Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carbon-13 dynamic nuclear polarization in diamond via a microwave-free integrated cross effect

Significance Optical spin pumping of color centers promises to revolutionize the practice of nuclear magnetic resonance via efficient dynamic nuclear polarization protocols. Significant progress has been attained with systems such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, but extreme spectral broadening and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation from coexisting paramagnetic defects are hurdles still difficult to circumvent. The present technique addresses both issues through the implementation of magnetic-field-sweep–induced NV cross-relaxation with ancilla point defects, here acting as proxies to mediate the transfer of polarization to the nuclear spin ensemble. The governing spin dynamics is robust to field misalignment and ideally suited for shallow NVs, indirectly coupled to outside nuclei through paramagnetic defects at the diamond surface. Color-center–hosting semiconductors are emerging as promising source materials for low-field dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at or near room temperature, but hyperfine broadening, susceptibility to magnetic field heterogeneity, and nuclear spin relaxation induced by other paramagnetic defects set practical constraints difficult to circumvent. Here, we explore an alternate route to color-center–assisted DNP using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond coupled to substitutional nitrogen impurities, the so-called P1 centers. Working near the level anticrossing condition—where the P1 Zeeman splitting matches one of the NV spin transitions—we demonstrate efficient microwave-free 13C DNP through the use of consecutive magnetic field sweeps and continuous optical excitation. The amplitude and sign of the polarization can be controlled by adjusting the low-to-high and high-to-low magnetic field sweep rates in each cycle so that one is much faster than the other. By comparing the 13C DNP response for different crystal orientations, we show that the process is robust to magnetic field/NV misalignment, a feature that makes the present technique suitable to diamond powders and settings where the field is heterogeneous. Applications to shallow NVs could capitalize on the greater physical proximity between surface paramagnetic defects and outer nuclei to efficiently polarize target samples in contact with the diamond crystal.
Exploring the therapeutic potential of sodium benzoate in acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis in rats

Abstract Background Ulcerative colitis is a chronic mucosal inflammation of the large intestine mainly affecting the colon and rectum. The lack of effective and safe therapeutic agents led to the identification of new therapeutic agents to effectively manage the symptoms and complications of ulcerative colitis. The present study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of sodium benzoate in acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis in rats. Methods Infusion of 3% acetic acid in the colon through the rectum was done to construct a rat model of ulcerative colitis. After 5 days of infusion, macroscopic, biochemical, and histopathological examinations and disease activity scoring of the colon were done to assess colonic damage. Results Acetic acid infusion resulted in severe inflammation in the colon assessed macroscopically and histopathologically. Moreover, it also led to increase in myeloperoxidase (MPO) and reduction in glutathione (GSH) levels. In the present study, repeated administration of sodium benzoate (400 and 800 mg/kg i.p.) and sulfasalazine (500 mg/kg orally) for 7 days, i.e. 2 days before and continued for 5 days after acetic acid infusion, significantly attenuated macroscopic damage and disease activity score as compared to disease control. Further, it also significantly reduced the levels of MPO and enhanced colonic levels of reduced GSH. However, the lower dose of sodium benzoate (200 mg/kg) did not show sufficient protective effect in acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis. Further, sodium benzoate per se did not show any effect in normal rats. Conclusions The observed protective effect of sodium benzoate may be due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities in an ulcerative colitis model.
Selective recruitment of cortical neurons by electrical stimulation

Despite its critical importance in experimental and clinical neuroscience, at present there is no systematic method to predict which neural elements will be activated by a given stimulation regime. Here we develop a novel approach to model the effect of cortical stimulation on spiking probability of neurons in a volume of tissue, by applying an analytical estimate of stimulation-induced activation of different cell types across cortical layers. We utilize the morphology and properties of axonal arborization profiles obtained from publicly available anatomical reconstructions of the twelve main categories of neocortical neurons to derive the dependence of activation probability on cell type, layer and distance from the source. We then propagate this activity through the local network incorporating connectivity, synaptic and cellular properties. Our work predicts that (a) intracranial cortical stimulation induces selective activation across cell types and layers; (b) superficial anodal stimulation is more effective than cathodal at cell activation; (c) cortical surface stimulation focally activates layer I axons, and (d) an optimal stimulation intensity exists capable of eliciting cell activation lasting beyond the end of stimulation.
Resort Wastewater Treatment System using BioGill Technology

