Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in Serum Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Males and Females Throughout Life

Objectives: To study serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent angiogenic factor, during distinct periods of the female life span and compare them with corresponding levels of age-matched males. It is hypothesized that VEGF might be increased at periods of enhanced angiogenesis. Methods: Venous blood was drawn from healthy females (n = 59) and males (n = 53) divided into six groups: fetuses (cord blood), neonates, children, adults (same females in the proliferative and secretory phases of their menstrual cycle), pregnant, and elderly (postmenopausal). Serum VEGF levels were measured by an enzyme immunoassay. Results: Females showed 49% higher serum VEGF levels than males (t = 2.74, P = .01). Cord and neonatal blood levels were significantly increased compared with those of adults (t = 2.41, P = .02, and t = 5.81, P = .0001, respectively). All female age groups presented higher serum VEGF levles than the group of women in the proliferative phase of the cycle; nevertheless, VEGF levels in the secretory phase did not differ (t = 1.85, P = .07). Conclusions: Serum VEGF levels are higher in females than in males and during life periods characterized by enhanced growth and development, implying increased rates of angiogenesis.
The impact of university library resources on university research achievement outputs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlation between university libraries and academic research achievement and analyze if university library resources correlate with academic research achievement.Design/methodology/approach – The paper seeks to verify the correlation between university libraries and academic research achievement and to examine which university library resources relate to research achievement. A variety of research questions were posed concerning the relationship between a university's library resources and academic research achievement. Structural equation models (SEMs) were developed to answer the research questions. Most research questions posed were affirmatively answered using the SEM process.Findings – This study confirmed that labor and budget, investment in e‐resources and an investment in university libraries enhances academic research achievement.Research limitations/implications – An SEM for verifying the correlation between university libraries and aca.
Electronic structures of cephalosporins and penicillins. 4. Modeling acylation by the beta-lactam ring.

Molecular orbital calculations by the CNDO/2 method are used to study the molecular and electronic details involved in the initial phases of the opening of the beta-lactam ring of a model cephalosporin structure, 7-amino-3-acetoxymethyl-3-cephem. The effect of a simple nucleophile, OH-, approaching the carbonyl carbon center of the beta-lactam ring is monitored by following the charge redistributions that occur in the bicyclic system and in the 3 side chain. A migration of electron density to the ester oxygen of the CH2OAc group is observed with concomitant weakening of the CH2-OAc bond. The results are discussed in relation to the mechanism of acylation of bacterial cell wall enzymes by beta-lactam antibiotics and in relation to the hydrolysis of these molecules. The results indicate that the ability of the 3' substituent of cephalosporins to stabilize electron density transferred to it, i.e., the leavability of the 3' moiety, can be an important factor in activating the beta-lactam toward nucleophilic attack.
Regulation of actin dynamics and protein trafficking during spermatogenesis – Insights into a complex process

Abstract In the mammalian testis, extensive restructuring takes place across the seminiferous epithelium at the Sertoli–Sertoli and Sertoli–germ cell interface during the epithelial cycle of spermatogenesis, which is important to facilitate changes in the cell shape and morphology of developing germ cells. However, precise communications also take place at the cell junctions to coordinate the discrete events pertinent to spermatogenesis, namely spermatogonial renewal via mitosis, cell cycle progression and meiosis, spermiogenesis and spermiation. It is obvious that these cellular events are intimately related to the underlying actin-based cytoskeleton which is being used by different cell junctions for their attachment. However, little is known on the biology and regulation of this cytoskeleton, in particular its possible involvement in endocytic vesicle-mediated trafficking during spermatogenesis, which in turn affects cell adhesive function and communication at the cell–cell interface. Studies in other epithelia in recent years have shed insightful information on the intimate involvement of actin dynamics and protein trafficking in regulating cell adhesion and communications. The goal of this critical review is to provide an updated assessment of the latest findings in the field on how these complex processes are being regulated during spermatogenesis. We also provide a working model based on the latest findings in the field including our laboratory to provide our thoughts on an apparent complicated subject, which also serves as the framework for investigators in the field. It is obvious that this model will be rapidly updated when more data are available in future years.
Social Media on Violent Ideological Group Websites Completed Research Paper

Recent research has shown dramatic benefits to incorporating social media in public facing websites. Using a perspective based on the duality of goals, we argue that social media, with emphasis on facilitating visitors’ unconstrained exchanges, may undermine the communicative purpose of an organization’s website and may not be desirable in some cases. We tested these ideas by examining the social media features on 105 websites that are supported by nationwide or international groups. Some of the websites are supported by ideological groups that have a strong interest in controlling their messages and clearly articulating their ideology to the public. A subset of the ideological groups also promoted or were affiliated with acts of violence in support of their ideology. As we predicted, we found that desire for control outweighed the benefits of social media, but only for the violent ideological groups. Nonviolent ideological groups and non-ideological groups were nearly identical.
G Proteins Go Green: A Plant G Protein Signaling FAQ Sheet

