Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toluene Induction and Uptake Kinetics and Their Inclusion in the Specific-Affinity Relationship for Describing Rates of Hydrocarbon Metabolism

The kinetics of concentration-dependent toluene metabolism were examined by evaluating each term in the second-order rate equation. Marine and freshwater pseudomonads were used. Uptake for Pseudomonas sp. strain T2 was characterized by a completely saturatable system with small transport constant (Kt = 44 μg/liter) and large specific affinity. Kinetics for Pseudomonas putida PpF1 were similar. Induction had little effect on Kt, but it caused the specific affinity to increase from about 0.03 to 320 liters/g of cells per h. The level of induction depended on the time of exposure, the concentration of inducer, and the initial level of induction. If loss of the inducible system was not severe, toluene caused a linear increase in specific affinity with time, and the maximal value achieved at intermediate times (1 to 3 days) was hyperbolic with concentration when Kind was 96 μg/liter (A. T. Law and D. K. Button, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 51:469-476, 1986). As repression became complete, specific affinities were greatly reduced. Then induction required higher toluene concentrations and longer times, and the shape of the specific-affinity curve became sigmoidal with concentration. Cell yields (0.10 to 0.17 g of cells per g of toluene used) were low owing to liberation of organic products: 2-hydroxy-6-oxohepta-2,4-dienoic acid, toluene dihydrodiol, 3-methylcatechol, acetate, formate, and possibly pyruvate, which in turn caused lower rates of growth. Michaelis constants for the reaccumulation of products exceeded those for toluene, but specific affinities were lower and maximal velocities were higher, so that recycling was favored in cultures with high toluene concentration. Although these kinetics predict deviation from the linear relationship between uptake rate and biomass, we could detect none. Effects of saturation and induction were incorporated into the basic specific-affinity relationship. The result appears to be an improvement in the equation used for describing the kinetics of uptake and growth.
Exchange Values of Gold, Land, Physical Capital, and Human Capital in a Neoclassical Growth Model

Households of contemporary economies are characterized by many assets such as gold, silver, diamond, land, housing, physical wealth, in their portfolios. Yet modern dynamic economic theory has only a few mathematical models with physical wealth, land and gold based on microeconomic foundation. This study deals with portfolio choice equilibrium with land, gold and physical capital, and human capital within a general equilibrium framework. The growth determinants are endogenous physical and human wealth accumulation. The model studies dynamic interactions between land value, gold value, economic structural change, wealth accumulation and human capital growth by integrating the neoclassical growth theory, the Ricardian theory, and the Uzawa-Lucas model with Zhang’s utility function. The human capital accumulation is due to Arrow’s learning by doing, Uzawa’s learning through education, and Zhang’s learning through consuming (leisure creativity). We simulate the motion of the economic system and demonstrate the existence of a unique stable equilibrium point. Comparative dynamic analysis is conducted with regard to exogenous changes in the propensity to consume gold, the propensity to receive education, the propensity to consume housing, the propensity to save, and the population.
Potential therapeutic role for statins in respiratory disease

Statins reduce cholesterol levels by inhibiting 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and have an established role in the treatment of atherosclerotic disease. Recent research has identified anti-inflammatory properties of statins. Statins appear to reduce the stability of lipid raft formation with subsequent effects on immune activation and regulation, and also prevent the prenylation of signalling molecules with subsequent downregulation of gene expression. Both these effects result in reduced cytokine, chemokine, and adhesion molecule expression, with effects on cell apoptosis or proliferation. This review considers the evidence for the anti-inflammatory properties of statins in the lung, and how these effects are being applied to research into the role of statins as a novel treatment of respiratory diseases.
Crowdfunding in Europe: Determinants of Platform Creation across Countries

While the crowdfunding phenomenon has attracted considerable practitioner and scholarly attention, existing research predominantly reflects a U.S.-centric perspective. This article examines crowdfunding platform creation in 15 European countries. Despite the omnipresent reach of the internet, national boundaries shape the evolution of the European crowdfunding industry. Specifically, crowdfunding platform creation varies across countries and distinct national patterns emerge for crowdfunding activity in general. Moreover, econometric analyses suggest that country-level factors influence platform creation in European countries, with interesting variations across four crowdfunding models: Donation, Reward, Lending, and Equity.
Altered functioning of the executive control circuit in late-life depression: episodic and persistent phenomena.

