Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between political parties and their regulators

Political parties are in a unique situation, being able to change electoral rules and regulations to minimise any potential negative effects on their electoral prospects. Attempts to influence regulators, however, can be complex and include voicing concerns, public pressure and the regulatory capture of electoral regulators. Little is known about this relationship between parties and their regulators. This article focuses on this crucial electoral relationship through a study of political parties’ relations with the UK Electoral Commission. The first section addresses the background to the legal regulation of political parties. The second section proposes a framework through which parties’ reactions to regulation may be understood. The third part introduces the British case, providing evidence to demonstrate the broad utility of the framework. The final section analyses the issues that parties have raised with their regulators.
Effect of Benzoic Acid as a Modulator in the Structure of UiO-66: An Experimental and Computational Study

The identification and quantification of defects are undoubtedly thorough challenges in the characterization of “defect-engineered” metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). UiO-66, known for its exceptional stability and defect tolerance, has been a popular target for defect-engineering studies. Herein, we show that synthesizing UiO-66 in the presence of an excess of benzoic acid is a reliable method for obtaining UiO-66 samples with a very high concentration of missing-cluster defects, allowing one to modulate specific properties (i.e., surface area and hydrophobicity). This was elucidated by a multitechnique marriage of experimental and computational methods: a combination of PXRD, dissolution/1H NMR spectroscopy, and N2 sorption measurements was used to quantify the defect loading, while vibrational spectroscopies (FTIR and Raman) allowed us to unequivocally identify the defect structure by comparison with DFT-simulated spectra and visual analysis of the computed vibrational modes.
cute genotoxicity analysis in vivo of the aqueous extract of Maytenus uyanensis Amazonian chichuá ionatas

The species Maytenus guyanensis Klotzsch ex Reissek, Celastraceae, present a wide variety of possible pharmacological activities and its roots and stems are used by popular medicine in the western Amazon rainforest. Few studies have demonstrated the genotoxic safety of the popular use of this species, and owing to this, the present study aimed to perform an analysis of the acute genotoxicity in vivo of the aqueous extract of M. guyanensis. Male and female mice from Mus musculus species, of weights ranging from 20 to 40 g, organized in eight groups with different treatments were used. The aqueous extracts of the bark of M. guyanensis were administered orally by gavage with 0.1 ml of the test substance per 10 g of the animal, followed by performance of comet assay in peripheral blood, PCE/NCE correlation and occurrence of micronuclei in the bone marrow. It was found that the aqueous extract of M. guyanensis, with ten times higher concentration than those used in ethnopharmacology, did not present genotoxic effect and, moreover, it has antigenotoxic action in mice treated acutely. Further studies regarding bioaccumulation and chronic effects of this species are suggested, in order to improve the understanding of its mechanism of action, ensuring the efficacy and safety of its utilization and developing phytotherapics and drugs. © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.
Community and Individual Risk Factors for Physical Child Abuse and Child Neglect: Variations by Poverty Status

Families are impacted by a variety of risk and protective factors for maltreatment at multiple levels of the social ecology. Individual- and neighborhood-level poverty has consistently been shown to be associated with higher risk for child abuse and neglect. The current study sought to understand the ways in which individual- and neighborhood-level risk and protective factors affect physical child abuse and child neglect and whether these factors differed for families based on their individual poverty status. Specifically, we used a three-level hierarchical linear model (families nested within census tracts and nested within cities) to estimate the relationships between physical child abuse and child neglect and neighborhood structural factors, neighborhood processes, and individual characteristics. We compared these relationships between lower and higher income families in a sample of approximately 3,000 families from 50 cities in the State of California. We found that neighborhood-level disadvantage was especially detrimental for families in poverty and that neighborhood-level protective processes (social) were not associated with physical child abuse and child neglect for impoverished families, but that they had a protective effect for higher income families.
The Chlamydia pneumoniae Type III Secretion-Related lcrH Gene Clusters Are Developmentally Expressed Operons

ABSTRACT Two chlamydial homologues of the Yersinia lcrH chaperone for type III secretion system structural components are present within separate gene clusters. Quantitative transcriptional analyses demonstrated that each cluster is differentially regulated and expressed as an operon using major sigma factor elements, suggesting the presence of more elaborate developmental regulation mechanisms in chlamydiae.
Blood Protein Binding of Cyclosporine in Transplant Patients

