Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urea Biosensors Based on PVC Membrane Containing Palmitic Acid

A new urea biosensor was prepared by immobilizing urease with four different procedures on poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) ammonium membrane electrode containing palmitic acid by using nonactine as an ammonium-ionophore. The analytical characteristics were investigated and were compared those of the biosensor prepared by using carboxylated PVC. The effect of pH, buffer concentration, temperature, urease concentration, stirring rate and enzyme immobilization procedures on the response to urea of the enzyme electrode were investigated. The linear working range and sensitivity of the biosensor were also determined. The urea biosensor prepared by using the PVC membranes containing palmitic acid showed more effective performance than those of the carboxylated PVC based biosensors. Additionally, urea assay in serum was successfully carried out by using the standard addition method.
Development of Glucose Biosensor by Using Gelatin and Gelatin-Polyacrylamide Supporting Systems

In this work an amperometric glucose biosensor based on surface immobilization method was developed. Glutaraldehyde was used as cross-linker to establish the immobilization of glucose oxidase onto gelatin (carrier/coating reagent). In order to increase the porosity of coating material, immobilization media was further treated by polyacrylamide. Although this treatment increased the performance of biosensor to a large extent with respect to current densities obtained, it negatively affected the long-term stability. Our biosensor showed linear response in the physiological range of blood glucose (0.05 to 6 mM), had an acceptable response time (60 seconds) and was stable for 17 repeated usages in 51 days. We obtained best results with pH values very close to physiological pH and our biosensor could work efficiently in the tested temperature range 15 to 65°C.
Defining the Molecular Character of the Developing and Adult Kidney Podocyte

Background The podocyte is a remarkable cell type, which encases the capillaries of the kidney glomerulus. Although mesodermal in origin it sends out axonal like projections that wrap around the capillaries. These extend yet finer projections, the foot processes, which interdigitate, leaving between them the slit diaphragms, through which the glomerular filtrate must pass. The podocytes are a subject of keen interest because of their key roles in kidney development and disease. Methodology/Principal Findings In this report we identified and characterized a novel transgenic mouse line, MafB-GFP, which specifically marked the kidney podocytes from a very early stage of development. These mice were then used to facilitate the fluorescent activated cell sorting based purification of podocytes from embryos at E13.5 and E15.5, as well as adults. Microarrays were then used to globally define the gene expression states of podocytes at these different developmental stages. A remarkable picture emerged, identifying the multiple sets of genes that establish the neuronal, muscle, and phagocytic properties of podocytes. The complete combinatorial code of transcription factors that create the podocyte was characterized, and the global lists of growth factors and receptors they express were defined. Conclusions/Significance The complete molecular character of the in vivo podocyte is established for the first time. The active molecular functions and biological processes further define their unique combination of features. The results provide a resource atlas of gene expression patterns of developing and adult podocytes that will help to guide further research of these incredible cells.
The lasting value of clinical skills.

To assess the lasting value of clinical skills learned by residents in a subspecialty-oriented training program in internal medicine, we surveyed recent graduates. Graduates received a questionnaire contrasting separate ratings of the amount of training (preparation) they received during residency with the importance of this training in subsequent career activities. Topics included 12 traditional medical disciplines, 15 areas related to the practice of medicine, 15 allied medical disciplines, ten basic skill and knowledge areas, and 28 technical procedures. Response rate was 91.8% (56/61). Ninety-five percent of respondents had certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine, 80% had subspecialty training, and 89% rendered direct patient care. Fifty-six topics showed disparity between preparation and importance scores (45 with P less than .0001). For 14 categories, mainly technical procedures, disparate ratings suggested excessive programmatic emphasis, while for 42 categories, including history taking and physical examination, there may have been inadequate emphasis. These data suggest that basic clinical skills may require greater emphasis, even in traditional programs. The opinion of program graduates is an important resource in designing training programs in internal medicine.
Identification and Characterization of a Porcine Torovirus

ABSTRACT A porcine torovirus (PoTV) was identified and characterized; it is a novel member of the genus Torovirus (familyCoronaviridae, order Nidovirales), closely related to but clearly distinct from the already recognized equine torovirus (ETV) and bovine torovirus (BoTV) representatives. Immunoelectron microscopy of feces from piglets revealed elongated, 120- by 55-nm particles which were recognized by a torovirus-specific antiserum. Amplification by reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR with primers designed to detect conserved regions (on the basis of the genomes of BoTV strain Breda and ETV strain Berne) resulted in the identification of the 489-bp nucleocapsid gene, encoding a 18.7-kDa protein. The sequence identity in this region between PoTV and both ETV and BoTV was only about 68%, whereas the latter two show 81% identity. Neutralizing antibodies directed against ETV were found in sera of adult and young pigs. In all 10 herds sampled, seropositive animals were present, and 81% of randomly selected adult sows possessed antibodies. A longitudinal study with RT PCR showed that piglets shed virus in the feces for 1 or more days, starting 4 to 14 days after weaning.
Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Severe Obesity: Interactions Among Blood Pressure, Nocturnal Hypoxemia, and Body Mass

