Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HTS Bulk Pole-Field Magnets Motor With a Multiple Rotor Cooled by Liquid Nitrogen

High-Tc superconductor (HTS) rotating machine with melt-textured Gd-123 bulk pole-field magnets was assembled and tested. The axial gap type motor with neither brush/slip ring nor iron core was composed of a kind of multiple rotor, i.e., a twinned rotor. On each rotor disk, there are eight Gd-123 HTS bulk magnets. The bulk magnets were cooled down with circulating liquid nitrogen supplied inside the rotors. Separately, triple-layered armature copper coils cooled with liquid nitrogen were fixed for pulsed current magnetization for the bulks. Rotation of the twinned rotor provide a better single-phase waveform in 200 rpm compared to in single rotor operation. Magnetic flux density and its distribution on each bulk are stable with averaged decay of 4% for seven hours continuous synchronous operation. The results give a poof on the realization of strong flux collection motor.
Drug Abuse and Youth Restiveness in the Eastern Senatorial District of Kogi State: Manifestations, Consequences and Way Forward

This paper established the link between drug abuse and youth restiveness with particular emphasis on the eastern senatorial district of kogi state. The paper also examines the causes, the manifestation, consequences and ways of curbing youth restiveness in the eastern senatorial district of kogi state. Data for this paper were drawn from secondary source, mainly from the library. Historical-descriptive were also analyze via content analysis. The general theory of development which was utilized is predicated on the notion that the political and economic activities undertaken by a country improved quality of living among citizens. The paper reveals that drug abuse and youth restiveness are caused by illiteracy, unemployment, peer group influence, poverty, and impact of single parents among others. These creates avenue of vulnerability for manipulation. The paper recommends among other the need for public enlightenment and skill acquisition programmes to curb the menace of youth restiveness in kogi east in particular and in Nigeria at large.
[Prevalence and risk factors of common mental disorders among medical students].

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence and assess risk factors of common mental disorders among medical students. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out comprising 551 university medical students in the state of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. A self-administered questionnaire to collect sociodemographic and course-related data as well as the Self-Reporting Questionnaire were used. Both Chi-square test and logistic regression were used in data analyses. RESULTS A total of 82.6% of the students enrolled in the course participated in the study. Most of them were women (61%), 60% aged between 20 and 23 years, and 99% were from other cities. The prevalence of common mental disorders was 44.7% and they were independently associated with: difficulty in making friends (OR=2.0), poor self-evaluation of academic performance (OR=1.7), thoughts of dropping out of the medical course (OR=5.0) and perceived lack of emotional support (OR=4.6). Although prevalence of these disorders was associated with the course period in the first analysis, this association was not maintained in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of common mental disorders was shown to be high among medical students, associated with variables concerning support networks. Emotionally tense experiences such as dealing with seriously ill patients and peer group formation in the last years of the medical course are potentially strong stressors, especially for those with poor social support. It is suggested that educational institutions should be aware of that and make interventions aiming at treating and caring for the students' distress.
Time-resolved structural dynamics of thin metal films heated with femtosecond optical pulses

We utilize 100 fs optical pulses to induce ultrafast disorder of 35- to 150-nm thick single Au(111) crystals and observe the subsequent structural evolution using 0.6-ps, 8.04-keV X-ray pulses. Monitoring the picosecond time-dependent modulation of the X-ray diffraction intensity, width, and shift, we have measured directly electron/phonon coupling, phonon/lattice interaction, and a histogram of the lattice disorder evolution, such as lattice breath due to a pressure wave propagating at sonic velocity, lattice melting, and recrystallization, including mosaic formation. Results of theoretical simulations agree and support the experimental data of the lattice/liquid phase transition process. These time-resolved X-ray diffraction data provide a detailed description of all the significant processes induced by ultrafast laser pulses impinging on thin metallic single crystals.
HIV+ elite controllers have low HIV-specific T-cell activation yet maintain strong, polyfunctional T-cell responses