The objective of this study was to compare the binding of cyclosporine to blood proteins between four healthy subjects and five liver and eight renal transplant patients. Fresh heparinized blood was obtained, to which sufficient quantities of tritium‐labelled cyclosporine and unlabelled cyclosporine were added to blood samples or red blood cell (RBC) suspensions. Concentrations of cyclosporine in whole blood, plasma, RBC suspension, and phosphate buffer were estimated by liquid scintigraphy. The blood:plasma ratio of cyclosporine in transplant patients was significantly lower (P < .05) than that in healthy volunteers. The RBC:buffer ratio, a measure of affinity of RBCs for cyclosporine, was highest in those with liver transplants and lowest in those with kidney transplants. The unbound fraction of cyclosporine in plasma was less in transplant patients than in healthy volunteers. The results of this study indicate that there are differences in blood protein binding of cyclosporine between transplant patients that may contribute to the differences in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of this drug.
Bullying: A Whole School Approach

Abstract Bullying is a serious problem in South African schools. The present study proposes a whole school approach where parents, teachers and educational psychologists are involved in creating a healthy positive environment for child development. This research was a phenomenological, descriptive, qualitative study. It started with a literature review of the most important aspects of the study. The empirical study consisted of an open question about how the different participants in the study, namely teachers, parents and an edu cational psychologist, deal with the issue of bullying in schools to see whether a whole school approach was appropriate to deal with the problem. The participants were purposively selected from three schools. Interviews were conducted with one open ended question using an interview schedule with probes. The responses were transcribed and categories and sub themes were identified through open coding. The research findings indicate that teachers and parents needed more information and training in dealing with bullying. Workshops, training and guidance from educational psychologists could be options. Educational psychologists could contribute to school policy and the code of conduct of the school. It is suggested that stakeholders in the school context should work together in curbing the problem of bullying. By supporting each other stakeholders could make a difference in the lives of bullies and victims of bullying, not just in the present, but also in their lives as adults.
MicroRNA-338 modulates cortical neuronal placement and polarity

ABSTRACT The precise spatial and temporal regulation of gene expression orchestrates the many intricate processes during brain development. In the present study we examined the role of the brain-enriched microRNA-338 (miR-338) during mouse cortical development. Reduction of miR-338 levels in the developing mouse cortex, using a sequence-specific miR-sponge, resulted in a loss of neuronal polarity in the cortical plate and significantly reduced the number of neurons within this cortical layer. Conversely, miR-338 overexpression in developing mouse cortex increased the number of neurons, which exhibited a multipolar morphology. All together, our results raise the possibility for a direct role for this non-coding RNA, which was recently associated with schizophrenia, in the regulation of cortical neuronal polarity and layer placement.
Effect of Fish Collagen Hydrolysates on Type I Collagen mRNA Levels of Human Dermal Fibroblast Culture

Fish discards and subproducts may represent an important source of raw material, not only for the food industry, but for other different kind of industries, such as the nutraceutical and cosmetic industries. Collagen, which is mainly obtained from animal skins, is an important structural protein in the animal kingdom having many different applications. It is well known that fish skins constitute a significant subproduct in the fishery industry, especially in the case of some species, where fish skins may represent up to 20% of the total body weight of fish. Peptides from collagen hydrolysates have been described to be useful for preventing skin aging and osteoarthritis, however, the mechanism for these biological activities is not well known. Fibroblasts are the main cell types involved in the collagen synthesis, and in the present work, human dermal fibroblasts have been exposed to the treatment of collagen peptides of two different molecular weight ranges. Results show that higher molecular weight collagen peptides produce higher synthesis of collagen type I mRNA and, therefore, it may suggest that prior molecular weight selection may be an important step to maximize the effect of collagen hydrolysates on collagen type I synthesis by dermal fibroblasts.
Behçet's syndrome and health-related quality of life: influence of symptoms, lifestyle and employment status.

OBJECTIVES Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a chronic multisystemic disorder. The complex pattern of BS symptoms can effect negatively on patients' quality of life. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of BS symptoms, oral health related lifestyles and employment status on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). METHODS A questionnaire was mailed to a cohort of 641 adult members of the Behçet's Syndrome Society (BSS) and patients attending a Behçet's syndrome centre in the UK. Respondents gave information on socio-demographic characteristics, disease duration, current symptoms, symptom control, health related lifestyle, diet, smoking and alcohol, employment status and quality of life (the EQ-5D index). RESULTS 315 out of 426 BS participants (Males: Females=136:179) were recruited. BS symptoms and EQ-5D score model (R=0.67 and R2=0.45) and standardised coefficients for symptoms were; arthropathy (-0.336), headache (-0.227), neurological problems (-0.135), pathergy reaction (-0.119) and skin lesions (-0.107) in decreasing order. This finding was similar to a 2009 study of the same cohort. Regression analysis of tobacco consumption revealed that tobacco use was a risk factor for decreasing the EQ-5D score (beta value = - 0.72, p=0.001). Using an effective mouthwash has a positive impact on HRQoL (beta value= 0.149 and p=0.012). The mean EQ-5D in patients who continued in employment and who were not receiving benefits was better compared to other sub groups. CONCLUSIONS BS symptoms, employment status, a healthy lifestyle combined with a good oral health have a significant impact on the HRQoL of BS patients.
Deficient documentation detection a methodology to locate deficient project documentation using topic analysis

