Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mouse sperm genotype and the rate of egg penetration in vitro.

(C57BL/10 X CBA)F1 mouse eggs were incubated in vitro with either F1 or outbred TO sperm for 15 minutes-6 hours. Upon removal from the sperm suspensions some eggs were treated with pronase to remove zonae and then cultured, while the remainder were simply cultured to allow a comparison of the fertilization rates in the two groups. Although a brief incubation was sufficient for a high rate of fertilization when the zonae remained intact, results from the zona-free eggs indicated that penetration, i.e., sperm fusion with the vitellus, had not been achieved in all eggs during the shorter incubations. Results from the latter groups of eggs indicated that a 1 hour incubation with TO sperm and a 2 hour incubation with F1 sperm were needed to obtain a mean fertilization rate of 50%. Fertilization was complete within 1.5 hours using TO sperm and 2.5 hours using F1 sperm, thus indicating that under similar environmental conditions sperm genotype can significantly affect the rate of penetration.
On the problem of controlling shiftable prosumer devices with price signals

Price-based control approaches can be derived from the Lagrangian relaxation of the unit commitment problem and provide a scalable framework for solving practical sized optimization problems. The framework postulates an iterative gradient based-pricing mechanism, in which the price signal is used to negotiate the energy exchange between individual market participants. Within this framework shiftable prosumer devices induce non-convex, non-continuous utility functions, which can cause divergence of the gradient based pricing mechanism resulting in market failures. This paper proposes a new simple but efficient method to deal with this problem by exploiting the concept of randomized price offsets.
Local field potential recordings from the pedunculopontine nucleus in a Parkinsonian patient

The pedunculopontine nucleus has recently been introduced as a new therapeutic target for deep brain stimulation in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, particularly those with severe gait and postural impairment. Stimulation at this site is typically delivered at low frequencies in contrast to the high frequency stimulation required for therapeutic benefit in the subthalamic nucleus. Therefore, we looked for and demonstrated evidence of low frequency synchronization of activity in the pedunculopontine nucleus of a patient with Parkinson's disease that increased after treatment with dopamine and which might be mimicked by local deep brain stimulation at low frequency.
Design and evaluation of a digital module with guided peer feedback for student learning biotechnology and molecular life sciences, attitudinal change, and satisfaction

This study aims to investigate the impacts of a digital learning module with guided peer feedback on students' domain‐specific knowledge gain and their attitudinal change in the field of biotechnology and molecular life sciences. The extent to which the use of this module is appreciated by students is studied as well. A pre‐test, post‐test design was used with 203 students who were randomly assigned to groups of three. They were asked to work on the digital module with the aim of exploring various perspectives, and the “pros and cons” on the topic of “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). ” The results suggest that the module can be used to foster students' domain‐specific knowledge gain and their attitudinal change. Furthermore, the module was evaluated positively in terms of students' motivation and satisfaction with the learning experiences. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(1):31–39, 2017.
Use of a linear array for the detection of human papillomavirus genotypes in head and neck cancer.

CONTEXT Tumors of the head and neck commonly arise from the squamous and respiratory mucosa that lines the nasal and oral cavity, sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. The rate of oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed among Americans younger than 50 years is increasing. Infection of the oropharynx and tonsils by the human papillomavirus (HPV) has been linked to preneoplasia and cancer. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the Roche Linear Array HPV Genotyping test kit to identify, and then specifically genotype, HPV in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. DESIGN We evaluated the performance of this assay for accuracy, for intra-assay and interassay precision, and for its limit of detection, using materials with known HPV status. Sixteen tumor tissues with the following origins were evaluated: 1 ocular, 1 hypopharynx, 8 tonsil, 1 retromolar trigone, 3 tongue, 1 anal, and 1 lymph node. DNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor sections was isolated and amplified in duplicate, with positive and negative controls, using primers specific to the polymorphic L1 region of the HPV genome. Thirty-seven genotypes were tested using the linear array. The amplified product (450 base pairs) was visualized by gel electrophoresis and, if positive, reflexed to HPV genotyping. RESULTS Nine of the 16 tumors analyzed were HPV positive. The detected genotypes included HPV 6, 16, and 69. CONCLUSIONS The Roche Linear Array HPV Genotyping test is an easy-to-use method for determining HPV genotype in the routine analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumors. This assay is robust and can be performed routinely in a clinical laboratory setting.
Sonochemical destruction of chlorinated c1 and c2 volatile organic compounds in dilute aqueous solution.

