Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bots, Social Capital, and the Need for Civility

ABSTRACT Politicians, hate groups, counterpublics of science, and even socially-minded critics use bots to pad their numbers, spread information, and engage in social critique. This article pursues the ethics of bots beyond the automated or not question that dominates the literature and offers the concept of bot civility. Machinic and social bot strategies are discussed with regard for the manufacture of social capital—bot incivility. The analysis suggests that bots, which do not trick persons into thinking they are human, are not necessarily morally neutral and that some bots that emulate persons can actually be ethically sensible.
Microstructure of Oral Epithelial Cells as an Underlying Basis for Salivary Mucosal Pellicle

Abstract Background: Salivary mucosal pellicle forms the structural basis of the local innate immune defense mechanism of the oral mucosa. At the surface of the oral mucosa, the apical cell membrane adjacent to the saliva interface contains short membrane folds, termed microplicae (MPL). This MPL structure of oral epithelial cells and its function as a basis to the salivary mucosal pellicle is unclear. In this preliminary study, we describe the ultrastructural morphology of cell membrane of superficial cells of the oral mucosa and study the membrane-associated mucins (MAMs), MUC1 and MUC4, with immunohistological methods. Materials and methods: Oral mucosal specimens were obtained from six healthy patients. Half of each specimen was prepared routinely for light microscopy, and the other part for scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The presence of MUC1 and MUC4 were studied by immunohistochemical methods in oral mucosal specimens. Results: Morphologically, the cell membrane of MPL is partly discontinuous and membrane-associated molecules extrude from the cell membrane. MUC1 expression was detected in the superficial part of the buccal epithelium, while MUC4 had no expression in the oral squamous epithelium. Conclusions: The novel of this study is that the membrane-tethered molecules seem to occur onto the cell membrane of the superficial epithelial cells of the oral mucosa. Furthermore, the stratified squamous epithelium of the buccal mucosa produces MUC1 for the surface-saliva pellicle interface. The interaction between MPL structure, MUC1 mucin, and salivary mucosal pellicle is discussed.
A MarR Family Transcriptional Regulator, DptR3, Activates Daptomycin Biosynthesis and Morphological Differentiation in Streptomyces roseosporus

ABSTRACT Daptomycin produced by Streptomyces roseosporus is an important lipopeptide antibiotic used to treat human infections caused by Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, including drug-resistant strains. The genetic basis for regulatory mechanisms of daptomycin production is poorly known. Here, we characterized the dptR3 gene, which encodes a MarR family transcriptional regulator located adjacent to the known daptomycin biosynthetic (dpt) genes. Deletion of dptR3 reduced daptomycin production significantly and delayed aerial mycelium formation and sporulation on solid media. Dissection of the mechanism underlying the function of DptR3 in daptomycin production revealed that it stimulates daptomycin production indirectly by altering the transcription of dpt structural genes. DptR3 directly activated the transcription of its own gene, dptR3, but repressed the transcription of the adjacent, divergent gene orf16 (which encodes a putative ABC transporter ATP-binding protein). A 66-nucleotide DptR3-binding site in the intergenic region of dptR3-orf16 was determined by DNase I footprinting, and the palindromic sequence TCATTGTTACCTATGCTCACAATGA (underlining indicates inverted repeats) in the protected region was found to be essential for DptR3 binding. orf16, the major target gene of DptR3, exerted a positive effect on daptomycin biosynthesis. Our findings indicate that DptR3 functions as a global regulator that positively controls daptomycin production and morphological development in S. roseosporus.
Two Novel, Putatively Cell Wall-Associated and Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored α-Glucanotransferase Enzymes of Aspergillus niger

