Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability analysis of epidemic models of Ebola hemorrhagic fever with non-linear transmission

Some Epidemic models with fractional derivatives were proved to be well-defined, well-posed and more accurate (Brockmann et al. [D. Brockmann, L. Hufnagel, Phys. Review Lett., 98 (2007), 17–27]; Doungmo Goufo et al. [E. F. Doungmo Goufo, R. Maritz, J. Munganga, Adv. Diff. Equ. , 2014 (2014), 9 pages]; Pooseh et al. [S. Pooseh, H. S. Rodrigues, D. F. M. Torres, In: Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics, ICNAAM, American Institute of Physics, Melville, (2011), 739–742]), compared to models with the conventional derivative. In this paper, an Ebola epidemic model with non linear transmission is analyzed. The model is expressed with the conventional time derivative with a new parameter included, which happens to be fractional. We proved that the model is well-defined, well-posed. Moreover, conditions for boundedness and dissipativity of the trajectories are established. Exploiting the generalized Routh-Hurwitz Criteria, existence and stability analysis of equilibrium points for Ebola model are performed to show that they are strongly dependent on the non-linear transmission. In particular, conditions for existence and stability of a unique endemic equilibrium to the Ebola system are given. Finally, numerical simulations are provided for particular expressions of the non-linear transmission (with parameters κ = 0.01, κ = 1 and p = 2). The obtained simulations are in concordance with the usual threshold behavior. The results obtained here are significant for the fight and prevention against Ebola haemorrhagic fever that has so far exterminated hundreds of families and is still infecting many people in West-Africa. c ©2016 All rights reserved.
Predictors of Nurses’ Intention and Behavior in Using Health Literacy Strategies in Patient Education Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

Background: Health literacy is one of the most important priorities for improving health care quality through enhancing patient-provider communication. Implementing health literacy strategies enable nurses to provide information and instructions for patients in a manner that is more commensurate and understandable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting nurses’ intention to implement health literacy strategies in patient education based on theory of planned behavior. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 148 nurse practitioners of AL-Zahra educational hospital in Isfahan, Iran, using a descriptive-analytic method. Data collected via a standardized questionnaire based on theory of planned behavior constructed and analyzed by SPSS v.17 using ANOVA, Independent T-test, Pearson correlation and linear regression. Results: There was statistically significant correlation between using health literacy strategies and marriage status, attending in retraining courses, employment type, job history, and job status. Perceived behavioral control was the most powerful predictor of intention (β=0.417) and use health literacy strategies in patient education and behavior of nurses (β=0.33). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, perceived behavioral control is a powerful determinant of nurses’ intention and behavior of using health literacy strategies in patient education. Hence we recommend nurse educators to pay special attention to the constructs of this theory mainly perceived behavioral control in retrain courses about patient education and health literacy strategies.
Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil as a Medium-chain Fatty Acid Source on Performance, Carcass Composition and Serum Lipids in Male Broilers

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary coconut oil as a medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) source on performance, carcass composition and serum lipids in male broilers. A total of 540, one-day-old, male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allotted to 1 of 5 treatments with each treatment being applied to 6 replicates of 18 chicks. The basal diet (i.e., R0) was based on corn and soybean meal and was supplemented with 1.5% soybean oil during the starter phase (d 0 to 21) and 3.0% soybean oil during the grower phase (d 22 to 42). Four experimental diets were formulated by replacing 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of the soybean oil with coconut oil (i.e., R25, R50, R75, and R100). Soybean oil and coconut oil were used as sources of long-chain fatty acid and MCFA, respectively. The feeding trial showed that dietary coconut oil had no effect on weight gain, feed intake or feed conversion. On d 42, serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were linearly decreased as the coconut oil level increased (p<0.01). Lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, and total lipase activities were linearly increased as the coconut oil level increased (p<0.01). Abdominal fat weight/eviscerated weight (p = 0.05), intermuscular fat width (p<0.01) and subcutaneous fat thickness (p<0.01) showed a significant quadratic relationship, with the lowest value at R75. These results indicated that replacement of 75% of the soybean oil in diets with coconut oil is the optimum level to reduce fat deposition and favorably affect lipid profiles without impairing performance in broilers.
STAT3 activation in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell traits

