Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
‘We just don’t have this in us…’: Understanding factors behind low levels of physical activity in South Asian immigrants in Metro-Vancouver, Canada

Background South Asian immigrants in western countries are at a high risk for metabolic syndrome and associated chronic disease. While a physically active lifestyle is crucial in decreasing this risk, physical activity (PA) levels among this group remain low. The objectives of this study were to explore social and cultural factors that influence PA behavior, investigate how immigration process intersects with PA behaviors to influence PA levels and to engage community in a discussion about what can be done to increase PA in the South Asian community. Methods For this qualitative study, we conducted four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) among a subset of participants who were part of a larger study. FGD data was coded and analysed using directed content analysis to identify key categories. Results Participants expressed a range of opinions, attitudes and beliefs about PA. Most believed they were sufficiently active. Women talked about restrictive social and cultural norms that discouraged uptake of exercise. Post-immigration levels of PA were low due to change in type of work and added responsibilities. Conclusion Health promoters need to consider social, cultural, and structural contexts when exploring possible behavior change interventions for South Asian immigrants.
Impact of (cid:2) -adrenergic signaling in PGC-1 (cid:3) -mediated adaptations in mouse skeletal muscle

Impact of (cid:2) -adrenergic signaling in PGC-1 (cid:3) -mediated adaptations in mouse skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 314: E1–E20, 2018. (cid:3) has been suggested to regulate exercise training-induced metabolic adaptations and autophagy in skeletal muscle. The factors regulating PGC-1 (cid:3) , however, have not been fully resolved. The aim was to investigate the impact of (cid:2) -adrenergic signaling in PGC-1 (cid:3) -mediated metabolic adaptations in skeletal muscle with exercise training. Muscle was obtained from muscle-speciﬁc PGC-1 (cid:3) knockout (MKO) and lox/lox mice 1 ) 3 h after a single exercise bout with or without prior injection of propranolol or 3 h after a single injection of clenbuterol and 2 ) after 5 wk of wheel running exercise training with or without propranolol treatment or after 5 wk of clenbuterol treatment. A single clenbuterol injection and an acute exercise bout similarly increased the mRNA content of both N-terminal and full-length PGC-1 (cid:3) isoforms, and prior propranolol treatment reduced the exercise-induced increase in mRNA of all isoforms. Furthermore, a single clenbuterol injection elicited a PGC-1 (cid:3) -dependent increase in cytochrome c and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA, whereas prolonged clenbuterol treatment increased ﬁber size but reduced capillary density. Exercise training increased the protein content of OXPHOS, LC3I, and Parkin in a PGC-1 (cid:3) -dependent manner without effect of propranolol, while an exercise training-induced increase in Akt2 and p62 protein required PGC-1 (cid:3) and was blunted by prolonged propranolol treatment. This suggests that (cid:2) -adrenergic signaling is not required for PGC-1 (cid:3) mediated exercise training-induced adaptations in mitochondrial proteins, but contributes to exercise training-mediated adaptations in insulin signaling and autophagy regulation through PGC-1 (cid:3) . Further-more, changes observed with acute stimulation of compounds like clenbuterol and propranolol may not lead to corresponding adaptations with prolonged treatment. levels, protein content, and capillarization. In Student-Newman-Keul’s post hoc test was to locate differences. A signiﬁcance level of P (cid:11) 0.05 was used, and statistical calculations were performed using SigmaPlot version 13.
Agonist-Speciﬁc Conformational Changes in the Yeast (cid:97) -Factor Pheromone Receptor

