Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlates of Abusing and Misusing Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers Among Adult Population of Wrocław (Poland).

BACKGROUND Almost 90% of households in Poland buy medicines on their own initiative. The most popular OTC medicines bought by Polish consumers are painkillers and non-steroid-anti-inflammatory drugs. OBJECTIVES The aim of this article was to recognize and describe the most important predictive factors of the abuse and misuse of over-the-counter pain relievers among adults in Wrocław (Poland). The groups of users were selected and described. Some examples of misuse were analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHODS Three hundred eighty six adult inhabitants of Wrocław took part in the survey. The quota sample was representative referring to the most important socio-demographic factors (sex and median age). RESULTS Almost 91% of participants declare taking OTC pain relievers, and 1.3% of them are their daily users. Only 6.2% of adult inhabitants of Wrocław never take OTC pain relievers. The category of "heavy users" embraces 11% of participants. The most important risk factors of overusing OTC pain relievers are sex (female), age over 55 years and the low health status. Only half of participants read the box label regularly and 25% of users admit they have modified recommended doses. Over 60% shortened recommended intervals between doses and 16% took two or more different pain medications (containing different substances). The non-medical purposes of using OTC pain relievers were: tiredness (7%), stressful situations (5.4%), and discomfort (18.4%). Some users take pain medications to cure hangovers (26%), or instead of the appropriate medicine (7%). About 20% take pain medications without a doctor's advice for longer than the recommended 3 days, and 10% never consult taking such medications with doctors. CONCLUSIONS Pain should be treated aggressively and successfully, especially among chronically ill patients. We should monitor the consumption of OTC pain relievers and limit their current excessively supply and high availability.
On assessment of brain function adaptability in Open Learning systems using Neural Networks modeling (cognitive styles approach)

The piece of research presents a conceptual overview on diverse cognitive styles reflections in adaptable Open Learning systems. The main goal of this approach is quantitative forecasting the performance of adaptable Open Learning (equivalently e-learning) Systems using cognitive Neural Network modelling. Furthermore, analysis of interactive two diverse learners' cognitive styles with a friendly adaptable teaching environment(e-courses material). Consequently, presented paper provides e-learning systems' designers with relevant guide for learning performance enhancement. Additionally, it supports e-learners in fulfilment of better learning achievements during face to face tutoring. Accordingly, quantitative analysis of e-learning adaptability performed herein, via assessment of matching between learning style preferences and the instructor's teaching style and/or e-courses material. Interestingly, application of two realistic cognitive models using Artificial Neural Network gives an opportunity to experience well assessment of adaptable e-learning features. Such as adaptability mismatching, adaptation time convergence, and individual differences of e-learners' adaptability.
Innovative Exploitation of Grating-Coupled Surface Plasmon Resonance for Sensing

Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) are confined solutions of Maxwell’s equations which propagate at the interface between a metal and a dielectric medium and have origin from the coupling of the electromagnetic field with electron-plasma density oscillations inside the metal [1]. SPPs are localized in the direction perpendicular to the interface: field intensity decays exponentially from the surface with an extension length of the same order of the wavelength inside the dielectric and almost one order shorter in the metal [2]. These features make SPPs extremely sensitive to optical and geometrical properties of the supporting interface, such as shape, roughness and refractive indices of the facing media. Since these modes have a non-radiative nature, the excitation by means of a wave illuminating the metallic surface is possible only in the configurations providing the wavevector-matching between the incident light and SPP dispersion law (Surface Plasmon Resonance – SPR, see Figure 1). Prism-Coupling SPR (PCSPR) exploits a prism in order to properly increase incident light momentum and achieve SPP excitation, however this setup suffers from cumbersome prism alignment and it is not suitable for miniaturization and integration. A more amenable and cheaper solution consists in Grating-Coupling SPR (GCSPR), where the metal surface is modulated with a periodic corrugation. The plasmonic behaviour of these modulated metallic surfaces had been discovered since the early years of the last century by R.W. Wood [3] and the connection between Wood's anomalies and surface plasmons was finally established by J.J. Cowan and E.T. Arakawa [4]. A plane-wave illuminating the patterned area is diffracted by the periodic structure and it is possible for at least one of the diffracted orders to couple with SPP modes.
Monoclonal antibodies to native noncollagenous bone-specific proteins.

