Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Avotermin for the improvement of scar appearance: a new pharmaceutical in a new therapeutic area

Disfiguring scarring in the skin is an area of high medical need. Current treatments for scarring have variable or limited effectiveness and have typically not been evaluated in randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trials. The prophylactic improvement in scar appearance, through administration of agents around the time of injury, represents a new therapeutic approach for which there are currently no registered pharmaceuticals. Extensive research into the mechanisms of scar-free and scar-forming healing has provided a robust scientific rationale for the development of avotermin (human recombinant TGF-β3) as a potential therapeutic for the improvement of scar appearance in humans. The pioneering approach used for the clinical development of avotermin in this new indication has explained the efficacy and safety profile of avotermin in several, prospectively randomized, double-blind clinical studies in human volunteers and patients. These studies, which show a clear translation from preclinical efficacy models to the clinical environment, have shown that prophylactic scar improvement is pharmaceutically achievable. It is anticipated that therapeutics such as avotermin, with a sound mechanistic basis and proof of effectiveness in suitably robust clinical trials, will be available to meet the needs of patients in the foreseeable future.
Organizational complexity and participatory innovation: participatory budgeting in local government

ABSTRACT In this study, we examined the relationship between organizational complexity and the adoption of participatory innovation in German municipal government. We proposed that organizations with more complex organizational structures are more likely to adopt participatory innovation. We investigated municipalities (N = 394) of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and used participatory budgeting as an indicator for innovation. Our results indicate that organizational complexity expressed by functional differentiation has a positive relationship with the occurrence of participatory innovation. The results inform a debate about the value trade-offs that are inherent to the structural design of public organizations.
The CHOICE pilot project: Challenges of implementing a combined peer work and shared decision‐making programme in an early intervention service

Youth participation is central to early intervention policy and quality frameworks. There is good evidence for peer support (individuals with lived experience helping other consumers) and shared decision making (involving consumers in making decisions about their own care) in adult settings. However, youth programs are rarely tested or described in detail. This report aims to fill this gap by describing a consumer focused intervention in an early intervention service.
Prior-guided automatic object cutout in personal album

Automatic object cutout in personal album is still an open problem for computer graphics and computer vision communities. In this paper we propose a two-stage prior-guided approach for automatic object cutout. Unlike traditional computational illumination or side information-based approaches, we utilize machining learning techniques to obtain prior knowledge for target object category (front-view straight-up person here). Based on the learnt priors, desired objects can be roughly located in an image. Another contribution in this paper is the novel regularization terms defined in line segment Markov network (LSMN). Various experiments are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Sensory synergy: Modeling the neural dynamics of environmental feedback to the central nervous system

Human motions are a result of complex-neural interactions between the central nervous system (CNS), sensory and musculoskeletal systems. In this paper, we are focusing in investigating these interactions relying mainly on the concept of sensory- and muscle-synergies. We hypothesize that the CNS is processing and transferring data from sensors and muscles in a unique low-dimensional signaling to simplify the complexity of environmental inputs and to facilitate recruiting muscles patterns. A pilot study involving computing sensory and muscle synergies of seven healthy participants while performing posture balance tasks was conducted to validate our hypotheses. Changes on the participant's muscles lengths during performing the task were used to represent proprioceptors and compute sensory synergies. The resultant muscles activities, on the other hand, were recorded and used to estimate muscle synergies. Experimental results suggest that the environmental inputs were translated into lower dimensional signals and used to move the target limb to the desired position immediately after the balance disturbance. Participants who showed better posture response were found to be likely to have a stronger correlation between the utilized sensory and muscle synergies. This preliminary study is considered fundamental to understand the neural strategies among the CNS, sensory and musculoskeletal systems.
Host-guest inclusion complex of mesalazine and β-cyclodextrin and spectrofluorometric determination of mesalazine.

The supramolecular interaction of mesalazine (MSZ) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) has been examined by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) light, infra-red (IR) light and fluorescence spectroscopy. The formation of an inclusion complex has been confirmed based on the changes of the spectral properties. MSZ-β-CD host-guest complex was formed in (1:1) stoichiometry and the inclusion constant (K = 1.359 × 10(2) L mol(-1) ) was ascertained by typical double reciprocal plots. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS°) of (MSZ-β-CD) were obtained. Based on the remarkable enhancement of the fluorescence intensity of MSZ produced through complex formation, a simple, accurate, rapid and highly sensitive spectrofluorometric method for the determination of MSZ in aqueous solution in the presence of β-CD was developed. The measurement of relative fluorescence intensity was carried with excitation at 330 nm and emission 493 nm. All variables affecting the reactions were studied and optimized. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range 0.1-0.45 µg/mL. Absorbance was found to increase linearly with increasing concentration of MSZ, which is corroborated by the calculated correlation coefficient values of 0.99989. The molar absorptivity, Sandell's sensitivity, detection and quantification limits were calculated. The validity of the described methods was assessed, and the method was successfully applied to the determination of MSZ in its pharmaceutical formulation. In addition, a solid inclusion complex was synthesized by co-precipitation method.
Predictors of home care expenditures and death at home for cancer patients in an integrated comprehensive palliative home care pilot program.

