Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biodegradation Studies of Novel Fluorinated Di-Vinyl Urethane Monomers and Interaction of Biological Elements with Their Polymerized Films

The monomeric components of resin composites in dental restorative materials are susceptible to hydrolysis in the oral cavity. The main objective of this study was to assess the bio-stability of fluorinated urethane dimethacrylates and determine the nature of fluoro-chemistry interactions with protein and bacterial adhesion (both sources of hydrolytic activity) onto cured resin. Degradation studies were performed in the presence of either albumin (in a mildly alkaline pH) or cholesterol esterase (CE). The surface chemistry of the polymers was assessed by water contact angle measurements, pre- and post- incubation with albumin. Adhesion of Streptococcus mutans to cured resin was investigated. The fluorinated monomers were more stable against degradation when compared to the commercial monomer bisphenol A-diglycidyl methacrylate (BisGMA). While fluorinated monomers showed hydrolytic stability with respect to CE, all fluorinated monomers underwent some degree of degradation with albumin. The fluoro-chemistry did not reduce protein and/or bacterial adhesion onto the surface, however post incubation with albumin, the fluorinated surfaces still presented hydrophobic character as determined by the high contact angle values ranging from 79° to 86°. These monomers could potentially be used to increase the hydrophobicity of polymeric composites and provide a means to moderate esterolytic degradation associated with the monomeric component of the polymers within the oral cavity.
Isolation, characterization and antihyperlipidemic activity of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside in poloxamer-407-induced experimental hyperlipidemia

Abstract Context: Linum usitatissimum L. (Linaceae), commonly known as flaxseed, is a good source of dietary fiber and lignans. Earlier we reported cardioprotective, antihyperlipidemic, and in vitro antioxidant activity of flax lignan concentrate (FLC) obtained from flaxseed. Objectives: To isolate secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) from FLC and to evaluate the antihyperlipidemic activity of SDG in poloxamer-407 (P-407)-induced hyperlipidaemic mice. Material and methods: FLC was subjected to column chromatography and further subjected to preparative HPTLC to isolate SDG. The chemical structure of the isolated compound was elucidated by UV, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, ROESY, MS, and specific optical rotation was recorded. Further, we have investigated the antihyperlipidaemic effect of SDG (20 mg/kg) in P-407-induced hyperlipidaemic rats. Hyperlipidaemia was induced by intraperitoneal administration of P-407 (30% w/v). Serum lipid parameters such as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were measured. Results and discussion: The structure and stereochemistry of the isolated compound were confirmed on the basis of 1D and 2D spectral data and characterized as SDG. Finally, isolated pure SDG was screened using a P-407-induced mice model for its antihyperlipidemic action using serum lipid parameters. The isolated SDG (20 mg/kg) significantly reduced serum cholesterol, triglyceride (p < 0.001), very low-density lipoprotein (p < 0.05), and non-significantly increased HDL-C. Conclusion: Finally, it was concluded unequivocally that SDG showed antihyperlipidaemic effects in P-407-induced hyperlipidaemic mice. Isolated pure SDG confirms that SDG is beneficial in the prevention of experimental hyperlipidemia in laboratory animals.
Patient-doctor Concordance in Elderly Women’s Self-reported Health and Medical Records

Summary Objectives: To compare the chronic diseases mentioned by elderly women in an interview study with those documented in their respective medical records. Methods: The prevalence of positive diagnoses, overall agreement, and the kappa-coefficient were calculated for each group of diagnoses. Results: The lowest overall agreement was observed for psychiatric diseases, followed by diseases of the gastrointestinal system. Poor chance-adjusted agreement was found concerning diseases of the gastrointestinal system and diseases of the skin. Conclusions: The results suggest that a main reason for discordance was that the elderly women feared »losing face« by reporting some diseases.
Extending the speed range of a switched reluctance motor using a fast demagnetizing technique

In this paper, a switched reluctance motor (SRM) with an auto-transformer like winding in each phase is presented. The new winding structure allows for fast demagnetization, which enhances the machine performance at high speeds. During demagnetization, the DC bus voltage is applied across a portion of the phase winding and accordingly, a higher negative demagnetization voltage/turn is applied, which leads to an increment in the discharge rate for the phase excitation currents. The proposed concept is verified through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) circuit simulations on a case study motor. The power electronic converters that can be used with the proposed winding configuration and its associated control have been investigated.
Disproving claims for small-bodied humans in the Palauan archipelago

Abstract Recent excavation at Ucheliungs Cave in Palau has provided new evidence in the debate concerning the colonisation of the Palauan archipelago. An abundance of faunal material and the presence of transported artefacts contradict a previous interpretation that the site represents an early burial cave containing purported small-bodied humans. New radiocarbon dates suggest long-term use of the cave for both mortuary activity and small-scale marine foraging that may slightly precede the accepted date for the earliest human occupation of Palau. The results of this research here discount earlier claims for insular dwarfism among the earliest inhabitants of these islands.
The role of proactive interference in mnemonic techniques

