Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Poly(glutamic acid) poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels prepared by photoinduced polymerization: Synthesis, characterization, and preliminary release studies of protein drugs.

A class of new biodegradable hydrogels based on poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-graft-poly(glutamic acid) and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate was synthesized by photoinduced polymerization. Because all the polymeric constituents were highly hydrophilic, crosslinking could be performed in aqueous solutions. This type of crosslinked hydrogel was prepared by modifying a select number of acidic side-groups on poly(glutamic acid) with poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate. These modified chains were then crosslinked in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate under a photoinduced polymerization at a wavelength of 365 nm. Swelling experiments were conducted to study the crosslinking density, pH-responsive behavior, and degradation of the hydrogel. Results showed that the degree of swelling of this type of hydrogels increased as the crosslinker concentration (or density) was reduced. Because of the presence of acidic side chains on poly(glutamic acid), swelling behavior was found to be pH-responsive, increasing at high pH in response to the increase in the amount of ionized acidic side chains. The degradation rate of these hydrogels also varied with pH. More rapid degradation was observed under stronger alkaline conditions because of the hydrolysis of the ester bonds between the crosslinker and the polymer backbone. Practically useful degradation rates could be achieved for such hydrogels under physiological conditions. Drug release rates from these hydrogels were found to be proportional to the protein molecular weight and the crosslinker density; increasing at lower protein molecular weight or crosslinker density. The preliminary findings presented in this article suggest that this class of biodegradable hydrogels could be an attractive avenue for drug delivery applications. The specific photoinduced crosslinking chemistry used would permit hydrogels to be synthesized in existence of the entrapped macromolecular drugs including peptides, proteins, and cells. In addition, the rapid feature of this polymerization procedure along with the ability to perform hydrogel synthesis and drug loading in an aqueous environment would offer great advantages in retaining drug activity during hydrogel synthesis.
Green Accounting: Cost Measures

In the past, environmental issues were often ignored by both, large companies and small medium enterprises. However, accounting for the environment or the acronym “Green accounting” is receiving increased attention in the recent times. Many companies, particularly small medium enterprises (SMEs) are now interested in being “green”, as many investors place a high value on environmental responsibility. Many environmental costs can be significantly reduced or eliminated as a result of business decisions, ranging from operational and housekeeping changes, to investment in greener process technology to redesign processes or products. Industry and the green movement are tilting towards consensus on the pivotal concept of sustainable development. Better natural resource and green accounts would provide valuable insights into the interaction between the environment and the economy. However, implementing green accounting in organization such as SMEs in Malaysia, results in resistance or ignored due to some reasons such as lack of awareness, lack of ethical education, etc. This paper highlights the issues surrounding the firms green accounting in financial reporting. The key goal of this paper is to outline a set of green accounting measures that are to be addressed in environmental management accounting system of a firm.
Is the Oedipal complex universal? Problems for sexual and relationship psychotherapy across cultures

The Oedipal complex and its resolution are one of the mainstays of personal development in psychoanalytic terms. Within the fields of psychoanalysis and anthropology there has been a long-standing debate on the validity of the concept. We review the literature and propose that Oedipal type of reactions are not unknown in other cultures. However, in some cultures the Greek myth is relatively rarely reported. We suggest that the Oedipus complex needs to be studied according to its various components, such as jealousy of the father, feelings of sexual attraction towards the mother and a boy's attraction to his own genitalia. Such a distinction can prove to be useful for research as well as for management of the Oedipal resolution. We highlight the implications for such a resolution for the purposes of psychotherapy across cultures.
Gossip-based distributed stochastic bandit algorithms

The multi-armed bandit problem has attracted remarkable attention in the machine learning community and many efficient algorithms have been proposed to handle the so-called exploitation-exploration dilemma in various bandit setups. At the same time, significantly less effort has been devoted to adapting bandit algorithms to particular architectures, such as sensor networks, multicore machines, or peer-to-peer (P2P) environments, which could potentially speed up their convergence. Our goal is to adapt stochastic bandit algorithms to P2P networks. In our setup, the same set of arms is available in each peer. In every iteration each peer can pull one arm independently of the other peers, and then some limited communication is possible with a few random other peers. As our main result, we show that our adaptation achieves a linear speedup in terms of the number of peers participating in the network. More precisely, we show that the probability of playing a suboptimal arm at a peer in iteration t = Ω(log N) is proportional to 1/(Nt) where N denotes the number of peers. The theoretical results are supported by simulation experiments showing that our algorithm scales gracefully with the size of network.
Living in a noisy world: indirect effects of noise on animal communication