Objective:HIV+ elite controllers are a unique group of rare individuals who maintain undetectable viral loads in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. We studied immune responses in these individuals to inform vaccine development, with the goal of identifying the immune correlates of protection from HIV. Methods:We compared markers of cellular activation, HIV-specific immune responses and regulatory T (Treg) cell frequencies in four groups of individuals: HIV-negative healthy controls, elite controllers (HIV RNA level <75 copies/ml), individuals on HAART and individuals with HIV RNA level more than 10 000 copies/ml (noncontrollers). Results:Elite controllers possessed significantly lower levels of activated HIV-specific CD8+ T cells and of recently divided HIV-specific CD4+ T cells than noncontrollers, whereas these differences were not seen in the respective cytomegalovirus-specific T-cell populations. Elite controllers also mounted a stronger and broader cytokine and chemokine response following HIV-specific stimulation than individuals on HAART and noncontrollers. Finally, we found that HAART-suppressed individuals had elevated Treg cell frequencies, whereas elite controllers and noncontrollers maintained normal percentages of Treg cells. Conclusion:Elite controllers maintain high levels of HIV-specific immune responses with low levels of HIV-specific T-cell activation and do not have elevated Treg cell levels. Based on these data an ideal HIV vaccine would induce strong HIV-specific immune responses whereas minimizing HIV-specific T-cell activation.
3D reconstitution of nerve-blood vessel networks using skeletal muscle-derived multipotent stem cell sheet pellets.

AIM To cover the large tissue deficits associated with significant loss of function following surgery, a 3D gel-patch-like nerve-vascular reconstitution system was developed using the skeletal muscle-derived multipotent stem cell (Sk-MSC) sheet pellet. MATERIALS & METHODS The Sk-MSC sheet pellet was prepared from GFP transgenic mice by the collagenase extraction and 7 days expansion cell culture, and transplanted into a severe muscle damage model with large disruptions to muscle fibers, blood vessels and peripheral nerves. RESULTS At 4 weeks after transplantation, engrafted cells contributed to nerve-vascular regeneration associated with cellular differentiation into Schwann cells, perineurial/endoneurial cells, vascular endothelial cells and pericytes. However, skeletal myogenic differentiation was scarcely observed. Paracrine effects regarding donor cells/tissues could also be expected, because of the active expression of neurogenic and vasculogenic factor mRNAs in the sheet pellet. CONCLUSION These results indicate that the vigorous skeletal myogenic potential of Sk-MSCs was clearly reduced in the sheet pellet preparation and this method may be a useful adjuvant for nerve-vascular regeneration in various tissue engineering applications.
Microvascular function and rheologic changes in hyperdynamic sepsis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the rheologic changes and circulatory abnormalities at the microvascular level during severe sepsis. DESIGN Prospective, controlled trial. SETTING Medical and surgical intensive care units of a university-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS Nine normal controls and eight adult patients with severe sepsis who met the study entrance criteria. INTERVENTIONS Forearm blood flow was measured at rest and during reactive hyperemia by air plethysmography. Simultaneous hemodynamic measurements and blood samples for rheologic measurements were taken. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Red blood cell deformability index was determined using a simple filtration procedure. Leukocyte aggregation in whole human blood was detected by using a leukergy test. Expression of the neutrophil adhesion molecule CD11b/CD18 was measured using a monoclonal antibody and flow cytometry. All data were taken within 24 hrs of the patient meeting criteria for entrance into the study. Cardiac output, oxygen delivery, and oxygen consumption measurements were consistent with the hyperdynamic phase of severe sepsis. Forearm blood flow was significantly (p < .05) greater in septic patients (21 +/- 3 mL/min) than in controls (12 +/- 2 to 36 +/- 5 mL/min (p < .05), while in the septic patients, forearm blood flow during reactive hyperemia increased from 21 +/- 3 to 32 +/- 4 mL/min. The ratio of forearm blood flow during reactive hyperemia to forearm blood flow at rest was 3.2 +/- 0.1 in the controls and 1.6 +/- 0.1 in the septic patients (p < .01). The red blood cell deformability index in whole blood was significantly (p < .01) decreased in the septic patients compared with the control subjects (0.41 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.98 +/- 0.08 mL/min). This difference remained true when the hematocrit was adjusted to 45% (0.82 +/- 0.06 vs. 1.04 +/- 0.06 mL/min; p < .05). Increased expression of the neutrophil adhesion molecule CD11b/CD18 was observed in septic patients (349 +/- 46 logarithmic fluorescence units) as compared with control subjects (233 +/- 26 logarithmic fluorescence units; p < .05). Leukergy was also significantly (p < .05) increased in septic patients (17.7 +/- 3.8%) as compared with control subjects (8.9 +/- 1.6%). A significant correlation was observed between leukergy and the expression of the neutrophil adhesion molecule CD11b/CD18 in controls and septic patients (r2 = .62; p < .01). Leukergy was also inversely correlated with whole blood red blood cell deformability index (r2 = .28; p < .05). CONCLUSIONS Reactive hyperemia in the forearm is significantly diminished in patients with sepsis, suggesting impaired microvascular blood flow. Rheologic changes, including impaired red blood cell deformability, increased leukocyte aggregation, and endothelial adherence, may contribute to this abnormality by compromising effective capillary cross-sectional area.
Aflatoxin B1 affects apoptosis and expression of death receptor and endoplasmic reticulum molecules in chicken spleen

