Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Standardization of an in vitro Model for Evaluating the Bioavailability of Topically Applied Compounds on Damaged Skin: Application to Sunscreen Analysis

Background: Information is lacking on the dermal penetration of topically applied formulations on in vitro skin models, under conditions where the stratum corneum (SC) is damaged. Therefore, we have developed a standardized in vitro barrier-disrupted skin model using tape stripping. Methods: Different tape stripping conditions were evaluated using histology, transepidermal water loss, infrared densitometry, and caffeine absorption. Results: The effects of tape stripping were comparable using pig and human skin. Optimized conditions were used to test the effect of SC damage and UV irradiation on the absorption of an UV filter combination present in a sunscreen. The bioavailability of the filters was extremely low regardless of the extent of skin damage, suggesting bioavailability would not be increased if the consumer applied the sunscreen to sun-damaged skin. Conclusion: This standardized in vitro methodology using pig or human skin for damaged skin will add valuable information for the safety assessment of topically applied products.
Impact of beta-naphthoflavone on genotoxicity of food-derived carcinogens.

OBJECTIVES Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) are carcinogens, which frequently occur in the human diet. Their metabolic activation to reactive species binding to DNA is mediated by cytochromes P450 (CYPs) 1A1 and 1A2. Thus, levels and activities of these CYPs are crucial for initiation of BaP- and PhPI-mediated carcinogenesis. Here, the effect of CYP1A1/2 induction due to their prototype flavonoid inducer, β-naphthoﬂavone (BNF), on BaP- and PhPI-derived DNA adduct formation in rats was examined. METHODS Male rats pretreated with BNF were treated with a single dose of either carcinogen by oral gavage. Nuclease P1 version of 32P-postlabeling assay and online column-switching liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry were used to detect and quantify covalent DNA adducts formed by BaP and PhIP in-vivo, respectively. Expression of CYP1A1/2 enzymes was examined by Western blot. Enzymatic activities of CYP1A1/2 were assessed using their marker substrates (ethoxyresorufin and methoxyresorufin). RESULTS Treatment of rats with a single dose of BNF produced an increase in levels CYP1A1/2 and CYP1A1 proteins in liver and small intestine, respectively. An increase in CYP1A1 protein expression found in both organs correlated well with specific activities of these CYPs. The CYP1A1 expression levels and its specific activity in small intestine decreased along the length of the organ, being highest in its proximal part and lowest in its distal part. The BNF induction of CYP1A1/2 resulted in a significant increase in the formation of BaP- and PhIP-DNA adducts in liver and in the distal part of the small intestine, respectively. Thus, pretreatment of rats with BNF did not prevent the PhIP and BaP activation, but vice versa, enhanced their genotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study demonstrate that the administration of only a single dose of CYP-inducing flavonoid prior to the intake of food carcinogens may increase the risk of a tumor formation.
MaxBCG: A Red-Sequence Galaxy Cluster Finder

Measurements of galaxy cluster abundances, clustering properties, and mass-to-light ratios in current and future surveys can provide important cosmological constraints. Digital wide-field imaging surveys, the recently demonstrated fidelity of red-sequence cluster detection techniques, and a new generation of realistic mock galaxy surveys provide the means for construction of large, cosmologically interesting cluster samples, whose selection and properties can be understood in unprecedented depth. Here we present the details of the "maxBCG" algorithm, a cluster detection technique tailored to multiband CCD imaging data. MaxBCG primarily relies on an observational cornerstone of massive galaxy clusters: they are marked by an overdensity of bright, uniformly red galaxies. This detection scheme also exploits classical brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), which are often found at the centers of these same massive clusters. We study the algorithm through its performance on large, realistic, mock galaxy catalogs, which reveal that it is over 90% pure for clusters at 0.1 < z < 0.3 with 10 or more red galaxies, and over 90% complete for halos at 0.1 < z < 0.3 with masses above 2 × 1014 h-1 M☉. MaxBCG is able to approximately recover the underlying halo abundance function and assign cluster richnesses strongly coupled to the underlying halo properties. The same tests indicate that maxBCG rarely fragments halos, occasionally overmerges line-of-sight neighboring (≃10 h-1 Mpc) halos, and overestimates the intrinsic halo red-sequence galaxy population by no more than 20%. The study concludes with a discussion of considerations for cosmological measurements with such catalogs, including modeling the selection function, the role of photometric errors, the possible cosmological dependence of richness measurements, and fair cluster selection across broad redshift ranges employing multiple bandpasses.
gyrB mutations which confer coumarin resistance also affect DNA supercoiling and ATP hydrolysis by Escherichia coli DNA gyrase