Clinically, HER2 proto-oncogene amplification is found in about 25–30% of human breast cancers, where it is correlated to a poor prognosis. Constitutive STAT3 activation is found in about 50–60% of the breast tumors and associated with tumorigenesis and drug resistance. In this study, we showed that STAT3 was phosphorylated in HER2-overexpressing, ER-positive human breast tumors and, furthermore, phosphorylated STAT3 promoted the stem-like cell phenotype. We examined the dysregulation of the stem cell markers (Oct-4, Sox-2 and CD44) and the tumorsphere formation in HER2-overexpressing human breast cancer cell lines. We demonstrated that the STAT3 inhibitor, Stattic, treatment abolished the cancer stem cell phenotype in HER2-positive breast cancers. Combined treatment of Herceptin and Stattic showed the synergistic effect on the cancer cell growth in vitro. In addition, when the STAT3 gene was knocked down, the expression of the stem cell markers Oct-4, Sox-2 and CD44 were downregulated and tumorsphere formation was abolished. HER2-elicited STAT3 signaling may provide a potential model for drug resistance induced by stem-like cell characteristics. This mechanism may be responsible for acquiring resistance to Herceptin in the treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast tumors. Based on our findings, targeting pSTAT3 could overcome Herceptin-induced resistance in HER2-overexpressing breast tumors.
Theorizing ICT and society in the Brazilian context: a multilevel, pluralistic and remixable framework

In this paper we present a multilevel and pluralistic conceptual framework that is particularly useful for Brazilian researchers investigating information and communication technology (ICT) based social changes from a community/societal level of analysis. The framework is influenced by three theoretical perspectives: social shaping of technology, structurationist view of technology and contextualism. It integrates four main concepts - relevant social groups, interpretive frames, negotiation and technology-in-practice - organized in terms of three dimensions - context, process and content. The framework, already applied to 12 different research projects led by Brazilian scholars during the last four years, is seen as a work in permanent transformation and open to reuse, revision, remix and constant revalidation.
Evolutionary relationships of avian Eimeria species among other Apicomplexan protozoa: monophyly of the apicomplexa is supported.

Direct, reverse transcriptase-mediated, partial sequencing of the small-subunit (16S-like) ribosomal RNA (srRNA) of Eimeria tenella and E. acervulina was performed. Sequences were aligned by eye with six previously published, partial or complete srRNA sequences of apicomplexan protists (Plasmodium berghei, Theileria annulata, Cryptosporidium sp., Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis muris, and S. gigantea). Six eukaryotic protists (a slime mold, a yeast, two dinoflagellates, and two ciliates) acted as an outgroup for a parsimony-based phylogenetic analysis (PAUP Ver. 3.0). The 188 phylogenetically informative sites (i.e., those positions that neither were unvaried nor had only autapomorphic substitutions) supported a single tree topology 481 steps in length with a consistency index of 0.65 in which the monophyly of the Apicomplexa was supported. The two Eimeria species and S. muris, S. gigantea, and T. gondii formed a pair of monophyletic groups that were sister groups. The two Sarcocystis species were not hypothesized to be sister taxa. The genera Plasmodium and Cryptosporidium were hypothesized to form the sister group to these five coccidia and T. annulata. A priori data-editing techniques that deleted "variable" positions prior to analysis failed to recognize the monophyly of the Apicomplexa when the same parsimony-based tree-building algorithm was used. Inability of the outgroup taxa to root the well-supported ingroup tree (Apicomplexa) at a unique site when these taxa were used individually for this purpose reinforces the need for an appropriate, multiple-taxon outgroup in such analyses.
From chatter to headlines: harnessing the real-time web for personalized news recommendation

We propose a new methodology for recommending interesting news to users by exploiting the information in their twitter persona. We model relevance between users and news articles using a mix of signals drawn from the news stream and from twitter: the profile of the social neighborhood of the users, the content of their own tweet stream, and topic popularity in the news and in the whole twitter-land. We validate our approach on a real-world dataset of approximately 40k articles coming from Yahoo! News and one month of crawled twitter data. We train our model using a learning-to-rank approach and support-vector machines. The train and test set are drawn from Yahoo! toolbar log data. We heuristically identify 3214 users of twitter in the log and use their clicks on news articles to train our system. Our methodology is able to predict with good accuracy the news articles clicked by the users and rank them higher than other news articles. The results show that the combination of various signals from real-time Web and micro-blogging platforms can be a useful resource to understand user behavior.
Voluntary Wheel Running Reverses Age-Induced Changes in Hippocampal Gene Expression

Normal aging alters expression of numerous genes within the brain. Some of these transcription changes likely contribute to age-associated cognitive decline, reduced neural plasticity, and the higher incidence of neuropathology. Identifying factors that modulate brain aging is crucial for improving quality of life. One promising intervention to counteract negative effects of aging is aerobic exercise. Aged subjects that exercise show enhanced cognitive performance and increased hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity. Currently, the mechanisms behind the anti-aging effects of exercise are not understood. The present study conducted a microarray on whole hippocampal samples from adult (3.5-month-old) and aged (18-month-old) male BALB/c mice that were individually housed with or without running wheels for 8 weeks. Results showed that aging altered genes related to chromatin remodeling, cell growth, immune activity, and synapse organization compared to adult mice. Exercise was found to modulate many of the genes altered by aging, but in the opposite direction. For example, wheel running increased expression of genes related to cell growth and attenuated expression of genes involved in immune function and chromatin remodeling. Collectively, findings show that even late-onset exercise may attenuate age-related changes in gene expression and identifies possible pathways through which exercise may exert its beneficial effects.
Pairwise learning in recommendation: experiments with community recommendation on linkedin

