Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chlorpyrifos Exposure During Perinatal Period Affects Intestinal Microbiota Associated With Delay of Maturation of Digestive Tract in Rats

Objectives: Pesticide exposure via residues in food may be especially harmful when it takes place in the developing child. The present study was designed to assess the impact of perinatal exposure to chlorpyrifos (CPF, an insecticide known to cross the placental barrier). Methods: Female rats were exposed to oral CPF (1 or 5 mg kg−1 day−1 vs vehicle controls) from gestation onset up to weaning of the pups that were individually gavaged (CPF or vehicle) thereafter. Two developmental time points were studied: weaning (day 21) and adulthood (day 60). After sacrifice, samples from the intestinal tract and other organs underwent microbiological and histological analyses. Results: Rat pups exposed to 5 mg kg−1 day−1 CPF were both significantly smaller (body length) and lighter than controls. Exposure to CPF was associated with changes in the histological structures (shorter and thinner intestinal villosities), an intestinal microbial dysbiosis, and increased bacterial translocation in the spleen and liver. These significant microbial changes in the gut were associated with impaired epithelium protection (mucin-2) and microbial pattern recognition receptor (Toll-like 2 and 4) gene expression. Conclusions: Exposure to CPF during gestation and development affected the pups’ intestinal development, with morphological alteration of the structures involved in nutrient absorption, intestinal microbial dysbiosis, alteration of mucosal barrier (mucin-2), stimulation of the innate immune system, and increased bacterial translocation. Perinatal exposure to CPF may therefore have short- and long-term impacts on the digestive tract.
60-GHz air-cavity-fed slot antenna array using modified silicon micromachining process

This paper presents an air-cavity-fed four-element slot antenna array, which is fabricated using a modified silicon micromachining process. Different from traditional silicon micromachining process, the silicon dielectric is fully plated with gold without any silicon being exposed to the electromagnetic environment. In this modified silicon micromachining process, air cavities can be easily obtained to avoid substrate loss, with the merit of low loss. This new silicon micromachining process is recently introduced to the millimeter-wave antenna design, with the basic procedures of through-silicon-wafer dry etching and gold plating. An example of a four-element slot antenna array is constructed, characterized, and tested at 60 GHz. The proposed slot array is inspired by breaking the field symmetry of the channelized coplanar waveguide. By alternatively and periodically arranging the shielding blocks, a four-element slot array is achieved and fed by an air cavity, which is easily achieved using the modified process. A prototype is fabricated with the measured results including an impedance bandwidth of 10.1% from 57.15 to 63.23 GHz and a fan-shaped beam with a peak broadside gain of 12.1 dBi.
Oxygen Mass Transfer Enhancement via Fermentor Headspace Pressurization

Bioreactor headspace pressurization represents an excellent means of enhancing oxygen mass transfer to a culture. This method is particularly effective in situations where stirring or vigorous aeration is difficult. Because it in itself introduces no undesirable hydrodynamic force, the proposed method is also attractive for cells susceptible to agitation and sparging. Experiments were first conducted in an ideal fermentor by sparging air into a sulfite solution free from extraneous microbial effects. An increased oxygen mass transfer rate resulting from pressurization led to a superior cell growth rate and a higher maximum cell density in both of the microbial systems studied: a bacterial (Escherichia coli) culture up to 2.72 bar and a fragile algal (Ochromonas malhamensis) culture with pressure programming. Applying pressurization increased the maximum dry cell weight from 1.47 g/L to 1.77 g/L in the E. coli culture and increased the maximum viable cell density from 4 X107 cells/mL to 108 cells/mL in the algal culture. An additional advantage is that formation of undesirable products under oxygen limitation, e.g., acetic acid in the E. coli culture, can be suppressed. A significant (over 250%) improvement in the oxygen transfer rate can be achieved with existing fermentors with little modification as they are already designed to withstand reasonable pressure from autoclaving. This method is simple, clean, inexpensive, and easily implemented, and it can be applied alongside other existing methods of oxygen mass transfer enhancement.
Dexamethasone metabolism by human liver in vitro. Metabolite identification and inhibition of 6-hydroxylation.

