Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CHRONOTHERAPY WITH VALSARTAN/AMLODIPINE FIXED COMBINATION: IMPROVED BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL OF ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION WITH BEDTIME DOSING

Administration of valsartan at bedtime as opposed to upon wakening improves the sleep-time relative blood pressure (BP) decline towards a more normal dipper pattern without loss of 24-h efficacy. Amlodipine, however, has been shown to be effective in reducing BP throughout the day and night, independent of dosing time. A large proportion of hypertensive subjects cannot be properly controlled with a single medication. However, no study has yet investigated the potential differing effects of combination therapy depending of the time-of-day of administration. Accordingly, the authors investigated the administration-time-dependent BP-lowering efficacy of valsartan/amlodipine combination. The authors studied 203 hypertensive subjects (92 men/111 women), 56.7 ± 12.5 yrs of age, randomized to receive valsartan (160 mg/day) and amlodipine (5 mg/day) in one of the following four therapeutic schemes: both medications on awakening, both at bedtime, either one administered on awakening and the other at bedtime. BP was measured by ambulatory monitoring for 48 consecutive hours before and after 12 wks of treatment. Physical activity was simultaneously monitored every min by wrist actigraphy to accurately determine the beginning and end of daytime activity and nocturnal sleep. BP-lowering efficacy (quantified in terms of reduction of the 48-h mean of systolic/diastolic BP) was highest when both hypertension medications were ingested at bedtime, as compared to any one of the three other tested therapeutic schemes (17.4/13.4 mm Hg reduction with both medications on awakening; 15.1/9.6 mm Hg with valsartan on awakening and amlodipine at bedtime; 18.2/12.3 mm Hg with valsartan at bedtime and amlodipine on awakening; 24.7/13.5 mm Hg with both medications at bedtime; p < .018 between groups). The sleep-time relative BP decline was significantly increased towards a more normal dipper pattern only when both medications were jointly ingested at bedtime (p < .001). Bedtime dosing of the combination of the two medications also resulted in the largest percentage of controlled subjects among all the assessed therapeutic schemes (p = .003 between groups). In subjects requiring combination therapy to achieve proper BP control, the association of amlodipine and valsartan efficiently reduces BP for the entire 24 h independent of dosing time. However, the greater proportion of controlled patients, improved efficacy on lowering asleep BP mean, and increased sleep-time relative BP decline suggest valsartan/amlodipine combination therapy should be preferably administered at bedtime. (Author correspondence: rhermida@uvigo.es).
Knowledge Controlled Mathematical Coaching - Strategies and Results of a Personalized Blended Learning Approach

The mathematical competence of first year students is an important success factor at least for technical studies. As a significant percentage of students do not have sufficient mathematical skills, universities often utilise blended learning courses to increase these skills prior to the start of studies. Due to the diversity of students and their educational backgrounds, individual strategies are needed to achieve the necessary competence for successfully managing their studies. This paper describes our approach at the University of Applied Sciences Ruhr West, where we are using personalized blended learning concepts based on the measurement of individual mathematical competences at the beginning of a coaching process. This is used to gain a better matching between the individual learner level and the adapted learning concepts. We combine individual presence learning groups and a personalized e-learning environment. This environment is adapted based on mathematical skills of each student. It uses individual learning advices, short-term optical feedback and up to date e-learning material in a Moodle-based LMS (learning management system). The coaching concept is approved by the results of summative and formative evaluations.
Being Part of Something

Objectives. Calls for public health practices, including research, to better integrate social theories of power, agency, and social change suggest that increased reflexivity about both the process and outcomes of community engagement is warranted. Yet few community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects specifically report nonresearch outcomes of such projects. The authors analyzed “secondary outcomes” of Protecting the ’Hood Against Tobacco (PHAT), a CBPR project conducted in San Francisco, California. Methods. Interpretive analysis of quasi-ethnographic project documentation, including meeting minutes, field notes, retrospective observations, and interviews. Results. PHAT participation created “ripple effects,” encouraging healthier behaviors and public health promotion among community research partners, prompting academics to confront power asymmetries and recognize community knowledge, and widening social networks. Conclusions. CBPR benefits both communities and researchers beyond the findings of the research itself. More systematically capturing these effects, perhaps through wider use of ethnographic approaches, could help enhance understanding of CBPR’s true contributions.
Molecular weight of RNA subunits of Rous sarcoma virus determined by electron microscopy

