Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetics of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are linked diseases characterised by (distinct ? ) immune-mediated pathogenetic mechanisms and by a genetic background interacting with environmental factors. Some candidate susceptibility genes have been studied extensively; they include HLA genes, genes within the HLA region and genes outside the HLA region; among them corneodesmosin and other genes of PSORS1 region, MICA and TNF-a polymorphisms. The main findings in the literature are discussed.
Left ventricular diastolic function in liver cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND Left ventricular systolic abnormalities have been reported in liver cirrhosis (LC). Diastolic function in cirrhotics, on the contrary, does not seem to have been studied so far. METHODS Diastolic function was evaluated in 42 cirrhotic patients and in 16 controls by means of Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS Compared with the controls, cirrhotics had increased left ventricular end-diastolic and left atrial volume, stroke volume, late diastolic flow velocity (peak A) (71 + or - 17 cm/sec versus 56 +/- 18; p <0.01), time from onset of mitral inflow to the early peak (time E) (86 + or - 11 msec versus 72 +/- 14; p < 0.003), and deceleration time (DT) (194 +/- 40 msec versus 159 +/- 27; p < 0.001) and decreased ratio of peak E to peak A filling velocities (1.02 +/ - 0.35 versus 1.22 +/- 0.25; p < 0.02). Patients with tense ascites had a higher E/A ratio (p < 0.03) and a shorter DT (p < 0.03) than patients with mild or no ascites. CONCLUSIONS The impaired left ventricular relaxation in the presence of high stroke volume suggests a myocardial involvement in LC. The pseudo normalization of the E/A ratio and DT in patients with tense ascites could reflect loading conditions masking the relaxation abnormality.
Biomechanics of human locomotion with constraints to design flexible-wheeled biped robots

This paper proposes a biomechanical analysis of human locomotion to define a reference system for designing flexible-wheeled biped robots. The novelties proposed with this paper are twofold: 1) to revolutionize the concept to design humanoid robots as a complete imitation of humans; 2) to reduce the gap between humans and humanoids designing systems obtained by studying limits of human abilities instead of optimizing humanoid capabilities. In this first study, a human walking model is designed with some added constraints. In particular, the feet are always in contact with the ground. Results of this work are used to optimize the real flexible-wheeled biped robot, named ROLLO, with the final aim to move the robot like a human but bypassing the complexities of the human body and the robotic control.
Evaluation of Chemical Composition of Vitex agnus-castus (Verbenaceae) Fruits Essential Oils Grown in Aydın/Turkey

Bu calismada Aydin ekolojik kosullari altinda yetistirilen Vitex agnus-castus meyvelerinin ucucu yaglarinin kimyasal bilesim tayini Ekstraksiyon Clevenger cihazi ile gerceklestirildi ve ucucu yag bilesimi, Gaz Kromatografisi-Kutle Spektrometresi (GC-MS) ile belirlendi. Sonuc olarak, Vitex agnus-castus meyvelerinde toplam 157 bilesen tespit edildi. Bunlarin arasinda 1,8 sineol (% 8.24), propenamid (% 6.07), karyofillen (5.56%), bisiklogermakren (% 5.51), sabinen (% 5.37), maleimid (% 5.28), trans-β-farnesen (% 4.45) ve -pinen (%3.98) ana bilesenler olarak bulundu.
Genetic mapping with Tn5-derived auxotrophs of Caulobacter crescentus

