Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mindfulness meditation alleviates depressive symptoms in women with fibromyalgia: results of a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE Depressive symptoms are common among patients with fibromyalgia, and behavioral intervention has been recommended as a major treatment component for this illness. The objective of this study was to test the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention on depressive symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia. METHODS This randomized controlled trial examined effects of the 8-week MBSR intervention on depressive symptoms in 91 women with fibromyalgia who were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 51) or a waiting-list control group (n = 40). Eligible patients were at least 18 years old, willing to participate in a weekly group, and able to provide physician verification of a fibromyalgia diagnosis. Of 166 eligible participants who responded to local television news publicizing, 49 did not appear for a scheduled intake, 24 enrolled but did not provide baseline data, and 2 were excluded due to severe mental illness, leaving 91 participants. The sample averaged 48 years of age and had 14.7 years of education. The typical participant was white, married, and employed. Patients randomly assigned to treatment received MBSR. Eight weekly 2.5-hour sessions were led by a licensed clinical psychologist with mindfulness training. Somatic and cognitive symptoms of depression were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory administered at baseline, immediately postprogram, and at followup 2 months after the conclusion of the intervention. RESULTS Change in depressive symptoms was assessed using slopes analyses of intervention effects over time. Depressive symptoms improved significantly in treatment versus control participants over the 3 assessments. CONCLUSION This meditation-based intervention alleviated depressive symptoms among patients with fibromyalgia.
Intelligent Software Agents with Applications in Focus

Most people are familiar with the concept of agents in real life. There are stock-market agents, sports agents, real-estate agents, etc. Agents are used to filter and present information to consumers. Likewise, during the last couple of decades, people have developed software agents, that have the similar role. They behave intelligently, run on computers, and are autonomous, but are not human beings. Basically, an agent is a computer program that is capable of performing a flexible and independent action in typically dynamic and unpredictable domains (Luck, McBurney, Shehory, & Willmott, 2005). Agents are capable of performing actions and making decisions without the guidance of a human. Software agents emerged in the IT because of the ever-growing need for information processing, and the problems concerning dealing and working with large quantities of data. Especially important is how agents act with other agents in the same environment, and the connections they form to find, refine and present the information in a best way. Agents certainly can do tasks better if they perform together, and that is why the multi-agent systems were developed. The concept of an agent has become important in a diverse range of sub-disciplines of IT, including software engineering, networking, mobile systems, control systems, decision support, information recovery and management, e-commerce, and many others. Agents are now used in an increasingly wide number of applications — ranging from comparatively small systems such as web or e-mail filters to large, complex systems such as air-traffic control, that have a large dependency on fast and precise decision making. Undoubtedly, the main contribution to the field of intelligent software agents came from the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The main focus of AI is to build intelligent entities and if these entities sense and act in some environment, then they can be considered agents (Russell & Norvig, 1995). Also, object-oriented programming (Booch, 2004), concurrent object-based systems (Agha, Wegner, and Yonezawa, 1993), and human-computer interaction (Maes, 1994) are fields that constantly drive forward the development of agents.
Messung der Körpertemperatur bei Milchkühen – Methoden und Einflussfaktoren

Zusammenfassung In Monitoring-Programmen für frühpuerperale Milchkühe spielt die Messung der Körpertemperatur eine herausragende Rolle. Eine erhöhte Körpertemperatur ist weiterhin Teil der international anerkannten Definition der puerperalen Metritis, einer klassischen Erkrankung des Frühpuerperiums. In vielen internationalen Untersuchungen dient die Körpertemperatur als wichtiges Entscheidungskriterium für eine antibiotische Behandlung im Puerperium. Ziel dieses Artikels ist, einen Überblick über aktuelle Studien zur Körpertemperatur der Milchkuh zusammenzustellen. Zahlreiche Faktoren beeinflussen sowohl die Temperaturmessung (Art des Thermometers, Eindringtiefe, Erfahrenheit des Untersuchers) als auch die Körpertemperatur der Milchkuh (Laktationsdauer, Laktationsnummer, Tageszeit, Klima zum Zeitpunkt der Abkalbung). Zusätzlich konnte in einigen Studien unabhängig voneinander gezeigt werden, dass ein gewisser Prozentsatz von gesunden Kühen im Frühpuerperium eine erhöhte Körpertemperatur aufweist. Bei unklaren Diagnosen (z. B. kein weiteres Symptom außer einer erhöhten Körpertemperatur) sollten die Messergebnisse hinterfragt werden.
Robotics in Power Systems: Enabling a More Reliable and Safe Grid

