Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ketogenesis evaluation in perfused liver of diabetic rats submitted to short‐term insulin‐induced hypoglycemia

Ketogenesis, inferred by the production of acetoacetate plus ß‐hydroxybutyrate, in isolated perfused livers from 24‐h fasted diabetic rats submitted to short‐term insulin‐induced hypoglycemia (IIH) was investigated. For this purpose, alloxan‐diabetic rats that received intraperitoneal regular insulin (IIH group) or saline (COG group) injection were compared. An additional group of diabetic rats which received oral glucose (gavage) (100 mg kg−1) 15 min after insulin administration (IIH + glucose group) was included. The studies were performed 30 min after insulin (1.0 U kg−1) or saline injection. The ketogenesis before octanoate infusion was diminished (p < 0.05) in livers from rats which received insulin (COG vs. IIH group) or insulin plus glucose (COG vs. IIH + glucose group). However, the liver ketogenic capacity during the infusion of octanoate (0.3 mM) was maintained (COG vs. IIH group and COG vs. IIH + glucose group). In addition, the blood concentration of ketone bodies was not influenced by the administration of insulin or insulin plus glucose. Taken together, the results showed that inspite the fact that insulin and glucose inhibits ketogenesis, livers from diabetic rats submitted to short‐term IIH which received insulin or insulin plus glucose showed maintained capacity to produce acetoacetate and ß‐hydroxybutyrate from octanoate. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Metabolic activation of chrysene in mouse skin: evidence for the involvement of a triol-epoxide.

All three possible dihydrodiols of chrysene and a chrysene triol, formed from the further metabolism of the chrysene-1,2-diol, were detected when ether extracts of mouse skin that had been treated with 3H-labelled chrysene were examined by h.p.l.c. The major deoxyribonucleoside-hydrocarbon adducts present in hydrolysates of DNA isolated from the mouse skin were examined by chromatography on Sephadex LH20 and by h.p.l.c. on Zorbax ODS. One adduct had chromatographic properties identical to those of the major adduct formed when r-1,t-2-dihydroxy-t-3,4-oxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrochrysene reacts with DNA. A second major adduct was present that had chromatographic properties that were indistinguishable from those of an adduct that was formed when either chrysene-1,2-diol or 3-hydroxychrysene were incubated with DNA in a rat liver microsomal metabolising system. The results provide evidence that this new adduct is formed via the reaction of a 'triol-epoxide', that appears to be 9-hydroxy-chrysene-1,2-diol 3,4-oxide, with DNA in mouse skin.
Overexpression of inhA, but not kasA, confers resistance to isoniazid and ethionamide in Mycobacterium smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis

The inhA and kasA genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have each been proposed to encode the primary target of the antibiotic isoniazid (INH). Previous studies investigating whether overexpressed inhA or kasA could confer resistance to INH yielded disparate results. In this work, multicopy plasmids expressing either inhA or kasA genes were transformed into M. smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and three different M. tuberculosis strains. The resulting transformants, as well as previously published M. tuberculosis strains with multicopy inhA or kasAB plasmids, were tested for their resistance to INH, ethionamide (ETH) or thiolactomycin (TLM). Mycobacteria containing inhA plasmids uniformly exhibited 20‐fold or greater increased resistance to INH and 10‐fold or greater increased resistance to ETH. In contrast, the kasA plasmid conferred no increased resistance to INH or ETH in any of the five strains, but it did confer resistance to thiolactomycin, a known KasA inhibitor. INH is known to increase the expression of kasA in INH‐susceptible M. tuberculosis strains. Using molecular beacons, quantified inhA and kasA mRNA levels showed that increased inhA mRNA levels corre‐lated with INH resistance, whereas kasA mRNA levels did not. In summary, analysis of strains harbouring inhA or kasA plasmids yielded the same conclusion: overexpressed inhA, but not kasA, confers INH and ETH resistance to M. smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis. Therefore, InhA is the primary target of action of INH and ETH in all three species.
Dielectric Behavior of Selected Animal Tissues in Vitro at Frequencies from 2 to 4 GHz

The permittivities of bovine muscle, artery, kidney, and liver are measured at 37°C in vitro at 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 GHz, using a coaxial-line reflection technique and an automatic network analyzer. Uncertainties, evaluated by measurements on organic alcohols whose permittivities are well known, are consistently less than ±10 percent in both ¿¿and ¿¿. The data compare well with those published for similar animal tissues.
Threading, Tagging, and Higher-Order Thinking

In much of the developing world, Web 2.0 applications remain little known and are rarely used as formal educational tools. In Indonesia, Education Development Center's (EDC) use of Web 2.0 tools as part of an online course appears to be yielding initially positive, and unanticipated, results. However, real impediments stand in the way. This past year a pilot program was launched in which a group of master trainers work as school-based coaches. To support coaches in their work with teachers, we constructed a Moodle-based online course with coaching-related readings, videos, and a discussion forum. To facilitate communication and information sharing, we built in a number of Web 2.0 tools: Diigo, VoiceThread, Ning, Dimdim, Flickr, Word Press, TeacherTube, and Curriki. (The accompanying list at the end of the article provides a brief description of these tools.)
Pancreatic function and extended mutation analysis in DeltaF508 heterozygous infants with an elevated immunoreactive trypsinogen but normal sweat electrolyte levels.