The success of many mnemonic techniques, such as the method of loci, is based on the use of specific well-known anchors, which are mentally combined with to-be-learned items and subsequently facilitate their retrieval. In our studies we intended to answer the question of whether the repeated application of the method of loci may result in proactive interference effects, as might be expected due to the applied association of items with the same loci each time the method is used. To this end, we manipulated list similarity in a typical proactive interference design and compared the method of loci with the link method and the rehearsal method, which do not involve the use of a specified set of anchors. Our results replicate those from other studies, which have shown that the use of a mnemonic technique leads to superior recall of list items compared to a simple rehearsal strategy. We were further able to show that the repeated learning of items from different categories results in moderate practice effects over three list-learning trials, whereas this effect is superimposed by an effect of proactive interference if different lists are composed of items from the same category. However, this effect of proactive interference was not increased for the method of loci, and we discuss this finding with regard to its practical implications.
Polyomavirus BK infection in pediatric kidney-allograft recipients: a single-center analysis of incidence, risk factors, and novel therapeutic approaches

Background. Although a growing body of literature regarding polyoma BK virus (BKV) infection and associated interstitial nephritis in kidney-allograft recipients is becoming available, the impact of BKV infection in the pediatric population has not been fully evaluated. Methods. In a retrospective analysis, we performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for BKV DNA in serum and urine samples from 100 pediatric kidney-allograft recipients referred to our institution in the last 5 years. Results. BKV viruria was observed in 26 of 100 patients, whereas BKV viremia was demonstrated in 5 patients. Serum creatinine was significantly higher in recipients with positive BK viremia compared with BKV DNA-negative patients (mean 2.66 vs. 1.14 mg/100 mL). Renal biopsy performed in 3 of 5 patients showed graft damage consistent with interstitial nephropathy. In the univariate analysis, negative antibody status of the recipient and the presence of mycophenolate mofetil in baseline immunosuppression were the two factors predictive of active BKV infection. Conclusions. Our study shows that BKV-associated nephropathy is a relevant complication in the pediatric kidney transplantation setting also. Identification of patients at risk of developing virus-associated nephropathy, through prospective quantification of viral load, could improve clinical outcome by allowing the use of timely preemptive therapy guided by BKV DNA levels.
Assessment of Web-Based Consumer Reviews as a Resource for Drug Performance

Background Some health websites provide a public forum for consumers to post ratings and reviews on drugs. Drug reviews are easily accessible and comprehensible, unlike clinical trials and published literature. Because the public increasingly uses the Internet as a source of medical information, it is important to know whether such information is reliable. Objective We aim to examine whether Web-based consumer drug ratings and reviews can be used as a resource to compare drug performance. Methods We analyzed 103,411 consumer-generated reviews on 615 drugs used to treat 249 disease conditions from the health website WebMD. Statistical analysis identified 427 drug pairs from 24 conditions for which two drugs treating the same condition had significantly and substantially different satisfaction ratings (with at least a half-point difference between Web-based ratings and P<.01). PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for publications that were assessed for concordance with findings online. Results Scientific literature was found for 77 out of the 427 drug pairs and compared to findings online. Nearly two-thirds (48/77, 62%) of the online drug trends with at least a half-point difference in online ratings were supported by published literature (P=.02). For a 1-point online rating difference, the concordance rate increased to 68% (15/22) (P=.07). The discrepancies between scientific literature and findings online were further examined to obtain more insights into the usability of Web-based consumer-generated reviews. We discovered that (1) drugs with FDA black box warnings or used off-label were rated poorly in Web-based reviews, (2) drugs with addictive properties were rated higher than their counterparts in Web-based reviews, and (3) second-line or alternative drugs were rated higher. In addition, Web-based ratings indicated drug delivery problems. If FDA black box warning labels are used to resolve disagreements between publications and online trends, the concordance rate increases to 71% (55/77) (P<.001) for a half-point rating difference and 82% (18/22) for a 1-point rating difference (P=.002). Our results suggest that Web-based reviews can be used to inform patients’ drug choices, with certain caveats. Conclusions Web-based reviews can be viewed as an orthogonal source of information for consumers, physicians, and drug manufacturers to assess the performance of a drug. However, one should be cautious to rely solely on consumer reviews as ratings can be strongly influenced by the consumer experience.
Identification and characterization of a small modular domain in the herpes simplex virus host shutoff protein sufficient for interaction with VP16

