Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Has Beneficial Effects on Human Skin Physiology: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Various dietary supplements are claimed to have cutaneous anti-aging properties; however, there are a limited number of research studies supporting these claims. The objective of this research was to study the effectiveness of collagen hydrolysate (CH) composed of specific collagen peptides on skin biophysical parameters related to cutaneous aging. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 69 women aged 35-55 years were randomized to receive 2.5 g or 5.0 g of CH or placebo once daily for 8 weeks, with 23 subjects being allocated to each treatment group. Skin elasticity, skin moisture, transepidermal water loss and skin roughness were objectively measured before the first oral product application (t0) and after 4 (t1) and 8 weeks (t2) of regular intake. Skin elasticity (primary interest) was also assessed at follow-up 4 weeks after the last intake of CH (t3, 4-week regression phase). At the end of the study, skin elasticity in both CH dosage groups showed a statistically significant improvement in comparison to placebo. After 4 weeks of follow-up treatment, a statistically significantly higher skin elasticity level was determined in elderly women. With regard to skin moisture and skin evaporation, a positive influence of CH treatment could be observed in a subgroup analysis, but data failed to reach a level of statistical significance. No side effects were noted throughout the study.
Electroencephalographic correlates of vasovagal syncope induced by head-up tilt testing.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to determine whether the introduction of EEG monitoring during head-up tilt testing could significantly improve the understanding of the cerebral events occurring during tilt-induced vasovagal syncope and the potential danger to the patient of this diagnostic procedure. METHODS EEG monitoring was performed during head-up tilt testing in a group of 63 consecutive patients (27 males and 36 females; mean age, 41.5 years) with a history of recurrent syncope of unknown origin despite extensive clinical and laboratory assessment. RESULTS Syncope occurred in 27 of 63 patients (42.8%) during head-up tilt testing and was found to be cardioinhibitory in 11 of 27 (40.7%) and vasodepressor in 16 of 27 (59.3%). All patients with a negative response to head-up tilt testing showed no significant EEG modifications. In patients with vasodepressor syncope, a generalized high-amplitude, 4- to 5-Hz (theta range) slowing of EEG activity appeared at the onset of syncope, followed by an increase of brain-wave amplitude with the reduction of frequency at 1.5 to 3 Hz (delta range). The return to the supine position was associated with brain-wave amplitude reduction and frequency increase to 4 to 5 Hz, followed by restoration of a normal EEG pattern and arousal (mean total duration of syncope, 23.2 seconds.). In patients with cardioinhibitory syncope, a generalized high-amplitude EEG slowing in the theta range was noted at the onset of syncope, followed by a brain-wave amplitude increase and slowing in the delta range. A sudden reduction of brain-wave amplitude then ensued, leading to the disappearance of electrocerebral activity ("flat" EEG). The return to the supine position did not allow either the immediate resolution of EEG abnormalities or consciousness recovery, both of which occurred after a further time interval (mean total duration of syncope, 41.4 seconds.). CONCLUSIONS EEG monitoring during head-up tilt testing allowed recording and systematic description of electrocerebral abnormalities developing in the course of tilt-induced vasovagal syncope.
Supporting soft real-time services in MANETs using distributed admission control and IEEE 802.11e technology

QoS support in MANETs is a hard and challenging task due to the intrinsic complexities of these networks. In this work we present a solution called DACME to support real-time services in MANETs based on distributed admission control. Using the IEEE 802.1 Ie MAC technology as our basis for traffic differentiation, we develop a technique based on probes to assess available bandwidth in an end-to-end path, as well as the end-to-end delay and jitter. Results show that our technique is quite promising due to the degree of accuracy achieved estimating the different network parameters, while maintaining acceptable levels of traffic overhead and admission delay. Also, since no demands are imposed on intermediate stations, it can be easily deployed.
A Monte-Carlo Mpstd Analysis of Scattering from Cylinders Buried Below a Random Periodic Rough Surface

