Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antiviral Effects of ABMA against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 In Vitro and In Vivo

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is the causative pathogen of genital herpes and is closely associated with the occurrence of cervical cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The absence of an effective vaccine and the emergence of drug resistance to commonly used nucleoside analogs emphasize the urgent need for alternative antivirals against HSV-2. Recently, ABMA [1-adamantyl (5-bromo-2-methoxybenzyl) amine] has been demonstrated to be an inhibitor of several pathogens exploiting host-vesicle transport, which also participates in the HSV-2 lifecycle. Here, we showed that ABMA inhibited HSV-2-induced cytopathic effects and plaque formation with 50% effective concentrations of 1.66 and 1.08 μM, respectively. We also preliminarily demonstrated in a time of compound addition assay that ABMA exerted a dual antiviral mechanism by impairing virus entry, as well as the late stages of the HSV-2 lifecycle. Furthermore, in vivo studies showed that ABMA protected BALB/c mice from intravaginal HSV-2 challenge with an improved survival rate of 50% at 5 mg/kg (8.33% for the untreated virus infected control). Consequently, our study has identified ABMA as an effective inhibitor of HSV-2, both in vitro and in vivo, for the first time and presents an alternative to nucleoside analogs for HSV-2 infection treatment.
Parental concerns on disclosure of HIV status to children living with HIV: children’s perspective

ABSTRACT Disclosure is an important component of comprehensive management of children living with HIV infection (CLHIV). Many parental concerns are barriers for disclosure in children and only few studies addresses children’s perspective on these concerns. Our study aims to understand children’s perspective on parental concerns for disclosure and assess the knowledge of HIV. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study involving CLHIV between 10 and 18 years attending HIV clinic in southern India, was conducted. Data were collected by directly interviewing only the children after obtaining consent from parents/caregivers. Initial open-ended questions were asked to assess the disclosure status and only fully disclosed children were included. Out of 362 enrolled eligible children, the prevalence of full and partial disclosure was 36.7% and 24%, respectively. The mean age of disclosure was 10.4 years (SD ± 2.6) and non-parental family members in an informal setting were the most common source of disclosure (38.3%). Forty-six percentages of parents were unaware of their child’s disclosure status. Only 2% had disclosed their status to others who were not part of their care. Among disclosed children, 33.8% became upset or sad upon knowing their status, 12% faced discrimination and 41.4% had complete knowledge about their illness. Though the prevalence of disclosure among CLHIV was high, a majority of them had incomplete knowledge about HIV infection. The parental concerns as reported in literature like the child is too young to disclose, concerns about coping, fear of stigma and discrimination and child disclosing to others were not expressed by children.
The thermal expansion of gold: point defect concentrations and pre-melting in a face-centred cubic metal

The thermal expansion of gold has been determined by X-ray powder diffraction from 40 K up to the melting point (1337 K). Gold shows a nonlinear increase in thermal expansion that departs from the associated Grüneisen–Debye model prior to melting, which has been quantified in terms of the generation of point defects.
Analysis of high quality superconducting resonators: consequences for TLS properties in amorphous oxides

1 / f ? > noise caused by microscopic two-level systems (TLS) is known to be very detrimental to the performance of superconducting quantum devices but the nature of these TLS is still poorly understood. Recent experiments with superconducting resonators indicates that interaction between TLS in the oxide at the film-substrate interface is not negligible. Here we present data on the loss and 1 / f ? > frequency noise from two different Nb resonators with and without Pt capping and discuss what conclusions can be drawn regarding the properties of TLS in amorphous oxides. We also estimate the concentration and dipole moment of the TLS.
A study on Proportion, Speciation and Antifungal Resistance Pattern of the Candida Isolates in a Tertiary Care Hospital of North Kerala, India