Coumarins are inhibitors of the ATP hydrolsis and DNA supercoiling reactions catalysed by DNA gyrase. Their target is the B subunit of gyrase (GyrB), encoded by the gyrB gene. The exact mode and site of action of the drugs is unknown. We have identified four mutations conferring coumarin resistance to Escherichia coli: Arg‐136 to Cys, His or Ser and Gly‐164 to Val. In vitro, the ATPase and supercoiling activities of the mutant GyrB proteins are reduced relative to the wild‐type enzyme and show resistance to the coumarin antibiotics. Significant differences in the susceptibility of mutant GyrB proteins to inhibition by either chlorobiocin and novobiocin or coumermycin have been found, suggesting wider contacts between coumermycin and GyrB. We discuss the significance of Arg‐136 and Gly‐164 in relation to the notion that coumarin drugs act as competitive inhibitors of the ATPase reaction.
The Distribution of the Returns of Japanese Stocks and Portfolios

The behaviour of the distribution of stock returns is of fundamental importance in financial economics, in view of its direct bearing on the descriptive validity of any theoretical model. We analysed the behaviour of Japanese stock return distributions using the Pearson system of frequency curves to determine whether a) the distributions of the returns of the shares listed in the Nikkei 225 can be described by a single type of distribution; b) the length of the time period used for the analysis affects the behaviour of the distributions, and c) the distributions of the returns of portfolios of Japanese stocks follow similar patterns of behaviour. We found that all the shares listed on the Nikkei 225 may be described by the Pearson Type IV distribution. Other behaviours are occasionally observable but only when short time periods are used in the analysis, suggesting that the length of the period is not a variable that has any significant effect on the behaviour of Japanese stock returns. When the returns of portfolios of Japanese stocks are examined, the results are more robust and exceptions to the Pearson type IV rule are less common and are confined to very short time periods of analysis. We discuss the implications of our findings for financial modelling. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first such analysis for the Japanese market.
Detecting Duplicate Questions with Deep Learning

In this paper, we explore methods of determining semantic equivalence between pairs of questions using a dataset released by Quora. Our deep learning approach to this problem uses a Siamese GRU neural network to encode each sentence, and we experiment with a variety of distance measures to predict equivalence based on the sentence vector outputs of the neural network. We find that while logistic regression on the pure distance measures produces decent results, feeding a concatenation of different transformations of the output sentence vectors through another set of neural network layers yields significantly improves performance to a level comparable to current state-of-the-art models. In addition, we demonstrate data augmentation techniques that can be used to improve Siamese neural network model performance.
Is introversion a risk factor for suicidal behaviour in depression?

Background. Personality is an important determinant of suicidal behaviour. However, it has been studied little in relation to suicidal behaviour in depression. Methods. Depressed patients who had attempted suicide (N=41) were compared with depressed patients who had never attempted suicide (N=56) and normal controls (N=56) for their scores on three personality questionnaires. Results. Introversion was the only personality dimension where the post hoc test showed a different pattern between the two groups of depressed patients in their relation to controls. In particular, only depressed patients who had attempted suicide had significantly lower introversion scores than controls. Conclusion. The personality dimension of introversion may be a risk factor for suicidal behaviour in depression.
Evaluation and Treatment of Acute Bronchitis at an Academic Teaching Clinic

