Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does release of encapsulated nutrients have an important role in the efficacy of xylanase in broilers?

The non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) in cell walls can act as a barrier for digestion of intracellular nutrients. This effect is called "cage effect. " Part of the success of fibrolytic enzymes in broiler feed is assumed to be attributed to cage effect reduction. Further, changes in viscosity and potential prebiotic action should also be considered. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the relative importance of the cage effect in xylanase efficacy in broilers. Using a 2×2 factorial design, 24 pens with 30 Ross 308 male chicks were fed corn-soy based diets consisting of normal and freeze-thawed (5 d at -18°C) corn, both with and without xylanase. The freeze-thaw method was used to eliminate the cage effect, whereas a corn-based diet was used to exclude viscosity effects. Body weights (BW), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined at d 13, 26, and 39. A balance study was executed at the end of the growing phase. These birds were euthanized at d 34 (non-fasted) to determine the viscosity of digesta, blood metabolites, intestinal morphology, and microbiota composition. During the finisher period, there was a significant interaction between enzyme supplementation and freeze-thawing for FCR, in which FCR was improved by freeze-thawed corn and tended to be improved by normal corn+enzyme compared with the control group. The improvement in performance (finisher period) of freeze-thawed corn and xylanase coincided with increased gut absorption of glucose (based on postprandial plasma concentrations) and increased number of Clostridiumcluster IV in the caecum, and agreed with the higher gut villus height. In addition, xylanase inclusion significantly increased the postprandial plasma glycine and triglycerides concentration, and led to elevated bacterial gene copies of butyryl CoA:acetate CoA-transferase, suggesting a prebiotic effect of xylanase addition through more than just the cage effect reduction. The applied model managed to rule out viscosity by using corn, and it was possible to isolate the cage effect by freeze-thawing the dietary corn.
Designing Efficient Online Testable Reversible Adders With New Reversible Gate

Reversible logic is emerging as a promising computing paradigm having its applications in low power VLSI design, quantum computing, nanotechnology and optical computing. In this paper, a new 4 times 4 reversible gate termed `OTG' (online testable gate) is proposed suitable for online testability in reversible logic circuits. OTG can also work singly as a reversible full adder with a bare minimum of two garbage outputs. OTG is shown better than the recently proposed R1 gate (introduced for providing online testability in reversible logic circuits), in terms of computation complexity. The proposed reversible gate is combined with the existing 4 times 4 Feynman gate to design online testable reversible adders such as ripple carry adder, carry skip adder and BCD adder. The efficient reversible design of two pair rail checker is also shown in this paper. The testable reversible circuits proposed in this work are shown to be better than the recently proposed testable designs in terms of number of reversible gates, garbage outputs and unit delay
Teaching For All? Variation in the Effects of Teach For America

Author(s): Penner, Emily Kathryn | Advisor(s): Duncan, Greg J. | Abstract: Teach For America (TFA) is a high-profile alternative teacher certification program that seeks to provide high-quality teachers to students in low-income schools. While a growing body of research examines the average impact of TFA, few researchers examine how its impacts may vary across students and whether it positively impacts all children. This dissertation broadens our understanding of the impacts of TFA by examining variation in its effectiveness across a number of dimensions. The first study uses experimental data from Mathematica Policy Research to examine the effect of TFA teachers on the distribution of student achievement in elementary school. Results suggest that, relative to non-TFA teachers, TFA teachers have a positive average effect on math achievement that is shared across much of the distribution, while in reading TFA has a negative effect on the bottom of the distribution and a positive effect on the top, particularly relative to veteran non-TFA teachers. The second and third studies use administrative data from North Carolina. The second study tests for variation in the effect of TFA across grade levels and subject areas and finds that TFA has positive effects in most subjects, which are largest in high school science and math. In addition, examinations of the relative fit between TFA and student baseline proficiency suggest that TFA teachers have larger effects for initially higher-performing students in elementary and middle school, but that in high school their effects are larger among initially lower-achievers, underscoring the importance of considering the person-environment fit. The third study examines whether TFA's effects on student achievement have changed over time and demonstrates that TFA's efficacy has increased as the program has matured, and that this change is not accounted for by most observable measures of teacher quality. Together, the three studies provide new evidence about the benefits and shortcomings of TFA, improving our understanding of the efficacy and potential of TFA and similar programs. These results provide policy-relevant information that speaks to larger debates about alternative certification and teacher quality in high-poverty schools, and provide evidence regarding the effective allocation and training of teachers for high-poverty schools through both alternative and traditional teacher training programs.
Serum galectin-3 and galectin-3 binding protein levels in Behçet's disease and their association with disease activity.

