Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ANALYSIS OF VIRAL DNA, PROTEIN AND ENVELOPE DAMAGE AFTER METHYLENE BLUE, PHTHALOCYANINE DERIVATIVE OR MEROCYANINE 540 PHOTOSENSITIZATION

Abstract— Although numerous photosensitizers have been used experimentally to decontaminate viruses in cellular blood components, little is known about their mechanisms of photoinactivation. Using M13 bacteriophage and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) as model viruses, we have investigated alteration of the viral genome, protein and envelope after phototreatment. Methylene blue (MB) and aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (AlPcS4) phototreatment inactivated bacteriophage M13 and decreased the fraction of single‐stranded circular genomic DNA (sc‐DNA) by converting it to linear form. This conversion was enhanced by treating the extracted DNA with piperidine at 55°C. Piperidine‐labile breaks were well correlated to phage survival (5.1% sc‐DNA at 1.7% phage survival for MB) under conditions where only minor differences were seen in the relative abundance of M13 coat protein on sodium dodecyl sulfate—polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE). Neither aluminum phthalocyanine (AlPc) nor merocyanine 540 (MC540) inactivated M13 nor were there significant changes observed in DNA and coat protein. Methylene blue, AlPcS4 and AlPc inactivated VSV and inhibited fusion of the virus envelope to Vero cells at pH 5.7 (i.e. with plasma membrane). However, the degree of this inhibition was small compared to the extent of virus inactivation (43% inhibition vs 4.7 log10 or 99.998% inactivation, for MB). In contrast, an antibody to VSV G‐spike protein inhibited fusion at pH 5.7 by 52% with a concomitant decline in VSV infectivity of 0.15 log10 (30%). Few changes were observed in the relative abundance of G protein for MB and AlPcS4 phototreated samples and no additional protein bands were observed on SDS‐PAGE. Phototreatment did not appreciably change the relative fusion ability at pH 7.2 (via the endocytotic pathway). These results collectively suggest that nucleic acid may be an important target for photoinactivation of these model viruses by MB and AlPcS4.
Combined use of Epithelial Membrane Antigen and Nuclear Matrix Protein 52 as Sensitive Biomarkers for Detection of Bladder Cancer

Background The advent of noninvasive urine-based markers as well as other novel modalities has yielded improved diagnostic accuracy. However, the new markers failed to reach higher sensitivity and specificity. We therefore evaluated the potential role of epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and nuclear matrix protein 52 (NMP-52) singly and combined as noninvasive biomarkers for the detection of bladder cancer (BC). Methods A total of 160 individuals including 66 patients with BC, 54 patients with benign urologic disorders and 40 healthy volunteers were investigated. Urinary EMA at 130 kDa and NMP at 52 kDa were identified, purified and quantified by Western blot, electroelution and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The diagnostic performance of each biomarker and their combination were compared using area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). Results Mean urinary EMA, 2.42 µg/mL, and NMP-52, 17.85 µg/mL, were significantly elevated in patients with BC compared to controls, 1.18 and 3.44 µg/mL, respectively (p<0.0001). The combined use of these markers yielded values which were increased 4.4- and 13.7-fold in the benign and malignant disease groups, respectively, with respect to the normal group. The values of EMA and NMP-52 were significantly higher in patients with higher-grade tumors than those with lower-grade tumors (p<0.0001). Moreover, this combination could predict all BC stages and grades with 0.91 AUC, 94% sensitivity and 80% specificity. Conclusions EMA and NMP-52 in combination could be promising noninvasive biomarkers for BC detection.
The impacts of minimum alcohol pricing on alcohol attributable morbidity in regions of British Colombia, Canada with low, medium and high mean family income

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Previous research indicates that minimum alcohol pricing (MAP) is associated negatively with alcohol-attributable (AA) hospitalizations. Modeling studies predict that this association will be stronger for people on lower incomes. The objective of this study was to test whether the association between MAP and AA hospitalizations is greater in low-income regions. DESIGN Cross-sectional versus time-series analysis using multivariate multi-level effect models. SETTING All 89 Local Health Areas in British Columbia (BC), Canada, 2002-13 (48 quarters). PARTICIPANTS BC population. MEASUREMENTS Quarterly rates of AA hospital admissions, mean consumer price index-adjusted minimum dollars per standard alcoholic drink and socio-demographic covariates. FINDINGS Family income was related inversely to the effect of minimum prices on rates of some types of AA morbidity. A 1% price increase was associated with reductions of 3.547% [95% confidence interval (CI) = -5.719, -1.377; P < 0.01] in low family-income regions and 1.64% (95% CI = -2.765, -0.519; P < 0.01) across all income regions for 100% acute AA hospital admissions. Delayed (lagged) effects on chronic AA morbidity were found 2-3 years after minimum price increases for low income regions and all regions combined; a 1% increase in minimum price was associated with reductions of 2.242% (95% CI = -4.097, -0.388; P < 0.05) for 100% chronic AA and 2.474% (95% CI = -3.937, -1.011; P < 0.01) for partially chronic AA admissions for low-income regions. CONCLUSION In Canada, minimum price increases for alcohol are associated with reductions in alcohol attributable hospitalizations, especially for populations with lower income, both for immediate effects on acute hospitalizations and delayed effects on chronic hospitalizations.
Evaluation of Self‐Esteem and Depression Symptoms in Depressed and Nondepressed Subjects Treated with OnabotulinumtoxinA for Glabellar Lines

