Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Continuous supercritical emulsion extraction: process characterization and optimization of operative conditions to produce biopolymer microspheres

XV INTRODUCTION . XIX CHAPTER I STATE OF THE ART. 1 I.1 Microencapsulation technology in controlled release formulations . 1 I.2 Emulsions . 6 I.2. 1 The theory of emulsification . 8 1.2. 2 Physical instability of emulsions . 9 I.3 Microencapsulation techniques from emulsions. 11 I.3. 1 Conventional techniques of microencapsulation . 12 I.3. 2 Supercritical Emulsion Extraction (SEE) . 15 I.4 Factors influencing the properties of microspheres . 21 I.4. 1 Choice of materials . 22 I.4. 1.1 Dispersed phase . 22 I.4. 1.2 Continuous phase . 25 CHAPTER II AIM OF THE WORK . 27 CHAPTER III CONTINUOUS SUPERCRITICAL EMULSION EXTRACTION (SEE-C) . 29 III.1 SEE-C apparatus description . 29 III.2 SEE-C process description . 32 III.3 SEE-C process mechanism . 33 CHAPTER IV MATERIALS AND METHODS . 37 IV.1 Materials . 37 IV.1.1 Biopolymer: Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) . 37 IV.1.2 Pharmaceutical compounds . 39 IV.1. 3 Surfactant: Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) . 41 IV.1. 4 Liquid solvents . 42
Point In Triangle Testing Based Trilateration Localization Algorithm In Wireless Sensor Networks

Localization of sensor nodes is a key technology in Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs). Trilateration is an important position determination strategy. To further improve the localization accuracy, a novel Trilateration based on Point In Triangle testing Localization (TPITL)algorithm is proposed in the paper. Unlike the traditional trilateration localization algorithm which randomly selects three neighbor anchors, the proposed TPITL algorithm selects three special neighbor anchors of the unknown node for trilateration. The three anchors construct the smallest anchor triangle which encloses the unknown node. To choose the optimized anchors, we propose Point In Triangle testing based on Distance(PITD) method, which applies the estimated distances for trilateration to reduce the PIT testing errors. Simulation results show that the PIT testing errors of PITD are much lower than Approximation PIT(APIT) method and the proposed TPITL algorithm significantly improves the localization accuracy.
Towards autonomous neuroprosthetic control using Hebbian reinforcement learning

Objective. Our goal was to design an adaptive neuroprosthetic controller that could learn the mapping from neural states to prosthetic actions and automatically adjust adaptation using only a binary evaluative feedback as a measure of desirability/undesirability of performance. Approach. Hebbian reinforcement learning (HRL) in a connectionist network was used for the design of the adaptive controller. The method combines the efficiency of supervised learning with the generality of reinforcement learning. The convergence properties of this approach were studied using both closed-loop control simulations and open-loop simulations that used primate neural data from robot-assisted reaching tasks. Main results. The HRL controller was able to perform classification and regression tasks using its episodic and sequential learning modes, respectively. In our experiments, the HRL controller quickly achieved convergence to an effective control policy, followed by robust performance. The controller also automatically stopped adapting the parameters after converging to a satisfactory control policy. Additionally, when the input neural vector was reorganized, the controller resumed adaptation to maintain performance. Significance. By estimating an evaluative feedback directly from the user, the HRL control algorithm may provide an efficient method for autonomous adaptation of neuroprosthetic systems. This method may enable the user to teach the controller the desired behavior using only a simple feedback signal.
Towards the complete N=2 superfield Born-Infeld action with partially broken N=4 supersymmetry