The herpes simplex virus transactivator VP16 and the virion host shutoff protein vhs are viral structural components that direct the activation of immediate-early gene expression and the arrest of host protein synthesis, respectively, during an infection. Recent studies show that VP16 and vhs physically interact with each other in vitro and in infected cells, suggesting that their respective regulatory functions are coupled. In this report, we used the yeast two-hybrid system and affinity chromatography with purified VP16 fusion proteins to precisely map a region in vhs that directs interaction with VP16. Deletion analysis of vhs demonstrated that a 21-amino-acid-long domain spanning residues 310 to 330 (PAAGGTEMRVSWTEILTQQIA) was sufficient for directing complex formation with VP16 in vivo and in vitro when fused to a heterologous protein. Site-directed mutagenesis of this region identified tryptophan 321 as a crucial determinant for interaction with VP16 in vitro and in vivo and additional residues that are important for stable complex formation in vitro. These findings indicate that vhs residues 310 to 330 constitute an independent and modular binding interface that is recognized by VP16.
Preconditions for Communication in the Care of Bilingual Demented Persons

This study describes how demented immigrants' communicative performance together with caregivers who speak/do not speak these people's native language relates to the demented persons' cognitive, linguistic, and neuropsychological abilities. The study was carried out among demented persons who were born in Finland and had immigrated to Sweden. Their life history, linguistic history and linguistic behavior, and communication in standardized situations were assessed. Neuropsychological and medical examinations were performed for diagnostic reasons. The results show that many of these Finnish immigrants had difficulties communicating with their Swedish-speaking caregivers, while their communication with a Finnish-speaking caregiver was adequate. The frequent misunderstanding of a person's message often leads to a one-way communication, in which the caregiver commands and interrupts the demented person. The demented Finnish immigrants functioned on a level of manifest competence that seemed far below their level of latent competence. It seems reasonable that the presence of Finnish-speaking caregivers is an environmental change that would markedly enhance the demented Finnish immigrants' performance and quality of life and also reduce the costs for their care.
Activation of Ntf4, a Tobacco Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase, during Plant Defense Response and Its Involvement in Hypersensitive Response-Like Cell Death1

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are important signaling modules in eukaryotic cells. They function downstream of sensors/receptors and regulate cellular responses to external and endogenous stimuli. Recent studies demonstrated that SIPK and WIPK, two tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) MAPKs, are involved in signaling plant defense responses to various pathogens. Ntf4, another tobacco MAPK that shares 93.6% and 72.3% identity with SIPK and WIPK, respectively, was reported to be developmentally regulated and function in pollen germination. We found that Ntf4 is also expressed in leaves and suspension-cultured cells. Genomic analysis excluded the possibility that Ntf4 and SIPK are orthologs from the two parental lines of the amphidiploid common tobacco. In vitro and in vivo phosphorylation and activation assays revealed that Ntf4 shares the same upstream MAPK kinase, NtMEK2, with SIPK and WIPK. Similar to SIPK and WIPK, Ntf4 is also stress responsive and can be activated by cryptogein, a proteinaceous elicitin from oomycetic pathogen Phytophthora cryptogea. Tobacco recognition of cryptogein induces rapid hypersensitive response (HR) cell death in tobacco. Transgenic Ntf4 plants with elevated levels of Ntf4 protein showed accelerated HR cell death when treated with cryptogein. In addition, conditional overexpression of Ntf4, which results in high cellular Ntf4 activity, is sufficient to induce HR-like cell death. Based on these results, we concluded that Ntf4 is multifunctional. In addition to its role in pollen germination, Ntf4 is also a component downstream of NtMEK2 in the MAPK cascade that regulates pathogen-induced HR cell death in tobacco.
The Work Environment Scale and the Ward Atmosphere Scale (Short Forms): Psychometric Data

Alpha coefficients of internal consistency for the Short Forms of the Work Environment Scale and Ward Atmosphere Scale, their major dimensions and their subscales are presented. Although some exceptions were noted, the indices reported here attest to the adequate reliability of the short forms of the two scales, which was previously documented for the unabridged forms. The few exceptions are hypothesized to be attributable to either sampling error or the fact that each factor is comprised of only 4 items. The need for further reliability testing of these short forms is emphasized.
Performance Implication and Analysis of the OpenFlow SDN Protocol

Software Defined Networks provide the ability to manage networks from a centralised point through separating control plane from the data plane. This brings opportunities in terms of manageability, flexibility and cost savings in network operations. This centralisation, however, also brings about a potentially serious performance bottleneck and poses a scalability issue in high performance networks. This paper investigates performance of Software Defined Networks in general, and the OpenFlow protocol, to provide insight into the components of control path delay incurred by packets and ways to optimise flow forwarding. Two Openflow controllers (Floodlight and Pox) were used to validate performance measurements in relation to their theoretical composition. Secondly, the packet processing dynamics of switches, in particular OpenVSwitch are examined, looking at the control packet forwarding behaviour in the kernel module to meet high performance network and traffic engineering demand.
Sequential empirical coordination under an output entropy constraint