BACKGROUND Newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) with immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT) and DeltaF508 analysis followed by sweat testing misses some infants with CF and detects more DeltaF508 carriers than expected. Some of the apparent DeltaF508 carriers may be DeltaF508 compound heterozygotes with normal sweat electrolyte levels. METHODS Infants identified by newborn screening with an elevated IRT level, one DeltaF508 allele, and a sweat chloride level <60 mmol/L underwent CF mutation analysis, pancreatic stimulation testing, and repeat IRT analysis followed by clinical review and repeat sweat test at 12 months. RESULTS Over a 24-month period we identified 122 DeltaF508 heterozygotes and recruited 57; 4 had borderline sweat chloride levels (40 to 60 mmol/L), 5 (8.8%, 95% CI 1.4, 16.2) had a second CF mutation (R117H), and 11 (20%, 95% CI 10, 30) had the intron 8 5T allele. Three had clinical CF at 12 months (initial sweat chloride levels: 53, 51, and 32 mmol/L). Pancreatic electrolyte secretion in the subjects with a borderline sweat chloride level was similar to that in patients with known CF. CONCLUSION The excess of DeltaF508 heterozygotes detected by IRT/DNA screening is associated with the presence of a second mutation or the 5T allele in some infants. Screened infants with borderline sweat chloride levels almost certainly have CF, but long-term follow-up of the infants with the genotype DeltaF508/R117H and DeltaF508/5T is required to determine their outcome. In the meantime, newborn screening should be confined to severe mutations associated with classic CF.
Impact of global financial crisis on Indian venture capital firms: an empirical evaluation

The global financial crisis emerged from the muddled financial system of the USA that exacerbated the global recession of 2008-09. The effects of the crisis have rippled all over the world's economies. This paper empirically probes the role of these crises on Indian VC firms. With the help of regression analysis, empirical evidence is provided to the prevailing theories that a financial crisis negatively affects the VC market. To carry out this analysis, the amount of investment is taken as a dependent variable; whereas the financial crisis, firm's age, syndication, and type of industry are considered as independent variables. It has been demonstrated through analytical results that there exists a statistically significant difference between two time frames: pre-crisis and post-crisis. The amount of investment decreased 12% owing to the effect of the financial crisis. Further, it has been exposed that a significant difference exists in terms of stage funding between the two time frames. This study examines the various prospects related to the statistical association of the financial crisis and the VC market.
Proton MR Spectroscopy–Detectable Major Neurotransmitters of the Brain: Biology and Possible Clinical Applications

SUMMARY: Neurotransmitters are chemical substances that, by definition, allow communication between neurons and permit most neuronal-glial interactions in the CNS. Approximately 80% of all neurons use glutamate, and almost all interneurons use GABA. A third neurotransmitter, NAAG, modulates glutamatergic neurotransmission. Concentration changes in these molecules due to defective synthetic machinery, receptor expression, or errors in their degradation and metabolism are accepted causes of several neurologic disorders. Knowledge of changes in neurotransmitter concentrations in the brain can add useful information in making a diagnosis, helping to pick the right drug of treatment, and monitoring patient response to drugs in a more objective manner. Recent advances in 1H-MR spectroscopy hold promise in providing a more reliable in vivo detection of these neurotransmitters. In this article, we summarize the essential biology of 3 major neurotransmitters: glutamate, GABA, and NAAG. Finally we illustrate possible applications of 1H-MR spectroscopy in neuroscience research.
Conflict between explicit and tacit public service bargains in UK executive agencies

Public service bargains (PSBs) define rewards, competencies and loyalties for civil servants. They involve both explicit and tacit agreements with politicians. The article suggests that these two kinds of bargain may not be closely coordinated with one another, and can become “loosely coupled”, operating and evolving with relative independence. This is particularly likely when there is conflict between rational-actor preferences and institutional expectations about political-administrative behavior. Such a trade-off can be managed by “decoupling” the explicit and tacit PSB, so that they operate differently in public and in private. Loose coupling results in inconsistent PSBs that are resistant to change, whereas decoupling highlights the compliance costs that actors face when securing cultural legitimacy for their bargains. These arguments are illustrated by the long-term development of ‘Next Steps’ agencies in the U.K., where a marked disjuncture has emerged between the stated and practiced PSB.
Evaluation of operative complications related to laparoscopic radical prostatectomy

Objectives: In this decade, there have emerged many alternatives for the therapy of localized prostate cancer, such as brachytherapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, high intensity focused ultrasound, and retropubic radical prostatectomy. In this retrospective study, we reviewed cases of complications related to laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) from our institution only, and we evaluated whether this procedure was minimally invasive or not.
Estimation of cutoff for the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) for opiate dependence by ROC analysis.

