The Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph), with its apparent immense mass-to-light ratio and compact size, holds many clues to the nature of the enigmatic dark matter. Here we present deep photometric studies of this dwarf galaxy, undertaken with the MegaCam Camera at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, the Wide Field Camera at the Isaac Newton Telescope and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The new photometric data cover the entirety of the galaxy, and reach i' = 24.5 at 50 per cent completeness, significantly deeper than previous panoramic studies, allowing searches for tidal disturbances of much lower surface brightness than has been possible before. With these improved statistics, we find no evidence for asymmetric disturbances or tidal tails that possess more than 3 per cent of the stars found within the centre of the galaxy. We find that the central stellar density, as probed by the HST data, rises into the central 0.5 arcmin. Uncertainties in the position of the centroid of the galaxy do not allow us to determine whether the apparent flattening of the profile interior to 0.5 arcmin is reliable or not. Draco is therefore a flawless dwarf galaxy, featureless and apparently unaffected by Galactic tides.
Cores of Swirling Particle Motion in Unsteady Flows

In nature and in flow experiments particles form patterns of swirling motion in certain locations. Existing approaches identify these structures by considering the behavior of stream lines. However, in unsteady flows particle motion is described by path lines which generally gives different swirling patterns than stream lines. We introduce a novel mathematical characterization of swirling motion cores in unsteady flows by generalizing the approach of Sujudi/Haimes to path lines. The cores of swirling particle motion are lines sweeping over time, i.e., surfaces in the space-time domain. They occur at locations where three derived 4D vectors become coplanar. To extract them, we show how to re-formulate the problem using the parallel vectors operator. We apply our method to a number of unsteady flow fields.
Evaluation of guided visualizations and the relationships among perceived stress, differentiation of self, sense of coherence, dyadic satisfaction and quality of life

Evaluation of Guided Visualizations and the Relationships Among Perceived Stress, Differentiation of Self, Sense of Coherence, Dyadic Satisfaction and Quality of Life by Kim R. Rogers Dr. Katherine Hertlein, Committee Chair Professor of Family and Marriage Therapy University of Nevada, Las Vegas This study focused on three main areas. These areas involved (1) the relationship among perceived stress, global orientation to life and indicators of physical, psychological and dyadic relational distress, (2) the effect of a brief CBT-based relaxation/guided visualization intervention on these outcome indicators of distress, and (3) changes in physiological indicators during the intervention sessions. The study population was drawn from couples who perceived themselves as living highly stressed lifestyles. Results suggested that global orientation to life as reflected by differentiation of self inventory (DSI) and sense of coherence scale (SOCS) scale scores mediated the relationship between stress and distress. More specifically, individuals with higher DSI and SOCS scores showed lower levels of physical, psychological and relational distress related to their relatively high levels of perceived stress. Results also indicated that after the three session intervention, participants showed lower levels of perceived stress, dyadic distress, physical and psychological complaints, and higher scores on the DSI and SOCS. Monitoring of physiological parameters (breathing rate, heart rate variability and salivary cortisol) during the intervention sessions suggested relationships among
Depressive symptoms in patients with hepatitis C treated with pegylated interferon alpha therapy: a 24-week prospective study.

OBJECTIVE To prospectively evaluate depressive symptoms and risk factors for depression in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) treated with pegylated interferon alpha therapy combined with oral ribavirin (PEG-IFN-α+RBV) and to analyze self-rating scale for depression in comparison to observer-based scale in the given population. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Zung Self Rating Depression Scale were used to screen for depressive symptoms in 74 subjects with CHC before PEG- IFN-α (mean dose 152.6±25.6 mcg), and in the follow-up visits (4, 12 and 24 week). RESULTS Incidence of depressive symptoms in patients (mean age 39.9±13.4 years; equal sex distribution p=0.225) treated by PEG- IFN-α was the highest on 12th week of the treatment, when more than a 20% of our sample had moderate/severe symptoms of depression, and about 30% had minor depressive symptoms. For the screening of depression during PEG- IFN-α self-assessment scale was equally reliable as observer-based assesment of depressive symptoms. Common clinical parameters- subject related risk factors (age (p=0.955 ), sex (p=0.008), lifetime psychiatric disorder (p=0.656)), illness related risk factors (duration of CHC (p=0.267 ), i.v drug aplication as way of transmission (p=0.292)) and therapy-related risk factors (recommended duration of PEG-IFN-α (p=0.993) and dose of PEG-IFN-α (p=0.841)) were not signifcantly associated with depressive symptoms on PEG-IFN-α. CONCLUSIONS Liason-consultation services should collaborate with hepatologists in creating screening programmes, supplemented by objective criteria and guidelines, for early recognition and treatment of interferon-induced depression.
De novo characterization of the Dialeurodes citri transcriptome: mining genes involved in stress resistance and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) discovery

The citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead), is one of the three economically important whitefly species that infest citrus plants around the world; however, limited genetic research has been focused on D. citri, partly because of lack of genomic resources. In this study, we performed de novo assembly of a transcriptome using Illumina paired‐end sequencing technology (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). In total, 36 766 unigenes with a mean length of 497 bp were identified. Of these unigenes, we identified 17 788 matched known proteins in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, as determined by Blast search, with 5731, 4850 and 14 441 unigenes assigned to clusters of orthologous groups (COG), gene ontology (GO), and SwissProt, respectively. In total, 7507 unigenes were assigned to 308 known pathways. In‐depth analysis of the data showed that 117 unigenes were identified as potentially involved in the detoxification of xenobiotics and 67 heat shock protein (Hsp) genes were associated with environmental stress. In addition, these enzymes were searched against the GO and COG database, and the results showed that the three major detoxification enzymes and Hsps were classified into 18 and 3, 6, and 8 annotations, respectively. In addition, 149 simple sequence repeats were detected. The results facilitate the investigation of molecular resistance mechanisms to insecticides and environmental stress, and contribute to molecular marker development. The findings greatly improve our genetic understanding of D. citri, and lay the foundation for future functional genomics studies on this species.
A fast SHAKE algorithm to solve distance constraint equations for small molecules in molecular dynamics simulations

A common method for the application of distance constraints in molecular simulations employing Cartesian coordinates is the SHAKE procedure for determining the Lagrange multipliers regarding the constraints. This method relies on the linearization and decoupling of the equations governing the atomic coordinate resetting corresponding to each constraint in a molecule, and is thus iterative. In the present study, we consider an alternative method, M‐SHAKE, which solves the coupled equations simultaneously by matrix inversion. The performances of the two methods are compared in simulations of the pure solvents water, dimethyl sulfoxide, and chloroform. It is concluded that M‐SHAKE is significantly faster than SHAKE when either (1) the molecules contain few distance constraints (solvent), or (2) when a high level of accuracy is required in the application of the constraints. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 501–508, 2001
Physical health problems, depressive mood, and cortisol secretion in old age: buffer effects of health engagement control strategies.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the protective role played by control behaviors aimed at overcoming physical health problems (health engagement control strategies; HECS) in the associations between older adults' physical health problems, depressive mood, and diurnal cortisol secretion. It was expected that adaptive levels of HECS would buffer the adverse effects of physical health problems on depressive mood and diurnal cortisol secretion. DESIGN AND MEASURES Physical health problems and HECS were measured in a cross-sectional sample of 215 community-dwelling older adults. In addition, participants' depressive mood and patterns of diurnal cortisol secretion were assessed across 3 days. RESULTS The findings demonstrate that physical health problems predicted high levels of depressive mood and diurnal cortisol secretion, but only among older adults who reported low levels of HECS (and not among older adults who reported high levels of HECS). Moreover, depressive mood completely mediated the buffering effect of HECS on the association between physical health problems and cortisol secretion. CONCLUSION The results suggest that adaptive levels of HECS represent a psychological mechanism that can protect older adults from experiencing the adverse emotional and biological consequences of physical health problems.
Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration of gastric fundal varices with hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE This study was performed to evaluate the clinical efficacy, feasibility, and complications of balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration for patients with hemorrhage from gastric fundal varices. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Between December 1994 and February 2001, 24 consecutive patients with hemorrhage from gastric fundal varices were enrolled in this study. Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration consisted of injecting 5% ethanolamine oleate iopamidol through the outflow vessels during balloon occlusion. The treatment was performed during acute bleeding in 11 patients and electively in 13 patients. Among those patients with acute bleeding, six were treated for temporary hemostasis with balloon tamponade, and five were treated endoscopically. RESULTS Cannulation into the outflow vessels was performed in 23 patients, but the balloon catheter could not be inserted in one patient who had inferior phrenic vein outflow. Complete success was obtained in 88% (21/24) of patients, and partial success was obtained in two patients. In nine of 11 patients with acute bleeding, complete success was achieved. Rebleeding from gastric varices was not observed in patients treated with complete success, whereas two patients treated partially rebled within 1 week of the treatment (rate of rebleeding, 9%). Eradication of gastric varices was obtained in all patients (n = 19) who were examined by endoscopy 3 months after the treatment. Eight patients experienced worsening of esophageal varices. These patients were treated endoscopically because of findings that suggested a risk of hemorrhage. The overall mortality rate was 4% (1/24). No damage to the kidney was observed, although 11 patients had macrohematuria. CONCLUSION Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration followed by any hemostatic procedure might be effective for both prophylaxis of rebleeding and eradication of gastric fundal varices, even in urgent cases.
Efficient Multiresolution Counterparts to Variational Methods for Surface Reconstruction