We propose a systematic way of constructing N = 2, d = 4 superfield Born-Infeld action with a second nonlinearly realized N = 2 supersymmetry. The latter, together with the manifest N = 2 supersymmetry, form a central-charge extended N = 4, d = 4 supersymmetry. We embed the Goldstone-Maxwell N = 2 multiplet into an infinite-dimensional off-shell supermultiplet of this N = 4 supersymmetry and impose an infinite set of covariant constraints which eliminate all extra N = 2 superfields through the Goldstone-Maxwell one. The Born-Infeld superfield Lagrangian density is one of these composite superfields. The constraints can be solved by iterations to any order in the fields. We present the sought N = 2 Born-Infeld action up to the 10th order. It encompasses the action found earlier by Kuzenko and Theisen to the 8th order from a self-duality requirement. This is a strong indication that the complete N = 2 Born-Infeld action with partially broken N = 4 supersymmetry is also self-dual.
The Virulence Plasmid-Encoded impCAB Operon Enhances Survival and Induced Mutagenesis in Shigella flexneriafter Exposure to UV Radiation

ABSTRACT Upon exposure to UV radiation, Shigella flexneri SA100 displayed survival and mutation frequencies comparable to those ofEscherichia coli AB1157, which contains a functional UmuDC error-prone DNA repair system. Survival of SA100 after UV irradiation was associated with the presence of the 220-kb virulence plasmid, pVP. This plasmid encodes homologues of ImpA and ImpB, which comprise an error-prone DNA repair system encoded on plasmid TP110 that was initially identified in Salmonella typhimurium, and ImpC, encoded upstream of ImpA and ImpB. Although the impBgene was present in representatives of all four species ofShigella, not all isolates tested contained the gene.Shigella isolates that lacked impB were more sensitive to UV radiation than isolates that containedimpB. The nucleotide sequence of a 2.4-kb DNA fragment containing the imp operon from S. flexneri SA100 pVP was 96% identical to the impoperon from the plasmid TP110. An SA100 derivative with a mutation in the impB gene had reduced survival following UV irradiation and less UV-induced mutagenesis relative to the parental strain. We also found that S. flexneri contained a chromosomally encoded umuDC operon; however, theumuDC promoter was not induced by exposure to UV radiation. This suggests that the imp operon but not theumuDC operon contributes to survival and induced mutagenesis in S. flexneri following exposure to UV radiation.
Hypertension as a potential biomarker of efficacy in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor treated with sunitinib.

BACKGROUND Reliable biomarkers of sunitinib response in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) are lacking. Hypertension (HTN), an on-target class effect of vascular endothelial growth factor signaling-pathway inhibitors, has been shown to correlate with clinical outcome in advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib. PATIENTS AND METHODS This retrospective analysis examined correlations between sunitinib-associated HTN and antitumor efficacy (N = 319) and safety (N = 1565) across three advanced GIST studies. Blood pressure (BP) was measured on days 1 and 28 of each treatment cycle at a minimum. Time-to-event endpoints were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods, and patient subgroups with and without HTN (maximum systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) were compared using Cox proportional hazards models. Landmark analyses evaluated associations between early HTN and efficacy endpoints. Adverse events (AEs) were compared between groups. RESULTS Sunitinib-associated HTN correlated with improved objective response rates, time to tumor progression, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Almost all benefits remained significant in multivariate and landmark analyses. Overall incidences of HTN-related AEs were low and similar between groups; incidences of cardiovascular AEs were somewhat higher in patients with HTN. CONCLUSION Sunitinib-associated HTN appeared to correlate with improved clinical outcomes in GIST, while incidences of HTN-associated AEs were generally low and manageable.
A generalized sense of number

Much evidence has accumulated to suggest that many animals, including young human infants, possess an abstract sense of approximate quantity, a number sense. Most research has concentrated on apparent numerosity of spatial arrays of dots or other objects, but a truly abstract sense of number should be capable of encoding the numerosity of any set of discrete elements, however displayed and in whatever sensory modality. Here, we use the psychophysical technique of adaptation to study the sense of number for serially presented items. We show that numerosity of both auditory and visual sequences is greatly affected by prior adaptation to slow or rapid sequences of events. The adaptation to visual stimuli was spatially selective (in external, not retinal coordinates), pointing to a sensory rather than cognitive process. However, adaptation generalized across modalities, from auditory to visual and vice versa. Adaptation also generalized across formats: adapting to sequential streams of flashes affected the perceived numerosity of spatial arrays. All these results point to a perceptual system that transcends vision and audition to encode an abstract sense of number in space and in time.
Intrinsically Slow Dynamic Instability of HeLa Cell Microtubules in Vitro *

