Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of relaxation techniques and complementary and alternative medicine by American adults with insomnia symptoms: results from a national survey.

INTRODUCTION Though relaxation training is recommended for insomnia, national patterns of use remain unknown. Similarly, rates of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by adults with insomnia are not well established. We sought to elucidate the patterns and reasons for use of relaxation techniques and CAM use by adults with insomnia symptoms. METHODS We used the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (n = 23,358) to estimate prevalence of use among adults by self-reported insomnia symptom status. Among adults reporting insomnia symptoms (n = 4,415), we examined reasons for use and disclosure to medical professionals. We employed logistic regression to determine the adjusted associations between relaxation techniques use, CAM use, and insomnia symptoms. RESULTS Among adults with insomnia symptoms, 23% used relaxation techniques and 45% used CAM annually. After adjustment, adults with insomnia symptoms had higher likelihood of using relaxation techniques (aOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.32, 1.66) and CAM (aOR 1.29, 95% CI 1.15, 1.44) compared with adults without insomnia. Deep breathing exercise was the most commonly used relaxation technique. Fewer than 2% of adults with insomnia used CAM specifically for insomnia. Only 26% of adults with insomnia symptoms disclosed their relaxation techniques use to medical professionals. Being male, lower educational and physical activity levels, income < $20,000, living in South, and hypertension were associated with lower likelihood of relaxation techniques use among adults with insomnia symptoms. CONCLUSION While adults with insomnia symptoms commonly use relaxation techniques and CAM, few are using for their insomnia. Facilitating discussions about relaxation techniques may foster targeted use for insomnia.
Term Ranker: A Graph-Based Re-Ranking Approach

Term extraction is to extract domain relevant terms from a domain speciﬁc, unstructured corpus, which in an organisational setting can be used for categorisation and information retrieval. Previous statistical approaches to automatic term extraction rely on term frequencies, which may not only hamper the accuracy but also lower the rank of or even discard domain relevant yet infrequent terms. This paper aims at minimising the impact of term frequency and thus improving precision of top-k terms, by using a graph based ranking algorithm with the aids of latent vector representation of terms and term relations embedded in patents instead of general-domain knowledge sources. We show that the proposed method outperforms all the previous works signiﬁcantly.
A 245 GHz ASK modulator and demodulator with 40 Gbits/sec data rate in 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology

This paper presents a 245 GHz ASK modulator and demodulator capable of 40 Gbit/s operation. The design is based on 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The chip includes a 245 GHz SPST switch, a wide-band driver amplifier, and an ASK demodulator. The ASK demodulator consists of a power detector followed by a wide-band high gain amplifier. The modulator consumes 31 mW and the demodulator consumes 100 mW.
The extracellular protein regulator (xpr) affects exoprotein and agr mRNA levels in Staphylococcus aureus

xpr, a regulatory element of exoprotein synthesis in Staphylococcus aureus, defined by an insertion of Tn551 into the chromosome of strain S6C, affects the expression of several exoproteins at the mRNA level. Drastic reduction in transcript levels for staphylococcal enterotoxin B (seb), lipase (geh), alpha-toxin (hla), and delta-toxin (hld) were detected, while mRNA levels for coagulase (coa) and protein A (spa) were elevated. Because the delta-toxin gene resides within the RNAIII transcript of the exoprotein regulator, agr, the reduction in hld message in the mutant strain of S6C is indicative of additional regulatory events in exoprotein gene expression. Northern (RNA) analysis of total cellular RNA hybridized with probes specific for RNAII and RNAIII (the two major transcripts of the agr operon) showed that both transcripts were reduced 16- to 32-fold at 3 h (late exponential phase) and 8- to 16-fold at 12 h (postexponential phase). These data confirm our original findings (M. S. Smeltzer, M. E. Hart, and J. J. Iandolo, Infect. Immun. 61:919-925, 1993) that two regulatory loci, agr and xpr, are interactive at the genotypic level.
Induction of interleukin 6 (IL-6) by hypoxia in vascular cells. Central role of the binding site for nuclear factor-IL-6

