Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnetic quantum dots in biotechnology – synthesis and applications

Quantum dots (QDs) have great promise in biological imaging, and as this promise is realized, there has been increasing interest in combining the benefits of QDs with those of other materials to yield composites with multifunctional properties. One of the most common materials combined with QDs is magnetic materials, either as ions (e.g. gadolinium) or as nanoparticles (e.g. superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, SPIONs). The fluorescent property of the QDs permits visualization, whereas the magnetic property of the composite enables imaging, magnetic separation, and may even have therapeutic benefit. In this review, the synthesis of fluorescent–magnetic nanoparticles, including magnetic QDs is explored; and the applications of these materials in imaging, separations, and theranostics are discussed. As the properties of these materials continue to improve, QDs have the potential to greatly impact biological imaging, diagnostics, and treatment.
Natural products – learning chemistry from plants

Plant natural products (PNPs) are unique in that they represent a vast array of different structural features, ranging from relatively simple molecules to very complex ones. Given the fact that many plant secondary metabolites exhibit profound biological activity, they are frequently used as fragrances and flavors, medicines, as well as industrial chemicals. As the intricate structures of PNPs often cannot be mimicked by chemical synthesis, the original plant providers constitute the sole source for their industrial, large‐scale production. However, sufficient supply is not guaranteed for all molecules of interest, making the development of alternative production systems a priority. Modern techniques, such as genome mining and thorough biochemical analysis, have helped us gain preliminary understanding of the enzymatic formation of the valuable ingredients in planta. Herein, we review recent advances in the application of biocatalytical processes, facilitating generation of complex PNPs through utilization of plant‐derived specific enzymes and combinatorial biochemistry. We further evaluate the options of employing heterologous organisms harboring PNP biosynthetic pathways for the production of secondary metabolites of interest.
An Evaluation of Dog-Assisted Therapy for Residents of Aged Care Facilities with Dementia

ABSTRACT Although some research suggests that dog-assisted therapy may be beneficial for people with dementia living in residential aged care facilities, the intervention has not been adequately investigated. To address this shortcoming, we conducted a randomized controlled trial of dog-assisted therapy versus a human-therapist-only intervention for this population. Fifty-five residents with mild to moderate dementia living in three Australian residential aged care facilities completed an 11-week trial of the interventions. Allocation to the intervention was random and participants completed validated measures of mood, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life (QOL), both prior to and following the intervention. No adverse events were associated with the dog-assisted intervention, and following it participants who had worse baseline depression scores demonstrated significantly improved depression scores relative to participants in the human-therapist-only intervention. Participants in the dog-assisted intervention also showed significant improvements on a measure of QOL in one facility compared with those in the human-therapist-only group (although worse in another facility that had been affected by an outbreak of gastroenteritis). This study provides some evidence that dog-assisted therapy may be beneficial for some residents of aged care facilities with dementia.
Growth Disturbance After Distal Femoral Growth Plate Fractures in Children: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose: Growth disturbance of the distal femur is the most common complication after distal femoral growth plate fracture. The purpose of our study was to pool data from the literature to determine the incidence of growth disturbance in relation to the Salter-Harris (SH) classification. Additionally, we evaluated the potential influence of fracture displacement and treatment method. Methods: A structured PubMed search was performed to identify all reports on distal femoral growth plate fractures published in the English language literature, from 1950 to 2007. Reference lists from identified articles and bibliographies from standard pediatric fracture texts were also scrutinized. For a study to be included in this review, it needed to have at least 10 patients with a minimum of 1 year follow-up and be published in the English language. A total of 16 articles met the criteria for inclusion, which accounted for 564 fractures. Results: Of the 564 fractures, 291 (52%) had a growth disturbance. Growth disturbance occurred in 36% of SH 1 fractures, 58% in SH 2, 49% in SH 3, and 64% in SH 4 fractures. In studies with patient-level data, there was growth disturbance in 65% of fractures with displacement and 31% of the fractures with no displacement had growth disturbance. The odds of a displaced fracture having growth arrest was 4 times greater than that of a nondisplaced fracture having a growth arrest. (P = 0.0015) In the studies with patient-level data, 58% (70/121) of fractures treated without fixation developed a growth disturbance, with 37% (45/121) being a clinically significant disturbance. Of the patients treated with fixation, including those who were initially treated without but lost reduction, 63% (19/30) developed a growth disturbance, with 27% (8/30) being clinically significant. Significant growth disturbance was defined as a leg length discrepancy equal to or greater than 1.5 cm and/or 5 degrees of varus or valgus deformity. SH 4 fractures had the greatest incidence of developing a leg length discrepancy greater than 1.5 cm (9/37). Twenty-two percent (112/506) of all distal femoral growth plate fractures developed a leg length discrepancy of greater than 1.5 cm. Conclusion and Significance: Fifty-two percent of distal femoral growth plate fractures had some form of growth disturbance. Twenty-two percent (112/506) of all distal femoral growth plate fractures developed a leg length discrepancy of greater than 1.5 cm. SH 1 fractures had the lowest incidence of growth disturbance (36%), whereas SH 4 fractures had the highest rate of growth disturbance at 64%. Although there is a greater incidence of growth disturbance in patients who were treated with fixation (58% versus 63%), there was a decreased incidence of significant growth disturbance (37% versus 27%).
A reconstructed metastasis model to recapitulate the metastatic spread in vitro

