Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Solvent relaxation in phospholipid bilayers: physical understanding and biophysical applications.

Solvent relaxation (SR) refers to the dynamic process of solvent reorganisation in response to an abrupt change in charge distribution of a dye via electronic excitation. The temporal response can be monitored through the observation of the dynamic StokesΔ shift ν(t) of the dyeΔs emission maximum frequency. The complete time-dependent StokesΔ shift " ν (" ν = ν(0)-ν(∞)) increases with increasing solvent polarity. Linear proportionality between " ν and a dielectric measure of the solvent polarity has been experimentally verified [1]. At ambient temperatures, a typical relaxation process C(t) (C(t) = (ν(t)-ν(∞)) / " ν) in an isotropic polar solvent starts with a fast inertial motion on the 0.05 to 0.5 picoseconds (ps) time-range, followed by rotational and translational diffusion occurring on the pico-to sub-nanosecond (ns) time scale [1]. In pure water an average (integral) solvent relaxation time of about 0.3 ps has been determined [2]. It has been known already for almost thirty years that a significant part of solvent relaxation monitored by dyes associated with phospholipid bilayers occurs on the ns time scale [3]. A quantitative and comprehensive picture of SR in the liquid-crystalline phase of phospholipid bilayers, however, has been presented recently [4]. Within the last ten years SR studies in bilayers became of interest for two different motivations: Firstly, a series of publications appeared demonstrating the benefit of this technique in detecting physiological relevant changes in the phospholipid bilayer organization [5-9]. Subsequently, contributions addressing the question on the origin of slow relaxation components probed in lipid membranes were published [10]. A major requirement for valid application or physical interpretation of solvent relaxation studies in bilayers is the knowledge about the location of the used chromophore. It has been demonstrated [4,6-8] that " ν as well as τ r are strongly dependent on the location of the chromophore within the bilayer. The solvent relaxation time τ r of dyes like 6,8-difluoro-4-heptadecyl-7-hydroxy-coumarin is about 0.4 ns in phosphatidylcholine (PC) small unilamellar vesicles at ambient temperature [4]. Those dyes are probing the external interface of the bilayer. SR in the headgroup region probed by 6-propionyl-2-dimethylaminonaphthalene (Prodan) of PC-bilayers is characterized by τ r value of 1.0 ns [4]. The chromophore of Patman
Light emitting diode‐generated blue light modulates fibrosis characteristics: Fibroblast proliferation, migration speed, and reactive oxygen species generation

Blue light is part of the visible light spectrum that does not generate harmful DNA adducts associated with skin cancer and photoaging, and may represent a safer therapeutic modality for treatment of keloid scars and other fibrotic skin diseases. Our laboratory previously demonstrated that light‐emitting diode (LED) red and infrared light inhibits proliferation of skin fibroblasts. Moreover, different wavelengths of light can produce different biological effects. Furthermore, the effects of LED blue light (LED‐BL) on human skin fibroblasts are not well characterized. This study investigated the effects of LED‐BL on human skin fibroblast proliferation, viability, migration speed, and reactive oxygen‐species (ROS) generation.
History of Clinical Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology

Abstract: The purpose of the Symposium on Clinical Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology is to describe the present and future functional roles of clinical pharmacists and clinical pharmacologists in drug research, professional education, and patient care. Clinical pharmacy is a relatively new professional discipline, being only about 15 years old. This new breed of pharmacists is patient rather than drug product oriented. The discipline arose out of dissatisfaction with old practice norms and the pressing need for a health professional with a comprehensive knowledge of the therapeutic use of drugs. The clinical pharmacy movement began at the University of Michigan in the early 1960s, but much of the pioneering work was done by David Burkholder, Paul Parker, and Charles Walton at the University of Kentucky in the latter part of the 1960s. Clinical pharmacology is a professional discipline that combines basic pharmacology and clinical medicine. Its development began in the early 1950s, primarily as a result of the efforts of Harry Gold. It has had a slower growth than clinical pharmacy but it has made many important contributions to our knowledge of human pharmacology and the rational use of drugs.
Assessment of the safety and efficacy of low pathogenic avian influenza (H9N2) virus in inactivated oil emulsion vaccine in laying hens

