Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The combined effects of aerobic exercise and alcohol restriction on blood pressure and serum lipids: a two-way factorial study in sedentary men

Objectives To determine whether vigorous exercise and alcohol restriction have additive and independent effects in reducing blood pressure in sedentary male alcohol drinkers. Also to assess whether 4 weeks of vigorous exercise could offset the fall in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesteroI) usually observed after alcohol restriction. Design Seventy-five sedentary men were randomly assigned to drink low-alcohol beer or continue their normal drinking habits. Within these two groups subjects were further assigned either to a vigorous exercise programme of three 30-min sessions a week of cycling at 60-70% of maximum workload or to a control light-exercise programme. Results Seventy-two subjects completed the trial. Alcohol consumption fell by 85% in the low-alcohol group. Fitness increased by 10% following vigorous exercise, with a significant improvement in maximum oxygen uptake. After adjustment for weight loss, a significant effect of alcohol restriction in reducing both systolic and diastolic blood pressure was demonstrated. There was no effect of vigorous exercise on blood pressure. Serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein B were not influenced by alcohol restriction or vigorous exercise. However, alcohol restriction significantly reduced triglyceride, HDL-cholesteroI, its subfractions HDL2-cholesterol and HDL3-cholesterol, and its major apolipoproteins apo A-l and apo A-ll. These reductions were unaffected by moderate exercise. Conclusions This study provides further evidence that alcohol restriction results in reductions in blood pressure in men who are regular alcohol drinkers. However, a simultaneous increase in fitness did not lead to lower blood pressures than those achieved with alcohol restriction alone, and was unable to offset alcohol-related falls in HDL-cholesteroI, its subfractions and its major apolipoproteins.
Isozyme Diversity in Bambara Groundnut

Madagascar (Jacques-Felix, 1950). In the seventeenth century, it was introduced into South America, as LinBambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc. ] is an impornaeus (1763) described it from a plant from Surinam. tant crop in many countries of tropical Africa. Compared with other leguminous crops, little is known about the organization of its genetic Later it was carried to the Philippines and Indonesia diversity. Our goal was to investigate its population structure and (Brouk, 1975). the partitioning of genetic diversity between domesticated and wild Within domesticated forms, authors used to distinaccessions. Seventy-nine accessions of domesticated and 21 wild guish bunch, semi-bunch, and open cultivars, categoBambara groundnut populations were evaluated for genetic diversity rized on the basis of the ratio of petiole length/internode at 41 isozyme loci, representing 23 enzyme systems. Domesticated length (with ranges of 8.1‐11, 7.0‐8.0, 4.4‐6.5, respecaccessions were characterized by very low genetic diversity (Ht 5 tively) (Doku, 1969; Karikari, 1972) or the canopy diam0.052) with only 7 polymorphic loci. Wild populations were character- eter 100 d after planting (less than 40 cm, 40‐80 cm, ized by higher genetic diversity (Ht 5 0.087), with 14 polymorphic. and greater than 80 cm, respectively) (Ezedinma and This suggests a marked bottleneck between wild and domesticated
Cortisol feedback during the HPA quiescent period in patients with major depression.

OBJECTIVE The authors tested the hypothesis that patients with major depression have a defect in the mechanism by which cortisol exerts negative feedback on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis during the HPA axis quiescent period. METHOD Twenty-nine patients with major depression and 25 healthy comparison subjects were randomly assigned to administration of 15 mg cortisol or placebo infused over 2 hours beginning at 7:00 p.m. Cortisol and ACTH levels were measured at baseline and every 30 minutes from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. RESULTS Differences between the patients and the comparison subjects in the ACTH response to the cortisol infusion, relative to the ACTH response to placebo, were not found. CONCLUSIONS The results provide some evidence that patients with major depression do not have an abnormality of cortisol feedback during the HPA axis quiescent period.
A strategy for research on psychological and social factors in hypertension.

Stress-related research has thus far failed to provide an adequate understanding of hypertension and other psychosomatic ailments for three main reasons: First, there has been a continual failure to view stress as a relational phenomenon, that is, as a particular kind of transaction between person and environment. Second, there has been much confusion about the social, psychological and physiological levels of stress analysis; each is to some extent independent of the other, so that what happens at one level cannot stand for what happens at another. Third, the predominant research model has been structural and static. That is, the researcher looks at some environmental or personality characteristic, treating it as a stable property, and attempts to relate it to the risk of hypertension across persons or groups. Such an approach overlooks the key social, psychological and physiological mediating processes (e.g., social supports, cognitive appraisals, and coping) that are concurrent with and have causal significance in blood pressure elevation or change. Structural research models need to be supplemented with process-oriented ones in which the same persons are observed across various adaptational encounters and over time.
Short-term periradicular tissue response to mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) as root-end filling material.