The yeast (cid:97) -factor pheromone receptor is a member of the G-protein-coupled receptor family. Limited trypsin digestion of yeast membranes was used to investigate ligand-induced conformational changes in this receptor. The agonist, (cid:97) -factor, accelerated cleavage in the third intracellular loop, whereas the antagonist, desTrp1,Ala3- (cid:97) -factor, reduced the cleavage rate. Thus, the enhanced accessibility of the third intracellular loop is speciﬁc to the agonist. (cid:97) -Factor inhibited cleavage weakly at a second site near the cytoplasmic terminus of the seventh transmembrane helix, whereas the antagonist showed a stronger inhibition of cleavage at this site and at another site in the C-terminal domain of the receptor. The (cid:97) -factor-induced conformational changes appeared to be inherent properties of the receptor, as they were retained in G-protein-deﬁcient mutants. Moreover, a mutant receptor ( ste2-L236H ) that affects the third loop and is defective for G-protein coupling retained the ability to undergo the agonist-induced conformational changes. These results are consistent with a model in which G-protein activation is limited by the availability of speciﬁc contacts between the G protein and the third intracellular loop of the receptor. The antagonist appears to promote a distinct conformational state that differs from either the unoccupied or the agonist-occupied state.
T HE P OTENTIAL OF C ORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) T RANSMISSION IN M ,

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, mainly caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome, remains a global challenge. This study aimed to identify the potential of COVID-19 transmission in Medan City, Indonesia, by utilizing a quantitative descriptive design with a survey method based on questionnaire administration on Google Form. A total of 293 respondents were selected as a research sample through the accidental sampling technique. This study showed that the majority of the respondents (195, or 66.4%) traveled outside the city/country; 210 respondents (71.7%) used public transportation such as online and public transport; 54 respondents (18.4%) were in the area with an infected patient. This survey also includes the parameters of mask wearing, social distancing, avoiding hand contact, paying in cash, washing hands before or after touching an object, visiting outdoor activities, soaking the clothes after arriving home, and chronic disease history. This research concludes that positive confirmed cases in Medan city demonstrate a fluctuating trend in the infected COVID-19 cases from the respondents with frequent travel history.
Handbook of Markov decision processes : methods and applications

1. Introduction E.A. Feinberg, A. Shwartz. Part I: Finite State and Action Models. 2. Finite State and Action MDPs L. Kallenberg. 3. Bias Optimality M.E. Lewis, M.L. Puterman. 4. Singular Perturbations of Markov Chains and Decision Processes K.E. Avrachenkov, et al. Part II: Infinite State Models. 5. Average Reward Optimization Theory for Denumerable State Spaces L.I. Sennott. 6. Total Reward Criteria E.A. Feinberg. 7. Mixed Criteria E.A. Feinberg, A. Shwartz. 8. Blackwell Optimality A. Hordijk, A.A. Yushkevich. 9. The Poisson Equation for Countable Markov Chains: Probabilistic Methods and Interpretations A.M. Makowski, A. Shwartz. 10. Stability, Performance Evaluation, and Optimization S.P. Meyn. 11. Convex Analytic Methods in Markov Decision Processes V.S. Borkar. 12. The Linear Programming Approach O. Hernandez-Lerma, J.B. Lasserre. 13. Invariant Gambling Problems and Markov Decision Processes L.E. Dubins, et al. Part III: Applications. 14. Neuro-Dynamic Programming: Overview and Recent Trends B. Van Roy. 15. Markov Decision Processes in Finance and Dynamic Options M. Schal. 16. Applications of Markov Decision Processes in Communication Networks E. Altman. 17. Water Reservoir Applications of Markov Decision Processes B.F. Lamond, A. Boukhtouta. Index.
Circular Noncoding RNA hsa_circ_0003570 as a Prognostic Biomarker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are potential biomarkers owing to their stability, tissue specificity, and abundance. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of hsa_circ_0003570 expression and to investigate its potential as a biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We evaluated hsa_circ_0003570 expression in 121 HCC tissue samples, its association with clinicopathological characteristics, and overall and progression-free survival. Hsa_circ_0003570 expression was downregulated in HCC tissues. Low hsa_circ_0003570 expression was more common in tumors larger than 5 cm (odds ratio (OR), 6.369; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.725–14.706; p < 0.001), vessel invasion (OR, 5.128; 95% CI, 2.288–11.494; p < 0.001); advanced tumor-node metastasis stage (III/IV; OR, 4.082; 95% CI, 1.866–8.929; p < 0.001); higher Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage (B/C; OR, 3.215; 95% CI, 1.475–6.993; p = 0.003); and higher AFP (>200 ng/mL; OR, 2.475; 95% CI, 1.159–5.291; p = 0.018). High hsa_circ_0003570 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (hazard ratio (HR), 0.541; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.327–0.894; p = 0.017) and progression-free survival (HR, 0.633; 95% CI, 0.402–0.997; p = 0.048). Hsa_circ_0003570 is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with HCC, and further validation of hsa_circ_0003570 is needed.
An online longitudinal study about search index reflexing public attention of vaccinate against COVID-19

