Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stress reduction through mindfulness meditation. Effects on psychological symptomatology, sense of control, and spiritual experiences.

BACKGROUND This study examined the effects of an 8-week stress reduction program based on training in mindfulness meditation. Previous research efforts suggesting this program may be beneficial in terms of reducing stress-related symptomatology and helping patients cope with chronic pain have been limited by a lack of adequate comparison control group. METHODS Twenty-eight individuals who volunteered to participate in the present study were randomized into either an experimental group or a nonintervention control group. RESULTS Following participation, experimental subjects, when compared with controls, evidenced significantly greater changes in terms of: (1) reductions in overall psychological symptomatology; (2) increase in overall domain-specific sense of control and utilization of an accepting or yielding mode of control in their lives, and (3) higher scores on a measure of spiritual experiences. CONCLUSIONS The techniques of mindfulness meditation, with their emphasis on developing detached observation and awareness of the contents of consciousness, may represent a powerful cognitive behavioral coping strategy for transforming the ways in which we respond to life events. They may also have potential for relapse prevention in affective disorders.
Conduction properties of the hexagonal tungsten bronze, Rb/sub x/WO/sub 3/

Studies of the electrical transport properties: resistivity, Hall effect, and Seebeck coefficient: of the hexagonal tungsten bronze Rb/sub x/WO/sub 3/ for 0.16< or =x< or =0.33 are reported for the temperature range from 1.5 to 300 K. In the normal state, these properties show temperature-dependent anomalies which suggest a phase transition with temperature. The temperature at which this transition occurs is shown to depend on the Rb concentration, exhibiting a sharp maximum near x=0.25. As the Rb concentration is decreased below x = 0.33 the superconducting transition temperature first increases above the value of 1.94 K at x=0.33 and then decreases to less than 1 K at x=0.24. As the Rb concentration is lowered further a second increase in T/sub c/ is observed. This behavior appears to be associated with a phase transition at a composition near x=0.25. The nature of neither the transition with temperature nor the transition with concentration could be precisely determined. The superconducting state shows a large temperature-independent 60 /sup 0/ anisotropy in H/sub c/2 in the plane perpendicular to the hexagonal axis and positive curvature in the temperature dependence of H/sub c/2 near T/sub c/.
The clinical utility of molecular genetic cancer profiling

ABSTRACT Introduction: Next-Generation-Sequencing (NGS) has enabled gene mutation profiling – cataloguing sequence variants and modifications in clinical assays encompassing tens to thousands of genes in tumors and in germlines. The clinical benefit of applying multi-gene NGS to diverse applications in various malignancies remains to be demonstrated. Areas covered: Applications of gene mutation profiling in oncology include screening cancer-prone families, classification of malignancies, treatment selection, and monitoring the response to treatment of solid tumors (the ‘liquid biopsy’). Google Scholar was used to search PubMed for the period 2011–2016 using combinations of the following search terms: ‘clinical utility’, NGS, ‘molecular diagnostics’. Expert commentary: Clinical studies are in progress pairing mutation profiling with streamlined new trial designs to speed identification of promising drug-target combinations and to see if genotype-informed treatment selection will improve outcome across a spectrum of histologies. The analytical advantages and falling cost of NGS make focused gene panels likely to become the dominant modality in molecular diagnostic testing even if trials eventually discourage use of large panels to test all malignancies.
Analytical and Experimental Performance Evaluation of BLE Neighbor Discovery Process Including Non-Idealities of Real Chipsets

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate from a real perspective the performance of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as a technology that enables fast and reliable discovery of a large number of users/devices in a short period of time. The BLE standard specifies a wide range of configurable parameter values that determine the discovery process and need to be set according to the particular application requirements. Many previous works have been addressed to investigate the discovery process through analytical and simulation models, according to the ideal specification of the standard. However, measurements show that additional scanning gaps appear in the scanning process, which reduce the discovery capabilities. These gaps have been identified in all of the analyzed devices and respond to both regular patterns and variable events associated with the decoding process. We have demonstrated that these non-idealities, which are not taken into account in other studies, have a severe impact on the discovery process performance. Extensive performance evaluation for a varying number of devices and feasible parameter combinations has been done by comparing simulations and experimental measurements. This work also includes a simple mathematical model that closely matches both the standard implementation and the different chipset peculiarities for any possible parameter value specified in the standard and for any number of simultaneous advertising devices under scanner coverage.
Vaccine platforms to control Lassa fever

