Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the role of complementary and alternative medicine in public health practice and training.

OBJECTIVES Consumer use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States continues to expand. Although conventional medicine has responded actively, the response from public health has been far less pronounced. To examine the potential for integrating CAM into public health contexts, an exploratory survey was conducted. DESIGN A 19-item, self-administered survey instrument was used to collect participant data. SETTINGS/LOCATION Participants were surveyed at the 2003 American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting while attending CAM-related talks sponsored by the Alternative and Complementary Health Practices Special Interest Group (ACHP SPIG). SUBJECTS A convenience sample of 153 individuals was surveyed, which was predominantly female (81%) and Caucasian (68%), with an average age of 42 years. OUTCOME MEASURES The survey instrument included items about participant and client demographics, participant use of CAM (personal and professional), perceived client interest in CAM, and several attitude measures. RESULTS The majority of participants (64%) were currently employed as public health professionals working in a wide variety of settings with highly diverse populations. Personal use of CAM was high (66% using four or more modalities). The majority also reported integrating CAM into work settings. There was a significant relationship between personal and professional use of CAM. Participants overwhelmingly agreed that more professional training in this area was needed. CONCLUSIONS This exploratory study provides insight into the potential role of CAM as an important resource in public health settings. Additional funding and research in this area is urgently needed.
Effects of renal sympathetic denervation on blood pressure and glycaemic control in patients with true resistant hypertension: results of Polish Renal Denervation Registry (RDN-POL Registry)

Background and aim: The assessment of percutaneous renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) efficacy in patients with true-resistant hypertension (true-RH) in a newly established net of Polish centres (RDN-POL Registry). Methods and results: Forty-four patients with true-RH (23 men, mean age 52.3 years) with daytime systolic blood pressure (SBP) in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) ≥ 135 mm Hg, on ≥ three antihypertensive agents, including diuretic, underwent RDN and completed 12-month follow-up. Mean reductions of office SBP/diastolic blood pressure were –23.8/–10.0, –12.5/–4.6, and –12.6/–6.1 mm Hg at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively (all significant except diastolic at 6 months). Diabetes was the only predictor of office SBP reduction at 6 months (OR 9.6, 95% CI 1.4–66.5, p < 0.05). Mean 24-h SBP change was –8.3 mm Hg at 6 months and –4.6 mm Hg at 12 months. Increased 2 h-glucose in oral glucose tolerance test was the only predictor of 24-h SBP reduction at 6 months (OR 1.24 for 10 mg/dL glucose increase, 95% CI 1.04–1.48, p < 0.05). At 12 months, 24-h SBP change predictors were: baseline office SBP (OR 4.93 for 10 mm Hg SBP increment, 95% CI 1.01–24.1, p < 0.05) and 2 h-glucose (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.08–2.00, p < 0.05). In ABPM responders, significant reduction of 2 h glucose was found as compared to the non-responders (–45.8 vs. –7.7 mg/dL, p < 0.005). Conclusions: The RDN-POL Registry demonstrated moderate blood pressure decrease after RDN. The predictors of blood pressure reduction were diabetes, 2 h-glucose, and baseline office SBP. Analysis of ABPM responders indicates a probable positive impact of RDN on glycaemic control.
Deep learning based personality recognition from Facebook status updates

Many approaches have been proposed to automatically infer users personality from their social networks activities. However, the performance of these approaches depends heavily on the data representation. In this work, we apply deep learning methods to automatically learn suitable data representation for the personality recognition task. In our experiments, we used the Facebook status updates data. We investigated several neural network architectures such as fully-connected (FC) networks, convolutional networks (CNN) and recurrent networks (RNN) on the myPersonality shared task and compared them with some shallow learning algorithms. Our experiments showed that CNN with average pooling is better than both the RNN and FC. Convolutional architecturewith average pooling achieved the best results 60.0±6.5%.
Mutual Fund Flows and Benchmark Portfolio Returns