AIM The aim of the present study was to evaluate the short-term response of periradicular tissues to MTA when used as a root-end filling material in ideal tissue conditions. METHODOLOGY The experimental procedures were performed on the healthy teeth of dogs. Pulps were removed and root canals prepared and filled with gutta-percha and sealer. At the same session, buccal mucoperiosteal flaps were reflected and the root ends resected. MTA or IRM were used as root-end filling materials. The periradicular tissue reactions were evaluated histologically from 1 to 5 weeks. Hard tissue formed on the MTA surface was further examined by scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS The most characteristic tissue reaction to MTA was the presence of connective tissue after the first postoperative week. Inflammation was seen occasionally. Early tissue healing events after MTA root-end filling were characterized by hard tissue formation, activated progressively from the peripheral root walls along the MTA-soft tissue interface. In contrast, hard tissue was not seen over the IRM root-end filling. CONCLUSIONS MTA is a biocompatible material that stimulates periradicular tissue repair at the root-end situation; however, the nature of the newly formed tissues requires further elucidation.
Effect of the spectral range of a UV lamp on the production of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in human skin in situ

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has a broad spectrum of biological effects and a capacity to initiate skin carcinogenesis through DNA damage. The effect of different wave bands of UV light on the production of DNA damage in human skin in situ was studied with a broadband UV‐B lamp TL‐12 and a narrowband UV‐B lamp TL‐01.
How to approach zero-forcing under RF chain limitations in large mmWave multiuser systems?

High cost of millimeter wave (mmWave) hardware precludes the possibility to support each antenna element with a dedicated radio frequency (RF) chain in large-scale mmWave systems. It thus makes conventional baseband precoding, such as zero-forcing (ZF) which is deemed virtually optimal in the large array regime, impractical. In this paper, we consider the RF chain limitations present in large mmWave multiuser systems and propose to approach the desirable yet infeasible baseband ZF precoding by essentially steering the beam towards each user's strongest path, termed MUBS, through analog processing at the RF domain. Rates achieved by both baseband ZF and the proposed MUBS precoding are then derived in a closed form. We further study the rate loss of MUBS relative to the upper bound imposed by ZF precoding and find that the gap converges to a finite limit as the transmit antenna number Nt goes large. Since the achievable rate of ZF grows without limit as Nt increases, the proposed MUBS scheme thus promises to achieve most of ZF rates at large Nt. Numerical results are also provided to validate the desirable performance of the proposed MUBS scheme.
Temperature-Level Effect on Solder Lifetime During Thermal Cycling of Power Modules

In this paper, we show that, during thermal cycling, the solder lifetime of power modules is not only dependent on temperature variation, but we also highlight the influence of some other key parameters such as upper and lower dwell temperature levels. In particular, we show the influence of these parameters on the solder crack initiation and propagation in the solder layer between the direct copper bonding and base plate of high-power insulated gate bipolar transistor modules. For this purpose, both experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out. Concerning thermal cycling tests, three temperature profiles have been done: -40degC/120degC, 40degC/120degC, and -40degC/40degC. Results have shown that stress values in the solder are monitored by the low temperature level and that the strain is monitored by the high-level one. We observed that the relative magnitude of strain variations is larger than that of stress variation. In order to understand experimental results, finite-element simulations with various high and low temperatures have been performed. Results have pointed out that the solder exhibits two different mechanical behaviors, depending on whether the upper dwell temperature (Tmax) exceeds or not a homologous temperature of approximately 0.74 Tm. When Tmax is below this value, shear strain variations remain in relatively small range values, and shear stress variations have a linear dependence with the temperature variation. In these conditions, only energy-based models should be used for solder lifetime estimation. On the contrary, when Tmax is above 0.74 Tm, shear stress variations reach a saturation value while inelastic shear strains increase significantly. Therefore, in these conditions, either strain- or energy-based models could be used for solder lifetime estimation. Finally, the thermal cycling behaviors of a lead-free solder (SnAg3Cu0.5) and a lead-based one (SnPb37) are numerically compared.
Maternity waiting homes in Ethiopia--three decades experience.