Background The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has had catastrophic effects worldwide. Mounting efforts for vaccination against COVID-19 have achieved tremendous progress. Online searching is a voluntary behavior of people might reflect the public attention and awareness. Screening and analyzing the details of vaccine related searches may help the government to grasp the trend of public opinion and provide a reference for vaccination strategies and future efforts to protect public health. Methods Three terms related to COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccine as well as daily relative search volumes (RSV) were retrieved in the Baidu Index (BDI) from 1 January 2020 to 1 July 2021 in China. Besides the national total data, those of the individual provinces/cities/region of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, and Tibet were also included. Vaccine-related policies were also gathered during this period. The vaccination rates within China were derived from the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, from 23 March 2021 to 1 July 2021. The searching index was calculated by the searching volume and curve graphs were used to demonstrate the variation and the related trend of the RSV and vaccination rates. Results A total of 548 days’ BDI data were retrieved. The national and provincial curves of the BDI exhibited similar fluctuating upward trends, with 5 obvious rises, especially in COVID-19 vaccine searching volume. The vaccination number was correlated with the searching volume growth of COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine uptake (r=0.382, P<0.001; r=0.256, P=0.010). Relevant vaccination events corresponded to the variation searching trend and were attributed to or were influenced by the searching variation. Conclusions Public awareness about vaccination against COVID-19 was related to the implementation of vaccine policies. Positive vaccine-related policy and high public awareness about vaccination could play a vital role in maximizing the vaccination uptake. Advanced internet data grabbing could consolidate public information in an efficient and timely manner. These findings would support efforts to utilize the big data monitoring of the public opinion to forecast and guide the public health policies. Dynamic monitoring as well as prevention and timely adjustment under this supervision could be expected.
Temporal Dynamics of Anti–Type 1 Interferon Autoantibodies in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

Abstract Binding levels and neutralization activity of anti–type 1 interferon autoantibodies peaked during acute coronavirus disease 2019 and markedly decreased thereafter. Most patients maintained some ability to neutralize type 1 interferon into convalescence despite lower levels of binding immunoglobulin G. Identifying these autoantibodies in healthy individuals before the development of critical viral disease may be challenging.
Recent Advances Regarding the Molecular Mechanisms of Triterpenic Acids: A Review (Part II)

Triterpenic acids are a widespread class of phytocompounds which have been found to possess valuable therapeutic properties such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, lipolytic, antiviral, and antiparasitic effects. They are a subclass of triterpenes bearing a characteristic lipophilic structure that imprints unfavorable in vivo properties which subsequently limit their applications. The early investigation of the mechanism of action (MOA) of a drug candidate can provide valuable information regarding the possible side effects and drug interactions that may occur after administration. The current paper aimed to summarize the most recent (last 5 years) studies regarding the MOA of betulinic acid, boswellic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, madecassic acid, moronic acid, and pomolic acid in order to provide scientists with updated and accessible material on the topic that could contribute to the development of future studies; the paper stands as the sequel of our previously published paper regarding the MOA of triterpenic acids with therapeutic value. The recent literature published on the topic has highlighted the role of triterpenic acids in several signaling pathways including PI3/AKT/mTOR, TNF-alpha/NF-kappa B, JNK-p38, HIF-α/AMPK, and Grb2/Sos/Ras/MAPK, which trigger their various biological activities.
Trans-Catheter Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus, which device should we use?