Hybridoma technology was used for preparation of murine monoclonal antibodies of high titer against bone-Gla protein and osteonectin. A procedure of immunization and hybridization similar to that already described [Katzmann, J.A. , Nesheim, M.E. , Hibbard, L.S. & Mann, K.G. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78, 162-166; and Foster, W.B. , Katzmann, J.A. , Miller, R.S. , Nesheim, M.E. & Mann, K.G. (1982) Thromb. Res. 28, 649-661] was used. However, in contrast to earlier studies, mice were immunized with an unfractionated protein mixture that had been extracted from bone under nondenaturing conditions. The extract was labeled with 125I by the chloramine-T method. After fusion and initial hybrid growth, screening was accomplished by a solid-phase radioimmunoassay with total 125I-labeled bovine bone protein extract as the tracer. The identities of antibody-bound 125I-labeled proteins were assessed by dissolution of the solid-phase immune complex in NaDodSO4 and subsequent electrophoresis and autoradiography. Clones producing specific antibody to a single protein were selected by limiting dilution. The identity of the proteins against which the specific antibodies were produced was confirmed by immunoprecipitation, electrophoresis, and autoradiography. From two fusions, 30 positive hybrids to bone-Gla protein were identified; 7 of these were subcloned and 1 has been expanded as an ascites tumor. One hybrid population was positive for osteonectin, a Mr 15,000 peptide, and for bone-Gla protein. By limiting dilution, the osteonectin clone was selected and subsequently expanded as an ascites tumor. Titration curves made using the respective 125I-labeled purified proteins show the ascites tumors to be producing antibody of high titer (I50 = 10(-6) for anti-bone-Gla protein and (I50 = 10(-5) for antiosteonectin. Both of the antibovine antibodies are cross-reactive with the corresponding human protein. Immobilized specific anti-bone-Gla protein has been used to isolate human bone-Gla protein from an EDTA extract of human cortical bone. Thus, this method offers the possibility of developing a complete library of monoclonal antibodies against these and other bone-specific proteins.
NHS performance indicators

This week, the second ever set of health indicators for the NHS is published, and naturally there is a website that incorporates data from all 99 health authorities and some 275 trusts in England (www.doh.gov.uk/nhsperformanceindicators/index.htm). As a way into the data, start with the “media briefing pack” (www.doh.gov.uk/nhsperformanceindicators/hlpi2000/mediabrief.html), which launches immediately into a discussion of the …
Interleukin-13 Receptor Alpha 2-Targeted Glioblastoma Immunotherapy

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor, and despite several refinements in its multimodal management, generally has very poor prognosis. Targeted immunotherapy is an emerging field of research that shows great promise in the treatment of GBM. One of the most extensively studied targets is the interleukin-13 receptor alpha chain variant 2 (IL13Rα2). Its selective expression on GBM, discovered almost two decades ago, has been a target for therapy ever since. Immunotherapeutic strategies have been developed targeting IL13Rα2, including monoclonal antibodies as well as cell-based strategies such as IL13Rα2-pulsed dendritic cells and IL13Rα2-targeted chimeric antigen receptor-expressing T cells. Advanced therapeutic development has led to the completion of several clinical trials with promising outcomes. In this review, we will discuss the recent advances in the IL13Rα2-targeted immunotherapy and evaluate the most promising strategy for targeted GBM immunotherapy.
Anisotropy of wave propagation in the heart can be modeled by a Riemannian electrophysiological metric