BACKGROUND Access to comprehensive emergency obstetric care is limited in Ethiopia. Maternity waiting homes are part of the strategies utilized to improve access to hard to reach rural populations. Despite long years of existence of this service in Ethiopia, the practice has not been adequately assessed so far. OBJECTIVES Describe the current status of maternity waiting home services in Ethiopia METHODS All facilities in Ethiopia that have a maternity waiting home were identified from FMOH data as well as personal contacts with focal persons at Regional Health Bureaus in the nine regions and UNICEF regional offices. A standardized data collection tool for facility assessment was developed by the quality referral team, Health Section, UNICEF. Data collection included site visits and documentation of infrastructural related issues through a facility checklist. Service related issues were also collected from log books and other documents as well as through interview with relevant staff Focus group discussions were held with all MWHs attendants who were found admitted at the time of the review at Attat, Wolisso and Gidole hospital maternity waiting homes on major thematic areas identified by the review team regarding MWH care RESULTS The practice of maternity waiting homes in Ethiopia spans more than three decades. Nine facilities located in five Regional States had maternity waiting home services. All except one were located in hospitals. Admission capacity ranged from 4 up to 44 mothers at a time. Seven of the maternity waiting homes required the clients to cater for their own food, firewood and clothing supply providing only kitchen space and few kitchen utensils. Clients came from as far as 400 kms away to obtain services. Medical care and documentation of services were not standardized Duration of stay varied from 3-90 days. Monthly admission rates varied from 0-84 mothers at different institutions. Major indications for admission were previous caesarean section 34%; previous fistula repair 12%; multiple pregnancy 12% and malpresentations 8% Indications for admission were not standardized and not medically clear in some instances. There were indirect evidences that the service improved maternal health outcome while caesarean sections rates were much higher among clients' admitted to maternity waiting homes compared to non-users. CONCLUSIONS Provided that maternity waiting home service is standardized and institutionalized it can be one approach to improving access to comprehensive emergency obstetric care for rural mothers in Ethiopia who are challenged by distance to access services. RECOMMENDATIONS There is a need to standardize indications for admission to maternity waiting homes as well as formalize the semi-institutionalized care being provided at these facilities at present. Benefits towards better maternal and neonatal outcome as well as cost effectiveness of care should be documented through further analytic studies.
Evaluating the Relation Between Psychopathy and Affective Empathy

It is widely believed that impairment in an ability to experience affective empathy for others is a central feature of psychopathy. The authors tested this assumption by covertly manipulating and measuring state experiences of emotional contagion and empathic concern in college undergraduates and male forensic inpatients. Surprisingly, they found little evidence of a negative association between psychopathy and affective empathy in either sample. In those instances in which associations were found, they tended to indicate that higher psychopathy was associated with increased affective empathy. Follow-up analyses also revealed that psychopathy was positively associated with pervasive experiences of sadness, anger, and fear, and negatively associated with pervasive experiences of happiness among nonforensic individuals. This research raises questions about existing conceptualizations of interpersonal affect in psychopathy and offers suggestions for advancing future understanding of the role-played by emotional processes in psychopathy.
Light scattering from random rough dielectric surfaces

A theoretical and numerical study is made of the scattering of light and other electromagnetic waves from rough surfaces separating vacuum from a dielectric. The extinction theorem, both above and below the surface, is used to obtain the boundary values of the field and its normal derivative. Then we calculate the angular distribution of the ensemble average of intensity of the reflected and transmitted fields. The scattering equations are solved numerically by generating one-dimensional surface profiles through a Monte Carlo method. The effect of roughness σ and correlation distance T on the aforementioned angular distribution, as well as on the reflectance, is analyzed. Enhanced backscattering and new transmission effects are observed, also depending on the permittivity. The ratio σ/T is large in all cases studied, and thus no analytical approximation, such as the Kirchhoff approximation (KA) and small perturbation methods, could a priori be expected to hold. We find, however, that the range of validity of the KA can be much broader than that previously found in perfect conductors.
What is the most appropriate target SBP in persons with hypertension and diabetes mellitus?

I n this issue, Ó Hartaigh et al. [1] use data from the action to control cardiovascular risk in diabetes blood pressure (ACCORD BP) trial to test whether achieving target SBP less than 120 mmHg (intensive group) or less than 140 mmHg (standard group) lowers the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in persons with hypertension and diabetes mellitus [2]. The major finding was that, after adjustment for other statistically significant predictors of MACE, there was no significant reduction in the risk of MACE in those in the intensive group who achieved SBP less than 120 mmHg versus those who did not, whereas in the standard group, those who achieved the target SBP less than 140 mmHg had a significant (35–53%) reduction in the risk of MACE compared with those who maintained SBP more than 140 mmHg. The authors conclude that achieving a SBP goal of 120–140 mmHg is beneficial in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes in persons with hypertension and diabetes mellitus, whereas achieving SBP less than 120 mmHg does not further mitigate the risk of CVD outcomes. The study by Ó Hartaigh et al. [1] is limited by differences in baseline characteristics of the participants, including characteristics that are significant predictors of MACE, between those who achieved the SBP targets versus those who did not. Individuals who achieved SBP less than 120 mmHg or less than 140 mmHg were younger, more likely to be White, had a higher level of education, less evidence of renal complications, and a lower baseline SBP, whereas persons who did not achieve either target had an overall higher CVD risk profile (higher baseline SBP, higher percentage of smoking, increased prevalence of Blacks). There was a two-fold or greater increased risk of cardiovascular events, including cardiovascular death, in those who did not achieve either SBP target, and initial univariate Cox regression analyses based on data that were unadjusted
Adaptive Estimation and Parameter Identification Using Multiple Model Estimation Algorithm