Background. The Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) is a five-item scale that has been reported to be a reliable and valid screening instrument for dependence in several types of substances. Optimal cutoff points on the SDS indicative of clinically significant dependence have been determined for a large range of substance types, however, to date no data have been reported on its performance in a population with opiate dependence. Sample. A structured interview was administered to 315 opiate-dependent patients in treatment. Method. The diagnostic performance of the SDS was measured via Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis according to the DSM-IV diagnosis of heroin dependence, as measured by section 12 of the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN). Results. ROC analysis revealed the SDS to be a test of high diagnostic utility for the measurement of opiate dependence (Area Under Curve =0.8875). The cut-off point on the SDS at which there is optimal discrimination between the presence and absence of a diagnosis of heroin dependence was found to be 5 (i.e. a score of 5 or more). This score provides the best trade-off between sensitivity (83.15%) and specificity (84.51%). Similar results were found for heroin current consumption (AUC = 0.8325; cut-off = 5; sensitivity = 77.94 and specificity = 77.33).
Scanning electron microscopic observations on human blood platelets and their alterations induced by thrombin.

The surface structure of human blood platelets and their alterations by thrombin were studied by scanning electron microscopy.The majority of the native platelets were discoid or lentiform as already reported by previous authors using the transmission electron microscope. The surface was relatively smooth, but some platelets had a few slight elevations and conic depressions which may correspond to the openings of the endoplasmic reticulum. A few platelets possessed at the margin one or two spiny short projections.The platelets collected by careful centrifugation partly showed a few long pseudopods which were issued from the margin of the platelet and supposed to be the elongation of the spiny projections described above. About 78% of the collected platelets were discoid in form, 12.5% spheroidal, 5.5% spherical and 4% irregular.The addition of thrombin to the citrated, platelet rich plasma caused the following changes. At first small protrusions appeared on the entire surface of the platelets except for their margin. The discoid platelets then transformed into spheres covered by the grown and rounded protrusions and aggregated, while the formation of pseudopods proceeded. Fibrin strands about 0. 1μ in thickness appeared to form networks into which the aggregated platelets were arrested more and more firmly.
Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) Farm Program: Results from Finisher Pig Surveillance

In 2006, the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) Farm Program was implemented in sentinel grower‐finisher swine herds in Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Herds were visited 1–3 times annually. Faecal samples were collected from pens of close‐to‐market (CTM) weight (>80 kg) pigs and antimicrobial use (AMU) data were collected via questionnaires. Samples were cultured for generic Escherichia coli and Salmonella and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. This paper describes the findings of this program between 2006 and 2008. Eighty‐nine, 115 and 96 herds participated in this program in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. Over the 3 years, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) levels remained consistent. During this period, resistance to one or more antimicrobials was detected in 56–63% of the Salmonella spp. isolates and 84–86% of E. coli isolates. Resistance to five or more antimicrobials was detected in 13–23% of Salmonella and 12–13% of E. coli. Resistance to drugs classified as very important to human health (Category I) by the Veterinary Drug Directorate (VDD), Health Canada, was less than or equal to 1% in both organisms. AMU data were provided by 100 herds in 2007 and 95 herds in 2008. Nine herds in 2007 and five herds in 2008 reported no AMU. The most common route of antimicrobial administration (75–79% of herds) was via feed, predominantly macrolides/lincosamides (66–68% of herds). In both 2007 and 2008, the primary reasons given for macrolide/lincosamide use were disease prevention, growth promotion and treatment of enteric disease. The Category I antimicrobials, ceftiofur and virginiamycin were not used in feed or water in any herds in 2008, but virginiamycin was used in feed in two herds in 2007. Parenteral ceftiofur was used in 29 herds (29%) in 2007 and 20 herds (21%) in 2008. The reasons for ceftiofur use included treatment of lameness, respiratory disease and enteric disease.
On attitude maneuver control of flexible spacecraft without angular velocity sensors