The analysis of scattering of objects buried below a random rough surface is of practical interest. In reality, the random rough surface may be of an extensive periodic structure. To deal with this more realistic situation, this paper presents a Monte-Carlo MPSTD numerical technique developed for investigating the scattering of a cylinder buried below a random periodic rough surface. The computation model is formulated in two steps. In the flrst step, only the random rough surface is considered and the periodic boundary condition (PBC) is enforced at the two ends of a period of the rough surface. Then, in the second step, a cylinder is placed below the random rough surface and the interaction between the buried cylinder and the rough surface is taken into account. In each of the two steps, the flelds are computed employing the MPSTD algorithm developed in the authors' previous work. Sample numerical results are presented and validated.
Prices, availability and affordability of essential medicines in rural areas of Hubei Province, China.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the availability of essential medicines and their prices in Hubei province. METHODS The survey assessed the prices and availability of essential medicines using the World Health Organization and Health Action International methodology. Data were collected from 18 public hospitals and 18 private pharmacies. At each facility the availability and prices of 39 innovator brand medicines and lowest-price generic equivalent medicines were collected. Medicine prices were compared with international reference prices to obtain a median price ratio (MPR). Daily incomes of low and average levels were used to assess the affordability of the medicines. FINDINGS Median availability in the public and private sectors was low (38.9% and 44.4% for lowest-price generics, respectively). The median MPRs of procurement prices for innovator brands and lowest-price generics in the public sector were 9.78 and 0.74 times the international reference prices; and the median MPRs of retail prices to patients for lowest-price generics in the public sector (1.04) were higher than those in the private sector (0.68). For most of the population, the medicine prices are affordable, but for those of low income they are not. CONCLUSIONS The survey revealed low procurement prices but poor availability in the public sector. Various policy adjustments could increase the availability of essential medicines and reduce their prices for the low income population.
BASE COMPOSITION OF DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID OF SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA DEDUCED FROM BUOYANT DENSITY MEASUREMENTS IN CESIUM CHLORIDE

Saunders, Grady F. (University of Illinois, Urbana), L. Leon Campbell, and John R. Postgate. Base composition of deoxyribonucleic acid of sulfate-reducing bacteria deduced from buoyant density measurements in cesium chloride. J. Bacteriol. 87:1073–1078. 1964. —The base composition of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of sulfate-reducing bacteria was calculated from buoyant density measurements in CsCl. The sporulating sulfate-reducing bacteria fell into two groups: Desulfovibrio orientis with a DNA base composition of 42% guanine plus cytosine (G + C), and Clostridium nigrificans with a DNA base composition of 45% G + C. The mesophilic relative of C. nigrificans had a DNA base composition of 46% G + C. Thirty strains of nonsporulating sulfate-reducing bacteria called D. desulfuricans were studied. They fell into three groups as judged by DNA base composition: group I (11 strains), 60 to 62% G + C; group II (13 strains), 54 to 56% G + C; and group III (6 strains), 46 to 47% G + C. These data underline the need for a taxonomic revision of this group of microorganisms.
Effect of Pravastatin on Proteinuria in Patients With Well-Controlled Hypertension

Proteinuria is an important risk factor for cardiovascular and renal morbidity and mortality. The effects of 3-hydroxy-3-methyglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (statin) therapy on proteinuria in normolipidemic patients with well-controlled hypertension have not been studied. A total of 63 normolipidemic (total cholesterol <240 mg/dL) and proteinuric (300 to 3000 mg/d) patients with well-controlled blood pressure (<140/90 mm Hg) were randomized to receive either placebo (n=32) or pravastatin (10 mg/d; n=31) after a 3-month placebo period. Pravastatin lowered proteinuria after 6 months by 54% (P <0.0001). Creatinine clearance was stable throughout the study in the 2 groups. Despite unchanged plasma endothelin-1 levels throughout the study, urinary excretion of the peptide was decreased and significantly correlated with improvement in urinary protein excretion in pravastatin-treated patients (r =0.64, P =0.001). The urinary excretion of retinol-binding protein decreased after pravastatin administration, probably reflecting an improvement in tubular function. In contrast, the urinary excretion of IgG did not change significantly throughout the study in either group. Multivariate analysis revealed that proteinuria was only significantly correlated with statin use (P <0.0001, R2= 0.66). Linear regression analysis in the statin-treated group did not show any correlation between changes in lipid profiles and proteinuria regression. Thus, in addition to their primary function of antilipidemia, the addition of pravastatin to treatment for well-controlled hypertension may have an additive effect on reducing proteinuria independent of hemodynamics and lipid-lowering effects, possibly through inhibiting renal endothelin-1 synthesis and improving tubular function.
Identification and Multivariable Gain-Scheduling Control for Cloud Computing Systems

This paper presents the dynamic modeling and performance control of a Web server hosted on a private cloud. The cloud hosting Web server is a variable capacity system with two control inputs: 1) the number of virtual machines (VMs), which is indicative of the capacity of the cloud, and 2) the admission control used for regulating workload. As the workload and the hosting conditions change frequently, the linear parameter-varying (LPV) framework is well suited to derive the model. For the hosted Web server, we obtain an multiple input multiple output (MIMO) LPV model with performance metrics such as the response time and the throughput, which is then converted to polytopic LPV form using tensor product transformation. Finally, we design a gain scheduled linear quadratic regulator controller for performance guarantees with optimal cost of VMs. The identification, validation, and control experiments are demonstrated on the open source Eucalyptus cloud platform. The HTTP requests are generated using customized synthetic workload generator tool.
Capacity Choice in a Quantity-Setting Mixed Duopoly with Network Effects

