Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TraM of plasmid R1 regulates its own expression

Regulation of the traM gene, which encodes a factor essential for conjugation of resistance plasmid R1, was studied in vivo using translational gene fusions. tram″lacZ fusion constructs were transferred to the chromosome via the recombinant phage λRZ5. The level of β‐galactosidase expressed by the lysogens indicates that the traM promoters are very active. Expression of traM was diminished five‐ to sixfold when the single‐copy plasmids R1 or R1‐19 were present in trans. When recombinant plasmids carrying traM were present at higher copy numbers, traM expression was reduced as much as 45‐fold. The negative effect of R1 plasmids on traM expression in trans, which we interpret as autoregulation, was observed regardless of whether the plasmids were conjugatjvely repressed or derepressed. Site‐specific mutagenesis of the region encoding the N‐terminus of the TraM protein eliminated the autoregulative effect indicating that the N‐terminal amino acids of the protein are important to its DNA‐binding function. The autoregulatory behaviour of TraM is allele specific. R1‐ or P307‐encoded TraM molecules were found to recognize only the cognate DNA.
Oscillatory MEG Motor Activity Reflects Therapy-Related Plasticity in Stroke Patients

Background. A goal of stroke rehabilitation is to harness the capacity of the brain to reorganize following neurological damage and enable restoration of function. Objective. To understand how neural oscillatory motor responses change following a therapeutic intervention and to illuminate whether these neurophysiological alterations correlate with improvements on behavioral measurements. Methods. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to evaluate plasticity in motor networks following 2 weeks of intensive task-oriented therapy, which was paired with sham or peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS). Patients completed unilateral finger tapping before and 3 weeks after therapy as whole-head MEG data were acquired. MEG data were imaged using beamforming, and the resulting event-related synchronizations and desynchronizations (ERSs/ERDs) were subjected to region-of-interest (ROI) analyses. For each ROI, the authors compared the baseline and postintervention MEG response amplitude, volume, and peak location for premovement β ERD, movement-onset γ ERS, and postmovement β ERS. Results. Following therapy, all patients showed reduced postmovement β ERS response amplitudes in bilateral precentral gyri and reduced γ ERS amplitudes in the precentral gyrus of the affected hemisphere. This latter response also distinguished treatment groups, as the posttherapy γ reduction was greater in patients who received PNS. Finally, both β and γ response amplitudes were significantly correlated with improvement on several behavioral indices of motor function. Discussion. These case-series data indicate that oscillatory MEG responses may be useful in gauging plasticity in motor cortices following therapy in stroke patients.
Preparation and anti-inflammatory activity of triptolide ethosomes in an erythema model

Context: The aim of this work was to evaluate the suitability of ethosomes as carriers for the topical application of triptolide in a rat model of erythema. Objective: We determined the optimal conditions for preparing ethosomes, and we measured their vesicle size by a laser particle-size analyzer and the efficiency of entrapment of triptolide by ultracentrifugation. Methods: The in vitro percutaneous permeation of triptolide-loaded ethosomes was investigated by measuring diffusion across a sample of rat skin. To explore the transdermal delivery in vivo, we used a model in which erythema was induced in rats by methyl nicotinate and determined the change in erythema index caused by the anti-inflammatory activity of triptolide by a reflection spectrophotometer. Results: The optimal conditions for preparing triptolide ethosomes consisted of ultrasonication of 45% (v/v) ethanol and 2% (w/v) DPPC for 5 minutes, which produced an average vesicle size of 51.4 nm and an entrapment efficiency of 98%. This ethosomal formulation of triptolide caused the greatest in vitro 24-hour accumulation of triptolide (83.7%) with no permeation time delay, and it reduced erythema in vivo more rapidly and more completely than other formulations. Conclusions: Ethosomes might be a promising carrier that would enable the beneficial properties of triptolide to be safely delivered in a topical formulation.
Crickets detect the genetic similarity of mating partners via cuticular hydrocarbons

Animals should decipher information about the genetic make‐up of conspecifics in order to enhance the fitness benefits associated with mate choice. Although there is increasing evidence to suggest that animals make genetically informed decisions about their mating partners, we understand relatively little about the sensory mechanisms informing these decisions. Here, we investigate whether cuticular hydrocarbons, chemical compounds found on the cuticle of most terrestrial arthropods, provide a means of discerning genetic similarity during mate choice in the cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. We found that individuals preferentially mated with partners who share more dissimilar cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and that similarity in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles between mating pairs correlated with their genetic similarity. Our results provide good evidence that cuticular hydrocarbon profiles offer a means of assessing genetic compatibility in T. oceanicus, enabling individuals to choose their most genetically suitable mate.
The Educational Gradient in Life Expectancy in Europe: Preliminary Evidence from SHARE