Secondary cultures of chicken embryo fibroblasts were infected with the Schmidt Ruppin strain of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). Five days after infection, the medium was replaced at 2-h intervals with phosphate-free Eagle medium containing 50 muCi of [32P]orthophosphate per ml. Virus was collected by centrifugation, and the RNA was extracted and denatured with dimethyl sulfoxide, and the 33S subunit RNA was isolated by sucrose gradient centrifugation. The molecular weight of the RSV subunit RNA was determined by length measurement in the electron microscope, by using bacteriophage MS2 RNA as a length marker. Molecules of between 2.5 and 3.3 mum in length made up over 50% of the subunit RNA preparation. In this paper, we define RSV RNA subunits as that RNA released from the 70S RNA complex by dimethyl sulfoxide treatment, which sediments as a peak at 33S. Assuming the molecular weight of MS2 RNA to be 1.2 times 10-6, we calculate the molecular weight of RSV subunit RNA to be 3.12 times 10-6 plus or minus 0.25 times 10-6.
Balancing of 15-DOF Biped System

This paper proposes architecture for a biped robot with six DOFs per leg and three DOFs Pelvis with each foot having capability to measure the reaction force. System is controlled by 32-bit microcontroller, sensors, strain gauges, and feedback devices for the balancing while it is on single or double foot posture. It has been observed that balance of 15-DOF biped system is achieved successfully with the help of measuring Zero Moment Point (ZMP) with strain gauge and accelerometer.
The definition and meaning of treatment-resistant depression.

Most patients treated for an episode of unipolar or bipolar major depression are treatment resistant in the sense that the majority do not achieve full remission with the first somatic or psychosocial treatment they receive. Little attention has been given to formalizing criteria for evaluating the nature and extent of treatment resistance, even though determining the adequacy and outcome of prior treatment trials is key in clinical decision making about subsequent treatment. Furthermore, determining the adequacy of prior treatment is essential since substantial evidence indicates that large numbers of depressed patients are undertreated, resulting in prolonged episodes and the appearance of "pseudoresistance. " Adequacy of antidepressant treatment trials should be defined in terms of thresholds for the dosage and duration of medication, adherence, and clinical outcome. The Antidepressant Treatment History Form is presented as one method to formalize the evaluation of treatment adequacy and treatment resistance.
Glucuronidation of the Green Tea Catechins, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate and (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate, by Rat Hepatic and Intestinal Microsomes

The flavonoids (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCg) and (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECg) are major components of green tea and show numerous biological effects. We investigated the glucuronidation of these compounds and of quercetin by microsomes. Quercetin was almost fully glucuronidated by liver microsomes after 3 h, whereas ECg and ECGg were conjugated to a lesser extent ([Formula: See Text] and [Formula: See Text] respectively). The intestinal microsomes also glucuronidated quercetin much more efficiently than ECg and EGCg. Although the rates were lower than quercetin, intestinal microsomes exhibited higher activity on the galloyl group of ECg and EGCg compared to the flavonoid ring, whereas hepatic glucuronidation was higher on the flavonoid ring of EGCg and ECg compared to the galloyl groups. The low glucuronidation rates could partially explain why these flavanols are present in plasma as unconjugated forms.
Regulation of transcription by the activity of the Shigella flexneri type III secretion apparatus

The virulence plasmid‐encoded type III secretion system of Shigella flexneri consists of the Mxi–Spa secretion apparatus, secreted proteins IpaA–D and IpgD involved in entry of bacteria into epithelial cells, cytoplasmic chaperones IpgC and IpgE and 15 other secreted proteins of unknown function, including VirA and members of the IpaH family. The activity of the Mxi–Spa apparatus is regulated by external signals, and transcription of virA and ipaH genes is specifically induced in conditions of active secretion. We present genetic evidence that regulation of these genes involves both MxiE, the transcriptional activator of the AraC family encoded by the mxi operon, and IpgC, the chaperone for IpaB and IpaC. We also show that together MxiE and IpgC are sufficient to activate virA and ipaH9.8 promoters in Escherichia coli. In S. flexneri, increasing the expression of IpgC led to a concomitant increase in IpaH production in conditions of non‐secretion. This suggests that the activity of secretion is sensed by the presence of free IpgC, which acts as a coactivator to allow MxiE to activate transcription at its target promoters.
Correlations of Environmental Factors with the Roe Deer (Capreolus pygargus) Population Genetic Variability