I examine trading caused by net flows to mutual funds invested at the Oslo stock exchange. My results show that trading by index-linked mutual funds and actively managed funds are correlated with returns on different segments of the stock exchange. Neither investor sentiment, nor feedback trading explain this correlation. I argue that information cannot explain the results. Hence, I provide evidence that changes in demand matters for stock prices.
EBV LMP1, a viral mimic of CD40, activates dendritic cells and functions as a molecular adjuvant when incorporated into an HIV vaccine

HIV‐1 does not significantly activate cellular immunity, which has made it difficult to use attenuated forms of HIV‐1 as a vaccine. In contrast, EBV induces robust T cell responses in most infected individuals, perhaps as this virus contains LMP1, a viral mimic of CD40, which is a key activating molecule for DCs and macrophages. Consequently, studies were conducted using LMP1 and LMP1‐CD40, a related construct formed by replacing the intracellular signaling domain of LMP1 with that of CD40. Upon electroporation into DCs, LMP1 and LMP1‐CD40 mRNAs were sufficient to up‐regulate costimulatory molecules and proinflammatory cytokines, indicating that these molecules can function in isolation as adjuvant‐like molecules. As a first step toward an improved HIV vaccine, LMP1 and LMP1‐CD40 were introduced into a HIV‐1 construct to produce virions encoding these proteins. Transduction of DCs and macrophages with these viruses induced morphological changes and up‐regulated costimulatory molecules and cytokine production by these cells. HIV‐LMP1 enhanced the antigen‐presenting function of DCs, as measured in an in vitro immunization assay. Taken together, these data show that LMP1 and LMP1‐CD40 are portable gene cassettes with strong adjuvant properties that can be introduced into viruses such as HIV, which by themselves, are insufficient to induce protective cellular immunity.
A supply chain cost reduction framework for the South African mobile phone industry

Background: The costs incurred in the provision of products and services across the supply chain are on the rise in many industries, including the mobile phone industry. Despite this, there is limited information in South Africa on the perceptions of supply chain players regarding cost reduction in the mobile phone industry. Furthermore, there is currently no framework for reducing supply chain costs in the South African mobile phone industry. Aim: The purpose of this study is to explore supply chain costs in the South African mobile phone industry, and to develop a supply chain cost-reduction framework for the South African mobile phone industry. Setting: This study explores supply chain costs in four mobile phone companies operating in the South African mobile phone industry, of which three mobile network operators and one mobile retailing group. It uses semi-structured interview data collected in 2011. Method: This study adopted a qualitative case study design to understand supply chain costs and develop a supply chain cost-reduction framework for the South African mobile phone industry. Eight semi-structured interviews with managers of mobile phone companies were conducted. The data were analysed with the help of Atlas.ti, using an adapted three-phased analytical framework as suggested by Miles and Huberman ( 1994 ) and O’ Dwyer (2004). Results: The study found that consolidation of strategic relationships through collaboration and strategic alliances between MNOs and other supply chain players is one of the ways to drive costs down across the supply chain. Outsourcing of some of the support activities and retailers’ direct purchasing transactions from device manufacturers were also found to be other avenues for reducing supply chain costs in the industry. Conclusion: The study suggests that mobile network operators (MNOs) need to consolidate their strategic relationships by increasing the share of the network infrastructure, and emphasising the need to strive for operational efficiencies. This combined effort should result in significant cost reductions across the supply chain. The findings of this study provided some avenues that managers of mobile-phone companies could consider to drive costs down supply chain-wide and service end-users at lower rates. The findings of this study could also help regulating authorities to get insights into supply chain cost reduction and develop appropriate mobile phone policies in South Africa.
Absolute bioavailability and dose-dependent pharmacokinetic behaviour of dietary doses of the chemopreventive isothiocyanate sulforaphane in rat

