Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
4-Year progression of early arterial wall lesions in asymptomatic hyperlipidemic subjects treated with bezafibrate

Noninvasive, high-resolution, arterial ultrasonic biopsy (UB) was used to evaluate and follow up early arterial wall changes in 356 hyperlipidemic subjects (HLS) in a prospective 4-year follow-up study. UB findings at baseline were classified by severity of vascular damage and ranked to classes I through IV. HLSs were divided at random into a treatment group (low-fat diet and bezafibrate s.v. 400 mg/day) and a control group (low-fat diet). The rate of progression (ROP=percent of subjects progressing to the more advanced UB class) was monitored by UB, repeated every year. In the nontreated HLS, the ROP was higher (p<0.05) than in the treated group as 21.8% progressed whereas only 9.6% of the bezafibratetreated subjects progressed. In classes III and IV, the ROP was 9.5 and 18.6, respectively, in treated and significantly higher (17.4 and 53.7) (p<0.05) in untreated subjects. Bezafibrate was well tolerated. In conclusion, treatment of HLS with bezafibrate is effective in decreasing the ROP over a period of 4 years.
“Dehalococcoides” sp. Strain CBDB1 Extensively Dechlorinates the Commercial Polychlorinated Biphenyl Mixture Aroclor 1260

ABSTRACT “Dehalococcoides” sp. strain CBDB1 in pure culture dechlorinates a wide range of PCB congeners with three to eight chlorine substituents. Congener-specific high-resolution gas chromatography revealed that CBDB1 extensively dechlorinated both Aroclor 1248 and Aroclor 1260 after four months of incubation. For example, 16 congeners comprising 67.3% of the total PCBs in Aroclor 1260 were decreased by 64%. We confirmed the dechlorination of 43 different PCB congeners. The most prominent dechlorination products were 2,3′,5-chlorinated biphenyl (25-3-CB) and 24-3-CB from Aroclor 1248 and 235-25-CB, 25-25-CB, 24-25-CB, and 235-236-CB from Aroclor 1260. Strain CBDB1 removed flanked para chlorines from 3,4-, 2,4,5-, and 3,4,5-chlorophenyl rings, primarily para chlorines from 2,3,4,5-chlorophenyl rings, primarily meta chlorines from 2,3,4- and 2,3,4,6-chlorophenyl rings, and either meta or para chlorines from 2,3,4,5,6-chlorophenyl rings. The site of attack on the 2,3,4-chorophenyl ring was heavily influenced by the chlorine configuration on the opposite ring. This dechlorination pattern matches PCB Process H dechlorination, which was previously observed in situ both in the Acushnet Estuary (New Bedford, MA) and in parts of the Hudson River (New York). Accordingly, we propose that Dehalococcoides bacteria similar to CBDB1 are potential agents of Process H PCB dechlorination in the environment. This is the first time that a complex naturally occurring PCB dechlorination pattern has been reproduced in the laboratory using a single bacterial strain.
Disruption of the Putative Cell Surface Polysaccharide Biosynthesis Gene SO3177 in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 Enhances Adhesion to Electrodes and Current Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

ABSTRACT A microbial fuel cell (MFC) was inoculated with a random transposon insertion mutant library of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and operated with lactate as the sole fuel to select for mutants that preferentially grew in it. Agar plate cultivation of the resultant MFC enrichment culture detected an increased number of colonies exhibiting rough morphology. One such isolate, strain 4A, generated 50% more current in an MFC than wild-type MR-1. Determination of the transposon insertion site in strain 4A followed by deletion and complementation experiments revealed that the SO3177 gene, encoding a putative formyltransferase and situated in a cell surface polysaccharide biosynthesis gene cluster, was responsible for the increased current. Transmission electron microscopy showed that a layered structure at the cell surface, stainable with ruthenium red, was impaired in the SO3177 mutant (ΔSO3177), confirming that SO3177 is involved in the biosynthesis of cell surface polysaccharides. Compared to the wild type, ΔSO3177 cells preferentially attached to graphite felt anodes in MFCs, while physicochemical analyses revealed that the cell surface of ΔSO3177 was more hydrophobic. These results demonstrate that cell surface polysaccharides affect not only the cell adhesion to graphite anodes but also the current generation in MFCs.
Ambient intelligence for the elderly: hope to age respectfully?