Noise is a ubiquitous feature in natural as well as in urban habitats. The presence of noise can have multiple direct and indirect effects on communication. Noise can directly mask signals leading to reduced detection and recognition. Noise also affects internal physiological processes which can influence attention and decision rules and, thus, indirectly affect communication. Also community effects of noise leading to lower densities or different community composition with respect to copying style or personality will affect communication through different communication distances and different daily behavioural routines. All these direct and indirect effects of noise on communication have been well documented but often are treated separately. This review focusses on some of the indirect effects of noise on animal communication, considering spatial responses, attentional effects and differential effects of noise depending on an animal’s characteristics, its personality. It evaluates how noise can indirectly influence communication and, thus, social network structure and processes of sexual and natural selection.
CONFIRMATION OF INVASIVE MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE BY SINGLE POINT ESTIMATION OF IGM ANTIBODY TO OUTER MEMBRANE PROTEIN OF NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS

Summary Objectives: The sensitivity of laboratory confirmation of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) by culture or PCR is affected by prior antibiotic treatment and decreasing use of early lumbar puncture. Serological diagnosis of IMD is not widely used because of reliance on paired serum samples. The application of single point estimations of IgM antibodies in the diagnosis of IMD was explored. Design: Outer membrane proteins from a mix of commonly encountered meningococcal serotypes were partially purified and used as an antigen in an enzyme immunoassay for the detection of IgM antibody. The cut‐off for the assay was derived using sera from blood bank donors and the accuracy then evaluated with sera from patients with culture‐confirmed IMD, other bacterial infections and culture‐proven nasopharyngeal colonisation with Neisseria meningitidis. Results: The coefficient of variability of the assay was < 10% in negative, mid‐ and high‐range positive sera and the specificity of the assay was at least 93%. In sera collected from 49 adult patients at various times after positive blood or CSF culture‐confirmed IMD, the assay had a sensitivity of 100% in specimens collected between 5 and 18 days. At the time of isolation of meningococci from either blood or CSF, eight of 29 sera were IgM‐positive, but beyond 70 days no positive results were detected. No differences were seen in the IgM responses in patients from whom different serogroups of N. meningitidis were recovered. Conclusions: Serological examination by single point IgM enzyme immunoassay (EIA) offers the possibility of an expanded laboratory confirmation of IMD in adults for samples taken between 5 and 18 days after onset.
THE PHONETICS OF NDUMBEA

This paper provides a phonetic description of Ndumbea, one of the indigenous Austronesian languages of the southernmost part of New Caledonia, a French "Overseas Territory" in the South Pacific. Ndumbea, which is spoken by at most two to three hundred speakers, possesses a number of phonological and phonetic contrasts that are atypical among Austronesian languages. Ndumbea is one of relatively few Austronesian languages that are tonal; it also has a larger inventory of vowels than many other Austronesian languages. The focus of this paper is the three-way place contrast between coronal stops, a relative rarity not only among Austronesian languages, but also among other languages of the world. The three places in the coronal area are shown to be distinguished from one another in terms of both their articulatory and acoustic realization. However, the relationship between these articulatory and acoustic properties is rather atypical from a cross-linguistic standpoint. In addition to the discussion of the coronal contrast, other phonetic aspects of the Ndumbea consonant and vowel systems are also considered.
Changes in Dynamics upon Oligomerization Regulate Substrate Binding and Allostery in Amino Acid Kinase Family Members

Oligomerization is a functional requirement for many proteins. The interfacial interactions and the overall packing geometry of the individual monomers are viewed as important determinants of the thermodynamic stability and allosteric regulation of oligomers. The present study focuses on the role of the interfacial interactions and overall contact topology in the dynamic features acquired in the oligomeric state. To this aim, the collective dynamics of enzymes belonging to the amino acid kinase family both in dimeric and hexameric forms are examined by means of an elastic network model, and the softest collective motions (i.e., lowest frequency or global modes of motions) favored by the overall architecture are analyzed. Notably, the lowest-frequency modes accessible to the individual subunits in the absence of multimerization are conserved to a large extent in the oligomer, suggesting that the oligomer takes advantage of the intrinsic dynamics of the individual monomers. At the same time, oligomerization stiffens the interfacial regions of the monomers and confers new cooperative modes that exploit the rigid-body translational and rotational degrees of freedom of the intact monomers. The present study sheds light on the mechanism of cooperative inhibition of hexameric N-acetyl-L-glutamate kinase by arginine and on the allosteric regulation of UMP kinases. It also highlights the significance of the particular quaternary design in selectively determining the oligomer dynamics congruent with required ligand-binding and allosteric activities.
[11C]β‐CIT‐FE, a radioligand for quantitation of the dopamine transporter in the living brain using positron emission tomography