Chromosomal insertions of Tn5 in Caulobacter crescentus displayed complete stability upon transduction and proved useful in strain building on complex media. RP4-primes constructed in vitro containing C. crescentus genomic sequences in the HindIII site of the kanamycin resistance gene failed to show enhanced or directed chromosome mobilization abilities. One of these kanamycin-sensitive RP4 derivatives, pVS1, was used as a mobilization vector in conjugation experiments on complex media where chromosomal Tn5 transfer to the recipient was selected. pVS1-mediated transfer of Tn5-induced auxotrophic mutations occurred at frequencies of 10(-6) to 10(-8) per donor cell. During conjugation with Tn5-encoded kanamycin resistance as the selected marker, Tn5 remained in its donor-associated locus in 85 to 100% of the transconjugants. A collection of eight temperature-sensitive donor strains bearing Tn5 insertion mutations from various regions of the C. crescentus genetic map were used to provide a rapid means for the determination of the map location of a new mutation. Use of the techniques described in this paper allowed an expansion of the C. crescentus genetic map to include the relative locations of 32 genes.
A Simple, Rapid and Mild One Pot Synthesis of Benzene Ring Acylated and Demethylated Analogues of Harmine under Solvent-free Conditions

A simple, rapid, solvent-free, room temperature one pot synthesis of benzene ring acylated and demethylated analogues of harmine using acyl halides/acid anhydrides and AlCl3 has been developed. Eight different acyl halides/acid anhydrides were used in the synthesis. The resulting mixture of products was separated by column chromatography to afford 10- and 12-monoacyl analogues, along with 10,12-diacyl-11-hydroxy products. In five cases the corresponding 10-acyl-11-hydroxy analogues were also obtained. Yields from the eight syntheses (29 products in total) were in the 6-34% range and all compounds were fully characterized.
A decades-long investigation of acute metabolism-based hepatotoxicity by herbal constituents: a case study of pennyroyal oil

Abstract Herbal supplements are often regarded as “natural”, and are, therefore, considered by many to be safer than pharmaceuticals; however, the adverse effects of these supplements are under-reported in many cases. Many herbal supplements, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids, kava, chaparral and germander, are known to induce liver injury, which, in general, is one of the main toxicity liabilities observed in the clinic and accounts for about half of total liver failures. One example is the hepatotoxicity of pennyroyal oil, which is ingested as an abortifacient, among other uses. For three decades, the late Professor Sidney Nelson contributed to our understanding of the mechanism of toxicity of pennyroyal and broadened our understanding of chemical toxicology. Here we present the studies and review the findings on acute hepatotoxicity of pennyroyal oil. These studies involved the isolation and characterization of pennyroyal components, determination of the appropriate animal models, identification of the structural requirement for toxicity and determination of the target enzymes and the enzymes involved in the process of bioactivation. Studies with stable isotope labeled pennyroyal metabolites, pulegone and menthofuran, furthered our understanding of the role of cytochrome P450 in the oxidation of these compounds. This review presents the investigational tools used in the study of pennyroyal oil, allowing the reader to not only appreciate these methods but also utilize them to tackle and better understand metabolism-based toxicity in their own projects.
Mothers' beliefs about analgesia during childhood immunization.

BACKGROUND Immunization injections are the most common painful medical procedures experienced during childhood, yet there is a discrepancy between recommendations for the effective use of topical anesthetics to reduce vaccine injection pain and actual practice. OBJECTIVE To improve our understanding of mothers' experiences and practices regarding their children's routine immunizations. METHOD Adopting an interpretive, naturalistic paradigm, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 mothers to examine their perceptions and experiences of their children's immunization pain and pain management. RESULTS The findings demonstrated three main themes: attitudes toward immunization pain, immunization pain management and physicians as sources of information. Participants described feeling distressed while their children were being immunized, but most managed these difficulties by focusing on the benefits of immunization and by minimizing or justifying the pain. All of the participants used non-pharmacological techniques to manage immunization injection pain. Few mothers were aware of the availability of topical anesthetics. When participants did use pharmacological analgesic approaches, oral analgesics were most likely to be used for prophylaxis and treatment of fever, and participants were unaware of evidence-based approaches to managing pain. Participants viewed their physicians as trusted sources of information, and the majority said that they would likely use a topical anesthetic in the future if recommended or approved by their physician. CONCLUSION The present findings provide direction for future knowledge translation activities to enhance the knowledge of mothers and clinicians regarding pain during immunization injections and its effective management.
Determinants of Compliance With Transfer Guidelines for Trauma Patients: A Retrospective Analysis of CT Scans Acquired Prior to Transfer to a Level I Trauma Center

