Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is Medicalization and Dichotomization of Sexology the Answer? A Commentary

David Rowland (2007) in his thought-provoking article suggests that, “with the introduction of new pharmacological treatments, the resulting shift from the biopsychosocial model [of sexual dysfunction] to the disease model will become increasingly accepted and solidified over the next decade. ” I, as Rowland and many others, have been afraid of this trend. However, I am not sure whether everybody agrees with this pessimistic (or optimistic-depends on your point-of-view) statement. I am certainly less sure about it than Dr. Rowland is. I am not clear whether “sexual pharmacology” has provided and is going to provide the answers and solutions some believe. I am also not sure whether the relative demise of sexology, or rather sex therapy, could and should be totally blamed on sexual pharmacology. I am using the term sex therapy rather than sexology in the context of Rowland’s article because a) this is what he is really writing about; and b) replacing the term sex therapy with the term sexology, as opposite to sexual medicine or sexual pharmacology brings in the false dichotomy of psychology vs. biology. Sexology has been defined as the science dealing with human sexual behavior, and thus, I believe, it encompasses both sex therapy and sexual medicine or sexual pharmacology, and certainly not just these two. I believe that the issues raised by Dr. Rowland should be addressed in a wider context of what is happening to the field of human sexuality, psychiatry (which, in my mind, should be—yet is not—leading the developments in human sexuality), and biomedical research in general. I profess that my views are totally subjective and are not based in any hard evidence available to me. I also profess that I, as many of us if not all, have many questions but not many answers.
Quantifying training intensity distribution in a group of Norwegian professional soccer players.

PURPOSE This study was designed to quantify the daily distribution of training intensity in a group of professional soccer players in Norway based on three different methods of training intensity quantification. METHODS Fifteen male athletes (age, 24 ± 5 y) performed treadmill test to exhaustion to determine heart rate and VO2 corresponding to ventilatory thresholds (VT1, VT2), maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and maximal heart rate. VT1 and VT2 were used to delineate three intensity zones based on heart rate. During a 4 wk period in the preseason (N = 15), and two separate weeks late in the season (N = 11), all endurance and on-ball training sessions (preseason: N = 378, season: N= 78) were quantified using continuous heart rate registration and session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE). Three different methods were used to quantify the intensity distribution: time in zone, session goal and sRPE. RESULTS Intensity distributions across all sessions were similar when based on session goal or by sRPE. However, intensity distribution based on heart rate cut-offs from standardized testing was significantly different (time in zone). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that quantifying training intensity by using heart rate based total time in zone is not valid for describing the effective training intensity in soccer. The results also suggest that the daily training intensity distribution in this representative group of high level Norwegian soccer players is organized after a pattern where about the same numbers of training sessions are performed in low lactate, lactate threshold, and high intensity training zones.
Multilevel Power Supply for High Efficiency RF Amplifiers

In radio systems linear power amplifiers (class A, B or AB) are usually used as a solution for the power amplifier stage. These amplifiers have high linearity, but suffer from low efficiency when the transmitted signal has low peak-to-average power ratio. The Kahn envelope elimination and restoration (EER) technique is used to enhance efficiency of RF transmitters, by combining highly efficient, nonlinear RF amplifier (class D or E) with a highly efficient envelope amplifier in order to obtain linear and highly efficient RF amplifier. This paper presents a solution for the envelope amplifier based on a combination of multilevel converter and linear regulator. The proposed solution can reproduce any signal with maximal spectral component of 2 MHz and give instantaneous maximal power of 50 W. The efficiency measurements show that when the signals with low average value are transmitted, it has up to 15% higher efficiency than linear regulator that is used as a conventional solution. Additionally, the algorithm for selection of voltage levels for the multilevel converter is explained, as well.
Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of Sativex (nabiximols), on spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis

Objective: To determine the efficacy of Sativex (USAN: nabiximols) in the alleviation of spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis. Methods: The results from three randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind parallel group studies were combined for analysis. Patients: 666 patients with multiple sclerosis and spasticity. Measures: A 0—100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS, transformed to a 0—10 scale) or a 0—10 Numerical Rating Scale (0—10 NRS) was used to measure spasticity. Patients achieving a ≥30% improvement from baseline in their spasticity score were defined as ‘responders’. Global impression of change (GIC) at the end of treatment was also recorded. Results: The patient populations were similar. The adjusted mean change of the numerical rating scale from baseline in the treated group was —1.30 compared with —0.97 for placebo. Using a linear model, the treatment difference was —0.32 (95% CI —0.61, —0.04, p = 0.026). A statistically significant greater proportion of treated patients were responders (odds ratio (OR) = 1.62, 95% CI 1.15, 2.28; p = 0.0073) and treated patients also reported greater improvement: odds ratio 1.67 (95% CI 1.05, 2.65; p = 0.030). High numbers of subjects experienced at least one adverse event, but most were mild to moderate in severity and all drug-related serious adverse events resolved. Conclusion: The meta-analysis demonstrates that nabiximols is well tolerated and reduces spasticity.
Multiple cases of Burkitt's lymphoma and other neoplasms in families in the north mara district of Tanzania