The metabolism of the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone in human liver microsomal incubations has been studied. Metabolites were analyzed by radiometric high-performance liquid chromatography and were identified by liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometry; in addition, the major metabolite 6beta-hydroxydexamethasone was identified by cochromatography with a chemically synthesized standard. A total of 17 human livers were used in this study and the following metabolites were identified: 6beta-hydroxydexamethasone, 6 alpha-hydroxydexamethasone, 6-hydroxy-9 alpha-fluoro-androsta-1,4-diene-11 beta-hydroxy-16 alpha-methyl-3,17-dione (6-hydroxy-9 alpha-F-A) and 9 alpha-fluoro-androsta-1,4-diene-11 beta-hydroxy-16 alpha-methyl-3,17-dione (9 alpha-F-A). Dexamethasone underwent side-chain cleavage to form 9 alpha-F-A. This metabolite was then a substrate for 6-hydroxylation. There was considerable interindividual variability in metabolic profiles. Mean (+/-S.D.) K(m) values for 6 beta- and 6 alpha-hydroxydexamethasone formation were 23.2 +/- 3.8 and 25.6 +/- 1.6 microM (n = 4), respectively. The corresponding V max values were 14.3 +/- 9.9 and 4.6 +/- 3.1 pmol x min(-1) mg protein (-1). Ketoconazole (3 microM) completely inhibited 6 alpha- and 6 beta-hydroxylation, indicating that formation of both metabolites was catalyzed by CYP3A4. This was confirmed in studies of correlations between the rate of metabolite formation and the relative expression of CYP3A4: r = 0.74 for 6 beta-hydroxydexamethasone, P = . 003; r = 0.70 for 6 alpha-hydroxydexamethasone, P = . 006. In addition to ketoconazole, both ellipticine and gestodene caused marked inhibition of 6-hydroxylation. Ellipticine is clearly not a selective CYP1A inhibitor as has been stated previously. However, furafylline (CYP1A inhibitor), tolbutamide (CYP2C substrate), and sulfaphenazole (CYP2C inhibitor) were essentially noninhibitory. The relatively simple metabolic profile of dexamethasone compared to other steroids may point to this being a potentially useful in vivo probe for CYP3A4 in humans.
Poly[[diaquahemi-μ4-oxalato-μ2-oxalato-praseodymium(III)] monohydrate]

In the title complex, {[Pr(C2O4)1.5(H2O)2]·H2O}n, the PrIII ion, which lies on a crystallographic inversion centre, is coordinated by seven O atoms from four oxalate ligands and two O atoms from two water ligands; further Pr—O coordination from tetradentate oxalate ligands forms a three-dimensional structure. The compound crystallized as a monohydrate, the water molecule occupying space in small voids and being secured by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding as an acceptor from ligand water H atoms and as a donor to oxalate O-acceptor sites.
Cutaneous sarcoidosis treated with methotrexate

Sixteen patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis, 15 of whom also had involvement of other organs, were treated with methotrexate (MTX) orally once a week in an open study. The treatment period was from 1 to 72 months (mean 23 months). In 12 patients the skin lesions cleared, and in 3 of 4 patients who had sarcoid uveitis this cleared as well. The chest X‐ray of 6 patients showed no corresponding improvement in pulmonary changes or in hilar adenopathy.
Automatic Liver Segmentation on Volumetric CT Images Using Supervoxel-Based Graph Cuts

Accurate segmentation of liver from abdominal CT scans is critical for computer-assisted diagnosis and therapy. Despite many years of research, automatic liver segmentation remains a challenging task. In this paper, a novel method was proposed for automatic delineation of liver on CT volume images using supervoxel-based graph cuts. To extract the liver volume of interest (VOI), the region of abdomen was firstly determined based on maximum intensity projection (MIP) and thresholding methods. Then, the patient-specific liver VOI was extracted from the region of abdomen by using a histogram-based adaptive thresholding method and morphological operations. The supervoxels of the liver VOI were generated using the simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) method. The foreground/background seeds for graph cuts were generated on the largest liver slice, and the graph cuts algorithm was applied to the VOI supervoxels. Thirty abdominal CT images were used to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed method can detect the liver accurately with significant reduction of processing time, especially when dealing with diseased liver cases.
In situ transesterification and prediction of fuel quality parameters of biodiesel produced from Botryococcus sp. MCC31