BACKGROUND Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT‐A) injection has become the most popular cosmetic nonsurgical procedure, and it has been suggested that BoNT‐A injections may improve emotional states when frown lines are treated. OBJECTIVES To evaluate symptoms of depression and self‐esteem before and after onabotulinumtoxinA (ONA) injections in the glabella in subjects with and without depression. METHODS Twenty‐five subjects with depression were allocated into one group and 25 subjects without depression were matched to those according to demographic characteristics. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (RSES) were used to assess depression symptoms and self‐esteem, respectively. Patients were assessed up to 12 weeks after the intervention. RESULTS Patients with depression had significant improvement in depression symptoms after ONA injections. The maximum effect occurred within the first 8 weeks after treatment. A significant reduction from baseline in BDI score and significant improvement in self‐esteem were also observed in patients with depression. CONCLUSION This research presents new data regarding BoNT‐A as a potential treatment to improve depression symptoms in patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Self‐esteem scores alone cannot explain the improvement in depression symptoms.
Why Business School Managers are a Key Corporate Brand Stakeholder Group

Abstract This study focuses on senior management cognitions of corporate brand building within leading (Financial Times-ranked) British business schools. The study reveals stakeholder theory to be highly apposite for corporate brand management and, importantly, confirms the pivotal role of senior managers in terms of corporate brand building and custodianship. The cognitions of senior business school managers confirmed the orthodox approach to corporate brand building and management where a multidisciplinary, service-focused, strategic-orientated, and organizational-wide commitment is stressed. The Mitchell, Agle, and Wood (1997) tripartite typology of stakeholders (power, legitimacy, and urgency) is broadened in order to include necessity and responsibility, which are highly germane for senior managers. The instrumental insights of this study demonstrate that in managing a corporate brand, senior managers should focus on organizational activities, institutional attitude, senior management advocacy, and adherence on the part of organizational members.
Teaching and learning through creating games in ScratchJr: Who needs variables anyway!

This paper presents an idea for teaching and learning through creating games in ScratchJr, which is an extension of the existing curriculum available for ScratchJr. It discusses our experience of running half-day camps with K-2nd graders using ScratchJr and how essential skills such as designing and planning, sequencing, problem solving, thinking about thinking (metacognition), and sharing can be developed through creating games in ScratchJr. Since ScratchJr does not have variables but rather events and messaging, we used a sprite (an object that performs actions) moving towards a goal to represent positive integers and away from that goal to represent negative integers. It is the same concept as using a number line. The sprite is at zero at the start of the game, and as the game progresses, the sprite moves either to the left or right goal triggering the winning or losing page. This way of scoring tracking is highly visual, and younger students can understand and incorporate it into their games even without understanding addition, subtraction, or negative integers properly. With this idea of tracking progress, we can create a variety of games that are very entertaining to play while still being understandable to younger students who will be able to code on their own.
Optimization of a metastasizing human gastric cancer model in nude mice

Our purpose was to optimize the surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI) technique to create a reproducible gastric cancer model in nude mice with stable tumor growth and metastasizing course. We performed xenotransplantation of primary human tumor specimens from patients with gastric cancer (series 1) and orthotopic transplantation of tumor specimens originating from the gastric cancer cell line 23132/87 (series 2). All specimens were transplanted using microsurgical techniques. The two series were compared with regard to tumor growth rates and kinetics, development of metastases, and induction of minimal residual disease (MRD), as determined by histology and PCR techniques. In series 1 mice, the tumor growth rate was slow; in series 2 mice, it was both fast and reproducible. Unlike animals in series 1, animals in series 2 developed metastases and MRD. In conclusion, the optimized SOI technique presented here represents a reproducible and reliably metastasizing gastric cancer model. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. MICROSURGERY 23:508–512 2003
Examining the influence of interactivity in a self-service setting

Interactivity is a key feature of interface between human and technology. This study explores how interactivity perception influence customers' intentions of using an SST The results revealed the elements of interactivity (communication, control, and responsiveness) do impact the intentions of customers to use an SST in the future; however, their impact was mediated through perceived value and satisfaction. Increased interactivity perceptions influenced perceived value and satisfaction, which in turn were associated with stronger SST usage intentions.
Transformational Government: Enabled By Technology