Candidosis or candidiasis, caused by various species of Candida that are part of the normal flora of the muco-cutaneous membranes of humans, is the commonest fungal disease found in human beings. A variety of factors predispose to candidosis by altering the balance of normal microbial flora or by lowering the host resistance (Chander, 2013) resulting in tissue invasion and lifethreatening diseases in patients with decreased cell mediated immunity (Dharwad et al., 2011). The risk factors for candidosis include use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials, chemotherapy, invasive procedures, transplants and prolonged ICU stay. Most of the invasive infections due to Candida species are attributed to C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis and C. krusei (Giri et al., 2012; Ece et al., 2012); however accurate speciation is important for treatment, as not all species respond to the same treatment and due to anti-fungal resistance and emergence of nonalbicans Candida species (Page et al., 2005). Candida species with fluconazole resistance have become more prominent in recent years (Chakrabarti et al., 1996). Early diagnosis and proper treatment is the key for management of candidosis. Hence this study was undertaken to determine the proportion of Candida International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 5 (2017) pp. 434-439 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
A randomized trial comparing intravesical instillations of mitoxantrone and doxorubicin in patients with superficial bladder cancer.

BACKGROUND This randomized trial was conducted to compare the efficacy and side effects of intravesical mitoxantrone instillation with those of doxorubicin in superficial bladder cancer following transurethral resection. METHODS Sixty-three patients were randomized into mitoxantrone and doxorubicin groups. Most of the patients enrolled were elderly people (mean age, 71 years). The instilled doses of doxorubicin and mitoxantrone were 30 and 14 mg, respectively. Disease recurrence and side effects were compared using Fisher's exact test. The interval to recurrence was shown by Kaplan-Meier survivorship curves, and the log-rank test was used to compare the time to recurrence. RESULTS The median follow-up period was 36 months. Thirty-three patients received mitoxantrone, whereas 30 patients used doxorubicin. The recurrence rate in the doxorubicin group was 30% (95% CI: 19.8%-38.8%), while it was 27.3% (95% CI: 17.5%-36.8%) in the mitoxantrone group. The median recurrence-free survival in the mitoxantrone group and in the doxorubicin group was 22 and 20 months, respectively (p=0.580). Higher recurrence rates were found for Grade III and multiple primary tumors. There was no significant difference in response rates (p=0.784). The incidence of side effects was 20% in the doxorubicin group and 21.2% in the mitoxantrone group. However, the difference was not significant (p>0.99). CONCLUSIONS The results revealed that the efficacy and side effects of mitoxantrone were similar to those of doxorubicin. Especially for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis or aged patients with primary bladder tumors, mitoxantrone and doxorubicin may be the tolerable and effective intravesical agents.
Impact of signalwavelength on the semiconductor opticalamplifier gain uniformity for high speed optical routers employing the segmentation model

This paper investigates the impact of a train of input Gaussian pulses wavelength on semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) gain uniformity for high speed applications. In high speed applications, the linear output gain of the input pulses is necessary in order to minimize the gain standard deviation and power penalties. A segmentation model of the SOA is demonstrated to utilize the complete rate equations. The SOA gain profile when injected with a burst of input signal is presented. A direct temporal analysis of the effect of the burst wavelength on the SOA gain and the output gain standard deviation is investigated. The output gain uniformity dependence on the input burst power and wavelength within the C-band spectrum range is analyzed. Results obtained show the proportionality of the peak-gain conditions for the SOA on the nonlinearity of the output gain achieved by the input pulses.
Liquid Space Lubricants Examined by Vibrational Microspectroscopy

Abstract Considerable effort has been expended to develop liquid lubricants for satellites and space exploration vehicles. These lubricants must often perform under a range of harsh conditions such as vacuum, radiation, and temperature extremes while in orbit or in transit and in extremely dusty environments at destinations such as the moon and Mars. Historically, oil development was guided by terrestrial application, which did not provide sufficient space lubricants. Novel fluids such as perfluorinated polyethers provided some relief but are far from ideal. With each new fluid proposed to solve one problem, other problems have arisen. Much of the work performed at National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration's (NASA) Glenn Research Center, in elucidating mechanisms by which chemical degradation of space oils occur, has been done by infrared and Raman microspectroscopy, which this review details. Fundamental lubrication studies are presented as well as actual case studies, in which vibrational spectroscopy led to millions of dollars in savings and potentially prevented loss of mission.
Nucleic acids: function and potential for abiogenesis