This paper explores the capacity choice for a public firm that is a social welfare-maximizer and a private firm that is an absolute profit-maximizer in the context of a quantity-setting mixed duopoly with a simple mechanism of network effects where the surplus that a firm’s client gets increases with the number of other clients of the firm. In this paper, we show that the social welfare-maximizing public firm chooses under-capacity irrespective of both the degree of product differentiation and strength of network effects, whereas the absolute profit-maximizing private firm chooses over-capacity irrespective of both the degree of product differentiation and strength of network effects, which is strikingly different from the results on the capacity choice problems for public and private firms obtained in price-setting mixed duopolistic markets in the existing literature.
The Obstacle-Set Method for Representing Muscle Paths in Musculoskeletal Models

A computational method is introduced for modeling the paths of muscles in the human body. The method is based on the premise that the resultant muscle force acts along the locus of the transverse cross-sectional centroids of the muscle. The path of the muscle is calculated by idealizing its centroid path as a frictionless elastic band, which moves freely over neighboring anatomical constraints such as bones and other muscles. The anatomical constraints, referred to as obstacles, are represented in the model by regular-shaped, rigid bodies such as spheres and cylinders. The obstacles, together with the muscle path, define an obstacle set. It is proposed that the path of any muscle can be modeled using one ox more of the following four obstacle sets: single sphere, single cylinder, double cylinder, and sphere-capped cylinder. Assuming that the locus of the muscle centroids is known for an arbitrary joint configuration, the obstacle-set method can be used to calculate the path of the muscle for all other joint configurations. The obstacle-set method accounts nol only for the interaction between a muscle and a neighboring anatomical constraint, but also for the way in which this interaction changes with joint configuration. Consequently, it is the only feasible method for representing the paths of muscles which cross joints with multiple degrees of freedom such as the deltoid at the shoulder.
Efficacy of T-705 (Favipiravir) in the Treatment of Infections with Lethal Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), is a recently identified emerging viral infectious disease. Despite the medical importance of this disease, there are currently neither vaccines nor effective therapeutics for SFTS. T-705, which is a pyrazine derivative, has shown broad antiviral activity against various RNA viruses. The present study demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, the efficacy of T-705 in treating SFTSV infection in a mouse lethal model. T-705 showed a high efficacy in the treatment of SFTSV infection in the mouse model, even when treatments were initiated after onset of the disease. ABSTRACT Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is the causative agent of SFTS, an emerging hemorrhagic fever. This disease has a high case fatality rate and is endemic to China, South Korea, and Japan. Because there are currently no effective therapeutics for SFTS, potent and safe antivirals are needed for the treatment of SFTS. The inhibitory effect of T-705 (favipiravir) on the replication of SFTSV in Vero cells was evaluated. Mice lacking the type I interferon receptor (IFNAR−/−) were used as an in vivo lethal model for SFTSV infection. T-705, which has been licensed as an anti-influenza drug in Japan, inhibits SFTSV replication both in vitro and in vivo. T-705 inhibited replication of SFTSV in Vero cells by 5 log units, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) and IC90 of 6.0 µM and 22 µM, respectively. Intraperitoneal or oral administration of T-705 for 5 days to IFNAR−/− mice infected with lethal SFTSV significantly improved survival rates (100% survival) without causing body weight loss and reduced the viral load in the serum. Ribavirin also inhibited SFTSV replication. However, it was less effective than T-705 both in vitro and in vivo. A time-of-drug-addition study revealed that therapeutic T-705 treatment of SFTSV infection in IFNAR−/− mice was effective. These results suggest that T-705 is a promising candidate for the treatment of SFTS. IMPORTANCE Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), is a recently identified emerging viral infectious disease. Despite the medical importance of this disease, there are currently neither vaccines nor effective therapeutics for SFTS. T-705, which is a pyrazine derivative, has shown broad antiviral activity against various RNA viruses. The present study demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, the efficacy of T-705 in treating SFTSV infection in a mouse lethal model. T-705 showed a high efficacy in the treatment of SFTSV infection in the mouse model, even when treatments were initiated after onset of the disease.
Finding Popular Places