Abstract Microalgae are considered potential feedstocks to generate biodiesel; however, the area requires further refinement and metabolic engineering to enhance productivity along with cost reduction. Our study involved the production and quality evaluation of biodiesel from the lipids of Botryococcus sp. MCC31, after conventional and in situ transesterification. Lipids extracted fell within the range of 330 to 410 mg g−1 Dry Weight (DW) (33–41% w/w) and these were identified by 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and 13C NMR spectrum. After identification, the reaction conditions for indirect transesterification, in terms of catalyst type, were optimized for maximizing Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) yield. The total unsaturated and saturated fatty acids were 54% and 46%, respectively, and the results indicated higher amounts of methyl palmitate and methyl oleate, which comprised almost 65% of the total FAMEs. The biodiesel exhibited a density of 0.853 g/cc, viscosity of 3.512 mm2/s, Cetane Number (CN) of 57.57, Higher Heating Value (HHV) of 38.88, iodine value of 75.56 g I2 /100 g, Degree of Unsaturation (DU) of 58% and a Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP) of 4.8 °C. The results were in accordance with the details as specified by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and European Norms (EN) standards. The study illustrates that Botryococcus sp. MCC31 can be a valuable feedstock for generation of high-quality biodiesel.
Teaching Sustainability with the Earth Charter

The year 2002 marks the ten-year anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. Little progress has been made towards the realization of Agenda 21, the program for sustainable development committed to by so many governments at that historic meeting. While economic growth has continued apace, social and environmental conditions have deteriorated. Nevertheless, governments, institutions and individuals around the world have been developing the knowledge and technologies needed for a sustainable future.
Ultrasound-enhanced microfluidic synthesis of liposomes.

BACKGROUND Liposomes have been successfully used as delivery vehicles for anticancer drugs. Both sonication and microfluidic technologies have been used to produce liposomes. The combination of the two methods was evaluated in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS The microfluidic devices, mainly comprising micro-dispensers and a sonicator, were used to produce liposomal nanoparticles. Sonication was used to enhance the reduction of liposome size. RESULTS Sonication significantly reduced the size of the liposomes. The particle size also decreased as the buffer to solvent flow rate ratio increased. The smallest particle sizes were achieved with a volumetric flow rate of lipids at 0.374 ml/min. CONCLUSION The microfluidic devices in combination with ultrasound are simple and may be used to produce liposomal nanoparticles with narrow size distribution.
A study on the correlation between MTHFR promoter methylation and diabetic nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE In order to observe the relationship between MTHFR promoter and DN, the determinations on MTHFR promoter methylation level and expression of HCY from DN patients have been carried out. METHODS According to the Diabetes diagnosis and classification standard from WHO in 1999, 85 patients with DM diagnosed by Endocrinology and 30 healthy participants from our medical examination center were chosen as control specimen to study in this paper. All this specimen were divided into A, B, C and D four groups , which are corresponding simple diabetes mellitus group (SDM), early diabetic nephropathy group (EDN), clinical diabetic nephropathy group (CDN) and normal control group. And then, all common materials and clinical experiments data have been collected respectively. (1) Extracted the peripheral blood DNA of each group and determinate the methylation status of MTHFR gene promoter by PCR (MSP). (2) Determinated the serum HCY protein expression of each group. RESULTS (1) The MTHFR promoter methylation of SDM and diabetic nephropathy group are wear off comparied with normal control group. And MTHFR promoter was in demethylation state in normal control group, a slightly weak in SDN, a obviously weak in early diabetic nephropathy group; the MTHFR promoter was in methylation state in clinical diabetic nephropathy group. (2) The HCY protein of simple diabetes mellitus group, early diabetic nephropathy group and clinical diabetic nephropathy group are Pitch with normal control group. HCY protein level of each group are as 7.41±1.61 umol/L, 10.34±2.89 umol/L, 10.95±5.89 umol/L and 13.03±6.14 umol/L corresponding normal control group, simple diabetes mellitus group, early diabetic nephropathy group and clinical diabetic nephropathy group. And there is no statistical significance about the differences among four groups. CONCLUSION The demethylation state of MTHFR promoter was obviously weaker in clinical diabetic nephropathy group than in SDM. The level of serum HCY was obviously higher in clinical diabetic nephropathy group than in SDM. It suggested that MTHFR promoter demethylation may be involoed in the pathogenesis of DN.
Effects of Dynamic Warm-up on Lower Body Explosiveness Among Collegiate Baseball Players