The results of an investigation on the ultrasonic destruction of chlorinated C2 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water and preliminary studies of (1) the effect of steady-state temperature on the destruction efficiency and (2) the mixture effects are also reported. Aqueous solutions of methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and perchloroethylene in concentrations ranging from 50 to 350 mg/L were irradiated with 20-kHz ultrasonic waves in a sonochemical reactor (0.1 kW/L) under ambient temperature and pressure conditions. The concentration of solutes decreased rapidly in all cases.
Molecular photodesorption from single-walled carbon nanotubes

Probing the photoelectrical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) led to the discovery of photoinduced molecular desorption phenomena in nanotube molecular wires. These phenomena were found to be generic to various molecule–nanotube systems. Photodesorption strongly depends on the wavelength of light, the details of which lead to a fundamental understanding of how light stimulates molecular desorption from nanotubes. The results have important implications to nanotube-based molecular electronics, miniature chemical sensors, and optoelectronic devices.
Lung cancer screening white paper: a slippery step forward?

We have read with great interest the White Paper on lung cancer screening published jointly by the European Respiratory Society and the European Society of Radiology [1]. While it has some thoughtful insights, it also has some misconceptions. The recent white paper on lung cancer has some insights, but also some misconceptions http://ow.ly/RZLmM
College Smoking Policies and Smoking Cessation Programs: Results of a Survey of College Health Center Directors

Abstract College students' cigarette smoking rose dramatically during the 1990s. Little is known about what colleges do to address the problem. Health center directors at 393 4-year US colleges provided information (response rate: 65.1%) about college policies addressing smoking and the availability of smoking cessation programs. Of the health center directors surveyed, 85% considered students' smoking a problem; yet only 81% of colleges prohibit smoking in all public areas and only 27% ban smoking in all indoor areas, including students' rooms in dormitories and in private offices. More than 40% of the respondents reported that their schools did not offer smoking cessation programs and that the demand for existing program was low. Colleges need to do more to discourage student tobacco use. Recommended actions include campus-wide no-smoking policies that apply to student residences and identification of new ways of providing smoking prevention and cessation services.
Comparative Pharmacodynamic Analysis of Q-T Interval Prolongation Induced by the Macrolides Clarithromycin, Roxithromycin, and Azithromycin in Rats

ABSTRACT In order to evaluate the arrhythmogenic potency of macrolide antibiotics in a quantitative manner, we analyzed the influence of clarithromycin (CAM), roxithromycin (RXM), and azithromycin (AZM) on Q-T intervals from pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic points of view and in comparison with the potency of erythromycin (EM) previously reported by us for rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized, and CAM (6.6, 21.6, and 43.2 mg/kg of body weight/h), RXM (20 and 40 mg/kg/h), and AZM (40 and 100 mg/kg/h) were intravenously injected for 90 min to obtain the time courses of drug concentrations in plasma and the changes in the Q-T intervals during and after the drug injections. Distinct Q-T interval prolongation of up to 10 ms was observed with CAM at its clinical concentrations. RXM and AZM evoked Q-T interval prolongation at concentrations higher than their clinical ranges. The potencies for Q-T interval prolongation, assessed as the slope of the concentration-response relationship, were 6.09, 0.536, and 0.989 ms · ml/μg for CAM, RXM, and AZM, respectively. There was hysteresis between the change in the Q-T intervals and the time course of the plasma concentration of each drug. The rank order of clinical arrhythmogenicity was estimated to be EM > CAM > RXM > AZM, as assessed from the present results and our previous report for EM. In conclusion, RXM and AZM were estimated to be less potent at provoking arrhythmia than EM and CAM. These results should be useful for making a safer choice of an appropriate agent for patients with electrocardiographic risk factors.
Genetic Analysis of a Scytho-Siberian Skeleton and Its Implications for Ancient Central Asian Migrations

The excavation of a frozen grave on the Kizil site (dated to be 2500 years old) in the Altai Republic (Central Asia) revealed a skeleton belonging to the Scytho-Siberian population. DNA was extracted from a bone sample and analyzed by autosomal STRs (short tandem repeats) and by sequencing the hypervariable region I (HV1) of the mitochondrial DNA. The resulting STR profile, mitochondrial haplotype, and haplogroup were compared with data from modern Eurasian and northern native American populations and were found only in European populations historically influenced by ancient nomadic tribes of Central Asia.
Feasibility of the collection of patient-reported outcomes in an ambulatory neurology clinic