OBJECTIVE To determine the serum levels of galectin-3 (Gal-3) and galectin-3 binding protein (G3BP) and to evaluate the associations between clinical features and these levels in patients with Behçet's disease (BD). METHODS Fifty patients with BD (mean age 40.6 +/- SEM 1.4 years; 21 males, 29 females; 26 active and 24 inactive patients), 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 20 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were enrolled. Clinical features of BD patients including BD activity and severity over the previous 4 weeks were reviewed and serum levels of Gal-3 and G3BP were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). RESULTS Serum Gal-3 levels were significantly higher in total BD patients than in healthy controls (mean +/- SEM, 10.68 +/- 0.93 versus 7.59 +/- 0.48 ng/mL; p = 0.0042 by Student's t-test), and active BD patients had significantly higher levels of serum Gal-3 than inactive patients and controls (13.08 +/- 1.53 in active BD, 8.08 +/- 0.71 ng/mL in inactive BD; p = 0.000039 by one way ANOVA). Although mean G3BP serum levels were not different in total BD patients and controls, active BD patients (6806.63 +/- 468.58 ng/mL) had higher G3BP levels than controls (5421.05 +/- 286.02 ng/mL; p = 0.031 by one way ANOVA). Additionally, serum Gal-3 significantly increased in patients with RA (p = 0.019 by t-test) and SLE (p = 0.00069) and G3BP increased in patients with SLE (p = 0.000012), compared to those in healthy controls. When we analyzed for associations with clinical features over the previous 4 weeks, Gal-3 was associated with orogenital ulcers (p = 0.036 by t-test) and time elapsed from symptom onset (p = 0.032, Pearson's coefficient = 0.314). Serum concentrations of Gal-3 (p = 0.013) and G3BP (p = 0.032) were positively correlated with the BD severity score for the previous 4 weeks. Gal-3 levels were significantly correlated with TNF-alpha (p = 0.048, Pearson's coefficient = 0.281) and G3BP levels were correlated with levels of C-reactive protein (p = 0.021, Pearson's coefficient = 0.329) in total BD patients. In multivariate analysis of all cytokines levels, only Gal-3 was significantly related to BD activity or severity for the previous 4 weeks. CONCLUSION These results suggest that serum levels of Gal-3 and G3BP are increased in active BD patients and Gal-3 can be a new biomarker indicating disease activity in BD although their increments are not disease-specific.
Evidence that bipolar disorder is the poor outcome fraction of a common developmental phenotype: an 8-year cohort study in young people

Background Reported rates of bipolar syndromes are highly variable between studies because of age differences, differences in diagnostic criteria, or restriction of sampling to clinical contacts. Method In 1395 adolescents aged 14–17 years, DSM-IV (hypo)manic episodes (manic and hypomanic episodes combined), use of mental health care, and five ordinal subcategories representing the underlying continuous score of (hypo)manic symptoms (‘mania symptom scale’) were measured at baseline and approximately 1.5, 4 and 10 years later using the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (DIA-X/M-CIDI). Results Incidence rates (IRs) of both (hypo)manic episodes and (hypo)manic symptoms (at least one DSM-IV core symptom) were far higher (714/105 person-years and 1720/105 person-years respectively) than traditional estimates. In addition, the risk of developing (hypo)manic episodes was very low after the age of 21 years [hazard ratio (HR) 0.031, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.0050–0.19], independent of childhood disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Most individuals with hypomanic and manic episodes were never in care (87% and 62% respectively) and not presenting co-morbid depressive episodes (69% and 60% respectively). The probability of mental health care increased linearly with the number of symptoms on the mania symptom scale. The incidence of the bipolar categories, in particular at the level of clinical morbidity, was strongly associated with previous childhood disorders and male sex. Conclusions This study showed, for the first time, that experiencing (hypo)manic symptoms is a common adolescent phenomenon that infrequently predicts mental health care use. The findings suggest that the onset of bipolar disorder can be elucidated by studying the pathway from non-pathological behavioural expression to dysfunction and need for care.
[EGCG regulates TGF-β1-induced epithelial mesenchymal transition in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck].