Abstract The emergence of functional cooperation between the three main classes of biomolecules – nucleic acids, peptides and lipids – defines life at the molecular level. However, how such mutually interdependent molecular systems emerged from prebiotic chemistry remains a mystery. A key hypothesis, formulated by Crick, Orgel and Woese over 40 year ago, posits that early life must have been simpler. Specifically, it proposed that an early primordial biology lacked proteins and DNA but instead relied on RNA as the key biopolymer responsible not just for genetic information storage and propagation, but also for catalysis, i.e. metabolism. Indeed, there is compelling evidence for such an ‘RNA world’, notably in the structure of the ribosome as a likely molecular fossil from that time. Nevertheless, one might justifiably ask whether RNA alone would be up to the task. From a purely chemical perspective, RNA is a molecule of rather uniform composition with all four bases comprising organic heterocycles of similar size and comparable polarity and pK a values. Thus, RNA molecules cover a much narrower range of steric, electronic and physicochemical properties than, e.g. the 20 amino acid side-chains of proteins. Herein we will examine the functional potential of RNA (and other nucleic acids) with respect to self-replication, catalysis and assembly into simple protocellular entities.
Human adipose derived stem cells regress fibrosis in a chronic renal fibrotic model induced by adenine

Background and aims ADSCs transplantation had been shown in some experimental models of kidney damage that it improves kidney function and reduces fibrosis. In this study we evaluated the effect of human adipose tissue-derived stem cell (hADSC) therapy in a chronic kidney damage experimental model. Methods A chronic kidney injury was induced by daily orogastric administration of adenine (100mg/kg) to male Wistar rats for 28 days. hADSCs were isolated, expanded and characterized before transplantation. hADSC administration was performed in a tail vein at a dose of 2 x106 cells/animal. Animals were sacrificed at 7 days post-treatment. The percentage of fibrotic tissue, serum and urine levels of urea, creatinine, total protein and renal mRNA of COL1A1, TGFB1, CTGF, ACTA2, IL6, IL10, TNF were analyzed. Results hADSCs treatment significantly reduces kidney fibrosis, improves urea and creatinine serum and urine levels, and diminishes COL1A1, TGFB1, CTGF, ACTA2 mRNA kidney levels. Conclusions These results showed that cell therapy using hADSCs improves renal function and reduces fibrosis.
Priority based forced requeue to reduce worst-case latencies for bursty traffic

In this paper we introduce priority based forced requeue to decrease worst-case latencies in NoCs offering best effort services. Forced Requeue is to prematurely lift out low priority packets from the network and requeue them outside using priority queues. The first benefit of this approach, applicable to any NoC offering best effort services, is that packets that have not yet entered the network now compete with packets inside the network and hence tighter bounds on admission times can be given. The second benefit - which is more specific to deflective routing as in the Nostrum NoC - is that packet ldquoreshufflingrdquo dramatically reduces the latency inside the network for bursty traffic due to a lowered risk of collisions at the exit of the network. This paper studies the Forced Requeuing on a mesh with varying burst sizes and traffic scenarios. The experimental results show a 50% reduction in worst-case latency from a system perspective thanks to a reshaped latency distribution whilst keeping the average latency the same.
Physical disruption of cell–cell contact induces VEGF expression in RPE cells