A circuit arrangement for the digitalization of the angle of rotation phi of a rotatable device which is operated at fa rotations per second, employing auxiliary voltages modulated with sin phi and cos phi of a fundamental frequency fo, which with the aid of further circuit elements are converted into a counter pulse train which indicates the angle of rotation, in which n pulses correspond to the angle of rotation of 360 DEG ; wherein from two auxiliary voltages is formed a third auxiliary voltage which contains only one of the frequencies (fo+fa) or (fo-fa), which third auxiliary voltage and a comparison voltage of the frequency n.fo are conducted to a comparator circuit, comprising a D-flip-flop, with the comparison voltage being present at the D-input (preparation input) and the third auxiliary voltage being present at the clock-input, whereby the desired counter pulse train with n.fa is obtained at the output of the D-flip-flop.
Seizure-Sensitivity in Drosophila Is Ameliorated by Dorsal Vessel Injection of the Antiepileptic Drug Valproate

Abstract Drosophila is a powerful model organism that can be used for the development of new drugs directed against human disease. A limitation is the ability to deliver drugs for testing. We report on a novel delivery system for treating Drosophila neurological mutants, direct injection into the circulatory system. Using this method, we show that injection of the antiepileptic drug valproate can ameliorate seizure-sensitive phenotypes in several mutant genotypes in the bang-sensitive (BS) paralytic mutant class, sda, eas, and parabss1. This drug-injection method is superior to drug-feeding methods that we have employed previously, presumably because it bypasses potent detoxification systems present in the fly. In addition, we find that utilizing blood-brain barrier mutations in the background may further improve the injection results under certain circumstances. We propose that this method of drug delivery is especially effective when using Drosophila to model human pathologies, especially neurological syndromes.
Effects of Government Purchases in Open Economies: Empirical Evidence and Predictions of a Dynamic General Equilibrium Model With Nominal Rigidities

Estimates of effects of changes in government purchases are provided, for the G7 countries, during the post-Bretton Woods era. Empirically, a country-specific increase in government purchases tends to raise domestic and foreign output and consumption; domestic and foreign output multipliers of government purchases exceed unity, in the short to medium run. A quantitative dynamic-optimizing general equilibrium model of a two-country world with money and sticky prices and wages is presented, and that model is examined for its ability to explain the above empirical regularities. Standard RBC models with flexible prices and wages fail to generate large government purchases multipliers, unless labor supplies are highly elastic (with respect to the wage rate). The paper shows that this changes when sticky prices and/or wages are assumed: even when labor supplies are inelastic, the model here generates sizable government purchases multipliers. However, irrespective of the degree of nominal rigidity, the predicted response of foreign real activity to country-specific changes in government purchases is weak. The model here predicts that a rise in government purchases, in a given country induces a depreciation of that country's exchange rate, as seems consistent with the data.
Health status before, during and after disability pension award: the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK)

Objectives: Up to one in eight of the working age population receives permanent disability benefits. As little is known about the consequences of this major event, analysis aimed to compare health status before and after disability pension award. Methods: Data from the population based Hordaland Health Study (HUSK) in Norway 1997–99 (n = 18 581) were linked to official disability benefits registries. The study identified 1087 participants who were awarded a disability pension before, during and after the health survey. These were grouped into different strata defined by temporal proximity between disability pension award and health survey participation. The study then compared health status across these strata covering the 7 years before to the 7 years after the award. Results: The study found an inverse U-shaped trend with an increase in reported symptoms (anxiety, depression, pain distribution, sleep problems and somatic symptoms) approaching the award, and a reversing of this trajectory afterwards (p<0.05 for the non-linear trend for all symptoms). We found no similar trend for the more objective health measures blood pressure, physical diagnoses and prescribed medication. For most measures, similar levels of health problems were found 3–7 years before compared to 3–7 years after the award. Conclusion: When comparing the strata defined by time to the event of disability pension award, there was an increase in symptoms around the time of the disability pension award, with a subsequent return towards pre-award levels. The design precludes any firm conclusions as to what causes the observed results, but possible explanations include temporary adverse health effects from the process itself, the beneficial effects of being removed from harmful work conditions, and recovery after increasing health problems leading up to disability pension award.
The Year of Wonders

On the Pennine route, between Manchester and Sheffield, there is an intriguing sign marking the turning to “plague village. ” This sign points towards the rustic village of Eyam, a picture of countryside tranquillity, complete with flower boxes, coffee shop, and, more unusually, a museum detailing the tragic events after the discovery of plague among the villagers in 1666. These events are seen through the eyes of Anna Frith, widow, mother, and servant to the rector and his …
A novel control strategy for stand-alone solar PV systems with enhanced battery life