Ambient intelligence (AmI) is perceived as a tool that can provide innovative and cost-effective ways to support everyday living of elderly individuals by monitoring them in their homes, in healthcare centers and in their out-of-home activities. In contrast to previous surveys of AmI and its applications for various segments in society, this review, which is not intended to be exhaustive, focuses primarily on the possible uses of AmI for the elderly. This review defines the term of AmI and exemplifies some current applications of AmI in our lives, points out the reasons for developing AmI applications specifically for the elderly and offers insights to various research projects that aim to use AmI for the benefit of the elderly. Since user acceptance of AmI systems presents challenges in the process of developing and applying AmI technologies, this review also sheds light on the views of elderly individuals regarding the use of these technologies. Finally, following a section briefly reviewing the ethical.
Functional Analysis of Two l-Arabinose Transporters from Filamentous Fungi Reveals Promising Characteristics for Improved Pentose Utilization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT Limited uptake is one of the bottlenecks for l-arabinose fermentation from lignocellulosic hydrolysates in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This study characterized two novel l-arabinose transporters, LAT-1 from Neurospora crassa and MtLAT-1 from Myceliophthora thermophila. Although the two proteins share high identity (about 83%), they display different substrate specificities. Sugar transport assays using the S. cerevisiae strain EBY.VW4000 indicated that LAT-1 accepts a broad substrate spectrum. In contrast, MtLAT-1 appeared much more specific for l-arabinose. Determination of the kinetic properties of both transporters revealed that the Km values of LAT-1 and MtLAT-1 for l-arabinose were 58.12 ± 4.06 mM and 29.39 ± 3.60 mM, respectively, with corresponding V max values of 116.7 ± 3.0 mmol/h/g dry cell weight (DCW) and 10.29 ± 0.35 mmol/h/g DCW, respectively. In addition, both transporters were found to use a proton-coupled symport mechanism and showed only partial inhibition by d-glucose during l-arabinose uptake. Moreover, LAT-1 and MtLAT-1 were expressed in the S. cerevisiae strain BSW2AP containing an l-arabinose metabolic pathway. Both recombinant strains exhibited much faster l-arabinose utilization, greater biomass accumulation, and higher ethanol production than the control strain. In conclusion, because of higher maximum velocities and reduced inhibition by d-glucose, the genes for the two characterized transporters are promising targets for improved l-arabinose utilization and fermentation in S. cerevisiae.
Exciting H2 Molecules for Graphene Functionalization

Hydrogen functionalization of graphene by exposure to vibrationally excited H2 molecules is investigated by combined scanning tunneling microscopy, high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, and density functional theory calculations. The measurements reveal that vibrationally excited H2 molecules dissociatively adsorb on graphene on Ir(111) resulting in nanopatterned hydrogen functionalization structures. Calculations demonstrate that the presence of the Ir surface below the graphene lowers the H2 dissociative adsorption barrier and allows for the adsorption reaction at energies well below the dissociation threshold of the H–H bond. The first reacting H2 molecule must contain considerable vibrational energy to overcome the dissociative adsorption barrier. However, this initial adsorption further activates the surface resulting in reduced barriers for dissociative adsorption of subsequent H2 molecules. This enables functionalization by H2 molecules with lower vibrational energy, yielding an avalanche effect for the hydrogenation reaction. These results provide an example of a catalytically active graphene-coated surface and additionally set the stage for a re-interpretation of previous experimental work involving elevated H2 background gas pressures in the presence of hot filaments.
A necessária frugalidade dos idosos

O artigo pretende refletir sobre a pertinencia e a legitimidade moral de basear na variavel idade a alocacao de recursos publicos para a saude, considerada do ponto de vista da teoria da justica como equidade, formulada por John Rawls. Depois de caracterizar o problema da alocacao de recursos publicos para a saude, confrontada com o desafio representado pelo envelhecimento populacional, e apresentar, brevemente, a concepcao de equidade adotada neste trabalho, assim como discutir a abordagem de Norman Daniels e Daniel Callahan para a alocacao de recursos entre os diferentes grupos de idade, concluiremos que basear a alocacao de recursos na variavel idade pode ser considerado eticamente adequado se concebermos a vida do individuo como um ciclo limitado de existencia formado por diferentes estagios (infância, adolescencia, maturidade, velhice e morte), nos quais variam as necessidades, devendo a distribuicao de recursos entre os diferentes grupos de idade estar baseada numa etica de protecao.
A New Flexible Optical Fiber Goniometer for Dynamic Angular Measurements: Application to Human Joint Movement Monitoring

The electronic measurement of the angle between two planes is generally performed by using the so-called electrogoniometers. The major drawback in using such devices is the presence of a fixed hinge that imposes a fixed center of rotation. This can cause problems when measuring the bending angle in some joints, such as Cardan or human joints, which have a variable rotation center. Based on an optical fiber, a sensor measuring the relative angle in a rotating joint has been developed. This joint makes use of the intensity modulation of a laser beam propagating in a single-mode optical fiber, due to the changes of its polarization status originated by the rotation of contiguous portions of the fiber, where controlled birefringence has been induced by the joint rotation. A prototype of this sensor has been developed with a range of the relative angle of 90deg , a resolution of less than 0.01deg, and a standard deviation of 0.1deg. The main advantages of this innovative sensor are lightness, flexibility, high speed of reaction, and high accuracy. This paper describes the development of the proposed sensor, with particular reference to the applications of human joint movement monitoring. Additionally, the equipment implemented for the test is illustrated, and results from laboratory tests are reported and discussed.
Arsenic(V) Reduction in Relation to Iron(III) Transformation and Molecular Characterization of the Structural and Functional Microbial Community in Sediments of a Basin-Fill Aquifer in Northern Utah

