Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design, characterization, and biological evaluation of curcumin-loaded surfactant-based systems for topical drug delivery

From previous studies, it has been found that curcumin exhibits an anti-inflammatory activity and is being used for the treatment of skin disorders; however, it is hydrophobic and has weak penetrating ability, resulting in poor drug transport through the stratum corneum. The aim of this study was to develop liquid crystalline systems for topical administration of curcumin for the treatment of inflammation. These liquid crystalline systems were developed from oleic acid, polyoxypropylene (5) polyoxyethylene (20) cetyl alcohol, and water as the surfactant, oil phase, and aqueous phase, respectively. These systems were characterized, and polarized light microscopy showed anisotropy with lamellar mesophases (Formulation 1) and hexagonal mesophases (Formulations 2 and 3), which were confirmed by the peak ratio measured using small-angle X-ray scattering. In addition, rheological tests revealed that the formulations exhibited gel-like behavior (G′>G″), as evidenced by the increased G′ values that indicate structured systems. Texture profile analysis showed that hexagonal mesophases have high values of hardness, adhesiveness, and compressibility, which indicate structured systems. In vitro studies on bioadhesion revealed that the hexagonal mesophases increased the bioadhesiveness of the systems to the skin of the pig ear. An in vivo inflammation experiment showed that the curcumin-loaded hexagonal mesophase exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity as compared to the positive control (dexamethasone). The results suggest that this system has a potential to be used as a bioadhesive vehicle for the topical administration of curcumin. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that these systems can be used for the optimization of drug delivery systems to the skin.
Taking Stock of Behavioral Measures of Adolescent Dating Violence

The past 2 decades have witnessed an increase in dating violence awareness and research. As the field evolves, it is critical to examine the definition and measurement of adolescent dating violence. This article summarizes the behavioral measures of adolescent dating violence used in the field. Based on a review of the literature and federally funded studies, we identified 48 different measures. The most commonly used measures were the Conflict Tactics Scale–2, the Safe Dates Scale, and the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationship Inventory, which all examine aspects of psychological, physical, and sexual violence. Researchers also adapted or created their own measures. This article concludes with a discussion of developments for consideration as the field moves forward.
Local Antibiotic Delivery Systems: Current and Future Applications for Diabetic Foot Infections

Foot infections are common among diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy and/or peripheral arterial disease, and it can be the pivotal event leading to a minor or major amputation of the lower extremity. Treatment of diabetic foot infections, especially deep-seated ones, remains challenging, in part because impaired blood perfusion and the presence of biofilms can impair the effectiveness of systemic antibiotics. The local application of antibiotics is an emerging field in the treatment of diabetic foot infections, with demonstrable advantages. These include delivery of high concentrations of antibiotics in the affected area, limited systemic absorption, and thus negligible side effects. Biodegradable vehicles, such as calcium sulfate beads, are the prototypical system, providing a good elution profile and the ability to be impregnated with a variety of antibiotics. These have largely superseded the nonbiodegradable vehicles, but the strongest evidence available is for calcium bead implantation for osteomyelitis management. Natural polymers, such as collagen sponge, are an emerging class of delivery systems, although thus far, data on diabetic foot infections are limited. There is recent interest in the novel antimicrobial peptide pexiganan in the form of cream, which is active against most of the microorganisms isolated in diabetic foot infections. These are promising developments, but randomized trials are required to ascertain the efficacy of these systems and to define the indications for their use. Currently, the role of topical antibiotic agents in treating diabetic foot infections is limited and outside of routine practice.
Optimizing the use of outcome measures in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

Disclosure: Jeffrey A Allen is a consultant for, and has received clinical trial support, from: Axelacare, CSL Behring, and Grifols. Deborah F Gelinas is an employee of Grifols, and is on the Avanir Speaker Bureau for Nuedexta. Richard A Lewis is a consultant for Axelacare, CSL Behring, Biotest Pharma, Kedrion, and Pharnext. Richard J Nowak is a speaker and advisor/consultant for Grifols. Gil I Wolfe participated in Shire and Grifols advisory boards and received research support from CSL Behring.
Multidimensional Assessment of Self-Regulated Learning With Middle School Math Students

