Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental parameters influencing phenolics production by batch cultures of Nicotiana tabacum

The influence of temperature, illumination, hormonal levels (2,4‐D and kinetin), carbon to nitrogen ratios, antibiotics, and precursor feeding on phenolics production by Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) was studied. This plant cell system was chosen as a model system to learn more about secondary product formation in plant cell tissue cultures. This is the first study to manipulate all of these environmental parameters with a single plant cell system. The most striking results were with 2,4‐D manipulation. The removal of 2,4‐D resulted in significant phenolics production during the stationary phase, while normal levels strongly suppressed phenolics production during the stationary phase. The addition of phenylalanine stimulated phenolics production per gram of cells but strongly inhibited growth.
Distinct Roles of GIGANTEA in Promoting Flowering and Regulating Circadian Rhythms in Arabidopsis

The circadian clock acts as the timekeeping mechanism in photoperiodism. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a circadian clock–controlled flowering pathway comprising the genes GIGANTEA (GI), CONSTANS (CO), and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) promotes flowering specifically under long days. Within this pathway, GI regulates circadian rhythms and flowering and acts earlier in the hierarchy than CO and FT, suggesting that GI might regulate flowering indirectly by affecting the control of circadian rhythms. We studied the relationship between the roles of GI in flowering and the circadian clock using late elongated hypocotyl circadian clock associated1 double mutants, which are impaired in circadian clock function, plants overexpressing GI (35S:GI), and gi mutants. These experiments demonstrated that GI acts between the circadian oscillator and CO to promote flowering by increasing CO and FT mRNA abundance. In addition, circadian rhythms in expression of genes that do not control flowering are altered in 35S:GI and gi mutant plants under continuous light and continuous darkness, and the phase of expression of these genes is changed under diurnal cycles. Therefore, GI plays a general role in controlling circadian rhythms, and this is different from its effect on the amplitude of expression of CO and FT. Functional GI:green fluorescent protein is localized to the nucleus in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, supporting the idea that GI regulates flowering in the nucleus. We propose that the effect of GI on flowering is not an indirect effect of its role in circadian clock regulation, but rather that GI also acts in the nucleus to more directly promote the expression of flowering-time genes.
Use of Social Media for Professional Development by Health Care Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey

Background Social media can be used in health care settings to enhance professional networking and education; patient communication, care, and education; public health programs; organizational promotion; and research. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the use of social media networks for the purpose of professional development among health care professionals in Saudi Arabia using a purpose-designed Web-based survey. Methods A cross-sectional web-based survey was undertaken. A link to the survey was posted on the investigator’s personal social media accounts including Twitter, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp. Results A total of 231 health care professionals, who are generally social media users, participated in the study. Of these professionals, 70.6% (163/231) use social media for their professional development. The social media applications most frequently used, in the descending order, for professional development were Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. The majority of respondents used social media for professional development irrespective of their age group, with the highest proportion seen in those aged 20-30 years. Social media were perceived as being most beneficial for professional development in terms of their impact on the domains of knowledge and problem solving and least helpful for enhancing clinical skills. Twitter was perceived as the most helpful type of social media for all domains listed. Respondents most frequently reported that social media were useful for professional development for the reasons of knowledge exchange and networking. Conclusions Social media are frequently used by health care professionals in Saudi Arabia for the purposes of professional development, with Twitter most frequently used for this purpose. These findings suggest that social media networks can be powerful tools for engaging health care professionals in their professional development.
The effect of fire on carbon and nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in an Australian forest soil