It is well established that wave propagation in the heart is anisotropic and that the ratio of velocities in the three principal directions may be as large as vf∶vs∶vn ≈ 4(fibers)∶2(sheets)∶1(normal). We develop an alternative view of the heart based on this fact by considering it as a non-Euclidean manifold with an electrophysiological(el-) metric based on wave velocity. This metric is more natural than the Euclidean metric for some applications, because el-distances directly encode wave propagation. We develop a model of wave propagation based on this metric; this model ignores higher-order effects like the curvature of wavefronts and the effect of the boundary, but still gives good predictions of local activation times and replicates many of the observed features of isochrones. We characterize this model for the important case of the rotational orthotropic anisotropy seen in cardiac tissue and perform numerical simulations for a slab of cardiac tissue with rotational orthotropic anisotropy and for a model of the ventricles based on diffusion tensor MRI scans of the canine heart. Even though the metric has many slow directions, we show that the rotation of the fibers leads to fast global activation. In the diffusion tensor MRI-based model, with principal velocities 0.25∶05∶1 m/s, we find examples of wavefronts that eventually reach speeds up to 0.9 m/s and average velocities of 0.7 m/s. We believe that development of this non-Euclidean approach to cardiac anatomy and electrophysiology could become an important tool for the characterization of the normal and abnormal electrophysiological activity of the heart.
Sparse Principal Component Analysis: Algorithms and Applications

The Sparse Principal Component Analysis (Sparse PCA) problem is a variant of the classical PCA problem. The goal of Sparse PCA is to achieve a trade-off between the explained variance along a normalized vector, and the number of non-zero components of that vector. Sparse PCA has a wide array of applications in machine learning and engineering. Unfortunately, this problem is also combinatorially hard and hence various sub-optimal algorithms and approximation formulations have been proposed to tackle it. In this dissertation, we first discuss convex relaxation techniques that efficiently produce good approximate solutions. We then describe several algorithms solving these relaxations as well as greedy algorithms that iteratively improve the solution quality.The dissertation then focuses on solving the attractive formulation called DSPCA (a Direct formulation for Sparse PCA) for large-scale problems. Although Sparse PCA has apparent advantages compared to PCA, such as better interpretability, it is generally thought to be computationally much more expensive. We demonstrate the surprising fact that sparse PCA can be easier than PCA in practice, and that it can be reliably applied to very large data sets. This comes from a rigorous feature elimination pre-processing result, coupled with the favorable fact that features in real-life data typically have rapidly decreasing variances, which allows for many features to be eliminated. We introduce a fast block coordinate ascent algorithm with much better computational complexity than the existing first-order ones. We provide experimental results obtained on text corpora involving millions of documents and hundreds of thousands of features.Another focus of the dissertation is to illustrate the utility of Sparse PCA in various applications, ranging from senate voting and finance to text mining. In particular, we apply Sparse PCA to the analysis of text data, with online news as our focus. Our experimental results on various data sets illustrate how Sparse PCA can help organize a large corpus of text data in a user-interpretable way, providing an attractive alternative approach to topic models.
Arabidopsis Vacuolar Sorting Mutants (green fluorescent seed) Can Be Identified Efficiently by Secretion of Vacuole-Targeted Green Fluorescent Protein in Their Seeds[W][OA]

Two Arabidopsis thaliana genes have been shown to function in vacuolar sorting of seed storage proteins: a vacuolar sorting receptor, VSR1/ATELP1, and a retromer component, MAIGO1 (MAG1)/VPS29. Here, we show an efficient and simple method for isolating vacuolar sorting mutants of Arabidopsis. The method was based on two findings in this study. First, VSR1 functioned as a sorting receptor for β-conglycinin by recognizing the vacuolar targeting signal. Second, when green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion with the signal (GFP-CT24) was expressed in vsr1, mag1/vps29, and wild-type seeds, both vsr1and mag1/vps29 gave strongly fluorescent seeds but the wild type did not, suggesting that a defect in vacuolar sorting provided fluorescent seeds by the secretion of GFP-CT24 out of the cells. We mutagenized transformant seeds expressing GFP-CT24. From ∼3,000,000 lines of M2 seeds, we obtained >100 fluorescent seeds and designated them green fluorescent seed (gfs) mutants. We report 10 gfs mutants, all of which caused missorting of storage proteins. We mapped gfs1 to VSR1, gfs2 to KAM2/GRV2, gfs10 to the At4g35870 gene encoding a novel membrane protein, and the others to different loci. This method should provide valuable insights into the complex molecular mechanisms underlying vacuolar sorting of storage proteins.
Temperature Dependence of Open-Circuit Voltage and UPS Study for P3HT:PCBM Organic Solar Cells