OBJECTIVE To characterize the functional neuroanatomy of late-life depression (LLD) by probing for both episodic and persistent alterations in the executive-control circuit of elderly adults. DESIGN Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected while participants performed an executive-control task. SETTING Participants were recruited through a depression-treatment study within the Pittsburgh, PA, Intervention Research Center for Late-Life Mood Disorders. PARTICIPANTS Thirteen nondepressed elderly comparison participants and 13 LLD patients. INTERVENTION The depressed patients underwent imaging before initiating and after completing 12 weeks of paroxetine. MEASUREMENTS Regional fMRI activity was assessed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC: BA9 and BA46 bilaterally) and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Functional connectivity was assessed by correlating the fMRI time-series in the dLPFC and dACC. RESULTS Both depressed and comparison participants performed the task as expected, with greater response latency during high versus low-load trials. The response-latency load-effect did not differ between groups. In contrast to the null findings for behavioral data, pretreatment, depressed patients showed diminished activity in the dLPFC (BA46 left, t(25)=1.9, p = 0.035) and diminished functional connectivity between the dLPFC and dACC. Moreover, right dLPFC (BA46 right, t(25)=2.17, p < 0.02) showed increased activity after treatment. CONCLUSIONS These results support a model of both episodic and persistent neurobiologic components of LLD. The altered functional connectivity,perhaps due to vascular damage to frontal white matter, appears to be persistent. Further, at least some of the prefrontal hypoactivity (in the right dLPFC) seems to be an episodic characteristic of acute depression amenable to treatment.
Technical efficiency, productivity change and environmental degradation

This study deals with the nonparametric frontier analysis in the case of the EU 28 countries for a period spanning from 1993 to 2012. It provides statistical inference about the radial output based measure of technical efficiency under the assumption of Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) and it performs scale analysis that allows determining the nature of scale inefficiency of each data point. Furthermore, an order-α approach is developed for determining partial frontiers. Both traditional Malmquist-Luenberger and bootstrapped Malmquist productivity indexes between 1993 and 2012 are constructed. Analysis of productivity change by decomposing the Total Factor Productivity Index into Efficiency Change and Technical Change is performed showing respectively whether productivity gains derive mainly from improvements in efficiency or are mostly the result of technological progress.
pH value promotes growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis in platelet concentrates

BACKGROUND: The platelet (PLT) storage lesion is characterized metabolically by a pH value associated with lactic acid generation. PLT storage conditions support the growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis, the most common organism implicated in bacterial contamination of PLT concentrates (PCs). Here, different factors that influence bacterial growth in PCs are discussed and the relation between pH values of PCs and citrate plasma (CP) is studied, with emphasis on bacterial proliferation.
A genome‐wide association study in Caucasian women suggests the involvement of HLA genes in the severity of facial solar lentigines

Solar lentigines are a common feature of sun‐induced skin ageing. Little is known, however, about the genetic factors contributing to their development. In this genome‐wide association study, we aimed to identify genetic loci associated with solar lentigines on the face in 502 middle‐aged French women. Nine SNPs, gathered in two independent blocks on chromosome 6, exhibited a false discovery rate below 25% when looking for associations with the facial lentigine score. The first block, in the 6p22 region, corresponded to intergenic SNPs and also exhibited a significant association with forehead lentigines (P = 1.37 × 10−8). The second block, within the 6p21 HLA region, was associated with decreased HLA‐C expression according to several eQTL databases. Interestingly, these SNPs were also in high linkage disequilibrium with the HLA‐C*0701 allele (r2 = 0.95). We replicated an association recently found by GWAS in the IRF4 gene. Finally, a complementary study on 44 selected candidate SNPs revealed novel associations in the MITF gene. Overall, our results point to several mechanisms involved in the severity of facial lentigines, including HLA/immunity and the melanogenesis pathway.
Chemokine expression in rat stab wound brain injury

A traumatic injury to the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) results in reactive astrogliosis and the migration of hematogenous cells into the damaged neural tissue. Chemokines, a novel class of chemoattractant cytokines, are now being recognized as mediators of the inflammatory changes that occur following injury. The expression of MCP‐1 (macrophage chemotactic peptide‐1), a member of the β family of chemokines, has recently been demonstrated in trauma in the rat brain (Berman et al.: J Immunol 156:3017–3023, 1996). Using a stab wound model for mechanical injury, we studied the expression of two other β chemokines: RANTES (Regulated on Activation, Normal T cell Expressed and Secreted) and MIP‐1 β (macrophage inflammatory protein‐1 beta) in the rat brain. The stab wound injury was characterized by widespread gliosis and infiltration of hematogenous cells. Immunohistochemical staining revealed the presence of RANTES and MIP‐1 β in the injured brain. RANTES and MIP‐1 β were both diffusely expressed in the necrotic tissue and were detected as early as 1 day post‐injury (dpi). Double‐labeling studies showed that MIP‐1 β, but not RANTES, was expressed by reactive astrocytes near the lesion site. In addition, MIP‐1 β staining was also detected on macrophages at the site of injury. The initial expression of the chemokines closely correlated with the appearance of inflammatory cells in the injured CNS, suggesting that RANTES and MIP‐1 β may play a role in the inflammatory events of traumatic brain injury. This study also demonstrates for the first time MIP‐1 β expression in reactive astrocytes following trauma to the rat CNS. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Finding important sound features for emotion evaluation classification