ABSTRACT In the genome sequence of Aspergillus niger CBS 513.88, three genes were identified with high similarity to fungal α-amylases. The protein sequences derived from these genes were different in two ways from all described fungal α-amylases: they were predicted to be glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored, and some highly conserved amino acids of enzymes in the α-amylase family were absent. We expressed two of these enzymes in a suitable A. niger strain and characterized the purified proteins. Both enzymes showed transglycosylation activity on donor substrates with α-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds and at least five anhydroglucose units. The enzymes, designated AgtA and AgtB, produced new α-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds and therefore belong to the group of the 4-α-glucanotransferases (EC 2.4.1.25). Their reaction products reached a degree of polymerization of at least 30. Maltose and larger maltooligosaccharides were the most efficient acceptor substrates, although AgtA also used small nigerooligosaccharides containing α-(1,3)-glycosidic bonds as acceptor substrate. An agtA knockout of A. niger showed an increased susceptibility towards the cell wall-disrupting compound calcofluor white, indicating a cell wall integrity defect in this strain. Homologues of AgtA and AgtB are present in other fungal species with α-glucans in their cell walls, but not in yeast species lacking cell wall α-glucan. Possible roles for these enzymes in the synthesis and/or maintenance of the fungal cell wall are discussed.
Effect of semicrystalline polymers on self-emulsifying solid dispersions of nateglinide: in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Abstract This study was undertaken to improve solubility and bioavailability of nateglinide by preparation of stable self-emulsifying solid dispersions (SESDs). The influence of semicrystalline polymers (poloxamer 407, gelucire 50/13) and method of preparation on dissolution behavior, in vivo performance and stability of nateglinide SESDs were investigated. After optimization, SESDs were prepared at 1:5 weight ratio of nateglinide and polymer individually. All the SESDs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Aqueous solubility of nateglinide was enhanced by 91.82-fold. The SESDs (poloxamer 407-based solid dispersions) achieved rapid and complete drug release (∼100% within 45 min) at pH 2. The improved dissolution appeared to be well correlated with the enhanced bioavailability of nateglinide in rabbits. After oral administration of SESDs (poloxamer 407-based solid dispersions), Cmax and AUC of nateglinide were increased by ∼2.92 and 1.77-folds, respectively, signifying the effectiveness of solid dispersions to improve the bioavailability of nateglinide. Stability during storage was established to show prevention of recrystallization. In conclusion, SESDs with poloxamer 407 in solvent method appeared to be an economic and promising technique to improve the dissolution, bioavailability, and stability of nateglinide.
‘Things are not working now’: poverty, food insecurity and perceptions of corruption in urban Malawi

ABSTRACT Malawi is one of the world's least urbanised countries, but its cities are growing rapidly and poverty in urban Malawi is becoming a prominent political issue. Food insecurity is a widespread manifestation of urban poverty in Africa, especially in informal settlements. This article is based on in-depth interviews with food insecure residents of Lilongwe’s informal settlements who, when asked why they were food insecure, overwhelmingly pointed to the Cashgate corruption scandal as a cause. There have been many political corruption scandals in Malawi, but the Cashgate scandal, which was revealed in September 2013 and reverberated throughout the political culture, has been among the most prominent and consequential of these scandals. The article seeks to contribute to literature on the political dimensions of urban food security in Africa while also presenting a way of understanding corruption from the point of view of vulnerable people whose lives have been directly and indirectly affected.
An approach to stability criteria of neural-network control systems

This paper discusses stability of neural network (NN)-based control systems using Lyapunov approach. First, it is pointed out that the dynamics of NN systems can be represented by a class of nonlinear systems treated as linear differential inclusions (LDI). Next, stability conditions for the class of nonlinear systems are derived and applied to the stability analysis of single NN systems and feedback NN control systems. Furthermore, a method of parameter region (PR) representation, which graphically shows the location of parameters of nonlinear systems, is proposed by introducing new concepts of vertex point and minimum representation. From these concepts, an important theorem, which is useful for effectively finding a Lyapunov function, is derived. Stability criteria of single NN systems are illustrated in terms of PR representation. Finally, stability of feedback NN control systems, which consist of a plant represented by an NN and an NN controller, is analyzed.
Isothermal Microcalorimetry as a Quality by Design Tool to Determine Optimal Blending Sequences

This study was designed to assess the value of isothermal microcalorimetry (ITMC) as a quality by design (QbD) tool to optimize blending conditions during tablet preparation. Powder mixtures that contain microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD), and prednisone were prepared as 1:1:1 ratios using different blending sequences. ITMC was used to monitor the thermal activity of the powder mixtures before and after each blending process. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) were performed on all final powder mixtures. Final powder mixtures were used to prepare tablets with 10 mg prednisone content, and dissolution tests were performed on all tablet formulations. Using ITMC, it was observed that the powder mixtures had different thermal activity depending on the blending sequences of the ingredients. All mixtures prepared by mixing prednisone with DCPD in the first stage were associated with relatively fast and significant heat exchange. In contrast, mixing prednisone with MCC in the first step resulted in slower heat exchange. Powder mixture with high thermal activity showed extra DSC peaks, and their dissolution was generally slower compared to the other tablets. Blending is considered as a critical parameter in tablet preparation. This study showed that ITMC is a simple and efficient tool to monitor solid-state reactions between excipients and prednisone depending on blending sequences. ITMC has the potential to be used in QbD approaches to optimize blending parameters for prednisone tablets.
Incidental Dural Tear in Cervical Spine Surgery: Analysis of a Nationwide Database