BackgroundRandomized controlled trials have demonstrated that antibiotics provide no benefit for acute bronchitis, yet 55 to 90% of patients who receive this diagnosis are treated with antibiotics. Given substantial data against antibiotics for acute bronchitis, it could be expected that physicians at academic teaching institutions would be less likely to prescribe antibiotics. However, limited data of antibiotic use for acute bronchitis in this setting has been published. MethodsCharts of patients seen between January 1 and October 25, 2000, who received an ICD-9 diagnosis of acute bronchitis or upper respiratory infection (URI) at the University of Virginia internal medicine clinic were reviewed. Patients were excluded if they had no cough, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, symptoms for ≥3 weeks, or antibiotics for another reason. ResultsOf the 160 patients included in this study, 105 (66%) received an antibiotic. Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with increasing age (P = 0.002), purulent cough (P = 0.003), abnormal exam (P = 0.003), and comorbidities (P = 0.03) were most likely to receive an antibiotic. Smoking, duration of symptoms, gender, and race did not predict antibiotic use (P > 0.05). Macrolides accounted for 68% of antibiotics. Twenty-two (14%) of all patients received a chest radiograph and 72 (45%) received an inhaler. Of those who had chest radiographs negative for signs of infection, 76% received an antibiotic. ConclusionIn our teaching clinic, antibiotics were overused, whereas chest radiographs and inhalers were underused for the evaluation and treatment of acute bronchitis. Recently published guidelines will help curb use of antibiotics, but a more intensive intervention, including physician and patient education is probably necessary.
Effect of using different modes to administer the AUDIT-C on identification of hazardous drinking and acquiescence to trial participation among injured patients.

AIMS We compared the effect of three different modes of questionnaire administration on screening for hazardous drinking and acquiescence to trial participation. METHODS A quasi-randomized controlled trial among injured patients seen in acute care clinics compared self-administered paper-and-pencil, self-administered electronic, and orally-administered interview questionnaires. Outcomes included positive AUDIT-C screens for hazardous drinking, willingness to participate in a (hypothetical) lifestyle intervention trial, and recruitment success. Differences were analyzed with nonlinear mixed models, controlling for age, sex, and facility. Structured interviews with staff explored levers and barriers to screening. RESULTS Of the 370 participants, 22.7% scored > or =4 and 7.8% > or =6 on the AUDIT-C. Electronic questionnaires were more likely than paper questionnaires to identify an AUDIT-C > or =6 (OR = 1.96; 95% CI 1.10-3.48), but not > or =4 (OR = 0.83; 95% CI 0.43-1.62). Oral questionnaires were as likely as paper questionnaires to identify an AUDIT-C > or =4 (OR = 1.00; 95% CI 0.40-2.51) or > or =6 (OR = 1.94; 95% CI 0.83-4.50). Electronic and oral questionnaires were more likely to elicit acquiescence to trial participation (OR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.23-2.07, and OR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.22-2.26, respectively). Oral questionnaires created problems with confidentiality, privacy, and disruption of patient flow, and reduced recruitment success (OR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.42-0.62). CONCLUSIONS Among acutely injured patients in clinics who consented to screening, nearly one-fourth reported hazardous drinking. Compared to paper questionnaires, electronic screening produced less social desirability bias and greater acquiescence to trial participation. Oral questionnaires produced greater acquiescence, but barriers to use adversely affected recruitment. Electronic questionnaires may be preferable for screening for hazardous drinking and recruitment into intervention trials in acute care clinics.
A collaborative group method of inclusive research.