Understanding the genetic variability within a species population is important for elucidating adaptive divergence and potential mechanisms involved in speciation. Excluding geographical limitations, historical events and human disturbance, complex environmental conditions also influence the amount of gene flow among populations. We investigated the relationship between the genetic variability of roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) and environmental factors using molecular techniques and mathematical statistical methods. We compared 460 base pairs from the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of 88 faecal samples individuals across eight different geographic regions in Northeastern China. Concurrently, we correlated seven environmental factors: latitude, longitude, altitude, temperature, precipitation, frost-free period and vegetation types, with genetic variability within roe deer populations. Our study suggests that climatic conditions and genetic diversity of roe deer were more closely correlated than geographic location and habitat type, with a cumulative variance of 43.6%. From the point of view of climate change to analysis, climatically stable regions are expected to favor diversification processes and sustain genetically more diverse populations by comparison with areas that have experienced changeable climatic conditions. Simultaneously, we found that roe deer dispersal was associated with periods of reproduction in vegetation type influenced by seasonal change. So, we suggest that precipitation is the major factor that indirectly affects the genetic difference within roe deer populations.
Rice TUTOU 1 Encodes a Suppressor of cAMP Receptor-Like Protein That Is Important for Actin Organization and Panicle Development 1

State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Plant Gene Research Center (J.B., Q.W., J.Zh., H.Z., Q.X., J.N., J.Zu.) and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology and National Plant Gene Research Center (F.C.), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China (J.B., Q.W., H.Z., Q.X.); State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310006, China (X.Z., H.C., G.D., Q.Q.); and State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China (L.Z., Y.F.)
Rate-Splitting Multiple Access: A New Frontier for the PHY Layer of 6G

In order to efficiently cope with the high throughput, reliability, heterogeneity of Quality-of-Service (QoS), and massive connectivity requirements of future 6G multi-antenna wireless networks, multiple access and multiuser communication system design need to depart from conventional interference management strategies, namely fully treat interference as noise (as commonly used in 4G/5G, MU-MIMO, CoMP, Massive MIMO, millimetre wave MIMO) and fully decode interference (as in Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access, NOMA). This paper is dedicated to the theory and applications of a more general and powerful transmission framework based on Rate-Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA) that splits messages into common and private parts and enables to partially decode interference and treat remaining part of the interference as noise. This enables RSMA to softly bridge and therefore reconcile the two extreme strategies of fully decode interference and treat interference as noise and provide room for spectral efficiency, energy efficiency and QoS enhancements, robustness to imperfect Channel State Information at the Transmitter (CSIT), and complexity reduction. This paper provides an overview of RSMA and its potential to address the requirements of 6G.
Totalitarian Propaganda as Discourse A Comparative Look at Austria and France in the Fascist Era

Throughout the 20 century, propaganda has been a key term and a key concept of political communications studies;1 in certain respects, propaganda research actually stood at the cradle of this field of social science (Bussemer: 2005: 379-385). At the same time, propaganda as a specific mode of communication was at the centre of totalitarianism as a political phenomenon, which attained its peak in the first half of the same century. Totalitarian propaganda—best explored in the cases of National Socialism and Soviet Communism—had the function of creating consensus between political leadership and the masses. In this paper, totalitarian propaganda will first be identified as a specific type of political communication which can be described and analyzed as a discourse. However, the theoretical position will be presented in such a way as to make it clear that the discourse-analytical approach represents only one possible way of operationalizing the underlying theoretical concept of propaganda. In what follows, the proposed definition will be further described in theoretical terms and operationalised along the so-called “dimensions of propaganda”. Concerning the empirical part, the focus will be placed on a restricted choice of these dimensions, in order to be able to go into more detail and depth in presenting the examples. The two texts chosen for a comparative illustration of the
Barriers to Drug Use Behavior Change Among Primary Care Patients in Urban United States Community Health Centers

In 2011 and 2012, 147 patients in urban United States Community Health Centers who misused drugs, but did not meet criteria for drug dependence, received a brief intervention as part of a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded clinical trial of a screening and brief intervention protocol. Potential study participants were identified using the World Health Organization (WHO) Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test. Data gathered during brief interventions were analyzed using grounded theory strategies to identify barriers patients believed inhibited drug use behavior change. Numerous perceived barriers to drug use behavior change were identified. Study implications and limitations are discussed.
Topic 4 : On the potential value of seasonal climate forecasts for index insurance

The modern era of seasonal climate forecasts began in the late 1980s with the first successful retrospective predictions of the large 1982–83 El Niño/Southern Oscillation event using a dynamical model (Cane et al., 1986). Today, seasonal predictions are issued routinely at many national and international centers including IRI, based on both dynamical and statistical models (see Goddard et al., 2003). The purpose of this contribution is to provide some background into seasonal forecasting techniques, and to raise key issues regarding their potential value to index insurance contract design. This is a nascent field, but one poised for rapid development in view of the potential quantitative value of forecast information.
2Mb SPRAM Design: Bi-Directional Current Write and Parallelizing-Direction Current Read Schemes Based on Spin-Transfer Torque Switching