OBJECTIVE To study the effect and molecular mechanism of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro induced by human recombinant TGF-β1 protein in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. METHODS EMT morphological changes of Tu686 cells were observed after sequential treatment of 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 and 20 µmol/L EGCG. Tu686 cells were collected after the treatment of 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 for 24 h and EGCG with different concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30 µmol/L) for another 24 h or 20 µmol/L EGCG treatment for different time phase (6, 12, 24 h). Then RT-PCR and Western-blot were applied to detect mRNA and protein expression level of epithelial cell marker E-cadherin, mesenchymal cell marker Vimentin and Smad7, an inhibit molecule of TGF-β1 mediated pathway in Tu686 cells. RESULTS TGF-β1 successfully induced characterized EMT morphological and molecular changes in Tu686 cells, in which expression of E-cadherin decreased, Vimentin increased and Smad7 declined. However, EGCG could reverse the TGF-β1 mediated process of EMT by downregulating the expression of Vimentin and upregulating the expression of E-cadherin and Smad7. CONCLUSION EGCG significantly inhibits TGF-β1-mediated EMT inTu686 cell lines of SCCHN, which maybe associated with the upregulated-expression of Smad7, an inhibitor in TGF-β1 signaling pathway.
Intraperitoneal administration of paclitaxel solubilized with poly(2‐methacryloxyethyl phosphorylcholine‐co n‐butyl methacrylate) for peritoneal dissemination of gastric cancer

Intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of paclitaxel (PTX) is a hopeful therapeutic strategy for peritoneal malignancy. Intravenously (i.v.) injected nanoparticle anticancer drugs are known to be retained in the blood stream for a long time and favorably extravasated from vessels into the interstitium of tumor tissue. In this study, we evaluated the effect of i.p. injection of PTX (PTX‐30W), which was prepared by solubulization with water‐soluble amphiphilic polymer composed of PMB‐30W, a co‐polymer of 2‐methacryloxyethyl phosphorylcholineand n‐butyl methacrylate, for peritoneal dissemination of gastric cancer. In a peritoneal metastasis model with transfer of MKN45P in nude mice, the effct of i.p. administration of PTX‐30W was compared with conventional PTX dissolved in Cremophor EL (PTX‐Cre). The drug accumulation in peritoneal nodules was evaluated with intratumor PTX concentration and fluorescence microscopic observation. PTX‐30W reduced the number of metastatic nodules and tumor volume significantly more than did conventional PTX dissolved in Cremophor EL (PTX‐Cre), and prolonged the survival time (P < 0.05). PTX concentration in disseminated tumors measured by HPLC was higher in the PTX‐30W than in the PTX‐Cre group up to 24 h after i.p. injection. Oregon green–conjugated PTX‐30W, i.p. administered, preferentially accumulated in relatively hypovascular areas in the peripheral part of disseminated nodules, which was significantly greater than the accumulation of PTX‐Cre. I.p. administration of PTX‐30W may be a promising strategy for peritoneal dissemination, due to its superior characteristics to accumulate in peritoneal lesions. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 1979–1985)
Physicochemical and immunological studies of the N-terminal domain of the Torpedo acetylcholine receptor α-subunit expressed in Escherichia coli