Purpose To investigate the role of RPE cell–cell contact in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression in cultures of primary human RPE (hRPE) cells and a human RPE cell line (ARPE-19). Methods Two in vitro methods, scratching and micropatterning, were used to control the physical dissociation of RPE cell–cell junctions. Scratching was performed by scoring monolayers of RPE cells with a cell scraper. Micropatterning was achieved by using a stencil patterning method. Extracellular VEGF expression was assessed by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) was performed to visualize the expression and localization of VEGF and intercellular proteins zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), N-cadherin, β-catenin, and claudin-1 in RPE cultures. Results Higher expression of VEGF protein by cells on the edges of the scratched RPE layers was confirmed with ICC in short-term (1 day after confluency) and long-term (4 weeks after confluency) cultures. According to the ICC results, ZO-1, N-cadherin, β-catenin, and claudin-1 successfully localized to cell–cell junctions in long-term cultures of ARPE-19 and hRPE cells. However, unlike N-cadherin, β-catenin, and claudin-1, only ZO-1 localized junctionally in short-term cultures of both cell types. Moreover, removing cell–cell junctions by scratching resulted in the delocalization of ZO-1 from tight junctions to the cytoplasm. The loss of tight junction formation and the accumulation of ZO-1 in the cytoplasm correlated with increased VEGF expression. Micropatterning RPE cells on different sized circular patterns produced varying concentrations of cells with lost cell–cell junctions. When fewer cells formed intercellular junctions, increased extracellular VEGF secretion was observed from the ARPE-19 and hRPE cells. Conclusions VEGF expression increases after physical disruption of RPE cell–cell connections. This increase in VEGF expression correlates with the loss of intercellular junctions and the localization of ZO-1 in the cytoplasm of RPE cells.
Dimensional Responses of Wood Under Cyclical Changing Temperature at Constant Relative Humidity

To investigate dimensional responses of wood under dynamic temperature condition, poplar (populous euramericana Cv.) specimens, 20 mm in radial (R) and tangential (T) directions with two thicknesses of 4 and 10 mm along the grain, were exposed to cyclic temperature changes in square wave between 25°C and 40°C at 60% relative humidity (RH) for three different cycling periods of 6 h, 12 h and 24 h. R and T dimensional changes measured during the cycling gave the following results: 1) Transverse dimensional changes of the specimens were generally square but at an opposite phase and lagged behind the imposed temperature changes. The phase lag was inversely correlated with cycling period, but positively related to specimen thickness, while the response amplitude was directly proportional to cycling period, but in a negative correlation with specimen thickness. 2) The specimens showed swelling hysteresis behavior. The heat shrinkage coefficient (HSC) became greater as cycling period increased or specimen thickness decreased. 3) Dimensional changes of the specimens produced deformation accumulation during repeated adsorption and desorption. The deformation accumulating ratio decreased with an increase in cycling period and specimen thickness. 4) Wood suffered 1.5 times as many dimensional changes per unit temperature variation as per unit humidity variation, and this deformation behaved even more seriously under static condition.
THE RATIONALE FOR BIOCHEMICAL MONITORING OF THE FETUS

1. Rates for perinatal mortality and low Apgar scores have not been affected by fetal intensive care (electronic monitoring +/- fetal blood sampling) in any randomized controlled trial to date. 2. Acidosis at birth may be susceptible to improvement by fetal intensive care but has not been tested adequately in more than a few women. 3. Birth asphyxia which is followed by evidence of cerebral dysfunction within the first 48 hours of life can be significantly altered by current technics of fetal intensive care. 4. The evidence suggests that cognitive disorders and cerebral palsy occur as long term sequelae of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy in a small percentage of survivors. However, factors which predate the onset of labour are more likely to be responsible for cerebral palsy than factors associated with labour. 5. Future developments might include the following: (i) To establish that umbilical arterial pH and/or lactate and/or Apgar score is predictive for neonatal outcome such as hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy or other markers of asphyxia. (ii) To determine whether umbilical arterial pH and/or lactate is significantly different when continuous biochemical monitoring is used versus traditional intermittent fetal blood sampling, i.e. does continuous monitoring prevent acidosis? In the present state of development of continuous biochemical monitoring technics in labour it seems unlikely that, at the present time, we could answer the larger question of whether such monitoring can prevent the neurological complications of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and the subsequent developmental problems including cerebral palsy. Finally, we must not forget that labour and delivery represents a relatively small time period in relation to the total duration of pregnancy with a ratio of approximately 1:355. Thus, it is not surprising that many of the problems of neurologic development are difficult to trace back to a particular stage in pregnancy. Careful monitoring of labour and delivery may help to counteract the tendency to blame this period of pregnancy for all subsequent developmental problems of the child.
Properness and Widely Linear Processing of Quaternion Random Vectors