The causes of onset of nitrification in a soil collected under an ashbed which was produced when heaped slash was burned, and for its absence in an unburnt soil, were investigated for an acid forest soil from south-eastern Australia. The occurrence of nitrification in ashbed soils was assessed in laboratory incubations extendig to 151 days to determine if it could be attributed to (a) an increase in pH, (b) an additional supply of P, (c) the removal of chemical inhibitors, and (d) the lack of competition with heterotrophs killed during soil heating. The treatments were: percolated and unpercolated ashbed soil from 0-5 and 5-10 cm depth; unburnt soil from 0-5 cm untreated and with added lime or added P; and burnt and unburnt soil from 5-10 cm depth. In addition, each treatment had an identical where the soil was inoculated with nitrifying garden soil. Compared with the unburnt surface soil (0-5 cm), ashbed soil had higher pH (3.6 units), higher mineral N (3 times) and slightly elevated NaHCO3-extractable P. During 151 days of incubation, microbial respiration in surface ashbed soil, measured as CO2 evolution, initially exceeded the values obtained in unburnt soil but then decreased to only 72% of unburnt soil at the end of the incubation period. In ashbed soil, the microbial biomass N content was low but its C/N ratio was high. Net N mineralization (Nmin) in ashbed soil was not significantly different from unburnt or phosphate fertilized soils (13.1, 14.7 and 17.8 mg N,in kg-' respectively) but was lower than in limed soil (59.3 mg Nmin kg-1). Percolation of surface ashbed soil with distilled water removed high amounts of salts and increased microbial respiration and N mineralization. Inoculation of soils with a slurry from a nitrifying garden soil induced nitrification in every treatment, regardless of their ammonium content, pH or other limiting component. Nitrification was also stimulated in unburnt surface soil on the addition of lime and P. Autotrophic nitriflers were active only in surface ashbed soils and probably in limed soils. P addition promoted heterotrophic nitrification. It was concluded that soil heating reduced competition between autotrophs and heterotrophs for ammonium and that ash supplies nutrients, such as K and Ca which stimulate nitrification. Low pH was not a limiting factor for nitrification but a high pH may promote the establishment of autotrophic nitrifiers.
Critical factors for designing programs to increase the supply and retention of rural primary care physicians.

CONTEXT The Physician Shortage Area Program (PSAP) of Jefferson Medical College (Philadelphia, Pa) is one of a small number of medical school programs that addresses the shortage of rural primary care physicians. However, little is known regarding why these programs work. OBJECTIVES To identify factors independently predictive of rural primary care supply and retention and to determine which components of the PSAP lead to its outcomes. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 3414 Jefferson Medical College graduates from the classes of 1978-1993, including 220 PSAP graduates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Rural primary care practice and retention in 1999 as predicted by 19 previously collected variables. Twelve variables were available for all classes; 7 variables were collected only for 1978-1982 graduates. RESULTS Freshman-year plan for family practice, being in the PSAP, having a National Health Service Corps scholarship, male sex, and taking an elective senior family practice rural preceptorship (the only factor not available at entrance to medical school) were independently predictive of physicians practicing rural primary care. For 1978-1982 graduates, growing up in a rural area was the only additionally collected independent predictor of rural primary care (odds ratio [OR], 4.0; 95% CI, 2.1-7.6; P<.001). Participation in the PSAP was the only independent predictive factor of retention for all classes (OR, 4.7; 95% CI, 2.0-11.2; P<.001). Among PSAP graduates, taking a senior rural preceptorship was independently predictive of rural primary care (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3-4.7; P =.004). However, non-PSAP graduates with 2 key selection characteristics of PSAP students (having grown up in a rural area and freshman-year plans for family practice) were 78% as likely as PSAP graduates to be rural primary care physicians, and 75% as likely to remain, suggesting that the admissions component of the PSAP is the most important reason for its success. In fact, few graduates without either of these factors were rural primary care physicians (1.8%). CONCLUSIONS Medical educators and policy makers can have the greatest impact on the supply and retention of rural primary care physicians by developing programs to increase the number of medical school matriculants with background and career plans that make them most likely to pursue these career goals. Curricular experiences and other factors can further increase these outcomes, especially by supporting those already likely to become rural primary care physicians.
Common phenotypes and the developmental origins of disease