A project's documentation is the primary source of information for developers using that project. With hundreds of thousands of programming-related questions posted on programming Q&A websites, such as Stack Overflow, we question whether the developer-written documentation provides enough guidance for programmers. In this study, we wanted to know if there are any topics which are inadequately covered by the project documentation. We combined questions from Stack Overflow and documentation from the PHP and Python projects. Then, we applied topic analysis to this data using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), and found topics in Stack Overflow that did not overlap the project documentation. We successfully located topics that had deficient project documentation. We also found topics in need of tutorial documentation that were outside of the scope of the PHP or Python projects, such as MySQL and HTML.
Development and Validation of a High-Throughput Screen for Inhibitors of SARS CoV and Its Application in Screening of a 100,000-Compound Library

The authors have developed a high-throughput screen (HTS) that allows for the identification of potential inhibitors of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) from large compound libraries. The luminescent-based assay measures the inhibition of SARS CoV–induced cytopathic effect (CPE) in Vero E6 cells. The assay was validated in 96-well plates in a BSL3 containment facility. The assay is sensitive and robust, with Z values > 0.6, signal to background (S/B) > 16, and signal to noise (S/N) > 3. The assay was further validated with 2 different diversity sets of compounds against the SARS CoV. The “hit” rate for both libraries was approximately 0.01%. The validated HTS assay was then employed to screen a 100,000-compound library against SARS CoV. The hit rate for the library in a single-dose format was determined to be approximately 0.8%. Screening of the 3 libraries resulted in the identification of several novel compounds that effectively inhibited the CPE of SARS CoV in vitro—compounds which will serve as excellent lead candidates for further evaluation. At a 10-μM concentration, 3 compounds with selective indexes (SI50) of > 53 were discovered.
Synaptically Released Zinc Triggers Metabotropic Signaling via a Zinc-Sensing Receptor in the Hippocampus

Zn2+ is coreleased with glutamate from mossy fiber terminals and can influence synaptic function. Here, we demonstrate that synaptically released Zn2+ activates a selective postsynaptic Zn2+-sensing receptor (ZnR) in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. ZnR activation induced intracellular release of Ca2+, as well as phosphorylation of extracellular-regulated kinase and Ca2+/calmodulin kinase II. Blockade of synaptic transmission by tetrodotoxin or CdCl inhibited the ZnR-mediated Ca2+ rises. The responses mediated by ZnR were largely attenuated by the extracellular Zn2+ chelator, CaEDTA, and in slices from mice lacking vesicular Zn2+, suggesting that synaptically released Zn2+ triggers the metabotropic activity. Knockdown of the expression of the orphan G-protein-coupled receptor 39 (GPR39) attenuated ZnR activity in a neuronal cell line. Importantly, we observed widespread GPR39 labeling in CA3 neurons, suggesting a role for this receptor in mediating ZnR signaling in the hippocampus. Our results describe a unique role for synaptic Zn2+ acting as the physiological ligand of a metabotropic receptor and provide a novel pathway by which synaptic Zn2+ can regulate neuronal function.
Packet in Message Based DDoS Attack Detection in SDN Network Using OpenFlow

Using the OpenFlow protocol, the virtual network technology SDN (Software Defined Network) is now widely used. In recent years, the number of DDoS attacks has been increasing year by year. To detect DDoS attacks in SDN, data recorded in the flow table in OpenFlow switch is analyzed and various detection methods are submitted. However, SDN centrally manages communication within the network, when detecting DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. This creates a heavy processing load, and the processing load of the OpenFlow controller must be considered. In this paper, in order to reduce the processing load of the controller, we do not collect data of the flow table, extract three features from the Packet In message for communication between the controller and the switch, and perform real-time attack detection. Furthermore, to avoid stringent detection time intervals, triggers will be added before detection to realize light and dynamic DDoS attacks detection.
ELECTROCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES IN AQUEOUS ELECTROLYTES