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a natural product of the Aspergillus genus of molds, which grow on several foodstuffs stored in hot moist conditions, and is among the most potent hepatocarcinogens and immunosuppression presently known. The latter was related to the up-regulated apoptosis of immune organs. However, the effect of expression of death receptor and endoplasmic reticulum molecules in AFB1-induced apoptosis of chicken splenocytes was largely unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate this unknown field. One hundred and forty four one-day-old chickens were randomly divided into control group (0 mg/kg AFB1) and AFB1 group (0.6 mg/kg AFB1), respectively and fed with AFB1 for 21 days. Histological observation demonstrated that AFB1 caused slight congestion and lymphocytic depletion in the spleen. TUNEL and flow cytometry assays showed the excessive apoptosis of splenocytes provoked by AFB1. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that AFB1 induced the elevated mRNA expression of Fas, FasL, TNF-α, TNF-R1, Caspase-3, Caspase-8, Caspase-10, Grp78 and Grp94 in the spleen. These findings suggested that AFB1 could lead the excessive apoptosis and alter the expression of death receptor and endoplasmic reticulum molecules in chicken spleen.
Unfolding recognition: an empirical-theoretical contribution to the concept

ABSTRACT The past decades have witnessed growing interest in the concept of recognition, in social movements as well as in social theory. While the ‘recognition turn’ has made recognition a cornerstone in social and political philosophy, empirical interest – in sociology, anthropology and business studies – remains limited and has mainly focused on misrecognition and disrespect. As a result, recognition as a theoretical ideal remains largely divorced from the lived and messy realities of people’s everyday search for recognition. This article addresses this lacuna. Based on long-term participant observation and interviews with professionals and young men with mild intellectual disabilities working in sheltered employment projects in the Netherlands, it examines everyday practices of claiming and receiving recognition, how recognition is shaped by the institutional environment of sheltered work, and how it is achieved or subverted in everyday interactions between young men and professionals. Our contribution to the literature lies in our empirical finding that misrecognition is often enfolded in recognition. By stating that misrecognition is enfolded in recognition, we mean that an instance of recognition coincides with, and likely depends on, some form of misrecognition. While focusing on the messiness and ambivalence of recognition in everyday life may dilute it as an ideal, acknowledging its dark side opens the path to a more nuanced understanding of the dynamic in which misrecognition, rather than being its opposite, is enfolded within recognition.
Identification of the Enzymatic Active Site of Tobacco Caffeoyl-coenzyme A O-Methyltransferase by Site-directed Mutagenesis*