Purpose of reviewThe association between nutrition during pregnancy and the development of metabolic disease in the offspring has been well evidenced in humans and animals. Whilst evidence has accumulated to support various theories linking maternal diet to long-term health, the precise mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. This review summarizes recent advances within the field, focusing on the use of animal models to investigate common phenotypic outcomes. Recent findingsContinued characterization of postnatal phenotypes has highlighted the importance of postnatal diet in unmasking programming effects of prenatal diet. Whilst common phenotypes are observed across models, differences in associated regulatory processes exist dependent upon the dietary exposure used and sex of the offspring. The use of unbiased techniques at developmental stages has identified gene pathways sensitive to maternal diet, potentially explaining the induction of a common phenotype by different nutritional interventions. Evidence has also grown to support the role of epigenetic modification, with an increasing range of targets identified as being sensitive. SummaryA challenge remains in identifying the direct functional and long-term consequences of changes in gene expression or epigenetic status during development, and to translate these back to human populations.
Kernel machines with two layers and multiple kernel learning

In this paper, the framework of kernel machines with two layers is introduced, generalizing classical kernel methods. The new learning methodology provide a formal connection between computational architectures with multiple layers and the theme of kernel learning in standard regularization methods. First, a representer theorem for two-layer networks is presented, showing that finite linear combinations of kernels on each layer are optimal architectures whenever the corresponding functions solve suitable variational problems in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS). The input-output map expressed by these architectures turns out to be equivalent to a suitable single-layer kernel machines in which the kernel function is also learned from the data. Recently, the so-called multiple kernel learning methods have attracted considerable attention in the machine learning literature. In this paper, multiple kernel learning methods are shown to be specific cases of kernel machines with two layers in which the second layer is linear. Finally, a simple and effective multiple kernel learning method called RLS2 (regularized least squares with two layers) is introduced, and his performances on several learning problems are extensively analyzed. An open source MATLAB toolbox to train and validate RLS2 models with a Graphic User Interface is available.
A tomographic image of Indian lithosphere break‐off beneath the Pamir–Hindukush region

SUMMARY The P and S seismic anomalies in the upper mantle beneath the Pamir‐Hindukush collision zone and surrounding areas are investigated using more than 4 × 10 5 traveltimes from 5775 events located in the study region, recorded by the stations of the worldwide seismic network and reported in the ISC catalogue. All available epicentral distance ranges of seismic rays are considered. All sources are relocated using an algorithm, which includes the double-difference method. In addition, source parameters are corrected in the main inversion step, simultaneously with the velocity models. The high reliability of the resulting P-velocity images is confirmed by various tests. The S model provides much smoother patterns, which are, however, generally consistent with P anomalies. Our model shows a complex image of lithospheric plate under the study region. Under SW Hindukush, the northwards subducting Indian plate is imaged throughout the upper mantle and transition zone. Further to the NE, within a 300-km-wide zone the upper part of the plate overturns and then the slab breaks off after it narrows at ∼250 km depth. The tomographic model also provides evidence for the southward subduction of the lithosphere beneath the southern Tien Shan down to at least 250 km depth. To the north of Tarim, we observe a northward-dipping of the Tarim plate down to ∼500 km depth. At the crustal depth our model shows alternating belts of high and low velocities parallel to the main thrusting faults, which indicate complex crustal structure in this region.
Determination of Main Tea Seed Oil Antioxidants and their Effects on Common Kilka Oil

To determine the main tea seed oil antioxidants, extraction, separation and determination of the β-carotene, vitamin E (8 compounds) and polyphenols (8 compounds) was done using HPLC method. Tea seed oil as natural antioxidants at 5 and 10% levels were added to common kilka (Clupeonella cultiventris caspia) oil the peroxide (PV) and thiobarbitoric acid (TBA) values after 13 days at 60oC were evaluated for antioxidant effects. The average contents of the β-carotene, vitamin E and polyphenols in tea seed oil were 251.3±2.5, 389.3±3.0 and 24.81±1.00 mg/kg, respectively. Results show that catechins are the most important antioxidant in this oil in comparison with other vegetable oils (which contain no catechins in other oils). The antioxidant effects of tea seed oil in fish oil system showed significant differences from the control for PV and TBA values and preserved well during storage. Tea seed oil could be important as a raw material and functional product.
A Modification Method for Constructing Low-Density Parity-Check Codes for Burst Erasures