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) from the electric organ of Torpedo species is an oligomeric protein composed of α2βγδ subunits. Although much is known about its tertiary and quaternary structure, the conformation of the large extracellular domains of each of the subunits has not been analysed in detail. In order to obtain information about the spatial structure of the extracellular domain, we have expressed the N-terminal fragment 1–209 of the Torpedo californica AChR α-subunit in Escherichia coli. Two vectors coding for a (His)6 tag, either preceding or following the 1–209 sequence, were used and the recombinant proteins obtained (designated α1-209pET and α1-209pQE, respectively) were purified by affinity chromatography on a Ni2+-agarose column. The chemical structure of both proteins was verified by Edman degradation and mass spectrometry. The proteins were soluble in aqueous buffers but to make possible a comparison with the whole AChR or its isolated subunits, the recombinant proteins were analyzed both in aqueous solution and with the addition of detergents. The two proteins bound [125I]α-bungarotoxin with equal potency (KD≈ 130 nm, Bmax≈ 10 nmol·mg–1). Both were shown to interact with several monoclonal antibodies raised against purified Torpedo AChR. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the two proteins in aqueous solution revealed predominantly β-structure (50–56%), the fraction of α-helices amounting to 32–35%. Nonionic (β-octylglucoside) and zwitterionic (CHAPS) detergents did not appreciably change the CD spectra, while the addition of SDS or trifluoroethanol decreased the percentage of β-structure or increased the α-helicity, respectively. The predominance of β-structure is in accord with recent data on the N-terminal domain of the mouse muscle AChR α-subunit expressed in the mammalian cells [West et al. (1997) J. Biol. Chem.272, 25 468]. Thus, expression in E. coli provides milligram amounts of the protein that retains several structural characteristics of the N-terminal domain of the Torpedo AChR α-subunit and appears to share with the latter a similar secondary structure. The expression of recombinant polypeptides representing functional domains of the AChR provides an essential first step towards a more detailed structural analysis.
Children's construction of gender and national identities with respect to preschool policy and practice : a case study of two preschool classrooms in Turkey

Children engage with diverse policies and practices in early years institutions. The aim of this study is to show how this relationship plays a part in children‘s construction of gender and national identities. Identity construction is a complex and ongoing process that involves both the individual themselves and others. In this process what identities schools offer and how children interpret these identities in their making meaning of themselves is the main concern of this research. Therefore it is important to understand which discourses are available for children and how they reproduce or challenge them to perform their identities. In order to understand these complex relations, this research was conducted in two preschool classrooms in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey,during a six-month period of fieldwork with intervals. The data were gathered from classroom observations, interviews with forty-seven children aged 4-5, two preschool teachers, two head teachers and two assistants of head teachers, as well as an analysis of curriculum and some policy documents. The analyses reveal that most of the time children follow and reproduce dominant discourses that are available to them. While children try to do their gender right by performing hegemonic masculinity and emphasising femininity forms, the dominant national discourse, Ataturk nationalism, is used by children to do their national identity right. However it was also found that children are aware that doing their identities right brings them advantages and by knowing this some children take risks to perform other ways of being. Conducting the fieldwork in two classrooms showed how the approaches and ideas of teachers and schools influence children‘s staying within or crossing boundaries in their identity construction. It is safe to say that the children tended to follow the dominant discourses of the teachers‘ approaches and ideas in terms of certain ways of being. At this point the Turkish education system aims to make the Other into the Same (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005) rather than offering and welcoming other ways of being.
Experimental reappraisal of continuous dopaminergic stimulation against L‐dopa‐induced dyskinesia