Widespread availability of location aware devices (such as GPS receivers) promotes capture of detailed movement trajectories of people, animals, vehicles and other moving objects, opening new options for a better understanding of the processes involved. We investigate spatio-temporal movement patterns in large tracking data sets. Specifically we study so-called 'popular places', that is, regions that are visited by many entities. We present upper and lower bounds.
Potential Theory for Directed Networks

Uncovering factors underlying the network formation is a long-standing challenge for data mining and network analysis. In particular, the microscopic organizing principles of directed networks are less understood than those of undirected networks. This article proposes a hypothesis named potential theory, which assumes that every directed link corresponds to a decrease of a unit potential and subgraphs with definable potential values for all nodes are preferred. Combining the potential theory with the clustering and homophily mechanisms, it is deduced that the Bi-fan structure consisting of 4 nodes and 4 directed links is the most favored local structure in directed networks. Our hypothesis receives strongly positive supports from extensive experiments on 15 directed networks drawn from disparate fields, as indicated by the most accurate and robust performance of Bi-fan predictor within the link prediction framework. In summary, our main contribution is twofold: (i) We propose a new mechanism for the local organization of directed networks; (ii) We design the corresponding link prediction algorithm, which can not only testify our hypothesis, but also find out direct applications in missing link prediction and friendship recommendation.
The PREVENT study: a prospective cohort study to identify mid-life biomarkers of late-onset Alzheimer's disease

Introduction Epidemiological studies indicate that significant decreases in the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be obtained by targeting multiple middle-age risk factors. However, as dementia is unlikely to be diagnosed for decades, short-term outcome measures are required. AD biomarker changes precede clinical symptoms by many years, but their sensitivity to mid-life change remains unknown. Methods and analysis PREVENT is a prospective cohort study examining biomarker status at mid-life in at least 150 individuals genetically at high, medium or low risk of late-onset AD. Participants are children of individuals with or without a diagnosed AD allocated to high, medium and low-risk groups according to parental clinical status and ApoE genotype. The biomarkers examined over 2 years are plasma and CSF Aβ42 amyloid, Tau and pTau, proinflammatory cytokines, acute-phase proteins, medial temporal-lobe atrophy, white matter lesion volume, cognitive performance related to transentorhinal and hippocampal functioning and hypothalamic−pituitary−adrenal and sympathetic axes regulation. Ethics and dissemination Detected pathologies are communicated to the participant's general practitioner with their permission. Risk status by genotype would not be revealed. The results of the study would be published in peer-reviewed journals and validated biomarkers used to construct a randomised controlled intervention study.
Knowledge-Based Search in Competitive Domains

Artificial intelligence programs operating in competitive domains typically use brute-force search if the domain can be modeled using a search tree or alternately use nonsearch heuristics as in production rule-based expert systems. While brute-force techniques have recently proven to be a viable method for modeling domains with smaller search spaces, such as checkers and chess, the same techniques cannot succeed in more complex domains, such as shogi or go. This research uses a cognitive-based modeling strategy to develop a heuristic search technique based on cognitive thought processes with minimal domain specific knowledge. The cognitive-based search technique provides a significant reduction in search space complexity and, furthermore, enables the search paradigms to be extended to domains that are not typically thought of as search domains such as aerial combat or corporate takeovers.
The role of adrenomedullin and galanin in recurrent vasovagal syncope: a case control study.

AIMS Orthostatic stimuli are known to elicit changes in vasoactive peptide levels. The hypothesis of no difference in adrenomedullin and/or galanin levels in patients with recurrent vasovagal syncope and healthy controls was tested in a passive 35-min head-up tilt test (HUTT). METHODS Twenty eight persons (14 patients and 14 healthy controls) were tested in a 35-min/60° head-up tilt test with telemetry monitoring. Three blood samples were evaluated for each person during the HUTT. Plasma levels of adrenomedullin and galanin were analysed by the Kruskal-Wallis test for all sampling periods. Vagal influence was indirectly assessed by the break index. RESULTS There were no significant differences between groups in median values for either adrenomedullin or galanin plasma levels (all 6 p-values were greater than 0.4). For adrenomedullin, no significant difference between groups was found. For galanin, the rate of change between the 1st and 2nd measurement was significantly greater for patients (P=0.04), regardless of HUTT result but between the 2(nd) and 3(rd) measurement it was insignificant (P=0.36). In the group of positive cases, the break index increased significantly (P=0.02). CONCLUSION We confirmed that there is a different galanin secretion pattern during orthostatic provocation in patients with recurrent vasovagal syncope than healthy individuals. For adrenomedullin, no significant difference was found. A significant increment of the break index confirmed increased vagal influence in the subgroup of positive cases.