ABSTRACT Introduction: Lassa virus (LASV), the most prominent human pathogen of the Arenaviridae, is transmitted to humans from infected rodents and can cause Lassa Fever (LF). The sizeable disease burden in West Africa, numerous imported LF cases worldwide, and the possibility that LASV can be used as an agent of biological warfare make a strong case for vaccine development. There are no licensed LASV vaccines and the antiviral treatment is limited to an off-label use of ribavirin that is only partially effective. Areas covered: LASV vaccine development is hampered by high cost of biocontainment requirement, the absence of appropriate small animal models, genetic diversity of LASV species, and by high HIV-1 prevalence in LASV endemic areas. Over the past 15 years several vaccine platforms have been developed. Natural history of LASV and pathogenesis of the disease provide strong justification for replication-competent (RC) vaccine as one of the most feasible approaches to control LF. Development of LASV vaccine candidates based on reassortant, recombinant, and alphavirus replicon technologies is covered in this review. Expert commentary: Two lead RC vaccine candidates, reassortant ML29 and recombinant VSV/LASV, have been successfully tested in non-human primates and have been recommended by international vaccine experts for rapid clinical development. Both platforms have powerful molecular tools to further secure safety, improve immunogenicity, and cross-protection. These platforms are well positioned to design multivalent vaccines to protect against all LASV strains citculatrd in West Africa. The regulatory pathway of Candid #1, the first live-attenuated arenaviral vaccine against Argentine hemorrhagic, will be a reasonable guideline for LASV vaccine efficacy trials.
Design of GaN-based balanced cascode cells for wide-band distributed power amplifier

This paper reports on the design of a cascode GaN HEMT cell dedicated to 4-18 GHz flip-chip distributed power amplifier. The active device is a 8x50 mum AlGaN/GaN HEMT grown on SiC substrate. The GaN-based die which integrates the active cascode cell and its matching elements is flip-chipped via electrical bumps onto an AIN substrate. The matching elements of the balanced cascode cell are composed of series capacitances on the gate of both transistors with additional resistances to insure stability and bias path. The series capacitor on the gate of the 1st transistor is added for the distributed amplifier optimisation while the series capacitor on the gate of the 2 nd transistor is dedicated
Testing the effect of an arbitrary subject pronoun on relative clause comprehension: a study with Hebrew-speaking children

Abstract Previous studies have found that Hebrew-speaking children accurately comprehend object relatives (OR) with an embedded non-referential arbitrary subject pronoun (ASP). The facilitation of ORs with embedded pronouns is expected both from a discourse-pragmatics perspective and within a syntax-based locality approach. However, the specific effect of ASP might also be driven by a mismatch in grammatical features between the head noun and the pronoun, or by its relatively undemanding referential properties. We tested these possibilities by comparing ORs whose embedded subject is either ASP, a referential pronoun, or a lexical noun phrase. In all conditions, grammatical features were controlled. In a referent-identification task, the matching features made ORs with embedded pronouns difficult for five-year-olds. Accuracy was particularly low when the embedded pronoun was referential. These results indicate that embedded pronouns do not facilitate ORs across the board, and that the referential properties of pronouns affect OR processing.
Abolished InsP 3 R 2 function inhibits sweat secretion in both humans and mice

4 7 7 3 jci.org Volume 124 Number 11 November 2014 Introduction Anhidrosis, defined as the absence of perspiration in the presence of an appropriate stimulus such as heat, exercise, or pharmacological agonists, is a rare condition that may be acquired or congenital (1, 2). The causes of anhidrosis or reduced sweating (hypohidrosis), which are heterogeneous, include sweat gland innervation defects (in disorders of the autonomous nervous system) and reduced number of functional sweat glands (in different ectodermal syndromes) (2). Reports of generalized and isolated anhidrosis with normal sweat glands (OMIM 106190) are very few (3, 4). There are 3 types of sweat glands present in the skin: eccrine, apocrine, and apoeccrine. Of these, eccrine sweat glands have a superior maximum secretion rate (5, 6). Among mammals, humans have the highest proportion of eccrine sweat glands, which provides an advantage for thermal cooling during prolonged exercise (6). The eccrine gland consists of 2 major parts, the excretory duct and the secretory coil. The excretory duct has 2 or 3 layers of epithelial cells and consists of a straight portion leading to the skin surface and a coiled reabsorptive portion. The secretory portion consists of 3 functionally distinct cell types: granulated (dark) cells, parietal (clear) cells, and myoepithelial cells (6, 7). Upon initial stimulation of clear cells of the sweat gland by acetylcholine, intracellular [Ca2+] increases and initiates a stepwise process leading to net loss of Na+, Cl–, and water into the glandular lumen (8). The present study was undertaken to clarify the pathophysiological mechanisms behind isolated generalized anhidrosis in 5 members of a consanguineous Pakistani family. The segregation of the disease was suggestive of autosomal-recessive inheritance. A genome-wide search for the causative mutation revealed a candidate missense mutation for anhidrosis in ITPR2, which encodes inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor 2 (InsP3R2), a Ca 2+ release channel in the endoplasmic reticulum (9–11). We also found that loss of Itpr2 in mice (12) resulted in markedly reduced eccrine sweat production in paws. Together, our findings indicate that loss of InsP3R2-mediated Ca2+ release causes reduced sweat production and thus underlies isolated anhidrosis in the individuals investigated herein.
Optical and electrical properties of ZnO nanowires grown on aluminium foil by non-catalytic thermal evaporation

