Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fonction de CFTR dans les processus de réparation de l’épithélium des voies aériennes et développement de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques en fibrose kystique

Airway damage and remodelling are important components of lung pathology progression in cystic fibrosis (CF). Although repair mechanisms are engaged to restore the epithelial integrity, these processes are obviously insufficient to maintain lung function in CF airways. Our aims were therefore to study how the basic cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) defect could impact epithelial wound healing and to determine if CFTR correction could improve it. Wound-healing experiments, as well as cell migration and proliferation assays, were performed to study the early phases of epithelial repair in human CF and non-CF airway cells. CFTR function was evaluated using CFTR small interferring (si)RNA and inhibitor GlyH101 in non-CF cells, and conversely after CFTR rescue with the CFTR corrector VRT-325 in CF cells. Wound-healing experiments first showed that airway cells from CF patients repaired slower than non-CF cells. CFTR inhibition or silencing in non-CF primary airway cells significantly inhibited wound closure. GlyH101 also decreased cell migration and proliferation. Interestingly, wild-type CFTR transduction in CF airway cell lines or CFTR correction with VRT-325 in CFBEDF508 and primary CF bronchial monolayers significantly improved wound healing. Altogether our results demonstrated that functional CFTR plays a critical role in wound repair, and CFTR correction may represent a novel strategy to promote the airway repair processes in CF.
Vibration Characteristics Induced by Cavitation in a Centrifugal Pump with Slope Volute

Cavitation is one of the instability sources in centrifugal pump, which would cause some unexpected results. The goal of this paper was to analyze the influence of cavitation process on different frequency bands in a centrifugal pump with slope volute. And special attention was paid to low frequency signals, which were often filtered in the reported researches. Results show that at noncavitation condition, vibration level is closely related to flow structure interior pump. At partial flow rates, especially low flow rates, vibration level increases rapidly with the onset of rotating stall. At cavitation condition, it is proved that cavitation process has a significant impact on low frequency signals. With cavitation number decreasing, vibration level first rises to a local maximum, then it drops to a local minimum, and finally it rises again. At different flow rates, vibration trends in variable frequency bands differ obviously. Critical point inferred from vibration level is much larger than that from 3% head drop, which indicates that cavitation occurs much earlier than that reflected in head curve. Also, it is noted that high frequency signals almost increase simultaneously with cavitation occurring, which can be used to detect cavitation in centrifugal pump.
A landscape approach towards ecological integrity of catchments and streams

Landscape ecology principles were applied to study how in-stream structures as well as terrestrial land cover and land use affect the ecological integrity of streams. Focusing on the role of habitat factors at multiple spatial scales of catchments as independent variables, macroinvertebrates, brown trout (Salmo trutta) and freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) were used as dependent response variables. Special efforts were made to capture the range of impacts along the gradient from altered to near-natural catchments in Europe’s centre and north. With 25 catchments in the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe as a landscape laboratory and a natural experiment design I studied the relationships between catchment land cover composition, riparian vegetation, and in-stream habitat characteristics on the one hand, and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages on the other. The most important variables were at the terrestrial catchment level. The usefulness of data representing higher taxonomic levels and the use of the abundance of individuals from the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera, as surrogates for species richness was evaluated. Plecoptera was identified as the most effective group. Comparison of the abundance and taxonomic richness of the Plecoptera order in relation to catchment forest cover and water chemistry demonstrated the occurrence of non-linear response to forest cover. Using Swedish data I showed that it is possible to predict viable freshwater pearl mussel populations from riparian land cover, water chemistry and the abundance of the host fish species (brown trout). In another study a positive effect of woody debris on the abundance and size of brown trout in Swedish forest streams was observed. Altogether these results stress the importance of adopting a multiple scale perspective when assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes, from the amount of local in-stream structures as large woody debris (LWD) to the effects of riparian and catchment land cover composition and land use. To support implementation of EU policies about good ecological status a systematic landscape approach including (1) quantification of the ecological integrity concept, and (2) collaborative and communicative bottom-up participatory approaches to spatial planning need to be combined.
RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF PNEUMOCOCCAL MENINGITIS AND PNEUMONIA WITH SYNPNEUMONIC EFFUSION USING A NOVEL STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE IMMUNOCHROMATOGRAPHIC ASSAY