▸ Economic inequality manifests itself very prominently in inequality of health outcomes in general, and inequality of lifespans in particular ▸ We explore the education gradient in life-expectancy in the SHARE data and we confirm that higher education carries an important longevity premium which is largest in Eastern countries ▸ We find relatively small education-based life expectancy differentials in Northern Europe, that is, in countries with egalitarian and generous welfare policies, smaller income inequalities and lower poverty rates. However, the education gradients are also relatively small in Southern countries ▸ SHARE provides a unique wealth of socio-economic and health variables that should allow researchers to broaden the analysis of the socio-economic gradient of survival and healthy survival in a harmonised dataset
Do peer characteristics mediate the association between adolescent extracurricular activity participation and positive academic engagement

Adolescent participation in extracurricular activities is associated with positive academic engagement measures, yet the mechanisms responsible for this link remain relatively unknown. The current study had two goals; first to investigate the association between participation across different types of structured activities and indicators of positive academic engagement for Australian adolescents; and second, to examine if these associations were mediated by the affiliated activity peer group. A sample of 1850 year 8 and year 11 students (mean age 14.6 years) from government and private schools across Western Australia completed the self-report survey. Extracurricular participation was positively associated with measures of school liking, school attachment, school grades and university intentions, particularly for students who participated in non-sport activities or a mixed portfolio of sports plus activities. In addition, peer characteristics were found to partially mediate the association between the mixed sports plus activities group and academic engagement indicators. Keywords: adolescence, extracurricular activities, peers, academic engagement
Perceptual multiband spectral subtraction for noise reduction in hearing aids

This paper presents a low complexity noise reduction method by a perceptual multiband spectral subtraction for CIC type hearing aids. The noisy speech is first perceptually decomposed by a 1/3 octave filter bank by ANSI S1.11, and the noise is estimated by an enhanced entropy based voice activity detection (VAD), and then noise is subtracted by a simple multiband spectral subtraction. Simulations show that under different environments the proposed algorithm averagely improves segmental SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) and PESQ (Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality) by 6.27dB and 0.32, respectively, and performs better compared to the previous approach. In addition, informal listening test shows there is not musical noise in the processed speech.
Deep learning for limit order books

This paper develops a new neural network architecture for modeling spatial distributions (i.e. distributions on ) which is more computationally efficient than a traditional fully-connected feedforward architecture. The design of the architecture takes advantage of the specific structure of limit order books. The new architecture, which we refer to as a ‘spatial neural network’, yields a low-dimensional model of price movements deep into the limit order book, allowing more effective use of information from deep in the limit order book (i.e. many levels beyond the best bid and best ask). The spatial neural network models the joint distribution of the state of the limit order book at a future time conditional on the current state of the limit order book. The spatial neural network outperforms status quo models such as the naive empirical model, logistic regression (with nonlinear features), and a standard neural network architecture. Both neural networks strongly outperform the logistic regression model. Due to its more effective use of information deep in the limit order book, the spatial neural network especially outperforms the standard neural network in the tail of the distribution, which is important for risk management applications. The models are trained and tested on nearly 500 U.S. stocks. Techniques from deep learning such as dropout are employed to improve performance. Due to the significant computational challenges associated with the large amount of data, models are trained with a cluster of 50 GPUs.
Population pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir in non-pregnant and pregnant women.

AIMS Physiological changes in pregnancy are expected to alter the pharmacokinetics of various drugs. The objective of this study was to evaluate systematically the pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir (OS), a drug used in the treatment of influenza during pregnancy. METHODS A multicentre steady-state pharmacokinetic study of OS was performed in 35 non-pregnant and 29 pregnant women. Plasma concentration-time profiles were analyzed using both non-compartmental and population pharmacokinetic modelling (pop PK) and simulation approaches. A one compartment population pharmacokinetic model with first order absorption and elimination adequately described the pharmacokinetics of OS. RESULTS The systemic exposure of oseltamivir carboxylate (OC, active metabolite of OS) was reduced approximately 30 (19-36)% (P < 0.001) in pregnant women. Pregnancy significantly (P < 0.001) influenced the clearance (CL/F) and volume of distribution (V/F) of OC. Both non-compartmental and population pharmacokinetic approaches documented approximately 45 (23-62)% increase in clearance (CL/F) of OC during pregnancy. CONCLUSION Based on the decrease in exposure of the active metabolite, the currently recommended doses of OS may need to be increased modestly in pregnant women in order to achieve comparable exposure with that of non-pregnant women.
Family Caregiving to Those With Dementia in Rural Alabama

