Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiac autonomic activity during sleep under the influence of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields

SummaryQuestion of the studyWe investigated the influence of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted by digital mobile telephones on heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep in healthy young men.Subjects and methodsFor each subject, two polysommographies were carried out in the sleep laboratory under field and sham exposure, respectively. Field intensity was weak so that thermal effects could be excluded. HRV was assessed from the electrocardiogram both in the time and in the frequency domain.ResultsFor most HRV parameters, significant differences between sleep stages were found. Particularly, on the basis of spectral analysis of the RR intervals, slow wave sleep was characterized by a low LF/HF ratio of the low- and high-frequency components of HRV, indicating a predominance of the parasympathetic over the sympathetic activity in autonomic cardiac control. During REM sleep, the balance was shifted in favour of the sympathetic tone. For all HRV parameters, no significant differences were found between field and sham exposure.ConclusionsUnder the given experimental conditions, no influence of weak radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on cardiac autonomic activity could be proven.ZusammenfassungFragestellungEs wurde der Einfluss hochfrequenter elektromagnetischer Felder von mobilen digitalen Funktelefonen auf die Herzfrequenzvariabilität (HRV) im Schlaf bei gesunden jungen Männern untersucht.Probanden und MethodikBei jedem Probanden wurden zwei Polysomnographien im Schlaflabor mit bzw. ohne Feldexposition durchgeführt. Die Feldintensität war so schwach, dass thermische Effekte ausgeschlossen werden konnten. Die aus dem Elektrokardiogramm ermittelte HRV wurde sowohl im Zeit- als auch Frequenzberich analysiert. ErgebnisseFür die meisten Parameter der HRV ergaben sich signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den verschiedenen Schlafstadien. Basierend auf der Spektralanalyse der RR-Intervalle war der Tiefschlaf insbesondere durch einen kleinen LF/HF-Quotienten der nieder-und hochfrequenten Komponente der HRV charakterisiert, was auf ein Überwiegen des parasympathischen gegenüber dem sympathischen Tonus bei der autonomen Herzaktivität hinweist. Im REM-Schlaf ergab sich eine Verschiebung zugunsten des Sympathikotonus. Für alle Parameter der HRV ergab sich kein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den Bedingungen mit und ohne Feldexposition.SchlussfolgerungenUnter den gegebenen experimentellen Bedingungen konnte kein Einfluss schwacher hochfrequenter elektromagnetischer Felder auf die autonome Herzaktivität nachgewiesen werden.
Detecting Illusory Halo Effects in Rater-Mediated Assessment: A Mixture Rasch Facets Modeling Approach

Halo effects refer to a common source of error in human judgment. In rater-mediated assessments where each rater assigns multiple scores to examinees, raters subject to halo tend to give similar scores on conceptually distinct traits, dimensions, or criteria. An intricate problem with empirically detecting halo effects concerns the separation between illusory halo due to judg-mental biases or cognitive distortions, and true halo, due to actual overlap between the traits or criteria used for scoring examinee performances. The present research used the mixture Rasch facets model for halo effects (MRFM-H; Jin & Chiu, 2022) to detect illusory halo. In two separate studies, raters scored examinees' writing performances on a set of criteria using a four-category rating scale. Halo parameters were estimated building on Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo methods implemented in the freeware JAGS run within the R environment. The findings revealed that (a) the MRFM-H fit the data well but not better than the basic Rasch facets model (RFM), (b) in Study 2, we identified three raters that may have been subject to illusory halo effects. The discussion focuses on practical implications for ensuring high rating quality in performance assessments.
Core Theorems in The Generalized Statistical Sense

The main purpose of the paper is to give some results concerning with the generalized statistical core of a bounded sequence via $\mathfrak{B}$-statistical convergence where $\mathfrak{B}=(B_{i})$ is a sequence of infinite matrices. We characterize the matrix class $(st_{\mathfrak{B}}\cap X,Y)$ for certain sequence spaces $X$ and $Y$. Here $st_{\mathfrak{B}}$ is the set of all $\mathfrak{B}$-statistically convergent sequences. Finally we answer the multipliers and factorization problem for $\mathfrak{B}$-statistically convergent sequences.
Central Autonomic Network Regions and Hypertension: Unveiling Sympathetic Activation and Genetic Therapeutic Perspectives