CONTEXT : Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) infections are an important cause of mortality in young children. There are a number of problems associated with establishing the microbial etiology by conventional methods, thus highlighting the need for a rapid, improved and accurate test method. A rapid immunochromatographic assay has been developed for detecting a pneumococcal cell wall antigen common to all 92 serotypes. AIM: The aim of the study was to ascertain whether the Binax NOW test when performed on Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and pleural fluid can give any additional information vis a vis the culture and other methods of identification of S. pneumoniae. MATERIAL & METHODS: CSF and pleural fluid samples were collected from suspected cases of both meningitis and/or pneumonia with or without synpneumonic effusions in the age group of 28 days to 60 months. The samples were subjected to Gram's stain, culture and sensitivity, CRP, cell count, cell type, protein and sugar tests. In addition, the immunochromatographic test (ICT) (Binax NOW, Scarborough, ME) was performed on all samples to detect S. pneumoniae polysaccharide antigen. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done in patients who had a positive ICT in the pleural fluid. RESULTS: A total of 104 children were recruited, of whom 90 were cases of suspected meningitis and 14 of pneumonia with synpneumonic effusions. The ICT result was positive in 19 patients, in 10 of 90 CSF and 9 of 14 pleural fluid samples. Culture for S. pneumoniae was positive in 6 cases (9 specimens). When ICT was compared to culture, the sensitivity of ICT was 100% (6/6) and the specificity was 85.97 (85/95). Streptococcus mitis (one), Staphylococcus epidermidis (one), Pseudomonas (one) isolated in culture gave false positive ICT results. Previous antibiotic exposure did not seem to alter the sensitivity of the test. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge this is the first Indian study on Binax NOW test on CSF and pleural fluid. The ICT test performed on CSF and pleural fluid samples not only augments the standard diagnostic methods of blood and fluid cultures, but is useful even in patients with prior antibiotic therapy.
SHRIMP UPb zircon dating of the Triassic Ermaying and Tongchuan formations in Shanxi , China and its stratigraphic implications

Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb dating was carried out using zircons from tuffs in the Ermaying and Tongchuan formations of Shanxi, China. The results show weighted mean ages of 245.9±3.2 Ma for a sample from Member II of the Ermaying Formation, 243.1±3.9 Ma for a sample from Member I of the Tongchuan Formation, and 238.6±2.6 Ma and 234.6±6.5 Ma for two samples from the upper part of Member II of the Tongchuan Formation. These ages indicate that the lower part of the Ermaying Formation, which contains the Shaanbeikannemeyeria assemblage, is mostly likely Lower Triassic in age, whereas, the Tongchuan Formation is likely late Anisian to Ladinian, Middle Triassic.
Exploratory factorial analysis and reliability of the Malay version of centre for epidemiological studies depression scale (MCES-D) in a group of Malaysian junior doctors

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the internal reliability, factorial construct and concurrent validity of the Malay version of Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (MCES-D) scale among a group of junior doctors in Malaysia. Methods: The English version of CES-D scale was translated into Malay language using backtranslated technique. Both version of CES-D, and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) were distributed to a group of 117 junior doctors in a teaching hospital in Malaysia. Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation was performed to explore the factor structure of the scale. Results: The results showed satisfactory internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.778) with temporal stability over a 2-week period. Exploratory factor analysis suggested four factors, labeled as ‘Depressed Affect’, ‘Positive Affect’, ‘Interpersonal Problems’ and ‘Somatic Complaints’. All the factor scores were correlated significantly with HADS and English CES-D scale. Conclusion: The results suggesting that MCES-D is appropriate for assessment of depression among educated Malaysian adults.
Nutritional value of fresh Gambel oak browse for Spanish goats

Little information is available on the nutritional value of fresh browse for ruminants. This study examined the nutritive value of Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.) for Spanish goats. Fresh Gambel oak browse was harvested at 2 phenological stages and mixed with chopped alfalfa hay to formulate 6 diets, varying in oak content. Diets included 95% juvenile oak/5% alfalfa (95J), 80% juvenile oak/20% alfalfa (80J), 65% juvenile oak/35% alfalfa (65J), 80% mature oak/20% alfalfa (80M), 40% mature oak/60% alfalfa (40M), and an alfalfa control (ALF). Diets were evaluated for goats using a series of digestion-balance trials, in a completely randomized design. Dry matter intake was highest (P < 0.01) for animals on diets with mature oak (80M-37.8, 40M-34.5 grams kg(-1) day(-1), and lowest on diets containing juvenile oak (95J-23.6, 80J-31.6, 65J-29.9 grams kg(-1) day(-1)). Digestibility of dry matter and cell wall components was lower (P < 0.01) for mature oak diets, and higher for juvenile oak diets. Digestibility coefficients for dry matter were as follows: (80M-57.8%, 40M-58.8%, 95J-68.6%, 80J-65.3%, 65J-66.3%. Digestibility coefficients for cell wall were: 80M-33.1%, 40M-37.4%, 95J-53.7%, 80J-45.8%, 65J-47.3%. All diets provided nitrogen and energy in excess of maintenance requirements, as reflected by weight gains for all animals in every trial. Fecal and urinary nitrogen losses did not appear to be related to tannin content of the diets, since juvenile oak diets resulted in reduced nitrogen outputs, presumably due to reduced nitrogen intakes for these diets. We conclude that Gambel oak, even juvenile material in high dietary percentages (95%), provides adequate nutrients and should be considered a valuable forage for goats in oakbrush habitats.
Effective elastic properties of heavily faulted structures

