Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phytohormones, Isoprenoids, and Role of the Apicoplast in Recovery from Dihydroartemisinin-Induced Dormancy of Plasmodium falciparum

ABSTRACT Many organisms undergo dormancy as a stress response to survive under unfavorable conditions that might impede development. This is observed in seeds and buds of plants and has been proposed as a mechanism of drug evasion and resistance formation in Plasmodium falciparum. We explored the effects of the phytohormones abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellic acid (GA) on dihydroartemisinin (DHA)-induced dormant erythrocytic stages of P. falciparum parasites. Dormant ring stages exposed to ABA and GA recovered from dormancy up to 48 h earlier than parasites exposed to DHA alone. Conversely, fluridone, an herbicide inhibitor of ABA synthesis, blocked emergence from dormancy. Additionally, the role of the apicoplast was assessed in dormant parasite recovery. Apicoplast-deficient P. falciparum remained viable for up to 8 days without the organelle and recrudesced only when supplemented with isopentyl pyrophosphate (IPP). IPP was not required for survival in the dormant state. Fosmidomycin inhibition of isoprenoid biosynthesis did not prevent dormancy release from occurring in parasites with an intact apicoplast, but IPP or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate was needed for complete recrudescence. In addition, the apicoplast and specifically the isoprenoids it produces are essential for recovery of dormant parasites. In summary, ABA and GA have significant effects on dormant parasites, and the phenotypes produced by these phytohormones and the herbicide fluridone also provide a means to explore the mechanism(s) underlying dormancy and the regulatory network that promotes cell cycle arrest in P. falciparum.
Mechanical and Nondestructive Testing to Verify the Effectiveness of Composite Strengthening on Historical Cast Iron Bridge in Venice, Italy

The oldest cast iron arch bridge built in 1852 in Venice exhibits serious deterioration due to corrosion and cracking of its members. The Municipality accepted a proposal to strengthen it with Aramid fiber reinforced polymers (AFRP) materials. The AFRP materials application aims to arrest cracks and reduce the structure’s vulnerability to impact by boats. Tests have already been performed on structural cast iron beams taken from similar cast iron bridges dismantled. Results from four point bending tests showed an increase in strength and a different fracture mode depending on FRP application. Charpy tests showed an increased fracture energy in specimens strengthened with FRP and primer. Utilization of bidirectional and triaxial fabrics was discussed. However this paper is particularly focused on nondestructive testing following the FRP application. Nondestructive testing has been planned both for laboratory test specimens and for a long term monitoring program. Artificial defects, embedded during manufact.
Gabapentin Does Not Appear to Improve Postoperative Pain and Sleep Patterns in Patients Who Concomitantly Receive Regional Anesthesia for Lower Extremity Orthopedic Surgery: A Randomized Control Trial