Objective: To determine whether patients could self-report physical and mental health assessments in the waiting room and whether these assessments would be associated with modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-10) scores. Methods: We offered iPad-based surveys to consecutive adult neurology patients at check-in to collect patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). We collected demographic and clinical data on 6,075 patients through survey or administrative claims and PROMs from participating patients. We compared demographic characteristics of participants and nonparticipants and tested associations between physical and mental health scores and mRS and QOLIE-10. Results: Of 6,075 patients seen by neurologists during the study period, 2,992 (49.3%) participated in the survey. Compared to nonparticipating patients, participating patients more often were privately insured (53.5% vs 42.7%, p < 0.01), married (51.5% vs 47.9%, p < 0.01), and seen in general neurology (nonsubspecialty) clinics (53.1% vs 46.6%, p < 0.01) and more likely to report English as their preferred language (50.1% vs 38.4%, p < 0.01). Participating patients had a mean physical health T score of 28.7 (SD 15) and mental health T score of 33 (SD 15), which were 3 and 2 SD worse than the average for the US general population, respectively. Mean T scores in every category of the mRS were different from every other category (n = 232, p < 0.01). Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-10 T scores were linearly associated with QOLIE-10 scores (n = 202, p < 0.01) Conclusions: Systematic digital collection of PROMs is feasible. Differences among survey participants and nonparticipants highlight the need to develop multilingual measurement tools that may improve collection from vulnerable populations.
Political Advertising and Media: Insights from a Multicultural Society

During the past a few general elections in Malaysia, public witnessed changes in political campaigns with the use of advertisements not only on the mainstream television and in the newspapers, but also in other form of online media like websites. In the recent 13th General Election the use of the social media was even aggressive and widespread. This study was conducted to compare voters’ advertising perceptions and attitudes toward political advertising in Malaysia, delivered through the traditional media i.e. print and television and the modern-day social media, by using a number of variables. The comparisons were analyzed from two important demographic factors in an election which are (i) location of the voters (i.e. city, surburban area and rural area) and (ii) race (i.e. Malay, Chinese, Indian and other Bumiputras). The study was conducted for a period of one month following the dissolution of the Parliament on 4th April 2013. The implications of the study focus on the consumers’ perceptual shift in terms of the use of media in propagating political parties in the recent general election in Malaysia. The limitations of the study are also discussed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n7p510
A Review of Antiviral and Antifungal Use and Safety during Pregnancy

Antiviral and antifungal use in pregnancy presents challenges because of the paucity of clinical and safety data for many agents in these classes. If untreated, viral and fungal infections can have deleterious effects on both maternal and fetal health. Understanding the use and risks of these medications in pregnancy is vital to provide appropriate care. This article reviews the current literature for the use of antiviral and antifungals, the pharmacokinetics of these agents, and their safety in pregnancy.
Pressure response to quick volume changes in tetanized isolated ferret hearts.

Observed pressure responses to quick volume changes in the isolated tetanized heart of ferrets were compared with previously reported tension responses to quick length changes in isolated cardiac muscle. Hearts were isolated from ferrets, perfused with ryanodine solution, and stimulated rapidly (50 ms between stimulations) to produce repeated 4-s intervals of tetanus. During each tetanus interval, volume increments of different amplitudes were rapidly removed and then reinfused into the left ventricular chamber. The pressure responses to these volume changes were evaluated for differences between withdrawals and infusions and for dependence on the amplitude of the volume change. It was found for both withdrawal and infusion that the response could be divided into three phases: 1) an immediate phase coincident with volume change, 2) a fast-recovery phase, and 3) a slow-recovery phase. The amplitude of the immediate phase was linearly dependent on the volume change so that a single regression line fit all the data (withdrawal and infusion). The fast recovery phase was 2.5 times faster for infusion than for withdrawal and generated a rebound effect with the pressure going below the initial pressure in the response to infusion. The pressure never went above the initial pressure in the response to withdrawal. The slow-recovery phases in infusion and withdrawal did not differ. These responses in the isolated heart bear striking similarities to tension responses to quick length changes in isolated constantly activated cardiac muscle. We concluded that muscle fiber dynamics were being faithfully transformed to left ventricular (LV) chamber dynamics without appreciable distortion because of the many intervening factors between the wall muscle fiber and the LV chamber. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Degenerations of K3 surfaces of degree two

We consider a semistable degeneration of K3 surfaces, equipped with an effective divisor that defines a polarisation of degree two on a general fibre. We show that the map to the relative log canonical model of the degeneration maps every fibre to either a sextic hypersurface in P(1, 1, 1, 3) or a complete intersection of degree (2, 6) in P(1, 1, 1, 2, 3). Furthermore, we find an explicit description of the hypersurfaces and complete intersections that can arise, thereby giving a full classification of the possible singular fibres.
Chapter 6 Structure-based virtual fragment screening for ligands of the G protein-coupled histamine H 4 receptor