Well-crystallized ZnO nanowires were grown in large quantity on aluminium foil, by a non-catalytic thermal evaporation method using metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen at low temperature. Detailed structural and optical characterizations confirmed that the as-grown nanowires were highly crystalline, possessed a wurtzite hexagonal phase, had grown along the c-axis direction and exhibited excellent optical properties. The electrical characteristics of an individual nanowire were observed in air and vacuum by fabricating field-effect transistor (FET) devices. The transistors turned on typically between −5 and 0 V in ambient air. However, a large threshold voltage (Vth) shift, ∼5 V, towards negative gate bias was observed in high vacuum. The shift of Vth is believed to be related to the charge transfer from the ZnO nanowire surface to the physically adsorbed OH or oxygen. Moreover, the fabricated FETs show a high conductivity ON/OFF ratio of about ∼102 with ultraviolet (UV) light and hence provide an effective way to use these devices in nanoscale UV detectors and optoelectronic switches.
A Solution to CoCoS Problem in Recommender System based on SNA

systems have become extremely popular in the last decade and are applied to various e-commerce websites. Recommender systems help users find useful, interesting items or content from a considerably large amount of information. The major challenge in recommender system is Cold-start Problem (1), this appears when a user or item is new, the system may fail because not enough information is available for this user or item. There are so many solutions are proposed to solve cold-start problem including matrix factorization, graph based (2) (3) etc. One more serious form of cold-start found in some real-time e-commerce applications that is named as CoCoS (Continuous Cold Start) problem(4), this is a recurring version of cold-start even for known users or items, since many users visit the website rarely, change their interests in time, or exhibit different personas. Hence both of the widely used approaches CBF (Content Based Filtering)(5) and CF(Collaborative Filtering)(6) will suffer from this problem. The most basic assumption -"similar users will like similar items" (7) of Recommender System fails in some cases where user interest is changing over time and hence CoCoS problem arises. CoCoS problem is domain specific not all e-commerce website falls under CoCoS, but there are some websites that suffer from CoCos due to the changes in user's interest over time, the best example is travel and tourism domain based websites. Users booked a ticket or package on their current needs and interest by using different websites and we won't be able to make a useful set of suggested items because we don't have sufficient information on user's recent activities or requirements to generate a set of recommended items. In this paper, we are proposing a solution to get the recent preferences and interest of user on the basis of Social Network Activities (SNA). Here we are targeting travel and tourism domain to state the CoCoS problem and to find out the solution of CoCoS by using SNA (Social Network Activities) . Here we are considering Facebook (8) Check-ins Count (FCC) for obtaining the information about user's recently visited places and to draw a conclusion for user's preferences for next visit.
A review on alkaline activation: new analytical perspectives

For many years now the idea of including alkalis in a Portland cement matrix has been regarded as a daft or inexcusably erroneous proposition: despite its absurdity, that opinion has been widely accepted as a basic premise by the scientific and technical community working in the area of the chemistry of cement. In 1957 Glukhovsky proposed a working hypothesis in which he established a close relationship between alkalis and cementitious materials. That hypothesis has become consolidated and has served as a basis for developing a new type of binders, initially called “alkaline cements”. The present paper reviews the most significant theoretical interpretations of the role played by alkalis in the formation of the “stony” structure of cement. It ends with a broad overview of the versatility of this type of materials for industrial applications and a discussion of the possibility of building on the existing legislation to meet the need for the future regulation of alkaline cement and concrete manufacture.
Performance limits and trade-offs in entropy-driven biochemical computers

The properties and fundamental limits of chemical computers have recently attracted significant interest as a model of computation, an unifying principle of cellular organisation and in the context of bio-engineering. As of yet, research in this topic is based on case-studies. There exists no generally accepted criterion to distinguish between chemical processes that compute and those that do not. Here, the concept of entropy driven computer (EDC) is proposed as a general model of chemical computation. It is found that entropy driven computation is subject to a trade-off between accuracy and entropy production, but unlike many biological systems, there are no trade-offs involving time. The latter only arise when it is taken into account that the observation of the state of the EDC is not energy neutral, but comes at a cost. The significance of this conclusion in relation to biological systems is discussed. Three examples of biological computers, including an implementation of a neural network as an EDC are given.
Redox reactions and the influence of natural Mn oxides on Cr oxidation in a contaminated site in northern Italy: evidence from Cr stable-isotopes and EPR spectroscopy