In an area of Tanzania in which Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is endemic, five families are described in which multiple cases of BL were found or BL occurred with other neoplasms. The patients include two brothers and one half‐brother with BL, two brothers with BL, a woman with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) whose daughter had BL, a boy with BL whose sister developed chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML), and a man with CML whose son developed BL. The two full‐sib pairs with BL is significantly more than would be expected to have arisen by chance and the association of BL with NPC and CML among close relatives is remarkable in view of the rarity of the last two neoplasms in the study area. It is suggested that genetic factors may be important in determining susceptibility to the three malignancies in this population, but the possibility that the clustering of cases within families may be due to local environmental factors cannot be excluded.
GABAB Receptor Complex as a Potential Target for Tumor Therapy

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate central nervous system. Metabotropic GABAB receptors are heterodimeric G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) consisting of GABAB1 and GABAB2 subunits. The intracellular C-terminal domains of GABAB receptors are involved in heterodimerization, oligomerization, and association with other proteins, which results in a large receptor complex. Multiple splice variants of the GABAB1 subunit have been identified in which GABAB1a and GABAB1b are the most abundant isoforms in the nervous system. Isoforms GABAB1c through GABAB1n are minor isoforms and are detectable only at mRNA levels. Some of the minor isoforms have been detected in peripheral tissues and encode putative soluble proteins with C-terminal truncations. Interestingly, increased expression of GABAB receptors has been detected in several human cancer cells and tissues. Moreover, GABAB receptor agonist baclofen inhibited tumor growth in rat models. GABAB receptor activation not only induces suppressing the proliferation and migration of various human tumor cells but also results in inactivation of CREB (cAMP-responsive element binding protein) and ERK in tumor cells. Their structural complexity makes it possible to disrupt the functions of GABAB receptors in various ways, raising GABAB receptor diversity as a potential therapeutic target in some human cancers.
The Relationship of Language and Emotion: N400 Support for an Embodied View of Language Comprehension

According to embodied theories, the symbols used by language are meaningful because they are grounded in perception, action, and emotion. In contrast, according to abstract symbol theories, meaning arises from the syntactic combination of abstract, amodal symbols. If language is grounded in internal bodily states, then one would predict that emotion affects language. Consistent with this, advocates of embodied theories propose a strong link between emotion and language [Havas, D. , Glenberg, A. M. , & Rinck, M. Emotion simulation during language comprehension. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 436–441, 2007; Niedenthal, P. M. Embodying emotion. Science, 316, 1002–1005, 2007]. The goal of this study was to test abstract symbol vs. embodied views of language by investigating whether mood affects semantic processing. To this aim, we induced different emotional states (happy vs. sad) by presenting film clips that displayed fragments from a happy movie or a sad movie. The clips were presented before and during blocks of sentences in which the cloze probability of mid-sentence critical words varied (high vs. low). Participants read sentences while ERPs were recorded. The mood induction procedure was successful: Participants watching the happy film clips scored higher on a mood scale than those watching the sad clips. For N400, mood by cloze probability interactions were obtained. The N400 cloze effect was strongly reduced in the sad mood compared with the happy mood condition. Furthermore, a difference in late positivity was only present for the sad mood condition. The mood by semantic processing interaction observed for N400 supports embodied theories of meaning and challenges abstract symbol theories that assume that processing of word meaning reflects a modular process.
Medium-Term Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Function