Obese subjects have a high prevalence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy. It is unclear to what extent LV hypertrophy results directly from obesity or from associated conditions, such as hypertension, impaired glucose homeostasis, or obstructive sleep apnea. We tested the hypothesis that LV hypertrophy in severe obesity is associated with additive effects from each of the major comorbidities. Echocardiography and laboratory testing were performed in 455 severely obese subjects with body mass index 35 to 92 kg/m2 and 59 nonobese reference subjects. LV hypertrophy, defined by allometrically corrected (LV mass/height2.7), gender-specific criteria, was present in 78% of the obese subjects. Multivariable regression analyses showed that average nocturnal oxygen saturation <85% was the strongest independent predictor of LV hypertrophy (P<0.001), followed by systolic blood pressure (P<0.015) and then body mass index (P<0.05). With regard to LV mass, there were synergistic effects between hypertension and body mass index (P interaction <0.001) and between hypertension and reduced nocturnal oxygen saturation. Severely obese subjects had normal LV endocardial fractional shortening (35±6% versus 35±6%) but mildly decreased midwall fractional shortening (15±2% versus 17±2%; P<0.001), indicating subtle myocardial dysfunction. In conclusion, more severe nocturnal hypoxemia, increasing systolic blood pressure, and body mass index are all independently associated with increased LV mass. The effects of increased blood pressure seem to amplify those of sleep apnea and more severe obesity.
ES-Cell Derived Hematopoietic Cells Induce Transplantation Tolerance

Background Bone marrow cells induce stable mixed chimerism under appropriate conditioning of the host, mediating the induction of transplantation tolerance. However, their strong immunogenicity precludes routine use in clinical transplantation due to the need for harsh preconditioning and the requirement for toxic immunosuppression to prevent rejection and graft-versus-host disease. Alternatively, embryonic stem (ES) cells have emerged as a potential source of less immunogenic hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs). Up till now, however, it has been difficult to generate stable hematopoietic cells from ES cells. Methodology/Principal Findings Here, we derived CD45+ HPCs from HOXB4-transduced ES cells and showed that they poorly express MHC antigens. This property allowed their long-term engraftment in sublethally irradiated recipients across MHC barriers without the need for immunosuppressive agents. Although donor cells declined in peripheral blood over 2 months, low level chimerism was maintained in the bone marrow of these mice over 100 days. More importantly, chimeric animals were protected from rejection of donor-type cardiac allografts. Conclusions Our data show, for the first time, the efficacy of ES-derived CD45+ HPCs to engraft in allogenic recipients without the use of immunosuppressive agents, there by protecting cardiac allografts from rejection.
Immune Intervention in Type I Diabetes Mellitus

In many countries Type 1 diabetes [T1D] is the most common life-threatening disease in chil‐ dren, and nobody can be cured. For long time the incidence has increased all over the world [1]. The disease causes serious morbidity and increased mortality [2,3] in spite of an intensive treatment with multiple daily injections of insulin, adapted to regular meals with suitable content based on self-monitoring of blood glucose. Many patients do never succed to get good metabolic control because of the complicated treatment and another problem preventing good metabolic control is hypoglycaemia [4]. Modern insulin pumps and glucose sensors have made it possible to improve insulin treatment [5]. The simplest approach to reduce severity of hy‐ poglycemia when treatment is intensified is to interrupt insulin delivery. There are insulin pumps with an integrated continuous glucose monitoring, which automatically suspends in‐ sulin delivery for up to 2 hours when hypoglycemia is detected even when the hypoglycemia alarm is not acknowledged by the patient [6,7]. Closed-loop insulin delivery [artificial pan‐ creas] is aiming to achieve near normal blood glucose without increasing the risk of hypogly‐ cemia [8]. Thus a disposable sensor measures interstitial glucose levels, which are fed into an algorithm controlling delivery of a rapid-acting insulin analog into the subcutaneous tissue by an insulin pump. So far research has focused on closed loop insulin delivery during night, and this technique is improving [9]. However, also in the future there will be need for the patient to learn how to handle also these devices, not least during infections, longer exercise, and several other situations and changes of life.
LATIN AMERICAN IMAGE QUALITY SURVEY IN DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY STUDIES