Simple Summary High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a serious condition with potentially life-threatening consequences. Researchers conducted a study to explore how certain areas of the brain contribute to high blood pressure. The focus was on three specific brain regions: the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN), Kolliker-fuse nucleus (KF), and periductal grey matter (PAG), which play roles in regulating blood pressure. Using genetic modification techniques, the researchers decreased the neuronal activity in these brain regions. They observed interesting outcomes: reducing activity in the LPBN led to significant decreases in blood pressure and heart rate; in the KF, the activity of the nerves involved in blood pressure regulation and breathing decreased; however, reducing activity in the PAG did not have a significant impact on blood pressure, but affected the heart’s response to changes in blood pressure. These findings highlight the importance of specific brain areas, particularly the LPBN, in regulating blood pressure. While this study was conducted on rats and further research is needed to apply these findings to humans, it provides valuable insights into the complex factors contributing to high blood pressure. This knowledge could potentially pave the way for future treatments and interventions targeting these brain regions in order to better manage hypertension. Abstract Introduction: Hypertension, a leading cause of death, was investigated in this study to understand the role of specific brain regions in regulating blood pressure. The lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN), Kolliker-fuse nucleus (KF), and periductal grey matter (PAG) were examined for their involvement in hypertension. Methods: Lentiviral vectors were used to alter the activity of these brain regions in hypertensive rats. Over a 75-day period, blood pressure, heart rate, reflex responses, and heart rate variability were measured. Results: Decreasing the activity in the LPBN resulted in a reduced sympathetic outflow, lowering the blood pressure and heart rate. In the KF, the sympathetic activity decreased and chemoreflex variation was attenuated, without affecting the blood pressure. Silencing the PAG had no significant impact on blood pressure or sympathetic tone, but decreased cardiac baroreflex gain. Discussion: These findings highlight the significant role of the LPBN in hypertension-related sympathetic activation. Additionally, LPBN and KF neurons appear to activate mechanisms that control respiration and sympathetic outflow during chemoreceptor activation. Conclusions: The study provided insights into the contribution of the midbrain and pontine regions to neurogenic hypertension and offers potential avenues for future genetic interventions and developing novel treatment approaches.
Stress management and exercise training in cardiac patients with myocardial ischemia : Effects on prognosis and evaluation of mechanisms

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that myocardial ischemia can be elicited by mental stress in the laboratory and during daily life and that ischemia induced by mental stress is associated with an increased risk for future cardiac events in patients with coronary artery disease. Objectives: To examine the extent to which ischemia induced by mental stress can be modified by exercise or stress management, and to evaluate the impact of these interventions on clinical outcomes. Methods: One hundred seven patients with coronary artery disease and ischemia documented during mental stress testing or ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring were randomly assigned to a 4-month program of exercise or stress management training. Patients living at a distance from the facility formed a nonrandom, usual care comparison group. Myocardial ischemia was reassessed following treatment, and patients were contacted annually for as long as 5 years to document cardiac events, including death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and cardiac revascularization procedures. Results: Twenty-two patients (21%) experienced at least 1 cardiac event during a mean (±SD) follow-up period of 38 ± 17 months. Stress management was associated with a relative risk of 0.26 compared with controls. The relative risk for the exercise group also was lower than that of controls, but the effect did not reach statistical significance. Stress management also was associated with reduced ischemia induced by mental stress and ambulatory ischemia. Conclusion: These data suggest that behavioral interventions offer additional benefit over and above usual medical care in cardiac patients with evidence of myocardial ischemia. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:2213-2223
The Evidence : P . E . Does Not Hurt — and May Help

Thinking of cutting physical education? Think again. Even as we bemoan children's sedentary lifestyles, we often sacrifice school-based physical education in the name of providing more time for academics. In 2006, only 3.8 percent of elementary schools, 7.9 percent of middle schools, and 2.1 percent of high schools offered students daily physical education or its equivalent for the entire school year (Lee, Burgeson, Fulton, & Spain, 2007).
Uniqueness and regularity of flows of non-Newtonian fluids with critical power-law growth

We deal with flows of non-Newtonian fluids in three-dimensional setting subjected to the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition. Under the natural monotonicity, coercivity and growth condition on the Cauchy stress tensor expressed by a power index [Formula: see text], we establish regularity properties of a solution with respect to time variable. Consequently, we can use this better information for showing the uniqueness of the solution provided that the initial data are good enough for all power–law indices [Formula: see text]. Such a result was available for [Formula: see text] and therefore the paper fills the gap and extends the uniqueness result to the whole range of [Formula: see text]’s for which the energy equality holds.
Outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections with PER-1 Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase in Warsaw, Poland: Further Evidence for an International Clonal Complex