In this paper, the open-circuit voltage <i>V</i><sub>oc</sub> of a poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and a [6,6]-phenyl C<sub>61</sub> -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) bulk heterojunction organic solar cell device was measured at temperatures ranging from 15<sup>°</sup>C to 145<sup>°</sup>C. The temperature dependence of the vacuum shift and of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of P3HT and PCBM were measured by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy in the same temperature range. The temperature dependence of the absorption edge was also studied in the same temperature range to obtain the temperature variation of the optical band gap energy <i>E</i><sub>g</sub>. The measured <i>V</i><sub>oc</sub> of the devices shows a clear decreasing trend with increasing operating temperature, and the total decrease is found to be about 0.1 V. However, by utilizing the measured values of the HOMO for the P3HT (donor) and of the determined lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) for the PCBM (acceptor), we have found that the calculated values of <i>V</i><sub>oc</sub> and its temperature dependence do not agree with the measured <i>V</i><sub>oc</sub> values. This is a clear indication that the expression (HOMO-LUMO)-exciton energy does not hold and that other factors are impacting the value of <i>V</i><sub>oc</sub>.
Where, When and Why Do Tsetse Contact Humans? Answers from Studies in a National Park of Zimbabwe

Background Sleeping sickness, also called human African trypanosomiasis, is transmitted by the tsetse, a blood-sucking fly confined to sub-Saharan Africa. The form of the disease in West and Central Africa is carried mainly by species of tsetse that inhabit riverine woodland and feed avidly on humans. In contrast, the vectors for the East and Southern African form of the disease are usually savannah species that feed mostly on wild and domestic animals and bite humans infrequently, mainly because the odours produced by humans can be repellent. Hence, it takes a long time to catch many savannah tsetse from people, which in turn means that studies of the nature of contact between savannah tsetse and humans, and the ways of minimizing it, have been largely neglected. Methodology/Principal Findings The savannah tsetse, Glossina morsitans morsitans and G. pallidipes, were caught from men in the Mana Pools National park of Zimbabwe. Mostly the catch consisted of young G. m. morsitans, with little food reserve. Catches were increased by 4–8 times if the men were walking, not stationary, and increased about ten times more if they rode on a truck at 10 km/h. Catches were unaffected if the men used deodorant or were baited with artificial ox odour, but declined by about 95% if the men were with an ox. Surprisingly, men pursuing their normal daily activities were bitten about as much when in or near buildings as when in woodland. Catches from oxen and a standard ox-like trap were poor indices of the number and physiological state of tsetse attacking men. Conclusion/Significance The search for new strategies to minimize the contact between humans and savannah tsetse should focus on that occurring in buildings and vehicles. There is a need to design a man-like trap to help to provide an index of sleeping sickness risk.
Qualidade em serviços e gestão da experiência do cliente no comércio eletrônico

A gestao da experiencia do cliente e uma abordagem que vem gerando crescente interesse em profissionais e academicos da area de marketing (KLAUS, 2013; RAWSON; DUNCAN; JONES, 2013). De outro lado, a qualidade em servicos continua sendo estudada e vem ganhando novas escalas e modelos para o contexto online (BOSHOFF, 2007; LI; SUOMI, 2009). O limiar entre os temas continua, porem, pouco explorado na literatura academica, dificultando a operacionalizacao dos conceitos de maneira integrada (KLAUS, 2013). Este artigo busca elucidar a inter-relacao entre os temas a partir da representacao da jornada do cliente, onde a qualidade em servicos e um fator primordial para a entrega de valor, dentro de um contexto mais amplo, que envolve todos os pontos de contato do cliente com a empresa, que devem ser geridos a partir da centralidade de pensamento no cliente e no comprometimento em oferecer-lhe experiencias positivamente diferenciadas, capazes de promover engajamento.
The use of motor learning in biomechanics: a call for more collaboration.