Animal catechol O-methyltransferases and plant caffeoyl-coenzyme A O-methyltransferases share about 20% sequence identity and display common structural features. The crystallographic structure of rat liver catecholO-methyltransferase was used as a template to construct a homology model for tobacco caffeoyl-coenzyme AO-methyltransferase. Integrating substrate specificity data, the three-dimensional model identified several amino acid residues putatively involved in substrate binding. These residues were mutated by a polymerase chain reaction method and wild-type and mutant enzymes were each expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Substitution of Arg-220 with Thr resulted in the total loss of enzyme activity, thus indicating that Arg-220 is involved in the electrostatic interaction with the coenzyme A moiety of the substrate. Changes of Asp-58 to Ala and Gln-61 to Ser were shown to increaseK m values for caffeoyl coenzyme A and to decrease catalytic activity. Deletions of two amino acid sequences specific for plant enzymes abolished activity. The secondary structures of the mutants, as measured by circular dichroism, were essentially unperturbed as compared with the wild type. Similar changes in circular dichroism spectra were observed after addition of caffeoyl coenzyme A to the wild-type enzyme and the substitution mutants but not in the case of deletion mutants, thus revealing the importance of these sequences in substrate-enzyme interactions.
Social Security as a Factor Contributing to the Evolution of the Political System in Poland after the Parliamentary Elections of 2015

The role and scope of the state’s activities in the field of social security are quite often problematic. This is related both to the attitude of citizens and to the use of social slogans, particularly in election campaigns. One could say that the electoral struggle is a kind of race, in which the winner is the politician or party whose promises are best suited to their voters. In order to address social security, politicians manipulate economic data. But above all, the influence of electoral promises (usually narrowed down to matters of welfare) on the evolution of the political system is not considered, despite the fact that this influence is considerable and very often neglected, as exemplified by the situation in the Republic of Poland after 2015.
Sex–biased maternal investment in voles: importance of environmental conditions

Adaptive bias in sex allocation is traditionally proposed to be related to the condition of mothers as well as to the unequal fitness values of produced sexes. A positive relationship between mother condition and investment into male offspring is often predicted. This relationship was also recently found to depend on environmental conditions. We studied these causalities experimentally using a design where winter food supply was manipulated in eight outdoor–enclosed populations of field voles Microtus agrestis. At the beginning of the breeding season in spring, food–supplemented mothers seemed to be in a similar condition, measured as body mass, head width, body condition index and parasite load (blood parasite Trypanosoma), to non–supplemented mothers. Food supplements affected neither the litter size, the reproductive effort of mothers, nor the litter sex ratios at birth. However, food supplementation significantly increased the birth size of male offspring and improved their condition, as indicated by reduced parasite loads (intestinal Eimeria). Interestingly, mothers in good body condition produced larger male offspring only when environmental conditions were improved by food supplements. Although the adaptiveness of variation in mammalian sex ratios is still questionable, our study indicates that mothers in good condition bias their investment towards male offspring, but only when environmental conditions are favourable.
Bile acid synthesis in humans has a rapid diurnal variation that is asynchronous with cholesterol synthesis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The conversion of cholesterol to bile acids by the liver is an important regulator of body cholesterol homeostasis. In rodents, both cholesterol and bile acid synthesis have marked diurnal rhythms that peak synchronously at midnight. The aim of this study was to establish whether such diurnal rhythms are also present in healthy humans. METHODS Serum levels of the markers 7alpha-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one (C4) monitoring bile acid biosynthesis and lathosterol reflecting cholesterol synthesis were determined at 90-minute intervals in 8 human volunteers during standardized dietary conditions. RESULTS Serum C4 showed 2 distinct peaks (2- to 4-fold above baseline) during a 24-hour period, the first at 1:00 pm and the second at 9:00 pm. During the night, C4 levels declined, and they returned to baseline levels the next morning. In contrast, serum lathosterol levels peaked at night, between midnight and 4:00 am. The diurnal changes of C4 were not synchronous with serum lipid changes or with the postprandial increase in serum bile acids and were maintained in cholecystectomized subjects. CONCLUSIONS Bile acid synthesis in humans has a diurnal rhythm, with 2 peaks during the daytime, that is opposite from the circadian rhythm of cholesterol synthesis. This is completely different from the pattern in rodents and indicates the presence of an important species variation in the regulation of cholesterol homeostasis.
Physiological and Behavioral Consequences of Long‐Term Artificial Selection for Vulnerability to Recreational Angling in a Teleost Fish