Many online systems present a list of recommendations and infer user interests implicitly from clicks or other contextual actions. For modeling user feedback in such settings, a common approach is to consider items acted upon to be relevant to the user, and irrelevant otherwise. However, clicking some but not others conveys an implicit ordering of the presented items. Pairwise learning, which leverages such implicit ordering between a pair of items, has been successful in areas such as search ranking. In this work, we study whether pairwise learning can improve community recommendation. We first present two novel pairwise models adapted from logistic regression. Both offline and online experiments in a large real-world setting show that incorporating pairwise learning improves the recommendation performance. However, the improvement is only slight. We find that users' preferences regarding the kinds of communities they like can differ greatly, which adversely affect the effectiveness of features derived from pairwise comparisons. We therefore propose a probabilistic latent semantic indexing model for pairwise learning (Pairwise PLSI), which assumes a set of users' latent preferences between pairs of items. Our experiments show favorable results for the Pairwise PLSI model and point to the potential of using pairwise learning for community recommendation.
Gating by Cyclic Gmp and Voltage in the α Subunit of the Cyclic Gmp–Gated Channel from Rod Photoreceptors

Gating by cGMP and voltage of the α subunit of the cGMP-gated channel from rod photoreceptor was examined with a patch-clamp technique. The channels were expressed in Xenopus oocytes. At low [cGMP] (<20 μM), the current displayed strong outward rectification. At low and high (700 μM) [cGMP], the channel activity was dominated by only one conductance level. Therefore, the outward rectification at low [cGMP] results solely from an increase in the open probability, P o. Kinetic analysis of single-channel openings revealed two exponential distributions. At low [cGMP], the larger P o at positive voltages with respect to negative voltages is caused by an increased frequency of openings in both components of the open-time distribution. In macroscopic currents, depolarizing voltage steps, starting from −100 mV, generated a time-dependent current that increased with the step size (activation). At low [cGMP] (20 μM), the degree of activation was large and the time course was slow, whereas at saturating [cGMP] (7 mM) the respective changes were small and fast. The dose–response relation at −100 mV was shifted to the right and saturated at significantly lower P o values with respect to that at +100 mV (0.77 vs. 0.96). P o was determined as function of the [cGMP] (at +100 and −100 mV) and voltage (at 20, 70, and 700 μM, and 7 mM cGMP). Both relations could be fitted with an allosteric state model consisting of four independent cGMP-binding reactions and one voltage-dependent allosteric opening reaction. At saturating [cGMP] (7 mM), the activation time course was monoexponential, which allowed us to determine the individual rate constants for the allosteric reaction. For the rapid rate constants of cGMP binding and unbinding, lower limits are determined. It is concluded that an allosteric model consisting of four independent cGMP-binding reactions and one voltage-dependent allosteric reaction, describes the cGMP- and voltage-dependent gating of cGMP-gated channels adequately.
Mechanotransduction at focal adhesions: integrating cytoskeletal mechanics in migrating cells

Focal adhesions (FAs) are complex plasma membrane‐associated macromolecular assemblies that serve to physically connect the actin cytoskeleton to integrins that engage with the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). FAs undergo maturation wherein they grow and change composition differentially to provide traction and to transduce the signals that drive cell migration, which is crucial to various biological processes, including development, wound healing and cancer metastasis. FA‐related signalling networks dynamically modulate the strength of the linkage between integrin and actin and control the organization of the actin cytoskeleton. In this review, we have summarized a number of recent investigations exploring how FA composition is affected by the mechanical forces that transduce signalling networks to modulate cellular function and drive cell migration. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms of how force governs adhesion signalling provides insights that will allow the manipulation of cell migration and help to control migration‐related human diseases.
Bifidobacterium population analysis in the infant gut by direct mapping of genomic hybridization patterns: potential for monitoring temporal development and effects of dietary regimens