Sulforaphane is a naturally occurring isothiocyanate with promising chemopreventive activity. An analytical method, utilising liquid chromatography-MS/MS, which allows the determination of sulforaphane in small volumes of rat plasma following exposure to low dietary doses, was developed and validated, and employed to determine its absolute bioavailability and pharmacokinetic characteristics. Rats were treated with either a single intravenous dose of sulforaphane (2·8 μmol/kg) or single oral doses of 2·8, 5·6 and 28 μmol/kg. Sulforaphane plasma concentrations were determined in blood samples withdrawn from the rat tail at regular time intervals. Following intravenous administration, the plasma profile of sulforaphane was best described by a two-compartment pharmacokinetic model, with a prolonged terminal phase. Sulforaphane was very well and rapidly absorbed and displayed an absolute bioavailability of 82 %, which, however, decreased at the higher doses, indicating a dose-dependent pharmacokinetic behaviour; similarly, Cmax values did not rise proportionately to the dose. At the highest dose used, the rate of absorption constant kab, biological half-life t½ and apparent volume of distribution decreased significantly. It is concluded that in the rat orally administered sulforaphane is rapidly absorbed, achieving high absolute bioavailability at low dietary doses, but dose-dependent pharmacokinetics was evident, with bioavailability decreasing with increasing dose.
Effect of Cabergoline on Metabolism in Prolactinomas

Introduction: Hyperprolactinemia has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity and glucose intolerance and is reportedly associated with an impaired metabolic profile. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of 12- and 60-month treatment with cabergoline (CAB) on metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with prolactinomas. Patients and Methods: 61 patients with prolactinomas (13 men, 48 women, 41 with microadenoma, 20 with macroadenoma), aged 34.4 ± 10.3 years, entered the study. In all patients, prolactin (PRL) and metabolic parameters were assessed at diagnosis and after 12 and 60 months of continuous CAB treatment. MetS was diagnosed according to NCEP-ATP III criteria. Results: Compared to baseline, CAB induced a significant decrease in PRL with complete normalization in 93% of patients after the 60-month treatment. At baseline, MetS prevalence was significantly higher in patients with PRL above (34.5%) than in those with PRL lower (12.5%) than the median (129 μg/l, p = 0.03). MetS prevalence significantly decreased after 12 (11.5%, p = 0.039) and 60 (5.0%, p = 0.001) months compared to baseline (28.0%). At both evaluations the lipid profile significantly improved compared to baseline. Fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance significantly decreased after 1 year of CAB (p = 0.012 and p = 0.002, respectively) and further improved after 60 months (p = 0.000). The visceral adiposity index significantly decreased after the 60-month treatment (p = 0.000) compared to baseline. At the 5-year evaluation CAB dose was the best predictor of percent decrease in fasting insulin (t = 2.35, p = 0.022). Conclusions: CAB significantly reduces MetS prevalence and improves the adipose tissue dysfunction index. The improvement in PRL, insulin sensitivity and other metabolic parameters might reflect the direct effect of CAB.
Requirement for SNAPC1 in Transcriptional Responsiveness to Diverse Extracellular Signals

ABSTRACT Initiation of transcription of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII)-dependent genes requires the participation of a host of basal transcription factors. Among genes requiring RNAPII for transcription, small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) display a further requirement for a factor known as snRNA-activating protein complex (SNAPc). The scope of the biological function of SNAPc and its requirement for transcription of protein-coding genes has not been elucidated. To determine the genome-wide occupancy of SNAPc, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing using antibodies against SNAPC4 and SNAPC1 subunits. Interestingly, while SNAPC4 occupancy was limited to snRNA genes, SNAPC1 chromatin residence extended beyond snRNA genes to include a large number of transcriptionally active protein-coding genes. Notably, SNAPC1 occupancy on highly active genes mirrored that of elongating RNAPII extending through the bodies and 3′ ends of protein-coding genes. Inhibition of transcriptional elongation resulted in the loss of SNAPC1 from the 3′ ends of genes, reflecting a functional association between SNAPC1 and elongating RNAPII. Importantly, while depletion of SNAPC1 had a small effect on basal transcription, it diminished the transcriptional responsiveness of a large number of genes to two distinct extracellular stimuli, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and retinoic acid (RA). These results highlight a role for SNAPC1 as a general transcriptional coactivator that functions through elongating RNAPII.
Mesiodistal angulations of the mandibular canines, premolars and molars with or without the presence of third molars.

