Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of a standardized extract of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) on depression and anxiety symptoms in persons with schizophrenia participating in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Extracts of Withania somnifera (WSE), or Ashwagandha, has traditionally been used as an adaptogen in Ayurvedic medicine, and evidence suggests that it may have efficacy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. This secondary analysis reviewed change in depression and anxiety symptoms in a study using WSE as an adjunctive treatment in patients with schizophrenia experiencing an exacerbation of positive symptoms. METHODS We enrolled patients with schizophrenia in a 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Active treatment was with 1,000 mg of standardized WSE. This analysis reviewed outcomes for 66 patients with depression and anxiety symptoms by examining the singleitem depression and anxiety-depression cluster subscores extracted from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. RESULTS Medium effect sizes of 0.683 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16 to 1.21) and 0.686 (95% CI, 0.16 to 1.21) favoring WSE over placebo were observed for depression single-item and anxiety-depression cluster scores, respectively. Adverse events were mild and transient. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that WSE may hold promise in the treatment of depression and anxiety symptoms in schizophrenia. While the mechanism of its clinical efficacy requires more exploration, the data suggest.
On the performance analysis of downlink heterogeneous networks with dual connectivity

By separately transmitting data and control signals from different tiers, dual connectivity (DC) delivers a potential solution to the handover and load balancing challenges brought by small cell deployment. In this paper, a tractable framework is developed for the downlink performance analysis of DC assisted heterogeneous cellular networks (HetNets). Based on a stochastic geometry model, accurate expressions of data-control joint coverage probability and average rate for a typical DC capable UE are derived and investigated under DC mode and single connectivity (SC) mode. It is observed that operating parameters like cell association bias and transmit power will change the optimum node density ratio to reach the maximum coverage probability and average rate, but they have little impact on the levels of maximum coverage and rate performance. Numerical results also reveal that better coverage and rate performance can be expected in scenarios with higher small cell path loss exponent.
High serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 predict the clinical outcome of treatment with human recombinant erythropoietin in anaemic cancer patients.

BACKGROUND A number of anaemic cancer patients are not responsive to treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO). The aim of the present study is to investigate whether serum levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6 and additional laboratory parameters, together with clinical variables, can predict the clinical outcome of treatment with rHuEPO in anaemic cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-five cancer patients and 25 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Patients were treated with epoetin alfa at the dose of 150 IU/kg s.c. three times a week for 12 weeks. If the haemoglobin (Hb) level failed to improve at least 2 g/dl above baseline by week 6 of treatment, dose was increased to 300 IU/kg s.c. for the remainder of the treatment period. All patients filled out the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), a questionnaire for the self-evaluation of cancer-related fatigue. Serum samples from patients and control groups were frozen at -80 degrees C and TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 were later examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Fatigued cancer patients had significant higher levels of circulating TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 than healthy controls. Responders (Rs) to erythropoietin had significant lower medium levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 than nonresponders (NRs). Fatigued patients with a general BFI score > or =6 presented higher medium level of cytokines than nonfatigued patients (general BFI score <6), but each group responded similarly to treatment with rHuEPO. CONCLUSIONS High serum levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 at the baseline are significantly correlated with a negative response to administration with rHuEPO. Thus, pretreatment evaluation of TNF-alpha and IL-6 serum levels can help to select those patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment with rHuEPO. On the contrary, Hb level, red blood cell count, lactate dehydrogenase and BFI score do not predict the outcome of treatment with rHuEPO.
Safety and Efficacy of the Subclavian Approach for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation With the CoreValve Revalving System

Background—Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a new option for patients with severe aortic stenosis at high surgical risk. The standard retrograde approach through the femoral artery is contraindicated in case of unfavorable iliofemoral anatomy or extensive disease. In these patients, a trans-subclavian approach may be feasible. Methods and Results—Between June 2007 and July 2009, TAVI with the CoreValve bioprosthesis (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minn) was performed in 514 consecutive patients at 13 Italian hospitals, using the subclavian approach in 54 cases. The median logistic EuroSCORE was significantly higher in the subclavian (19.4; interquartile range, 12.5 to 29.8) versus femoral group (25.3; interquartile range, 15.1 to 36.6) (P=0.03), as well as the rate of comorbidities. Procedural success was obtained in 100% versus 98.4% of the subclavian versus femoral groups, respectively (P=0.62), with intraprocedural mortality of 0% versus 0.9% (P=1.00). The most common in-hospital complications were a new left bundle-branch block (22.4%) and the need for pacemaker (16.3%). No specific complications for the subclavian access (vessel rupture, vertebral or internal mammary ischemia) were reported. The learning curve for the subclavian approach led to a wider use of local anesthesia. Thirty-day mortality was 0% versus 6.1% in the subclavian versus femoral groups, respectively (P=0.13). Six-month mortality rate was 9.4% versus 15.8% (P=0.44), whereas valve-related adverse events were 13.6% versus 13.9% (P=0.79). Conclusions—TAVI through the subclavian approach appeared feasible and safe, with excellent procedural success and low in-hospital complication rates. This new technique allows patients with contraindications to the femoral approach to be treated with TAVI.
An efficient channel selection method for Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer data and characteristics of retrieved temperature profiles