The pathologic picture in ischemic tissue injury shares features with the inflammatory response, including production of proinflammatory cytokines. Hypoxia-mediated induction of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine with anti-inflammatory properties, could set in motion mechanisms limiting inflammation in ischemia. Exposure of cultured endothelial cells (ECs) to H (pO2 approximately 12-16 torr) increased transcription of IL-6, elevated levels of IL-6 mRNA, and induced elaboration of IL-6 antigen in a time-dependent manner. Exposure of mice to hypoxia increased IL-6 transcripts in the lung, and immunostaining revealed a striking increase in IL-6 antigen in pulmonary vasculature. Transfection of ECs with deletion chimeric IL-6 promoter-chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase (CAT) constructs showed hypoxia-mediated 9-11-fold induction with −1200/+13, −596/+13, and - 225/+13 but no induction with −111/+13. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) using −225/-111 as the labeled probe demonstrated enhanced binding activity in nuclear extracts of hypoxic ECs and lung; the appearance of the gel shift band was prevented by excess unlabeled probe (−225/-111), and hypoxia-mediated enhancement of the band was blocked by a probe corresponding to the nuclear factor (NF)-IL-6 site (- 158/-145). The hypoxia-enhanced band on EMSA displayed a supershift with antibody to CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBP-beta), but antibody to C/EBP-alpha or -delta was without effect. Transfection of ECs with a construct comprising thymidine kinase promoter, −225/-111 in either the 5′ to 3′ to 5′ orientation, and the reporter CAT showed this region to be an enhancer (approximately 8-fold) under hypoxia. EMSA with the NF-IL-6 probe revealed a prominent induction of binding activity with nuclear extracts from hypoxic ECs and whole lung. Constructs with −158/-145 and the CAT reporter gene showed induction when transfected into hypoxic ECs, whereas a similar construct with the NF-IL-6 motif mutationally inactivated failed to display hypoxia- induced expression. Furthermore, the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene, whose product contributes to ischemic pathology and contains a putative regulatory NF-IL-6 site, demonstrated enhanced binding activity for its NF-IL-6 motif and induction of TNF mRNA based on analysis of hypoxic lung. These data indicate that hypoxia induces expression of IL-6, most likely a result of hypoxic activation at the NF-IL-6 site, and suggest that other genes with regulatory NF-IL-6 sites may also be induced by a similar mechanism.
Dimensionality reduction of parameter-dependent problems through proper orthogonal decomposition

The numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) depending on parametrized or random input data is computationally intensive. Reduced order modeling techniques, such as the reduced basis methods, have been developed to alleviate this computational burden, and are nowadays exploited to accelerate real-time analysis, as well as the solution of PDE-constrained optimization and inverse problems. These methods are built upon low-dimensional spaces obtained by selecting a set of snapshots from a parametrically induced manifold. However, for these techniques to be effective, both parameter-dependent and random input data must be expressed in a convenient form. To address the former case, the empirical interpolation method has been developed. In the latter case, a spectral approximation of stochastic fields is often generated by means of a Karhunen-Loève expansion. In all these cases, a low dimensional space to represent the function being approximated (PDE solution, parametrized data, stochastic field) can be obtained through proper orthogonal decomposition. Here, we review possible ways to exploit this methodology in these three contexts, we recall its optimality properties, and highlight the common mathematical structure beneath.
The histiotypic organization of the hypertrophic scar in humans.

Hypertrophic scars, mature scars from hypertrophic and non-hypertrophic healing, and normal skin have been examined by biopsy and studied for histological patterns consistent with each case. Normal skin presents collagen appearing randomly of oriented and with a marked waviness. Under stress the collagen reflect, a previously masked orthogonal ply pattern. The hypertrophic scar may be characterized by a consistent pattern of collagen, which is never found in normal skin of a mature scar. This pattern, consistent with the most active stage of hypertrophy, contain nodules of collagen. They are highly compact, often with a capsule-like band about their periphery. Blood vessels are frequently observed about the periphery. The early stage ot hypertrophic scarring displays bundles or tracts in curvilinear form, several of which together demonstrate a whorl-like arrangement. Whether or not the whorl arrangements proceed to form a nodule or bypass this stage to begin maturation is dependent on unknown factors. By electron microscopy, the nodule is seen to contain highly stellate fibroblasts with dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum and few other organelles. The diameter of the collagen filaments is about half that observed in normal skin. We conclude that hypertrophic scarring involves the formation of collagenous nodules composed of tightly packed collagen. Nodular formation appears to reflect the most active and the worst phase of hypertrophic scarring.
Improvement of transconductance and gate source capacitance of Al0.27Ga0.73N/GaN HEMT at 45nm gate length with In0.1Ga0.9N back-barrier