Plants, like animals, use signal transduction pathways based on heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide–binding proteins (G proteins) to regulate many aspects of development and cell signaling. Some components of G protein signaling are highly conserved between plants and animals and some are not. This Viewpoint compares key aspects of G protein signal transduction in plants and animals and describes the current knowledge of this system in plants, the questions that still await exploration, and the value of research on plant G proteins to scientists who do not study plants. Pathways in Science's Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment Connections Maps database provide details about the emerging roles of G proteins in several cellular processes of plants.
Modeling of Household Vehicle Type Choice Accommodating Spatial Dependence Effects

Household vehicle ownership and fleet composition are choice dimensions that have important implications for policy making, particularly in the arena of energy and environmental sustainability. In the context of household vehicle ownership and type choice, it is conceivable that substantial spatial interaction effects are caused by both observed and unobserved factors. A multinomial probit model formulation is presented: it incorporates spatial spillover effects arising from both observed and unobserved factors. The model is estimated on the California add-on data set of the 2009 National Household Travel Survey. Model estimation results show that spatial dependency effects are statistically significant. The findings have important implications for model development and application in policy forecasting.
What Influences What and How Second and Foreign Language Teachers Teach

This article discusses certain influences on second and foreign language (S/FL) teachers and their teaching. I take the social contexts of teaching in schools as of primary concern because despite claims that teaching is a profession, its members often operate under conditions of far less autonomy than many of those in more prestigious professions. I go on to consider both the negative and positive aspects of the role of administrations on S/FL teachers and suggest administrative support for teacher development as an important means to improvement. The article also discusses FL teacher education and research in light of various criticisms that have been levelled at it and introduces the additional perspective of critical applied linguistics, which, I argue, may help to rectify some of the problems.
Background and distribution of lobar microbleeds in cognitive dysfunction

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are often observed in memory clinic patients. It has been generally accepted that deep CMBs (D‐CMBs) result from hypertensive vasculopathy (HV), whereas strictly lobar CMBs (SL‐CMBs) result from cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) which frequently coexists with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mixed CMBs (M‐CMBs) have been partially attributed to HV and also partially attributed to CAA. The aim of this study was to elucidate the differences between SL‐CMBs and M‐CMBs in terms of clinical features and regional distribution.
The Open Peritoneal Cavity: Etiology Correlates with the Likelihood of Fascial Closure

The use of laparostomy in damage control surgery and uncontrolled intra-abdominal infection has been well described. We examined 71 patients who required laparostomy to see if trends in management and outcome could be identified based on the underlying disease state. The underlying etiology included gastrointestinal sepsis (n = 25), pancreatitis (n = 21), or trauma (n = 25). Pancreatitis patients required more operations per patient (P < 0.05). The likelihood and type of closure (fascial, mesh, or none) was related to the underlying etiology: trauma patients were more likely to have fascial closure (P < 0.02), patients with GI sepsis were more likely to require mesh closure, and pancreatitis patients were more likely to have no formal closure (P < 0.02). Only 29 per cent of patients achieved definitive fascial closure. Mortality in trauma patients was 20 per cent, 36 per cent for GI sepsis, and 43 per cent in patients with pancreatitis. Complications of laparostomy included enterocutaneous fistula (16.9%) and abscess formation (7%). Though the use of laparostomy has become more prevalent, it is still associated with significant hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality. In our study, the number of operations and likelihood of abdominal closure appears to correlate with the etiology of the underlying disease requiring use of laparostomy.
Mechanisms of up-regulation of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in clonal cell lines and primary cultures of fetal rat brain.

There is a consensus that high-affinity [3H]-L-nicotine binding sites in the mammalian brain, which are thought to represent a predominant form of central nervous system nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) composed of alpha 4 and beta 2 subunits, are increased in number after chronic nicotine exposure. However, mechanisms responsible for this effect have not yet been elucidated. To evaluate this issue, we have used, as models, primary cell cultures of fetal rat brain cortex, in which high-affinity [3H]-L-nicotine binding sites are naturally expressed, and clonal cell cultures of fibroblasts stably transfected to express nAChR composed of transgenic chick alpha 4 and beta 2 subunits under control of dexamethasone-inducible promoters. Chronic nicotine exposure induced an approximately 2.5-fold increase in high-affinity [3H]-L-nicotine binding sites in M10 cells maintained in the presence of dexamethasone or in primary fetal rat brain cortical cultures. Up-regulation of [3H]-L-nicotine binding sites was evident for M10 cells treated at nicotine concentrations as low as 10 nM (EC50 and EC100 values were 100 nM and 10 microM, respectively). Scatchard analyses of [3H]-L-nicotine binding data in M10 cells indicated a change in Bmax with no significant change in affinity for radioligand (KD = 2.5 +/- 0.5 nM in control cells vs. 2.0 +/- 0.4 nM in nicotine-treated cells). Northern blot analyses indicated that nicotine treatment alone had no direct effect on the promoter driving transgenic nAChR subunit gene transcription in M10 cells and that steady state levels of fetal rat brain cortical cell or M10 cell nAChR alpha 4 or beta 2 mRNAs were unaffected under conditions of chronic nicotine treatment that produced up-regulation of high-affinity [3H]-L-nicotine binding sites. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Tabu Search Algorithm for a Routing and Container Loading Problem

