Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of UV Aging on Antimicrobial and Mechanical Properties of PLA Films with Incorporated Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of accelerated UV-aging on the activity against chosen microorganisms and the mechanical properties of poly-lactic acid (PLA) films enhanced with ZnO nanoparticles. The pure PLA films and tri-layered PLAZnO1%/PLA/PLAZnO1% films of 150 µm thickness were extruded. The samples were treated with UV-A and Q-SUN irradiation. After irradiation the antimicrobial activity and mechanical properties of the films were analyzed. The results of the study demonstrated that PLA films did not inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus atrophaeus, and Candida albicans cells. PLA films with incorporated zinc oxide nanoparticles decreased the number of analyzed microorganisms. Accelerated UV aging had no negative effect on the activity of the film containing nano-ZnO against Gram-positive bacteria, but it influenced the activity against Gram-negative cells and C. albicans. Q-SUN irradiation decreased the antimicrobial effect of films with incorporated nanoparticles against B. cereus. UV-A and Q-UV irradiation did not influence the mechanical properties of PLA films containing incorporated ZnO nanoparticles.
Vitamin D Status in Relation to Glucose Metabolism and Type 2 Diabetes in Septuagenarians

OBJECTIVE Vitamin D deficiency is thought to be a risk factor for development of type 2 diabetes, and elderly subjects at northern latitudes may therefore be at particular risk. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Vitamin D status was assessed from serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] in 668 Faroese residents aged 70–74 years (64% of eligible population). We determined type 2 diabetes prevalence from past medical histories, fasting plasma concentrations of glucose, and/or glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). RESULTS We observed 70 (11%) new type 2 diabetic subjects, whereas 88 (13%) were previously diagnosed. Having vitamin D status <50 nmol/L doubled the risk of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes after adjustment for BMI, sex, exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, serum triacylglyceride concentration, serum HDL concentration, smoking status, and month of blood sampling. Furthermore, the HbA1c concentration decreased at higher serum 25(OH)D3 concentrations independent of covariates. CONCLUSIONS In elderly subjects, vitamin D sufficiency may provide protection against type 2 diabetes. Because the study is cross-sectional, intervention studies are needed to elucidate whether vitamin D could be used to prevent development of type 2 diabetes.
Consensus Report of the 4th International Forum for Gadolinium-Ethoxybenzyl-Diethylenetriamine Pentaacetic Acid Magnetic Resonance Imaging

This paper reports on issues relating to the optimal use of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid magnetic resonance imaging (Gd-EOB-DTPA MR imaging) together with the generation of consensus statements from a working group meeting, which was held in Seoul, Korea (2010). Gd-EOB-DTPA has been shown to improve the detection and characterization of liver lesions, and the information provided by the hepatobiliary phase is proving particularly useful in differential diagnoses and in the characterization of small lesions (around 1-1.5 cm). Discussion also focused on advances in the role of organic anion-transporting polypeptide 8 (OATP8) transporters. Gd-EOB-DTPA is also emerging as a promising tool for functional analysis, enabling the calculation of post-surgical liver function in the remaining segments. Updates to current algorithms were also discussed.
An Interval Approach for Stability Analysis: Application to Sailboat Robotics

This paper proposes an interval-based method for the validation of reliable and robust navigation rules for mobile robots. The main idea is to show that for all feasible perturbations, there exists a safe subset of the state space such that the system cannot escape. The methodology is illustrated on the line-following problem of a sailboat and then validated on an actual experiment where an actual sailboat robot, which is named Vaimos, sails autonomously from Brest to Douarnenez (i.e., more than 100 km).
Pea leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae) uses vibrational duets for efficient sexual communication

The pea leafminer (Liriomyza huidobrensis) is a notorious pest of vegetables and ornamental plants worldwide. Despite a large number of studies on its biology and ecology, the courtship behavior and sexual communication of this species remain unclear. Here, we studied vibrational communication in the sexual interaction of the pea leafminer. On host plant leaves, females and males behaviorally displayed the bobbing‐quivering alternation, which finally led to copulation. Moreover, records of laser vibrometry revealed three‐signal duets underlying the behavioral alternation. Sexually mature males spontaneously emitted calls (MCs) to initiate the duets. The females rapidly responded to MCs by emitting replies (FRs) that are longer in duration. The FRs further triggered male replies (MRs) in their search for potential partners. Leafminer‐produced vibrational signals convey efficient information to partners and generate pair formation on stretched substrates, such as plant leaves and nylon mesh, but cannot elicit responses on dense substrates, such as glass and plastic. Vibrational playbacks of both MCs and FRs can elicit replies in females and males, respectively. This study completely characterizes substrate‐borne vibrational duets in a dipteran insect. The discovery of vibrational sex signals in the pea leafminer provides new insights for the development of novel approaches to control the pest and its relative species.
Livelihood opportunities amongst adults with and without disabilities in Cameroon and India: A case control study