SUMMARY The purpose of the present research was to compare the normal average values of mesiodistal axial angulation, with the mesiodistal axial angulation of canines, premolars and mandibular molars in individuals with and without the presence of the mandibular third molars. Panoramic radiographs of 19 male and 21 female Caucasians, with a mean age of 22.35 years, who had not undergone orthodontic treatment were studied. The subjects were divided into two groups: group I, 20 radiographs of subjects without, and group II, 20 radiographs of subjects with mandibular third molars. The mean values of the groups were compared using a Student's t-test. The results show that, in both groups, the mandibular premolars and molars had enhanced angulation in the mesial direction, when compared with a control group of 42 Caucasians ranging in age from 12 to 17 years with a 'normal' occlusion (P < 0.05), while the mesiodistal axial angulation of the mandibular canines was similar to the control group (P < 0.05). The two groups, when compared, exhibited similar angular values for the canines, premolars and mandibular molars (P < 0.05), indicating no influence of the third molars.
The Impact of Brands on Consumer Buying Behavior: An Empirical Study On Smartphone Buyers

The aim of this research is to understand the factors behind smartphone purchase decisions of consumers. Nowadays companies make use of various strategies in order to attract new customers, retain existing customers and differentiate their products from those of their competitors. Perhaps, the most important and effective strategy to influence consumer behavior in the product selection is emphasizing the “brand name” of the products. Our aim in this paper is to investigate how smartphone brands can influence consumers’ buying decisions. Brand equity is a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand name and symbol, which add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service. It enhances the customer’s ability to interpret and process information, improves confidence in the purchase decision and affects the quality of the user experience. Using this construct widely discussed in the literature, we use and build our hypothesis based on Aaker model about the brand equity, including perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association and brand loyalty. The study involved a questionnaire administered to 171 smartphone consumers between December 2015 and March 2016. The consumers were chosen by convenience sampling among the students from a prestigious university in the Istanbul district of Turkey.
Classification of quark and gluon jets in hot QCD medium with deep learning

Deep learning techniques have shown the capability to identify the degree of energy loss of high-energy jets traversing hot QCD medium on a jet-by-jet basis. The average amount of quenching of quark and gluon jets in hot QCD medium actually have diﬀerent characteristics, such as their dependence on the in-medium traversed length and the early-developed jet substructures in the evolution. These observations motivate us to consider these two types of jets separately and classify them from jet images with deep learning techniques. We ﬁnd that the classiﬁcation performance gradually decreases with increasing degree of jet modiﬁcation. In addition, we discuss the predictive power of diﬀerent jet observables, such as the jet shape, jet fragmentation function, jet substructures as well as their combinations, in order to address the interpretability of the classiﬁcation task.
Effectiveness of contraceptive counselling of women following an abortion: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To perform a systematic review of the effectiveness of contraceptive counselling in women undergoing an abortion and its impact on the acceptance and use of contraceptive methods. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing women who had undergone an abortion and received contraceptive counselling at that time met the inclusion criteria. Articles published between 1997 and 2007 were selected from searches of the LILACS, SCIELO, MEDLINE, PubMed and Cochrane Library databases. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and the quality of the trial. The internal validity of the RCTs was evaluated by means of the Jadad scale. A meta-analysis of the three retained studies involving 694 women was performed. The Stata 9.2 SE statistical software was used, and a level of significance of 0.05 adopted. Results There were no differences between intervention and control groups, despite clinical heterogeneity. The results of the meta-analysis were not significant (OR = 1.32; CI: 0.90–1.94). Conclusion There was no evidence indicating that contraceptive counselling is effective in increasing acceptance and use of contraceptive methods after an abortion. This may not apply to developing countries, where the matter still needs to be investigated.
Fertility-Regulating Kiss1 Neurons Arise from Hypothalamic Pomc-Expressing Progenitors