ABSTRACT Forty-one Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) from a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, were analyzed. Thirty-seven isolates from several wards were collected over 9 months in 2003 and 2004. The isolates were recovered from patients with multiple types of infections, mostly respiratory tract and postoperative wound infections. All 41 isolates produced the PER-1 ESBL, originally observed in Turkey but recently also identified in several countries in Europe and the Far East. The blaPER-1 gene resided within the Tn1213 composite transposon, which was chromosomally located. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed the presence of three separate clones among the isolates. Two of these, corresponding to sequence types (STs) ST244 and ST235, were responsible for parallel outbreaks. Apart from PER-1, all the isolates produced OXA-2 oxacillinase. ST235 isolates additionally expressed a novel enzyme, OXA-74, differing by one amino acid from the OXA-17 ESBL identified originally in PER-1- and OXA-2-positive P. aeruginosa isolates from Ankara, Turkey, in 1992. These earlier Ankara isolates with PER-1, OXA-2, and OXA-17 were also classified into ST235, which is a single-locus variant of two other STs, ST227 and ST230. ST227, ST230, and ST235 all correspond to the recently described clonal complex BG11, which seems to be internationally distributed, having spread in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and much of Russia. It is associated with various β-lactamases, including PER-1 and VIM metalloenzymes. This work further demonstrates the value of MLST of P. aeruginosa.
Glacial and fluvial deposits in the aragón valley, central‐western pyrenees: chronology of the pyrenean late pleistocene glaciers

Abstract The ragón alley glacier (entral estern yrenees) has been studied since the late nineteenth century and has become one of the best areas in the yrenees to study the occurrence of leistocene glaciations and the relationships between moraines and fluvial terraces. New morphological studies and absolute ages for moraines and fluvial terraces in the ragón alley allow a correlation with other yrenean glaciers and provide solid chronologies about the asynchroneity between global last glacial maximum and the maximum ice extent. Six frontal arcs and three lateral morainic ridges were identified in the illanúa basin terminal glacial complex. The main moraines (1 and 2) correspond to two glacial stages (oxygen isotopic stages 6 and 4), dated at 171 ± 22-ka and 68 ± 7-ka, respectively. From a topographical point of view, moraine M1 appears to be linked to the 60 m fluvioglacial terrace, dated in a tributary of the ragón iver at 263 ± 21-ka. The difference in age between 1 moraine and the 60 m fluvioglacial terrace suggests that the latter belongs to an earlier glacial stage ( 8). Moraine 2 was clearly linked to the fluvioglacial 20 m terrace. Other minor internal moraines were related to the 7–8 m terrace. The dates obtained for the last glacial cycle (20–18-ka) are similar to other chronologies for Mediterranean mountains, and confirm the occurrence of an early in the entral yrenees that does not coincide with the global .
Uptake and biodegradation kinetics of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) from South Saskatchewan River water by an indigenous microbial community

The research project entitled "Uptake and Biodegradation Kinetics of 2,4Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) from South Saskatchewan River Water by an Indigneous Microbial Community" was designed to provide insight regarding the persistence of the wellused herbicide, 2,4-D, in Prairie surface water supplies. By examination of the microbial response to the presence of 2,4-D and other water quality conditions, such as pH adjustments and humic acid amendments, in a natural water sample, it was determined that 2,4-D is not likely to be persistent in Saskatchewan surface water. The addition of an acid or base and/or aqueous humic acid to water samples did not significantly affect the uptake and biodegradation kinetics of the indigenous 2,4-D-degrading microbial community. Biodegradation of the 2,4-D parent material was credited to a strain of bacteria minimally identified as Pseudomonas cepacia via microbial isolation techniques, including a known resistance to the anti-biotic, chloramphenicol. It is not presumed that this microbial population was solely responsible for the biodegradation of 2,4-D. This population was merely chosen as the representative, identifiable population in the water samples. Complete mineralisation of the parent compound was confirmed through bi-weekly analyses of dissolved and total organic carbon components and weekly analyses of pH changes in the water samples. The total organic carbon content decreased as carbon dioxide was released from solution indicating complete degradation of the 2,4-D molecule. pH also gradually declined indicating the release of carbon dioxide in the 2,4-D mineralisation process. On average, given the specific conditions examined in these experiments, not more than 40 hours was required to completely mineralize 2,4-D concentrations ranging between 6.5 and 12.5 mg/L.
Endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic disease

Endoluminal repair is now a realistic alternative to open surgery for the treatment of thoracic aortic disease Since Volodos and colleagues performed the first endoluminal repair of a thoracic aneurysm, the technique has been used to treat descending thoracic aneurysms, type B (Stanford) aortic dissection, false aneurysms, penetrating ulcers, and aortic transection.1,2 This minimally invasive approach has many advantages over conventional surgery as it avoids open thoracotomy, single lung ventilation, and aortic cross clamping. The main criticism of endoluminal repair is poor durability of the stent grafts. The first published series from Stanford used home made stent grafts and reported a primary success rate of 73%. 3 However, there were problems associated with the large introducer catheters and rigidity of these devices. The now commercially available stent grafts are more flexible with smaller delivery systems and have improved deployment mechanisms. Notably, stent graft failure has been reported with the early home made grafts and more recently the Gore Excluder (WL Gore Associates, Inc, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA) has been withdrawn for redesigning following reports of fractures in the nitinol frame. The longer experience from the infrarenal devices has shown that lifelong surveillance is essential. Descending thoracic aneurysms are life threatening, with an estimated incidence of 6 cases per 100 000 person years.4 The number of patients with thoracic aneurysms is increasing presumably because of better diagnostic modalities and longer life expectancy.5 We advise treatment for symptomatic aneurysms and for asymptomatic aneurysms greater than 6 cm in diameter. Several reports have reported the risk of rupture in patients with untreated aneurysms to range from 46–74%, with five year survival rates estimated at 9–13%. 4 The contraindications for endovascular repair of thoracic aneurysms are absence of an aneurysm neck, an excessively large neck, or insufficient normal …
The Implications of Simple Estimates of the 2D Outerscale Based on Measurements of Magnetic Islands for the Modulation of Galactic Cosmic-Ray Electrons