BACKGROUND Funding bodies in Australia and the United Kingdom require research on issues that affect the lives of people with intellectual disability to be inclusive. Debate continues about the nature and benefits of inclusive research, which has become an umbrella term encompassing a broad spectrum of approaches. METHOD This study proposes one method of inclusive research, the 'collaborative group' approach. It examines the processes used to conduct a study involving academics and self-advocates, presenting findings derived from an inductive analysis of field note data, interview and meeting transcripts. RESULTS Five components are identified: shared and distinct purposes of participants equally valued, shared involvement and distinct contributions equally valued, flexible, adapted research methods, working as a group with trusting relationships and dispersed power, and scaffolding for inclusion. CONCLUSIONS This collaborative group method potentially results in better research than either academics or self-advocates could achieve alone and has multiple knowledge outcomes with differing accessibility and complexity. BACKGROUND When people with an intellectual disability and researchers from universities or other organisations do research together it is called inclusive research. People have worked together on research for a long time but there are still some questions about why we should do it and the best way to do it. METHOD This paper talks about one way of doing inclusive research that the people who wrote the paper call 'collaborative group approach'. They did a big project with a group of people with an intellectual disability and talked and thought a lot about what they were doing. What they found out. There are five parts to working this way; (i) Having some of the same and some different reasons for doing the research (ii) Doing some things together and doing some things apart (iii) Being able to change things as you go so people can do what they want to do and are good at. (iv) Knowing each other well and being able to work together equally. (v) Thinking about the way you work all the time to make sure people are doing what they are good at and what they want to do. CONCLUSION If people work this way it might lead to better research and understanding about the lives of people with an intellectual disability.
Genomic Distribution of Telomeric DNA Sequences – What Do We Learn from Fish About Telomere Evolution?

Ends of the eukaryotic chromosomes are capped with nucleoprotein complexes named telomeres. The DNA component of the telomeres usually is consisted of tandemly repeated G-rich DNA short sequences like TTTAGGG in plants (Cox et al., 1993; Fuchs et al., 1995), G2–8TTAC(A) in the fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) (Murray et al., 1986) and T(G)23(TG)1-6 in baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (Shampay et al., 1984), TTGGGG in Tetrahymena thermophila (Blackburn et al., 1978), TTAGGC in Ceanerhabditis elegans (Cangiano and La Volpe, 1993) or TTAGG in the insects (Okazaki et al. 1993), among others (for more telomeric DNA sequences see Telomerase Database, http://telomerase.asu.edu/). In all vertebrates studied to date, telomeres contains tandemly repeated G-rich hexanucleotide sequence (TTAGGG/CCCTAA)n and the associated proteins comprising six subunits: TRF1, TRF2, POT1, TIN2, TPP1 and RAP1 (Bolzan and Bianchi, 2006). The telomeric DNA length shows huge interspecies variation and ranged from less than 100 bp (base pairs) in the ciliate Oxytricha (Klobutcher et al., 1981), hundreds of base pairs in the baker’s yeast to 50 150 kb (kilo base) in the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus) (Kipling and Cooke, 1990) or even more (up to 2 Mb in chicken Galus galus domesticus) (Delany et al. 2003). The human normal cells show telomeric DNA of 5-20 kb length (Moyzis et al., 1988). Variation in the length of the telomeric arrays have been observed between non-homologous and even homologous chromosomes within individual cells in human and mice, among others (Landsorp et al., 1996; Zijlmans et al., 1997). Moreover, p-arm telomeres have been shown to be shorter that their q-arm counterparts in the mouse and Chinese hamster chromosomes (Slijepcevic et al., 1997). Mammalian telomeres replicate throughout S phase: some of the telomeres replicate early while other telomeres replicate later (Zou et al., 2004). Moreover, asynchronous replication of the mammalian pand q-arm telomeres of the same chromosome has been observed (Zou et al., 2004).
Novel mutation in the alpha-tropomyosin gene and transition from hypertrophic to hypocontractile dilated cardiomyopathy.

Awoman born in 1960 presented at age 14 years with exertional dyspnea, sinus rhythm, and left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy as shown by ECG. Hypertrophic nonobstructive cardiomyopathy (HNCM) was diagnosed by cardiac catheterization. An outflow tract gradient at rest or exercise was excluded. An echocardiogram 5 years later showed severe septal hypertrophy (Figure 1⇓). When the patient was 30 years old, repeat right and left heart catheterization confirmed HNCM (Figure 2⇓). A biopsy showed myocyte hypertrophy, only discrete signs of myocyte disarray, and discrete interstitial fibrosis (eosin–van Gieson stain, not shown) (Figure 3⇓). When the patient was 37 years old, regression of LV hypertrophy on the ECG and systolic dysfunction were observed. The echocardiogram showed decreased systolic function and wall thinning (septum 12 mm, posterior wall 8 mm, LV end-diastolic dimension 63 mm, fractional shortening 16%). Cardiac catheterization revealed a decreased LV ejection fraction (LVEF, 36%), slightly increased end-diastolic ventricular volume (Figure 4⇓), and a significantly increased LV end-diastolic pressure (28 mm Hg). Ventricular tachycardia was documented, and an internal cardioverter/defibrillator was …
Comparison of Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA with Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism To Assess Genetic Diversity and Genetic Relatedness within Genospecies III ofPseudomonas syringae

