Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toxicity of Nanoparticles on the Reproductive System in Animal Models: A Review

In the last two decades, nanotechnologies demonstrated various applications in different fields, including detection, sensing, catalysis, electronics, and biomedical sciences. However, public concerns regarding the well-being of human may hinder the wide utilization of this promising innovation. Although, humans are exposed to airborne nanosized particles from an early age, exposure to such particles has risen dramatically within the last century due to anthropogenic sources of nanoparticles. The wide application of nanomaterials in industry, consumer products, and medicine has raised concerns regarding the potential toxicity of nanoparticles in humans. In this review, the effects of nanomaterials on the reproductive system in animal models are discussed. Females are particularly more vulnerable to nanoparticle toxicity, and toxicity in this population may affect reproductivity and fetal development. Moreover, various types of nanoparticles have negative impacts on male germ cells, fetal development, and the female reproductive system. These impacts are associated with nanoparticle modification, composition, concentration, route of administration, and the species of the animal. Therefore, understanding the impacts of nanoparticles on animal growth and reproduction is essential. Many studies have examined the effects of nanoparticles on primary and secondary target organs, with a concentration on the in vivo and in vitro effects of nanoparticles on the male and female reproductive systems at the clinical, cellular, and molecular levels. This review provides important information regarding organism safety and the potential hazards of nanoparticle use and supports the application of nanotechnologies by minimizing the adverse effects of nanoparticles in vulnerable populations.
[Screening of persons referred to forensic psychiatry. Many of them were in contact with psychiatric services before the offence].

Analysis of data for a sample comprising every second subject (266/533) who underwent forensic psychiatric examination in Sweden during a 12-month period (July 1995-June 1996) showed 50 per cent to have been in contact with psychiatric services during the 6-month period prior to the index offence. The study population was characterised by significantly higher than average proportions of women and of subjects suffering from psychotic disorder and/or serious psychiatric disorder as defined by the mental health act. In the subgroup who did not meet the criteria for special recommendations on medico-legal grounds (i.e., those without a serious psychiatric disorder according to forensic psychiatric examination) and in the youngest age group (< 20 years), the frequency of psychiatric contact prior to the index offence was lower than in the remainder, though the psychiatric consultation rate was nevertheless higher in both subgroups than in the general population. The findings suggest the need of increased alertness within the psychiatric sector, and of improved case management in the patient categories concerned. Further studies, particularly focused on violent and potentially violent offenders and their psychiatric contacts, are essential for the development of adequate programmes and guidelines for the treatment and care of such individuals.
Malonyl-Coenzyme A Reductase in the Modified 3-Hydroxypropionate Cycle for Autotrophic Carbon Fixation in Archaeal Metallosphaera and Sulfolobus spp

ABSTRACT Autotrophic members of the Sulfolobales (Crenarchaeota) contain acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA)/propionyl-CoA carboxylase as the CO2 fixation enzyme and use a modified 3-hydroxypropionate cycle to assimilate CO2 into cell material. In this central metabolic pathway malonyl-CoA, the product of acetyl-CoA carboxylation, is further reduced to 3-hydroxypropionate. Extracts of Metallosphaera sedula contained NADPH-specific malonyl-CoA reductase activity that was 10-fold up-regulated under autotrophic growth conditions. Malonyl-CoA reductase was partially purified and studied. Based on N-terminal amino acid sequencing the corresponding gene was identified in the genome of the closely related crenarchaeum Sulfolobus tokodaii. The Sulfolobus gene was cloned and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant protein was purified and studied. The enzyme catalyzes the following reaction: malonyl-CoA + NADPH + H+ → malonate-semialdehyde + CoA + NADP+. In its native state it is associated with small RNA. Its activity was stimulated by Mg2+ and thiols and inactivated by thiol-blocking agents, suggesting the existence of a cysteine adduct in the course of the catalytic cycle. The enzyme was specific for NADPH (Km = 25 μM) and malonyl-CoA (Km = 40 μM). Malonyl-CoA reductase has 38% amino acid sequence identity to aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, suggesting a common ancestor for both proteins. It does not exhibit any significant similarity with malonyl-CoA reductase from Chloroflexus aurantiacus. This shows that the autotrophic pathway in Chloroflexus and Sulfolobaceae has evolved convergently and that these taxonomic groups have recruited different genes to bring about similar metabolic processes.
Isolation of Legionella pneumophila from Cooling Tower Water by Filtration