PURPOSE Empirical understanding of predictors for home care service use and death at home is important for healthcare planning. Few studies have examined these predictors in the context of the publicly funded Canadian home care system. This study examined predictors for home care use and home death in the context of a "gold standard" comprehensive palliative home care program pilot in Ontario where patients had equal access to home care services. METHODS Secondary clinical and administrative data sources were linked using a unique identifier to examine multivariate factors (predisposing, enabling, need) on total home care expenditures and home death for a cohort of cancer patients enrolled in the HPCNet pilot. RESULTS SUBJECTS WITH GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS (OR: 1.64; p=0.03) and those with higher income had increased odds of dying at home (OR: 1.14; p<0.001), whereas age, number of GP visits, gastrointestinal symptoms (i.e., nausea, vomiting, bowel obstruction) and eating problems (i.e., anorexia/cachexia) predicted home care expenditures. CONCLUSIONS Predictors of home death found in earlier studies appeared less important in this comprehensive palliative home care pilot. An income effect for home death observed in this study requires examination in future controlled studies. RELEVANCE Access to palliative home care that is adequately resourced and organized to address the multiple domains of issues that patients/families experience at the end of life has the potential to enable home death and shift care appropriately from limited acute care resources.
TLR4 is necessary for hyaluronan-mediated airway hyperresponsiveness after ozone inhalation.

RATIONALE Ozone is a common environmental air pollutant that contributes to hospitalizations for respiratory illness. The mechanisms, which regulate ozone-induced airway hyperresponsiveness, remain poorly understood. We have previously reported that toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-deficient animals are protected against ozone-induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and that hyaluronan (HA) mediates ozone-induced AHR. However, the relation between TLR4 and hyaluronan in the airway response to ozone remains unexplored. OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that HA acts as an endogenous TLR4 ligand for the development of AHR after ozone-induced environmental airway injury. METHODS TLR4-deficient and wild-type C57BL/6 mice were exposed to either inhaled ozone or intratracheal HA and the inflammatory and AHR response was measured. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS TLR4-deficient mice have similar levels of cellular inflammation, lung injury, and soluble HA levels as those of C57BL/6 mice after inhaled ozone exposure. However, TLR4-deficient mice are partially protected from AHR after ozone exposure as well as after direct intratracheal instillation of endotoxin-free low molecular weight HA. Similar patterns of TLR4-dependent cytokines were observed in the bronchial alveolar lavage fluid after exposure to either ozone or HA. Exposure to ozone increased immunohistological staining of TLR4 on lung macrophages. Furthermore, in vitro HA exposure of bone marrow-derived macrophages induced NF-kappaB and production of a similar pattern of proinflammatory cytokines in a manner dependent on TLR4. CONCLUSIONS Our observations support the observation that extracellular matrix HA contributes to ozone-induced airways disease. Furthermore, our results support that TLR4 contributes to the biological response to HA by mediating both the production of proinflammatory cytokines and the development of ozone-induced AHR.
Heme Oxygenase Inhibition by 1‐Aryl‐2‐(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl/1H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐1‐yl)ethanones and Their Derivatives

Previous studies by our research group have been concerned with the design of selective inhibitors of heme oxygenases (HO‐1 and HO‐2). The majority of these were based on a four‐carbon linkage of an azole, usually an imidazole, and an aromatic moiety. In the present study, we designed and synthesized a series of inhibition candidates containing a shorter linkage between these groups, specifically, a series of 1‐aryl‐2‐(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl/1H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐1‐yl)ethanones and their derivatives. As regards HO‐1 inhibition, the aromatic moieties yielding best results were found to be halogen‐substituted residues such as 3‐bromophenyl, 4‐bromophenyl, and 3,4‐dichlorophenyl, or hydrocarbon residues such as 2‐naphthyl, 4‐biphenyl, 4‐benzylphenyl, and 4‐(2‐phenethyl)phenyl. Among the imidazole‐ketones, five (36–39, and 44) were found to be very potent (IC50<5 μM) toward both isozymes. Relative to the imidazole‐ketones, the series of corresponding triazole‐ketones showed four compounds (54, 55, 61, and 62) having a selectivity index >50 in favor of HO‐1. In the case of the azole‐dioxolanes, two of them (80 and 85), each possessing a 2‐naphthyl moiety, were found to be particularly potent and selective HO‐1 inhibitors. Three non‐carbonyl analogues (87, 89, and 91) of 1‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐2‐(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)ethanone were found to be good inhibitors of HO‐1. For the first time in our studies, two azole‐based inhibitors (37 and 39) were found to exhibit a modest selectivity index in favor of HO‐2. The present study has revealed additional candidates based on inhibition of heme oxygenases for potentially useful pharmacological and therapeutic applications.
Price Level Convergence and Real Exchange Rate Determinants in the New Member States of the European Union