ABSTRACT Basin-fill aquifers of the Southwestern United States are associated with elevated concentrations of arsenic (As) in groundwater. Many private domestic wells in the Cache Valley Basin, UT, have As concentrations in excess of the U.S. EPA drinking water limit. Thirteen sediment cores were collected from the center of the valley at the depth of the shallow groundwater and were sectioned into layers based on redoxmorphic features. Three of the layers, two from redox transition zones and one from a depletion zone, were used to establish microcosms. Microcosms were treated with groundwater (GW) or groundwater plus glucose (GW+G) to investigate the extent of As reduction in relation to iron (Fe) transformation and characterize the microbial community structure and function by sequencing 16S rRNA and arsenate dissimilatory reductase (arrA) genes. Under the carbon-limited conditions of the GW treatment, As reduction was independent of Fe reduction, despite the abundance of sequences related to Geobacter and Shewanella, genera that include a variety of dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria. The addition of glucose, an electron donor and carbon source, caused substantial shifts toward domination of the bacterial community by Clostridium-related organisms, and As reduction was correlated with Fe reduction for the sediments from the redox transition zone. The arrA gene sequencing from microcosms at day 54 of incubation showed the presence of 14 unique phylotypes, none of which were related to any previously described arrA gene sequence, suggesting a unique community of dissimilatory arsenate-respiring bacteria in the Cache Valley Basin.
DEPTA: An efficient technique for web data extraction and alignment

Many web databases contains the data in the form of structured, semi structured and in unstructured format. This paper studies the issue of extracting these data records from online web database. The main motto of this paper is to recognize the data region which contains the data records, divide these data records, mine the data value from them and keep these extracted record in a structured format. This arrangement of extracted data is useful for many application like knowledge discovery purpose etc. Existing system has some data records arrangement problem which does not arrange dynamically generated web data properly. The proposed system is based on identification of data records, extraction of data values and arranging these data values in a database. The proposed system uses the partial tree alignment method for giving the better alignment outcome.
Highly Self-Healable 3D Microsupercapacitor with MXene-Graphene Composite Aerogel.

High-performance microsupercapacitors (MSCs) with three-dimensional (3D) structure provide an effective approach to improve the ability of energy storage. Because the electrodes with 3D structure are generally easily destroyed under mechanical deformation in practical applications, we fabricated a self-healable 3D MSC consisting of MXene (Ti3C2T x)-graphene (reduced graphene oxide, rGO) composite aerogel electrode by wrapping it with a self-healing polyurethane as an outer shell. The MXene-rGO composite aerogel combining large specific surface area of rGO and high conductivity of the MXene can not only prevent the self-restacking of the lamella structure but also resist the poor oxidization of MXene to a degree. The MSC based on a 3D MXene-rGO aerogel delivers a large area specific capacitance of 34.6 mF cm-2 at a scan rate of 1 mV s-1 and an outstanding cycling performance with a capacitance retention up to 91% over 15 000 cycles. The 3D MSC presents an excellent self-healing ability with specific capacitance retention of 81.7% after the fifth healing. The preparation of this self-healable 3D MSC can provide a method for designing and manufacturing next-generation long-life multifunctional electronic devices further to meet the requirements of sustainable development.
Neutrophil-Related Inflammatory Mediators in Septic Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

To disclose the participation of neutrophils in septic acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), characteristics of various inflammatory mediators were examined in septic patients. Forty-seven gram-negative septic patients were divided into ARDS (n = 23) and non-ARDS (n = 24) groups at the transferred point to the intensive care unit. The mediators were measured simultaneously at the transferred point, and then subsequently on days 1, 3, and 5. At the transferred point, the ARDS group showed significantly higher levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8), macrophage inflammatory peptide-1-alpha (MIP-1-α), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and neutrophil elas-tase despite lower neutrophil counts compared to the non-ARDS group. The ARDS group sustained significantly higher levels of sICAM-1 until day 5 and neutrophil elas-tase until day 1 compare to the non-ARDS group. Furthermore, nonsurviving ARDS patients (n = 8) showed significantly higher levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 compared to surviving ARDS patients (n = 15) at the transferred point. In conclusion, neutrophil-related inflammatory mediators, IL-8, MIP-1-α, sICAM-1, and neutrophil elastase, appear to possibly participate in septic ARDS. Cytokines might also play an important role in the mortality of such cases.
An Efficient Method to Process the Quantized Acoustoelectric Current: Wavelet Transform