Under International Atomic Energy Agency regional programme TSA3 Radiological Protection of Patients in Medical Exposures, Latin American countries evaluated the image quality and glandular doses for digital mammography equipment with the purpose of seeing the performance and compliance with international recommendations. Totally, 24 institutions participated from Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela. Signal difference noise ratio results showed for CR poor compliance with tolerances; better results were obtained for full-field digital mammography equipment. Mean glandular dose results showed that the majority of units have values below the acceptable dose levels. This joint Latin American project identified common problems: difficulty in working with digital images and lack of specific training by medical physicists from the region. Image quality is a main issue not being satisfied in accordance with international recommendations; optimisation processes in which the doses are increased should be very carefully done in order to improve early detection of any cancer signs.
Growth and Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L) as Affected by Date of Sowing and Spacing under north Gujarat Condition

A ield experiment was carried out during kharif season of 201011 at Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar to study the effect of sowing dates and spacing on growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) var. Parbhani Kranti. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications and sixteen treatment combinations consisted of four dates of sowing viz., 15th August (D1), 1st September (D2), 15th September (D3) and 1st October (D4) and four plant spacing 30 cm X 30 cm (S1), 45 cm X 30 cm (S2), 45 cm X 45 cm (S3) and 60 cm X 30 cm (S4). The growth and yield attributes like plant height (cm), stem girth, leaf area index, average length of internodes, lower parameters, number of fruits per plant and fruit yield per hectare were signiicantly higher under sowing on 15th August with plant spacing 30 cm X 30 cm (S1) but fruit yield per plant was signiicantly higher on 15th August at 45 cm x 45 cm.
Scanning Probe Microscopy and Oxidation of Silicon at Breakdown Voltages

Scanning Probe Microscopy and Oxidation of Silicon at Breakdown Voltages By Thabo Gcwabaza The growing importance of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) as a tool for nanofabrication is opening many avenues in lithography nano-science. One type of Scanning Probe Lithography involves electrochemistry at the tip/substrate interface. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) with conductive tips and substrates was used in our study to both pattern and image those patterns on silicon substrates. Our long-term objective is to design and fabricate micron-scale patterns of nanometer sized spots on silicon chips that can serve as attachment sites for DNA based nano-arrays. In order to fabricate such substrates a study of the underlying electrochemistry was required. A most promising approach to preparing patterned silicon chips was introduced by the work of Dagata et al., using AFM to locally oxidize silicon surfaces and create controllable nanometer scale features. This thesis reports the determination of the influence of voltage and holding time on oxide growth for three different surfaces, native oxide layers, hydrogenterminated silicon surfaces, and silicon surfaces functionalized with ultrathin organic films. Both line and dot patterns were generated at several selected voltages and exposure times. In order to evaluate current efficiency, current was measured during line production. Oxide growth correlates with voltage until it reaches a saturation potential. This saturation appears to be associated with the onset of alternative conduction processes.
Changes in Transforming Growth Factor-β1 in Gingival Crevicular Fluid of Patients with Chronic Periodontitis Following Periodontal Flap Surgery.

INTRODUCTION The aim of the study was to assess changes in Transforming Growth Factor- β1 (TGF-β1) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and examine correlation of TGF-β1 levels and periodontal parameters: probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) in sites with chronic periodontitis at various time intervals before and after periodontal surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS The effects of non-surgical and surgical therapy on periodontal parameters and GCF TGF-β1 levels in 18 sites affected with chronic periodontitis were assessed upto 6 weeks post conventional flap surgery. GCF was collected and PPD, CAL recorded at Baseline. GCF was collected and PPD, CAL recorded at Pre-surgery and flap surgery performed. GCF was collected from all sites at Two Weeks Post-surgery. GCF was collected and PPD, CAL recorded at Six Weeks Post-surgery. The concentration of TGF-β1 in GCF was determined using a human TGF-β1 enzyme immunometric assay kit. RESULTS Mean TGF-β1 concentrations were significantly reduced at Pre-surgery, at Two Weeks Post-surgery and at Six Weeks Post-surgery (p<0.05) when compared to Baseline TGF-β1 values. There was a statistically significant reduction in PPD and gain in CAL following non-surgical and surgical therapy when compared to baseline (p<0.05). CONCLUSION RESULTS indicate that TGF-β1 may play a role in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of periodontal disease and could be considered as a disease predictive biomarker.
Automatic skeleton generation for data-aware service choreographies