A BioGill wastewater treatment system was retrofitted into a rudimentary sewerage network on an Island resort in Fiji to treat the relatively strong and refractory wastewater to a standard suitable for reuse via sub-surface irrigation. The system had a 6.0 m 3 primary settling tank and a 26 m 3 aerobic treatment tank fitted with two BioGill cores with a total of 640 m 2 of gill membrane area and a hydraulic recirculation rate through the gills of 12 m 3 /hour. Samples were tested in a field laboratory on-site and in the National Water Quality Laboratory in Suva on the mainland, which took two days to reach. The resort had peak occupancy up to a total of 100 persons including staff whom also lived at the resort. The influent was relatively rich and was fed water from the commercial kitchen rich in fats, oils and grease, leachate from a total of 12 Clivus-Multrum composting toilets with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 5666 mg/L and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) of approximately 25,700 mg/L, shower and laundry water averaging in total 13.3 m 3 /day. The influent BOD averaged 662 mg/L, the TKN averaged 112 mg/L and the total phosphorous (TP) was 3.9 mg/L. The primary treatment system remarkably reduced the wastewater BOD to an average of 320 mg/L with an average hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 14 hours. This was most likely due to the formation of ammonium soaps that formed a thick scum layer on the surface. The BioGill system treated the settled influent to produce a final effluent with an average BOD of 25 mg/L, total suspended solids of 9.6 mg/L, TKN 21 mg/L and TP 4.0 mg/L with an average HRT of 15 hours (average total treatment time of 29 hours). Approximately 81% of the TKN entering the system was removed, which was due to efficient nitrification and concurrent denitrification, which was attributed to the repeated oxic anoxic cycling in the system and the possibility that autotrophic ammonia oxidation, heterotrophic ammonia oxidation, fungal ammonia oxidation and aerobic denitrification took place in the gills and anaerobic denitrification occurred in the decant tank. No biological phosphorous removal was detected, which was due to the separation of the suspended biomass from the aerobic gills. Water exiting the resort as groundwater was tested for total organic nitrogen and nitrate concentrations, which averaged 0.57 mg/L and 1.60 mg/L, respectively. The irrigation water was attributed as being partly responsible for the rapid growth of the gardens and the low nitrogen levels in the groundwater entering the reef was attributed as the major cause of the recession of the algal bloom at the low-tide level and the regeneration of the reef seen during the eight month period since the commissioning of the BioGill
Hydrogels Based Drug Delivery Synthesis, Characterization and Administration

Hydrogels represent 3D polymeric networks specially designed for various medical applications. Due to their porous structure, they are able to swollen and to entrap large amounts of therapeutic agents and other molecules. In addition, their biocompatibility and biodegradability properties, together with a controlled release profile, make hydrogels a potential drug delivery system. In vivo studies have demonstrated their effectiveness as curing platforms for various diseases and affections. In addition, the results of the clinical trials are very encouraging and promising for the use of hydrogels as future target therapy strategies.
Evaluating postgraduate students' perceptions of activity led learning: Findings from a longitudinal study

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
The Equal Environment Assumption in Twin Studies of Political Traits : Social Confounds and Suggested Remedies

While twin studies of political characteristics are being published at a rapid rate, there remains confusion regarding the tenability of the equal environment assumption (EEA) on which such studies depend. Building on literatures in behavioral genetics, psychology, and political science, this article discusses in detail two specific mechanisms – social contact and identification between twins – that may introduce EEA violations, leading to inflated heritability estimates in political twin studies. In addition to offering a critical perspective, this work offers a constructive approach to the study of genetic and environmental influences on political characteristics by discussing explicit measures of potential environmental confounds and statistical tests that utilize such measures, with the goal of improving inferences drawn from twin study designs.
academic factors Bullying and victimization : Predictive role of individual , parental , and

This study explored the roles of individual factors (age, gender, locus of control, selfesteem, and loneliness), parenting style, and academic achievement in discriminating students involved in bullying (as bullies, victims, and bully/victims) from those not involved. Participants comprised 742 middle school students (393 females, 349 males). The results of multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that a higher locus of control, lower strictness/supervision scores, increased age, and being male increased the likelihood of being a bully; a higher locus of control, higher loneliness score, and a lower acceptance/involvement score increased the likelihood of being a victim; and higher loneliness and psychological autonomy scores and lower acceptance/ involvement, strictness/supervision, and academic achievement scores increased the likelihood of being a bully/victim. Although parental style variables play an important role in involvement in bullying, the individual factor loneliness is a more powerful predictor than other predictors in discriminating victims and bully/victims from uninvolved students. Age and gender are stronger predictors than other predictors in discriminating bullies from uninvolved students.
Targeting plasma membrane phosphatidylserine content to inhibit oncogenic KRAS function