This study examined the convergent and predictive validity of self-regulated learning (SRL) measures situated in mathematics. The sample included 100 eighth graders from a diverse, urban school district. Four measurement formats were examined including, 2 broad-based (i.e., self-report questionnaire and teacher ratings) and 2 task-specific measures (i.e., SRL microanalysis and behavioral traces). Convergent validity was examined across task-difficulty, and the predictive validity was examined across 3 mathematics outcomes: 2 measures of mathematical problem solving skill (i.e., practice session math problems, posttest math problems) and a global measure of mathematical skill (i.e., standardized math test). Correlation analyses were used to examine convergent validity and revealed medium correlations between measures within the same category (i.e., broad-based or task-specific). Relations between measurement classes were not statistically significant. Separate regressions examined the predictive validity of the SRL measures. While controlling all other predictors, a SRL microanalysis metacognitive-monitoring measure emerged as a significant predictor of all 3 outcomes and teacher ratings accounted for unique variance on 2 of the outcomes (i.e., posttest math problems and standardized math test). Results suggest that a multidimensional assessment approach should be considered by school psychologists interested in measuring SRL.
Memory Capacity Limits in Processing of Natural Connected Speech: The Psychological Reality of Intonation Units

Many theories of memory propose some type of shortterm store limited in capacity to a small number of information chunks. However, although short-term verbal memory is generally considered to be a crucial component of language processing, the relevant information chunk level that may define capacity limits in ecologically-valid spoken language has never been investigated. The Intonation Unit (IU), an intermediate-level prosodic phrase, has been theorized to be a fundamental unit of spoken language, the focus of a speaker’s mental processing. This suggests that IUs might play a role as the relevant unit representing “chunks” of spoken language. We report the results of an experiment investigating the role of IUs in short-term memory in a serial recall task. We found a significant non-linear effect of stimulus size in IUs, but not clauses. We conclude that Intonation Units are the primary linguistic unit used for chunking spoken language input in memory.
High expression of 23 kDa protein of augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Background Augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) is an important polypeptide that participates in the process of liver regeneration. Two forms of ALR proteins are expressed in hepatocytes. Previous data have shown that ALR is essential for cell survival and has potential antimetastatic properties in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aims The study aimed to evaluate the expression levels of two forms of ALR proteins in HCC and their possible significance in HCC development. Methods Balb/c mouse monoclonal antibody against ALR protein was prepared in order to detect the ALR protein in HCC by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. ALR mRNA expression levels were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction in HCC tissues and compared to paracancerous liver tissues in 22 HCC patients. Results ALR mRNA expression in HCC liver tissues (1.51×106 copies/μL) was higher than in paracancerous tissues (1.04×104 copies/μL). ALR protein expression was also enhanced in HCC liver tissues. The enhanced ALR protein was shown to be 23 kDa by Western blotting. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the 23 kDa ALR protein mainly existed in the hepatocyte cytosol. Conclusion The 23 kDa ALR protein was highly expressed in HCC and may play an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis.
Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives

Previous studies have shown bilingually and monolingually developing children to differ in their sensitivity to referential pragmatic deixis in challenging tasks, with bilinguals exhibiting a higher sensitivity. The learning of adjectives is particularly challenging, but has rarely been investigated in bilingual children. In the present study we presented a pragmatic cue supporting the learning of novel adjectives to 32 Spanish–German bilingual and 28 German monolingual 5-year-olds. The children's responses to a descriptive hand gesture highlighting an object's property were measured behaviorally using a forced choice task and neurophysiologically through functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). While no group differences emerged on the behavioral level, fNIRS revealed a higher activation in bilingual than monolingual children in the vicinity of the posterior part of the right superior temporal sulcus (STS). This result supports the prominent role of the STS in processing pragmatic gestures and suggests heightened pragmatic sensitivity for bilingual children.
NG25, an inhibitor of transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase 1, ameliorates neuronal apoptosis in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic rats

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) was found to be activated by TGF-β and acts as a central regulator of cell death in various types of disease. However, the expression and function of TAK1 in the neonatal brain following hypoxia-ischemia (HI) remains unclear. In the present study, western blotting and immunofluorescence were employed to determine the expression and distribution of TAK1 in the brain cortex of a perinatal HI rat model. In addition, the specific inhibitor of TAK1, NG25 was administered via intracerebroventricular injection, prior to insult of the neonatal rat brains, for neuroprotection. Western blotting and double immunofluorescence indicated that an increased expression level of phosphorylated-TAK1 was observed, and was localized with neurons and astrocytes, compared with the sham group. Further study demonstrated that injection of NG25 prior to insult significantly inhibited TAK1/c-Jun N-terminal kinases activity and dramatically ameliorated acute hypoxic-ischemic cerebral injury by inhibiting cell apoptosis in perinatal rats. Thus, NG25 ameliorates neuronal apoptosis in neonatal HI rats by inhibiting TAK1 expression and cell apoptosis. In addition, NG25 may serve as a promising novel neuroprotective inhibitor for perinatal cerebral injury.
APOBEC3G Genetic Variants and Their Influence on the Progression to AIDS