We study a modification method for constructing low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes for solid burst erasures. Our proposed modification method is based on a column permutation technique for a parity-check matrix of the original LDPC codes. It can change the burst erasure correction capabilities without degradation in the performance over random erasure channels. We show by simulation results that the performance of codes permuted by our method are better than that of the original codes, especially with two or more solid burst erasures.
Listeria monocytogenes: An emerging food-borne pathogen and its public health implications.

INTRODUCTION Listeria monocytogenes is considered one of the most important food-borne pathogens transmitted to humans via contaminated food. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the importance of L. monocytogenes as a food-borne pathogen. METHODOLOGY A total of 340 samples were collected from different localities in El Giza Governorate, Egypt, to check the occurrence of L. monocytogenes in that area. The collected samples comprised 250 food samples, 40 swabs from food refrigerators, and 50 stool specimens from diarrheic children. L. monocytogenes was isolated from the examined samples according to the International Organization for Standardization. The isolates were tested biochemically using Listeria Microbact 12L and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS The isolation rates of L. monocytogenes were 8% in beef burger, 4% in minced meat, 4% in luncheon meat, while sausage samples were all negative. Eight percent of raw milk samples were positive for L. monocytogenes, whereas cheese samples and refrigerator swabs were negative. Only Listeria grayi was isolated from human stools (2.5%). CONCLUSION The high isolation rates of L. monocytogenes among the examined food stuffs highlight the crucial role of food as an important vehicle for this pathogen. More efforts should be made to ensure safe handling and processing of these foods to reduce the transmission of L. monocytogenes to humans.
Reconstruction of the variability of the southwest monsoon during the past 3 ka, from the continental margin of the southeastern Arabian Sea

From temporal variation in δ18O in Globigerinoides ruber and G. sacculifer and geochemical indices of weathering/erosion (chemical index of alteration, Al and Ti), we infer rapid southwest monsoon (SWM) deterioration with dwindling fluvial and detrital fluxes at ca. 450–650, 1000 and 1800–2200 cal. a BP during the late Holocene. We have evaluated the role of solar influx (reconstructed) and high‐latitude climate variability (archived in GRIP and GISP‐2 cores) on SWM precipitation. Broadly, our δ18O climate reconstruction is concordant with GRIP and GISP‐2, and supports a teleconnection through atmospheric connection between the SWM and the North Atlantic climate – albeit temporal extents of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period from high latitude are not entirely coeval. Moreover, there is a humid climate and enhanced precipitation during the terminal stages of the Little Ice Age. The medieval warming (ca. AD 800–1300) is not synchronous either, and is punctuated by an arid event centred at 1000 a BP. Although the delineation of the specific influence of solar influx on SWM precipitation is elusive, we surmise that SWM precipitation is a complex phenomenon and local orography along southwestern India may have a role on the entrapment of moisture from the southwest trade winds, when these hit land. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Improvement of the Diagnostic Sensitivity of Scrub Typhus Using a Mixture of Recombinant Antigens Derived from Orientia tsutsugamushi Serotypes