The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) is part of the core payload of the forthcoming series of European polar-orbiting operational meteorological satellites (METOP series; 1 launch scheduled 2005). Compared to existing operational satellite radiometers, the high spectral resolution IASI sensor (> 8000 channels from 3.6–15.5 μm) will allow, among other advances, improved accuracy and vertical resolution of retrieved temperature and humidity profiles. Exploiting this potential in applications like numerical weather prediction and climate change analysis requires advanced algorithms, which process the huge amount of spectral data in a fast and reliable way. We introduce an efficient and robust channel selection method, which retains at each retrieval level a small number of channels only, with the highest ratios of weighting function magnitude to radiometric error (“maximum sensitivity” channels). By one-to-one comparison of this “maximum sensitivity” method with a more elaborate selection method we found that the number of channels can be reduced based on this simple information content measure to as low as ~1% of the total number of channels (< 100 channels) without significantly degrading the quality of retrieved temperature profiles (i.e., retrieval error magnitudes change by ~10% or less only). Furthermore, utilizing the capabilities of the optimal estimation methodology employed in the retrieval processing, the effects of measurement noise and a priori uncertainties on retrieval performance are discussed as well as characteristic properties of the retrieved temperature profiles including correlation functions, weighting functions, resolution kernels, gain functions, and signal-to-noise functions. In general, IASI-derived temperature profiles exhibit an accuracy of ~1 K, at a resolution of 1 to 3 km, in the troposphere (below ~200 hPa). The theoretical error analysis and characterization was complemented by an ensemble-based empirical error analysis, which particularly addressed the impact of an (in)adequate choice of a priori profiles and their uncertainties. It is instructively shown that, for retrieving profiles with optimally minimized errors, any ensemble of a priori states should be statistically unbiased against the corresponding ensemble of “true” states as well as be consistent with the specified a priori error covariance matrix (in line with the assumptions of the optimal estimation framework used). The results of the study confirm the potential of IASI to significantly improve upon atmospheric information available from current meteorological satellite sounders.
Capital Asset Pricing Model Revisited : Empirical Studies on Beta Risks and Return

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) has been the dominating capital market equilibrium model since its inception and continues to be widely used in practical portfolio management and in academic research. Its central implication is that the contribution of an asset to the variance of the market is the correct measure of the asset’s risk and the only systematic determinant of the asset’s return. However, studies showed that firm size appeared to be a significant determinant of stock returns that there is no cross-sectional relationship between beta risk and return once firm size and book-tomarket ratios are included as explanatory variables. In this study, we revisited the CAPM with empirical data from large firms. We gathered stock information for more than 288 publicly traded companies with market cap larger than 500 million dollars, price-earning-ratio less than ten, and a greater than zero profitability for over a one year period. We also categorize risk factors of the stocks into three categories: low (beta around point five), market (beta about one), and high (beta about two). Covariance and correlation relations between the stocks as well as their risk factors were used to create optimal portfolios in hindsight. The goal is to test the hypothesis that the systematic risk of a portfolio as measured by its market model beta is indeed a relevant measure of risk, and we would like to examine if beta is reliably related to the return of the portfolio conditional on the sign of the market risk premium, so we can justify the use of market model betas estimated from historical price.
Rak trzustki – przyczyny oporności na chemioterapię Pancreatic cancer- mechanisms of chemoresistance

Despite the enormous progress made over the past decades in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of many types of tumor, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer still remains poor. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant and chemotherapy-resistant tumors. That is mainly due to the lack of effective diagnosis at an early stage of tumor development and ineffective therapy. In most patients the disease is diagnosed at an advanced, metastatic stage and only 15-20% of patients are eligible for surgical removal of the tumor, which still remains the only chance for radical treatment. Studies in recent years have not yielded significant progress in the treatment of disease, and gemcitabine or its combinations with other chemotherapeutics such as erlotinib or capecitabine still remains the standard therapy. Although mechanisms of cell death induced by gemcitabine and other chemotherapeutic agents are well known, their Streszczenie
Can environmental conditions experienced in early life influence future generations?