Recent results have shown how to construct the smoothed transmission properties of a plane fault from the parameters of its microstructure in two particular cases. In the first, the fault is modelled as a plane distribution of approximately circular cracks while elsewhere the faces of the fault are held together by the ambient pressure and friction. In the second, the model consists of a plane distribution of approximately circular stuck regions within an area where the faces are separated as for a crack. The averaging method for a sequence of such slip planes enables the construction of overall properties of a material weakened by a series of parallel faults. With the first model, where the distribution of cracks is sparse, this approach leads to exactly the same expressions to first order in the number density as for dilute volume distributions of cracks. The higher-order terms do not agree since they refer to crack-crack interactions and in the Schoenberg-Douma averaging process only the overall interactions between faults are allowed for, not individual interactions between cracks on different faults. Application of this procedure to the second model, in which the fracture density is high, gives for the first time an exact first-order formula for the overall properties of heavily cracked material, the cracks being aligned and confined to the fault planes. These expressions are first order in the (small) parameter, denoting the proportion of each slip plane that is welded. The unwelded part may be free (any cracks) or filled with an incompressible inviscid fluid. An alternative approach in either case is to replace each fault or slip plane by an equivalent thin layer of material whose properties are related, at least in part, to the structure of the fault. The corresponding process of averaging over the layers is, in this case, the original Backus method. Comparison between the properties of the equivalent layers for dilute cracks and for extended cracking leads to an extension of the slip relations on a single heavily cracked fault to cases where the cracks contain secondary material with arbitrary elastic properties. Finally, results for a stack of parallel, heavily cracked faults is identical, to first order in the number density of the contact regions on the faults, to those for a cubical packing of spheres. This further reveals the insensitivity of first-order results to many of the details of the microstructure.
CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS TO REPRODUCTIVE TRACT INFECTIONS AND INFERTILITY IN RURAL INDIA

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to find out how socioeconomic, cultural, educational and religious factors play a role in causation of RTI/STD. STUDY DESIGN: This study was conducted at Gynae, OPD of Dist. Hospital Samba, Jammu, J&K. 200 patients coming for infertility checkup and treatment between Feb. 2013 to Jan. 2014 were included in the study. It was an observational cross sectional study. A pretested, semistructured questionnaire was administered which included information about demographic, socioeconomic profile, menstrual and sexual practices, obstetrics treatment and family history. Complaints suggestive of RTI/STI were noted. RESULTS: Maximum incidence of RTI/STI was observed in the age group 25 – 30 years. RTI/STI was more in illiterate patients (64) as compared to literate patients (53 %). A negative correlation between income and prevalence of RTI was found. Prevalence of RTI was slightly more in patients from joint families (67%) as compared to women from nuclear families (33%). Similarly people living in Kutcha houses showed more prevalence of RTI (66%) as compared to pucca houses (48%). Correlation between RTI and housing was not significant (p > 0.005). Tap water supplied residents showed less prevalence of RTI 50% as compared to hand pump using residents 65%, however, correlation was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The incidence of RTI was 54% in daily bathers and among irregular bathers, the incidence was 66%. The prevalence of RTI was 54%in regular wearers of underwear whereas in irregular wearers the prevalence was 75%. Genital hygiene correlation, the prevalence of RTI in pad users was 42.8% whereas the prevalence in non – pad users was 61%. There was statistically significant correlation between the use of rag during menses and the prevalence of RTI. RTI was more prevalent (64.8%) in women sharing toilets with others while same was 45.6% in women among having separate toilet facilities. CONCLUSION: RTI/STI is increasing worldwide. HIV and RTI/STI share the same mode of transmission and the persons suffering from STI/RTI practice the risk behavior which increases the probability of acquiring HIV. There is great need to develop strategies for awareness generation and management of these diseases.
Biological activity of essential oil from aerial parts of Artemisia aucheri Boiss. from Iran.