Few studies have examined the physiological and behavioral consequences of fisheries‐induced selection. We evaluated how four generations of artificial truncation selection for vulnerability to recreational angling (i.e., stocks selected for high and low vulnerability [HVF and LVF, respectively]) affected cardiovascular physiology and parental care behavior in the teleost fish largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. Where possible, we compared artificially selected fish to control fish (CF) collected from the wild. Although, compared to control fish, resting cardiac activity was ∼18% lower for LVF and ∼20% higher for HVF, maximal values did not vary among treatments. As a result, the HVF had less cardiac scope than either LVF or CF. Recovery rates after exercise were similar for HVF and CF but slower for LVF. When engaged in parental care activities, nesting male HVF were captured more easily than male LVF. During parental care, HVF also had higher turning rates and pectoral and caudal fin beat rates, increased vigilance against predators, and higher in situ swimming speeds. Energetics simulations indicated that to achieve the same level of growth, the disparity in metabolic rates would require HVF to consume approximately 40% more food than LVF. Selection for angling vulnerability resulted in clear differences in physiological and energetic attributes. Not only is vulnerability to angling a heritable trait, but high vulnerability covaries with factors including higher metabolic rates, reduced metabolic scope, and increased parental care activity. Despite these energetically costly differences, HVF and LVF of the same age were of similar size, suggesting that heightened food consumption in HVF compensated for added costs in experimental ponds. Ultimately, angling vulnerability appears to be a complex interaction of numerous factors leading to selection for very different phenotypes. If HVF are selectively harvested from a population, the remaining fish in that population may be less effective in providing parental care, potentially reducing reproductive output. The strong angling pressure in many freshwater systems, and therefore the potential for this to occur in the wild, necessitate management approaches that recognize the potential evolutionary consequences of angling.
Analysis of vertical price transmission along sugar supply chain in Kenya

Asymmetry of price transmission uses price data and information to determine market performance and imperfections. The analysis may be spatial (Horizontal) or along the marketing chain (Vertical). This paper sought to analyze vertical price transmission in the Kenyan sugar market supply chains. Time series data was extracted from the Kenya Sugar Board Year Book of Statistics. Monthly Sugar prices for producers, wholesalers and retailers were obtained for the period of 2003 to 2014. Tests for unit root using Dickey Fuller test, Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schimidt-Shin (KPSS) test and Phillips-Perron tests found out that the time series exhibited unit root. Johansen cointegration test showed no co-integrating equations. A Vector Autoregression was estimated. Granger Causality Wald tests indicated that ex-factory prices Granger caused wholesale and retail prices, while retail prices did not granger cause wholesale nor ex-factory prices. TAR and MTAR were estimated and the null hypotheses of no threshold cointegration and symmetry in prices were rejected. The Kenya sugar market showed some imperfections, and it was concluded that from the producer to the consumer, the Law of One Price does not hold for Kenyan sugar markets. Keywords– Price Transmission, Symmetry, Threshold Cointegration, Vector Autoregression ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 03-01-2018 Date of acceptance: 16-01-2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------