Frantz, TL and Ruiz, MD. Effects of dynamic warm-up on lower body explosiveness among collegiate baseball players. J Strength Cond Res 25(11): 2985–2990, 2011—Debate exists between the benefits and effectiveness of a dynamic warm-up vs. a static warm-up. This study was conducted to compare dynamic and static warm-ups on lower body explosiveness as measured by stationary vertical jump (VJ) and standing long jump (LJ) among collegiate baseball players. Participants (n = 17; age = 19.59 ± 1.37 years) progressed through 3 different warm-ups on weekly testing dates over a 7-week period. After the warm-up routines, participants were measured for VJ height and LJ distance in centimeters. The mean jump heights for VJ were 66.49 ± 8.28 cm for dynamic, 61.42 ± 7.51 cm for static, and 62.72 ± 7.84 cm for the control condition. The mean jump distances for LJ were 231.99 ± 20.69 cm for dynamic, 219.69 ± 20.96 cm for static, and 226.46 ± 20.60 cm for the control. Results indicated that the participants jumped significantly higher in both experimental conditions while under the influence of the dynamic warm-up (VJ—F = 22.08; df = 1.33, 21.345; p < 0.00 and LJ—F = 32.20; df = 2, 32; p < 0.01). Additional LJ analysis determined that individuals jumped significantly further after no warm-up compared to after a static warm-up (−6.78, p < 0.05). Lower body explosiveness is critical in baseball and many other sports as well. The results show that dynamic warm-up increases both VJ height and LJ distance. Specifically, these findings indicate that athletes could gain nearly 2 in. on his or her vertical jump by simply switching from a static warm-up routine to a dynamic routine.
The Fitness Function for the Job: Search-Based Generation of Test Suites That Detect Real Faults

Search-based test generation, if effective at fault detection, can lower the cost of testing. Such techniques rely on fitness functions to guide the search. Ultimately, such functions represent test goals that approximate — but do not ensure — fault detection. The need to rely on approximations leads to two questions — can fitness functions produce effective tests and, if so, which should be used to generate tests? To answer these questions, we have assessed the fault-detection capabilities of the EvoSuite framework and eight of its fitness functions on 353 real faults from the Defects4J database. Our analysis has found that the strongest indicator of effectiveness is a high level of code coverage. Consequently, the branch coverage fitness function is the most effective. Our findings indicate that fitness functions that thoroughly explore system structure should be used as primary generation objectives — supported by secondary fitness functions that vary the scenarios explored.
A Study on the Mediating Effect of Post-Merger Integration (PMI) on Merger Stress, Leadership, and Performance: Focusing on Merged Public Institutions in Korea

This study reviews the relationships between merger stress, leadership, post-merger integration (PMI), and performance by focusing on the mediating effect of PMI using survey data of merged public institutions. The study analyzes whether the stress during a merger or the leadership in merged organizations have statistically significant impacts on PMI and the performance of merged organizations, and whether PMI significantly mediates merger stress and leadership with performance. The results indicate that merger stress had a statistically significant negative impact on PMI and the performance of the merged organizations. Conversely, the leadership of merged organizations had a statistically significant positive impact on PMI and the performance of the merged organizations. Furthermore, PMI showed a significant negative mediating effect on the relationship between merger stress and performance, while it showed a significant positive mediating effect in the relationship between leadership and performance.
MICROSURGICAL CLIPPING AND ENDOVASCULAR COILING OF INTRACRANIAL ANEURYSMS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