Study Design: This was a retrospective study. Objective: To report the incidence of incidental dural tear (DT) in cervical spine surgery, risk factors, and in-hospital patient outcomes on a national level. Summary of Background Data: DT during cervical spine surgery is not as common as that during lumbar spine surgery; however, DT is still a difficult complication. Methods: Clinical data were obtained from the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample for 2009. Patients who underwent cervical spine surgery were identified and divided into those with and without DT according to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification codes. The patient and health care system–related demographic data were retrieved. The incidence of DT and patient outcomes were analyzed. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors for DT. Results: The incidence of DT was 0.45% (855/190,021). The multivariate analysis revealed that a diagnosis of myelopathy and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament; posterior approach, anterior and posterior approach; and insurance status were the significant risk factors for DT. Comparison between patients with and without DT showed that those with DT had significantly higher overall in-hospital complications (21.6% vs. 7.3%), longer hospital stays (6.0 vs. 3.2 d), a lower proportion who were discharged home routinely (66.3% vs. 83.9%), increased total hospital costs ($96,424 vs. $62,416), and similar in-hospital mortality (0.6% vs. 0.4%). Conclusions: The incidence of DT in cervical spine surgery was 0.45% in the United States. The risk of DT was highest with a primary diagnosis of the ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (58.4 times). DT significantly increased the rate of in-hospital complications and health care burden.
The use of histone deacetylase inhibitor FK228 and DNA hypomethylation agent 5‐azacytidine in human bladder cancer therapy

The long‐term disease‐free survival in patients with metastatic transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is still considerably low. Novel chemotherapeutic agents are needed to decrease the morbidity and mortality of TCC. In this study, we have evaluated several epigenetic modifiers for their therapeutic application in bladder cancer. Both histone deacetylase inhibitors (FK228, TSA) and DNA hypomethylating agent (5‐Azacytidine) were tested using in vitro assays such as cell viability, cell cycle analysis and western blot to determine their mechanisms of action. Drug combination experiments were also designed to study any additive or synergistic effects of these agents. In addition, two bladder cancer xenograft models (one subcutaneous and one orthotopic) were employed to assess the therapeutic efficacy of these agents in vivo. Three agents exhibited various growth inhibitory effects on 5 different TCC cell lines in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. In addition to G2/M cell cycle arrest, FK228 is more potent in inducting apoptosis than the two other single agents, and combination of both FK228 and 5‐Aza further enhances this effect. p21 induction is closely associated with FK228 or TSA but not 5‐Aza, which is mediated via p53‐independent pathway. Consistent with in vitro results, FK228 exhibited a significant in vivo growth inhibition of TCC tumor in both subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models. FK228 is a potent chemotherapeutic agent for TCC in vivo with minimal undesirable side effects. The elevated p21 level mediated via p53 independent pathway is a hallmark of FK228 mechanism of action. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bankruptcy, Investment, and Financial Constraints: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Using investment–cash flow sensitivity to analyze financial constraints over the period 2006–2011 in the Czech Republic, we find that healthy companies were financially constrained both before and after the 2008 crisis. There is robust evidence that both the cash flow and the level of debt have a positive and significant impact on the investment rate. Although companies going bankrupt had significantly higher levels of external debt and bank loans, they did not manifest any investment–cash flow sensitivity in the pre-crisis period, which indicates that they were probably not financially constrained at all. After the 2008 crisis, companies that would later declare bankruptcy began to become financially constrained as well.
Scoring tourist attractions based on sentiment lexicon

Sentiment analysis uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology to analyze people's sentiment or opinion. SA can treat the subjectivity, sentiment and opinion of text by calculation. In recent years, because a large number of opinion appear in web such as discussion forum, review sites, blogs and news sites, sentiment analysis has become an important research area. In this paper, we designed a state-of-the-art sentiment analysis system based on a Chinese sentiment lexicon. The system automatically scores the tourist attraction using reviews. Data used in this study are online tourist attraction reviews crawled from Ly.com which is a Chinese professional leisure travel booking platform. We describe the research design, methodology, and implement of system. Experiments are performed with promising outcomes. At last, we also discuss our future work on sentiment analysis.
Automatic apex frame spotting in micro-expression database

Micro-expression usually occurs at high-stakes situations and may provide useful information in the field of behavioral psychology for better interpretion and analysis. Unfortunately, it is technically challenging to detect and recognize micro-expressions due to its brief duration and the subtle facial distortions. Apex frame, which is the instant indicating the most expressive emotional state in a video, is effective to classify the emotion in that particular frame. In this work, we present a novel method to spot the apex frame of a spontaneous micro-expression video sequence. A binary search approach is employed to locate the index of the frame in which the peak facial changes occur. Features from specific facial regions are extracted to better represent and describe the expression details. The defined facial regions are selected based on the action unit and landmark coordinates of the subject, in which case these processes are automated. We consider three distinct feature descriptors to evaluate the reliability of the proposed approach. Improvements of at least 20% are achieved when compared to the baselines.
Significance of genetic and environmental aspects in the field cultivation of Hypericum perforatum.