KRAS-dependent cancer cell growth is inhibited by disrupting phosphatidylserine transport to the plasma membrane by genetic knockdown of lipid exchangers ORP5 and ORP8 or by inhibition of PI4KIIIα. The small GTPase KRAS, which is frequently mutated in human cancers, must be localized to the plasma membrane (PM) for biological activity. We recently showed that the KRAS C-terminal membrane anchor exhibits exquisite lipid-binding specificity for select species of phosphatidylserine (PtdSer). We, therefore, investigated whether reducing PM PtdSer content is sufficient to abrogate KRAS oncogenesis. Oxysterol-related binding proteins ORP5 and ORP8 exchange PtdSer synthesized in the ER for phosphatidyl-4-phosphate synthesized in the PM. We show that depletion of ORP5 or ORP8 reduced PM PtdSer levels, resulting in extensive mislocalization of KRAS from the PM. Concordantly, ORP5 or ORP8 depletion significantly reduced proliferation and anchorage-independent growth of multiple KRAS-dependent cancer cell lines, and attenuated KRAS signaling in vivo. Similarly, functionally inhibiting ORP5 and ORP8 by inhibiting PI4KIIIα-mediated synthesis of phosphatidyl-4-phosphate at the PM selectively inhibited the growth of KRAS-dependent cancer cell lines over normal cells. Inhibiting KRAS function through regulating PM lipid PtdSer content may represent a viable strategy for KRAS-driven cancers.
Course A Review of the Analgesic Benefits and Potential Complications Related to Epidural Corticosteroid Injections

Objectives: At the completion of this course, the reader should be able to: 1. Identify the therapeutic benefits and potential complications related to epidural corticosteroid injections. 2. Describe different approaches used to access the epidural space along different levels of the vertebral column. 3. Review the pharmacology of endogenous and exogenous corticosteroid solutions. 4. Differentiate between particulate and nonparticulate corticosteroids, including the indications and contraindications for each. 5. Identify the complex interaction that exists among the various approaches to the epidural space, the appropriate selection of epidural corticosteroid solutions, and the potential for complications. Introduction The National Academies’ Institute of Medicine (now the Health and Medicine Division) has reported that more than 115 million adult in the United States are living with some form of chronic pain. Back pain is a form of chronic pain that is often associated with high individual morbidity and increased healthcare costs. Pain can originate from the components of the spinal column, such as the intervertebral disks, vertebral bodies, facet joints, spinal nerve roots, and surrounding supporting muscles and ligaments, but also from the adjacent abdominal and pelvic viscera. Inflammation of the spinal nerve root caused by pro-inflammatory mediators and/or mechanical compression may lead to radicular symptoms and pain. Radiculopathy is a syndrome of neurologic conductive loss, sensory and/or motor, arising from any compressive force. It is not uniformly associated with radicular pain The Institute of Medicine has reported that greater than 115 million adults in the United States are living with some form of chronic pain. Back pain is the most prevalent and is associated with high individual morbidity and increased healthcare costs. One approach for the management of chronic back pain involves the injection of corticosteroids in the epidural space. This interventional approach requires advanced training with techniques that vary according to the level of the vertebral column where the injection is to be performed. The primary rationale for epidural steroid injection is to reduce the inflammation surrounding the spinal nerve root as it exits the neuroforamen. Injections are performed at levels that correspond most appropriately with the patient’s clinical presentation, physical findings, and radiographic findings. Epidural steroid injections are considered safe and effective, and are supported by evidence for the treatment of radicular pain. Complications from epidural steroid injections are rare but can be catastrophic, including permanent disability and death. The focus of this article is to understand how technique and selection of specific corticosteroids used for epidural injection can manage chronic back and radicular pain effectively while minimizing risk that leads to unnecessary harm.
Preserving Inhibition during Developmental Hearing Loss Rescues Auditory Learning and Perception

Transient periods of childhood hearing loss can induce deficits in aural communication that persist long after auditory thresholds have returned to normal, reflecting long-lasting impairments to the auditory CNS. Here, we asked whether these behavioral deficits could be reversed by treating one of the central impairments: reduction of inhibitory strength. Male and female gerbils received bilateral earplugs to induce a mild, reversible hearing loss during the critical period of auditory cortex development. After earplug removal and the return of normal auditory thresholds, we trained and tested animals on an amplitude modulation detection task. Transient developmental hearing loss induced both learning and perceptual deficits, which were entirely corrected by treatment with a selective GABA reuptake inhibitor (SGRI). To explore the mechanistic basis for these behavioral findings, we recorded the amplitudes of GABAA and GABAB receptor-mediated IPSPs in auditory cortical and thalamic brain slices. In hearing loss-reared animals, cortical IPSP amplitudes were significantly reduced within a few days of hearing loss onset, and this reduction persisted into adulthood. SGRI treatment during the critical period prevented the hearing loss-induced reduction of IPSP amplitudes; but when administered after the critical period, it only restored GABAB receptor-mediated IPSP amplitudes. These effects were driven, in part, by the ability of SGRI to upregulate α1 subunit-dependent GABAA responses. Similarly, SGRI prevented the hearing loss-induced reduction of GABAA and GABAB IPSPs in the ventral nucleus of the medial geniculate body. Thus, by maintaining, or subsequently rescuing, GABAergic transmission in the central auditory thalamocortical pathway, some perceptual and cognitive deficits induced by developmental hearing loss can be prevented. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Even a temporary period of childhood hearing loss can induce communication deficits that persist long after auditory thresholds return to normal. These deficits may arise from long-lasting central impairments, including the loss of synaptic inhibition. Here, we asked whether hearing loss-induced behavioral deficits could be reversed by reinstating normal inhibitory strength. Gerbils reared with transient hearing loss displayed both learning and perceptual deficits. However, when animals were treated with a selective GABA reuptake inhibitor during or after hearing loss, behavioral deficits were entirely corrected. This behavioral recovery was correlated with the return of normal thalamic and cortical inhibitory function. Thus, some perceptual and cognitive deficits induced by developmental hearing loss were prevented with a treatment that rescues a central synaptic property.
Prediction of significant prostate cancer in biopsy-naïve men: Validation of a novel risk model combining MRI and clinical parameters and comparison to an ERSPC risk calculator and PI-RADS