ABSTRACT The cytosine deaminase APOBEC3G, in the absence of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) accessory gene HIV-1 viral infectivity factor (vif), inhibits viral replication by introducing G→A hypermutation in the newly synthesized HIV-1 DNA negative strand. We tested the hypothesis that genetic variants of APOBEC3G may modify HIV-1 transmission and disease progression. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in the promoter region (three), introns (two), and exons (two). Genotypes were determined for 3,073 study participants enrolled in six HIV-AIDS prospective cohorts. One codon-changing variant, H186R in exon 4, was polymorphic in African Americans (AA) (f = 37%) and rare in European Americans (f < 3%) or Europeans (f = 5%). For AA, the variant allele 186R was strongly associated with decline in CD4 T cells (CD4 slope on square root scale: −1.86, P = 0.009), The 186R allele was also associated with accelerated progression to AIDS-defining conditions in AA. The in vitro antiviral activity of the 186R enzyme was not inferior to that of the common H186 variant. These studies suggest that there may be a modifying role of variants of APOBEC3G on HIV-1 disease progression that warrants further investigation.
Experimental assessment of lionfish removals to mitigate reef fish community shifts on northern Gulf of Mexico artificial reefs

Substantial declines in reef fishes were observed at northern Gulf of Mexico artificial reef sites between 2009�2010 and 2011�2012, a period that bracketed the appearance of invasive lionfish in this ecosystem. Small demersal reef fishes, the predominant prey of lionfish in other sys- tems, displayed the greatest declines. However, a confounding factor during this time was the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWH) in summer 2010. In some areas, targeted lionfish removals have been demonstrated to mitigate negative effects on native fishes. Therefore, we conducted a 2 yr experiment to examine the effectiveness and ecological benefits of targeted lionfish removals at artificial reefs (n = 27) off northwest Florida, USA, where lionfish densities reached the highest recorded in the western Atlantic by 2013. All lionfish were removed via spearfishing from 17 reefs in December 2013, 9 of which were periodically re-cleared of lionfish through May 2015. Remain- ing sites served as uncleared controls. Both juvenile and adult lionfish quickly recruited to cleared reefs, with lionfish reaching pre-clearance densities in <1 yr on reefs cleared only once. Removal treatment significantly affected reef fish community structure at experimental reefs, but removal effort was insufficient to achieve substantial gains for most taxa, and declines in several taxa were observed throughout, regardless of treatment. It is unclear whether chronic effects of the DWH or regionally high lionfish densities were more important factors in explaining trends observed in reef fish communities, but small-scale targeted lionfish removal efforts had few positive impacts overall on native reef fish communities in this study.
A prospective study of pre-trauma risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression

Background It is unclear which potentially modifiable risk factors best predict post-trauma psychiatric disorders. We aimed to identify pre-trauma risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression (MD) that could be targeted with resilience interventions. Method Newly recruited paramedics (n = 453) were assessed for history of mental disorders with structured clinical interviews within the first week of their paramedic training and completed self-report measures to assess hypothesized predictors. Participants were assessed every 4 months for 2 years to identify any episodes of PTSD and MD; 386 paramedics (85.2%) participated in the follow-up interviews. Results In all, 32 participants (8.3%) developed an episode of PTSD and 41 (10.6%) an episode of MD during follow-up. In all but nine cases (2.3%), episodes had remitted by the next assessment 4 months later. At 2 years, those with episodes of PTSD or MD during follow-up reported more days off work, poorer sleep, poorer quality of life, greater burn-out; and greater weight-gain for those with PTSD. In line with theories of PTSD and depression, analyses controlling for psychiatric and trauma history identified several pre-trauma predictors (cognitive styles, coping styles and psychological traits). Logistic regressions showed that rumination about memories of stressful events at the start of training uniquely predicted an episode of PTSD. Perceived resilience uniquely predicted an episode of MD. Conclusions Participants at risk of developing episodes of PTSD or depression could be identified within the first week of paramedic training. Cognitive predictors of episodes of PTSD and MD are promising targets for resilience interventions.
The Effect of Feeding Method and Compatibilizer on Nanoclay Partitioning and Microfibrillar Morphology Development in PP/PBT/Organoclay Blend Nanocomposite Fibers