In Korea, several outbreaks of low pathogenic AI (H9N2) viral infections leading to decreased egg production and increased mortality have been reported on commercial farms since 1996, resulting in severe economic losses. To control the H9N2 LPAI endemic, the Korea Veterinary Authority has permitted the use of the inactivated H9N2 LPAI vaccine since 2007. In this study, we developed a killed vaccine using a low pathogenic H9N2 AI virus (A/chicken/Korea/ADL0401) and conducted safety and efficacy tests in commercial layer farms while focusing on analysis of factors that cause losses to farms, including egg production rate, egg abnormality, and feed efficiency. The egg production rate of the control group declined dramatically 5 days after the challenge. There were no changes in feed consumption of all three groups before the challenge, but rates of the control declined afterward. Clinical signs in the vaccinated groups were similar, and a slight decline in feed consumption was observed after challenge; however, this returned to normal more rapidly than the control group and commercial layers. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the safety and efficacy of the vaccine are adequate to provide protection against the AI field infection (H9N2) epidemic in Korea.
Regulation of Cytokine Expression by Ligands of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptors1

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors with diverse actions including adipocyte differentiation and lipid metabolism. Recent studies have revealed anti-inflammatory activities, but the majority of these studies have been performed in monocyte/macrophages. In these studies, we investigate the effects of PPAR ligands in murine mitogen-activated splenocytes. Ciglitazone, a PPARγ ligand, consistently decreased IFN-γ and IL-2 production by mitogen-activated splenocytes and had modest effects on splenocyte proliferation. The effects of WY14,643, a representative of the fibrate class of PPARα ligands, on splenocyte proliferation and IL-2 levels are less marked than those observed with the PPARγ ligand. In addition, treatment with WY14,643 and other fibrates led to marked increases in supernatant concentrations of IL-4. However, treatment with a potent and specific PPARα ligand (GW7,647) did not augment IL-4. Also, WY14,643 induced IL-4 expression in splenocytes from PPARα knockout mice, suggesting that the fibrate effect on IL-4 was largely through a PPARα-independent mechanism. This increase in IL-4 was associated with and causatively related to augmented expression of CD23 by CD45R/B220+ cells. We also demonstrate that PPARγ gene expression is up-regulated in T cells by mitogen activation, that it is positively regulated by IL-4 and WY14,643, and that it is blocked by anti-IL-4. Finally, we demonstrate that WY14,643 can modestly augment IL-4 promoter activity in a PPARα-independent manner. In concert, these findings support the roles of PPAR ligands in modulating inflammatory responses involving lymphocytes but also establish potent effects of the fibrate class of PPARα ligands on IL-4 expression that are receptor independent.
Image Operator Learning and Applications

High-level understanding of image contents has been receiving much attention in the last decade. Low level processing figures as abuilding block in this framework and it also continues to play an important role in several specific tasks such as in image filtering and colorization, medical imaging, and document image processing. The design of image operators for these tasks is usually done manually by exploiting characteristics specific to the domain of application. An alternative design approach is to use machine learning techniques to estimate the transformations. Given pairs of images consisting of atypical input and respective desired output, the goal is to estimate an operator that transforms the inputs into the desired outputs. In this tutorial we present a rigorous mathematical formulation to the framework of learning locally defined and translation invariant transformations, practical procedures and strategies to address typical machine learning related issues, application examples, and current challenges. We alsoinclude information about the code used to generate the applicationexamples.
Functional Nucleotide Receptor Expression and Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Morphology in Dedifferentiated Porcine Coronary Smooth Muscle Cells

The phenotypic dedifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is an early event associated with cell culturing and vascular injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the SMC phenotype underlying the functional responsiveness of SMCs to nucleotides in organ culture. Porcine coronary arteries were either used fresh, cold stored (5°C) 4 days, or organ cultured (37°C) 4 days. Fura-2 digital imaging of single SMCs was used to measure the myoplasmic calcium (Cam) response to 10 µM of the following nucleotide receptor agonists: UTP, UDP, ATP, ADP, and 2-MeSATP. In contrast to the nucleotides UDP, ATP, ADP, and 2-MeSATP, the Cam response increased 10-fold and the number of cells that responded to UTP increased 5-fold in SMCs from organ culture compared to SMCs from fresh or cold-stored arteries. Simultaneous imaging of Cam, DNA content, and SR distribution in SMCs from organ culture indicated that the UTP-induced Cam increase occurred exclusively in SMCs that had a dedifferentiated cell phenotype. Three-dimensional image reconstruction of the nucleus and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) revealed a novel transnuclear SR distribution that intertwined with the nucleus in fresh SMCs, while in SMCs from organ culture the SR was predominantly perinuclear and cytoplasmic. This study demonstrates that the functional up-regulation of UTP-sensitive receptors and the disappearance of the transnuclear SR distribution are novel features of dedifferentiated coronary SMCs.
Analysis of Disk Access Patterns on File Systems for Content Addressable Storage