The consequences of early developmental conditions for performance in later life are now subjected to convergent interest from many different biological sub-disciplines. However, striking data, largely from the biomedical literature, show that environmental effects experienced even before conception can be transmissible to subsequent generations. Here, we review the growing evidence from natural systems for these cross-generational effects of early life conditions, showing that they can be generated by diverse environmental stressors, affect offspring in many ways and can be transmitted directly or indirectly by both parental lines for several generations. In doing so, we emphasize why early life might be so sensitive to the transmission of environmentally induced effects across generations. We also summarize recent theoretical advancements within the field of developmental plasticity, and discuss how parents might assemble different ‘internal’ and ‘external’ cues, even from the earliest stages of life, to instruct their investment decisions in offspring. In doing so, we provide a preliminary framework within the context of adaptive plasticity for understanding inter-generational phenomena that arise from early life conditions.
Tagging Horrible Titles to Persons with Special Needs

The current article highlights and draws the attention of the community, officials and the concerned bodies to the danger of tagging horrible names and titles to persons with special needs. Furthermore, the article describes some of the ailments and diseases that cause impairments whose names are tagged to the affected persons. In the Arab world, as well as in many parts of the world, many titles are given to persons with special needs particularly the disabled ones. These names are of syndromes or titles created to be attached to the names of persons suffer certain disease phenomena. These titles are sometimes used to insult, contempt, belittle or humiliate these persons. The use of these titles is usually associated with many social problems. The habit of tagging awful and horrible titles to persons is a practice in many parts of the world particularly the Arab world. The persons with special needs are the main category of the society suffers from this problem. These titles hurt and embarrass the persons with special needs as well as their families. Therefore special regulations and new laws should be formulated, endorsed and strictly implemented and the existing laws should be enforced to limit and prohibit this unacceptable habit.
Structure-based design of small peptide inhibitors of protein kinase CK 2 subunit interaction

Structure-based design of small peptide inhibitors of protein kinase CK2 subunit interaction Béatrice LAUDET*†‡, Caroline BARETTE§, Vincent DULERY‡‖, Olivier RENAUDET‡‖, Pascal DUMY‡‖, Alexandra METZ*†‡, Renaud PRUDENT*†‡, Alexandre DESHIERE*†‡, Otto DIDEBERG¶, Odile FILHOL*†‡ and Claude COCHET*†‡1 *Inserm, U873, Grenoble, F-38054, France, †CEA, iRTSV/LTS, Grenoble, F-38054, France, ‡Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France, §CEA, iRTSV/CMBA, Grenoble, F-38054, France, ‖CNRS, UMR-5250, ICMG FR-2607, Grenoble, France, and ¶CNRS, CEA, IBS/LCM, Grenoble, France
Inconsistency measurement thanks to mus decomposition

Bearing contradictory knowledge is often unavoidable among multi-agents. Measuring inconsistency degrees of knowledge bases of different agents facilitates the understanding of an agent to her environment. Several semantics or syntax-based approaches have been proposed to quantify inconsistencies. In this paper, we propose a new inconsistency measuring framework based on both minimal unsatisfiable sets and maximal consistent sets. Firstly, we define a graph representation of knowledge bases, based on which we furthermore explore the logical property of the Additivity condition. Then, we show how the structure of the proposed graph representation can be used to discriminate, in a fine-grained way, the responsibility of each formula or a set of formulae for the inconsistency of a knowledge base. Finally, we extend our framework to provide an inconsistency measure for a whole knowledge base. All the proposed measures are shown satisfying the desired properties.
Sodium Concentration Coding Gives Way to Evaluative Coding in Cortex and Amygdala

Typically, stimulus batteries used to characterize sensory neural coding span physical parameter spaces (e.g., concentration: from low to high). For awake animals, however, psychological variables (e.g., pleasantness/palatability) with complicated relationships to the physical often dominate neural responses. Here we pit physical and psychological axes against one another, presenting awake rats with a stimulus set including 4 NaCl concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 0.3, and 1.0 m) plus palatable (0.3 m sucrose) and aversive (0.001 m quinine) benchmarks, while recording the activity of neurons in two sites vital for NaCl taste processing, gustatory cortex (GC) and central amygdala (CeA). Since NaCl palatability (i.e., preference) follows a non-monotonic, “inverted-U-shaped” curve while concentration increases monotonically, this stimulus battery allowed us to test whether GC and CeA responses better reflect external or internal variables. As predicted, GC single-neuron and population responses reflected both parameters in separate response epochs: sodium concentration-related information appeared with the earliest taste-specific responses, giving way to palatability-related information, in an overlapping subset of neurons, several hundred milliseconds later. CeA single-neuron and population responses, meanwhile, contained only a brief period of concentration specificity, occurring just before palatability-related information emerged (simultaneously with, or slightly later than, in GC). Thus, cortex and amygdala both prominently reflect NaCl palatability late in their responses; CeA neurons largely respond to either palatable or aversive stimuli, while GC responses tend to reflect the entire palatability spectrum in a graded fashion.
Reflections on the Use of Psychophysiology in Studying Reading on Digital Media