The cocaine analogue β‐CIT‐FE (N‐(2‐fluoroethyl)‐2β‐carbomethoxy‐3β‐(4‐iodophenyl)nortropane) was labeled with 11C for positron emission tomography (PET) studies of the dopamine transporter. After intravenous administration to a cynomolgus monkey, [11C]β‐CIT‐FE accumulated in the striatum with a striatum‐to‐cerebellum ratio of about 9 after 60 min. Pseudoequilibrium of specific [11C]β‐CIT‐FE binding in the striatum was obtained within 30–50 min. The radioactivity ratios of the thalamus to the cerebellum and the neocortex to the cerebellum were about 2 and 1.5, respectively. In displacement and pretreatment experiments, radioactivity in the striatum but not in the cerebellum was reduced after injection of β‐CIT or the dopamine transporter inhibitor GBR 12909, indicating that striatal radioactivity following injection of [11C]β‐CIT‐FE represents reversible binding to dopamine transporter sites. After displacement or pretreatment with cocaine there was a marked effect not only in the striatum but also in the thalamus and neocortex. [11C]β‐CIT‐FE has potential as a useful PET radioligand for quantitation of the dopamine transporter in the primate brain in vivo. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Text Categorization Using Predicate-Argument Structures

Most text categorization methods use the vector space model in combination with a representation of documents based on bags of words. As its name indicates, bags of words ignore possible structures in the text and only take into account isolated, unrelated words. Although this limitation is widely acknowledged, most previous attempts to extend the bag-of-words model with more advanced approaches failed to produce conclusive improvements. We propose a novel method that extends the word-level representation to automatically extracted semantic and syntactic features. We investigated three extensions: word-sense information, subject–verb–object triples, and rolesemantic predicate–argument tuples, all tting within the vector space model. We computed their contribution to the categorization results on the Reuters corpus of newswires (RCV1). We show that these three extensions, either taken individually or in combination, result in statistically signicant improvements of the microaverageF 1 over a baseline using bags of words. We found that our best extended model that uses a combination of syntactic and semantic features reduces the error of the word-level baseline by up to 10 percent for the categories having more than 1,000 documents in the training corpus. Research done while at Lund University.
A Review of the Blueberry Maggot Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Native to North America, the blueberry maggot fly, Rhagoletis mendax Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), has historically been considered one of the most important insect pests of commercially grown highbush and lowbush blueberries in many parts of the northeastern and north central United States and Canada. Larval infestation results in unmarketable berries owing to a zero-tolerance policy enforced by quarantine regulations for exporting berries to countries outside the United States. To keep berries free from larvae, growers need to maintain an intensive management program that is based mainly on chemical control targeted at adults. Blueberry maggot flies have been largely managed by the use of broad-spectrum insecticides, including organophosphates and carbamates; however, restricted use of these old chemistries has resulted in increased use of “reduced-risk” neonicotinoids. Integrated pest management programs for blueberry maggot include the use of monitoring tools such as Pherocon-AM sticky traps, site-specific insecticide applications, border sprays, and use of reduced-risk insecticides. The pest status of the blueberry maggot fly in blueberries has changed recently due to the invasion into the continental United States of the spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, which has now become the main target of insecticide applications, replacing the blueberry maggot. This new invasive pest has disrupted integrated pest management programs implemented for blueberry maggot. The present review describes the biology, ecology, crop injury, monitoring tools, and control strategies currently used for blueberry maggot in blueberries, as well as provide a perspective on its present and potential future pest status.
Smoker identity among social smokers: theory-based approaches for anti-smoking interventions

Abstract A large number of college smokers refuse to self-identify as smokers, instead referring to themselves as social smokers. With little or no information on how social smokers perceive risks and levels of efficacy related to smoking cessation, designing effective anti-smoking campaigns may be problematic. Based on the theoretical underpinning of the Risk Perception Attitude Framework, we investigated the impact of perceived risks and self-efficacy on the intention to quit smoking among social smokers and compared the findings to those who self-identify as smokers (i.e. admitters) and non-smokers (i.e. deniers). An online survey was conducted targeting college students who had smoked in the past 30 days. Of the 414 total participants, 111 self-identified as social smokers. Results show that deniers were no more willing to quit than admitters albeit with a greater self-efficacy. Deniers also tended to underestimate the risks of smoking and possessed greater feelings of self-efficacy. Admitters, in contrast, were higher in perceived risk but lower in self-efficacy. In addition, the cognitive paths to quit smoking via perceived risks and assessment of self-efficacy were compared between deniers and admitters. The importance of considering smoking identity is discussed and practical implications for anti-smoking campaigns are provided.
Prediction of Local Ultimate Strain and Toughness of Trabecular Bone Tissue by Raman Material Composition Analysis