Emotions are mental states that can be expressed by motion, speech and other physiological reactions. In human-to-human interaction emotion perception is the perception on the emotion of the other people, which, due to the nature of emotions is not so precise. On the other hand, perception on emotions in human-computer interaction is still an open problem. A lot of work is done in direction of finding suitable model for perceiving emotions based on different input signals and classification models. Here, only sound signals are considered. Still, the percentage of the classification of emotion in natural environment isn't satisfactory. Finding a suitable model for emotion classification based on emotion evaluation is the objective of this paper. We investigated the available methods for finding the most important sound features and introduced a novel approach to finding them. Our approach includes knowledge from psychological studies that analyzed the human perception on emotions. A classifier based on the features selected with the new approach is introduced and evaluated in comparison to others. The future usage and improvement on the emotion classifier build is also examined.
Endothelin induces functional hypertrophy of peritubular smooth muscle cells

When chronically stimulated with agonists of contraction, smooth muscle cells (SMCs) undergo cell hypertrophy, a process defined as increase in size and potentiation of the contractile phenotype in the absence of proliferation. Hypertrophic response has long been associated to a number of pathologies of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. We have investigated the phenotypic and functional response of SMCs to long‐term treatment with endothelin. Our model was primary cultures of peritubular smooth muscle cells (PSMC) a testicular cell type target of locally produced endothelin and characterized by an unusual phenotypic stability when cultured in simple medium in complete absence of serum. We report the following responses of PSMC to 4‐day exposure to ET‐1: (i) increased protein synthesis without induction of cell proliferation; (ii) increase in cell size (evaluated by means of flow cytometry) and increased expression of SM‐α‐actin, desmin, caldesmon and calponin, markers of the contractile phenotype. In experiments of selective stimulation of either ETA or ETB receptor subtypes, both proved to be involved in inducing the observed hypertrophic responses. The hypertrophic cells exhibit the ultrastructural features of differentiated SMCs and are capable of calcium mediated contractile response when acutely stimulated with ET‐1 specifically through ETA and/or ETB receptors, as evaluated by calcium imaging and scanning electron microscopy. These observations demonstrate that engagement of ET receptors is capable of inducing potentiation of the contractile phenotype and functional hypertrophy of PSMC. J. Cell. Physiol. 212: 264–273, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Localization and In Situ Activities of Homoacetogenic Bacteria in the Highly Compartmentalized Hindgut of Soil-Feeding Higher Termites (Cubitermes spp.)

ABSTRACT Methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis occur simultaneously in the hindguts of almost all termites, but the reasons for the apparent predominance of methanogenesis over homoacetogenesis in the hindgut of the humivorous species is not known. We found that in gut homogenates of soil-feeding Cubitermes spp. , methanogens outcompete homoacetogens for endogenous reductant. The rates of methanogenesis were always significantly higher than those of reductive acetogenesis, whereas the stimulation of acetogenesis by the addition of exogenous H2 or formate was more pronounced than that of methanogenesis. In a companion paper, we reported that the anterior gut regions of Cubitermes spp. accumulated hydrogen to high partial pressures, whereas H2 was always below the detection limit (<100 Pa) in the posterior hindgut, and that all hindgut compartments turned into efficient H2 sinks when external H2 was provided (D. Schmitt-Wagner and A. Brune, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:4490–4496, 1999). Using a microinjection technique, we found that only the posterior gut sections P3/4a and P4b, which harbored methanogenic activities, formed labeled acetate from H14CO3−. Enumeration of methanogenic and homoacetogenic populations in the different gut sections confirmed the coexistence of both metabolic groups in the same compartments. However, the in situ rates of acetogenesis were strongly hydrogen limited; in the P4b section, no activity was detected unless external H2 was added. Endogenous rates of reductive acetogenesis in isolated guts were about 10-fold lower than the in vivo rates of methanogenesis, but were almost equal when exogenous H2 was supplied. We conclude that the homoacetogenic populations in the posterior hindgut are supported by either substrates other than H2 or by a cross-epithelial H2transfer from the anterior gut regions, which may create microniches favorable for H2-dependent acetogenesis.
Powering smart jewelry using an RF energy harvesting necklace