In recent years, gabapentin has gained popularity as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of postoperative pain. Numerous studies have shown a decrease in pain score, even with immediate postoperative activity, which is significant for early post-op ambulation and regaining functionality sooner. However, studies have been in conclusive in patients undergoing lower extremity orthopedic surgery. For this reason, we hoped to study the effect of gabapentin on postoperative pain in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, or a hip fracture repair. This was done in the setting of ensuring adequate postoperative analgesia with regional blocks and opioid PCA, as is protocol at our institution. Given the sedative effects of gabapentin and the potential for improving postoperative sleep patterns, we also studied the drug's effect on this aspect of our patient's postoperative course. We utilized the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and Visual Analog Scale for pain to obtain a more objective standardized score amongst our study population. Our results indicate that gabapentin does not offer any additional relief in pain or improve sleep habits in patients who have received either a femoral or lumbar plexus block for lower extremity orthopedic surgery. This trial is registered with NCT01546857.
Dietary saturated fat intake and atherosclerotic vascular disease mortality in elderly women: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND The reduction of saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake has been the basis of long-standing dietary recommendations. However, recent epidemiologic studies have reported conflicting evidence in the relation between SFA consumption and risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASVD) mortality. OBJECTIVE We investigated the association of SFA intake with serum lipid profiles and ASVD mortality in a population-based 10-y cohort study. DESIGN At baseline (1998) 1469 women living in Perth, Western Australia, with a mean ± SD age of 75.2 ± 2.7 y had SFA intake measured by using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Outcome data were serum lipids at baseline and ASVD deaths over 10 y (13,649 person-years of follow-up), retrieved from the Western Australian Data Linkage System. Other risk factors for ASVD were assessed and adjusted for in multivariable analyses. RESULTS ASVD deaths occurred in 9.1% (134) of participants. The highest quartile of SFA intake (>31.28 g/d) had an ~16% cumulative mortality risk compared with ~5% in the lowest quartile (<17.39 g/d) (HR: 3.07; 95% CI: 1.54, 6.11; P = 0.001). Baseline SFA intake was associated with baseline serum total and LDL cholesterol in multivariable-adjusted models (β: 0.199, SE: 0.056, P < 0.001 and β: 0.190, SE: 0.051, P < 0.001, respectively). However, baseline serum total and LDL cholesterol were not associated with ASVD mortality. CONCLUSIONS High SFA intake was associated with the risk of ASVD mortality in this population of elderly women. Although there was a strong positive association between SFA intake and LDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol was not associated with ASVD mortality in this cohort. Nevertheless, these data support dietary advice to reduce SFA intake.
International Conference on Computational Science , ICCS 2011 Simplifying and improving ant-based clustering

Ant-based clustering (ABC) is a data clustering approach inspired from cemetery formation activities observed in real ant colonies. Building upon the premise of collective intelligence, such an approach uses multiple ant-like agents and a mixture of heuristics, in order to create systems that are capable of clustering real-world data. Many recently proposed ABC systems have shown competitive results, but these systems are geared towards adding new heuristics, resulting in increasingly complex systems that are harder to understand and improve. In contrast to this direction, we demonstrate that a state-of-the-art ABC system can be systematically evaluated and then simplified. The streamlined model, which we call SABC, differs fundamentally from traditional ABC systems as it does not use the ant-colony and several key components. Yet, our empirical study shows that SABC performs more effectively and efficiently than the state-of-the-art ABC system.
Diversity of Gene Clusters for Polyketide and Nonribosomal Peptide Biosynthesis Revealed by Metagenomic Analysis of the Yellow Sea Sediment

Polyketides (PKs) and nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) are widely applied as drugs in use today, and one potential source for novel PKs and NRPs is the marine sediment microbes. However, the diversities of microbes and their PKs and NRPs biosynthetic genes in the marine sediment are rarely reported. In this study, 16S rRNA gene fragments of the Yellow Sea sediment were analyzed, demonstrating that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes accounted for 62% of all the bacterial species and Actinobacteria bacteria which were seen as the typical PKs and NRPs producers only accounted for 0.82% of all the bacterial species. At the same time, PKs and NRPs diversities were evaluated based on the diversity of gene fragments of type I polyketide synthase (PKS) ketosynthase domain (KS), nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) adenylation domain (AD), and dTDP-glucose-4,6-dehydratase (dTGD). The results showed that AD genes and dTGD genes were abundant and some of them had less than 50% identities with known ones; By contrast, only few KS genes were identified and most of them had more than 60% identities with known KS genes. Moreover, one 70,000-fosmid clone library was further constructed to screen for fosmid clones harboring PKS or NRPS gene clusters of the Yellow Sea sediment. Nine selected fosmid clones harboring KS or AD were sequenced, and three of the clones were assigned to Proteobacteria. Though only few Actinobacteria 16S rRNA gene sequences were detected in the microbial community, five of the screened fosmid clones were assigned to Actinobacteria. Further assembly of the 9 fosmid clones resulted in 11 contigs harboring PKS, NRPS or hybrid NPRS-PKS gene clusters. These gene clusters showed less than 60% identities with the known ones and might synthesize novel natural products. Taken together, we revealed the diversity of microbes in the Yellow Sea sediments and found that most of the microbes were uncultured. Besides, evaluation of PKS and NRPS biosynthetic gene clusters suggested that the marine sediment might have the ability to synthesize novel natural products and more NRPS gene clusters than PKS gene clusters distributed in this environment.
The impact of changing surface ocean conditions on the dissolution of aerosol iron