The dynamic behavior of mammalian microtubules has been extensively studied, both in living cells and with microtubules assembled from purified brain tubulin. To understand the intrinsic dynamic behavior of mammalian nonneural microtubules, we purified tubulin from cultured HeLa cells. We find that HeLa cell microtubules exhibit remarkably slow dynamic instability, spending most of their time in an attenuated state. The tempered dynamics contrast sharply with the dynamics of microtubules prepared from purified bovine brain tubulin under similar conditions. In accord with their minimal dynamic instability, assembled HeLa cell microtubules displayed a slow treadmilling rate and a low guanosine-5′-triphosphate hydrolysis rate at steady state. We find that unlike brain tubulin, which consists of a heterogeneous mixture of β-tubulin isotypes (βII, βIII, and βIV and a low level of βI), HeLa cell tubulin consists of βItubulin (∼80%) and a minor amount of βIV tubulin (∼20%). The slow dynamic behavior of HeLa cell microtubules in vitro differs strikingly from the dynamic behavior of microtubules in living cultured mammalian cells, supporting the idea that accessory factors create the robust dynamics that occur in cells.
Personality, Acculturation, and Psychosocial Adjustment of Chinese International Students in Germany

The effect of personality traits and acculturation variables on cross-cultural adjustment were investigated in 139 Chinese students in Germany (52% girls; M age = 25.3 yr., SD = 2.9). Participants were surveyed by house visits to their dormitories. Several scales were administered: (a) Big Five Inventory; (b) Vancouver Index of Acculturation; (c) sociocultural adjustment, general and academic; and (d) psychological adjustment, i.e., depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Results showed that Neuroticism and Openness were two shared predictors of sociocultural adjustment. Agreeableness and mainstream acculturation were only related to general adjustment, while Conscientiousness was only related to academic adjustment. All facets of psychological adjustment were related to Neuroticism and Consciousness, while positive components (self-esteem and life satisfaction) were also related to Extraversion and Openness. No influence of heritage acculturation was found. The findings are discussed in light of measurement issues and the shared and unique individual predictors of the different facets of adjustment.
Multifunctional T-cell analyses to study response and progression in adoptive cell transfer immunotherapy.

UNLABELLED Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) of genetically engineered T cells expressing cancer-specific T-cell receptors (TCR) is a promising cancer treatment. Here, we investigate the in vivo functional activity and dynamics of the transferred cells by analyzing samples from 3 representative patients with melanoma enrolled in a clinical trial of ACT with TCR transgenic T cells targeted against the melanosomal antigen MART-1. The analyses included evaluating 19 secreted proteins from individual cells from phenotypically defined T-cell subpopulations, as well as the enumeration of T cells with TCR antigen specificity for 36 melanoma antigens. These analyses revealed the coordinated functional dynamics of the adoptively transferred, as well as endogenous, T cells, and the importance of highly functional T cells in dominating the antitumor immune response. This study highlights the need to develop approaches to maintaining antitumor T-cell functionality with the aim of increasing the long-term efficacy of TCR-engineered ACT immunotherapy. SIGNIFICANCE A longitudinal functional study of adoptively transferred TCR–engineered lymphocytes yielded revealing snapshots for understanding the changes of antitumor responses over time in ACT immunotherapy of patients with advanced melanoma.
Petrosal ganglion: a more complex role than originally imagined