This article considers a combination of capacitated vehicle routing and three-dimensional loading, with additional constraints frequently encountered in freight transportation. It proposes a tabu search algorithm that iteratively invokes an inner tabu search procedure for the solution of the loading subproblem. The algorithm is experimentally evaluated both on instances adapted from vehicle routing instances from the literature and on new real-world instances.
Effects of Celebrex and Zyflo on BOP-Induced Pancreatic Cancer in Syrian Hamsters

Background/Aims: Selective inhibition of eicosanoid synthesis decreases inflammation, however, it is still unknown whether oxidative stress and carcinogenesis might be influenced in ductal pancreatic ductal cancer as well. Methods: 120 male hamsters were randomized into 8 groups (n = 15). While control group 1–4 received 0.5 ml normal saline s.c. weekly for 16 weeks, groups 5–8 were injected 10 mg BOP/kg body weight to induce pancreatic cancer. After establishment of pancreatic cancer, groups 1 and 5 received no therapy, groups 2 and 6 were fed 7 mg Celebrex daily, groups 3 and 7 were given 28 mg Zyflo and groups 4 and 8 received Celebrex and Zyflo orally daily in weeks 17–32. In week 33, all animals were sacrificed, macroscopic size of pancreatic carcinomas was measured, incidence of pancreatic cancer was analyzed histopathologically and activities of antioxidative enzymes and concentration of products of lipid peroxidation in tumor-free and pancreatic intratumoral tissue were determined. Results: Incidence and size of macroscopic pancreatic carcinomas were decreased by single therapy with Zyflo as well as combined therapy (Zyflo + Celebrex). Activities of antioxidative enzymes were increased and the concentration of products of lipid peroxidation was decreased in tumor-free pancreas. On the other hand, lipid peroxidation was increased in pancreatic tumors. Conclusion: Zyflo alone or in combination with Celebrex reduce tumor growth in pancreatic cancer and thus might be a new therapeutic option in advanced pancreatic cancer.
Studies for Segmentation of Historical Texts : Sentences or Chunks ?

We present some experiments on text segmentation for German texts aimed at developing a method of segmenting historical texts. Since such texts have no (consistent) punctuation, we use a machine learning approach to label tokens with their relative positions in text segments using Conditional Random Fields. We compare the performance of this approach on the task of segmenting of text into sentences, clauses, and chunks, and find that the task gets easier, the smaller grained the target segments are.
A Single 30-s Stretch Is Sufficient to Inhibit Maximal Voluntary Strength

While it has been well established that an acute stretching program can inhibit maximal muscle performance, the amount of stretching needed to produce the deleterious response is unknown. Therefore this study examined the dose-response relationship between acute stretching and strength inhibition. Eighteen college students performed a one repetition maximum (1-RM) test of knee-flexion following 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 30-s bouts of hamstring stretching held at the limit of toleration. All seven dose variations were done by each subject, with each variation done on a separate day. One week separated each test, and the order of the stretch variations was balanced across the seven testing days. Stretching significantly (p < .05) reduced 1-RM after one 30-s stretch (5.4%), and continued to decrease 1-RM up to and including six 30-s stretches (12.4%). A single 30-s stretch, if held at the limit of toleration, is sufficient to cause an inhibition in a person's 1-RM. Additional bouts of stretching will further decrease the 1-RM, suggesting that multiple mechanisms may be involved in stretch-induced strength inhibition.
Internalisation of hepatitis C virus core protein by human conjunctival fibroblasts

Recent studies indicate that hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins can mediate innate immune response and inflammation in conjunctival fibroblasts which contributes to the pathology of dry eye condition associated with chronic HCV infection. The present study investigates the phagocytic potential of human conjunctival fibroblasts (HCFj) for HCV core protein. HCFj cells were incubated with HCV core antigen for different periods of time, and fluorescent micrographs were taken to observe protein internalisation. HCFj cells were capable of internalising HCV core antigen within 1 h; this gives an insight into another molecular mechanism which may contribute towards HCV-associated conjunctival inflammation.
Propriedades termofisicas de polpa de abacaxi

