Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Pluronic F68 and F127 Nanocarrier on Physicochemical Properties, In vitro Release, and Antiproliferative Activity of Thymoquinone Drug

Background: This study reports on hydrophobic drug thymoquinone (TQ), an active compound found in the volatile oil of Nigella sativa that exhibits anticancer activities. Nanoformulation of this drug could potentially increase its bioavailability to specific target cells. Objective: The aim of this study was to formulate TQ into polymer micelle, Pluronic F127 (5.0 wt %) and Pluronic F68 (0.1 wt %), as a drug carrier to enhance its solubility and instability in aqueous media. Materials and Methods: Polymeric micelles encapsulated TQ were prepared by the microwave-assisted solvent evaporation technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer were utilized for qualitative confirmation of micelles encapsulation. The surface morphology and mean particle size of the prepared micelles were determined by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cytotoxicity effect was studied using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS) assay. Results: Dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) technique showed hydrodynamic size distribution of optimized micelles of 50 nm, which was in close agreement with the mean particle size obtained from TEM of about 51 nm. Drug release study showed the maximum percentage of TQ release at 61% after 72 h, while the entrapment efficiency of TQ obtained was 46% using PF127. The cytotoxic effect of PF127-encapsulated TQ was considerably higher compared to PF68-encapsulated TQ against MCF7 cells, as they exhibited IC50value of 8 μM and 18 μM, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests higher molecular weight Pluronic polymer micelles (F127) with hydrophilic-hydrophobic segments which could be used as a suitable candidate for sustainable delivery of TQ. However, comprehensive studies should be carried out to establish the suitability of Pluronic F127 as a carrier for other drugs with similar challenges as TQ.
Evidence of the Thermo-Electric Thomson Effect and Influence on the Program Conditions and Cell Optimization in Phase-Change Memory Cells

We present physical and electrical evidence of the Thomson thermo-electric effect in line-type phase-change memory cells. This causes a shift of the molten zone during RESET programming towards the anode contact, and as a consequence the phase change material (PCM) design at the contact area has a significant influence on the program conditions. First statistical studies showed a reduction of minimum Reset currents by ~5% and Set voltages by -28% when PCM extensions around the anode are used instead of fine line contacts. This Thomson effect remains important with further cell scaling.
Citizen Perspectives on Energy Issues in Canada: A National Survey of Energy Literacy and Energy Citizenship

This national survey explores public perspectives on energy issues in Canada with a focus on preferences for energy sources, perceived and actual knowledge of energy systems, trust in energy-related organizations and sources of knowledge about energy issues. The survey also explores willingness to engage in energy related issues and general values and beliefs about energy systems. Conducted in the Fall of 2014, 3,000 respondents were randomly selected from an internet-based panel with quotas for gender, age, region, education, income, language and urban/rural differences. Survey results show that support for renewable energy sources is strong and awareness of energy saving options is also high. Regarding energy citizenship, although awareness of opportunities to participate in energy-related discussions is moderate, levels of participation are very low. Canadians express strong values toward environmental protection compared to explicit utilitarian uses of the environment and they worry that human interference with nature can produce disastrous consequences. Finally, policy considerations are provided to advance literacy and civic engagement on energy issues.
Neural mitochondrial Ca2+ capacity impairment precedes the onset of motor symptoms in G93A Cu/Zn‐superoxide dismutase mutant mice

Mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction, impaired intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway are pathological hallmarks in animal and cellular models of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis associated with Cu/Zn‐superoxide dismutase mutations. Although intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis is thought to be intimately associated with mitochondrial functions, the temporal and causal correlation between mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake dysfunction and motor neuron death in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis remains to be established. We investigated mitochondrial Ca2+ handling in isolated brain, spinal cord and liver of mutant Cu/Zn‐superoxide dismutase transgenic mice at different disease stages. In G93A mutant transgenic mice, we found a significant decrease in mitochondrial Ca2+ loading capacity in brain and spinal cord, as compared with age‐matched controls, very early on in the course of the disease, long before the onset of motor weakness and massive neuronal death. Ca2+ loading capacity was not significantly changed in liver G93A mitochondria. We also confirmed Ca2+ capacity impairment in spinal cord mitochondria from a different line of mice expressing G85R mutant Cu/Zn‐superoxide dismutase. In excitable cells, such as motor neurons, mitochondria play an important role in handling rapid cytosolic Ca2+ transients. Thus, mitochondrial dysfunction and Ca2+‐mediated excitotoxicity are likely to be interconnected mechanisms that contribute to neuronal degeneration in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
ROmanian multicentric study of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome--ROMES.

INTRODUCTION The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an entity with a high and continuously increasing prevalence in the modern world. It is of great importance to have actual data about its prevalence. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of MetS in a selected population (i.e. patients from cardiology departments) using both NCEP ATP-III and IDF criteria. Secondary objectives were to evaluate the correlation of MetS and abdominal obesity with specific cardiovascular pathology, and to compare the prevalence of MetS according to the two definitions. METHOD This was a cross-sectional study developed in two parts: the pilot study evaluated all patients admitted to 12 cardiology departments of county hospitals, and the main study included 1176 patients in 15 cardiology departments. RESULTS The prevalence of MetS in the pilot study (1326 patients, 53.4% men), using only NCEP ATP-III criteria, was 42.8% (45.9% in men and 39.4% in women, p = 0.01), while in the main study (1176 patients, 49.7% men) the prevalence of MetS according to NCEP ATP-III and to IDF criteria was 40.6% (38.3% in men and 42.3% in women) and 44.2% (43.1% in men and 45.3% in women), respectively. MetS represented a risk factor only for stable angina (RR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.20-1.53, p < 0.001), with no gender difference. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of MetS and abdominal obesity is high in a population with cardiovascular disease. Both classifications showed a slightly higher prevalence of MetS in women compared to men. The relative risk of coronary heart disease associated with MetS was statistically significant only for stable angina.
Reverse Gyrase Functions as a DNA Renaturase

Reverse gyrase is a hyperthermophile-specific enzyme that can positively supercoil DNA concomitant with ATP hydrolysis. However, the DNA supercoiling activity is inefficient and requires an excess amount of enzyme relative to DNA. We report here several activities that reverse gyrase can efficiently mediate with a substoichiometric amount of enzyme. In the presence of a nucleotide cofactor, reverse gyrase can readily relax negative supercoils, but not the positive ones, from a plasmid DNA substrate. Reverse gyrase can completely relax positively supercoiled DNA, provided that the DNA substrate contains a single-stranded bubble. Reverse gyrase efficiently anneals complementary single-stranded circles. A substoichiometric amount of reverse gyrase can insert positive supercoils into DNA with a single-stranded bubble, in contrast to plasmid DNA substrate. We have designed a novel method based on phage-mid DNA vectors to prepare a circular DNA substrate containing a single-stranded bubble with defined length and sequence. With these bubble DNA substrates, we demonstrated that efficient positive supercoiling by reverse gyrase requires a bubble size larger than 20 nucleotides. The activities of annealing single-stranded DNA circles and positive supercoiling of bubble substrate demonstrate that reverse gyrase can function as a DNA renaturase. These biochemical activities also suggest that reverse gyrase can have an important biological function in sensing and eliminating unpaired regions in the genome of a hyperthermophilic organism.
Jumping mechanisms in adult caddis flies (Insecta, Trichoptera)