Proven links between disability and poverty suggest that development programmes and policies that are not disability-inclusive will leave persons with disabilities behind. Despite this, there is limited quantitative evidence on livelihood opportunities amongst adults with disabilities in Low and Middle Income Countries. This study adds to the limited evidence base, contributing data from one African and one Asian Setting. We undertook a population-based case–control study of adults (18+) with and without disabilities in North-West Cameroon and in Telangana State, India. We found that adults with disabilities were five times less likely to be working compared to age-sex matched controls in both settings. Amongst adults with disabilities, current age, marital status and disability type were key predictors of working. Inclusive programmes are therefore needed to provide adequate opportunities to participate in livelihood prospects for adults with disabilities in Cameroon and India, on an equal basis as others. These findings are of crucial importance at this stage of the Sustainable Development Agenda, to ensure that the mandate of inclusive development is achieved.
Netrin Inhibits Regenerative Axon Growth of Adult Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons in Vitro

Netrin is a neuronal guidance molecule implicated in the development of spinal commissural neurons and cortical neurons. The attractive function of netrin requires the receptor, Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC), while the receptor Unc5h is involved in the repulsive action of netrin during embryonic development. Although the expression of netrin and its receptor has been demonstrated in the adult nervous system, the function of netrin in adult neurons has not yet been elucidated. Here, we show that netrin treatment inhibited neurite outgrowth of adult dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in explant and dissociated cultures. In addition, unc5h1-3 mRNAs, but not the dcc mRNA, are abundantly expressed in the adult DRG. An in situ hybridization study demonstrated that unc5h mRNAs were expressed in DRG neurons. This finding indicates that netrin/Unc5h signaling may play a role in the neurite outgrowth of adult DRG neurons and that netrin may be involved in the regulation of peripheral nerve regeneration.
Modular assembly of plasmonic core–satellite structures as highly brilliant SERS-encoded nanoparticles

Herein, we present a fabrication approach that produces homogeneous core–satellite SERS encoded particles with minimal interparticle gaps (<2–3 nm) and maximum particle loading, while positioning the encoding agents at the gaps. Integration of plasmonic building blocks of different sizes, shapes, compositions, surface chemistries or encoding agents is achieved in a modular fashion with minimal modification of the general synthetic protocol. These materials present an outstanding optical performance with homogeneous enhancement factors over 4 orders of magnitude as compared with classical SERS encoded particles, which allows their use as single particle labels.
White Blood Cell, Hemoglobin and Platelet Distribution Width as Short-Term Prognostic Markers in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of combined use of white blood cell (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and platelet distribution width (PDW) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study included 1,332 consecutive patients with AMI. Patients were categorized into complete blood cell (CBC) group 0 (n=346, 26.0%), 1 (n=622, 46.7%), 2 (n=324, 24.3%), and 3 (n=40, 3.0%) according to the sum of the value defined by the cut-off levels of WBC (1, ≥14.5×103/µL; 0, <14.5×103/µL), Hb (1, <12.7 g/dL; 0, ≥12.7 g/dL), and PDW (1, ≥51.2%; 0: <51.2%). In-hospital death occurred in 59 (4.4%) patients. Patients who died during index hospitalization had higher WBC and PDW and lower Hb. The patients could be stratified for in-hospital mortality according to CBC group; 1.2%, 2.7%, 9.0%, and 22.5% in CBC groups 0, 1, 2, and 3 (P<0.001), respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, CBC group≥2 (odds ratio, 3.604; 95% confidence interval, 1.040-14.484, P=0.043) was an independent predictor for in-hospital death. The prognostic impact of the combined use of CBC markers remained significant over 12 months. In conclusions, combination of WBC, Hb, and PDW, a cheap and simple hematologic marker, is useful in early risk stratification of patients with AMI.
Formulation Development and Evaluation of Proniosomal Powder of Candesartan

Abstract Proniosomal drug delivery system is one of the advancements in nanotechnology. Proniosomes are dry formulations, non ionic surfactant coated carriers. They can be converted into niosomes immediately by hydration. Maltodextrin based proniosomes loaded with Candesartan were prepared by slurry method with different surfactant to cholesterol ratio. The prepared formulations were evaluated for compatibility, flow properties, number of vesicle formation, In vitro release study, solid state characterization (Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD)) and stability studies. The niosomal suspensions were further evaluated for entrapment efficiency. The FTIR studies indicated no interaction between Candesartan and excipients. Formulation F8, which showed higher entrapment efficiency of 83.24%, highest number of vesicle formation and in vitro release of 90.1% at the end of 9 h, was found to be best among all the prepared formulations. SEM indicated smooth surface, uniform size and shape of the formed proniosomes. PXRD and DSC studies showed conversion of drug from crystalline to amorphous form. The optimized proniosomal formulation depicted good stability.
The effect of cigarillo packaging elements on young adult perceptions of product flavor, taste, smell, and appeal