A 1.8 V 2-Mb SPRAM (SPin-transfer torque RAM) chip using 0.2-mum logic process with MgO tunneling barrier cell demonstrates the circuit technologies for potential low power non-volatile RAM, or universal memory. This chip features: an array scheme with bit-by-bit bi-directional current write to achieve proper spin-transfer torque writing of 100-ns, and parallelizing-direction current reading with low voltage bit-line that leads to 40-ns access time.
SIMULATION METHODS FOR THE ONLINE EXTRACTION OF ECG PARAMETERS UNDER MATLAB ® /SIMULINK ®

The classification of cardiac pathologies in the human ECG greatly depends on the reliable extraction of characteristic features. This work presents a complete simulation environment for testing ECG classification algorithms under Matlab/Simulink. Evaluation of algorithm performance is undertaken in full compliance with the ANSI/AAMI standards EC38 and EC57, and ranges from beat-to-beat analysis to the comparison of episode markers (e.g., for VT/VF detection algorithms). For testing the quality of waveform boundary detection, our own testing methods have been implemented in compliance with existing literature.
Human Cytomegalovirus US 28 Is Important for Latent Infection of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) resides latently in hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs). During latency, only a subset of HCMV genes is transcribed, including one of the four virus-encoded G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), US28. Although US28 is a multifunctional lytic protein, its function during latency has remained undefined. We generated a panel of US28 recombinant viruses in the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-derived clinical HCMV strain TB40/E-mCherry. We deleted the entire US28 open reading frame (ORF), deleted all four of the viral GPCR ORFs, or deleted three of the HCMV GPCRs but not the US28 wild-type protein. Using these recombinant viruses, we assessed the requirement for US28 during latency in the Kasumi-3 in vitro latency model system and in primary ex vivo-cultured CD34 HPCs. Our data suggest that US28 is required for latency as infection with viruses lacking the US28 ORF alone or in combination with the remaining HCMV-encoded GPCR results in transcription from the major immediate early promoter, the production of extracellular virions, and the production of infectious virus capable of infecting naive fibroblasts. The other HCMV GPCRs are not required for this phenotype as a virus expressing only US28 but not the remaining virus-encoded GPCRs is phenotypically similar to that of wild-type latent infection. Finally, we found that US28 copurifies with mature virions and is expressed in HPCs upon virus entry although its expression at the time of infection does not complement the US28 deletion latency phenotype. This work suggests that US28 protein functions to promote a latent state within hematopoietic progenitor cells.
Development of a 3D bellows tracheal graft: mechanical behavior analysis, fabrication and an in vivo feasibility study

Artificial tracheal grafts should have not only enough compressive strength to maintain an open tracheal lumen, but also sufficient flexibility for stable mechanical behavior, similar to the native trachea at the implant site. In this study, we developed a new 3D artificial tracheal graft using a bellows design for considering its mechanical behavior. To investigate the mechanical behavior of the bellows structure, finite element method (FEM) analysis in terms of longitudinal tension/compression, bending and radial compression was conducted. The bellows structure was then compared with the cylinder structure generally used for artificial tracheal grafts. The FEM analysis showed that the bellows had outstanding flexibility in longitudinal tension/compression and bending. Moreover, the bellows kept the lumen open without severe luminal deformation in comparison with the cylinder structure. A three-dimensional artificial tracheal graft with a bellows design was fabricated using indirect solid freeform fabrication technology, and the actual mechanical test was conducted to investigate the actual mechanical behavior of the bellows graft. The fabricated bellows graft was then applied to segmental tracheal reconstruction in a rabbit model to assess its applicability. The bellows graft was completely incorporated into newly regenerated connective tissue and no obstruction at the implanted site was observed for up to 8 weeks after implantation. The data suggested that the developed bellows tracheal graft could be a promising alternative for tracheal reconstruction.
In vitro activity of levofloxacin, singly and in combination with rifamycin analogs, against Mycobacterium leprae

The in vitro susceptibility of Mycobacterium leprae to levofloxacin was studied by using two biochemical parameters to measure the metabolic activity of the organism. Levofloxacin consistently exhibited twofold greater bactericidal activity than ofloxacin, with the MIC being 0.75 microgram/ml. When combined with one of the three rifamycin analogs, synergism was obtained with KRM-1648 and rifabutin but not with rifampin.