Objective:To identify potential determinants of compliance with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma guidelines for the transfer of trauma patients. Summary of Background Data:Guidelines published by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma outline criteria for the immediate transfer of moderately to severely injured patients to Level I/II Trauma Centers. Acquisition of pretransfer computed tomography (CT) scans violates those guidelines. Methods:Between January 2000 and December 2007, retrospective review of trauma patients meeting the criteria for immediate transfer to a Level I Trauma Center. We used multivariable analyses to explore the determinants of scan acquisition, the association between CT scans and in-hospital mortality, and the association between CT scans and secondary outcomes, such as duration of ventilator dependence, intensive care unit length of stay, and total length of stay. We calculated the number of scans duplicated upon arrival at the Level I center, and estimated charges using the 2008 Medicare physician fee schedule allowance. Results:Of 7713 severely injured patients requiring transfer to a Level I center, 4434 patients (57%) had a pretransfer CT scan. Penetrating wounds, physiologic compromise, and Injury Severity Scores ≥34 were associated with fewer pretransfer CT scans, while older age and being female were associated with more. Pretransfer CT scans were not associated with in-hospital death or worsened secondary outcomes, but increased charges by $3,761,389 ($488/person transferred with severe injuries). Conclusions:National guidelines for the transfer of severely injured patients are followed less than half the time. Pretransfer CT scans do not improve outcomes yet increase costs.
Thrombolytic therapy in the setting of arterial line-induced ischemia.

PURPOSE To evaluate the use of percutaneous transcatheter thrombolysis in the treatment of thrombosis due to radial artery cannulation. METHODS AND RESULTS Seven patients (4 women; age range 41-62 years) with symptomatic cannulation-induced thrombosis and failure to improve after systemic anticoagulation underwent 8 catheter-directed thrombolytic infusions at our institution over a 3-year period. Access was either antegrade through the brachial artery or retrograde through the femoral artery. Thrombolytic infusions with urokinase began 2 to 12 days (average 6) after removal of the radial artery catheter. The thrombolytic infusion was successful in 5 of 7 patients based on angiographic flow restoration with <20% residual thrombus and significant clinical improvement in the ischemia. CONCLUSIONS When systemic anticoagulation has failed, percutaneous catheter-directed thrombolytic infusion appears to be effective in the treatment of most patients with severe ischemic hand symptoms due to thrombosis after radial artery cannulation.
Genetic redundancy between SPT23 and MGA2: regulators of Ty-induced mutations and Ty1 transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

SPT23 was isolated as a dosage-dependent suppressor of Ty-induced mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. SPT23 shows considerable sequence homology with MGA2, a gene identified as a dosage-dependent suppressor of a snf2-imposed block on STA1 transcription in S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus. Although single mutations in either of these genes have only modest effects on cell growth, spt23 mga2 double mutants are inviable. Unlike SPT23, multicopy expression of a truncated form of MGA2 suppresses a narrow subset of Ty-induced mutations. SPT23/MGA2 and the SNF/SWI genes affect transcription of certain target genes in similar ways. Spt23p appears to be a rate-limiting component required for functional HIS4 expression of his4-912delta, a promoter insertion mutation induced by the Ty1-912 long terminal repeat. Furthermore, both Spt23p and Mga2p can activate transcription when fused to the Gal4p DNA-binding domain, as previously observed with Snf2p and Snf5p. A 50-amino-acid region in the N terminus of the predicted Spt23p protein is necessary and sufficient for the transactivation and necessary for suppression of Ty1-induced mutations and the essential function of Spt23p. Cell fractionation and cytological experiments suggest that Spt23p is associated with the nucleus. Our results suggest that SPT23/MGA2 affects transcription of a subset of genes in yeast, perhaps by changing chromatin accessibility.
Phylogenetic relationships within terrestrial mites (Acari: Prostigmata, Parasitengona) inferred from comparative DNA sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene.