The petrosal ganglion (PG) is a peripheral sensory ganglion, composed of pseudomonopolar sensory neurons that innervate the posterior third of the tongue and the carotid sinus and body. According to their electrical properties PG neurons can be ascribed to one of two categories: (i) neurons with action potentials presenting an inflection (hump) on its repolarizing phase and (ii) neurons with fast and brisk action potentials. Although there is some correlation between the electrophysiological properties and the sensory modality of the neurons in some species, no general pattern can be easily recognized. On the other hand, petrosal neurons projecting to the carotid body are activated by several transmitters, with acetylcholine and ATP being the most conspicuous in most species. Petrosal neurons are completely surrounded by a multi-cellular sheet of glial (satellite) cells that prevents the formation of chemical or electrical synapses between neurons. Thus, PG neurons are regarded as mere wires that communicate the periphery (i.e., carotid body) and the central nervous system. However, it has been shown that in other sensory ganglia satellite glial cells and their neighboring neurons can interact, partly by the release of chemical neuro-glio transmitters. This intercellular communication can potentially modulate the excitatory status of sensory neurons and thus the afferent discharge. In this mini review, we will briefly summarize the general properties of PG neurons and the current knowledge about the glial-neuron communication in sensory neurons and how this phenomenon could be important in the chemical sensory processing generated in the carotid body.
Quantitative immunoelectrophoretic analysis of the plasma proteins in the sol phase of sputum from patients with chronic bronchitis

An analysis of the plasma proteins in the sol phase of sputum was carried out using quantitative cross immunoelectrophoresis. The average concentrations of nine plasma proteins were estimated in the sol phase of sputum specimens from 30 patients with chronic bronchitis and the values were compared with the concentrations of these proteins in saliva and serum specimens from the same group of patients. The results showed that alpha1 antichymotrypsin and IgA concentrations were higher in the sol phase of sputum than would be expected if their presence were due entirely to passive transudation.
Lineage-specific proteins essential for endocytosis in trypanosomes

ABSTRACT Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is the most evolutionarily ancient endocytic mechanism known, and in many lineages the sole mechanism for internalisation. Significantly, in mammalian cells CME is responsible for the vast bulk of endocytic flux and has likely undergone multiple adaptations to accommodate specific requirements by individual species. In African trypanosomes, we previously demonstrated that CME is independent of the AP-2 adaptor protein complex, that orthologues to many of the animal and fungal CME protein cohort are absent, and that a novel, trypanosome-restricted protein cohort interacts with clathrin and drives CME. Here, we used a novel cryomilling affinity isolation strategy to preserve transient low-affinity interactions, giving the most comprehensive trypanosome clathrin interactome to date. We identified the trypanosome AP-1 complex, Trypanosoma brucei (Tb)EpsinR, several endosomal SNAREs plus orthologues of SMAP and the AP-2 associated kinase AAK1 as interacting with clathrin. Novel lineage-specific proteins were identified, which we designate TbCAP80 and TbCAP141. Their depletion produced extensive defects in endocytosis and endomembrane system organisation, revealing a novel molecular pathway subtending an early-branching and highly divergent form of CME, which is conserved and likely functionally important across the kinetoplastid parasites. Summary: Endocytosis is a vital process in most cells, and here we identify important proteins required for this process in trypanosomes. Significantly, these are unique and not present in animals, fungi or plants.
Competitive Design of Multiuser MIMO Systems Based on Game Theory: A Unified View

This paper considers the noncooperative maximization of mutual information in the Gaussian interference channel in a fully distributed fashion via game theory. This problem has been studied in a number of papers during the past decade for the case of frequency-selective channels. A variety of conditions guaranteeing the uniqueness of the Nash Equilibrium (NE) and convergence of many different distributed algorithms have been derived. In this paper we provide a unified view of the state-of- the-art results, showing that most of the techniques proposed in the literature to study the game, even though apparently different, can be unified using our recent interpretation of the waterfilling operator as a projection onto a proper polyhedral set. Based on this interpretation, we then provide a mathematical framework, useful to derive a unified set of sufficient conditions guaranteeing the uniqueness of the NE and the global convergence of waterfilling based asynchronous distributed algorithms. The proposed mathematical framework is also instrumental to study the extension of the game to the more general MIMO case, for which only few results are available in the current literature. The resulting algorithm is, similarly to the frequency-selective case, an iterative asynchronous MIMO waterfilling algorithm. The proof of convergence hinges again on the interpretation of the MIMO waterfilling as a matrix projection, which is the natural generalization of our results obtained for the waterfilling mapping in the frequency-selective case.
A New Determinant of Candida glabrata Virulence: The Acetate Exporter CgDtr1