This study reports the results of an experiment for studying the reading experience on digital media using frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetry, an index of approach/withdrawal motivation. Natural reading of a newspaper on the traditional print medium and a tablet computer were compared. Reading the print newspaper induced relatively greater left frontal cortical activation, suggesting higher approach motivation during reading on paper than on a tablet. The observed differences are moderated by individual differences in personality type (BIS/BAS scales), reading style, and experience with a tablet computer. BAS Drive and Fun Seeking subscales showed a significant negative effect on frontal EEG asymmetry when reading on tablet; increases in the Drive and Fun Seeking scores predicted lower approach motivation. In addition, the analysis of reading profile and demographics showed that focused readers experienced greater approach motivation during reading the print newspaper and a higher experience with a tablet computer was not found congruent with higher approach motivation during reading on a tablet. Implications for information systems research and design practice are discussed.
Magnesium Intake and Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome Among Young Adults

Background— Studies suggest that magnesium intake may be inversely related to risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus and that higher intake of magnesium may decrease blood triglycerides and increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, the longitudinal association of magnesium intake and incidence of metabolic syndrome has not been investigated. Methods and Results— We prospectively examined the relations between magnesium intake and incident metabolic syndrome and its components among 4637 Americans, aged 18 to 30 years, who were free from metabolic syndrome and diabetes at baseline. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to the National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III definition. Diet was assessed by an interviewer-administered quantitative food frequency questionnaire, and magnesium intake was derived from the nutrient database developed by the Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center. During the 15 years of follow-up, 608 incident cases of the metabolic syndrome were identified. Magnesium intake was inversely associated with incidence of metabolic syndrome after adjustment for major lifestyle and dietary variables and baseline status of each component of the metabolic syndrome. Compared with those in the lowest quartile of magnesium intake, multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio of metabolic syndrome for participants in the highest quartile was 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52 to 0.91; P for trend <0.01). The inverse associations were not materially modified by gender and race. Magnesium intake was also inversely related to individual component of the metabolic syndrome and fasting insulin levels. Conclusions— Our findings suggest that young adults with higher magnesium intake have lower risk of development of metabolic syndrome.
No major association of breast-feeding, vaccinations, and childhood viral diseases with early islet autoimmunity in the German BABYDIAB Study.

OBJECTIVE Environmental factors have been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of breast-feeding, vaccinations, and childhood viral diseases on the initiation of islet autoimmunity in early childhood. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Data were prospectively collected from questionnaires obtained at birth, at 9 months of age, and at 2 years of age in 823 offspring from parents with type 1 diabetes. By 2 years of age, 31 offspring had islet antibodies, and 10 developed overt diabetes by the time of follow-up. RESULTS In offspring from mothers with type 1 diabetes, duration of exclusive and total breast-feeding did not differ between islet antibody-positive and -negative children, regardless of HLA genotype, and breast-feeding of 3 months or longer was not associated with protection from antibody development or diabetes onset. In offspring from diabetic fathers, non-statistically significant reductions in exclusive and total breast-feeding times were observed in the antibody-positive cohort. Neither type nor quantity of vaccinations (including Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine; haemophilus influenzae vaccine; diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine; tick-born encephalitis vaccine; or measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine) were associated with the development of islet antibodies and diabetes. Measles, mumps, and rubella were not reported in children with islet antibodies or diabetes. CONCLUSIONS This study showed no evidence that proposed environmental factors affect islet antibody development in the first 2 years of life in offspring from parents with type 1 diabetes.
What is the Philosophy of Information

Computational and information-theoretic research in philosophy has become increasingly fertile and pervasive, giving rise to a wealth of interesting results. In consequence, a new and vitally important field has emerged, the philosophy of information (PI). This essay is the first attempt to analyse the nature of PI systematically. PI is defined as the philosophical field concerned with the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics, utilisation, and sciences, and the elaboration and application of information-theoretic and computational methodologies to philosophical problems. I argue that PI is a mature discipline for three reasons: it represents an autonomous field of research; it provides an innovative approach to both traditional and new philosophical topics; and it can stand beside other branches of philosophy, offering a systematic treatment of the conceptual foundations of the world of information and the information society.