Abstract : The purpose of this report is to introduce an adaptive estimation and parameter identification scheme which the authors call Multiple Model Estimation Algorithm (MMEA). The MMEA consists of a bank of Kalman filters with each matched to a possible parameter vector. The state estimates generated by these Kalman filters are then combined using a weighted sum with the a posteriori hypothesis probabilities as weighting factors. If one of the selected parameter vectors coincides with the true parameter vector, this algorithm gives the minimum variance state and parameter estimates. Algorithms for filtering, smoothing, and prediction are derived for linear and nonlinear systems. They are described in a tutorial fashion with results stated explicitly so that they can be readily used for computer implementation. Approaches for the extension of MMEA to a more general class of adaptive estimation problems are outlined. Several further research topics are also suggested.
Plasma and saliva concentrations of abacavir, tenofovir, darunavir, and raltegravir in HIV-1-infected patients .

OBJECTIVE We studied the relationships between plasma and saliva concentrations of antiretroviral drugs to explore whether saliva can be used for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). METHODS Abacavir (ABC), tenofovir (TFV), darunavir (DRV), and raltegravir (RAL) in plasma and saliva from 30 HIV-1-infected patients were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS Mean saliva-to-plasma concentration ratios were 0.623 (ABC), 0.024 (TFV), 0.065 (DRV), and 0.0135 (RAL), which agree with the plasma protein binding rates except TFV. Significant correlations were evident between saliva and plasma concentrations of ABC, DRV, and RAL. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that plasma concentrations of ABC, DRV, and RAL can be estimated from their saliva concentrations and that the saliva concentration of some antiretroviral drugs reflects the unbound drug concentration in plasma.
Low muscarinic receptor binding in prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia: a study of Brodmann's areas 8, 9, 10, and 46 and the effects of neuroleptic drug treatment.

OBJECTIVE Aberrant cholinergic inputs and synaptic neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex induce cognitive impairment, which is a central feature of schizophrenia. Postsynaptic excitatory muscarinic cholinergic M(1) and M(4) receptors are the major cholinoceptive targets in the prefrontal cortex and hence may be involved in the pathology and/or pharmacotherapeutics of schizophrenia. METHOD Using quantitative autoradiography, the authors analyzed the binding of the M(1)/M(4) receptor selective antagonist [(3)H]pirenzepine in prefrontal cortex (Brodmann's areas 8, 9, 10, and 46) from schizophrenia patients who had (N=6) or had not (N=11) been treated with the anticholinergic agent benztropine mesylate and from normal comparison subjects (N=20). Moreover, preliminary studies of [(3)H]pirenzepine binding in rat frontal cortex following administration of antipsychotic drugs or benztropine mesylate were performed. RESULTS Relative to those of comparison subjects, the mean levels of [(3)H]pirenzepine binding were significantly lower in Brodmann's areas 9 and 46 of the schizophrenia patients not treated with benztropine mesylate (18% lower in Brodmann's area 9 and 21% lower in Brodmann's area 46) and in all four examined regions of the patients who had received benztropine (51%-64% lower). Antipsychotic or anticholinergic drugs tended to increase or have no effect on the density of [(3)H]pirenzepine-labeled receptors in rat frontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS Because M(1) and M(4) receptors are critical to the functions of prefrontal cortical acetylcholine, the present findings suggest a functional impairment in cholinergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia and the possibility that muscarinic receptors are involved in the pharmacotherapeutics of the disorder.
Biomarkers of primary and evolving damage in traumatic and ischemic brain injury: diagnosis, prognosis, probing mechanisms, and therapeutic decision making

Purpose of reviewEmerging data suggest that biomarkers of brain injury have potential utility as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic adjuncts in the setting of traumatic and ischemic brain injury. Two approaches are being used, namely, assessing markers of structural damage and quantifying mediators of the cellular, biochemical, or molecular cascades in secondary injury or repair. Novel proteomic, multiplex, and lipidomic methods are also being applied. Recent findingsBiochemical markers of neuronal, glial, and axonal damage such as neuron-specific enolase, S100B, and myelin basic protein, respectively, are readily detectable in biological samples such as serum or cerebrospinal fluid and are being studied in patients with ischemic and traumatic brain injury. In addition, a number of studies have demonstrated that novel tools to assess simultaneously multiple biomarkers can provide unique insight such as details on specific molecular participants in cell death cascades, inflammation, or oxidative stress. SummaryMultifaceted cellular, biochemical, and molecular monitoring of proteins and lipids is logical as an adjunct to guiding therapies and improving outcomes in traumatic and ischemic brain injury and we appear to be on the verge of a breakthrough with the use of these markers as diagnostic, prognostic, and monitoring adjuncts, in neurointensive care.