Persistence and virulence of Candida glabrata infections are multifactorial phenomena, whose understanding is crucial to design more suitable therapeutic strategies. In this study, the putative multidrug transporter CgDtr1, encoded by ORF CAGL0M06281g, is identified as a determinant of C. glabrata virulence in the infection model Galleria mellonella. CgDTR1 deletion is shown to decrease the ability to kill G. mellonella larvae by decreasing C. glabrata ability to proliferate in G. mellonella hemolymph, and to tolerate the action of hemocytes. The possible role of CgDtr1 in the resistance to several stress factors that underlie death induced by phagocytosis was assessed. CgDTR1 was found to confer resistance to oxidative and acetic acid stress. Consistently, CgDtr1 was found to be a plasma membrane acetic acid exporter, relieving the stress induced upon C. glabrata cells within hemocytes, and thus enabling increased proliferation and virulence against G. mellonella larvae.
Environmental Research and Public Health Genetic Aspects of Susceptibility to Mercury Toxicity: an Overview

Human exposure to mercury is still a major public health concern. In this context, children have a higher susceptibility to adverse neurological mercury effects, compared to adults with similar exposures. Moreover, there exists a marked variability of personal response to detrimental mercury action, in particular among population groups with significant mercury exposure. New scientific evidence on genetic backgrounds has raised the issue of whether candidate susceptibility genes can make certain individuals more or less vulnerable to mercury toxicity. In this review, the aim is to evaluate a new genetic dimension and its involvement in mercury risk assessment, focusing on the important role played by relevant polymorphisms, located in attractive gene targets for mercury toxicity. Existing original articles on epidemiologic research which report a direct link between the genetic basis of personal vulnerability and different mercury repercussions on human health will be reviewed. Based on this evidence, a careful evaluation of the significant markers of susceptibility will be suggested, in order to obtain a powerful positive " feedback " to improve the quality of life. Large consortia of studies with clear phenotypic assessments will help clarify the " window of susceptibility " in the human health risks due to mercury exposure.
Demographic traits of Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) fed on Sitobion avenae Fabricius (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Lady beetles are the most important predatory species among arthropods, so studying their population parameters gives a clear picture about their life span. The life histories of variegated lady beetle, Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), fed on the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae Fabricius, on different host plants were studied under laboratory conditions, at 25 ± 1 °C, 65 ± 5% Relative Humidity and a photoperiod of 16:8 (Light: Dark) h. Developmental, survival and fecundity data were analyzed using the age-stage, two-sex life table method. According to the age-stage, two-sex life table, the net reproductive rates (R0) of ladybird fed on S. avenae reared on Triticum aestivum var. tajan, Hordeum vulgare var. Dasht, Zea mays var. single cross 704 and Sorghum durra var. Speed feed were estimated to be 235.38 ± 36.15, 190.74 ± 33.37, 293.54 ± 46.66 and 137.46 ± 23.66 female offspring / female, respectively. Based on the results, the intrinsic rate of increase as an index of population increase of H. variegata, was 0.181 ± 0.006, 0.179 ± 0.006, 0.163 ± 0.006 and 0.162 ± 0.006 h 1 preyed on host reared on T. aestivum var. tajan Z. mays var. single cross 704 S. durra var. Speed feed and H. vulgare var. Dasht, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that by using the age-stage, two-sex life table we can accurately describe the growth, survival and development of the predator. Our finding may provide basic information for developing aphid biological control programs.