We present a wavelet-based approach to process experimental data of the quantized acoustoelectric (AE) current, which offers the possibility of a quantum standard of current. To obtain the optimal denoising performance at the acoustoelectric current plateau, a new method is proposed to choose wavelet parameters, such as wavelet functions, levels of decomposition, and thresholding techniques. This method ensures that AE current features are completely preserved, whereas noise is removed as effectively as possible. The denoised results indicate that the accuracy of the AE current can effectively be improved by employing the proposed scheme.
Paraprofessional Counselling within Asylum Seekers' Groups in the Netherlands: Transferring an Approach for a Non-western Context to a European Setting

This article presents the application of a psychosocial care approach, which has been developed for and in a non-western context, within an asylum seekers' setting in the Netherlands. The project aimed to increase access to basic psychosocial care to a target population that experiences difficulties in entering mental healthcare services, by a group of trained peer asylum seekers and refugees. The development of an informal paraprofessional support system makes better use of existing resources, provides secondary benefits for the participants and helps to overcome the treatment gap between perceived needs and the formal mental healthcare system. The article describes the key components of such an approach, the Dutch context, the project implementation and finishes with a discussion on outcomes, strengths and weaknesses, risks and recommendations. In summary, we found this community approach to be applicable and relevant within an asylum seekers' centre, as it incorporates an additional easy-access level of psychosocial care and social agency, which seemed to empower participants and help prevent psychosocial problems from becoming more severe.
Fluorescence-Based Reporter for Gauging Cyclic Di-GMP Levels in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT The increased tolerance toward the host immune system and antibiotics displayed by biofilm-forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other bacteria in chronic infections such as cystic fibrosis bronchopneumonia is of major concern. Targeting of biofilm formation is believed to be a key aspect in the development of novel antipathogenic drugs that can augment the effect of classic antibiotics by decreasing antimicrobial tolerance. The second messenger cyclic di-GMP is a positive regulator of biofilm formation, and cyclic di-GMP signaling is now regarded as a potential target for the development of antipathogenic compounds. Here we describe the development of fluorescent monitors that can gauge the cellular level of cyclic di-GMP in P. aeruginosa. We have created cyclic di-GMP level reporters by transcriptionally fusing the cyclic di-GMP-responsive cdrA promoter to genes encoding green fluorescent protein. We show that the reporter constructs give a fluorescent readout of the intracellular level of cyclic di-GMP in P. aeruginosa strains with different levels of cyclic di-GMP. Furthermore, we show that the reporters are able to detect increased turnover of cyclic di-GMP mediated by treatment of P. aeruginosa with the phosphodiesterase inducer nitric oxide. Considering that biofilm formation is a necessity for the subsequent development of a chronic infection and therefore a pathogenicity trait, the reporters display a significant potential for use in the identification of novel antipathogenic compounds targeting cyclic di-GMP signaling, as well as for use in research aiming at understanding the biofilm biology of P. aeruginosa.
Quantitative PCR for Determining the Infectivity of Bacteriophage MS2 upon Inactivation by Heat, UV-B Radiation, and Singlet Oxygen: Advantages and Limitations of an Enzymatic Treatment To Reduce False-Positive Results

ABSTRACT Health risks posed by waterborne viruses are difficult to assess because it is tedious or impossible to determine the infectivity of many viruses. Recent studies hypothesized that quantitative PCR (qPCR) could selectively quantify infective viruses if preceded by an enzymatic treatment (ET) to reduce confounding false-positive signals. The goal of this study was to determine if ET with qPCR (ET-qPCR) can be used to accurately quantify the infectivity of the human viral surrogate bacteriophage MS2 upon partial inactivation by three treatments (heating at 72°C, singlet oxygen, and UV radiation). Viruses were inactivated in buffered solutions and a lake water sample and assayed with culturing, qPCR, and ET-qPCR. To ensure that inactivating genome damage was fully captured, primer sets that covered the entire coding region were used. The susceptibility of different genome regions and the maximum genomic damage after each inactivating treatment were compared. We found that (i) qPCR alone caused false-positive results for all treatments, (ii) ET-qPCR significantly reduced (up to >5.2 log units) but did not eliminate the false-positive signals, and (iii) the elimination of false-positive signals differed between inactivating treatments. By assaying the whole coding region, we demonstrated that genome damage only partially accounts for virus inactivation. The possibility of achieving complete accordance between culture- and PCR-based assays is therefore called into doubt. Despite these differences, we postulate that ET-qPCR can track infectivity, given that decreases in infectivity were always accompanied by dose-dependent decreases in ET-qPCR signal. By decreasing false-positive signals, ET-qPCR improved the detection of infectivity loss relative to qPCR.