Background Exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) contributes to increased cardiovascular risk. Land-use regression models can improve exposure assessment for TRAP. Objectives We examined the association between medium-term concentrations of black carbon (BC) estimated by land-use regression and levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), both markers of inflammatory and endothelial response. Methods We studied 642 elderly men participating in the Veterans Administration (VA) Normative Aging Study with repeated measurements of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 during 1999–2008. Daily estimates of BC exposure at each geocoded participant address were derived using a validated spatiotemporal model and averaged to form 4-, 8-, and 12-week exposures. We used linear mixed models to estimate associations, controlling for confounders. We examined effect modification by statin use, obesity, and diabetes. Results We found statistically significant positive associations between BC and sICAM-1 for averages of 4, 8, and 12 weeks. An interquartile-range increase in 8-week BC exposure (0.30 μg/m3) was associated with a 1.58% increase in sICAM-1 (95% confidence interval, 0.18–3.00%). Overall associations between sVCAM-1 and BC exposures were suggestive but not statistically significant. We found a significant interaction with diabetes—where diabetics were more susceptible to the effect of BC—for both sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1. We also observed an interaction with statin use, which was statistically significant for sVCAM-1 and suggestive for sICAM-1. We found no evidence of an interaction with obesity. Conclusion Our results suggest that medium-term exposure to TRAP may induce an increased inflammatory/endothelial response, especially among diabetics and those not using statins.
Layer-by-layer self-assembly for fabrication of recyclable magnetic antimicrobial nanocomposites

Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is a prevalent approach for coating material with functional thin films. In this work, we report on high-efficient antibacterial nanofilms constructed by direct assembly of sodium citrate with synthetic N-halamine precursor containing quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) moieties, and deposited on the iron oxide nanoparticles (IO NPs) (size 20~30 nm) using the LbL method. The chlorinated magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by Transmission electron microscopy, Thermogravimetric analysis, Zeta Potential analyses, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-Ray powder diffraction and Saturation magnetization value measurement. The biocidal kinetic test showed that the as-prepared nanoparticles had excellent biocidal activity towards both S. aureus (gram-positive) and E.coli (gram-negative) with short contact. In addition, functionalized magnetic nanocomposites can be easily recycled by an external magnetic field. The LbL assembly strategy provides possibility for the development of novel antimicrobial coatings via an eco-friendly approach.
Boost IORT in Breast Cancer: Body of Evidence

The term IORT (intraoperative radiotherapy) is currently used for various techniques that show decisive differences in dose delivery. The largest evidence for boost IORT preceding whole breast irradiation (WBI) originates from intraoperative electron treatments with single doses around 10 Gy, providing outstandingly low local recurrence rates in any risk constellation also at long term analyses. Compared to other boost methods, an intraoperative treatment has evident advantages as follows. Precision. Direct visualisation of the tumour bed during surgery guarantees an accurate dose delivery. This fact has additionally gained importance in times of primary reconstruction techniques after lumpectomy to optimise cosmetic outcome. IORT is performed before breast tissue is mobilised for plastic purposes. Cosmesis. As a consequence of direct tissue exposure without distension by hematoma/seroma, IORT allows for small treatment volumes and complete skin sparing, both having a positive effect on late tissue tolerance and, hence, cosmetic appearance. Patient Comfort. Boost IORT marginally prolongs the surgical procedure, while significantly shortening postoperative radiotherapy. Its combination with a 3-week hypofractionated external beam radiotherapy to the whole breast (WBI) is presently tested in the HIOB trial (hypofractionated WBI preceded by IORT electron boost), a prospective multicenter trial of the International Society of Intraoperative Radiotherapy (ISIORT).
Towards mobile ad-hoc WANs: terminodes

Terminodes are personal devices that provide functionality of both the terminals and the nodes of the network. A network of terminodes is an autonomous, fully self-organized, wireless network, independent of any infrastructure. It must be able to scale up to millions of units, without any fixed backbone or server. In this paper we present the main challenges and discuss the main technical directions.
Improving occupational injury surveillance by using a severity threshold: development of a new occupational health indicator

Background Hospital discharge data are used for occupational injury surveillance, but observed hospitalisation trends are affected by trends in healthcare practices and workers’ compensation coverage that may increasingly impair ascertainment of minor injuries relative to severe injuries. The objectives of this study were to (1) describe the development of a severe injury definition for surveillance purposes and (2) assess the impact of imposing a severity threshold on estimated occupational and non-occupational injury trends. Methods Three independent methods were used to estimate injury severity for the severe injury definition. 10 population-based hospital discharge databases were used to estimate trends (1998–2009), including the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) and State Inpatient Databases (SID) from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Negative binomial regression was used to model injury trends with and without severity restriction and to test trend divergence by severity. Results Trend estimates for occupational injuries were biased downwards in the absence of severity restriction, more so than for non-occupational injuries. Imposing a severity threshold resulted in a markedly different historical picture. Conclusions Severity restriction can be used as an injury surveillance methodology to increase the accuracy of trend estimates, which can then be used by occupational health researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to identify prevention opportunities and to support state and national investments in occupational injury prevention efforts. The newly adopted state-based occupational health indicator, ‘Work-Related Severe Traumatic Injury Hospitalizations’, incorporates a severity threshold that will reduce temporal ascertainment threats to accurate trend estimates.
Ambulatory walking speed estimation under different step lengths and frequencies