Variational methods have been employed with considerable success in computer vision, particularly for surface reconstruction problems. Formulations of this type require the solution of computationally complex Euler? Lagrange partial differential equations (PDEs) to obtain the desired reconstructions. Further, the calculation of reconstruction error covariances for such approaches are usually neglected.In this paper we describe a computationally efficient multiscale approach to surface reconstruction which differs fundamentally from other multiresolution methods that are used to solve the Euler? Lagrange PDEs. Instead, we interpret the variational problem as a statistical estimation problem in order to define a nearby, but slightlydifferent, multiscale estimation problem that admits efficient solutions for both surface reconstructionandthe calculation of error statistics. In particular, the membrane and thin-plate variational models for surfaces are interpreted as 1/f2prior statistical models for the surface and its gradients, respectively. Such 1/f2behavior is then achieved using a recently introduced class of multiresolution models that admits algorithms with constant per-pixel computational complexity.
The Comparative Results of Treatment in Idiopathic Thoracolumbar and Lumbar Scoliosis Using the Harrington, Dwyer, and Zielke Instrumentations

Forty-five patients with idiopathic thoracolumbar or lumbar scoliosis were treated with the Harrington, Dwyer, or Zielke Instrumentation and fusion. The Harrington group achieved a 55% correction of the primary curves, while the Dwyer and the Zielke groups achieved 88 and 91%, respectively. Overcorrection of the curves occurred In a total of nine cases In the latter two groups. The Dwyer and Zielke Instrumentations enabled better correction of the curves with a shorter fusion. At subsequent follow-up, the 'adding on' phenomenon as a result of the shorter fusion In the Dwyer group was unchanged, while that In the Zielke group became gradually resolved. The Zielke Instrumentation appears to be the apparatus of choice for treatment of thoracolumbar and lumbar scoliosis.
Interplay of Gene Expression Noise and Ultrasensitive Dynamics Affects Bacterial Operon Organization

Bacterial chromosomes are organized into polycistronic cotranscribed operons, but the evolutionary pressures maintaining them are unclear. We hypothesized that operons alter gene expression noise characteristics, resulting in selection for or against maintaining operons depending on network architecture. Mathematical models for 6 functional classes of network modules showed that three classes exhibited decreased noise and 3 exhibited increased noise with same-operon cotranscription of interacting proteins. Noise reduction was often associated with a decreased chance of reaching an ultrasensitive threshold. Stochastic simulations of the lac operon demonstrated that the predicted effects of transcriptional coupling hold for a complex network module. We employed bioinformatic analysis to find overrepresentation of noise-minimizing operon organization compared with randomized controls. Among constitutively expressed physically interacting protein pairs, higher coupling frequencies appeared at lower expression levels, where noise effects are expected to be dominant. Our results thereby suggest an important role for gene expression noise, in many cases interacting with an ultrasensitive switch, in maintaining or selecting for operons in bacterial chromosomes.
Simulation of an integrated log-spiral antenna at terahertz

This paper presents the numerical simulation on the input impedance and beam pattern of a log-spiral antenna combined with an extended hemispherical lens. The effect of the lens on the input impedance of the antenna was studied by using HFSS (finite element method) and microwave studio CST (finite integration technique). A hybrid approach combining geometrical optics (GO) inside the lens and physical optics (PO) outside the lens was applied to calculate the far field pattern and Gaussian coupling efficiency of the integrated lens antenna. At 600 GHz the calculated maximum directivity of the hemispherical lens with an optimum extension length is about 37 dB and the corresponding Gaussian coupling efficiencies is about 76%. The off-axis performance of the integrated lens antenna was also examined.
Vitamin D receptor FokI gene polymorphisms may be associated with colorectal cancer among African American and Hispanic participants

Vitamin D plays a role in cancer tumorogenesis and acts through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Although African Americans have the lowest serum vitamin D levels, supplementation has not yielded a significant improvement in cancer. Gene polymorphisms in VDR may play a role. There is a dearth of information on VDR gene polymorphisms and colorectal cancer (CRC) among under‐represented ethnic groups. In this study, the authors examined whether VDR gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were associated with CRC in predominately African American and Hispanic study participants.