Methods are described for detection of Legionella pneumophila in cooling tower water or other water sources by direct fluorescent-antibody staining. A procedure for isolation of Legionella bacteria from water samples by guinea pig inoculation is described. Two different serogroups of L. pneumophila were isolated repeatedly from one of the cooling towers.
Effects of Age on Seizure Susceptibility in Genetically Epilepsy‐Prone Rats (GEPR‐9s)

Summary: To study the effect of age on seizure latency, intensity, reproducibility, and mortality in genetically epilepsy‐prone rats of the severe colony (GEPR‐9s), 472 seizure‐naive rats, ranging in age from 14 to 65 days, received a series of three audiogenic stimulations. Both the percentage of rats having one or more seizures and the percentage of seizures that were stage 9 generally increased with advancing age of the animal at the time of the first stimulation. Mean latency to seizure onset decreased while seizure intensity increased with increasing age of the animal. Reproducibility of seizure stage also increased with advancing age of the animal. The effects of senescence on seizure susceptibility were also investigated in an additional 18 prepubescent rats (25–35 days) who received three audiogenic stimulations and were tested again between the ages of 480 and 540 days with identical testing procedures. No significant changes occurred with either latency to seizure onset or seizure intensity in rats tested during prepubescence and again at senescence. Although GEPR‐9s provide an excellent model of inherited seizures, latency to seizure onset, seizure intensity, and seizure reproducibility is dependent on age of the animal. Once established, however, audio‐genic‐induced seizures persist throughout life.
Investigating cochlear implant place-pitch perception with the Modified Melodies test

Abstract There has been speculation that cochlear implant place-of-excitation cues could be more akin to the brightness attribute of timbre (the spectral profile) than to melodic pitch. As brightness can be ordered on a low-to-high scale, it would allow high scores on pitch-ranking tests. In contrast, the Modified Melodies test measures pitch perception in a melodic context. In each trial, a familiar melody was presented twice. In one presentation, randomly selected, the pitch was deliberately modified. The subject's task was to select the un-modified melody. Six Nucleus implant recipients were tested with melodies presented as pure tones in the frequency range C5–C6 (523–1046 Hz) through the ACE strategy on the Freedom processor. All subjects were able to identify incorrect melodic contours and three subjects were able to recognize errors in musical intervals. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that cochlear implant place cues alone are sufficient to convey a melody. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
5-FU multifocal inflammatory leukoencephalopathy and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency

Article abstract Multifocal inflammatory leukoencephalopathy (MIL) is a cerebral demyelinating syndrome that develops after chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and levamisole. The authors report a patient who developed MIL after 5-FU administration not in association with levamisole. She was subsequently diagnosed with partial deficiency of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, an enzyme necessary for 5-FU catabolism. The authors suggest that MIL is a direct result of 5-FU chemotherapy and that patients with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency are at increased risk for this and other toxic effects of 5-FU.
Frequency, characteristics, and risk factors for amiodarone neurotoxicity.