Partial DNA and amino acid sequences translated from the mitochondrial cytochrome subunit I gene (408 bp) of 17 mite species have been used for analyzing the phylogenetic relationships within the terrestrial Parasitengona (Trombidia). Due to mutational saturation of the third codon position, only first and second codon positions and amino acid sequences were analyzed, applying neighbor-joining, maximum-parsimony, and maximum-likelihood tree-building methods. The reconstructed trees revealed similar topologies of taxa; however, the phylogenetic relationships could be convincingly resolved only within several trombidioid taxa. The proposed basic relationships within the Parasitengona, in particular those of Calyptostomatoidea, Smarididae, and Erythraeidae, were poorly supported in bootstrap tests. A comparison of the presented gene tree with a phylogenetic tree based upon traditional characters revealed only few contradictions in nodes only weakly supported by morphological data. The most astonishing result is the proposed early derivative position of Microtrombidiidae within the terrestrial Parasitengona.
The role of subject advisors in strengthening teacher instructional leadership practices : a case study of one education district office in KwaZulu-Natal.

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of the subject advisors in strengthening teacher instructional leadership practices in schools. A case study was conducted in one education district office where the focal point was on the Districts’ General Education and Training Band subject advisors. The intention of the study was to get the real experiences and challenges encountered by the subject advisors when they perform their professional functions through the interaction that occurs. South African education context today requires the education personnel to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and that there is that important link between the district office and the schools, so that teachers can be more effective when they perform their tasks. Therefore, the study also wanted to explore whether there is that paradigm shift in subject advisors’ mindset when they pursue departmental programmes and checking whether curriculum policies are being implemented or not. Through this study, I was able to note and learn the strategies that the subject advisors utilise when they focus on their scope of work and on how they deal with their challenges in order to ensure that there is progress in their respective schools. The study was located within the qualitative case study. Furthermore, the study fitted in the interpretive paradigm because the subject advisors will construct different shared meanings with the researcher with a view to enhancing teaching and learning. The data generation methods that I used were interviews and documents reviews which enabled me to interpret and understand the subject advisors’ perspectives. I also reviewed relevant international, continental and local literatures in order to balance my arguments about the study. The theories that underpinned this study were instructional leadership theory and distributive leadership theory. The conclusions of the study were that the subject advisors’ were influential and played a prominent role in assisting teachers to properly deliver the curriculum. Based on the study findings I made some recommendations informed by the conclusions of the study. Some of those recommendations were that the subject advisors need to be continuously capacitated so that they can be able to meet those curriculum challenges, and that the DBE needs to speed up the curriculum delivery by ensuring the they fill up the vacancies, supply the subject advisors with the necessary resources so that they can perform their tasks with ease. The study also found that the teachers’ understanding of the subject advisors’ role helps to enhance teachers’ productivity.
Asynchronous Multiuser Coherent OCDMA System With Code-Shift-Keying and Balanced Detection

An optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) system with coherent coding, code shift keying (CSK) data modulation, and balanced detection (CSK OCDMA) is proposed and theoretically investigated in this paper. The proposed scheme has better multiuser capability, simpler threshold setting in the receiver, and particularly, enhanced security compares with conventional OCDMA systems. A multiuser CSK-OCDMA system with 511-chip superstructure fiber Bragg gratings and a multiport encoder/decoder (E/D) pair was experimentally demonstrated. A bit-error-rate of less than 10-9 was achieved with up to ten and eight active users at data rates of 1.25 and 10.7 Gb/s, respectively, without any forward-error-correction or optical thresholding. The multiport E/D was used in a novel configuration to process multidimensional optical codes.
Metabolic Polymorphisms and Clinical Findings Related to Benzene Poisoning Detected in Exposed Brazilian Gas-Station Workers

Benzene is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and an important industrial chemical present in both gasoline and motor vehicle emissions. Occupational human exposure to benzene occurs in the petrochemical and petroleum refining industries as well as in gas-station workers, where it can lead to benzene poisoning (BP), but the mechanisms of BP are not completely understood. In Brazil, a significant number of gas-station service workers are employed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate alterations related to BP and metabolic polymorphisms in gas-station service workers exposed to benzene in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Occupational exposure was based on clinical findings related to BP, and metabolic polymorphisms in 114 Brazilian gas-station attendants. These workers were divided into No Clinical Findings (NCF) and Clinical Findings (CF) groups. Neutrophil and Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) showed a significant difference between the two study groups, and neutrophil has the greatest impact on the alterations suggestive of BP. The clinical findings revealed higher frequencies of symptoms in the CF group, although not all members presented statistical significance. The frequencies of alleles related to risk were higher in the CF group for GSTM1, GSTT1, CYP2E1 7632T > A, but lower for NQO1 and CYP2E1 1053C > T genotypes. Moreover, an association was found between GSTM1 null and alterations related to BP, but we did not observe any effects of other polymorphisms. Variations in benzene metabolizing genes may modify benzene toxicity and should be taken into consideration during risk assessment evaluations.
Production of aerial mycelium and uredospores by Melampsora lini (Pers.) Lev. on flax leaves in tissue culture.

Dense, felt-like growth of aerial mycelium of Melampsora lini (Pers.) Lev. was obtained when surface-sterilized, rust-infected cotyledons of flax were put on a modified Knop medium, containing fresh, ripe coconut milk, sucrose, and Difco Bacto-Agar. The mycelium remained fully dependent on the living host tissue, but could easily be collected free from host material in quantities sufficient for respiration and small scale chemical studies. Slight modification of the method allowed production of appreciable quantities of uredospores free from contaminating microorganisms.
Role of Modern Imaging Technology in the Implementation of Pediatric Cochlear Implants

Since 1989, 40 patients have received cochlear implants in our institution. Over the past 2 years, 17 children among these patients have undergone radiographic assessment combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scanning. Imaging is not essential, and is only used after assessment by a multidisciplinary team. However, the imaging results influence the choice of implant, and sometimes the side to be implanted. The first study is always CT, as it detects congenital abnormalities, and for children with a history of bacterial meningitis, it can detect signs of labyrinthine ossification that contraindicates or complicates cochlear implantation. These signs are not always visible with tomodensitometry, especially when fibrosis within the canal has not yet ossified. This examination also provides for postoperative confirmation of implant position in case of failure or complication. Over the past 3 years, MRI has been combined with tomodensitometry, especially with children having a history of meningitis. This examination provides a basis for evaluating the liquid nature of the labyrinth. A GE Signa 1.5-T unit was used by the authors, employing sequences of volumetric acquisition (steady state free precision with 1.5-mm image slices and an angle of 15° to 35°). Hence, modern imaging plays an important role when the decision to implant has already been made, particularly in the case of profoundly deaf children. We always use MRI in combination with a CT scanner in children with a history of meningitis.
Student voice on higher education in further education and implications for leaders in dual sector institutions in England

This thesis considers the student voice in relation to higher education and its delivery in further education colleges and the implications for leaders in the sector. It considers differences in perception and choice between widening participation students, using questionnaires, focus groups and interviews to compare two student groups undertaking full-time study of either a bachelors or a foundation degree, one group studying in a university and another group studying in a college setting. The findings inform our understanding of why some non-traditional students choose colleges and others university for their higher education. The mind-set at the stage of decision-making is already different and students are prioritising whether the present or the future is most important. Those students choosing university are future-orientated, risk-managers with a transformational approach to education. They have clear expectations of their HE experience and an understanding of the wider university experience and the delayed benefits. They are likely to be embedded choosers with a secure learner identity. Those students choosing colleges are orientated in the present, risk-averse with an instrumental approach to education. They are accepting of a different experience, with fewer expectations. They are likely to be pseudo-embedded or contingent choosers with a tentative learner identity.