Metastasis remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality from solid tumors. Lack of comprehensive systems to study the progression of metastasis contributes to the low success of treatment. We developed a novel three‐dimensional in vitro reconstructed metastasis (rMet) model that incorporates extracellular matrix (ECM) elements characteristic of the primary (breast, prostate, or lung) and metastatic (bone marrow, BM) sites. A cytokine‐rich liquid interphase separates the primary and distant sites, further recapitulating circulation. Similar to main events underlying the metastatic cascade, the rMet model fractionated human tumor cell lines into sub‐populations with distinct invasive and migratory abilities: (i) a primary tumor‐like fraction mainly consisting of non‐migratory spheroids; (ii) an invasive fraction that invaded through the primary tumor ECM, but failed to acquire anchorage‐independence and reach the BM; and (iii) a highly migratory BM‐colonizing population that invaded the primary ECM, survived in the “circulation‐like” media, and successfully invaded and proliferated within BM ECM. BM‐colonizing fractions successfully established metastatic bone lesions in vivo, whereas the tumor‐like spheroids failed to engraft the bones, showing the ability of the rMet model to faithfully select for highly aggressive sub‐populations with a propensity to colonize a metastatic site. By applying the rMet model to study real‐time ECM remodeling, we show that tumor cells secrete collagenolytic enzymes for invading the primary site ECM but not for entering the BM ECM, indicating possible differences in ECM remodeling mechanisms at primary tumor versus metastatic sites.
Spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion causes damage of neurocyte by inhibiting RAP2C

Abstract Objective: To explore the mechanism of RAP2C participating in spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury (SCII). Materials and methods: mRNA expressions of miR-204 and RAP2C were measured by qRT-PCR. Protein level of RAP2C was detected by Western blot. Cell apoptosis in AGE1.HN and PC12 cells was detected by Annexin V/propidium iodide assay. The effect of miR-204 knockdown or overexpression on RAP2C expression was observed by luciferase assay. Results: In this experimental research, RAP2C expression in SCII group was lower than control group, while miR-204 expression was higher. In addition, RAP2C expression in AGE1.HN and PC12 cells under hypoxic condition was lower than control group, while miR-204 expression was higher. Hypoxia increased cell apoptosis, and overexpression of RAP2C reversed this effect. In cells treated with hypoxia and miRNA-204 inhibitor, hypoxia upregulated the expression of miR-204, while miRNA-204 inhibitor reversed this effect. Hypoxia downregulated the expression of RAP2C, while miR-204 inhibitor reversed this effect. Moreover, miR-204 could bind to 3′-UTR of RAP2C. And miR-204 inhibitor upregulated the activity and expression of RAP2C, while miR-204 mimic played the opposite role. Finally, hypoxia downregulated RAP2C expression, miR-204 inhibitor upregulated RAP2C expression, while Ad-sh-RAP2C inhibited RAP2C expression. What’s more, hypoxia increased the apoptosis rate, miR-204 inhibitor decreased the apoptosis rate, while si-RAP2C increased the apoptosis rate. Conclusion: SCII causes increase of neurocyte apoptosis by inhibiting RAP2C via miR-204.
Volatile fatty acids derived from waste organics provide an economical carbon source for microbial lipids/biodiesel production

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) derived from organic waste, were used as a low cost carbon source for high bioreactor productivity and titer. A multi‐stage continuous high cell density culture (MSC‐HCDC) process was employed for economic assessment of microbial lipids for biodiesel production. In a simulation study we used a lipid yield of 0.3 g/g‐VFAs, cell mass yield of 0.5 g/g‐glucose or wood hydrolyzates, and employed process variables including lipid contents from 10–90% of cell mass, bioreactor productivity of 0.5–48 g/L/h, and plant capacity of 20000–1000000 metric ton (MT)/year. A production cost of USD 1.048/kg‐lipid was predicted with raw material costs of USD 0.2/kg for wood hydrolyzates and USD 0.15/kg for VFAs; 9 g/L/h bioreactor productivity; 100, 000 MT/year production capacity; and 75% lipids content. The variables having the highest impact on microbial lipid production costs were the cost of VFAs and lipid yield, followed by lipid content, fermenter cost, and lipid productivity. The cost of raw materials accounted for 66.25% of total operating costs. This study shows that biodiesel from microbial lipids has the potential to become competitive with diesels from other sources.
Fluorescence techniques used to measure interactions between hydroxyapatite nanoparticles and epidermal growth factor receptors