The proportion of aerosol iron (Fe) that dissolves in seawater varies greatly and is dependent on aerosol composition and the physicochemical conditions of seawater, which may change depending on location or be altered by global environmental change. Aerosol and surface seawater samples were collected in the Sargasso Sea and used to investigate the impact of these changing conditions on aerosol Fe dissolution in seawater. Our data show that seawater temperature, pH, and oxygen concentration, within the range of current and projected future values, had no significant effect on the dissolution of aerosol Fe. However, the source and composition of aerosols had the most significant effect on the aerosol Fe solubility, with the most anthropogenically influenced samples having the highest fractional solubility (up to 3.2%). The impact of ocean warming and acidification on aerosol Fe dissolution is therefore unlikely to be as important as changes in land usage and fossil fuel combustion. Our experimental results also reveal important changes in the size distribution of soluble aerosol Fe in solution, depending on the chemical conditions of seawater. Under typical conditions, the majority (77–100%) of Fe released from aerosols into ambient seawater existed in the colloidal (0.02–0.4 µm) size fraction. However, in the presence of a sufficient concentration of strong Fe‐binding organic ligands (10 nM) most of the aerosol‐derived colloidal Fe was converted to soluble Fe (<0.02 µm). This finding highlights the potential importance of organic ligands in retaining aerosol Fe in a biologically available form in the surface ocean.
Power loss analysis of 10kW three-way isolated DC/DC converter using SiC-MOSFETs as a power routing unit for constructing 400V DC microgrid systems

We propose an autonomous DC microgrid system in which a three-way isolated DC/DC converter is used as a power routing unit. As the unit in the system operates with various power flow patterns, a highly efficient system cannot be easily designed unless the dependence of the unit's overall loss on the flow pattern is suppressed and efficiency variations in any operational state are small. We made a prototype three-way isolated DC/DC converter consisting of SiC-MOSFETs rated at 400 V, 20 kHz, and 10 kW and demonstrated power distribution operation. In this paper we present the dependence of overall loss in the three-way converter as revealed by results of experiments and we analyze the factors involved in this dependence. We also propose a design approach to suppressing the dependence of overall loss on power flow pattern.
Simple Artificial OralCavity Model for in vitroEvaluation of Orally Disintegrating Tablets

117 Simple Artificial OralCavity Model for in vitroEvaluation of Orally Disintegrating Tablets Mowafaq Mohammed. Ghareeb, Department of pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq Correspondence address: Tel: +9647901737638; E-mail: mopharmacy@yahoo.com Conflict of interest: none declared
Validation of Near Wall Turbulence Models for Film-Cooling Applications in Combustors

Most of the cooling design of combustion liners generally involve several wall jet computations to simulate the machined ring film cooling arrangement and film cooling jets from multi-holes. The cooling system design requires that the metal temperatures and gradients be within acceptable limits for the most severe conditions imposed on the engine. To achieve this design, several arrangements of the cooling schemes, including machined ring film cooling, multihole effusion cooling and cooling flow splits to different sections of the combustor may have to be tried before arriving at an optimum design. For each cooling arrangement and cooling flow distribution, a CFD analysis is first performed and then a thermal analysis of the combustor walls is performed to obtain the distribution of wall temperatures, heat fluxes and temperature gradients. Thus accurate handling of these types of flows is a very important aspect of the analysis. The objective of the present work is to assess the performance of a few turbulence models for application to computation of film cooling effectiveness of modern combustors with multi-hole effusion cooled liners. INTRODUCTION In the modern combustors for aircraft engine gas turbines, the inlet temperatures and pressures are high. *Senior Engineer, Associate Fellow AIAA ++Manager Copyright
Kinematic stride cycle asymmetry is not associated with sprint performance and injury prevalence in athletic sprinters