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo determinar as principais propriedades termofisicas envolvidas no processamento termico de polpa de abacaxi, em especial no congelamento. Em adicao, foi investigada a hipotese de que o comportamento das propriedades termofisicas da polpa de abacaxi pudessem ser previstas atraves de um sistema modelo constituido de solucao de sacarose. Os sistemas constituidos de polpa de abacaxi ou solucao de sacarose tiveram suas propriedades medidas a duas concentracoes: 15 e 25 °Brix. Sua caracterizacao foi feita determinando-se o teor de solidos totais e soluveis (°Brix), umidade e acucares totais e redutores. A polpa de abacaxi tambem foi caracterizada atraves do conteudo de fibras. A densidade foi medida a 25°C, utilizando-se picnometros. A difusividade termica foi medida com auxilio de uma capsula metalica de geometria de cilindro infinito, acima do ponto de inicio de congelamento. Um calorimetro de mistura foi utilizado para a construcao de curvas de entalpia-temperatura. A partir dessas curvas foram obtidas curvas de calor especifico-temperatura e determinados o ponto de inicio de congelamento e a fracao de agua ligada. Uma determinacao experimental de ponto de inicio de congelamento tambem foi realizada. Os resultados obtidos foram coerentes com propriedades termofisicas de sucos e polpas de frutas, encontrados em literatura. Das propriedades estudadas, apenas a densidade e algumas faixas de entalpia puderam ser previstas atraves do sistema modelo de solucao de sacarose Abstract
Relationship of Allergen‐Specific IgE Antibodies, Skin Prick Tests and Allergic Disorders in Unselected Adolescents

The relationship between serum levels of allergen‐specific IgE (RAST) and skin prick test reactivity and allergic disorders was evaluated in 137 subjects randomly selected from an adolescent population. AH subjects were prick tested with six common allergens, interviewed and physically examined. In addition, serum was collected for RAST analysis with three to six allergens. At least one positive RAST result (score 1–4) was observed in 40% and at least two positive RASTs in 22% of the subjects. Boys experienced more RAST reactions and generally with higher scores than girls. For instance, 26% of boys but only 11% of girls were RAST positive to timothy grass pollen.
Acute chest syndrome and sickle cell disease

&NA; Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is the presence of a new pulmonary infiltrate in combination with fever or respiratory symptoms in a patient with sickle cell disease. ACS is the leading cause of death in sickle cell disease, and many patients suffer from multiple, severe episodes. Age has a striking effect on the clinical course and outcome of ACS, with children having milder disease that often is infectious. Adults often have severe disease, and pulmonary fat embolism is frequently a component of severe ACS. Rapid diagnosis and appropriate therapy including antibiotics for atypical infections, fluids, aerosolized beta agonists, and adequate pain control are necessary to reduce morbidity. Transfusion is indicated in hypoxic patients and can be used to prevent recurrent episodes. As the pathophysiology of ACS is further delineated, new treatment strategies will be investigated.
Genotyping‐in‐Thousands by sequencing (GT‐seq): A cost effective SNP genotyping method based on custom amplicon sequencing

Genotyping‐in‐Thousands by sequencing (GT‐seq) is a method that uses next‐generation sequencing of multiplexed PCR products to generate genotypes from relatively small panels (50–500) of targeted single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for thousands of individuals in a single Illumina HiSeq lane. This method uses only unlabelled oligos and PCR master mix in two thermal cycling steps for amplification of targeted SNP loci. During this process, sequencing adapters and dual barcode sequence tags are incorporated into the amplicons enabling thousands of individuals to be pooled into a single sequencing library. Post sequencing, reads from individual samples are split into individual files using their unique combination of barcode sequences. Genotyping is performed with a simple perl script which counts amplicon‐specific sequences for each allele, and allele ratios are used to determine the genotypes. We demonstrate this technique by genotyping 2068 individual steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) samples with a set of 192 SNP markers in a single library sequenced in a single Illumina HiSeq lane. Genotype data were 99.9% concordant to previously collected TaqMan™ genotypes at the same 192 loci, but call rates were slightly lower with GT‐seq (96.4%) relative to Taqman (99.0%). Of the 192 SNPs, 187 were genotyped in ≥90% of the individual samples and only 3 SNPs were genotyped in <70% of samples. This study demonstrates amplicon sequencing with GT‐seq greatly reduces the cost of genotyping hundreds of targeted SNPs relative to existing methods by utilizing a simple library preparation method and massive efficiency of scale.