Differences in price levels as well as inflation rates among countries have been subject of discussion for a long time. More than the actual levels, however, the question of determinants of price levels in time and a possible convergence is key for the new member states with respect to the Maastricht criteria. The dynamics of price levels is crucial, and many suggestions have been put forward to explain the observed trends and changes. This thesis focuses on the determinants of relative price level, and hence real exchange rate, developments in the new member states of the EU and employs a regression analysis to examine their change in time. As most of the countries in focus are transition economies, structural variables are also included among the independent variables. We find that the Balassa-Samuelson effect is key to explaining real exchange rate developments as the effect of productivity differential has been significant over the whole period examined. However, in the recent years, marked by the onset of the crisis, other factors, such as the structure of trade and Euro area membership, have become more prominent. JEL Classification E31, F15, F31, P30
Magnetic tumor targeting of β-glucosidase immobilized iron oxide nanoparticles

Directed enzyme/prodrug therapy (DEPT) has promising application for cancer therapy. However, most current DEPT strategies face shortcomings such as the loss of enzyme activity during preparation, low delivery and transduction efficiency in vivo and difficultly of monitoring. In this study, a novel magnetic directed enzyme/prodrug therapy (MDEPT) was set up by conjugating β-glucosidase (β-Glu) to aminated, starch-coated, iron oxide magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs), abbreviated as β-Glu–MNP, using glutaraldehyde as the crosslinker. This β-Glu–MNP was then characterized in detail by size distribution, zeta potential, FTIR spectra, TEM, SQUID and magnetophoretic mobility analysis. Compared to free enzyme, the conjugated β-Glu on MNPs retained 85.54% ± 6.9% relative activity and showed much better temperature stability. The animal study results showed that β-Glu–MNP displays preferable pharmacokinetics characteristics in relation to MNPs. With an adscititious magnetic field on the surface of a tumor, a significant quantity of β-Glu–MNP was selectively delivered into a subcutaneous tumor of a glioma-bearing mouse. Remarkably, the enzyme activity of the delivered β-Glu in tumor lesions showed as high as 20.123±5.022 mU g−1 tissue with 2.14 of tumor/non-tumor β-Glu activity.
Overview of the Evasion Resilience Testing Technology for Network Based Intrusion Protecting Devices

With the rapid development of information security technology, Network Based Intrusion Protecting Devices(NIPD), like firewall and NIDS, holding the function of detecting and blocking network attacks, have become the primary security guard of critical information infrastructure, significantly reduced the security threat of network attack. Regarding these features, attackers are continuously pursuing efficient ways for obfuscating attack behaviors to evade from the detecting mechanism of NIPD. Once the NIPD deployed in the network boundary is found vulnerable, malicious attackers can bypass it with advanced evasion technology to deliver an exploit, making the protected network information infrastructure be directly exposure to network threats from outside, which brings in security risks and results in serious consequence. So doing research on the testing technology for the evasion resilience capability of NIPD is critical. This paper first introduced the working mechanism of NIPD, providing a comprehensive survey on the achievements on the field of current evasion resilience testing technology. Then, the defects of the current work are analyzed and improvements on the corresponding work are described accordingly. Finally, the further research directions in this field is discussed in detail.
STAKEHOLDER PERCEPTIONS OF TOURISM ASSETS AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN DA NANG, VIETNAM

Over the last decade, the coastal city of Da Nang, Vietnam has experienced a considerable rate of growth in its domestic and international tourist visitation. Yet, little is known about how to manage this growth into appropriate sustainable tourism for development. To better understand a way forward, 16 tourism stakeholders from the public and private sectors in Da Nang were interviewed. Specifically, questions inquired about tourism assets and sustainability. The findings in this research help to establish baseline perceptions of tourism stakeholders in Da Nang and represent a step forward in the city’s interest in sustainable tourism for development.
Prevalence of and relationship between rhinoconjunctivitis and lower airway diseases in compost workers with current or former exposure to organic dust.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE The relationship between allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma is well characterized. However, it remains unknown whether an association exists between symptoms of upper and lower airway diseases and occupational bioaerosol exposure beyond the scope of allergy. MATERIALS AND METHODS The current cross-sectional study focuses on 190 current and 59 former compost workers exposed to bioaerosols. Work-related symptoms indicative of conjunctivitis, rhinitis and lower airway irritation were assessed and compared with 38 non-exposed control subjects. Allergic asthma was diagnosed using a calculated score, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was spirometrically determined. RESULTS 12 current, 8 former and 5 non-exposed subjects were diagnosed with allergic asthma and excluded from further analysis. Multivariate logistic regression models suggested that cough and chronic bronchitis in current compost workers were associated with eye irritation (OR 2.75 (0.93-8.07); OR 7.22 (1.12-46.5)). Chronic bronchitis in former workers was strongly associated with work-related eye irritation (OR 38.6 (1.33->1000) and nose irritation (OR 25.0 (1.21-513)). CONCLUSIONS After excluding allergic asthmatics, there was no evidence that eye or nose irritation was due to an underlying atopic disease, but rather to non-allergic mucous membrane irritation syndrome. Therefore, the higher incidence of chronic bronchitis in former compost workers may reflect a chronic irritative process triggered by exposure to bioaerosols.
Robotically Enhanced Rubber Hand Illusion