Service-oriented engineering is an emerging software development paradigm for distributed collaborative applications. Services are developed independently and are composed to achieve common requirements. Service choreographies define such requirements from a global perspective, based on interactions among a set of participants that are implemented as services. In this paper, we support a reliable data-aware service choreography development process through a dedicated projection. It extracts, from a choreography, a behavioral skeleton for each of its participants. The projection is valuable in a top-down approach, where developers have only to complete the skeletons with some business code in order to get a distributed application that matches the choreography requirements. The projection is also valuable in a bottom-up approach, where the skeletons can act as controllers between reused services in order to enforce the respect of the choreography. Our approach is supported with a tool that can be downloaded or used online.
What makes a mammal attractive to the public at the Zoological Park of Sapucaia do Sul in southern Brazil

6 Zoos can play an important role in biodiversity conservation by keeping well-managed populations of threatened species, producing scientific knowledge, helping to improve public awareness through environmental education (Reade & Waran, 1996) and promoting a feeling of connectedness to nature (Clayton & Myers, 2009). The efficiency of fulfilling these tasks is challenged by maintenance costs. Because maintenance costs can be high, species selection should take into account visitors’ preference for reaching an optimal balance between income and expenses. Since most zoos in developing countries are public institutions with limited budgets, their potential for building and enriching exhibits to improve their inhabitants’ welfare is limited. Therefore, finding mechanisms to raise income is critical.
Clinicopathologic Comparison of Radiofrequency Versus Scalpel Incision for Upper Blepharoplasty

Purpose: To compare the sensation recovery, scar formation, and histopathologic aspects of upper blepharoplasty eyelid incision performed with radiofrequency or scalpel. Methods: In a prospective, randomized, blind, comparative, interventional study, 46 eyelids from 23 subjects underwent upper blepharoplasty using radiofrequency incision on one side and a scalpel on the other side. Exclusion criteria were diseases resulting in peripheral neuropathy such as diabetes mellitus, previous upper eyelid surgery or trauma, and history of skin disease. Eyelid sensation was measured preoperatively and 1 week, 1 month, and 6 to 7 months after surgery by a masked observer. Eyelid scar was evaluated by 2 masked observers at final follow-up. Histologic examination for zone and depth of tissue damage, hemorrhage, and inflammatory cell reaction was performed in a masked fashion on 16 eyelids. Results: The mean patient age was 52 years (SD, 5.48 years). Mean aesthesiometry reading significantly decreased in both groups at all follow-up visits in comparison with preoperative measurement (p = 0.000). Mean sensation recovery was insignificantly (0.2 < p < 0.6) higher in the radiosurgery group at all follow-up visits. Mean scar score was insignificantly (p = 0.055 for observer 1, and 0.241 for observer 2) less in the radiosurgery group. The scar score was not significantly different between Fitzpatrick skin types 3 and 4, scored by either observer. The zone and depth of tissue damage on histopathologic examination was greater in the radiofrequency group. However, the hemorrhage and infiltration of inflammatory cells were the same. Conclusion: There was no significant difference between radiofrequency and scalpel incision in upper blepharoplasty with regard to sensation recovery and scar formation. Histologic zone and depth of tissue damage were greater in the radiofrequency group.
MicroRNA-148a reduces tumorigenesis and increases TRAIL-induced apoptosis in NSCLC

Significance Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the deadliest cancers in the world. Although a very small subset of NSCLC patients respond to TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), resistance remains a major hindrance to successful treatment. miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs of ∼24 nt that negatively regulate gene expression. Here, we show that miR-148a is significantly down-regulated in cells with acquired TRAIL resistance. Furthermore, we have determined that miR-148a can sensitize cells to TRAIL and inhibit tumorigenesis by targeting matrix metalloproteinase 15 and Rho-associated kinase 1 protein expression. Thus, miR-148a could be a promising prognostic and therapeutic tool in NSCLC treatment. Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been shown to induce apoptosis in malignant cells without inducing significant toxicity in normal cells. However, several carcinomas, including lung cancer, remain resistant to TRAIL. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs of ∼24 nt that block mRNA translation and/or negatively regulate its stability. They are often aberrantly expressed in cancer and have been implicated in increasing susceptibility or resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by inhibiting key functional proteins. Here we show that miR-148a is down-regulated in cells with acquired TRAIL-resistance compared with TRAIL-sensitive cells. Enforced expression of miR-148a sensitized cells to TRAIL and reduced lung tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo through the down-modulation of matrix metalloproteinase 15 (MMP15) and Rho-associated kinase 1 (ROCK1). These findings suggest that miR-148a acts as a tumor suppressor and might have therapeutic application in the treatment of NSCLC.