The paper reports studies about electrochemical synthesis of colloidal silver solutions involving the so-called “sacrificial anode” technique. Poly (N-vinyl-2pyrrolidone) (PVP) and sodium lauryl sulfate (Na-LS) have been used as a stabilizer and co-stabilizer, respectively. The recorded UV/Vis spectra evidenced the presence of absorption band centered at 420 nm, which is characteristic for Ag nanoparticles presence in the colloidal system. Based on DLS measurements and TEM micrographs, the conditions for preparing stable and high purity nano-Ag based colloidal solutions containing 40-60 ppm Ag particles with size around 10-20 nm has been established. The zeta potential distribution in a monomodal manner, with potential values between -17 mV and -30 mV, suggests the existence of particles covered by stabilizer and, therefore, a stable colloidal system.
Cortical Mechanisms for the Segregation and Representation of Acoustic Textures

Auditory object analysis requires two fundamental perceptual processes: the definition of the boundaries between objects, and the abstraction and maintenance of an object's characteristic features. Although it is intuitive to assume that the detection of the discontinuities at an object's boundaries precedes the subsequent precise representation of the object, the specific underlying cortical mechanisms for segregating and representing auditory objects within the auditory scene are unknown. We investigated the cortical bases of these two processes for one type of auditory object, an “acoustic texture,” composed of multiple frequency-modulated ramps. In these stimuli, we independently manipulated the statistical rules governing (1) the frequency–time space within individual textures (comprising ramps with a given spectrotemporal coherence) and (2) the boundaries between textures (adjacent textures with different spectrotemporal coherences). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show mechanisms defining boundaries between textures with different coherences in primary and association auditory cortices, whereas texture coherence is represented only in association cortex. Furthermore, participants' superior detection of boundaries across which texture coherence increased (as opposed to decreased) was reflected in a greater neural response in auditory association cortex at these boundaries. The results suggest a hierarchical mechanism for processing acoustic textures that is relevant to auditory object analysis: boundaries between objects are first detected as a change in statistical rules over frequency–time space, before a representation that corresponds to the characteristics of the perceived object is formed.
Preparation and characterization of a magnetic and optical dual-modality molecular probe

Multi-modality imaging probes combine the advantages of individual imaging techniques to yield highly detailed anatomic and molecular information in living organisms. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of a dual-modality nanoprobe that couples the magnetic properties of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (USPIOs) with the near infrared fluorescence of Cy5.5. The fluorophore is encapsulated in a biocompatible shell of silica surrounding the iron oxide core for a final diameter of ∼ 17 nm. This silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticle (SCION) has been analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The particle demonstrates a strong negative surface charge and maintains colloidal stability in the physiological pH range. Magnetic hysteresis analysis confirms superparamagnetic properties that could be manipulated for thermotherapy. The viability of primary human monocytes, T cells, and B cells incubated with the particle has been examined in vitro. In vivo analysis of agent leakage into subcutaneous A431 tumors in mice was also conducted. This particle has been designed for diagnostic application with magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging, and has future potential to serve as a heat-sensitive targeted drug delivery platform.
Characterization of european ancestry nonalcoholic fatty liver disease‐associated variants in individuals of african and hispanic descent

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an obesity‐related condition affecting over 50% of individuals in some populations and is expected to become the number one cause of liver disease worldwide by 2020. Common, robustly associated genetic variants in/near five genes were identified for hepatic steatosis, a quantifiable component of NAFLD, in European ancestry individuals. Here we tested whether these variants were associated with hepatic steatosis in African‐ and/or Hispanic‐Americans and fine‐mapped the observed association signals. We measured hepatic steatosis using computed tomography in five African American (n = 3,124) and one Hispanic American (n = 849) cohorts. All analyses controlled for variation in age, age2, gender, alcoholic drinks, and population substructure. Heritability of hepatic steatosis was estimated in three cohorts. Variants in/near PNPLA3, NCAN, LYPLAL1, GCKR, and PPP1R3B were tested for association with hepatic steatosis using a regression framework in each cohort and meta‐analyzed. Fine‐mapping across African American cohorts was conducted using meta‐analysis. African‐ and Hispanic‐American cohorts were 33.9/37.5% male, with average age of 58.6/42.6 years and body mass index of 31.8/28.9 kg/m2, respectively. Hepatic steatosis was 0.20‐0.34 heritable in African‐ and Hispanic‐American families (P < 0.02 in each cohort). Variants in or near PNPLA3, NCAN, GCKR, PPP1R3B in African Americans and PNPLA3 and PPP1R3B in Hispanic Americans were significantly associated with hepatic steatosis; however, allele frequency and effect size varied across ancestries. Fine‐mapping in African Americans highlighted missense variants at PNPLA3 and GCKR and redefined the association region at LYPLAL1. Conclusion: Multiple genetic variants are associated with hepatic steatosis across ancestries. This explains a substantial proportion of the genetic predisposition in African‐ and Hispanic‐Americans. Missense variants in PNPLA3 and GCKR are likely functional across multiple ancestries. (Hepatology 2013;53:966–975)