This paper presents a wearable RF energy harvesting device in the form factor of a necklace, suitable for powering smart jewelry. The design includes a U-shaped dipole antenna, matching network, RF-DC converter, and DC-DC converter. The system converts a 915 MHz RF signal into a constant 3.1 V DC output with an output power up to 106.5 μW at -6 dBm input power, sufficient to power a fitness monitor pendant in stand-by mode. An experimental comparison between multistage Cockcroft-Walton and Dickson RF-DC converters shows that the Dickson topology offers higher efficiency at high input power, whereas the Cockcroft-Walton converter performs better for low input power. The necklace can produce up to 23.2 μW at 10.4 m from a commercial isotropic 3 W RF power transmitter.
Evaluation of biomechanical strength, stability, bioactivity, and in vivo biocompatibility of a novel calcium deficient hydroxyapatite/poly(amino acid) composite cervical vertebra cage

A new type of cervical vertebra cage was prepared using a novel composite, calcium deficient hydroxyapatite/poly(amino acid) (HA/PAA), and its mechanical properties, in vitro stability and bioactivity, and in vivo biocompatibility were characterized. The results showed that the axial compressive loads of the HA/PAA cage were in the range of 10058–10612 N and the lateral compressive loads were in the range of 1180–2363 N, and varied with the height of the cervical vertebra cages. After immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 16 weeks, the axial compressive loads of the cage decreased from 10058 to 7131 N and the lateral compressive loads decreased from 1180 to 479 N. In addition, the weight loss decreased 6.01%, showing that HA/PAA composites had good stability during the incubation period. The pH value of SBF was also monitored during the whole soaking period; it fluctuated in the range of 6.9–7.4. Scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer results showed the cage was bioactive with a new apatite layer attached on the surface. The histological evaluation revealed that new bone tissue bonded tightly with the surfaces of the implants, showing excellent biocompatibility. In conclusion, the HA/PAA cage showed sufficient strength, good stability, bioactivity, and biocompatibility, and has potential applications for clinical cervical vertebrae repair.
Computational Properties of Networks of Synchronous Groups of Spiking Neurons

Abstract We demonstrate a model in which synchronously firing ensembles of neurons are networked to produce computational results. Each ensemble is a group of biological integrate-and-fire spiking neurons, with probabilistic interconnections between groups. An analogy is drawn in which each individual processing unit of an artificial neural network corresponds to a neuronal group in a biological model. The activation value of a unit in the artificial neural network corresponds to the fraction of active neurons, synchronously firing, in a biological neuronal group. Weights of the artificial neural network correspond to the product of the interconnection density between groups, the group size of the presynaptic group, and the postsynaptic potential heights in the synchronous group model. All three of these parameters can modulate connection strengths between neuronal groups in the synchronous group models. We give an example of nonlinear classification (XOR) and a function approximation example in which the capability of the artificial neural network can be captured by a neural network model with biological integrate-and-fire neurons configured as a network of synchronously firing ensembles of such neurons. We point out that the general function approximation capability proven for feedforward artificial neural networks appears to be approximated by networks of neuronal groups that fire in synchrony, where the groups comprise integrate-and-fire neurons. We discuss the advantages of this type of model for biological systems, its possible learning mechanisms, and the associated timing relationships.
Tracking the dose distribution in radiation therapy by accounting for variable anatomy

The goal of this research is to calculate the daily and cumulative dose distribution received by the radiotherapy patient while accounting for variable anatomy, by tracking the dose distribution delivered to tissue elements (voxels) that move within the patient. Non-linear image registration techniques (i.e., thin-plate splines) are used along with a conventional treatment planning system to combine the dose distributions computed for each 3D computed tomography (CT) study taken during treatment. For a clinical prostate case, we demonstrate that there are significant localized dose differences due to systematic voxel motion in a single fraction as well as in 15 cumulative fractions. The largest positive dose differences in rectum, bladder and seminal vesicles were 29%, 2% and 24%, respectively, after the first fraction of radiation treatment compared to the planned dose. After 15 cumulative fractions, the largest positive dose differences in rectum, bladder and seminal vesicles were 23%, 32% and 18%, respectively, compared to the planned dose. A sensitivity analysis of control point placement is also presented. This method provides an important understanding of actual delivered doses and has the potential to provide quantitative information to use as a guide for adaptive radiation treatments.
A learning ontology with metadata and user profiles for enhancing accessibility of resources

Current e-learning systems are database-driven; this makes it hard for users to find information in a direct way using the domain terminology they are familiar with from daily use. In order to alleviate this problem we propose the use of a learning ontology that uses an intuitive naming convention and combines learning concepts with user profiles and learning object metadata (LOM) for the easy access of learning resources. To understand the application domain, we analysed the undergraduate course handbook and the unit guides of a computing department. This helped us to identify the domain concepts, the relations between them and the constraints of the domain. Using this domain knowledge, we built an institution specific learning ontology. We show how an ontology-driven approach can be used in an e-learning system to guide the construction of user queries in an unobtrusive way and shield the user from the backend representation. We illustrate how questions can be answered successfully by the e-learning system; and how the learning resources can easily be accessed by using the learning ontology with metadata and user profiles.