Hypothalamic neuronal populations are central regulators of energy homeostasis and reproductive function. However, the ontogeny of these critical hypothalamic neuronal populations is largely unknown. We developed a novel approach to examine the developmental pathways that link specific subtypes of neurons by combining embryonic and adult ribosome-tagging strategies in mice. This new method shows that Pomc-expressing precursors not only differentiate into discrete neuronal populations that mediate energy balance (POMC and AgRP neurons), but also into neurons critical for puberty onset and the regulation of reproductive function (Kiss1 neurons). These results demonstrate a developmental link between nutrient-sensing and reproductive neuropeptide synthesizing neuronal populations and suggest a potential pathway that could link maternal nutrition to reproductive development in the offspring.
Influence of amplitude and starting point on accommodative dynamics in humans.

PURPOSE The effects of amplitude and the starting point of an accommodative response on the dynamics of far-to-near (accommodation) and near-to-far (disaccommodation) focus were studied. METHODS Step responses were recorded with a dynamic optometer in nine 22- to 30-year-old subjects, under three conditions: (1) Fixed far: accommodative demands from 1 to 6 D were created by placing the far target at 6 m and the near target at various proximal distances. (2) Fixed near: accommodative demands from 1 to 5 D were created by placing the near target at 16.7 cm and the far target at various distal positions. (3) Fixed amplitude: far and near target positions were changed to create an accommodative demand of 1.5 D from starting positions of 1 to 4.5 D in 0.5-D steps. Each recorded response was fitted with an exponential function to calculate response amplitude, peak velocity, time constant, and starting point. RESULTS The relationship between starting point and amplitude of accommodation and disaccommodation was effectively manipulated in the three conditions. For accommodation and disaccommodation, peak velocity increased linearly with response starting point, whereas the peak velocity versus response amplitude relationship differed according to the condition. Similar amplitude responses were associated with a higher peak velocity and a smaller time constant at proximal starting points than at distal starting points. Low-amplitude responses were influenced by both starting point and amplitude. CONCLUSIONS The dynamics of accommodation and disaccommodation are strongly influenced by the starting point, but less so by amplitude.
Epidemiology of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Among Patients on an Adult Stem Cell Transplant Unit: Observations From an Active Surveillance Program

Objective. To use the findings of an active surveillance program to delineate the unique epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in a mixed population of transplant and nontransplant patients hospitalized on a single patient care unit. Design. Surveillance survey and case-control analysis. Setting. A 19-bed adult bone marrow and stem cell transplant unit at a referral and primary-care center. Patients. The study included patients undergoing transplantation, patients who had previously received bone marrow or stem cell transplants, and patients with other malignancies and hematological disorders who were admitted to the study unit. Methods. Patients not previously identified as colonized with VRE had perirectal swab specimens collected at admission and once weekly while hospitalized on the unit. The prevalence of VRE colonization at admission and the incidence throughout the hospital stay, genotypes of VRE specimens as determined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis, and risk factors related to colonization were analyzed. Results. There was no significant difference in the prevalence or incidence of new colonization between nontransplant patients and prior or current transplant recipients, although overall prevalence at admission was significantly higher in the prior transplant group. Preliminary genotypic analysis of VRE isolates from transplant patients suggests that a proportion of cases of newly detected VRE carriage may represent prior colonization not detected at admission, with different risk factors suggestive of a potential epidemiological distinction. Conclusion. Examination of epidemiological and microbiological data collected by an active surveillance program provides useful information about the epidemiology of VRE that can be applied to inform rational infection control strategies.