CAS (Content Addressable Storage) is virtual disk with deduplication, which merges same-content chunks and reduces the consumption of physical storage. The performance of CAS depends on the allocation strategy of the individual file system and its access patterns (size, frequency, and locality of reference) since the effect of merging depends on the size of a chunk (access unit) used in deduplication. We propose a method to evaluate the affinity between file system and CAS, which compares the degree of deduplication by storing many same-contents files throughout a file system. The results show the affinity and semantic gap between the file systems (ext3, ext4, XFS, JFS, ReiserFS (they are bootable file systems), NILFS, btrfs, FAT32 and NTFS, and CAS. We also measured disk accesses through five bootable file systems at installation (Ubuntu 10.10) and at boot time, and found a variety of access patterns, even if same contents were installed. The results indicate that the five file systems allocate data scattered from a macroscopic view, but keep block contiguity for data from a microscopic view.
Role of the rfaG and rfaP genes in determining the lipopolysaccharide core structure and cell surface properties of Escherichia coli K-12

Deletions which removed rfa genes involved in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core synthesis were constructed in vitro and inserted into the chromosome by linear transformation. The deletion delta rfa1, which removed rfaGPBI, resulted in a truncated LPS core containing two heptose residues but no hexose and a deep rought phenotype including decreased expression of major outer membrane proteins, hypersensitivity to novobiocin, and resistance to phage U3. In addition, delta rfa1 resulted in the loss of flagella and pili and a mucoid colony morphology. Measurement of the synthesis of beta-galactosidase from a cps-lacZ fusion showed that the mucoid phenotype was due to rcsC-dependent induction of colanic acid capsular polysaccharide synthesis. Complementation of delta rfa1 with rfaG+ DNA fragments resulted in a larger core and restored the synthesis of flagella and pili but did not reverse the deep rough phenotype or the induction of cps-lacZ, while complementation with a fragment carrying only rfaP+ reversed the deep rough phenotype but not the loss of flagella and pili. A longer deletion which removed rfaQGPBIJ was also constructed, and complementation studies with this deletion showed that the product of rfaQ was not required for the functions of rfaG and rfaP. Thus, the function of rfaQ remains unknown. Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of LPS core oligosaccharides from complemented delta rfa1 strains indicated that rfaP+ was necessary for the addition of either phosphoryl (P) or pyrophosphorylethanolamine (PPEA) substituents to the heptose I residue, as well as for the partial branch substitution of heptose II by heptose III. The substitution of heptose II is independent of the type of P substituent present on heptose I, and this results in four different core structures. A model is presented which relates the deep rough phenotype to the loss of heptose-linked P and PPEA.
Cefoperazone Sodium Impregnated Polycaprolactone Composite Implant for Osteomyelitis

The use of local antibiotics from a biodegradable implant for chronic osteomyelitis is an attractive alternative. The implant delivers high antibiotic concentration at tissue levels, obliterates dead space, aids bone repair and does not need to be removed. The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate a calcium sulphate and polycaprolactone based composite biodegradable implantable delivery system of cefoperazone sodium. Implants were prepared by modified fabrication technique to avoid solvent use. Interaction studies were carried out to check any incompatibility between ingredients. Prepared implants were evaluated for various in vitro parameters like dimensions, hardness, tensile strength, drug release profile and sterility. Morphological changes in pellet before and after drug release were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The pellet were also tested for microbiological efficacy and compared with plain drug solution in different concentrations. Developed pellets are regular in shape and size with good tensile strength. The release profile displayed drug levels above MIC continuously up to 2 months. Wide zone of inhibition by pellet against Staph. aureus as compared to drug solution proves its efficacy in treatment of osteomyelitis.
Population-Based Study of Disability and Institutionalization After Transient Ischemic Attack and Stroke: 10-Year Results of the Oxford Vascular Study