The rubber hand illusion is a well-known multisensory illusion. In brief, watching a rubber hand being stroked by a paintbrush while one's own unseen hand is synchronously stroked causes the rubber hand to be attributed to one's own body and to “feel like it's my hand. ” The rubber hand illusion is thought to be triggered by the synchronized tactile stimulation of both the subject's hand and the fake hand. To extend the conventional rubber hand illusion, we introduce robotic technology in the form of a master-slave telemanipulator. The developed one degree-of-freedom master-slave system consists of an exoskeleton master equipped with an optical encoder that is worn on the subject's index finger and a motor-actuated index finger on the rubber hand, which allows the subject to perform unilateral telemanipulation. The moving rubber hand illusion has been studied by several researchers in the past with mechanically connected rigs between the subject's body and the fake limb. The robotic instruments let us investigate the moving rubber hand illusion with less constraints, thus behaving closer to the classic rubber hand illusion. In addition, the temporal delay between the body and the fake limb can be precisely manipulated. The experimental results revealed that the robotic instruments significantly enhance the rubber hand illusion. The time delay is significantly correlated with the effect of the multisensory illusion, and the effect significantly decreased at time delays over 100 ms. These findings can potentially contribute to the investigations of neural mechanisms in the field of neuroscience and of master-slave systems in the field of robotics.
Requirement of heme for growth of Bacteroides fragilis

Heme or protoporphyrin IX was required for growth of Bacteroides fragilis in a defined medium. The amount of heme necessary for half-maximal growth was 2 to 10 ng/ml (3.8 to 15 pmol/ml) among the Bacteroides species and strains tested. The growth rate, metabolic products from glucose fermentation, and cell yields were affected by the concentration of heme in the medium and by the length of time the culture was incubated. When heme was growth limiting (4 ng/ml), growth rates decreased by 50%, cultures started producing lactic and fumaric acids, and the cell yields declined. The cell yield for B. fragilis (ATCC 25285) at 24 h in medium containing 6.5 microgram of heme per ml was 69 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of glucose compared to 16 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of glucose with 4 ng of heme per ml. B. fragilis was unable to grow in defined medium when a porphyrin precursor, delta-aminolevulenic acid or porphobilinogen, was added in place of heme.
Numerical analysis based fast intra prediction algorithm in HEVC

The latest video coding standard HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) provides up to 35 intra prediction modes to achieve more accurate prediction. However, a larger number of prediction modes leads to higher encoding complexity. To accelerate the intra mode decision in HEVC, an improved algorithm based on numerical analysis of the neighboring reference samples of coding units is proposed. Four filters are designed to reduce the candidate modes. And an algorithm to seek the proper thresholds for the filters is developed. The experimental results show that when compared to the test model HM 12.0 of HEVC, the proposed method can save up to 28.40% of encoder time with slight increase of BD-rate and negligible loss of PSNR. Furthermore, it is easy to combine our approach with other fast algorithms to achieve more improvement.
Asset Prices under Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes

Motivated by the potential contribution of China's unilateral peg to asset price in flation in the US before the financial crisis of 2007-2009, this paper studies the effect of alternative exchange rate regimes ( flexible versus fixed) on the response of asset prices to economic shocks. I use a two-country general equilibrium model with sticky prices and extend earlier work on this topic by making use of a newer method for analyzing portfolio choice in DSGE models. My findings suggest that asset price responses to shocks differ across regimes. In particular, under a fixed regime, which is operated by the foreign country, responses to shocks in the home country are stronger than under a flexible regime. For home asset prices, however, the amplification of shock responses tends to be small. Applied to the US and China, this implies that, under China's prevailing unilateral peg, the Fed's expansionary monetary policy before the crisis resulted in a slightly but not substantially stronger US asset price infl ation relative to the one that would have been observed under a floating USD/CNY exchange rate.