This study explored differences and similarities in the experiences of African American and White family caregivers of dementia patients living in rural Alabama. This cross-sectional survey used a caregiving stress model to investigate the interrelationships between caregiving burden, mediators, and outcomes. Random-digit-dialing telephone interviews were used to obtain data on a probability sample of 74 non-Hispanic White and 67 African American caregivers. White caregivers were more likely to be married and older, used acceptance and humor as coping styles, and had fewer financial problems. African American caregivers gave more hours of care, used religion and denial as coping styles, and were less burdened. The authors have developed a methodology for obtaining a representative sample of African American and White rural caregivers. Further investigations are needed of the interactions between urban/rural location and ethnic/racial backgrounds of dementia caregivers for heuristic and applied reasons.
Male Gender and Renal Dysfunction are Predictors of Adverse Outcome in Nonpostoperative Ischemic Colitis Patients

Objective Ischemic colitis (IC) spans a broad spectrum from self-limiting illness to intestinal gangrene and mortality. Prognostic factors specifically for nonpostoperative IC were not fully characterized. We aim to focus on nonpostoperative IC in patients with renal dysfunction and try to identify prognostic factors for adverse outcomes. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis at a university-affiliated tertiary medical center in Taiwan. From January 2003 to August 2008, 25 men and 52 women (mean age: 66 y) had colonoscopic biopsy-proven IC without prior culprit surgery. We estimated glomerular filtration rate with simplified Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation. Nine patients with glomerular filtration rate below 30 mL per minute per 1.73 m2 were classified as renal dysfunction group (including 7 dialysis patients). Adverse outcomes were defined as need for surgery and mortality. Predictors for adverse outcomes were captured by univariate and multivariate analysis. Research ethical committee approved the study protocol. Results Patients with renal dysfunction more often had: diabetes mellitus (56% vs. 16%, P=0.02), prolonged symptoms (6.8 d vs. 3.5 d, P=0.01), lower hemoglobin (11.1 g/dL vs. 13.4 g/dL, P=0.01), and more often right colonic involvement (56% vs. 19%, P=0.03). Renal dysfunction patients also had longer hospitalization days (median 15 d vs. 4 d, P=0.045). However, there was no statistical significance in the rate of either surgery or mortality between these 2 groups (P>0.05). Univariate analysis showed that renal dysfunction, sex, emergency department referral, presentation with abdominal pain were significant for adverse outcome (P<0.1). Multivariate analysis revealed that male sex conveyed 9.5-fold risk (P=0.01) and renal dysfunction conveyed 8.5-fold risk (P=0.03) for adverse outcomes. Conclusions Nonpostoperative IC patients with concurrent renal dysfunction had distinct clinical profiles. Multivariate analysis showed that male patients had 9.5-fold and renal dysfunction patients had 8.5-fold increased risk for adverse outcomes. Although IC is often self-limited, our data warrants special attention and aggressive therapy in treating these patients.
Inhibition of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-induced Endothelial Cell Proliferation by a Peptide Corresponding to the Exon 7-Encoded Domain of VEGF165 *

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent mitogen for endothelial cells (EC) in vitro and a major regulator of angiogenesis in vivo. VEGF121 and VEGF165 are the most abundant of the five known VEGF isoforms. The structural difference between these two is the presence in VEGF165 of 44 amino acids encoded by exon 7 lacking in VEGF121. It was previously shown that VEGF165 and VEGF121 both bind to KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1 but that VEGF165 binds in addition to a novel receptor (Soker, S., Fidder, H., Neufeld, G., and Klagsbrun, M. (1996)J. Biol. Chem. 271, 5761–5767). The binding of VEGF165 to this VEGF165-specific receptor (VEGF165R) is mediated by the exon 7-encoded domain. To investigate the biological role of this domain further, a glutathioneS-transferase fusion protein corresponding to the VEGF165 exon 7-encoded domain was prepared. The fusion protein inhibited binding of125I-VEGF165 to VEGF165R on human umbilical vein-derived EC (HUVEC) and MDA-MB-231 tumor cells. The fusion protein also inhibited significantly125I-VEGF165 binding to KDR/Flk-1 on HUVEC but not on porcine EC which express KDR/Flk-1 alone. VEGF165had a 2-fold higher mitogenic activity for HUVEC than did VEGF121. The exon 7 fusion protein inhibited VEGF165-induced HUVEC proliferation by 60% to about the level stimulated by VEGF121. Unexpectedly, the fusion protein also inhibited HUVEC proliferation in response to VEGF121. Deletion analysis revealed that a core inhibitory domain exists within the C-terminal 23-amino acid portion of the exon 7-encoded domain and that a cysteine residue at position 22 in exon 7 is critical for inhibition. It was concluded that the exon 7-encoded domain of VEGF165 enhances its mitogenic activity for HUVEC by interacting with VEGF165R and modulating KDR/Flk-1-mediated mitogenicity indirectly and that exon 7-derived peptides may be useful VEGF antagonists in angiogenesis-associated diseases.
Mapping research on R&D, innovation and productivity: a study of an academic endeavour