The aims of this study were to (a) quantify the magnitude of kinematic stride cycle asymmetry in high‐level athletic sprinters, (b) explore the association between kinematic asymmetry and maximal sprint running performance, and (c) investigate possible associations between kinematic asymmetry and injury prevalence. Twenty‐two competitive sprinters (age 23 ± 3 year, height 1.81 ± 0.06 m, body mass 75.5 ± 5.6 kg, personal best 100 m 10.86 ± 0.22 seconds) performed 2‐3 flying sprints over 20 m. Kinematics were recorded in 3D using a motion tracking system with 21 cameras at a 250 Hz sampling rate, allowing assessment of six consecutive steps for each athlete. Information about injuries sustained 1 year prior to and after the experiment was continuously registered (type, location, severity/duration, and time of year occurrence). The results showed that ≥11 of the 22 participating athletes displayed large or very large asymmetry for at least 11 of 14 variables, and all athletes displayed large or very large asymmetry for at least three variables. No correlations between individual magnitudes of asymmetry and sprint performance were significant (trivial to moderate). No significant changes in asymmetry between best and worst trial were observed for any of the analyzed variables. In addition, injured and non‐injured athletes did not differ in asymmetry, neither for the time period 1 year prior to nor after the test. In conclusion, kinematic asymmetries in the stride cycle were not associated with neither maximal sprint running performance nor the prevalence of injury among high‐level athletic sprinters.
Articulation Speaks to Executive Function: An Investigation in 4- to 6-Year-Olds

Executive function (EF) and language learning play a prominent role in early childhood development. Empirical research continues to point to a concurrent relation between these two faculties. What has been given little attention, however, is the association between EF and speech articulation abilities in children. This study investigated this relation in children aged 4–6 years. Significant correlations indicated that children with better EF [via parental report of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) inventory] exhibited stronger speech sound production abilities in the articulation of the “s” and “sh” sounds. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that the Global Executive Composite (GEC) of EF as measured by the BRIEF, served as a predictor for speech sound proficiency and that speech sound proficiency served as a predictor for the GEC. Together, these results demonstrate the imbricated nature of EF and speech sound production while bearing theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical standpoint, the close link between EF and speech articulation may indicate a common ontogenetic pathway. From a practical perspective, the results suggest that children with speech difficulties could be at higher risk for EF deficits.
Antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium difficile isolated from animals and humans in Brazil

The objective of this study was to evaluate antimicrobial susceptibility in Clostridium difficile strains isolated from animals and humans in Brazil. The 54 C. difficile strains used were isolated from stool samples from piglets (n=16), dogs (n=13), humans (n=13), foals (n=8) calves (n=2), an ocelot (n=1) and a maned wolf (n=1). Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using the serial plate agar dilution method for penicillin, florfenicol, oxytetracycline, erythromycin, vancomycin, metronidazole and tylosin. The C. difficile strains assessed were susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin. Florfenicol resistance was rarely observed; 52 (96.4%) strains were sensitive to this antimicrobial. Five (9.3%), five (9.3%), 14 (25.9%) and 20 (37.0%) strains were resistant to oxytetracycline, penicillin, tylosin and erythromycin respectively.
Conservation Status of Marine Biodiversity in Oceania: An Analysis of Marine Species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Given the economic and cultural dependence on the marine environment in Oceania and a rapidly expanding human population, many marine species populations are in decline and may be vulnerable to extinction from a number of local and regional threats. IUCN Red List assessments, a widely used system for quantifying threats to species and assessing species extinction risk, have been completed for 1190 marine species in Oceania to date, including all known species of corals, mangroves, seagrasses, sea snakes, marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, sharks, and rays present in Oceania, plus all species in five important perciform fish groups. Many of the species in these groups are threatened by the modification or destruction of coastal habitats, overfishing from direct or indirect exploitation, pollution, and other ecological or environmental changes associated with climate change. Spatial analyses of threatened species highlight priority areas for both site- and species-specific conservation action. Although increased knowledge and use of newly available IUCN Red List assessments for marine species can greatly improve conservation priorities for marine species in Oceania, many important fish groups are still in urgent need of assessment.
Association between patient activity and long-term cardiac death in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators

Background Patient activity (PA) has been demonstrated to predict all-cause mortality. However, the association between PA and cardiac death is unclear. Aims The aims of this study were to determine whether PA can predict cardiac death and what is the cut-off of PA to discriminate cardiac death, as well as the mechanism underlying the relationship between PA and survival in patients with home monitoring. Methods This study retrospectively analysed clinical and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator/cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator device data in 845 patients. Data regarding PA and PP variability during the first 30–60 days of home monitoring were collected, and mean values were calculated. The primary endpoint was cardiac death, and the secondary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Results The mean PA percentage was 11 ± 5.8%. Based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, we determined that a PA cut-off value of 7.84% (113 min) can predict cardiac death. During a mean follow-up period of 31.1 ± 12.9 months (ranging from three to 60 months), PA ≤ 7.84% was associated with increased risks of cardiac death in an unadjusted analysis; after adjusting in a multivariate Cox model, the relationship remained significant between PA≤7.84% and cardiac death (hazard ratio = 3.644, 95% confidence interval = 2.424–5.477, p < 0.001). Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between PA and PP variability (r = 0.601, p < 0.001). Conclusions A baseline PA ≤ 7.84% was associated with a higher risk of cardiac death in patients who have survived more than three months after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator/cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator implantation. PA had a sizable effect on heart rate variability, reflecting autonomic function.
Decision making and plan management by autonomous agents: theory, implementation and applications

A generic architecture for autonomous agents is presented. In common with other current proposals the agent is capable of reacting to and reasoning about events which occur in its environment, executing actions and plans in order to achieve goals in the environment. In addition the agent can make decisions under uncertainty, including decisions about competing beliefs and alternative actions. The framework is grounded in a nonclassical decision model; this supports manymore capabilities than classical decision theory but under restricted conditions is compatible with it. The model is embodied in a well-de ned knowledge representation language, RL, which explicitly supports the central concepts of decisions and plans, and associated constructs of goals, arguments and commitments. The language provides a sound basis for building knowledge based agents for practical applications including safety-critical ones. This is illustrated with examples of medical applications.
Markov Chain Realization of Joint Integrated Probabilistic Data Association

A practical probabilistic data association filter is proposed for tracking multiple targets in clutter. The number of joint data association events increases combinatorially with the number of measurements and the number of targets, which may become computationally impractical for even small numbers of closely located targets in real target-tracking applications in heavily cluttered environments. In this paper, a Markov chain model is proposed to generate a set of feasible joint events (FJEs) for multiple target tracking that is used to approximate the multi-target data association probabilities and the probabilities of target existence of joint integrated probabilistic data association (JIPDA). A Markov chain with the transition probabilities obtained from the integrated probabilistic data association (IPDA) for single-target tracking is designed to generate a random sequence composed of the predetermined number of FJEs without incurring additional computational cost. The FJEs generated are adjusted for the multi-target tracking environment. A computationally tractable set of these random sequences is utilized to evaluate the track-to-measurement association probabilities such that the computational burden is substantially reduced compared to the JIPDA algorithm. By a series of simulations, the track confirmation rates and target retention statistics of the proposed algorithm are compared with the other existing algorithms including JIPDA to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.