Abstract The role of feeding method, as an important parameter in competition with thermodynamic parameters, on determining the nanoclay partitioning and its impact on microfibril formation in PP/PBT blend nanocomposite fibers were investigated. In the direct feeding method in which all components were fed into the extruder simultaneously, the major part of nanoclay with almost unchanged interlayer d-spacing was located in the PP matrix and the rest of the nanoclay partitioned into the PBT dispersed phase. However in the PBT based masterbatch method nanoclay, due to much greater melt intercalation occurred, remained in PBT droplets in the form of tactoids and/or platelets. In the masterbatch feeding method, incorporation of compatibilizer assisted more fraction tactiods and/or platelets to be transferred from PBT to the PP matrix while in the direct method it enhanced the extent of melt intercalation in the PP matrix. It was demonstrated that the nanoclay concentration in PBT droplets plays an important role in the extent of the microfibril formation during the melt spinning process. While at low organoclay loading (1 wt%) fine microfibrils could be formed in the fibers prepared by both methods of feeding, at higher organoclay loading (3,5 wt%) uniform microfibrils could hardly be developed in the fibers, particularly, in the masterbatch feeding method due to high melt elasticity of the PBT droplets and uneven distribution of platelets and/or tactoids in the droplets.
Complex history of the amphibian-killing chytrid fungus revealed with genome resequencing data

Understanding the evolutionary history of microbial pathogens is critical for mitigating the impacts of emerging infectious diseases on economically and ecologically important host species. We used a genome resequencing approach to resolve the evolutionary history of an important microbial pathogen, the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which has been implicated in amphibian declines worldwide. We sequenced the genomes of 29 isolates of Bd from around the world, with an emphasis on North, Central, and South America because of the devastating effect that Bd has had on amphibian populations in the New World. We found a substantial amount of evolutionary complexity in Bd with deep phylogenetic diversity that predates observed global amphibian declines. By investigating the entire genome, we found that even the most recently evolved Bd clade (termed the global panzootic lineage) contained more genetic variation than previously reported. We also found dramatic differences among isolates and among genomic regions in chromosomal copy number and patterns of heterozygosity, suggesting complex and heterogeneous genome dynamics. Finally, we report evidence for selection acting on the Bd genome, supporting the hypothesis that protease genes are important in evolutionary transitions in this group. Bd is considered an emerging pathogen because of its recent effects on amphibians, but our data indicate that it has a complex evolutionary history that predates recent disease outbreaks. Therefore, it is important to consider the contemporary effects of Bd in a broader evolutionary context and identify specific mechanisms that may have led to shifts in virulence in this system.
Product lifecycle management support: a challenge in supporting product design and manufacturing in a networked economy

In this paper, we provide an overview of the changing design and manufacturing landscape in the 21st century that has come about because of IT and the changing global conditions. Based on this overview and a review of the current state of IT for PLM support in the design and manufacturing sector, we identify the areas of need for standards. A review of areas covered by standards leads us to the development of an initial typology of standards and a potential path for bringing convergence of these standards in support of PLM. We make a case throughout the paper that given the nature of the task we need to aspire to create open standards with wide participation. We conclude by arguing that there is an important role to be played in this context by institutions such as NIST as a neutral party in the standards debates and implementations.
First- v. second-generation antipsychotics and risk for diabetes in schizophrenia: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The increased prevalence of diabetes in schizophrenia is partly attributed to antipsychotic treatment, in particular second-generation antipsychotics, but the evidence has not been systematically reviewed. AIMS Systematic review and meta-analysis comparing diabetes risk for different antipsychotics in people with schizophrenia. METHOD We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, CINAHL and Web of Knowledge until September 2006. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the design was cross-sectional, case-control, cohort or a controlled trial in individuals with schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders, where second-generation antipsychotics (defined as clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone and quetiapine) were compared with first-generation antipsychotics and diabetes was an outcome. Data were pooled using random effects inverse variance weighted meta-analysis. RESULTS Of the studies that met the inclusion criteria (n=14), 11 had sufficient data to include in the meta-analysis. Four of these were retrospective cohort studies. The relative risk of diabetes in patients with schizophrenia prescribed one of the second-generation v. first-generation antipsychotics was 1.32 (95% CI 1.15-1.51). There were insufficient data to include aripiprazole, ziprasidone and amisulpride in this analysis. CONCLUSIONS There is tentative evidence that the second-generation antipsychotics included in this study are associated with a small increased risk for diabetes compared with first-generation antipsychotics in people with schizophrenia. Methodological limitations were found in most studies, leading to heterogeneity and difficulty interpreting data. Regardless of type of antipsychotic, screening for diabetes in all people with schizophrenia should be routine.