Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scientific evidence on therapeutic marihuana use in individuals treated in Health Care Services

Carla Aparecida Arena Ventura Universidade de São Paulo Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 Bairro: Vila Monte Alegre CEP: 14040-902, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil E-mail: caaventu@eerp.usp. br 1 Assistant Professor, Escuela de Enfermeria, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile. 2 Associate Professor, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Scientific evidence on therapeutic marihuana use in individuals treated in Health Care Services
Lightweight Clustering of Cell IDs into Meaningful Neighbourhoods

Location-based services are becoming a norm in todays mobile phones, leveraging sensor data such as GPS, inertial sensors, and magnetic field sensors, or utilize up-to-date databases of RF beacons’ locations such as WiFi access point (AP) and cellular towers (cell ID). With the exception of cell ID-based localization, where the cellular antenna is enabled for the core functionality of the phone, the other methods require the use of extra resources, increasing the procesing and power consumption of the mobile phone. This paper presents a lightweight method to form semantically meaningful clusters of cell IDs from cell ID sequences, via analysis of 15 weeks of data collected from a real user.
PHOTOMETRIC REVERBERATION MAPPING OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Photometric reverberation mapping is a novel method used to determine the size and geometry of the broad line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGN) as well as their host galaxy free luminosities. Establishing a tight luminosity - BLR-size relation may allow type-1 AGN to be used as cosmological distance probes. However, the quality of the results is most sensible to dense time sampling and continuity of the photometric lightcurves. This
Testimony for Veterinary Apitherapy

Apitherapeutic management is reborn in the modern medicine, established documentary and be advised by physicians to wide variety of patients complaining different health problems. The concept of veterinary apitherapy must be of great concern as it highly safe of animal products extremely effective and greatly economic. As mentioned above, apitherapy has wide spectrum therapeutic activities with variable varieties of mechanism of action, of among them, our referred research works dealt with:-
Soil macrofaunal communities along an abandoned rice field chronosequence in Northern Argentina

This study assessed the biodiversity of soil macrofauna along a chronosequence of abandoned rice paddy fields including situations of 2, 4, 7 and 15 years since the last rice harvest, compared to a control without agricultural disturbance. The density of soil macrofauna changed dramatically according to the chronosequence. It was maximum in the 2-year-abandoned rice field (4360 ind m−2) and minimum in the natural grassland (397.3 ind m −2). A total of 133 morphospecies was found, distributed among 20 main families. The highest species richness was observed in the natural grassland and in the 2-year-fallow with 53 and 59 species, respectively, whereas the lowest richness was found in the 7-year-fallow (39 species). The proportion of shared species was minimum (19.1%) when comparing the natural grassland and the 2-year-fallow and remained surprisingly low between the natural grassland and the 15-year-fallow (23.4%). The species diversity as measured by the Shannon index varied strongly along the chronosequence. It was maximum in the natural grassland (1.98), minimum in the 2-year-fallow (1.01) and increased progressively throughout the chronosequence, although, it was still lower in the fallow after 15 years of abandonment as compared to the natural grassland. The same trend was observed using the evenness index. The indicator value index (Indval) was computed for each species and showed that 14 species out of 133 were statistically associated with a given chronosequence stage. This survey showed that soil macrofauna quickly recolonized the ex-rice fields after the abandonment of rice culture and that the species richness was higher in recent ex-rice fields (2 years) as compared to the natural grassland. The pool of species that colonise the newly abandoned rice fields is substantially different from the one inhabiting the natural grassland, therefore suggesting that most of the successful colonisers probably originate from neighbouring fallow plots. This highlights the possible effects of landscape structure upon the dynamics of the soil macrofaunal biodiversity. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Antioxidant activities of Rosmarinus officinalis L . essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation and solvent free microwave extraction

The essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis L. growing in a rural area within the Nkonkobe Municipality of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, were extracted using the solvent free microwave extractor (SFME) and hydro-distillation (HD) methods. The antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of the obtained oils were tested by means of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH + ) assay and βcarotene bleaching test. In the DPPH + assay, while the free radical scavenging activity of the oil obtained by SFME method showed percentage inhibitions of 48.80, 61.60 and 67.00%, the HD oil showed inhibitions of 52.20, 55.00 and 65.30% at 0.33, 0.5 and 1.00 mg/ml, respectively. In the βcarotene bleaching assay, the percentage inhibition increased with increasing concentration of both oils, with a high antioxidant activity of the oil obtained through the SFME than through the HD method. The significance of this observation is discussed with respect to the properties of essential oils obtained using different methods.
Coverage dependent phase transition of pyridine on Ag(110) observed by second harmonic generation