OBJECTIVE To assess the incidence, severity, and spectrum of neurologic toxic effects associated with administration of amiodarone hydrochloride. DESIGN Retrospective medical record analysis of cardiac patients treated with amiodarone between January 1, 1996, and July 31, 2008. SETTING Residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, treated at the Mayo Clinic. PATIENTS The Mayo Clinic medical records of all adult Olmsted County residents prescribed amiodarone between January 1, 1996, and July 31, 2008, were reviewed and all possible neurologic adverse effects that might be attributable to amiodarone were tabulated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Risk factors and clinical characteristics of patients developing neurologic problems were compared with those who did not. RESULTS Over the 151 months of analysis, 707 patients were treated with amiodarone. Among these patients, the cumulative incidence of likely amiodarone neurotoxic effects was 2.8%; 1.6% of all amiodarone-treated patients were referred to Neurology for a neurotoxic reaction. Neurologic problems included tremor, gait ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, and cognitive impairment. The primary risk factor for amiodarone neurotoxic effects was duration of treatment, not age, drug dose, sex, or indication for therapy. Where this could be assessed, the adverse effects were usually but not always reversible. CONCLUSIONS Amiodarone infrequently causes clinically significant neurologic toxic effects. Substantially higher estimates of neurotoxic effects in the early amiodarone era may be related to a much higher daily dose.
The quantified university: an analysis of the Scandal in Academia

The Scandal in Academia is a large-scale fictional ethical case study of around 17,000 words and fourteen separate revelations. They are delivered as newspaper extracts from a newspaper reporting on an ongoing crisis at a Scottish educational institution. The scandal case study as presented in its original form comes with only limited commentary on the ethical issues raised, concentrating instead on providing the scenario in isolation. This paper is a companion piece to that case study, discussing the fifth and sixth revelations with reference to the issues raised, the mainstream media, and the formal academic literature. The discussion presented here is not intended to be exhaustive or definitive. It is instead indicative of an approach that could be taken within a formal educational context, and illustrative of the kind of discussions that ideally emerge from the effective use of the material.
Internet-of-Things data aggregation using compressed sensing with side information

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is the key enabling technology for transforming current urban environments into so-called Smart Cities. One of the goals behind making cities smarter is to provide a healthy environment that improves the citizens' quality of life and wellbeing. In this work, we introduce a novel data aggregation mechanism tailored to the application of large-scale air pollution monitoring with IoT devices. Our design exploits the intra- and inter-source correlations among air-pollution data using the framework of compressed sensing with side information. The proposed method delivers significant improvements in the data reconstruction quality with respect to the state of the art, even in the presence of noise when measuring and transmitting the data.
Whirlin and PDZ Domain-containing 7 (PDZD7) Proteins Are Both Required to Form the Quaternary Protein Complex Associated with Usher Syndrome Type 2*

Background: Assembly of the protein complex associated with Usher syndrome type 2 (USH2) is unclear. Results: WHRN and PDZD7 heterodimerization and their interactions with USH2A and GPR98 are required for USH2 complex formation. Conclusion: An USH2 quaternary protein complex may exist in vivo. Significance: This study provides clues to USH2 pathogenesis and may permit the complex reconstitution for therapeutic intervention. Usher syndrome (USH) is the leading genetic cause of combined hearing and vision loss. Among the three USH clinical types, type 2 (USH2) occurs most commonly. USH2A, GPR98, and WHRN are three known causative genes of USH2, whereas PDZD7 is a modifier gene found in USH2 patients. The proteins encoded by these four USH genes have been proposed to form a multiprotein complex, the USH2 complex, due to interactions found among some of these proteins in vitro, their colocalization in vivo, and mutual dependence of some of these proteins for their normal in vivo localizations. However, evidence showing the formation of the USH2 complex is missing, and details on how this complex is formed remain elusive. Here, we systematically investigated interactions among the intracellular regions of the four USH proteins using colocalization, yeast two-hybrid, and pull-down assays. We show that multiple domains of the four USH proteins interact among one another. Importantly, both WHRN and PDZD7 are required for the complex formation with USH2A and GPR98. In this USH2 quaternary complex, WHRN prefers to bind to USH2A, whereas PDZD7 prefers to bind to GPR98. Interaction between WHRN and PDZD7 is the bridge between USH2A and GPR98. Additionally, the USH2 quaternary complex has a variable stoichiometry. These findings suggest that a non-obligate, short term, and dynamic USH2 quaternary protein complex may exist in vivo. Our work provides valuable insight into the physiological role of the USH2 complex in vivo and informs possible reconstruction of the USH2 complex for future therapy.
A novel post-processing scheme for threshold detection on d=2 optical channels