ABSTRACT To understand the jumping mechanisms and strategies of adult caddis flies, leg morphology and movements were analysed in three species with mean masses of 3.9 to 38 mg. Two distinct jumping strategies were found. First (67% of 90 jumps), take-off was propelled solely by the middle and hind legs while the wings remained closed. Second (33% of jumps), the same leg movements were combined with wing movements before take-off. The hind legs were 70% and the middle legs were 50% longer than the front legs and represented 105% and 88%, respectively, of body length. Both hind and middle trochantera were depressed together, approximately 15 ms before take-off. The front legs apparently did not contribute to thrust in either strategy and were the first to be lifted from the ground. The hind legs were the next to lose contact, so that the middle legs alone provided the final thrust before take-off. Jumping performance did not differ significantly in the two jumping strategies or between species, in acceleration times (range of means for the three species 14.5–15.4 ms), take-off velocities (range 0.7–1 m s−1) and trajectory angles. A significant difference in jumps propelled only by the legs was the lower angle (9.3±1.9 deg) of the body relative to the horizontal at take-off compared with jumps involving wing movements (35.3±2.5 deg). Calculations from the kinematics indicated that jumps were produced by direct muscle contractions and did not require power amplification or energy storage. Highlighted Article: Adult caddis flies use two jumping strategies: first, take-off is propelled by the middle and hind legs; second, the same leg movements are combined with wing movements.
Variance of molecular datings, evolution of rodents and the phylogenetic affinities between Ctenodactylidae and Hystricognathi

The von Willebrand factor (vWF) gene has been used to understand the origin and timing of Rodentia evolution in the context of placental phylogeny. vWF exon 28 sequences of 15 rodent families and eight non–rodent eutherian clades are analysed with two different molecular dating methods (uniform clock on a linearized tree; quartet dating). Three main conclusions are drawn from the study of this nuclear exon. First, Ctenodactylidae (gundis) and Hystricognathi (e.g. porcupines, guinea–pigs, chinchillas) robustly cluster together in a newly recognized clade, named ‘Ctenohystrica’. The Sciurognathi monophyly is subsequently rejected. Pedetidae (springhares) is an independent and early diverging rodent lineage, suggesting a convergent evolution of the multiserial enamel of rodent incisors. Second, molecular date estimates are here more influenced by accuracy and choice of the palaeontological temporal references used to calibrate the molecular clock than by either characters analysed (nucleotides versus amino acids) or species sampling. The caviomorph radiation at 31 million years (Myr) and the pig–porpoise split at 63Myr appear to be reciprocally compatible dates. Third, during the radiation of Rodentia, at least three lineages (Gliridae, Sciuroidea and Ctenohystrica) emerged close to the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary, and their common ancestor separated from other placental orders in the Late Cretaceous.
Urban concentration and labour market linkages in the Norwegian ICT services sector

ABSTRACT Building on research that emphasizes the dependence of services firms on the networks and experiences of individual employees, this paper investigates the urban concentration of information and communication technology services employment in Norway from the perspective of labour market linkages. It finds that urban regions generally provide firms with access to sector-specific expertise. Beyond this, intrinsic region characteristics determine the position of individual firms in national labour markets for expertise: Firms in the dominant university town have strong contact points to academic labour markets, whereas firms in the industrial stronghold of the Western Capital region exploit a broader range of recruitment channels than firms in any of the other urban and non-urban locations. The results illustrate how capability building through recruitment is influenced by local conditions, and imply that the industry will continue to concentrate in the large-city regions where surrounding organizations provide firms with priveliged access to expertise. Implications for research, innovation policy and societal development more generally are drawn.
Novel DL-Galactan Hybrids from the Red Seaweed Gymnogongrus Torulosus are Potent Inhibitors of Herpes Simplex Virus and Dengue Virus