The potential applications of nanomaterials in therapeutics are immense and to fully explore this potential, it is important to understand the interaction of nanoparticles with cellular components. To examine the interaction between nanoparticles and cell membrane receptors, this report describes the use of advanced fluorescence techniques to measure interactions between hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles and epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs), as a model system. FITC‐labelled HA nanoparticles and monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP)‐conjugated EGFRs expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO‐K1) were generated and their interaction measured using acceptor photobleaching‐fluorescence resonance energy transfer (AP‐FRET) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy‐fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FLIM‐FRET). Results confirmed that hydroxyapatite nanoparticles not only interacted with EGFR but also attenuated downstream EGFR signalling, possibly by hindering normal dimerization of EGFR. Furthermore, the extent of signal attenuation suggested correlation with specific surface area of the nanoparticles, whereby greater specific surface area resulted in greater downstream signal attenuation. This novel demonstration establishes fluorescence techniques as a viable method to study nanoparticle interactions with proteins such as cell surface receptors. The approach described herein can be extended to study interactions between any fluorescently labelled nanoparticle‐biomolecule pair.
Dynamic metabolic engineering: New strategies for developing responsive cell factories

Metabolic engineering strategies have enabled improvements in yield and titer for a variety of valuable small molecules produced naturally in microorganisms, as well as those produced via heterologous pathways. Typically, the approaches have been focused on up‐ and downregulation of genes to redistribute steady‐state pathway fluxes, but more recently a number of groups have developed strategies for dynamic regulation, which allows rebalancing of fluxes according to changing conditions in the cell or the fermentation medium. This review highlights some of the recently published work related to dynamic metabolic engineering strategies and explores how advances in high‐throughput screening and synthetic biology can support development of new dynamic systems. Dynamic gene expression profiles allow trade‐offs between growth and production to be better managed and can help avoid build‐up of undesired intermediates. The implementation is more complex relative to static control, but advances in screening techniques and DNA synthesis will continue to drive innovation in this field.
Prevalence of dental anomalies in a Mexican population

Background : Data on dental anomaly prevalence is instrumental to diagnosis and treatment in different populations. A retrospective study was done to determine dental anomaly prevalence and associations in a group of orthodontic patients in a Mexican population. Methods : Number, shape, eruption and structural dental anomalies were assessed from the records of 670 subjects. Prevalence, distribution, and associations between the different anomalies were calculated. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests (p<0.05) were used to identify significant differences by sex, and to establish associations among the studied anomalies. Results : Twenty-eight percent of the sample exhibited at least one dental anomaly. Statistical analysis identified no differences by gender. The most common anomaly was impacted teeth (13.58%), followed by microdontic upper lateral incisors (6.26%). These two anomalies also had the highest number of significant associations with other anomalies. Conclusions : The dental anomalies prevalence documented here differ from those reported in the literature for other populations in the world. Dental anomalies are normally associated with each other and occur in groups linked to ethnic origin. The present results indicate the presence of differing suites of anomalies between the studied Mexican population and other populations in the world. This variation highlights the need for further research on dental anomalies in Latin America to aid in their diagnosis and treatment.
The Internet, Public Libraries, and the Digital Divide

Virtually every public library in the United States provides public access Internet computers as a role central to its mission. This article addresses the issue of why the Internet matters for public libraries, both in terms of impacts on the general public, particularly the digitally disadvantaged (part one of the article) and impacts on libraries themselves (part two of the article). Each part of this report begins with an extensive literature review, followed by a data analysis section. In part one, the author uses the 2000 United States Census dataset to evaluate library efforts to bridge the digital divide, by analyzing differences in the growth of public terminals in library systems serving counties with different levels of household income, households in poverty, non-white households, and non-English-speaking households. The analysis finds no disparity in the number of public computers available in areas with high and low incomes but finds a significant—and widening—disparity in the number of computers available in areas with a higher versus lower percentage of non-white and non-English-speaking households. In part two of the report, the author uses a random effects linear regression model to estimate the effects of Internet access on library usage. This analysis finds that having Internet terminals (versus having no Internet terminals) has a significant positive effect on a library's visits and reference transactions, but not on a library's circulation. An increase in the number of Internet terminals has no significant effect, positive or negative, on visits, reference transactions, or circulation.
Immunology, immunopathology, and immunity