An Al<inf>0.27</inf>Ga<inf>0.73</inf>N/GaN HEMT is developed at L<inf>G</inf> =100nm gate length with In<inf>0.1</inf>Ga<inf>0.9</inf>N back-barrier. The physical insight of In<inf>0.1</inf>Ga<inf>0.9</inf>N as back-barrier and the impact of its height on transconductance are investigated to find the optimized dimension of the device with improved transconductance, g<inf>m</inf>, at 45nm gate length. Non-linearity like Kink Effect is also identified. Some initial level of ac analysis is done to obtain the C<inf>GS</inf> plot with varying gate lengths. With necessary simulations, 33% improvement in peak gm and 26.3% reduction in Cgs are obtained.
Epidural Anesthesia for Laminectomy Lead Placement in Spinal Cord Stimulation

BACKGROUND:Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is used to treat chronic pain and requires an awake patient for optimized lead positioning to locate paresthesias. Epidural anesthesia may be a suitable anesthetic but has not been evaluated. METHODS:We performed an open-label, prospective, observational, single-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of laminectomy lead placement under epidural anesthesia for the treatment of neuropathic chronic pain. RESULTS:The results in our study demonstrate that epidural anesthesia is a suitable technique for SCS lead implant. CONCLUSIONS:This is the first study using epidural anesthesia for SCS lead implants by laminectomy. The technique seems to be safe and effective.
Long-Term Treatment with Citicoline May Improve Poststroke Vascular Cognitive Impairment

Background: Cognitive decline after stroke is more common than stroke recurrence. Stroke doubles the risk of dementia and is a major contributor to vascular cognitive impairment and vascular dementia. Nonetheless, few pharmacological studies have addressed vascular cognitive impairment after stroke. We assessed the safety of long-term administration and its possible efficacy of citicoline in preventing poststroke cognitive decline in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. Methods: Open-label, randomized, parallel study of citicoline vs. usual treatment. All subjects were selected 6 weeks after suffering a qualifying stroke and randomized by age, gender, education and stroke type into parallel arms of citicoline (1 g/day) for 12 months vs. no citicoline (control group). Medical management was similar otherwise. All patients underwent neuropsychological evaluation at 1 month, 6 months and 1 year after stroke. Tests results were combined to give indexes of 6 neurocognitive domains: attention and executive function, memory, language, spatial perception, motor speed and temporal orientation. Using adjusted logistic regression models we determined the association between citicoline treatment and cognitive decline for each neurocognitive domain at 6 and 12 months. Results: We recruited 347 subjects (mean age 67.2 years, 186 male (56.6%), mean education 5.7 years); 172 (49.6%) received citicoline for 12 months (no significant differences from controls n = 175). Demographic data, risk factors, initial stroke severity (NIHSS), clinical and etiological classification were similar in both groups. Only 37 subjects (10.7%) discontinued treatment (10.5% citicoline vs. 10.9% control) at 6 months; 30 (8.6%) due to death (16 (9.3%) citicoline vs. 14 (8.0%) control, p = 0.740), 7 lost to follow-up or incorrect treatment, and 4 (2.3%) had adverse events from citicoline without discontinuation. 199 patients underwent neuropsychological evaluation at 1 year. Cognitive functions improved 6 and 12 months after stroke in the entire group but in comparison with controls, citicoline-treated patients showed better outcome in attention-executive functions (OR 1.721, 95% CI 1.065–2.781, p = 0.027 at 6 months; OR 2.379, 95% CI 1.269–4.462, p = 0.007 at 12 months) and temporal orientation (OR 1.780, 95% CI 1.020–3.104, p = 0.042 at 6 months; OR 2.155, 95% CI 1.017–4.566, p = 0.045 at 12 months) during the follow-up. Moreover, citicoline group showed a better functional outcome (modified Rankin scale ≤2) at 12 months (57.3 vs. 48.7%) without statistically significant differences (p = 0.186). Conclusions: Citicoline treatment for 12 months in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke is safe and probably effective in improving poststroke cognitive decline. Citicoline appears to be a promising agent to improve recovery after stroke. Large clinical trials are needed to confirm the net benefit of this therapeutic approach.
Assessment of tick antioxidant responses to exogenous oxidative stressors and insight into the role of catalase in the reproductive fitness of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum

As obligate blood‐sucking ectoparasites, to avoid tissue damage, ticks must neutralize the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from uptake and digestion of a bloodmeal. Consequently, ticks utilize a battery of antioxidant molecules, including catalase (CAT), an enzyme that converts hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into water and oxygen. Here, we investigated the tick antioxidant machinery by exogenous injection of sublethal doses of H2O2 or paraquat. The relative transcript levels of selected Amblyomma maculatum antioxidant targets in tissues were determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR following treatment. The results showed 2–16‐fold increases in target antioxidant gene transcripts, signifying the ability of Am. maculatum to regulate its antioxidant machinery when exposed to increased ROS levels. Next, RNA interference was used to determine the functional role of CAT in haematophagy, redox homeostasis and reproductive fitness. CAT gene silencing was confirmed by transcript depletion within tick tissues; however, CAT knockdown alone did not interfere with tick haematophagy or phenotype, as confirmed by the resulting differential expression of antioxidant genes, thereby indicating an alternative mechanism for ROS control. Interestingly, double stranded RNA of CAT gene (dsCAT) and the CAT inhibitor, 3‐aminotriazole, together reduced tick reproductive fitness via a marked reduction in egg mass and larval eclosion rates, highlighting a role for CAT in tick redox‐homeostasis, making it a potential target for tick control.
Influence of clofarabine on transcriptional activity of PTEN, APC, RARB2, ZAP70 genes in K562 cells.

BACKGROUND In this study, the effect of clofarabine, a new generation 2'-deoxyadenosine analogue, on promoter methylation and transcriptional activity of selected genes (PTEN, APC, RARB2, ZAP70) in K562 cells was assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Promoter methylation was estimated using methylation-sensitive restriction analysis. The mRNA level of the genes was measured with real-time PCR. RESULTS The inhibitory cytostatic index (IG(50)) for clofarabine in K562 cells cultured for 72 (or 96) h was 8 nM. The drug (20 nM) caused: (i) potent diminution in methylation of PTEN promoter, moderate methylation reduction of APC and RARB2 promoters, and complete methylation of ZAP70 promoter; (ii) significant stimulation of PTEN, APC, RARB, and p21 mRNA expression and (iii) decline in mRNA level of ZAP70 and DNMT1 genes. CONCLUSION The results indicated that clofarabine is involved in epigenetic regulation of transcriptional activity of the tested tumour suppressor genes and genes encoding proteins involved in DNA methylation process.
Neural networks in chemistry

All problems that in some way are linked to handling of multi‐variate experiments versus multi‐variate responses can be approached by the group of methods that has recently became known as the artificial neural network (ANN) techniques. In this lecture, the types of the problems that can be solved by ANN techniques rather than the ANN techniques themselves will be addressed first. This issue is rather important due to the fact that the ANN techniques can be used for a very broad range of problems and choosing the wrong method can often result in either a failure to produce an effective solution or in a very time consuming and ineffective handling. Among the types of problems that can be solved by different ANN techniques the classification, mapping, look‐up table, and modelling will be emphasized and discussed. Because all mentioned methods can be solved by different standard techniques, special emphasis will be paid to stress the advantages and drawbacks when employing different ANN techniques. Due to th.
Construction of a bifunctional Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin (STb)-alkaline phosphatase fusion protein