A novel series of DL-galactan hybrids extracted from the red seaweed Gymnogongrus torulosus, was evaluated for its in vitro antiviral properties against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and dengue virus 2 (DEN-2). These compounds were very active against both viruses with inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) values in the range 0.6–16 μg/ml for HSV-2 and 0.19–1.7 μg/ml for DEN-2, respectively, as determined in a virus plaque reduction assay in Vero cells. The DL-galactans lacked of cytotoxic effects, on stationary as well as on actively dividing cells, and anticoagulant properties. Some of the compounds showed a variable level of direct inactivating effect on both virions, with virucidal concentration 50% values exceeding the IC50s obtained by plaque reduction assay. Full inhibitory activity was achieved when the galactans were present during virus adsorption period, suggesting that the mode of action of these compounds is an interference in the binding of the surface envelope glycoprotein with the cell receptor.
PENGARUH CASH RATIO, DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO, PROFITABILITY DAN SALES GROWTH TERHADAP DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATIO DAN DAMPAKNYA PADA NILAI PERUSAHAAN (Studi Empirik pada Perusahaan Manufaktur yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia tahun 2010-2014)

This study is performed to examine the effect of cash ratio, debt to equity ratio, profitability, and sales growth toward dividend payout ratio to impact company value. The objective of this study is to scale and analyze the effect of the company financial ratios performance (cash ratio, debt to equity ratio, profitability and sales growth) toward DPR to impact company value in manufacturing industry over period 2010-2014. Sampling technique used here is purposive sampling. The data is obtained based on Indonesian Capital Market Directory (ICMD). It is gained sample amount of 15 data. The analysis technique used here is multiple regression with the least square difference and hypothesis test using t-statistic to examine partial regression coefficient and f-statistic to examine the mean of mutual effect with level of significance 5%. In addition, classical assumption is also performed including normality test, multicolinearity test, heteroscedasticity test and autocorrelation test. During 2010-2014 period show as deviation has not founded this indicate clasiccal assumption that the available data has fulfill the condition to use multilinier regression model. Empirical evidence show profitability to have influence toward DPR at level of significance less than 5%, profitability and DPR have influence toward company value at level of significance less than 5%.
Effect of Delayed Pulsed-Wave Ultrasound on Local Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Vancomycin-Loaded Acrylic Bone Cement In Vivo

ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate the effect of delayed pulsed-wave ultrasound with low frequency on drug release from and the antimicrobial efficacy of vancomycin-loaded acrylic bone cement in vivo and the possible mechanism of this effect. After the implantation of cement and the inoculation of Staphylococcus aureus into the bilateral hips of rabbits, ultrasound (average intensity, 300 mW/cm2; frequency, 46.5 kHz; on/off ratio, 20 min/10 min) was applied to animals in the normal ultrasound group (UG0-12) from 0 through 12 h after surgery and to those in the delayed-ultrasound group (UG12-24) from 12 through 24 h after surgery. The control group (CG) was not exposed to ultrasound. Based on vancomycin concentrations in left hip cavities at projected time intervals, the amount of time during which the local drug concentration exceeded the MIC (T>MIC) in UG12-24 was significantly prolonged compared with that in either CG or UG0-12, and the ratios between the areas under the concentration-time curves over 24 h and the MIC for UG0-12 and UG12-24 were both increased compared with that for CG. The greatest reductions in bacterial densities in both right hip aspirates and right femoral tissues at 48 h were achieved with UG12-24. Local hemorrhage in rabbits of UG0-12 during the 12-h insonation was more severe than that in rabbits of UG12-24. Of four variables, the T>MIC and the bioacoustic effect were both identified as parameters predictive of the enhancement of the antimicrobial efficacy of cement by ultrasound. Sustained concentrations above the MIC replaced early high maximum concentrations and long-term subtherapeutic release of the drug, provided that ultrasound was not applied until local hemorrhage was relieved. The enhancement of the antimicrobial efficacy of cement by ultrasound may be attributed to the prolonged T>MIC and the bioacoustic effect caused by ultrasound.
Reactive clusters on a membrane