Introduction Product packaging has long been used by the tobacco industry to target consumers and manipulate product perceptions. This study examines the extent to which cigarillo packaging influences perceptions of product flavor, taste, smell, and appeal. Methods A web-based experiment was conducted among young adults. Participants viewed three randomly selected cigarillo packs, varying on pack flavor descriptor, color, type, branding, and warning—totaling 180 pack images. Mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effect of pack elements on product perceptions. Results A total of 2,664 current, ever, and never little cigar and cigarillo users participated. Cigarillo packs with a flavor descriptor were perceived as having a more favorable taste (β = 0.21, p < .001) and smell (β = 0.14, p < .001) compared to packs with no flavor descriptor. Compared to packs with no color, pink and purple packs were more likely to be perceived as containing a flavor (β = 0.11, p < .001), and were rated more favorably on taste (β = 0.17, p < .001), smell (β = 0.15, p < .001), and appeal (β = 0.16, p < .001). While warnings on packs decreased favorable perceptions of product taste (pictorial: β = -0.07, p = .03) and smell (text-only: β = -0.08, p = .01; pictorial: β = -0.09, p = .007), warnings did not moderate the effects of flavor descriptor or color. Conclusions To our knowledge, this study provides the first quantitative evidence that cigarillo packaging alters consumers’ cognitive responses, and warnings on packs do not suffice to overcome the effects of product packaging. The findings support efforts at federal, state, and local levels to prohibit flavor descriptors and their associated product flavoring in non-cigarette products such as cigarillos, along with new data that supports restrictions on flavor cues and colors.
Randomized opinion dynamics over networks: influence estimation from partial observations

In this paper, we propose a technique for the estimation of the influence matrix in a sparse social network, in which n individual communicate in a gossip way. At each step, a random subset of the social actors is active and interacts with randomly chosen neighbors. The opinions evolve according to a Friedkin and Johnsen mechanism, in which the individuals updates their belief to a convex combination of their current belief, the belief of the agents they interact with, and their initial belief, or prejudice. Leveraging recent results of estimation of vector autoregressive processes, we reconstruct the social network topology and the strength of the interconnections starting from partial observations of the interactions, thus removing one of the main drawbacks of finite horizon techniques. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown on randomly generation network.
Homogeneity of the coefficient of linear thermal expansion of ZERODUR: a review of a decade of evaluations

The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and its spatial homogeneity from small to large formats is the most important property of ZERODUR. Since more than a decade SCHOTT has documented the excellent CTE homogeneity. It started with reviews of past astronomical telescope projects like the VLT, Keck and GTC mirror blanks and continued with dedicated evaluations of the production. In recent years, extensive CTE measurements on samples cut from randomly selected single ZERODUR parts in meter size and formats of arbitrary shape, large production boules and even 4 m sized blanks have demonstrated the excellent CTE homogeneity in production. The published homogeneity data shows single ppb/K peak to valley CTE variations on medium spatial scale of several cm down to small spatial scale of only a few mm mostly at the limit of the measurement reproducibility. This review paper summarizes the results also in respect to the increased CTE measurement accuracy over the last decade of ZERODUR production.
Evaluating the applicability of rheometry in steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concretes

Resumo The use of self-compacting concrete in civil construction industry presents various advantages, since the material shows adequate workability during fresh state. When fiber reinforcement is used, there are changes in its behavior that require attention. This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of rheological tests and the correlation between its results and those obtained with regular tests used to control SCCs. In that sense, different mixtures of SCC with different steel fiber contents were produced in order to be analyzed in the experimental program described. Rotational rheology tests and slump flow and L-box tests were performed. The results showed that slump flow test did not present good correlations with rheological parameters. On the other hand, this test was able to point out the risk of segregation of the mixtures with higher fiber contents. A good correlation was obtained between the L-box test results and rheological parameters. The L-box was also able to show loss in the passing ability of SCC related to the rise of plastic viscosity and yield stress. These tests also presented a good correlation with the rheological parameters when lower fiber contents were used. Although the rheometry test was unable to evaluate these problems, this kind of test gave more objective and reliable data on variations in rheological parameters related to the increase of fiber content, and proved to be a more reliable test to this kind of application, especially when applied together with the conventional tests.
Parallel factor ChIP provides essential internal control for quantitative differential ChIP-seq