OBJECTIVEAlthough endovascular coiling has been used for 15 years in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms, fewer than 60 published studies have directly compared microsurgical clipping and endovascular coiling, and only two studies have used a randomized, prospective design. The objective of this review is to weigh evidence for the efficacy of endovascular coiling compared with microsurgical clipping based on published head-to-head comparisons. METHODSTwo major electronic databases, PubMed and Cochrane Library, were queried using search terms such as “coiling,” “clipping,” “microsurgical,” “endovascular,” “Guglielmi,” and “intracranial aneurysm. ” Relevant randomized trials and observational, cohort, and case studies of unruptured and ruptured aneurysms were considered for analysis. Data from included studies were summarized qualitatively, addressing study methodologies, patient demographics, study techniques/equipment, and outcome measures. RESULTSForty-seven studies were included in the final count, including two prospective randomized trials, 23 prospective observational studies, 20 retrospective observational studies, and two studies that used a combination of prospective and retrospective data. In total, 18 studies found outcomes to be equivalent in the coiled and clipped groups, 18 studies favored coiling, 10 studies favored clipping, and one study had no conclusion (in terms of a comparison). CONCLUSIONThe earliest randomized prospective study by Koivisto et al. found clinical and angiographic results between the two methodologies to be statistically equivalent. The more recent and larger randomized, prospective study from the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial group suggests that endovascular coiling is statistically superior to microsurgical clipping in clinical outcomes, although the recently published long-term follow-up of International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial patients documents higher recurrence and rehemorrhage rates after endovascular coiling. Although there is no clear consensus in these two studies or in the 45 observational studies included, clinically useful information can be extracted to improve shared decision making and interaction between interventionalists and neurosurgeons, create more individualized treatment algorithms, and enhance future research.
Dynamic bandwidth extension of coil for underwater magneto-inductive communication

In this paper, an underwater magneto-inductive communication front-end operating at a center frequency of 1 MHz is described, where for a 1-meter communication range, the magneto-inductive bandwidth is limited to 40 kHz. It is shown that by dynamically adjusting the resonant frequency of the magnetic coil the system bandwidth can be extended by a factor of three, thus increasing the throughput.
QoS-based service selection for multiple requests with different classes

As the rapid development of web service, there are more and more services that have similar functional implementations appear on the converged network. Therefore the web service selection technologies help users selecting their services based on users' non-functional requirements. However, present works are lack of considering the situations that multiple user requests for the same functional service, not to mention users with different classes/priorities. This paper aims at helping multi-users to select their services from use's perspective and finding a global optimal solution. Comparing with existing service selection technologies, our approach has three advantages: 1) It classifies a service's QoS into four types and normalizes these QoS attributes on various dimensions with different metrics and scales. 2) In order to determine how well a service satisfies a user's requirements, it gives the satisfaction calculating functions based on prospect theory, which is good at reflecting the fluctuation of user feeling. 3) It uses bipartite graph to solve service selection for multi-users scenario. Besides, users' different classes/priorities are also taken into account in satisfaction calculations.
Hormonal and reproductive factors and risk of glioma: A prospective cohort study

The etiology of glioma, the most commonly diagnosed malignant brain tumor among adults in the United States, is poorly understood. Given the lower incidence rate of glioma in women than in men, it has been hypothesized that reproductive and hormonal factors may be involved in the etiology of glioma. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the National Breast Screening Study, which included 89,835 Canadian women, aged 40–59 years at recruitment between 1980 and 1985. Linkages to national cancer and mortality databases yielded data on cancer incidence and deaths from all causes, respectively, with follow‐up ending between 1998 and 2000. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between hormonal and reproductive factors and risk of glioma. During a mean of 16.4 years of follow‐up, we observed 120 incident glioma cases. Compared with women with a relatively early age at menarche (≤12 years), women who were 13–14 years of age at menarche had a 64% increased risk of glioma (95% CI = 1.01–2.65), and women who were older than 14 years of age at menarche had a 66% increased risk of glioma (95% CI = 0.86–3.20, ptrend = 0.06). Age at first live birth, parity, menopausal status, use of oral contraceptive and use of hormone replacement therapy were not associated with altered glioma risk in our study population. Additional prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.