In this paper, a novel post-processing scheme that significantly enhances the performance of a threshold based bit-by-bit detector on d=2 optical channel is proposed. The equalizer for this system is designed by jointly optimizing the target response and equalizer coefficients to minimize the noise and intersymbol interference (ISI) at the detector input. The bit-error-rate (BER) performance of the proposed scheme is close to the maximum-likelihood lower bound over the range of channel densities used on EFM/EFMPIus (2,10) coded channels for CD/DVD application, and it is better than that of the other schemes at all densities. The detector is simple in structure compared to the conventional partial response Viterbi schemes.
A social and self-reflective approach to MALL

Abstract There is a growing recognition that learning is increasingly taking place on the move and located beyond educational environments, ‘in the gaps of daily life’ (Sharples et al., 2007). And yet, language learners have mostly been perceived as being fixed in particular contexts, whether in the educational environment, abroad, or in their homes and communities. As several authors have pointed out (Castells et al., 2007; Okabe & Ito, 2006; Sharples et al., 2007), mobile devices allow learners to capitalize on the multiple sites that they travel through, whether they be public or private spaces, formal or informal ones, and reflect on their social practices and their learner selves. This paper investigates whether such a context-sensitive and social-oriented approach to Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) can be applied to the language learning context and how it is manifested. In order to carry out this investigation, we will be drawing on literature on the development of identity in second language learning (Norton, 2000; Kramsch, 2006; Phipps, 2007) and the use of ethnographic approaches to data collection and interpretation. We will be reporting on two case studies, involving learners of Icelandic and Serbian/Croatian, conducted over two years at a UK university. The paper concludes that the use of mobile technology enables language learners to use these devices as ‘a prosthesis of the self’ (Kress & Pachler, 2007) which allows them to explore the perception of their L2 selves in a variety of day-to-day scenarios.
Surfactant phospholipids and lavage phospholipase A2 in experimental Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

The effect of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia on surfactant phospholipids and lavage phospholipase A2 was investigated. Pneumocystis carinii infection was induced in adult rats by immunosuppression with dexamethasone administered in the drinking water (2 mg/L) for 6 to 8 wk. Surfactant phospholipids were isolated from lung lavage and lung tissue. Dexamethasone administration significantly increased total lung and lavage phospholipids in corticosteroid-treated animals receiving prophylaxis against P. carinii with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) when compared with no treatment control animals. Lavage surfactant phospholipids from P. carinii-infected rats were 25% that of no treatment control rats and less than 10% that of corticosteroid control animals receiving TMP-SMZ. Phospholipid composition of lavage phospholipids was also altered in P. carinii pneumonia, with slight increase in the percentage of sphingomyelin and reduced percentage of total phosphatidylcholine. Postlavage tissue phospholipids of P. carinii-infected rats were 4 times that of no treatment control animals, although only about 50% that of corticosteroid control animals. There was no significant difference in lavage phospholipase A2 activity for the P. carinii-infected and corticosteroid control groups, although the enzyme activity was at least 4 times that of the no treatment control group. The surfactant changes were associated with abnormal excised lung pressure-volume curves and decreased deflation stability in the animals with P. carinii. These results indicate that the corticosteroids used in this model induce an increase in both lung surfactant phospholipids and phospholipase A2. Despite this increase in lavage phospholipids, P. carinii pneumonia in this model causes an alveolar surfactant phospholipid deficiency without significant increase in phospholipase A2 activity. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Cavitating primary pulmonary tuberculosis in infancy.