Second harmonic generation from a Ag(110) surface is shown to be sensitive to submonolayer converages of O2, O, pyridine, and benzene. The second harmonic intensity as a function of exposure indicates that the orientation and bonding of pyridine adsorbed at 110 K changes at about 0.3 L.
Knockout of RP 2 decreases GRK 1 and rod transducin subunits and leads to photoreceptor degeneration in zebra fi sh

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) affects about 1.8 million individuals worldwide. X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) is one of the most severe formsof RP.Nearly 85%of XLRP cases are causedbymutations in theX-linked retinitis pigmentosa 2 (RP2) andRPGR. RP2 has been considered to be a GTPase activator protein for ARL3 and to play a role in the traffic of ciliary proteins. The mechanism of how RP2 mutations cause RP is still unclear. In this study, we generated an RP2 knockout zebrafish line using transcription activator-like effector nuclease technology. Progressive retinal degeneration could be observed in the mutant zebrafish. The degeneration of rods’ outer segments (OSs) is predominant, followed by the degeneration of cones’ OS. These phenotypes are similar to the characteristics of RP2 patients, and also partly consistent with the phenotypes of RP2 knockout mice and morpholino-mediated RP2 knockdown zebrafish. For the first time, we found RP2 deletion leads to decreased protein levels and abnormal retinal localizations of GRK1 and rod transducin subunits (GNAT1 andGNB1) in zebrafish. Furthermore, the distribution of the total farnesylated proteins in zebrafish retina is also affected by RP2 ablation. These molecular alterations observed in the RP2 knockout zebrafishmight probably be responsible for the gradual loss of the photoreceptors’ OSs. Our work identified the progression of retinal degeneration in RP2 knockout zebrafish, provided a foundation for revealing the pathogenesis of RP caused by RP2 mutations, and would help to develop potential therapeutics against RP in further studies.
Explorer Coordinate Descent with Arbitrary Sampling I : Algorithms and Complexity

We study the problem of minimizing the sum of a smooth convex function and a convex blockseparable regularizer and propose a new randomized coordinate descent method, which we call ALPHA. Our method at every iteration updates a random subset of coordinates, following an arbitrary distribution. No coordinate descent methods capable to handle an arbitrary sampling have been studied in the literature before for this problem. ALPHA is a remarkably flexible algorithm: in special cases, it reduces to deterministic and randomized methods such as gradient descent, coordinate descent, parallel coordinate descent and distributed coordinate descent – both in nonaccelerated and accelerated variants. The variants with arbitrary (or importance) sampling are new. We provide a complexity analysis of ALPHA, from which we deduce as a direct corollary complexity bounds for its many variants, all matching or improving best known bounds.
ALTRUISM, SELF-ESTEEM AND MOOD by Kathy Scharer THESIS for tha DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA, ILLINOIS

Previous research Indicates soma relationships between Altruism, self-esteem and mood. The nature of the re­ lationship, however, Is not clear. Does feeling good about oneself make It likely that someone will help another individual or does helping another Individual make someone feel good? How are mood and self-esteem affected by this seemingly circular relationship? The purpose of this study was to Investigate this re­ lationship by examining the effects of self-esteem and mood on volunteering. We also investigated changes in self-esteem and mood as a function of volunteering for a task which had neutral, altruistic or egocentric incentives. The results showed that subjects with low self-esteem tended to volunteer less for a task with egocentric incentives. There were no sig­ nificant differences in mood between those who did and did not volunteer. We also found that the act of helping, whether altruistically or egocentrically motivated, significantly increased the self-report of transient mood states, but not the more enduring trait of self-esteem. No change was found in mood, or self-esteem, ratings for subjects in the control group, who were given no incentives for helping.
Real-Time Redundancy Resolution for Concentric Tube Robots to Avoid Elastic Instability

Understanding and avoiding elastic instability has been a recent focus of concentric tube robotics research. Modeling advances have produced metrics for the stability of high curvature designs. We show in this paper how these metrics can be used in real time to to resolve redundancy in a way that avoids elastic instability. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in simulation, we consider a three-tube robot moving through an initially unstable trajectory, and show how our proposed redundancy resolution approach stabilizes it. This work is a step towards robust, stable control of high-curvature concentric tube robots.
Immersive Ars Memoria: Evaluating the Usefulness of a Virtual Memory Palace

The Method of Loci (also memory palace) is the most powerful mnemonic strategy and was widely analyzed over the last twenty years. Especially, the approach to combine this ancient learning method with modern technology got more and more into the focus of an interdisciplinary research community. Researchers presented their students virtual environments via computer screen or head-mounted displays and instructed them to use these virtual worlds as a template for a memory palace. However, most studies did not investigate the users’ attitude to actually use such a tool in everyday situations. This study addresses this research gap by an experiment and a correlation and regression analysis. Results show significant correlations between the learning success and important factors of the users intention to use a virtual memory palace.
From Map to Sky: an Empirical Study on Visual Strategies of Expert Pilots