This paper considers the problem of sequential empirical coordination, where the objective is to achieve a given value of the expected uniform deviation between state-action empirical averages and statistical expectations under a given strategic probability measure, with respect to a universal Glivenko-Cantelli class of test functions. A communication constraint is imposed on the Shannon entropy of the resulting action sequence. It is shown that the fundamental limit on the output entropy is given by the minimum of the mutual information between the state and the action processes under all strategic measures that have the same marginal state process as the target measure and approximate the target measure to desired accuracy with respect to the underlying Glivenko-Cantelli seminorm. The fundamental limit is shown to be asymptotically achievable by tree-structured codes.
Cooperative adaptive fuzzy tracking control for a class of nonlinear multi-agent systems

Here, we present a distributed adaptive control scheme for cooperative tracking of a class of nonlinear multiagent systems with partially unknown dynamics. The agents should reach an agreement on a time-varying reference trajectory as their virtual leader. The approach combines the artificial potential functions method with robust control terms to reach an appropriate controller for each agent. The unknown dynamics of each agent is approximated by an adaptive fuzzy system, with adaptive laws derived from Lyapunov stability analysis. Theoretical analysis reveals that Hœ performance criterion is satisfied and the effects of uncertainties are kept below a desired attenuation level. The proposed method is applied to the state tracking problem of five inverted pendulums. Results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in handling noise and bounded uncertainties as well as reaching consensus with high precision.
Filogeografía y biología de líquenes Antártidos

Los liquenes son los organismos macroscopicos dominantes en los ecosistemas terrestres de la Antartida. Con casi dos siglos de historia, el estudio de la biota liquenica antartica ha sufrido un nuevo impulso con la irrupcion de las tecnicas basadas en el ADN, lo que ha permitido incrementar las estimas de hongos liquenizados en la Antartida por encima de las 500 especies (Ovstedal y Lewis Smith 2011). Pese a su abundancia, poco se sabe aun sobre su origen. Alrededor de un 40% de las especies muestra un patron de distribucion bipolar o anfitropical, mientras que un 30% son endemismos antarticos (Ovstedal y Lewis Smith 2001). Durante el siglo XX, la mayoria de autores aceptaron un origen temporal dual, por el que las especies endemicas tendrian un origen relicto, anterior al Pleistoceno, y las especies bipolares (y cosmopolitas) habrian colonizado la Antartida en tiempos mas recientes (p. ej. Lamb 1948, 1970; Dodge 1964; Seppelt 1995). Objetivos: La presente tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo principal contribuir al conocimiento de la diversidad liquenica en la Antartida y a dilucidar su origen, enfocandose en estudios filogeograficos de especies endemicas y de especies con distribucion bipolar.
Inferring intentions in generic context-aware systems

Many context-aware projects try to develop the next step in human computer interaction, systems that adapt to a users need and help him to focus on his specific task. Probabilistic models are used to infer the current activity of a user. These techniques for predicting the actions of a user are often custom-tailored to a fixed location and scenario. We developed a method to generate probabilistic models for different context, therefore broaden their use in different domains of ubiquitous computing. This makes our intention analysis more generic.
The influence of genetic constitution on migraine drug responses

Objective Specific acute treatments of migraine are 5HT1B/D receptor agonists; triptans and ergotamine, but only two-thirds of patients respond well without side effects. No migraine-prophylactic drugs are specific to migraine. Prophylactic drugs are selected by time-consuming “trial and error. ” Personalized treatment is therefore much needed. The objective of this study was to test the effect of 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with migraine on migraine drug responses. Methods Semi-structured migraine interviews including questions on drug responses, blood samples and genotyping were performed on 1806 unrelated migraine cases recruited from the Danish Headache Center. Association analyses were carried out using logistic regression, assuming an additive model for the genetic effect. The effect on drug responses was tested for a combined genetic score and for each of the 12 SNPs. Significant findings were subsequently tested in an independent replication sample of 392 unrelated Danish migraine cases. Results A single risk variant, rs2651899 in PRDM16, was significantly associated with efficacy of triptans with an odds ratio (OR) of treatment success of 1.3, and a higher combined genetic score was significantly associated with efficacy of triptans with an OR of success of up to 2.6. A number of SNPs showed nominal preferential association with the efficacy of triptans and others with prophylactic drugs. Analyses of triptans and ergotamine complemented each other and gave a stronger signal when analyzed together. The associations between response to triptans and genetic load and rs2651899 were partially confirmed in the independent sample. Conclusion We show for the first time an association between genetic constitution and migraine drug response. This is a first step toward future individualized medicine.