ABSTRACT This paper accounts for the development of the academic endeavour to determine the firm-level relationship between investments in R&D and productivity. The impact of 28 highly cited publications within this line of study is investigated using a combination of bibliometric techniques and citation function analysis. We show how the attention paid to this line of research broadens and deepens in parallel to the diffusion of innovation as a research theme during 2000s. Our findings also suggest that the attraction of scholarly attention is driven by combination of broadening interest in the central research question under study and boundary-pushing methodological contributions made in the key contributions.
Sheathless guide catheter coronary intervention via radial artery: single-center experience with 9658 procedures.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transradial coronary intervention (TRI) using a sheathless guide catheter (sheathless TRI) in a large, retrospective, single-center study. BACKGROUND The sheathless guide catheter was designed to be inserted without an introducer sheath to decrease stress to the radial artery. Although the sheathless guide catheter has some potential limitations, such as its procedural complexity or the risk of coronary ostial dissection, no large studies have been reported. METHODS We retrospectively investigated all TRIs performed at Sendai Kousei Hospital from January 2004 to December 2013. RESULTS Out of a total of 12,617 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), sheathless TRIs were performed in 9658 cases (76.5%) and TRIs using a conventional sheath (sheath TRI) were performed in 1070 cases (8.5%). Procedural success was achieved in 98.81% of sheathless TRIs and 96.82% of sheath TRIs (P<.001); after propensity matching, the success rate was 98.9% in sheathless TRIs and 97.6% in sheath TRIs (P=.01). The conversion of the guide catheter system occurred in 0.40% of sheathless TRIs and 0.28% in sheath TRIs (P=.54). Coronary ostial dissection occurred in 0.26% of sheathless TRIs and 0.47% in sheath TRIs (P=.22). CONCLUSION Sheathless TRI was utilized in the majority of cases, and the propensity-matched procedural success was similar but statistically higher as compared with sheath TRI. Complications were rare and equivalent to sheath TRI. Sheathless TRI is effective and safe as an initial PCI technique after the consideration of its benefits and limitations.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of major depression during pregnancy: a review.

Introduction: Pregnancy is characterized by a high prevalence of mental disorders. Depression is the most common of these disorders and it is a risk factor for negative maternal and child development outcomes. Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are conventional and well-established therapeutic options, but some clients fail to respond and the safety of using some pharmacological agents during pregnancy is unclear. Some neuromodulation techniques, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), have been studied in depressed pregnant women. Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of rTMS for major depression in pregnant women. Methods: The LILACS and PubMed databases were reviewed using the search terms depression, pregnancy and magnetic stimulation. Texts including primary data, published in Portuguese, Spanish, or English, between 1995 and 2014, that evaluated depressed pregnant women and used rTMS as the intervention were selected. Papers lacking sufficient data were excluded. Twenty-two texts were initially identified; after applying the inclusion criteria, 12 were selected and analyzed. Results: The studies reviewed reported satisfactory responses to rTMS in acute depressive episodes, as measured using depressive symptom scales. Remission of symptoms was achieved in many cases. The procedure was well tolerated and there were no reports of damage/complications to unborn children. Conclusion: The data available at this time support the efficacy and tolerability of rTMS for depression in pregnant women. Controlled studies should corroborate this conclusion. This review only included studies in three languages and the resulting sample size was not large enough to conduct a meta-analysis.
Heuristics and genetic algorithms for minimizing makespan of assembly jobs

Assembly jobs can be seen as a more generalized version of traditional jobs. A traditional job refers to one with only sequential operations while an assembly job refers to one with additional assembly operations and complex product structures. This research proposes and compares genetic algorithms and heuristics for scheduling assembly jobs. The objective is to minimize the makespan (maximum completion time) of a given set of assembly jobs. Experiments have been conducted to compare the performance of the proposed algorithms. Results show that the heuristics perform better for test problems of larger size and the genetic algorithms perform better for smaller size problems.
Maximum efficiency control for matrix-converter based IPMSM drive systems

This paper proposes an implementation of an on-line maximum efficiency control for matrix-converter based IPMSM drive systems. A simplified efficiency model of the drive system is established first; as a result, the detailed model of the inverter loss and motor loss is not required. Next, by on-line searching the maximum efficiency operating point, the efficiency of the whole drive system can be significantly improved based on the simplified efficiency model. A digital signal processor, TMS320LF2407A and a complex programmable logic device, EMP570GT100C4 are used as a control center to execute the phase commutation, the closed-loop speed control method and maximum efficiency control method. Experimental results can validate the theoretical analysis to show the feasibility and correctness of the proposed method.