Power systems face numerous challenges to address the growing need for sustainable energy worldwide. Several tasks directly focused on power systems operations can be either partially or completely automated by an unmanned or teleoperated robotic system. Robots can improve efficiency, reduce labor costs, and, most importantly, avoid operational risks, since power plants and transmission lines are hostile environments for humans. Although there has been some preliminary development of robotic applications in several tasks related to power systems, the technology is still undergoing research and development; it is highly dependent on the nature of the tasks to be performed, and a unified framework of applications does not yet exist. The aim of this article is to present the main contributions from the robotics field to the inspection and maintenance of power systems through the analysis of state-of-the-art and current advances, thus providing the reader with a comprehensive and insightful analysis of implemented examples and future trends.
Transforming growth factor-beta2 inhibition of corneal endothelial proliferation mediated by prostaglandin.

PURPOSE To determine the influence of Prostaglandin (PG) E2 on transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta2-mediated inhibitory effects on the proliferation of corneal endothelial cells (CE). METHODS The PGE2 and cell proliferation assays were performed using cultured rabbit corneal endothelium. A PGE2-specific enzyme immunoassay was used to check PGE2 synthesis in supernatants of cells cultured with and without added TGF-beta2 and/or indomethacin. To evaluate the inhibitory effects of PGE2 and TGF-beta2 on CE proliferation, the number of cells grown with exogenous PGE2, or TGF-beta2 with or without indomethacin pretreatment was determined. RESULTS TGF-beta2, 0.5 to 50 ng/ml, increased the PGE2 secretion of CE dose-dependently in a time-dependent manner. Indomethacin (> or =0.1 microg/ml) inhibited this PGE2 secretion to a low level (around 5-10 ng/ml) in the presence or absence of exogenous TGF-beta2. Both exogenous TGF-beta2 and PGE2 inhibited CE proliferation dose-dependently over a wide range of concentrations. Indomethacin reversed the inhibitory effects of TGF-beta2 but not those of exogenous PGE2. In the medium supplemented with indomethacin, even in the presence of 50 ng/ml of TGF-beta2, CE growth did not differ from control cultures. CONCLUSIONS TGF-beta2 stimulates PGE2 synthesis in CE and inhibits CE proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Indomethacin extinguishes the inhibitory effects of TGF-beta2 on CE proliferation but not the effect of exogenous PGE2. These data suggest that the antiproliferative effects of TGF-beta2 on CE may be possibly due to TGF-beta2-induced synthesis of PG, most likely PGE2. SUMMARY Inhibition of endogenous prostaglandins synthesis by indomethacin extinguished the inhibitory effects of Transforming Growth Factor-beta2 on corneal endothelium proliferation but not exogenous prostaglandin E2. It suggesting that TGF-beta2-induced autocrine synthesis of PGs, most likely PGE2, may be responsible for the anti-proliferative effects of TGF-beta2 on corneal endothelium.
Collaborative Network Defense with Minimum Disclosure

Collaboration of defensive network components of multiple operators is a promising approach for increasing anomaly detection accuracy. This concept involves sharing of possibly sensitive data, hence privacy preservation has to be taken into account. In this paper, we argue that common approaches for sharing traffic information often impede proper analysis due to privacy-preserving mangling operations, and ignore the opportunity to exploit additional knowledge of the originating network operator for interpreting the monitored data. We propose COMINDIS, a lightweight framework for sharing notions of suspiciousness among network operators, and show how to exploit different detection systems for deriving a better understanding of Internet hosts' activities. We evaluate the system both by using a network mulator and by experimenting with a real traffic trace.
Amplification of the nephrotoxic effect of cyclosporine by preexistent chronic histological lesions in the kidney.

In contrast to its importance in improving renal graft survival, nephrotoxicity is the most serious side effect of cyclosporine. Dosage reductions of CsA mitigate its nephrotoxic effect. However, CsA nephrotoxicity is still a problem in clinical transplantation. In this study the relationships among preexistent chronic histological lesions, donor age, and renal function after transplantation in 100 CsA treated renal allograft patients are described. Multivariate data analysis revealed a significant statistical effect of the presence of preexistent chronic histological lesions on nonimmediate function (-.42, less than 0.0001) that was relatively twice as large as the effects of cold ischemia time (-.21, less than 0.05). Also in predicting creatinine clearance at 1 and 3 months, preexisting chronic histological lesions had the most important effect (-.39, less than 0.0001; -.57, less than 0.0001, respectively), whereas the presence or absence of rejection episodes was less predictive (.24, less than 0.001; .20, less than 0.01, respectively). Preexistent chronic histological lesions had also significant effects in predicting conversion to azathioprine and prednisolone, because of CsA nephrotoxicity (-.42; less than 0.0001). The degree of CsA nephrotoxicity therefore varies according to the presence of preexistent chronic histological lesions. Because of the increase of these lesions with age, one has to be aware of an exaggerated CsA toxicity, especially in the older donor age group and in older patients treated with CsA for various reasons.
Fatores ambientais e socioeconômicos relacionados à distribuição de casos de leptospirose no Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil, 2001?2009

No Brasil, a leptospirose e endemica, de carater sazonal, ocorre em areas urbanas e rurais, com picos de incidencia nos meses de verao, em que ocorre a elevacao de indices pluviometricos que favorecem a ocorrencia de enchentes e a infeccao humana. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar os principais fatores ambientais e socioeconomicos que estao relacionados a transmissao da leptospirose no Estado de Pernambuco, no periodo de 2001 a 2009. Para entender as possiveis causas associadas a leptospirose, foram utilizadas no estudo variaveis ambientais, socioeconomicas e epidemiologicas da doenca nos municipios do Estado de Pernambuco, utilizando o metodo da regressao linear multipla. De acordo com o modelo gerado, observou-se que quanto maior a densidade demografica (? =0,65; p=0,000) e pessoas com nenhuma escolaridade (? =1,19; p=0,000), maiores sao as chances de ocorrer leptospirose. Esse modelo explica 63% (R2=0,63) dos casos de leptospirose nessa area de estudo. A leptospirose e uma doenca relacionada a baixa condicao socioeconomica e precarias condicoes de infraestrutura e de servicos, que ficam ainda mais debilitados em situacoes de desastres naturais causados por fortes chuvas.
Computational Modeling of the AKT Pathway

Computational modeling and analysis of biological networks are a good way to gain understanding of cellular functions at the molecular level. Common techniques include differential equations to model molecular kinetics. More recently, models arising from engineering have been finding their way in biology, such as Finite State Machines, Boolean Networks, Petri Nets and their many variants. However, quantitative modeling faces some basic problems, one of them being lack of information concerning parameters. Here, we use a variant of Petri Net to model the AKT pathway and its interaction with the ERK cascade. We then look on issues relating to the parameter estimation problem and present our current methods to deal with them.
CRLB-Achieving I/Q Mismatch Estimator for Low-IF Receiver Using Repetitive Training Sequence in the Presence of CFO

This paper presents a method for estimating the in-phase/quadrature-phase (I/Q) mismatch in low-intermediate frequency receivers for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals in the presence of carrier-frequency offset. The proposed estimator operates on the repetitive training sequence of the OFDM packet preamble. To derive a practical maximum-likelihood estimator, an invertible mapping operation is applied on the observation vectors, so that a closed-form expression of the likelihood function can be obtained. The proposed estimator is shown to achieve the Cramer Rao lower bound at high image signal power levels. The error variance of the estimator is analyzed, which closely matches simulation results. The uncoded bit-error-rate is shown via simulation to be approximately that of an ideal receiver without I/Q mismatch.
Lesson of the Week: Katayama fever: an acute manifestation of schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis is prevalent throughout sub-Saharan Africa and parts of south east Asia. It is contracted through contact with any fresh (but not salt) water that harbours the intermediate snail host. Katayama fever is a manifestation of acute schistosomiasis. Typical features include fever, an urticarial rash, enlarged liver and spleen, and bronchospasm. The precise pathogenesis of Katayama fever is unknown, but it is thought to be an immune complex phenomenon, initiated by eggs laid by maturing schistosomes. Typically, symptoms occur four to six weeks after infection. Diagnosis is on clinical grounds as there is no definitive serological or immunological test. Conventional antibody titres may take three months or more to become positive.1 As a result, the diagnosis is often missed, occasionally with disastrous results, such as schistosomal myelopathy, which may result in permanent neurological damage.2 Katayama fever often mimics the symptoms of malaria in feverish travellers Sixteen patients were admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London between August 1994 and December 1995 with suspected acute schistosomiasis. All had travelled to sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen had been exposed to fresh water only in Lake Malawi; the other two, travelling together, had swum in a river in a rural area of Mozambique. Symptoms at presentation were …
Mucinous Differentiation With Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes Is a Feature of Sporadically Methylated Endometrial Carcinomas

Defects in the DNA mismatch-repair system are identified in ∼25%–30% of endometrial carcinomas (ECs). Whereas some ECs are due to germline Lynch syndrome (LS)-associated mutations, the majority demonstrate sporadic MLH1 promoter hypermethylation (MLH1hm). MLH1hm characterizes a unique subset of colorectal cancers with a relatively poor prognosis; however, the morphology and behavior of sporadically methylated ECs (SMECs) are less well understood. We herein review the clinicopathologic features of 34 SMECs diagnosed at The University of Virginia and compare them with LS-associated and Lynch-like endometrial cancers. Most SMECs were centered in the uterine fundus (74%) and displayed Grade 1 (35%) or Grade 2 (41%) endometrioid morphology. Mucinous differentiation was present in 50%, and 65% showed tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Cases with undifferentiated components or sarcomatous differentiation were relatively rare (9%). Most SMECs presented at stage 1 or 2 (91%). When compared with LS and Lynch-like endometrial cancers, SMECs occurred ∼8 yr later and were significantly more likely to show conventional endometrioid morphology (P=0.04), mucinous differentiation (P=0.002), and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (P=0.002). These findings suggest that SMECs constitute a clinicopathologically distinct subset of mismatch-repair–deficient/high-level microsatellite instability tumors. Future studies are needed to further understand the implications of MLH1hm on the prognosis and treatment of endometrial cancer.
Maxillary incisor angulation and its effect on molar relationships.

OBJECTIVES To determine the variation in molar relationships when upper incisor angulations are altered in a Class I occlusion with normal overjet and overbite. MATERIALS AND METHODS Typodonts were set up to simulate a Class I occlusion on a normal skeletal base. The lower incisors were positioned normally at 92 degrees to the mandibular plane and the upper incisor angulations were altered from 90 degrees to 130 degrees by 2 degrees increments to the palatal plane. The changes in molar relationships were measured with every 2 degrees of upper incisor angulation change. A regression analysis was performed on the experimental data, and the regression coefficients, slope, and intercept were estimated. RESULTS A negative linear relationship between upper incisor angulations and change in molar relationship was observed. On average, a change of 20 degrees in upper incisor angulation will alter the molar relationship by 1.8 mm. CONCLUSIONS Changes in upper incisor angulations are significantly related to change in the molar relationship. Upper incisor angulations that deviate significantly from normal values are likely to result in less than ideal buccal segment relationships.
Aptima Combo 2 Testing Detected Additional Cases of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infection in Men and Women in Community Settings

ABSTRACT Aptima Combo 2 (AC2) Neisseria gonorrhoeae testing of 81,405 patients who were tested by culture and 14,666 who were AC2 tested for Chlamydia trachomatis detected 142 extra infections and confirmed 106 culture-positive samples (the positivity rate increased from 0.13 in testing by culture to 0.26 in testing by AC2). Retrievable AC2 positive samples were confirmed (98.5%) by an alternate AGC test.
Características epidemiológicas de los niños con sarampión egresados del Hospital Nacional de Niños, San José, Costa Rica

To determine the demographic characteristics of children discharged from the National Children’s Hospital, San José, Costa Rica, with the clinical diagnosis of measles between January 1st, 1987 and December 31 st, 1993. Retrospective study of ah patients with the clinical diagnosis of measles. A total of 166 patients (74 male) were included in the analysis. Ninety seven patients were younger than 15 months oId, 25 patients had ages between 15 months and 2 years oId age. The most common complication was diarrhea (57.2) followed by pneumonia (38.5), Otitis media (10.8%) and laryngitis (4.8%). The mortality rate was 10.2%. The mean hospital stay was 4.07 days with a total cost of 45.197. 39 US dollars. Similar to previous reports, we noticed an increment in the number of measles cases during the beginning of the 90s . The most common complications observed in our study, were similar to those observed by other authors. An active inmunization program, including the most recent recommendations of double-dose vaccination, should be implemented in order to decrease the number of annual cases. REFERENCIAS 1. American Academy of Pediatrics. Report of the Committe on lnfectious Diseases. 22nd edition. American Academy of pediatrics 1991; 308-23. 2. Arguedas A, Deveikis A, Marks M. Measies. Am J lnfect Control 1991; 19:323:160-4. 3. Raucher B, Wileks I, Cheung K. Severe diarrhea and dehydration as a new major manifestation of measles. Beth Israel Medical Center. New York. lnterscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 1991. 4. G. K. Mayklein. A randomized control trial of vitamin A in children with severe measles. N Engl J Med 1990;323:160.4 5. Mas C, Yaver L, Arguedas A, Mohs E. Características de los pacientes con varicela complicada en el Hospital Nacional de Niños. Bol Med Hosp lnfant Mex 1994; 51; 6. Berman RE and Vaughan VC. Viral infections and those presumed to be caused by vjruses Measles. En: Nelson Texbook of Pediatrics, Philadelphia: WB Saunders 1983: 743-7. 7. Brunell PA. Measies one more time. Pediatrics 1990; 86:474-77 8. Peltola H, Heinomen OP, Valle M, Paunio M, Virtarnen M Karanko V, et al. The Elimination of Indigenous Measles Mumps and Rubella from Finland by a 12 year two-dose vaccination program. N Engl. Med 1994; 3311397-402 __________________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Cost. de Ciencias Médicas Vol. 16/N o 4, Diciembre de 1995. Pág 36
Functional complementation of the adenovirus E1B 19-kilodalton protein with Bcl-2 in the inhibition of apoptosis in infected cells

Expression of the adenovirus E1A oncogene induces apoptosis which impedes both the transformation of primary rodent cells and productive adenovirus infection of human cells. Coexpression of E1A with the E1B 19,000-molecular-weight protein (19K protein) or the Bcl-2 protein, both of which have antiapoptotic activity, is necessary for efficient transformation. Induction of apoptosis by E1A in rodent cells is mediated by the p53 tumor suppressor gene, and both the E1B 19K protein and the Bcl-2 protein can overcome this p53-dependent apoptosis. The functional similarity between Bcl-2 and the E1B 19K protein suggested that they may act by similar mechanisms and that Bcl-2 may complement the requirement for E1B 19K expression during productive infection. Infection of human HeLa cells with E1B 19K loss-of-function mutant adenovirus produces apoptosis characterized by enhanced cytopathic effects (cyt phenotype) and degradation of host cell chromosomal DNA and viral DNA (deg phenotype). Failure to inhibit apoptosis results in premature host cell death, which impairs virus yield. HeLa cells express extremely low levels of p53 because of expression of human papillomavirus E6 protein. Levels of p53 were substantially increased by E1A expression during adenovirus infection. Therefore, E1A may induce apoptosis by overriding the E6-induced degradation of p53 and promoting p53 accumulation. Stable Bcl-2 overexpression in HeLa cells infected with the E1B 19K- mutant adenovirus blocked the induction of the cyt and deg phenotypes. Expression of Bcl-2 in HeLa cells also conferred resistance to apoptosis mediated by tumor necrosis factor alpha and Fas antigen, which is also an established function of the E1B 19K protein. A comparison of the amino acid sequences of Bcl-2 family members and that of the E1B 19K protein indicated that there was limited amino acid sequence homology between the central conserved domains of E1B 19K and Bcl-2. This domain of the E1B 19K protein is important in transformation and regulation of apoptosis, as determined by mutational analysis. The limited sequence homology and functional equivalency provided further evidence that the Bcl-2 and E1B 19K proteins may possess related mechanisms of action and that the E1B 19K protein may be the adenovirus equivalent of the cellular Bcl-2 protein.