An indication of the present-day occurrence of cavitating primary pulmonary tuberculosis in the European infant is given. Some of the factors tending to promote progression of the primary tuberculous focus in the lung are mentioned. A series of 27 cases of cavitating primary pulmonary tuber-culosis in African infants less than two years of age is presented with special reference to the radiological findings. The more important conditions to be considered in the radiological differential diagnosis are mentioned.
Robust EMG pattern recognition to muscular fatigue effect for powered wheelchair control

The main goal of this paper is to design an electromyogram (EMG) pattern classifier which is robust against muscular fatigue effects for powered wheelchair control. When a user operates a powered wheelchair using EMG-based interface for a long time, muscular fatigue often arises from sustained duration of muscle contraction. The recognition rate thus is degraded and controlling wheelchair gets more difficult. In this paper, an important observation is addressed that the variations of feature values due to the effect of the muscular fatigue are consistent for sustained duration. Based on this observation, we design a robust pattern classifier through the adaptation process of hyperboxes of Fuzzy Min-Max Neural Network. We present, as a result, a significantly improved performance in terms of the continuous usage of wheelchair.
Survival after Massive Hydroxychloroquine Overdose

Hydroxychloroquine overdose is infrequently reported and the majority of recommendations come from the greater experience with chloroquine poisoning. We report two cases of massive hydroxychloroquine poisoning (20 g in each case), both of which received advanced cardiac life support and a treatment regimen consisting of sodium bicarbonate, adrenaline and potassium. Both these patients survived beyond their initial rapid deterioration and cardiovascular collapse to be discharged from hospital without sequelae. These patients had the highest reported non-lethal serum concentrations (13.8 and 26.0 mg/l). They both demonstrated rapid recovery from a pre-arrest condition, following aggressive correction of electrolyte and pH disturbance and rapid distribution of the drug to peripheral tissues.
The development of a measure of intimate bonds

Synopsis This paper discusses the relevance of assessing the nature of intimate relationships and reports on the development of such an instrument. The Intimate Bond Measure (IBM) is a self-report measure assessing two key underlying dimensions, care and control. Its properties are assessed in separate studies, establishing its high test-retest reliability, the homogeneous nature of the isolated dimensions, its insensitivity to broad socio-demographic influences and its minimal sensitivity to depressed mood state. Support for its validity, in terms of both perceived and actual characteristics of care and control, is demonstrated. It provides a simple and efficient measure of central constructs underlying intimate relationships, and is of potential use in studies attempting to assess the relevance of intimate relationships to the onset and course of psychiatric disorders.
Ahorro y tipos de interés en los países de la Unión Europea

Este trabajo analiza la relacion entre ahorro publicoy tiposde interes a largo plazo en el contexto de lospaises de la Europa de los Quince, mediante la especificacion de un modelo que hace intervenir distintas variables y que interpreta el tipo de interes como el precio de equilibrio entre la oferta y la demanda de ahorro. Llega a las siguientes conclusiones: 1) el desahorro publico afecta de forma clara y el alza a los tipos de interes, 2) los tipos de interes en cada pais, dentro de la UE, estan estrechamente vinculados entre si, y 3) wl el tipo nominal de interes responde a la tasa de inflacion, pero no plenamente, al menos en el corto y medio plazo. Una implicacion fundamental de politica economica es que la potenciacion del ahorro publico favorece el crecimiento al posibilitar descensos de los tipos de interes. Por otro lado, la forma mas efectiva de reducir los tipos de interes es a traves de politicas coordinadas entre paises y debidamente acompasadas de saneamiento de las finanzas publicas. Finalmente, se considera que los costes transitorios que una politica de moderacion inflacionista pueda ejercer en el corto y medio plazo sobre los tipos reales de interes, debido a la falta de traslacion plena de inflacion a tipos nominales de interes, pueden evitarse si se instrumenta una politica creible, que al incidir sobre las expectativas inflacionistas, favorezca el descenso de tipos.