We investigate the reaction dynamics of diffusive molecules with immobile binding partners. The fixed reactants build clusters that are comprised of just a few tens of molecules, which leads to small cluster sizes. These molecules participate in the reaction only if they are activated. The dynamics of activation is mapped to a time-dependent size of an active region within the cluster. We focus on the deterministic description of the dynamics of a single cluster. The spatial setup accounts for one of the most important determinants of the dynamics of a cluster, i.e. diffusional transport of reaction partners towards or away from the active region of the cluster. We provide numerical and analytical evidence that diffusion influences decisively the dynamic regimes of the reactions. The application of our methods to intracellular Ca2+ dynamics shows that large local concentrations saturate the Ca2+ feedback to the channel state control. It eliminates oscillations depending on this feedback.
Statistical Inference of Gaussian-Laplace Distribution for Person Verification

Metric learning is an important issue in the person verification problem, which is to identify whether a pair of face or human body images is about the same person. Due to low running cost, the non-iterative statistical inference methods for metric learning show their efficiency and effectiveness to large scale datasets and on-line updating person verification applications. The KISSME method is a typical one that constructs the metric based on two assumptions that both of the discrepancy spaces of negative pairs and positive pairs should be Gaussian structures. However, we find that, in fact, the distribution of discrepancies of positive pairs might tend to the Laplace distribution rather than the Gaussian distribution. Based on this finding, we propose a metric learning method by exploiting Gaussian-Laplace distribution statistical inference, where the Gaussian distribution of negative discrepancies and the Laplace distribution of positive discrepancies are considered together. Experiments conducted on two human body datasets (VIPeR and Market-1501) and one face dataset (LFW) show its superiority in terms of effectiveness and efficiency as compared with the state-of-the-art approaches, no matter the appearance description is handcrafted or deep learned.
Putting Education in “Educational” Apps

Children are in the midst of a vast, unplanned experiment, surrounded by digital technologies that were not available but 5 years ago. At the apex of this boom is the introduction of applications (“apps”) for tablets and smartphones. However, there is simply not the time, money, or resources available to evaluate each app as it enters the market. Thus, “educational” apps—the number of which, as of January 2015, stood at 80,000 in Apple’s App Store (Apple, 2015)—are largely unregulated and untested. This article offers a way to define the potential educational impact of current and future apps. We build upon decades of work on the Science of Learning, which has examined how children learn best. From this work, we abstract a set of principles for two ultimate goals. First, we aim to guide researchers, educators, and designers in evidence-based app development. Second, by creating an evidence-based guide, we hope to set a new standard for evaluating and selecting the most effective existing children’s apps. In short, we will show how the design and use of educational apps aligns with known processes of children’s learning and development and offer a framework that can be used by parents and designers alike. Apps designed to promote active, engaged, meaningful, and socially interactive learning—four “pillars” of learning—within the context of a supported learning goal are considered educational.
EFFECT OF STERILIZATION ON MINERALIZATION OF STRAW AND BLACK CARBON

The study was aimed at investigating the role of mi- croorganisms in the degradation of BC (black carbon). CO2 evolution was measured under sterilized and non-sterilized soil using BC and straw amendments. Black carbon and straw were produced from homogenously 14 C labelled roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare) with a specific activity 2.9 MBq g -1 C. Production of BC was implemented at 300 oC for 24 h in a muffle oven, incubated in soil and 14 C in the evolved CO2 was measured after 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 26 and 40 days. BC showed much lower and slow evolu- tion of CO2 than the plant material which refers to high resistance of BC to microbial degradation. The difference between soil respiration in sterilized and non-sterilized soil with plant material was visible from the beginning of the experiment, unlike with BC amendments where dif- ferences only occurred after some days. In addition, the CO2 evolution from the plant material proceeded with a lag phase while CO2 evolution from the charcoals showed no lag phase. This indicates that microorganisms are not involved in the initial flush of carbon emitted from the BC. We suggest that an alternative source may be carbon- ates on the surfaces of the BC, but another abiotic source must also be present perhaps abiotic mineralization of labile BC components