Artemisia aucheri Boiss. is a shrub from Asteraceae family has been widespread in Iran. In traditional medicine, A aucheri is used for its astringent, disinfectant, antimicrobial and antiparasitic properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil from aerial parts of A aucheri against different microorganisms including Gram positive, Gram negative bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeast by disc diffusion and micro broth dilution assays. The antioxidant activity of A aucheri essential oil was evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging system. Fifty five components were identified by GC and GC/MS analysis and quantified from the essential oil of A aucheri, representing 98% of total oil. The major components were geranyl acetate (17.2%), E-citral (17.1%), linalool (12.7%), geraniol (10.7%), Z-citral (10.5%). The antimicrobial results showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to the oil and Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans showed the best sensitivity to the oil. The A aucheri has powerful antioxidant activity than that of Trolox. Some investigations were be done for evaluating the efficacy of essential oil.
Isolation and identification of lactic acid bacteria from different stages of traditional Malaysian tempeh production

Aims: There are many methods of soybean tempeh production as they vary according to the producers. Isolation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from tempeh was carried out at different stages of the tempeh production to examine the occurrence of LAB and to identify the isolates. Methodology and results: Morphological, physiological and chemical characteristics with the use of API 20 Strep, API 50 CHL kit and 16S rRNA gene sequences were employed to identify LAB. By using API 20 Strep and API 50 CHL kit, fourteen LAB were obtained and twelve isolates have been successfully identified: seven coccus LAB isolates as Enterococcus faecium, four cocci-bacilli as Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. mesenteroides, one bacilli as Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. delbrueckii. Meanwhile, two bacilli isolates were categorised as unidentified strain. On the other hand, molecular identification using 27f and 1429r primer had revealed that L. mesenteroides and L. delbrueckii were identified as Leuconostoc lactis and Leuconostoc sp. respectively. Whereas, two previously unidentified bacilli isolates were identified as Alicyclobacillus sp. Conclusion, significance, and impact of study: This result shows that various types of LAB was detected at every stages of tempeh production and had been identified by using two different techniques. The unique characteristics of LAB offer their potential towards food and pharmaceutical industry.
On the magnetic field fluctuations during magnetospheric tail current disruption: A statistical approach

[1] The objective of this study is to investigate the nature of the magnetic field relaxation process associated with tail current disruption on the basis of magnetic field measurements collected in the near-Earth tail regions. In detail, using magnetic field data for three current disruption (CD) events as observed by AMPTEE/CCE spacecraft, we investigate the scaling features of the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the magnetic field fluctuations at different timescales τ. The PDFs of magnetic field fluctuations in non-MHD domain (i.e., below the proton gyroperiod) show non-Gaussian tails and the probability of return Pτ(0) scales in this domain as τ−α with α > 1/2, which is compatible with a Levy statistics. Conversely, the scaling of the PDFs of the CD magnetic fluctuations in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) regime is compatible with a classical Brownian motion α ∼ 1/2. These findings are discussed in terms of an anomalous diffusion process, involving the magnetic field relaxation during CD. Furthermore, the relevance of these results of a non-Gaussian statistics at the shorter timescales is discussed in connection with the non-MHD nature of the CD phenomenon.
Chemical composition, antiacetylcholinesterase inhibition and toxicity activities of essential oil from Hyptis dilatata (Lamiaceae) flowers

The content and chemical composition of the essential oil may vary in certain species according to the climatic period. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of seasonality on the chemical composition of the essential oil from Hyptis dilatata flowers, to perform biological activities such as antimicrobial, inhibition of acetylcholinesterase enzyme and to evaluate the toxicity of the essential oil using for the test as indicator Artemia salina. H. dilatata flowers were collected in rainy and dry periods and extracted by hydro distillation using extractor of Clevenger condenser double Spell model. Analysis of essential oil resulted in 22 chemical components. The major constituents for dry and rainy periods were α-pinene (26.2 and 10.9%), 3-Carene (12.2 and 3.7%), fenchone (17% and 14.8%) and β-cariophyllene (16.36 and 30.9%), respectively. The essential oil inhibited the acetylcholinesterase enzyme in 93.4% (rainy period) and 92.4% (dry period). Between the dry and rainy periods, the best LC50 in microbial activity in vitro was obtained in the rainy period tested in Staphylococcus aureus bacterium (LC50 49.8 mg ml-1). The cytotoxic activity of A. salina in H. dilatata essential oil proved LC50 results below of 100 μg ml-1. Therefore, the chemical characterization and testing of biological activities of essential oils showed promising results in the search for new active substances and development of bioproducts of vegetable origin. Key words: Hyptis dilatata, α-pinene, fenchone, β-cariofilene, 3-carene.