Diagnosis of scrub typhus is difficult because its symptoms are very similar to other acute febrile illnesses, such as leptospirosis, murine typhus, and other viral hemorrhagic fevers. To differentiate scrub typhus from other acute febrile diseases, a rapid and reliable serological diagnosis is important. We have developed a chimeric recombinant antigen cr56 and two other recombinant antigens, r21 and kr56, from various serotypes of Orientia tsutsugamushi. They were tested for the detection of antibodies against O. tsutsugamushi in the patient's serum samples using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and dot-blot analyses. As of conventional immunofluorescence assay (IFA), when the mixture of these three recombinant antigens was used, both sensitivity and specificity of the recombinant antigens were increased up to 98% in IgM and IgG at ELISA and dot blotting. Additionally, both sensitivity and specificity by detection of IgM and IgG antibodies at rapid diagnostic test (RDT), using the mixture of three antigens and gold conjugated antibodies, were 99%. Our results suggest the use of mixture of these recombinant antigen proteins in ELISA or RDT is suitable as a diagnostic test for scrub typhus.
Nonstochastic Coexpression of Activation Receptors on Murine Natural Killer Cells

Murine natural killer cells (NK) express lectin-like activation and inhibitory receptors, including the CD94/NKG2 family of receptors that bind Qa-1, and the Ly-49 family that recognizes major histocompatibility complex class I molecules. Here, we demonstrate that cross-linking of NK cells with a new specific anti–Ly-49H mAb induced NK cell cytotoxicity and cytokine production. Ly-49H is expressed on a subset of NK cells and can be coexpressed with Ly-49 inhibitory receptors. However, unlike Ly-49 inhibitory receptors, Ly-49H is not detectable on naive splenic CD3+ T cells, indicating that Ly-49H may be an NK cell–specific activation receptor. In further contrast to the stochastically expressed Ly-49 inhibitory receptors, Ly-49H is preferentially expressed with the Ly-49D activation receptor, and expression of both Ly-49H and Ly-49D is augmented on NK cells that lack receptors for Qa-1 tetramers. On developing splenic NK1.1+ cells, Ly-49D and Ly-49H are expressed later than the inhibitory receptors. These results directly demonstrate that Ly-49H activates primary NK cells, and suggest that expression of Ly-49 activation receptors by NK cells may be specifically regulated on NK cell subsets. The simultaneous expression of multiple activation receptors by individual NK cells contrasts with that of T cell antigen receptors and is relevant to the role of NK cells in innate immunity.
LazyBrush: Flexible Painting Tool for Hand‐drawn Cartoons

In this paper we present LazyBrush, a novel interactive tool for painting hand‐made cartoon drawings and animations. Its key advantage is simplicity and flexibility. As opposed to previous custom tailored approaches [ SBv05 , QWH06 ] LazyBrush does not rely on style specific features such as homogenous regions or pattern continuity yet still offers comparable or even less manual effort for a broad class of drawing styles. In addition to this, it is not sensitive to imprecise placement of color strokes which makes painting less tedious and brings significant time savings in the context cartoon animation. LazyBrush originally stems from requirements analysis carried out with professional ink‐and‐paint illustrators who established a list of useful features for an ideal painting tool. We incorporate this list into an optimization framework leading to a variant of Potts energy with several interesting theoretical properties. We show how to minimize it efficiently and demonstrate its usefulness in various practical scenarios including the ink‐and‐paint production pipeline.
Coping behaviour of female teachers: Demographic determinants

Background: The study investigates the role of certain demographic variables in determining stress-coping behavior of female teachers. Materials and Methods: The sample consists of 150 female teachers selected by stratified sampling method from various schools of Bhopal. Stress-coping behavior was measured with the help of a subscale of ‘The Occupational Stress Indicator’ (Wendy Lord, 1993) consisting of 28 items encompassing six dimensions of coping strategies i.e. Logics, Involvement, Social Support, Task Strategies, Time Management and Home and Work Relations. The scores of the subjects were compared in terms of marital status, age, and level of teaching with the help of ‘t’ test and ‘F’ test was used for comparing experience. Results: Marital status, age, and experience were found to be significant determinants of stress-coping, whereas the sores did not differ significantly on the basis of level of teaching. Conclusion: Married teachers in the age range of 40-60 years, with higher experience can cope better with the job stress than their counterparts.