A fusion between the genes encoding the Escherichia coli STb heat-stable enterotoxin (estB) and alkaline phosphatase (phoA) was constructed, and the expressed protein product was characterized. The STb-alkaline phosphatase protein (STb-PhoA) had an apparent molecular mass of 50,000 daltons and was detected with both monoclonal anti-alkaline phosphatase and polyclonal anti-STb antibodies. Expression of the gene fusion resulted in high-level production of alkaline phosphatase activity, indicating that STb-PhoA was processed and exported into the periplasm of the E. coli host strain. Amino acid sequence analysis of the hybrid protein yielded the sequence Ser-Thr-Gln-Ser-Asn-Lys-Lys, indicating that STb-PhoA was processed during export in a fashion identical to that of native STb (Y. M. Kupersztoch, K. Tachias, C. R. Moomaw, L. A. Dreyfus, R. G. Urban, C. Slaughter, and S. Whipp, J. Bacteriol. 172: 2427-2432, 1990). STb-PhoA was purified from an expressed bacterial lysate by preparative isoelectric focusing. In a rat ligated intestinal loop model, purified STb-PhoA induced highly significant (P less than 0.002) fluid secretion. In addition, the specific activity of STb-PhoA was nearly identical to that of purified STb. Thus, the STb-PhoA hybrid protein represents a readily obtainable source of biologically active (STb) enterotoxin that may prove useful in studies to determine the mode of toxin action.
A combination of Gabor wavelets and snakes for a mobile-phone-oriented hair-style simulation system

In the present work we propose the combined use of wavelets and snakes for a Web-based hair-style simulation system which is principally oriented as a Web service for mobile phones. An improvement over previous systems was obtained by means of using advanced image processing techniques in order to detect facial features. These techniques are based on wavelets and snakes which increase the computational cost of the overall system. Nonetheless, the improvement achieved in the quality of the output made us decide to trade system speed for system quality.
CALL FOR PAPERS Sex Differences in Renal and Cardiovascular Function: Physiology and Pathophysiology Hypersensitivity of myofilament response to Ca 2 in association with maladaptation of estrogen-deficient heart under diabetes complication

Thawornkaiwong A, Pantharanontaga J, Wattanapermpool J. Hypersensitivity of myofilament response to Ca in association with maladaptation of estrogen-deficient heart under diabetes complication. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 292: R844–R851, 2007. First published October 12, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00365. 2006. — The amelioration of cardioprotective effect of estrogen in diabetes suggests potential interactive action of estrogen and insulin on myofilament activation. We compared Ca -dependent Mg -ATPase activity of isolated myofibrillar preparations from hearts of sham and 10-wk ovariectomized rats with or without simultaneous 8 wk-induction of diabetes and from diabetic-ovariectomized rats with estrogen and/or insulin supplementation. Similar magnitude of suppressed maximum myofibrillar ATPase activity was demonstrated in ovariectomized, diabetic, and diabetic-ovariectomized rat hearts. Such suppressed activity and the relative suppression in -myosin heavy chain level in ovariectomy combined with diabetes could be completely restored by estrogen and insulin supplementation. Conversely, the myofilament Ca hypersensitivity detected only in the ovariectomized but not diabetic group was also observed in diabetic-ovariectomized rats, which was restored upon estrogen supplementation. Binding kinetics of 1-adrenergic receptors and immunoblots of 1-adrenoceptors as well as heat shock 72 (HSP72) were analyzed to determine the association of changes in receptors and HSP72 to that of the myofilament response to Ca . The amount of 1-adrenoceptors significantly increased concomitant with Ca hypersensitivity of the myofilament, without differences in the receptor binding affinity among the groups. In contrast, changes in HSP72 paralleled that of maximum myofibrillar ATPase activity. These results indicate that hypersensitivity of cardiac myofilament to Ca is specifically induced in ovariectomized rats even under diabetes complication and that alterations in the expression of 1-adrenoceptors may, in part, play a mechanistic role underlying the cardioprotective effects of estrogen that act together with Ca hypersensitivity of the myofilament in determining the gender difference in cardiac activation.