For pilots, making the right choice of waypoints on an aeronautical chart for navigation is a complex cognitive task. This task involves the pilot's ability to match the geographical objects depicted on the maps with the mental representation of the corresponding physical objects, actually present in the natural environment. Our objective is to investigate the mental strategies, which are underlying expert pilots’ waypoints selection and to model them for training. This article presents a first modeling step, based on an empirical study using eye-tracking methodologies, combined with other experimental techniques.
NLRP3 inflammasome, oxidative stress, and apoptosis induced in the intestine and liver of rats treated with titanium dioxide nanoparticles: in vivo and in vitro study

Purpose This study evaluated the effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) on liver and intestine of normal rats. Methods Male rats were divided into four groups as follows: 1) control rats, 2) control rats that orally received 10 mg/kg TiO2 NPs, 3) control rats that orally received 50 mg/kg TiO2 NPs, and 4) control rats that orally received 100 mg/kg TiO2 NPs. After 30 days, the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway (NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1β), antioxidant pathway (superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione peroxidase [GPx], and catalase [CAT]), inflammatory pathway (inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS] and tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]), and the apoptosis pathway (p53, Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3) were determined in the intestine and liver of the rats. H&E and Masson’s trichrome (MT) staining as well as TUNEL assay were used to examine the liver and the intestine. Biochemical factors, cytotoxicity, ROS generation, and apoptosis rate were also determined in HepG2 and Caco-2 cells. Results TiO2 NPs in a dose-dependent manner increased cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, and apoptosis rate in Caco-2 and HepG2 cells. The administration of TiO2 NPs significantly reduced antioxidant enzyme activity and gene expressions (SOD, CAT, and GPx) as well as glutathione (GSH) levels and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in a dose-dependent manner. TiO2 NPs also induced the apoptosis pathway and inflammatory pathway gene expressions and caspase-3 activity in the intestine and liver. TUNEL assay was in agreement with gene expressions. TiO2 NPs also led to morphological changes in the liver and intestine. Conclusion TiO2 NPs could have cytotoxic effects on the intestine and liver structure and function by inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis.
First report and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in humans and animals in Khartoum state, Sudan

Background and Aim: Cryptosporidium is recognized to infect several mammalian species as well as humans, causing substantial economic losses and serious public health concern. Infected animals can be a source of environmental contamination and human infections. In general, the occurrence of Cryptosporidium species in animals and human in Sudan and zoonotic importance is not well documented. This study aimed to identify Cryptosporidium spp. infecting different animal species and humans and to compare between different isolates obtained. Materials and Methods: To provide molecular information about Cryptosporidium in animals and humans, both modified Ziehl–Neelsen (MZN) specific stain and molecular assay were used. Concentration techniques followed by three protocols of DNA extraction were carried out. After microscopic screening of 263 fecal samples (goats [n=197], cattle [n=12], sheep [n=12], and human [n=42]), 61 positive and 30 negative, randomly selected samples were used in nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting part of the 18S RNA. Results: Nested PCR amplification confirmed 91.8% (56/61) of microscopic-positive samples. 8.2% (5/61) of negative samples by PCR (positive by microscopy) were considered false negatives. Sequencing followed by alignment of the 14 isolates indicated that all samples were identical (100%) and belonged to Cryptosporidium parvum. Conclusion: MZN staining procedure is reliable for the routine diagnosis of Cryptosporidium; cetyltrimethylammonium bromide extraction buffer and nested PCR targeting 18S rRNA gene are reliable and useful in epidemiological studies of this parasite.
Big DNA as a tool to dissect an age-related macular degeneration-associated haplotype

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the developed world, especially in aging populations, and is therefore an important target for new therapeutic development. Recently, there have been several studies demonstrating strong associations between AMD and sites of heritable genetic variation at multiple loci, including a highly significant association at 10q26. The 10q26 risk region contains two genes, HTRA1 and ARMS2, both of which have been separately implicated as causative for the disease, as well as dozens of sites of non-coding variation. To date, no studies have successfully pinpointed which of these variant sites are functional in AMD, nor definitively identified which genes in the region are targets of such regulatory variation. In order to efficiently decipher which sites are functional in AMD phenotypes, we describe a general framework for combinatorial assembly of large ‘synthetic haplotypes’ along with delivery to relevant disease cell types for downstream functional analysis. We demonstrate the successful and highly efficient assembly of a first-draft 119kb wild-type ‘assemblon’ covering the HTRA1/ARMS2 risk region. We further propose the parallelized assembly of a library of combinatorial variant synthetic haplotypes covering the region, delivery and analysis of which will identify functional sites and their effects, leading to an improved understanding of AMD development. We anticipate that the methodology proposed here is highly generalizable towards the difficult problem of identifying truly functional variants from those discovered via GWAS or other genetic association studies.
Use of transethosomes for enhancing the transdermal delivery of olmesartan medoxomil: in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo evaluation