The behavior of the 2D turbulence power spectrum at the lowest wavenumbers has a significant effect on the perpendicular diffusion coefficients of charged particles in the heliosphere derived from various scattering theories, and subsequently used to model the transport of cosmic rays (CRs) and solar energetic particles. In this regard, the lengthscale at which the energy-containing range begins, as opposed to that at which the inertial range commences, is of particular interest. This 2D outerscale has, however, never before been directly observed. Recently, direct measurements of magnetic islands in the solar wind have been reported by various authors. Assuming that these may provide an estimate of the 2D ultrascale, the direct calculation of the 2D outerscale becomes possible, should an observationally motivated form for the 2D turbulence power spectrum be employed. This study presents the results of such a calculation and provides comparisons of these with previous estimates of the 2D outerscale. Furthermore, the sensitivity of galactic CR electron intensities, calculated using a 3D ab initio CR modulation model, is demonstrated, and conclusions are drawn therefrom.
Artificial tears: Promising treatment or silent threat to public health?

Dry Eye Disease (DED) is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory condition of the corneal surface, attributed to insufficient or low‐quality production of tears, accounting for 5‐50% of the cases globally. Artificial tears are the first line of treatment as they reduce ocular surface tension, and improve film stability and optical quality. EzriCare Artificial Tears are preservative‐free, multi‐dose, readily accessible eye drops containing carboxymethylcellulose sodium solution (10 mg in 1 ml) aiming for relief against DED. This article discusses the public health challenges faced by the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears and emphasizes the need for alternative therapies for the effective management of DED.
The paleoecology of lower Magdalenian Cantabrian Spain

Pokines uses the terrestrial mammalian microfauna from the site of El Juyo (Santander, Spain) and related sites to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment of Cantabrian Spain. A new method of reconstruction is presented, based on the relative proprtions of these microfauna, and the human ecological adaptations of the Upper Palaeolithic in Cantabrian Spain are examined as they relate to the resulting interpretation of the palaeoenvironment.
The effect of scaling and root planning on the periodontal condition in hemodialysis patients: A clinical trial study

Periodontitis is very common in kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis. The two diseases interact with each other so that kidney failure exacerbates periodontal disease and periodontal disease increases the severity of the renal failure. This study aimed to compare the effect of scaling and root planning on the periodontal status of hemodialysis patients and the healthy control group.
Prevalence, knowledge, and lifestyle‐associated risk factors of dyslipidemia among Ghanaian type‐2 diabetes mellitus patients in rural and urban areas: A multicenter cross‐sectional study

Dyslipidemia in diabetes mellitus has been linked to unhealthy lifestyle and bad eating habits. However, this association has not been well studied among rural and urban Ghanaian populations. In this study, we determined the prevalence, knowledge, and lifestyle‐associated risk factors of dyslipidemia among Ghanaian type‐2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in rural and urban areas.
Effectiveness of Mesalamine in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review

Ulcerative colitis (UC) management has changed significantly in the past decade. The goal is to treat the symptoms, aid tissue healing, and change the disease course to improve future outcomes. Oral or topical mesalamine (5-ASA) is a well-known UC treatment. It is the standard for starting and maintaining recovery in mild-to-moderate illnesses. The majority of patients start the treatment in the first year after diagnosis and continue it for long periods. In this review article, PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library were used to search medical databases for relevant medical literature. After the articles were gathered and evaluated, 10 publications were compiled and selected using the qualifying criteria. The included articles aimed to provide an overview of 5-ASA in UC patients. According to several studies, there was no statistical relevance between various 5-ASA doses or the number of times they were taken. One study showed that 5-ASA cream preparation is better than oral preparation for patients with proctitis and proctosigmoiditis. The majority of the studies performed a follow-up to assess remission based on the use of endoscopy, fecal calprotectin, and patient symptoms during the investigations. Based on the aforementioned information, further investigation is required to ascertain the optimal approach for managing UC, with the aim of incorporating it into routine clinical procedures and enhancing our understanding of the subject matter.