A novel attitude control strategy based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) and input shaping technique was proposed for a flexible spacecraft without angular velocity sensors. Aiming at achieving high rapidity and high pointing accuracy, we focus on the suppression of vibration of flexible appendages when the spacecraft's attitude maneuvers a large angle. In the proposed scheme, a transient process which combines path planning for attitude maneuver with input shaping is designed to reduce vibration of flexible appendages. Furthermore, an extended state observer (ESO) for the flexible spacecraft is designed to estimate the immeasurable attitude angular velocity and the disturbances, which include parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. Also a nonlinear attitude feedback control law is designed to track the desired attitude and compensate the disturbances in real time way. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control strategy.
REVEDERE – Distributed Support System for Code Review Process

review process represents a common practice in software industry for checking product quality and reducing the number of defects deployed to consumers. To integrate well with the current accelerated trend in software development, there is a need for automation and simplicity, through tools, integrated in programmer's workflows. In this paper we present the primary motivations for software inspections and we introduce a support platform for managing this activity. The system is based on core code review concepts and is presented as a middleware for human interaction. Also, a communication framework was implemented, to ease information flow and management in the code review middleware.
Discoidin domain receptor (DDR) 1 and 2: collagen-activated tyrosine kinase receptors in the cornea.

Discoidin domain receptor (DDR) 1 and 2 have recently been found to serve as receptors for several collagen types. These receptors have been found to modulate cell proliferation and metalloprotease expression in response to collagen stimulation. The purpose of this study was to examine expression of DDR1 and DDR2 in the cornea and to determine the effect of several collagen types on proliferation and response to pro-apoptotic cytokines by corneal fibroblasts. DDR1 and DDR2 mRNAs were detected by RT-PCR. Proteins were detected by immunocytochemistry and immunoprecipitation with Western blotting. Cell proliferation in response to acetic acid-solubilized collagen type I, II, IV, IX or X was determined by cell counting. The effect of these collagen types on Fas-stimulating antibody-induced cell death was determined by trypan blue assay. DDR1 and DDR2 mRNAs were detected in each major human cell type of the cornea. Both were also detected in ex vivo human corneal epithelium. DDR1 and DDR2 proteins were detected in all three major cell types in culture and in human corneal tissue. Collagen types I, II, IV, IX and X stimulated proliferation, but had no effect on Fas-mediated apoptosis, of corneal fibroblasts. DDR1 and DDR2 tyrosine kinase receptors are expressed in the cornea. Collagen-stimulated mitosis of corneal fibroblasts in culture is likely mediated by the DDR receptors. Collagen had no effect on Fas-mediated apoptosis of corneal fibroblasts.
Demonstrating the value of community development: An inclusive evaluation capacity building approach in a non-profit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation

Inclusive, culturally safe, appropriate and relevant ways of evaluating that contribute to better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders that can be communicated to a wide audience are urgently needed. An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-profit community development organisation, Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV), has transformed towards this goal by intentionally building evaluation capacity over the past 4 years. ICV now incorporates participatory monitoring and evaluation approaches into the community development practices of the organisation to improve measurement and capture outcomes with communities. The principles of inclusion, flexibility, empowerment, ownership and effective communication were essential to the transformation. This article shares how ICV developed evaluation capacity in an inclusive and culturally appropriate way and the results of an independent assessment of the value of the process. ICV’s journey of change and the methodology used to make the assessment may be useful for other organisations or individuals working with community development organisations.
Counter Cyclical Transfer for Infrastructure – A Framework for Fiscal Policy Coordination and Economic Stability

This article examines the theory behind the design of fiscal transfers; it identifies acyclicality of transfers as a drawback and proposes counter cyclical design as an optimal fiscal framework to mitigate cyclical economic fluctuations. It further advocates counter-cyclical transfers for infrastructure investment, service maintenance, and business tax relief as incentives for states to save in boom years then build from recession into recovery. The framework is set to operate on time consistent policy rules, as automatic stabilizers with triggers from key economic indicators. It advocates dynamic equity to compensate boom-year donor states during recession for more effective macroeconomic stabilization. This article focuses on fiscal policy, does not discuss the political dynamics or details in implementation.
Heuristic Coarsening for Generating Multiscale Transport Networks

Graphs at different scales are essential tools for many transportation applications. Notwithstanding their relevance, these graphs are created and maintained manually for most applications, in both research and practice. In this paper, we develop a heuristic method for automatically generating multiscale graph representations without significantly compromising their topological properties. This makes the resulting graphs widely applicable. The method is demonstrated on the open street map network of Amsterdam with four different application cases. Various graph metrics are used for evaluating the performance of coarsening on the topological characteristics of the network. Our results show that the method is able to successfully reduce the Amsterdam network by up to 96% of its original size at a computation time of no more than 15 min with a limited loss of information, indicated by the preservation of key network characteristics. For example, the method maintains trip length distributions and limits the maximum shortest path deterioration between any major origin and destination nodes to no more than 0.025% for the coarsest graph. Moreover, by setting its parameters it can cater for preservation of important network elements or entire sub-networks, which is of special importance in multiscale traffic modeling and simulation. The versatility of the algorithm—in contrast to algorithms dedicated to for example traffic assignment applications—makes it useful for a wide range of applications within the transportation domain and beyond. To support further research an open-source implementation of the algorithm is made available.