Despite the operational experience in the percutaneous closure of Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), complications can arise during the procedure. To overcome these complications the choice of the device must be adapted to each patient. AIM To report the experience of the cardiology department in the transcatheter device closure of PDA and to determine the influencing factors of choice of the device. METHODS Our study included patients with patent ductus arteriosus that are admitted for transcatheter closure, between September 2003 and June 2016. RESULT One hundred and fifty-three patients were included in our study. Transcatheter closure was not done in 9 cases. The transcatheter closure was successful in 140 patients. The complications were observed in 11 patients that includes device embolization in 3 cases, aortic protrusion in four cases pulmonary protrusion in three cases and inguinal hematoma in one another. Three predictive factors of complications were: age < 2 years, tubular PDA type C and ratio duct diameter/weight > 0.95. A mild residual shunt was observed at the end of the procedure in 22.85 % of the patients. The risk of residual shunt was significantly increased when the age < 2 years, the large PDA, the presence of pulmonary hypertension and the tubular C PDA. CONCLUSION The choice of the device depends essentially on age, the weight and the duct anatomy.
A Pragmatic Online Authentication Framework using Smart Cards

- Like most security systems, designing a secure two-factor online authentication framework is hard, but designing one that is also intuitive to use and easy to deploy is even harder. While a secure, but overly complex framework may offer little security in the end since it never gets used, an overly simplistic one that focuses merely on usability may gain initial acceptance but will inevitably lead to data breaches. To address this design paradox, we present a new online authentication framework that provides security, usability, and ease of deployment. This framework combines the proven hardware security of smart cards and the universal ease of web access through browsers, without imposing the deployment and usability complexities generally associated with conventional smart card systems. The resulting authentication solution is applicable to existing smart cards already deployed, intuitive for users, and convenient for service provides to both develop and maintain.
Long-term survival after endovascular and open repair of unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms in England between 2006 and 2015: a retrospective cohort study

Background: The aim of this paper was to examine patterns of 10-year survival after elective repair of unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in different patient groups. Methods: Patients having open repair (OR) or endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in the English NHS between January 2006 and December 2015 identified from Hospital Episode Statistics data. Postoperative survival among patients of different age and Charlson comorbidity profiles were analysed using flexible parametric survival models. The relationship between patient characteristics and risk of rupture after repair was also analysed. Results: 37,138 patients underwent elective AAA repairs, of which 15,523 were open and 21,615 were endovascular. 10-year mortality was 38% for patients under 70 years, and the survival trajectories for OR and EVAR were similar when patients had no RCS comorbidity. Among older patients or those with comorbidity, 10-year mortality rose exceeding 70% for patients aged 80 plus. Mean survival times over 10-years for OR and EVAR were often similar within subgroups of older and more comorbid patients but their survival trajectories became increasingly dissimilar, with OR showing greater short-term risk within 6-months but lower 10-year mortality rates. The risk of rupture over 9-years was 3·4% for EVAR and 0·9% for open repair, being weakly associated with patient factors. Conclusion: Long-term survival patterns after elective OR and EVAR for unruptured AAA vary markedly across patients with different age and comorbidity profiles. Judgements about the most appropriate technique require shared decision making so patients can balance the short-term and long-term risks.
Rydberg dark states in external fields