Introduction and aim Olmesartan medoxomil (OLM) is an antihypertensive drug with low oral bioavailability due to extensive first-pass metabolism. This study aimed to prepare transetho somes (TEs) for enhancing the transdermal delivery of OLM to avoid its oral problems. Methods TE formulae were prepared utilizing 51.31 full factorial design using various surfactants (SAAs) and different phospholipid-to-SAA ratios. The formulae were characterized regarding their entrapment efficiency percentage (EE%), particle size (PS), polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential (ZP), and the amount of drug released after 6 hours (Q6h). Design Expert® software was employed to select the optimum formula. Results The optimum formula (TE14) had an EE% of 58.50%±1.30%, PS of 222.60±2.50 nm, PDI of 0.11±0.06, ZP of −20.80±0.30 mV, and Q6h of 67.40%±0.20%. In addition, TE14 was compared to transferosomes (TFs) in terms of elasticity and was found to show higher deformability index. Further, evaluation of ex vivo permeation using both rat and shed snake skin showed higher permeability of TE14 compared to TFs and OLM suspension. Confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed the capability of the fluorolabeled TE14 to penetrate deep within the skin, while the histopathological study confirmed its safety. TE14 successfully maintained normal blood pressure values of rats up to 24 hours. Moreover, TE14 showed superiority in dermatokinetic study when compared with drug suspension. Conclusion Taken together, the obtained results confirmed the potential of employing TEs as a successful carrier for the transdermal delivery of OLM.
Biosynthesis, characterization, and anticancer effect of plant-mediated silver nanoparticles using Coptis chinensis

Background Tremendous growth in nanotechnology has opened up new frontiers in fundamental and applied aspects, including the synthesis of nanoscale matter and understanding/utilizing its exotic physicochemical and optoelectronic properties. Green-synthesis methods employing either biological microorganisms or plant extracts have emerged as a simple and alternative to chemical synthesis. Methods In our present study, we aimed to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in combination with an aqueous extract of Coptis chinensis (CC) using a suitable ecofriendly green-synthesis way. Results In our results, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy revealed a near-absorbance peak at 450 nm, which confirmed the AgNP synthesis. The crystalline nature of the AgNPs was revealed with X-ray diffraction. Transmission electron-microscopy analysis showed spherically dispersed nanoparticles of 6–45 nm diameter. We analyzed the elementary mechanism across A549 lung carcinoma cells ahead of treatment with doses of CC-AgNPs (10 µg/mL and 25 µg/mL). The antiproliferative effect of CC-AgNPs revealed a significant decline in cell viability. Antibacterial assays with both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria exhibited a higher zone of inhibition against S. aureus. Conclusion Furthermore, CC-AgNPs regulated apoptosis using the intrinsic pathway to inhibit A549-cell proliferation. Proliferation migration and invasion were notably inhibited by CC-AgNPs, which promoted apoptosis in lung adenocarcinoma cells by regulating the apoptotic pathway.
Deep Genome Resequencing Reveals Artificial and Natural Selection for Visual Deterioration, Plateau Adaptability and High Prolificacy in Chinese Domestic Sheep

Sheep were one of the earliest domesticated animals. Both artificial and natural selection during domestication has resulted in remarkable changes in behavioral, physiological, and morphological phenotypes; however, the genetic mechanisms underpinning these changes remain unclear, particularly for indigenous Chinese sheep. In the present study, we performed pooled whole-genome resequencing of 338 sheep from five breeds representative of indigenous Chinese breeds and compared them to the wild ancestors of domestic sheep (Asian mouflon, Ovis orientalis) for detection of genome-wide selective sweeps. Comparative genomic analysis between domestic sheep and Asian mouflon showed that selected regions were enriched for genes involved in bone morphogenesis, growth regulation, and embryonic and neural development in domestic sheep. Moreover, we identified several vision-associated genes with funtional mutations, such as PDE6B (c.G2994C/p.A982P and c.C2284A/p.L762M mutations), PANK2, and FOXC1/GMSD in all five Chinese native breeds. Breed-specific selected regions were determined including genes such as CYP17 for hypoxia adaptability in Tibetan sheep and DNAJB5 for heat tolerance in Duolang sheep. Our findings provide insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying important phenotypic changes that have occurred during sheep domestication and subsequent selection.