This paper proposes a novel control scheme for a stand-alone PV application. A two power stage approach has been used that consists of a front end high gain DC-DC converter followed by a 3φ H-bridge inverter. A general reactive load has been considered. The control scheme uses abc to dq reference frame transformation. The active power demand is controlled by regulating the dc link voltage. Reactive power is controlled by varying the inverter output voltage magnitude. Provision for MPPT has been incorporated in the control scheme. As battery is involved due to MPPT and for providing power during the night time, special attention has been given to enhancing the battery life by ensuring that it is neither overcharged nor deep discharged. Yet, a dump load is not required to dissipate excess energy. A bidirectional converter is used to realize the battery interface with the dc link. All the analytical, simulation and experimental results of this work are included.
A novel R-PCA based multivariate fault-tolerant data aggregation algorithm in WSNs

Wireless sensor networks have already been pervasively utilized due to the rapid deployment of information and communication technology (ICT) in many industrial applications, which generate massive amount of sensor data. This development has brought several technical challenges in sensor data processing, e.g., data fault and data redundancy. Principal component analysis (PCA) has been used recently to process the massive but correlated sensor data. However, the conventional PCA method is difficult to be adapted in following the dynamic conditions of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, recursive principal component analysis (R-PCA) method is exploited to progressively update the transformation basis for extracting principal components. Furthermore, a novel R-PCA based algorithm is proposed to address data fault and data redundancy problems. Different from conventional PCA-based algorithms, the proposed algorithm is cluster-based so that the network efficiency can be further improved. Simulations based on a practical dataset have been conducted to evaluate the performance of algorithms. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm improves the fault detection accuracy by about 20% and reduces the data restoration error by about 28%.
The study and realization of mobile meta search engine

With the development of 3G network, more and more people begin to search information by mobile phones, and mobile searching is an important part in people's daily life now. This system uses some dominant search engines, such like Google, Baidu, as the member search engines with multi-thread technique. In this paper, we construct a mobile meta search engine named MMSE and propose a new page conversion algorithm based on VIPS (Vision based page segmentation) to extract the main content of the web-pages. We also use efficient sorting algorithm to increase the precision ratio of the returned records.
Mutation scanning for sequence variation in three mitochondrial DNA regions for members of the Contracaecum osculatum (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea) complex

Anisakid nematodes of seals from different geographical origins, previously identified by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis as Contracaecum osculatum A (CoA), C. osculatum B (CoB), C. osculatum C (CoC), C. osculatum D (CoD), C. osculatum E (CoE) and C. osculatum baicalensis (Cob), were characterised genetically using a mutation scanning approach, in order to define genetic markers for their specific identification and differentiation. Three mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) regions, namely cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and the small and large subunits of rRNA (ssrRNA and lsrRNA, respectively) were amplified separately from individual nematodes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), analysed by single‐strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and samples displaying sequence variability were subjected to sequencing. Forty‐six haplotypes were defined for 62—66 individuals (representing the six members of C. osculatum). All taxa except CoD and CoE could be identified, or delineated from one another, by nucleotide differences in the COI, ssrRNA and/or lsrRNA sequences. For all three mtDNA regions, 4 (10.5%), 7 (18.4%), 15 (39.5%) and 11 (28.9%) of 38 nucleotide positions were considered diagnostic (fixed) and could thus unequivocally delineate CoA, CoB, CoC and Cob. The lack of an unequivocal nucleotide difference in any of the three mtDNA sequences between CoD and CoE was in accordance with previous ribosomal DNA sequence data but inconsistent with multilocus enzyme electrophoretic data. Using all fixed nucleotide positions, CoA, CoD/E and CoB were genetically more similar to Cob than each was to CoC, similar to previous findings. In spite of not being able to distinguish among all six taxa of C. osculatum, the present study demonstrated clearly the usefulness and attributes of the mutation scanning approach for investigating population genetic structures of species of parasitic nematodes.
The Role of Mutual Trust in Building Members' Loyalty to a C2C Platform Provider

Active interactions and relationships among members are crucial to the success of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce. Prior studies have rarely articulated the relationship between the social interactions among members and their loyalty to the C2C platform provider. This paper differentiates two types of trust in C2C e-commerce-mutual trust among members and members' trust in the platform provider—and then proposes that trust in the platform provider mediates the relation between mutual trust and loyalty to the platform provider. A study using a sample from Chinese C2C Web sites shows that information interaction and emotional interaction both boost mutual trust among members, which in turn boosts their trust in and loyalty to the platform provider. For platform providers, the findings suggest a strategic route to building members' loyalty in a competitive market.