Background Risk models (RM) need external validation to assess their value beyond the setting in which they were developed. We validated a RM combining mpMRI and clinical parameters for the probability of harboring significant prostate cancer (sPC, Gleason Score ≥ 3+4) for biopsy-naïve men. Material and methods The original RM was based on data of 670 biopsy-naïve men from Heidelberg University Hospital who underwent mpMRI with PI-RADS scoring prior to MRI/TRUS-fusion biopsy 2012–2015. Validity was tested by a consecutive cohort of biopsy-naïve men from Heidelberg (n = 160) and externally by a cohort of 133 men from University College London Hospital (UCLH). Assessment of validity was performed at fusion-biopsy by calibration plots, receiver operating characteristics curve and decision curve analyses. The RM`s performance was compared to ERSPC-RC3, ERSPC-RC3+PI-RADSv1.0 and PI-RADSv1.0 alone. Results SPC was detected in 76 men (48%) at Heidelberg and 38 men (29%) at UCLH. The areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.86 for the RM in both cohorts. For ERSPC-RC3+PI-RADSv1.0 the AUC was 0.84 in Heidelberg and 0.82 at UCLH, for ERSPC-RC3 0.76 at Heidelberg and 0.77 at UCLH and for PI-RADSv1.0 0.79 in Heidelberg and 0.82 at UCLH. Calibration curves suggest that prevalence of sPC needs to be adjusted to local circumstances, as the RM overestimated the risk of harboring sPC in the UCLH cohort. After prevalence-adjustment with respect to the prevalence underlying ERSPC-RC3 to ensure a generalizable comparison, not only between the Heidelberg and die UCLH subgroup, the RM`s Net benefit was superior over the ERSPC`s and the mpMRI`s for threshold probabilities above 0.1 in both cohorts. Conclusions The RM discriminated well between men with and without sPC at initial MRI-targeted biopsy but overestimated the sPC-risk at UCLH. Taking prevalence into account, the model demonstrated benefit compared with clinical risk calculators and PI-RADSv1.0 in making the decision to biopsy men at suspicion of PC. However, prevalence differences must be taken into account when using or validating the presented risk model.
Zinc transporter 1 (ZNT1) expression on the cell surface is elaborately controlled by cellular zinc levels

Zinc transporter 1 (ZNT1) is the only zinc transporter predominantly located on the plasma membrane, where it plays a pivotal role exporting cytosolic zinc to the extracellular space. Numerous studies have focused on the physiological and pathological functions of ZNT1. However, its biochemical features remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the regulation of ZNT1 expression in human and vertebrate cells, and found that ZNT1 expression is posttranslationally regulated by cellular zinc status. We observed that under zinc-sufficient conditions, ZNT1 accumulates on the plasma membrane, consistent with its zinc efflux function. In contrast, under zinc-deficient conditions, ZNT1 molecules on the plasma membrane were endocytosed and degraded through both the proteasomal and lysosomal pathways. Zinc-responsive ZNT1 expression corresponded with that of metallothionein, supporting the idea that ZNT1 and metallothionein cooperatively regulate cellular zinc homeostasis. ZNT1 is N-glycosylated on Asn299 in the extracellular loop between transmembrane domains V and VI, and this appears to be involved in the regulation of ZNT1 stability, as nonglycosylated ZNT1 is more stable. However, this posttranslational modification had no effect on ZNT1's ability to confer cellular resistance against high zinc levels or its subcellular localization. Our results provide molecular insights into ZNT1-mediated regulation of cellular zinc homeostasis, and indicate that the control of cellular and systemic zinc homeostasis via dynamic regulation of ZNT1 expression is more sophisticated than previously thought.