A bifidobacterial mixed‐species microarray platform was used in a proof‐of‐principle study to address the composition and development of bifidobacteria in DNA extracted from faecal samples. These were collected in a time‐course of 2 years since birth and derived from human infants that were breastfed, standard formula‐fed or received a prebiotic formula during their weaning period. A set of over 50 samples was analysed, testifying for the throughput of the designed platform for multiple genome hybridizations. The generated data revealed that faecal samples of breastfed infants contained a high abundance of genomic DNA homologous to Bifidobacterium breve. In contrast, faecal samples from standard formula‐fed infants lacked detectable amounts of this B. breve DNA but contained genes with high similarity to B. longum. Remarkably, infants that received breastmilk and later a prebiotic formula consisting of a standard formula milk containing a mixture of specific galacto‐ and fructo‐oligosaccharides, continued to harbour a B. breve‐dominant faecal population. One infant that received standard formula in combination with the additional B. lactis Bb12 culture, contained significant amounts of faecal DNA belonging to Bb12 but only during the period of ingestion. The microarray platform showed sufficient sensitivity to analyse the B. breve group at the strain level. Overall, the B. breve populations observed in the faecal samples of the studied infants showed a stable composition over time and were unique per infant. In conclusion, our results show the applicability of comparative genome hybridization to study bifidobacterial populations in infant faecal samples without the use of any amplification step.
The development of a nonverbal test of accelerated long-term forgetting for use with people with epilepsy

Background: Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is a novel form of memory impairment whereby some people with epilepsy (PWE) demonstrate ‘normal’ patterns of learning and memory over short retention intervals (i.e. 20-30 minutes) but then experience rapid forgetting over longer delays. Currently, there is no consensus on the measures used to assess ALF and little attention has been paid to how clinicians should assess ALF in clinical practice. The aim of this research was to develop and pilot a clinically feasible nonverbal measure of ALF. Method: Phase 1 comprised the initial development and piloting of the Action-People-Places (APP) test materials and procedure. Six versions were created and each version was piloted on small numbers of healthy adults and/or PWE. Modifications to each version were made in line with participants’ performance and feedback. Phase 2 involved administering the final APP test, as well as a brief battery of neuropsychological tests, to 32 healthy adults and an individual, SK, with a confirmed diagnosis of ALF, to assess its reliability and validity. Comparisons were made to two PWE involved in Phase 1. Telephone follow-ups were undertaken at 24 hours, 1-week and 3-weeks. Phase 3 evaluated its acceptability using a brief structured interview format. Results: Healthy adults demonstrated forgetting on the APP test. There were no floor effects but some evidence of ceiling effects. The test had modest levels of reliability (.67-.83). Older age was associated with increased forgetting over time. There were some associations with existing memory measures. SK demonstrated ALF on the task. The APP test was considered acceptable to participants. Discussion: Despite several limitations to the study, including the use of an unmatched healthy adult group, the APP test appears to be a promising measure of ALF, which is worthy of further development with larger patient groups and a more representative control group.
Degradability, biocompatibility, and osteogenesis of biocomposite scaffolds containing nano magnesium phosphate and wheat protein both in vitro and in vivo for bone regeneration

In this study, bioactive scaffold of nano magnesium phosphate (nMP)/wheat protein (WP) composite (MWC) was fabricated. The results revealed that the MWC scaffolds had interconnected not only macropores (sized 400–600 μm) but also micropores (sized 10–20 μm) on the walls of macropores. The MWC scaffolds containing 40 w% nMP had an appropriate degradability in phosphate-buffered saline and produced a weak alkaline microenvironment. In cell culture experiments, the results revealed that the MWC scaffolds significantly promoted the MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation, differentiation, and growth into the scaffolds. The results of synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography and analysis of the histological sections of the in vivo implantation revealed that the MWC scaffolds evidently improved the new bone formation and bone defects repair as compared with WP scaffolds. Moreover, it was found that newly formed bone tissue continued to increase with the gradual reduction of materials residual in the MWC scaffolds. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical analysis further offered the evidence of the stimulatory effects of MWC scaffolds on osteogenic-related cell differentiation and new bone regeneration. The results indicated that MWC scaffolds with good biocompability and degradability could promote osteogenesis in vivo, which would have potential for bone tissue repair.
The pattern of motor coordination underlying the roll in the lamprey

SUMMARY The lamprey swims by caudally directed lateral undulations of its body. During swimming the animal is oriented with its dorsal side up, and any deviation from this posture (roll tilt) elicits a corrective motor response aimed at restoring the normal orientation. Video recording was used to study the kinematic pattern of the response to a 90° roll tilt imposed in the intact lamprey. The corrective responses were associated with specific modifications of the swimming movements. The plane of locomotor undulations deviated from the normal, i.e. frontal plane in one direction at the beginning of the rotation and in the opposite direction at its end. A similar motor pattern was also observed in the anterior part of the body of lampreys in which the spinal cord had been transected in the mid-body area, when performing postural corrections. It could also be observed during roll turns performed by lampreys after a rostral hemisection of the spinal cord. We argue that these modifications of the locomotor pattern generate the moments of force necessary for initiation and termination of the corrective roll turn. Possible neuronal mechanisms causing the corrective movements are discussed.