Clinical studies indicate that bone mineral density correlates with fracture risk at the population level but does not correlate with individual fracture risk well. Current research aims to better understand the failure mechanism of bone and to identify key determinants of bone quality, thus improving fracture risk prediction. To get a better understanding of bone strength, it is important to analyze tissue-level properties not influenced by macro- or microarchitectural factors. The aim of this pilot study was to identify whether and to what extent material properties are correlated with mechanical properties at the tissue level. The influence of macro- or microarchitectural factors was excluded by testing individual trabeculae. Previously reported data of mechanical parameters measured in single trabeculae under tension and bending and its compositional properties measured by Raman spectroscopy was evaluated. Linear and multivariate regressions show that bone matrix quality but not quantity was significantly and independently correlated with the tissue-level ultimate strain and postyield work (r = 0.65–0.94). Principal component analysis extracted three independent components explaining 86% of the total variance, representing elastic, yield, and ultimate components according to the included mechanical parameters. Some matrix parameters were both included in the ultimate component, indicating that the variation in ultimate strain and postyield work could be largely explained by Raman-derived compositional parameters.
Specialized Vasculature in the Rostral Migratory Stream as a Neurogenic Niche and Scaffold for Neuroblast Migration

Neurovascular niches serve as the hosts for adult neural stem cells in both the hippocampus and subventricular zone. The rostral migratory stream (RMS) vasculature has been found to be important for neuroblast migration, while its roles in hosting putative neural stem cells have not been investigated. Here we investigated the organization of RMS vasculature and its contribution to the production of new neurons. A single pulse of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) administration revealed locally formed new neurons within RMS were located adjacent to blood vessels. In addition, BrdU label-retaining cells that are putative neural stem cells were also found close to the vasculature. Sodium fluorescein perfusion assay demonstrated that the blood-brain barrier (BBB) organization was especially “leaky” in the neurogenic niches. Immunohistochemical visualization of some BBB component molecules indicated a thinner BBB in the RMS region, compared to that in the frontal cortex of adult rats. Finally, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor was strong and specialized in the RMS region, implying that the region was active in cell proliferation and migration. Here we show that the RMS vasculature associated with surrounding astrocytes provides a highly organized neurovascular niche for adult neural stem cell proliferation, in addition to the function of neuroblast migration support. This result points to a new vasculature supporting neurogenic region in the brain.
'Maybe my daddy give me a big piano': the development of children's use of modals to express uncertainty

Little is known about the emergence of modal adjuncts to mark uncertainty. We used the CHILDES database (MacWhinney & Snow 1985, 1990) to examine the use of the modal terms maybe, possibly, probably and might among 10 children between ages 2;0 and 4;11. A coding scheme was developed to permit a detailed examination of the contexts in which these terms were used. Children first expressed uncertainty in connention with ongoing events in the physical world and with respect to future intentions. The expression of uncertainty with respect to future events was the next context of use to emerge. After age 3;6, an increased use of might was notable, particularly with respect to 'things that might happen' in the future.
A Role for Molecular Chaperone Hsc70 in Reovirus Outer Capsid Disassembly*

After crossing the cellular membrane barrier during cell entry, most animal viruses must undergo further disassembly before initiating viral gene expression. In many cases, these disassembly mechanisms remain poorly defined. For this report, we examined a final step in disassembly of the mammalian reovirus outer capsid: cytoplasmic release of the central, δ fragment of membrane penetration protein μ1 to yield the transcriptionally active viral core particle. An in vitro assay with reticulocyte lysate recapitulated the release of intact δ molecules. Requirements for activity in this system were shown to include a protein factor, ATP, and Mg2+ and K+ ions, consistent with involvement of a molecular chaperone such as Hsc70. Immunodepletion of Hsc70 and Hsp70 impaired δ release, which was then rescued by addition of purified Hsc70. Hsc70 was associated with released δ molecules not only in the lysate but also during cell entry. We conclude that Hsc70 plays a defined role in reovirus outer capsid disassembly, during or soon after membrane penetration, to prepare the entering particle for gene expression and replication.
An Analysis of Social Change.

compatibility or incompatibility of social data with the goals and practices of the schools. Boyd Bode, of The Ohio State University, attempted to relate the dominant theories in psychology to the conduct of schooling. He showed the difference it makes when assumptions about learning are incompatible with the goals of the larger society and the goals of education. Social foundations has the task of examining the data and assumptions of social sciencel to determine their congruence or incongruence with educational theory, goals, policy and practice. More im-