We initially discuss the theory of three-level systems using the dressed state formalism. One of the dressed states, containing a ground state and a Rydberg state, does not couple with the probe laser; thus, the medium becomes transparent to the latter. This phenomenon is known as electro- magnetically induced transparency (EIT) and this dressed state is known as a Rydberg dark state. We show that EIT can be used to extract the reduced dipole matrix element for transitions to a Rydberg state. However, a prob- lem with three-level Rydberg EIT in a vapour cell is the occurrence of space charges caused by photoelectric ionisation of Rb metal deposited inside the cell. To avoid this problem, we consider adding a third laser resonant with a fourth level. This is to avoid using the laser whose wavelength is less than the threshold wavelength. In cold atoms, the effect of the third laser is to split the usual EIT resonance into a doublet. In thermal atoms, we observe narrow features due to electromagnetically induced absorption and electro- magnetically induced transparency in the Doppler-free configuration. Next we consider the action of a far off-resonance radio frequency (rf) field in the three-level system. We demonstrate the formation of rf-dressed EIT reso- nances in a thermal Rb vapour and show that such states exhibit enhanced sensitivity to dc electric fields compared to their bare counterparts. Fitting the corresponding EIT profile enables precise measurements of the dc field in- dependent of laser frequency fluctuations. We further investigate the theory of rf-dressed Rydberg EIT using the Floquet approach in order to understand the formation of the sideband structure of the Rydberg state. We find that if the time scale of the rf interaction is much shorter than that of the system evolution and decoherence, the sideband structure is well resolved. We also show that the intermediate state exhibits a sideband structure, induced by the Rydberg state, when the Rabi frequency of coupling laser is larger than twice the modulation frequency. Finally we consider resonant microwave cou- pling between the Rydberg states which leads to an Autler-Townes splitting of the EIT resonance in cold atoms. This splitting can be employed to vary the group index by ±10^5 allowing independent control of the absorptive and dispersive properties of the medium, i.e., one can switch the transparency of the medium or control the group velocity of a pulse propagation by tuning on and off the microwave field.
Analysis of Resonating Microcantilevers Operating in a Viscous Analysis of Resonating Microcantilevers Operating in a Viscous Liquid Environment Liquid Environment

The characteristics of resonant cantilevers in viscous liquids are analyzed. Various rectangular cantilevers geometries are studied in pure water, glycerol and ethanol solutions of different concentrations, and the results are described in terms of the added displaced liquid mass and the liquid damping force for both, the resonance frequency and the quality factor ( 𝑄 -factor). Experimental results using a set of magnetically actuated resonant cantilevers vibrating in the out-of- plane (“weak - axis bending”) mode are presented and compared to theor etical calculations. The importance of the study is in the use of resonant cantilevers as biochemical sensors in liquid environments.
Upper Ordovician and Silurian carbonate shelf stratigraphy, facies and evolution, eastern North Greenland

A new lithostratigraphic scheme is erected for the uppermost Ordovician and lower Silurian shelf carbonate rocks of Peary Land and Kronprins Christian Land, eastern North Greenland. All carbonate rocks were deposited on a fairly stable shelf which was bordered to the north and east by deep-water basins. The shelf foundered in the latest LIandoverian, terminating carbonate production. Five formations and two members are defined and extend from the uppermost Ordovician (Cincinnatian) to the uppermost LIandoverian, or possibly lowermost Wenlock in the Silurian. Lithostratigraphic units include: Turesø Formation (new) composed of alternating light and dark grey peritidal to shallow subtidallaminated or massive dolomites, cryptalgallaminites and fenestrallime mudstones uppermost Ordovician (Richmondian, Cincinnatian) to Lower or Middle LIandoverian; Ymers Gletscher Formation (new) composed of light grey peritidal lime mudstones, fenestral lime mudstones and cryptalgal laminites Lower to Middle LIandoverian; Odins Fjord Formation (new) composed of shallow to deep subtidal dark lime mudstones, wackestones and commonly tloatstone and rudstone biostromes Middle (possibly Lower) to Upper Llandoverian; Melville Land Member (new) composed of light grey peritidal lime mudstones, fenestral lime mudstones and cryptalgal laminites Middle (possibly Lower) Llandoverian; Bure lskappe Member (new) composed of drowned shelf, dark grey to black laminated lime mudstone with terrigenous mudstone interbeds . upper LIandoverian; Samuelsen Høj Formation (new) composed of light grey to white reef Jimestones uppermost LIandoverian; Harefjeld Formation (new), a faulted, folded and cleaved black lime and terrigenous mudstone unit in eastern Kronprins Christian Land Ordovician to Silurian (Llandoverian). Author's address: The Geological Survey of Greenland øster Voldgade 10 DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark Present address: BP Petroleum Development Ltd. Britannic House Moor Lane London EC2Y 9BU England