Abstract A key challenge in quantitative ChIP combined with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) is the normalization of data in the presence of genome-wide changes in occupancy. Analysis-based normalization methods were developed for transcriptomic data and these are dependent on the underlying assumption that total transcription does not change between conditions. For genome-wide changes in transcription factor (TF) binding, these assumptions do not hold true. The challenges in normalization are confounded by experimental variability during sample preparation, processing and recovery. We present a novel normalization strategy utilizing an internal standard of unchanged peaks for reference. Our method can be readily applied to monitor genome-wide changes by ChIP-seq that are otherwise lost or misrepresented through analytical normalization. We compare our approach to normalization by total read depth and two alternative methods that utilize external experimental controls to study TF binding. We successfully resolve the key challenges in quantitative ChIP-seq analysis and demonstrate its application by monitoring the loss of Estrogen Receptor-alpha (ER) binding upon fulvestrant treatment, ER binding in response to estrodiol, ER mediated change in H4K12 acetylation and profiling ER binding in patient-derived xenographs. This is supported by an adaptable pipeline to normalize and quantify differential TF binding genome-wide and generate metrics for differential binding at individual sites.
Continuous Training, Job Satisfaction and Gender – An Empirical Analysis Using German Panel Data

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between participation in further training courses and job satisfaction, focussing in particular on gender differences. Design/methodology/approach - – Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), a Probit-adapted OLS (POLS) model is employed which allows to account for individual fixed effects. The analysis controls for a variety of socio-demographic, job and firm characteristics. Findings - – The authors find a difference between males and females in the correlation between training and job satisfaction which is positive for males but insignificant for females. This difference becomes even more pronounced when applying individual fixed effects. To gain insights into the reasons for this difference, the authors further investigate training characteristics by gender. The authors find that financial support and career-orientation of courses only seems to matter for the job satisfaction of men but not for the satisfaction of women. Practical implications - – In Germany, financial support and career-orientation of training courses only seem to matter for the job satisfaction of men but not for the satisfaction of women. This has important implications for the investment in and outcomes of these training endeavors from both, a participant and an employer perspective. Originality/value - – This paper extends the existing literature in several ways. The authors use job satisfaction as an outcome of training which comprises non-pecuniary returns in addition to monetary returns. In addition, the authors point out gender differences and examine the heterogeneity of training courses by gender. This seems important since job satisfaction processes differ to a large extent by gender and since it is well-known that training participation also differs by gender. The panel structure of the data enables a methodological advancement in terms of accounting for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity which is likely to matter for the results.
Corruption and political marketing: a game theoretical approach

Propomos um jogo entre um politico nao benevolente e um burocrata, no qual ambos podem desviar recursos publicos ilegalmente. O politico corrupto utiliza os recursos desviados para financiar campanhas politicas e o burocrata para comprar bens e servicos. Quanto maior a quantidade de recursos desviados, menos o politico pode melhorar o bem-estar social. Politicos se importam com votos, burocratas se importam com dinheiro, e eleitores se importam com o bem-estar social e sao influenciados por campanhas politicas. Analisamos o papel do nivel educacional da sociedade e de diferentes estruturas de punicao. Nossos principais resultados sao: i) uma estrutura de punicao mal elaborada pode aumentar corrupcao do tipo state capture; ii) quanto mais educada a sociedade, menos o politico sera leniente com corrupcao e menor sera seu desvio otimo; iii) quanto mais sensivel a aumentos marginais de corrupcao a estrutura de punicao for, menor sera o desvio otimo dos jogadores.
Feasibility and reliability of point-of-care pocket-size echocardiography performed by medical residents

Aims To study the feasibility and reliability of pocket-size hand-held echocardiography (PHHE) by medical residents with limited experience in ultrasound. Methods and results A total of 199 patients admitted to a non-university medical department were examined with PHHE. Six out of 14 medical residents were randomized to use a focused protocol and examine the heart, pericardium, pleural space, and abdominal large vessels. Diagnostic corrections were made and findings were confirmed by standard diagnostics. The median time consumption for the examination was 5.7 min. Each resident performed a median of 27 examinations. The left ventricle was assessed to satisfaction in 97% and the pericardium in all patients. The aortic and atrioventricular valves were assessed in at least 76% and the abdominal aorta in 50%, respectively. Global left-ventricular function, pleural, and pericardial effusion showed very strong correlation with reference method (Spearman's r ≥ 0.8). Quantification of aortic stenosis and regurgitation showed strong correlation with r = 0.7. Regurgitations in the atrioventricular valves showed moderate correlations, r = 0.5 and r = 0.6 for mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, respectively, similar to dilatation of the left atrium (r = 0.6) and detection of regional dysfunction (r = 0.6). Quantification of the abdominal aorta (aneurysmatic or not) showed strong correlation, r = 0.7, while the inferior vena cava diameter correlated moderately, r = 0.5. Conclusion By adding a PHHE examination to standard care, medical residents were able to obtain reliable information of important cardiovascular structures in patients admitted to a medical department. Thus, focused examinations with PHHE performed by residents after a training period have the potential to improve in-hospital diagnostic procedures.