Table of Contents Part I. Immunology 1. Introduction to Part I 2. Cells of the Immune System 3. Inflammation and Wound Healing 4. All about B Cells 5. All about T Cells and Induction of Immunity 6. Lymphoid Organs Part II. Immunopathology and Immunity 7. Introduction to Part II 8. Inactivation and Activation of Biologically Active Molecules 9. Cytotoxic and Cytolytic Reactions 10. Immune Complex Reactions 11 Atopic and Anaphylactic Reactions (Allergy) 12. T-Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity 13. Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity 14. Granulomatous Reactions 15. Interplay of Inflammatory and Immunopathologic Mechanisms, Immune Defense, and Evasion of Immune Defense Mechanisms during Infection 16. Immune-Mediated Skin Diseases 17. Immunoproliferative Diseases 18. Immunodeficiency Diseases 19. Immunology of AIDS 20. Tumor Immunity Appendixes 1. History of Immunopathology 2. Evolution of Immunity (Phylogeny) 3. Cluster-of-Differentiation Molecules 4. Cytokines 5. Clinical Immunology Tests 6. Tables of Lymphoproliferative Diseases
“I’m a Library Hugger!”: Public Libraries as Valued Community Assets

Public library value is often ascertained by outlining the economic, social, and cultural benefits public libraries generate for the greater community. While researchers have focused on the concepts of social capital, civic engagement, and the role of libraries in promoting democracy, fewer studies have explored the public’s perceptions of libraries in an effort to determine library value. Furthermore, library nonusers are rarely included in these studies. In Alberta, Canada, 1,201 Albertans from across the province, including both urban and rural areas, were asked a series of questions about their perceptions of public libraries and library use. Findings reveal characteristics of library users and nonusers, what services and resources are used most often at public libraries, what value the public places on public libraries, and the role that libraries play in supporting communities.
Use of transposase and ends of IS608 enables precise and scarless genome modification for modulating gene expression and metabolic engineering applications in Escherichia coli

Various methods have been developed for gene disruption in bacteria; however, extra in vitro manipulation steps or the residual presence of a scar in the host chromosome limits the use of such methods. By utilizing the unique properties of ISHp608, we have developed a simple and precise method for genome manipulation in Escherichia coli that alters the gene sequence without leaving foreign DNA in the chromosome. This strategy involves PCR amplification of a DNA cassette containing ISHp608‐LE (left end)‐antibiotic resistance gene‐counterselection marker‐ISHp608‐RE (right end) by using primers containing extensions homologous to the adjacent regions of the target gene on the chromosome. The λ Red mediated recombination of the PCR product and antibiotic resistance screening results in transformants with a modified gene target. The ISHp608‐LE‐antibiotic resistance gene‐counterselection marker‐ISHp608‐RE cassette can then be excised using a temperature sensitive plasmid expressing the TnpA transposase, which precisely cleaves ISHp608‐LE and ISHp608‐RE without leaving a scar sequence. We demonstrated lacZ gene point mutation repair, two precise disruptions of the lacZ gene and constructed a library of lacZ variants having variable β‐galactosidase activity by changing its ribosome binding site sequences using the ISHp608 system. This technique can be used in E. coli genome modification and could be extended for use in other bacteria.
Immediate Full Weightbearing After Percutaneous Fixation of Anterior Column Acetabulum Fractures

Objective: To present clinical, radiographic, and functional outcomes of patients allowed immediate full weightbearing after closed reduction and percutaneous fixation of anterior column component acetabulum fractures. Design: Retrospective review. Setting: Academic Level I trauma center. Patients: Between September 2001 and December 2008, 28 patients with anterior column or anterior column posterior hemitransverse acetabulum fractures that were determined to be amenable to percutaneous fixation (at the discretion of the senior author [M.T.A.]) were selected. Intervention: All patients underwent closed reduction and anterior to posterior supra-acetabular percutaneous screw fixation followed by immediate postoperative full weightbearing. Main Outcome Measurements: Primary outcome measures included clinical, radiographic, and functional outcomes assessed with the modified Merle d'Aubigne Score and the Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment questionnaire. Results: Six patients were lost to follow-up (less than 1 year), and the remaining 22 (79%) had a mean follow-up of 39 months (range, 12–74 months). There were no intraoperative complications. Radiographic grades were excellent in 19 patients, good in two patients, and fair in one patient. The mean modified Merle d'Aubigné Score was 17.4 (range, 11–18). The mean Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment function and bothersome index were 20.2 (range, 0–72.8) and 20.1 (range, 0–72.9), respectively. Conclusion: Clinical, radiographic, and functional outcomes of patients in this study are comparable to other reported studies. Despite an immediate full weightbearing protocol, complications, particularly poor final radiographic grade, do not appear common. The advantage of this protocol lies in the ability to immediately ambulate postoperatively with early return to work and recreation. We believe this technique is safe and offers a reasonable alternative for anterior column acetabulum fractures.