Agronomical and biochemical parameters of seven Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) accessions grown at three experimental sites in Switzerland were followed over a two year period (1995-1996). Significant effects of environmental (= site) and genetic factors (= accession) on flowering dates, plant length, and plant dry matter production (= plant yield) were observed in both years; rankings of sites and accessions with regard to plant yield were similar in both years despite the fact that the first year crop contributed only a minor part to the overall yield of both years together. Maximum dry matter production per year reached 159 dt/ha for the total plant and 54 dt/ha for the flowering segment (i.e. the pharmaceutically relevant, upper segment of the plants comprising the majority of flowers). HPLC analysis of the constituents covered eight secondary metabolites (amentoflavone, biapigenin, hyperforin, hypericin, hyperosid, pseudohypericin, quercetin, rutin). Generally, secondary metabolite contents were significantly lower in the first year of cultivation ranging from 12% (hyperosid) to 83% (hyperforin) of the contents measured in the 1996-crop. Significant genetic effects on the production of all tested secondary metabolites (except biapigenin) were observed in 1996 whereas environmental effects appeared to be less distinct (except for amentoflavone and pseudohypericin). In conclusion, genetic factors strongly affected plant yield as well as secondary metabolite content in H. perforatum cultivation; the availability of genetically superior plant material next to improved agrotechnological methods therefore is supposed to become a key factor for successful future field production.
Microbes are not bound by sociobiology: Response to Kümmerli and Ross‐Gillespie (2013)

In recent years, sociobiology has been extended to microorganisms. Viewed through this lens, the microbial world is replete with cooperative behaviors. However, little attention has been paid to alternate hypotheses, making many studies self‐confirming. Somewhat apart is a recent analysis of pyoverdin production—a paradigmatic public good and social trait—by Pseudomonas, which has revealed discord between predictions arising from sociobiology and the biology of microbes. This led the authors, Zhang and Rainey (Z&R), to question the generality of the conclusion that pyoverdin is a social trait, and to question the fit between the sociobiology framework and microbiology. This has unsettled Kümmerli and Ross‐Gillespie (K&R), who in a recent “Technical Comment” assert that arguments presented by Z&R are flawed, their experiments technically mistaken, and their understanding of social evolution theory naive. We demonstrate these claims to be without substance and show the conclusions of K&R to be based on a lack of understanding of redox chemistry and on misinterpretation of data. We also point to evidence of cherry‐picking and raise the possibility of confirmation bias. Finally, we emphasize that the sociobiology framework applied to microbes is a hypothesis that requires rigorous and careful appraisal.
Support Vector Regression based QSAR of anti-Haemophilus Influenzae activity of orally administered cephalosporins

Support Vector Regression (SVR), a novel robust machine learning technology, was applied to QSAR on the anti-Haemophilus Influenzae (HI) activity of 69 orally active cephalosporins. The optimal model was built with three descriptors-MR, qC7 and qO9, which came from 23 descriptors available. The prediction accuracy of the model was discussed on the basis of Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) and the independent test dataset. Eighteen newly designed molecules are highly recommended for synthesis scientists based on the SVR model obtained.
Establishment of a leukaemic cell line from a patient with acquisition of chromosomal abnormalities during disease progression in myelodysplastic syndrome

Summary. A cell line designated SKM‐1 was newly established from leukaemic cells of a 76‐year‐old Japanese male patient with monoblastic leukaemia following myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The cells were obtained from peripheral blood of the patient when he lost multiple point mutations of ras genes with acquisition of chromosomal abnormalities during disease progression in MDS. The cells grew as a single floating cell, and have been continuously growing with the morphological characteristics of immature monoblasts by serial passages during the past 42 months with a doubling time of about 48 h. By cytochemical analysis. the cloned cells were positive for butyrate esterase, but negative for the Epstein‐Barr virus associated nuclear antigen. Phenotypic analysis revealed the expression of myelomonocyte specific antigens such as CD4, CD13, CD33 and HLA‐DR. Cells from the primary peripheral blood and those from SO passages of the SKM‐1 cell line both possessed no activated ras genes but showed karyotype abnormalities with 46.XY, del(9)(q13;q22), der(17) t(17:? )(p13:? ). The SKM‐1 cells have two mutations in p53 gene and overexpress the pS3 products. This cell line may contribute to a better understanding of molecular mechanisms in the progression from MDS to myelogenous leukaemia.