The concept of ‘‘continuous dopaminergic stimulation’’ (498 occurrences on PubMed, of which 46 feature these words in their title) emerged in the 1980s primarily for managing the complex fluctuations in motor performances 1‐3 that are the major problem in the long-term management of Parkinson’s disease. Although motor fluctuations were the first targeted issues of the concept (and its pharmacological consequences), levodopa-induced dyskinesia was rapidly encompassed as a possible manifestation controllable by continuous dopaminergic stimulation. 4 The short plasma half-life of levodopa and the ensuing pulsatile stimulation of striatal dopamine receptors were thought to underlie the propensity of the drug to induce dyskinesia. Late-stage parkinsonian patients indeed benefit from continuous dopaminergic stimulation with notable improvement of established dyskinesia, 5 but large trials in de novo parkinsonian patients with either continuous delivery of levodopa in early Parkinson’s disease using Sinemet CR (CR-FIRST) 6 or the combination of levodopa with the C-O-methyltransferase inhibitor entacapone (STRIDE-PD) 7 failed to reduce the risk of dyskinesia induction. Because the experimental evidence on continuous dopaminergic stimulation has been skeletal, Papathanou et al report in this issue of Movement Disorders on the effect of duodenal compared with intraperitoneal levodopa administration on the induction and expression of abnormal involuntary movements in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)‐lesioned rats. Their experimental data confirm that more continuous delivery of levodopa by intraduodenal infusion can exert a beneficial effect on the expression of established dyskinesia. Probably more interesting is their second claim: that continuous dopaminergic stimulation may not reduce the risk of dyskinesia induction, at least in this rodent model. This second claim contradicts both the concept of providing continuous dopaminergic stimulation for preventing dyskinesia incidence and the conclusions made by previous experimental studies obtained in the very same 6-OHDA-lesioned rat model 8 and in the MPTP-treated marmoset model of dyskinesia. 9 Those studies indeed showed that levodopa combined with entacapone delayed the onset of abnormal involuntary movements or dyskinesia, respectively and reduced their severity. 8,9 The question thus arises as to why the previous and current studies reached different conclusions, if they actually did. Two studies were performed in the medial forebrain bundle 6-OHDA-lesioned rat model 8,10 that produced extensive nigrostriatal lesions (more than 90%). They differed in their screening method, with one challenging the unlesioned hemisphere with amphetamine 10 and the other priming the
Nonlinear scheduled anti-windup design for linear systems

The nonlinear L/sub 2/ anti-windup framework introduced in Teel and Kapor (1997) reduces the anti-windup synthesis problem to a state feedback synthesis problem for linear systems with input saturation and input matched L/sub 2/ disturbances. In this note, based on the structure proposed in that previous paper, we provide a linear matrix ineqaulity (LMI) formulation of high-performance anti-windup design for control systems with linear asymptotically stable plants. In particular, we first give a linear quadratic-based formulation of linear anti-windup compensation, in terms of the solution of a set of (always feasible) LMI constraints. Then, we propose a nonlinear scheduling technique, where hysteresis switching among a family of linear gains is employed for performance improvement. Both design techniques are demonstrated on an academic example.
Expression of p53 isoforms in renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Several isoforms of p53 have been reported, which may have varying functions and expressions. This study aimed to analyze the expression patterns of p53 isoforms in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) at the mRNA and protein levels and their associations with clinical and pathologic factors to explore the mechanism of p53 isoforms' activity in RCC. METHODS The specimens of tumours (T) and clinically normal tissues (N) adjacent to them were collected from 41 patients with RCC. mRNA expression levels of p53 isoforms were detected using RT-PCR followed by nested PCR. Protein expression levels were detected using immunohistochemisty and Western blotting with the anti-p53 antibodies DO-1 and DO-12. The data were analyzed with clinicopathological features by chi(2) test or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS p53 mRNA was expressed in all tumours and matched clinically normal tissue adjacent to the tumour. All six isoforms could be detected in tumour and normal tissues, with the exception of the Delta133p53beta isoform, which was not detected in the normal tissue. Of the six isoforms, p53beta mRNA was significantly overexpressed in tumour samples (P < 0.001), and correlated with tumour stage. Nested PCR results consistently indicated the presence of p53gamma (19T/22N), Delta133p53 (33T/26N), Delta133p53beta (2T/0N), and Delta133p53gamma (13T/9N). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that p53 was expressed only in tumour tissues and correlated with tumour stage and grade. The results of Western blotting analysis were consistent with these findings. CONCLUSIONS Although all six isoforms are present in RCC, their function in tumour development or progression might be different. Our findings suggest that p53beta might play an important role in the formation of RCC and it might be used as a new predictor and therapeutic target for RCC.