Though biomechanics and motor learning are complimentary fields of study, few biomechanists have effectively combined the two. Biomechanics research has, in general, focussed on measurement techniques and ideal models of performance rather than how to use biomechanics as a tool to alter technique. Incorporating motor learning principles into biomechanics research is an important step not only for the understanding of learning principles but also the utilisation of biomechanical information in institutes and academies of sport around the world. This paper will briefly examine how research into augmented feedback, attentional focus and observational learning can be integrated into biomechanics research to aid in the successful alteration of an athlete’s technique
Blunt Chest Trauma in Mice after Cigarette Smoke-Exposure: Effects of Mechanical Ventilation with 100 % O2

Cigarette smoking (CS) aggravates post-traumatic acute lung injury and increases ventilator-induced lung injury due to more severe tissue inflammation and apoptosis. Hyper-inflammation after chest trauma is due to the physical damage, the drop in alveolar PO2, and the consecutive hypoxemia and tissue hypoxia. Therefore, we tested the hypotheses that 1) CS exposure prior to blunt chest trauma causes more severe post-traumatic inflammation and thereby aggravates lung injury, and that 2) hyperoxia may attenuate this effect. Immediately after blast wave-induced blunt chest trauma, mice (n=32) with or without 3-4 weeks of CS exposure underwent 4 hours of pressure-controlled, thoraco-pulmonary compliance-titrated, lung-protective mechanical ventilation with air or 100 % O2. Hemodynamics, lung mechanics, gas exchange, and acid-base status were measured together with blood and tissue cytokine and chemokine concentrations, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), activated caspase-3, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α (HIF-1α) expression, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation, nitrotyrosine formation, purinergic receptor 2X4 (P2XR4) and 2X7 (P2XR7) expression, and histological scoring. CS exposure prior to chest trauma lead to higher pulmonary compliance and lower PaO2 and Horovitz-index, associated with increased tissue IL-18 and blood MCP-1 concentrations, a 2-4-fold higher inflammatory cell infiltration, and more pronounced alveolar membrane thickening. This effect coincided with increased activated caspase-3, nitrotyrosine, P2XR4, and P2XR7 expression, NF-κB activation, and reduced HIF-1α expression. Hyperoxia did not further affect lung mechanics, gas exchange, pulmonary and systemic cytokine and chemokine concentrations, or histological scoring, except for some patchy alveolar edema in CS exposed mice. However, hyperoxia attenuated tissue HIF-1α, nitrotyrosine, P2XR7, and P2XR4 expression, while it increased HO-1 formation in CS exposed mice. Overall, CS exposure aggravated post-traumatic inflammation, nitrosative stress and thereby organ dysfunction and injury; short-term, lung-protective, hyperoxic mechanical ventilation have no major beneficial effect despite attenuation of nitrosative stress, possibly due to compensation of by regional alveolar hypoxia and/or consecutive hypoxemia, resulting in down-regulation of HIF-1α expression.
Identifying Structural Features of Fibrillar Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Using Site-directed Spin Labeling*

Pancreatic amyloid deposits, composed primarily of the 37-residue islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), are a characteristic feature found in more than 90% of patients with type II diabetes. Although IAPP amyloid deposits are associated with areas of pancreatic islet β-cell dysfunction and depletion and are thought to play a role in disease, their structure is unknown. We used electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to analyze eight spin-labeled derivatives of IAPP in an effort to determine structural features of the peptide. In solution, all eight derivatives gave rise to electron paramagnetic resonance spectra with sharp lines indicative of rapid motion on the sub-nanosecond time scale. These spectra are consistent with a rapidly tumbling and highly dynamic peptide. In contrast, spectra for the fibrillar form exhibit reduced mobility and the presence of strong intermolecular spin-spin interactions. The latter implies that the peptide subunits are ordered and that the same residues from neighboring peptides are in close proximity to one another. Our data are consistent with a parallel arrangement of IAPP peptides within the amyloid fibril. Analysis of spin label mobility indicates a high degree of order throughout the peptide, although the N-terminal region is slightly less ordered. Possible similarities with respect to the domain organization and parallelism of Alzheimer's amyloid β peptide fibrils are discussed.