The determination of the first set of crystal structures for the family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has opened up new opportunities in structure-based ligand discovery for this pharmaceutically relevant protein family. We have explored the possibilities and challenges of structure-based virtual fragment screening (SBVFS) against the histamine H4 receptor (H4R), a key player in inflammatory responses. Several SBVFS strategies, employing different H4R ligand conformations, were validated and optimized with respect to their ability to discriminate small fragment-like H4R ligands from inactive fragments, and compared to ligand-based virtual screening (VS) approaches. Interestingly, structureand ligand-based methods performed equally well in terms of virtual screening accuracy while their hit lists were complementary. SBVFS experiments with an interaction fingerprint scoring method enabled the identification of H4R ligands that were not identified in ligand-based VS runs. Interestingly, SBVFS against H4R homology models based on the homologous histamine H1 receptor (H1R) crystal structure did not give higher VS enrichments than H4R models based on the more distantly related beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2). Optimized SBVFS methods were successfully used to find two new series of fragment-like H4R ligands. Of the 23 tested compounds, six fragments had affinities between 0.14 and 6.3 M at the H4R. The experimentally validated hits were inactive on ADRB2, but had approximately the same affinity for H1R, indicating that virtual screening for receptor subtype selective ligands is still challenging. The lessons learned from our comparative virtual fragment screening study can be used as a blueprint for future SBVFS campaigns.
PARASITISM BY HELMINTHS IN THE GREY-SIDED VOLE (CLETHRIONOMYS RUFOCANUS) IN NORTHERN FINLAND: INFLUENCE OF DENSITY, HABITAT AND SEX OF THE HOST

We have studied helminths from 532 grey-sided voles (Clethrionomys rufocanus) in two localities in northern Finland, representing different biogeographic zones, during 1978–1983. The helminth communities in the two study areas were similar, characterized by a small number of species (eight) compared to eastern Siberia and Japan, and by the dominance of a single anoplocephalid cestode Andrya kalelai. The prevalence of this helminth varied significantly among habitats, possibly because of differences in the distribution and abundance of the intermediate hosts, oribatid mites. Vole density did not explain the habitat differences in A. kalelai, nor did the prevalence of A. kalelai increase between 2 yr of sustained high density in the host population. A between-year increase in the prevalence of the larval cestode Taenia tenuicollis at Kilpisjärvi was probably due to a simultaneous increase in the abundance of its definitive hosts, mustelids. The prevalence of A. kalelai was always higher in males; no sexual differences were detected in the larval T. tenuicollis.
LOGARITHMICALLY IMPROVED BLOW-UP CRITERIA FOR THE 3 D NONHOMOGENEOUS INCOMPRESSIBLE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS WITH VACUUM

This article is devoted to the study of the nonhomogeneous incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in space dimension three. By making use of the “weakly nonlinear” energy estimate approach introduced by Lei and Zhou in [16], we establish two logarithmically improved blow-up criteria of the strong or smooth solutions subject to vacuum for the 3D nonhomogeneous incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in the whole space R3. This results extend recent regularity criterion obtained by Kim (2006) [13].
The role of the lipoprotein sorting signal (aspartate +2) in pullulanase secretion

The analyses of hybrid proteins and of deletion and insertion mutations reveal that the only amino acid at the amino‐proximal end of the cell surface lipoprotein pullulanase that is specifically required for its extracellular secretion is an aspartate at position +2, immediately after the fatty acylated amino‐terminal cysteine. To see whether the requirement for this amino acid is related to its proposed role as a cyto‐plasmic membrane lipoprotein sorting signal, we used sucrose gradient floatation analysis to determine the subcellular location of pullulanase variants (with or without the aspartate residue) that accumulated in cells lacking the pullulanase‐specific secretion genes. A non‐secretable pullulanase variant with a serine at position +2 cofractionated mainly with the major peak of outer membrane porin. In contrast, most (55%) of a pullulanase variant with an aspartate at position +2 cofractionated with slightty lighter fractions that contained small proportions of both outer membrane porin and the cytoplasmic membrane marker NADH oxidase. Only 5% of this pullulanase variant cofractionated with the major NADH oxidase peak, while the rest (c. 40%) remained at the bottom of the gradient in fractions totally devoid of porin and NADH oxidase. When analysed by sedimentation through sucrose gradients, however, a large proportion of this variant was recovered from fractions near the top of the gradient that also contained the major NADH oxidase peak. When this peak fraction was applied to a floatation gradient, the pullulanase activity remained at the bottom while the NADH oxidase floated to the top. Thus, there is no evidence that lipoproteins that cofractionate with the cytoplasmic membrane under certain conditions are actually associated with the membrane. Instead, the results support our previous proposal that lipoproteins with an aspartate +2 residue are specifically enriched in a distinct domain of the cell envelope that contains material from both the cytoplasmic and the outer membranes. Possible explanations for the requirement for the aspartate residue in pullulanase secretion are discussed.