Hexavalent chromium-contaminated groundwaters and sediments in northern Italy have been studied using the Cr stable-isotope systematics and electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR), in order to explore redox changes and soil-groundwater interactions. The isotopic data indicate a possible Cr(VI) source released into the environment from an industrial plant. EPR spectra on the sediments which constitute the aquifers show a broad asymmetric absorption due to coupled Fe(III) and coupled Cr(III) ions and a well resolved hyperfine structure due to manganese ions, resulting from Mn(IV) and Mn(II). The isotopic and EPR data support the hypothesis of Cr(III) being oxidized by Mn oxides which are widespread in the aquifer, possibly related to the oscillation of the phreatic level. The obtained results highlight the usefulness of chromium stable isotopes as environmental tracers and support the observations that naturally occurring Mn oxides in soils may catalize Cr oxidation from the stable Cr(III) form to the toxic Cr(VI) soluble form, yielding valuable information in planning remediation interventions.
A five-day inpatient EMDR treatment programme for PTSD: pilot study

ABSTRACT Background: Trauma-focused psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been demonstrated to be efficacious, but also have considerable non-response and dropout rates. Intensive treatment may lead to faster symptom reduction, which may contribute to treatment motivation and thereby to reduction of dropout. Objective: The aim of the current study was to investigate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an intensive five-day inpatient treatment with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and trauma-informed yoga for patients with PTSD. Method: A non-controlled pilot study with 12 adult patients with PTSD was conducted. At baseline the PTSD diagnosis was assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5) and comorbid disorders with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Primary outcome was self-reported PTSD symptom severity (PTSD Check List for DSM-5; PCL-5) measured at the beginning of day 1 (T1), at the end of day 5 (T2) and at follow-up on day 21 (T3). Reliable change indexes (RCI) and clinically significant changes were calculated. Results: From T1 to T3, PTSD symptoms significantly improved with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.91). Nine of the 11 patients who completed treatment showed reliable changes in terms of self-reported PTSD. At T3, two of the patients no longer met criteria for PTSD as measured with the PCL-5. One patient dropped out after the first day. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions: The majority of patients in our pilot study experienced symptom reduction consistent with reliable changes in this five-day inpatient treatment with EMDR and yoga. Randomized controlled trials – with longer follow up periods – are needed to properly determine efficacy and efficiency of intensive clinical treatments for PTSD compared to regular treatment. This is one of the first studies to show that intensive EMDR treatment is feasible and is indicative of reliable improvement in PTSD symptoms in a very short time frame.
Microstructural Control of Y2O3 Coating on Quartz Glass for the Reduced Thermal Mismatch Stress

Y2O3 can be applied as a plasma resistant coating for quartz glass used in the plasma etching apparatus. For such an application, a thick coating layer is required. However, when the thickness of the coating reaches to a critical thickness, a cracking in the coated layer occurs due to the residual tensile stress developed as a result of thermal expansion mismatch between the coating layer and the substrate. The critical thickness was calculated as ~70 nm when the heat treatment temperature was 1000 o C. To increase the critical thickness of the coating layer, a porous intermediate layer was introduced. Sol-gel spin coating method was used to deposit the multi-layered Y2O3 films. Three layered (dense/porous/dense)-Y2O3 coating with a thickness more than 200 nm was fabricated without crack generation. The porous self-buffer layer was effective in relieving the residual stress.
Testing a Resilience Training Program in Police Recruits: A Pilot Study

Background: Stress from multiple sources is inherent in law enforcement. However, it is possible to modify responses to stress with resilience training that includes teaching techniques to modify emotional and physical responses to stress, interface with mental health professionals, and practice sessions to improve self-regulation of responses to stress including coherence, a measure of heart rate variability. A gap exists in the research, however, regarding evaluation of the duration of effects after the initial resilience training. Method: Subjects included (N = 34) recruits enrolled in summer 2015 at the Milwaukee Police Academy. An experimental design was used to compare recruits who received resilience training to recruits in the control group. Results: No statistically significant differences between the groups were found for self-reported measures of stress and resilience. For the treatment group (n = 17), change in coherence was significant (p < .001) and improvement in the Personal Organizational Quality Assessment Emotional Buoyancy subscale correlated significantly with the number of practice sessions (r = .63, p = .01) and marginally with change in coherence (r = .47, p = .07). Conclusion: Results confirm several significant effects of resilience training with recruits.
Statistical Automaton for Verifying Temporal Properties and Computing Information on Traces

Verification is decisive for embedded software. The goal of this work is to verify temporal properties on industrial applications, with the help of formal dynamic analysis. The approach presented in this paper is composed of three steps: formalization of temporal properties using an adequate language, generation of execution traces from a given property and verification of this property on execution traces. This paper focuses on the verification step. Use of a new kind of Buchi automaton has been proposed to provide an efficient verification taking into account the industrial needs and constraints. A prototype has been developed and used to carry out experiments on different anonymous real industrial applications.