In this paper, the second-order circularity of quaternion random vectors is analyzed. Unlike the case of complex vectors, there exist three different kinds of quaternion properness, which are based on the vanishing of three different complementary covariance matrices. The different kinds of properness have direct implications on the Cayley-Dickson representation of the quaternion vector, and also on several well-known multivariate statistical analysis methods. In particular, the quaternion extensions of the partial least squares (PLS), multiple linear regression (MLR) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA) techniques are analyzed, showing that, in general, the optimal linear processing is full-widely linear. However, in the case of jointly Q-proper or Cη-proper vectors, the optimal processing reduces, respectively, to the conventional or semi-widely linear processing. Finally, a measure for the degree of improperness of a quaternion random vector is proposed, which is based on the Kullback-Leibler divergence between two zero-mean Gaussian distributions, one of them with the actual augmented covariance matrix, and the other with its closest proper version. This measure quantifies the entropy loss due to the improperness of the quaternion vector, and it admits an intuitive geometrical interpretation based on Kullback-Leibler projections onto sets of proper augmented covariance matrices.
Effect of Supplementing Microbial Phytase on Performance of Broiler Breeders Fed Low Non-phytate Phosphorus Diet

An experiment was conducted to study the production performance of broiler breeder females (25 to 40 weeks of age) fed either reference diet or low non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) diet with or without microbial phytase (500 FYT/kg) supplementation. A weighed (160 g/b/d) quantity of feed from each diet was offered daily to 40 replicates of one bird each housed in California type cage having individual feeders. Each cage was considered as a replicate. A continuous 16-h light per day was provided using incandescent bulbs. Body weight, egg production, egg weight, feed per egg mass, egg specific gravity, egg breaking strength, shell thickness, tibia ash and serum Ca and protein concentrations were not affected by reducing the NPP level from 0.30 to 0.18% in the broiler breeder diet. Supplementation of phytase (500 FYT/kg) enzyme to the diet containing 0.18% NPP had no added advantage on any of the above production parameters. The serum inorganic P was increased significantly (p<0.05) by either enhancing the NPP content from 0.18 to 0.30% or supplementing phytase @500 FYT/kg to the diet containing low P which were found comparable. Retention of Ca and P was positive on all the diets. P retention decreased significantly (p<0.05) with either increase in NPP content or phytase supplementation in the diet. Neither NPP nor phytase supplementation influenced bone mineralization in terms of tibia ash and strength. The hatchability was not influenced by either increasing the NPP content or supplementing the enzyme phytase. Similarly, the P concentration in the egg yolk and day old chick, day old and 14 th day body weight and leg score was not altered by increasing the level of NPP or supplementing phytase enzyme. The mortality was within the normal limits in all the three dietary groups. Thus, it can be concluded that 0.18 %N PP (288 mg NPP intake/b/d) in the broiler breeder's diet is adequate in sustaining the optimum performance from 25 to 40 wks of age. Enhancing the NPP content or supplementation of phytase (500 FYT/kg diet) to diet containing 0.18% NPP had no added advantage on performance. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2005. Vol 18, No. 9 : 1299-1304)
Design procedure for the steel net-section of tension splice joints in MPC wood trusses

A recommended design procedure is presented for determining the steel net-section capacity of a metal-plate-connected (MPC) tension splice joint subjected to combined tension and bending loading. Several common wood truss splice joint configurations were tested in combined tension and bending loading. All of the joints tested failed in the steel net-section of the truss plates. Three models were developed to predict the ultimate strength of the steel net-section of the splice joints tested. A design procedure for determining the allowable design capacity of the steel net-section of a splice joint subjected to combined tension and bending was developed based on the most accurate model. The recommended design procedure was compared with two alternative design methods for checking the safe capacity ofthe steel net-section oftension splice joints of MPC wood trusses subjected to combined tension and bending.