In this study we investigated the feasibility and performance of estimating walking speed under different combinations of step length and step frequency using a shank-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU). The estimation algorithm is based on the fact that the walking is a cyclical motion with a distinguishable pattern and an inverted pendulum-like behavior. To evaluate its performance under different walking conditions, treadmill trials were conducted with controlled step lengths and step frequencies. A root mean squared error (RMSE) of 5.6% was achieved in the walking speed estimation across all combinations of step length and step frequency. As the shank-mounted IMU walking speed estimation method showed a robust performance at wide range of step lengths and step frequencies, it could potentially be used as a low-cost alternative for walking speed measurement in a non-laboratory environment.
The hydrogen bond in the solid state.

The hydrogen bond is the most important of all directional intermolecular interactions. It is operative in determining molecular conformation, molecular aggregation, and the function of a vast number of chemical systems ranging from inorganic to biological. Research into hydrogen bonds experienced a stagnant period in the 1980s, but re-opened around 1990, and has been in rapid development since then. In terms of modern concepts, the hydrogen bond is understood as a very broad phenomenon, and it is accepted that there are open borders to other effects. There are dozens of different types of X-H.A hydrogen bonds that occur commonly in the condensed phases, and in addition there are innumerable less common ones. Dissociation energies span more than two orders of magnitude (about 0.2-40 kcal mol(-1)). Within this range, the nature of the interaction is not constant, but its electrostatic, covalent, and dispersion contributions vary in their relative weights. The hydrogen bond has broad transition regions that merge continuously with the covalent bond, the van der Waals interaction, the ionic interaction, and also the cation-pi interaction. All hydrogen bonds can be considered as incipient proton transfer reactions, and for strong hydrogen bonds, this reaction can be in a very advanced state. In this review, a coherent survey is given on all these matters.
Biotechnology of Microbial Xylanases: Enzymology, Molecular Biology, and Application

ABSTRACT: Xylanases are hydrolases depolymerizing the plant cell wall component xylan, the second most abundant polysaccharide. The molecular structure and hydrolytic pattern of xylanases have been reported extensively and the mechanism of hydrolysis has also been proposed. There are several models for the gene regulation of which this article could add to the wealth of knowledge. Future work on the application of these enzymes in the paper and pulp, food industry, in environmental science, that is, bio-fueling, effluent treatment, and agro-waste treatment, etc. require a complete understanding of the functional and genetic significance of the xylanases. However, the thrust area has been identified as the paper and pulp industry. The major problem in the field of paper bleaching is the removal of lignin and its derivatives, which are linked to cellulose and xylan. Xylanases are more suitable in the paper and pulp industry than lignin-degrading systems.
Under Consideration for Publication in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming Failure Tabled Constraint Logic Programming by Interpolation *

We present a new execution strategy for constraint logic programs called Failure Tabled CLP. Similarly to Tabled CLP our strategy records certain derivations in order to prune further derivations. However, our method only learns from failed derivations. This allows us to compute interpolants rather than constraint projection for generation of reuse conditions. As a result, our technique can be used where projection is too expensive or does not exist. Our experiments indicate that Failure Tabling can speed up the execution of programs with many redundant failed derivations as well as achieve termination in the presence of infinite executions.
In vivo evaluation of the early events associated with liver metastasis of circulating cancer cells

The mechanism of metastasis formation remains still largely unknown. Many studies underline the importance and complexity of the initial arrest of the circulating tumour cells in the target organ, a key stage in metastasis occurrence. In our study, we evaluated by visual means the metastasis formation using an in vivo microscopy system in a murine model. Moreover, we investigated the involvement of P-selectin in these processes using immunohistochemistry and P-selectin knockout mice. The present study offers direct evidence of distinct pathways for tumour metastasis formation by a lymphoma cell – EL-4 and a solid tumour cell – C26. Off-line analysis of the images and histological data confirmed that mechanical entrapment of the solid tumour cell, which had a bigger diameter than that of the liver sinusoids, promoted metastasis without any detectable involvement of adhesion molecules. On the other hand, we observed that lymphoma cells, in spite of their smaller diameter as compared to the sinusoids, promoted liver metastasis as well, but with the essential participation in their arrest of P-selectin, indicating an adhesion molecule-mediated pathway. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign