The effect of exercise combined with meditation on blood pressure

Hypertension (HTN) is a highly influential risk factor for developing chronic disease, particularly cardiovascular disease (CV). Exercise has both an acute and chronic effect on blood pressure (BP) and can cause hypotension 5 min post-activity that can last for hours. Meditation is another effective HTN treatment but there are no existing studies testing the acute effects of combining meditation with exercise on BP. The main purpose of this study was to examine the acute effect of practiced mindfulness meditation combined with exercise on both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). A secondary purpose was to evaluate the difference between experienced and nonexperienced meditators. Thirty men and women volunteered for this study and were divided into experienced (E) and non-experienced (NE) meditators with NE practicing mindfulness meditation for two weeks. Both E and NE completed four conditions in a partially randomized, balanced order: Exercise plus meditation, exercise, meditation, and a control condition. BP was measured 10 min before and 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min post-trial. Data were analyzed using a two-way repeated measure ANOVA. A significant interaction (time × condition) was found for both SBP and DBP. However, post-hoc analyses did not determine any significant differences between conditions. Yet, the control condition was the only condition that failed to show a significant reduction in DBP from baseline and also failed to show a reduction in BP longer than 5 min post intervention. To conclude, the intervention conditions both showed a similar reduction in blood pressure. In addition, the reduction in the meditation condition was seen with only a short-term learning phase. There was no advantage for integrating meditation into exercise

The sorptivity and durability of gelling fibre dressings tested in a simulated sacral pressure ulcer system

Wound-dressing performances are affected by exudate viscosity, resistance to flow because of gravity, and bodyweight loads, the level of which is related to the body position. Here, we focussed on two dressing properties: (a) Sorptivity—the ability of dressings to transfer exudate away from the wound bed by capillary action—and (b) Durability—the capacity of dressings to maintain their integrity over time and during their removal. Both properties are critically important for avoiding further tissue damage but require the development of new laboratory tests for their measurement. A computercontrolled phantom of an exuding sacral pressure ulcer has therefore been developed and used to compare the performances of Exufiber (Mölnlycke Health Care) vs an alternative market-leading dressing. Sorptivity was determined using weight tests, and durability was measured through tensile tests of the used dressings. For a supine configuration, the Exufiber dressing demonstrated three times higher sorptivity and better durability, withstanding five times greater strain energy than the other product before failure occurred. This work paves the way for quantitative, standardised testing of dressings in all aspects of exudate management. The reported tests are further suitable for testing dressing combinations or how dressings interact with negative pressure wound therapy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Not All Similarities Are Created Equal: Leveraging Data-Driven Biases to Inform GenAI Copyright Disputes

The advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) models, including GitHub Copilot, OpenAI GPT, and Stable Diffusion, has revolutionized content creation, enabling non-professionals to produce high-quality content across various domains. This transformative technology has led to a surge of synthetic content and sparked legal disputes over copyright infringement. To address these challenges, this paper introduces a novel approach that leverages the learning capacity of GenAI models for copyright legal analysis, demonstrated with GPT2 and Stable Diffusion models. Copyright law distinguishes between original expressions and generic ones (Sc\`enes \`a faire), protecting the former and permitting reproduction of the latter. However, this distinction has historically been challenging to make consistently, leading to over-protection of copyrighted works. GenAI offers an unprecedented opportunity to enhance this legal analysis by revealing shared patterns in preexisting works. We propose a data-driven approach to identify the genericity of works created by GenAI, employing "data-driven bias" to assess the genericity of expressive compositions. This approach aids in copyright scope determination by utilizing the capabilities of GenAI to identify and prioritize expressive elements and rank them according to their frequency in the model's dataset. The potential implications of measuring expressive genericity for copyright law are profound. Such scoring could assist courts in determining copyright scope during litigation, inform the registration practices of Copyright Offices, allowing registration of only highly original synthetic works, and help copyright owners signal the value of their works and facilitate fairer licensing deals. More generally, this approach offers valuable insights to policymakers grappling with adapting copyright law to the challenges posed by the era of GenAI.Comment: Presented at ACM CSLAW 202

Brane Dynamics and 3D Seiberg Duality on the Domain Walls of 4D N=1 SYM

We study a three-dimensional U(k) Yang-Mills Chern-Simons theory with adjoint matter preserving two supersymmetries. According to Acharya and Vafa, this theory describes the low-energy worldvolume dynamics of BPS domain walls in four-dimensional N=1 SYM theory. We demonstrate how to obtain the same theory in a brane configuration of type IIB string theory that contains threebranes and fivebranes. A combination of string and field theory techniques allows us to re-formulate some of the well-known properties of N=1 SYM domain walls in a geometric language and to postulate a Seiberg-like duality for the Acharya-Vafa theory. In the process, we obtain new information about the dynamics of branes in setups that preserve two supersymmetries. Using similar methods we also study other N=1 CS theories with extra matter in the adjoint and fundamental representations of the gauge group.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Checkpoint Genes at the Cancer Side of the Immunological Synapse in Bladder Cancer.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer therapy, but not all cancers respond to the currently available drugs, and even within cancers considered responsive to such modality, response rates range between 15 and 40%, depending on the cancer type, the line of treatment, and yet unknown clinical/molecular factors. Coordinated expression of checkpoint proteins was shown to occur on T cells, probably allowing fine-tuning of the signal transmitted to the cell. We performed a bioinformatic analysis of the expression of putative checkpoint mRNAs at the cancer side of the immunological synapse from the bladder cancer tumorgenome atlas (TCGA) database. Fifteen mRNAs, corresponding to both coinhibitory and costimulatory checkpoints, were shown to be expressed above a designated threshold. Of these, seven mRNAs were found to be coexpressed: CD277, PD-1L, CD48, CD86, galectin-9, TNFRSF14 (HVEM), and CD40. The expression of 2 of these mRNAs-BTN3A1 (CD277) and TNFRSF14 (HVEM)-was positively correlated with overall survival in the TCGA database. All these seven mRNA share putative binding sites of a few transcription factors (TFs). Of these, the expression of the TF BACH-2 was positively correlated with the expression of checkpoint mRNAs from the network. This suggests a joint transcriptional regulation on the expression of checkpoint mRNAs at the bladder tumor side of the immunological synapse

Adherence to monitoring of patients treated with amiodarone: a nationwide study

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the adherence to monitoring guidelines regarding amiodarone treatment.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study of data recorded in Clalit Health Services, the largest healthcare organization in Israel. Included were individuals aged >18 years; who were prescribed amiodarone and had a documented purchase of this drug, for a minimum of 200 consecutive days; and who had less than a 100-day gap between two consecutive purchases during 2013–2021. Adherence was assessed to testing for thyroid, liver function, and electrolytes, as determined by the performance of a test every 6 months.ResultsThe study included 24,094 individuals (mean age: 75 years, 53% male). The median follow-up was 2.3 years (total 73,727 person-years). The proportions of patients who performed baseline tests were: 43.4% for thyroid function, 58.3% for electrolytes, 48.6% for liver function, 20.6% for chest X-rays, and 14.9% for electrocardiograms. Adherence rates to semiannual monitoring of thyroid function, liver function, and electrolyte tests were: 70.4%, 79.4%, and 88.3%, respectively. In a multivariable analysis, the factors associated with higher adherence were male sex; older age; the presence of thyroid abnormalities, renal failure, and hypertension; and more frequent visits to the primary care physician.ConclusionsIn our country, adherence is low to monitoring risk factors for adverse effects of amiodarone therapy, especially prior to treatment initiation. Patient and primary care physicians should be educated about the importance of monitoring, particularly prior to initiation of amiodarone treatment

Exploring the association between serum phosphate levels and mortality in patients hospitalized with infectious diseases: a nationwide study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine associations of serum phosphate levels with mortality, target organ damage and length of hospital stay in adults with infectious diseases hospitalized outside of the intensive care unit.MethodsThis nationwide retrospective cohort study comprised patients admitted with infections, to medical and surgical departments in eight tertiary hospitals during 2001–2020. The main exposure variable was the first serum phosphate levels at admission (up to 1 week). The analysis included multivariable logistic regression models and quantile regression.ResultsOf 126,088 patients (49% males, mean age: 69.3 years), 24,809 (19.7%) had decreased phosphate levels, 92,730 (73.5%) normal phosphate levels, and 8,549 (6.8%) elevated phosphate levels on admission. Overall- and in-hospital mortality rates were highest among those with hyperphosphatemia (74.5 and 16.4%, respectively), followed by those with normophosphatemia (57.0 and 6.6%), and lastly the hypophosphatemia group (48.7 and 5.6%); p < 0.001 for all. After adjusting for confounders, the lowest predicted mortality rate was observed in the normophosphatemia group. In the multivariable model, hyperphosphatemia conferred a higher probability of target organ damage (OR [95% CI]: 2.43 [2.06–2.86]), while moderate hypophosphatemia conferred a lower probability (OR [95% CI]: 0.73 [0.65–0.82]), compared to normal phosphate levels and extreme hypophosphatemia showed a non-significant association (OR [95% CI]: 0.87 [0.57–1.28]). The associations were independent of renal failure. In a multivariable model, hyperphosphatemia was associated with a slight increase of 0.33 days in length of stay compared to normal phosphate levels.ConclusionA J-shaped relation was found between phosphate levels and prognosis in patients hospitalized with infectious diseases, regardless of their renal function

Contested Heritage

In the wake of the Nazi regime’s policies, European Jewish cultural property was dispersed, dislocated, and destroyed. Books, manuscripts, and artworks were either taken by their fleeing owners and were transferred to different places worldwide, or they fell prey to systematic looting and destruction under German occupation. Until today, a significant amount of items can be found in private and public collections in Germany as well as abroad with an unclear or disputed provenance. Contested Heritage. Jewish Cultural Property after 1945 illuminates the political and cultural implications of Jewish cultural property looted and displaced during the Holocaust. The volume includes seventeen essays, accompanied by newly discovered archival material and illustrations, which address a wide range of topics: from the shifting meaning and character of the objects themselves, the so-called object biographies, their restitution processes after 1945, conflicting ideas about their appropriate location, political interests in their preservation, actors and networks involved in salvage operations, to questions of intellectual and cultural transfer processes revolving around the moving objects and their literary resonances. Thus, it offers a fascinating insight into lesser-known dimensions of the aftermath of the Holocaust and the history of Jews in postwar Europe

An alternative pathway to plant cold tolerance in the absence of vacuolar invertase activity

To cope with cold stress, plants have developed antioxidation strategies combined with osmoprotection by sugars. In potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers, which are swollen stems, exposure to cold stress induces starch degradation and sucrose synthesis. Vacuolar acid invertase (VInv) activity is a significant part of the cold-induced sweetening (CIS) response, by rapidly cleaving sucrose into hexoses and increasing osmoprotection. To discover alternative plant tissue pathways for coping with cold stress, we produced VInv-knockout lines in two cultivars. Genome editing of VInv in 'Desiree' and 'Brooke' was done using stable and transient expression of CRISPR/Cas9 components, respectively. After storage at 4 degrees C, sugar analysis indicated that the knockout lines showed low levels of CIS and maintained low acid invertase activity in storage. Surprisingly, the tuber parenchyma of vinv lines exhibited significantly reduced lipid peroxidation and reduced H2O2 levels. Furthermore, whole plants of vinv lines exposed to cold stress without irrigation showed normal vigor, in contrast to WT plants, which wilted. Transcriptome analysis of vinv lines revealed upregulation of an osmoprotectant pathway and ethylene-related genes during cold temperature exposure. Accordingly, higher expression of antioxidant-related genes was detected after exposure to short and long cold storage. Sugar measurements showed an elevation of an alternative pathway in the absence of VInv activity, raising the raffinose pathway with increasing levels of myo-inositol content as a cold tolerance response