ABSTRACT Recently, DNA pairing analyses showed that Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and related pathovars, includingP. syringae pv. maculicola, form a genomic species (Pseudomonas tomato) (L. Gardan, H. L. Shafik, and P. A. D. Grimont, p. 445–448, in K. Rudolph, T. J. Burr, J. W. Mansfield, D. Stead, A. Vivian, and J. von Kietzell, ed., Pseudomonas syringae Pathovars and Related Pathogens, 1997). The genetic diversity of 23 strains belonging to this genomic species and 4 outgroup strains was analyzed with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) techniques. Simple boiling of P. syringae cells was suitable for subsequent DNA amplification to obtain reliable patterns in RAPD and AFLP analyses. In general, the grouping of P. syringae strains by both analysis techniques corresponded well with the classification obtained from an RFLP analysis of ribosomal DNA operons, DNA pairing studies, and an analysis of pathogenicity data. However, two strains of P. syringaepv. maculicola produced distinct DNA patterns compared to the DNA patterns of other P. syringae pv. maculicola strains; these patterns led us to assume that horizontal transfer of DNA could occur between bacterial populations. Both techniques used in this study have high discriminating power because strains of P. syringaepv. tomato and P. syringae pv. maculicola which were indistinguishable by other techniques, including pathogenicity tests on tomato, were separated into two groups by both RAPD and AFLP analyses. In addition, data analysis showed that the AFLP method was more efficient for assessing intrapathovar diversity than RAPD analysis and allowed clear delineation between intraspecific and interspecific genetic distances, suggesting that it could be an alternative to DNA pairing studies. However, it was not possible to distinguish the two races of P. syringae pv. tomato on the basis of an analysis of the data provided by either the AFLP or RAPD technique.
First-order performance evaluation of adaptive optics systems for atmospheric turbulence compensatio

An approach is presented for evaluating the performance achieved by a closed-loop adaptive-optics system that is employed with an astronomical telescope. This method applies to systems incorporating one or several guide stars, a wave-front reconstruction algorithm that is equivalent to a matrix multiply, and one or several deformable mirrors that are optically conjugate to different ranges. System performance is evaluated in terms of residual mean-square phase distortion and the associated optical transfer function. This evaluation accounts for the effects of the atmospheric turbulence Cn2(h) and wind profiles, the wave-front sensor and deformable-mirror fitting error, the sensor noise, the control-system bandwidth, and the net anisoplanatism for a given constellation of natural and/or laser guide stars. Optimal wave-front reconstruction algorithms are derived that minimize the telescope’s field-of-view-averaged residual mean-square phase distortion. Numerical results are presented for adaptive-optics configurations incorporating a single guide star and a single deformable mirror, multiple guide stars and a single deformable mirror, or multiple guide stars and two deformable mirrors.
The Value of Broadband and the Deadweight Loss of Taxing New Technology

Abstract With fixed costs of developing technology, taxes can generate large efficiency costs by slowing the rate of diffusion and these costs are not accounted for in conventional analyses. This paper illustrates the potential importance of this idea in the context of taxes on broadband Internet access at an early stage of its existence by combining data on individual demand by area with data on supplier entry into those markets. Applying a tax to broadband in 1998 would have reduced the quantity and generated a large deadweight loss in the conventional model but when the analysis accounts for the fixed costs of entering new markets, taxes lead to delayed entry in several markets. In these places, the lost consumer surplus is additional deadweight loss and it more than doubles the true efficiency costs from taxation. The conventional model also dramatically understates the share of the tax burden borne by consumers.