Background and Purpose— Long-term outcome information after transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke is required to help plan and allocate care services. We evaluated the impact of TIA and stroke on disability and institutionalization over 5 years using data from a population-based study. Methods— Patients from a UK population-based cohort study (Oxford Vascular Study) were recruited from 2002 to 2007 and followed up to 2012. Patients were followed up at 1, 6, 12, 24, and 60 months postevent and assessed using the modified Rankin scale. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess the predictors of disability postevent. Results— A total of 748 index stroke and 440 TIA cases were studied. For patients with TIA, disability levels increased from 14% (63 of 440) premorbidly to 23% (60 of 256) at 5 years (P=0.002), with occurrence of subsequent stroke being a major predictor of disability. For stroke survivors, the proportion disabled (modified Rankin scale >2) increased from 21% (154 of 748) premorbidly to 43% (273 of 634) at 1 month (P<0.001), with 39% (132 of 339) of survivors disabled 5 years after stroke. Five years postevent, 70% (483 of 690) of patients with stroke and 48% (179 of 375) of patients with TIA were either dead or disabled. The 5-year risk of care home institutionalization was 11% after TIA and 19% after stroke. The average 5-year cost per institutionalized patient was $99 831 (SD, 67 020) for TIA and $125 359 (SD, 91 121) for stroke. Conclusions— Our results show that 70% of patients with stroke are either dead or disabled 5 years after the event. Thus, there remains considerable scope for improvements in acute treatment and secondary prevention to reduce postevent disability and institutionalization.
Emotional Community Detection in Social Network

Community detection is a pivotal task in data mining, and users’ emotional behaviors have an important impact on today’s society. So it is very significant for society management or marketing strategies to detect emotional communities in social networks. Based on the emotional homophily of users in social networks, it could confirm that users would like to gather together to form communities according to emotional similarity. This paper exploits multivariate emotional behaviors of users to measure users’ emotional similarity, then takes advantage of users’ emotional similarity as edge weight to remodel an emotional network and detect communities. The detailed process of detecting emotional communities is as follows: 1) an emotional network is constructed and emotional homophily in experimental dataset is verified; 2) both CNM and BGLL algorithms are employed to detect emotional communities in emotional network, and emotional characters of each community are analyzed; 3) in order to verify the superiority of emotional network for detecting emotional communities, 1 unweighted network and 3 other weighted and undirected networks are constructed as comparison. Comparison experiments indicate that the emotional network is more suitable for detecting emotional communities, the users’ emotional behaviors are more similar and denser in identical communities of emotional network than the contrastive networks’ communities. key words: emotional similarity, emotional homophily, emotional network, emotional community
PROFESSIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY AT THE CORE OF COLLABORATIVE IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS AT SCHOOLS

Though the studies differ in terms of the research problems each seeks to address, both arrive at similar conclusions. More specifically, as we argue in this paper, both studies develop common arguments concerning the role identity configurations – both organizational and professional and even personal – play in the development of teaching practice and, specially, in the undertaking of transformative actions. These various narratives play a crucial role in the process of making sense of externally designed proposals of change, which are grounded on dominant discourses about collaboration and innovation inspired upon ideologies of progress and transformation. Setting the scene: identity as a research problem According to the research approach we adopt here, the individual and the social are not considered as separate dimensions of analysis, but rather as built upon each other on the grounds of a process of constant interaction. Individuals are thought to be structured by the various institutions to which they belong and which are given a specific expression through each and every organizations they are part of. Behind this idea lies the assumption that human beings are born within a symbolic world where relationships are mediated by distinct sets of meanings. Within this symbolic order new members sign a narcissistic contract with society (Alaugnier, 1993), by virtue of which incorporation into the group responsible for meeting their needs is determined. On their part, new members assume mainstream discourses as their own ones, thus accepting some kind of primary symbolic violence which is needed to become an individual.
Yawn Contagion and Empathy in Homo sapiens

The ability to share others' emotions, or empathy, is crucial for complex social interactions. Clinical, psychological, and neurobiological clues suggest a link between yawn contagion and empathy in humans (Homo sapiens). However, no behavioral evidence has been provided so far. We tested the effect of different variables (e.g., country of origin, sex, yawn characteristics) on yawn contagion by running mixed models applied to observational data collected over 1 year on adult (>16 years old) human subjects. Only social bonding predicted the occurrence, frequency, and latency of yawn contagion. As with other measures of empathy, the rate of contagion was greatest in response to kin, then friends, then acquaintances, and lastly strangers. Related individuals (r≥0.25) showed the greatest contagion, in terms of both occurrence of yawning and frequency of yawns. Strangers and acquaintances showed a longer delay in the yawn response (latency) compared to friends and kin. This outcome suggests that the neuronal activation magnitude related to yawn contagion can differ as a function of subject familiarity. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that yawn contagion is primarily driven by the emotional closeness between individuals and not by other variables, such as gender and nationality.
Facial, Olfactory, and Vocal Cues to Female Reproductive Value

Facial, olfactory, and vocal cues may advertise women's fertility. However, most of the evidence for this proposal has come from studies of changes in young adult women's attractiveness over the menstrual cycle. By contrast with this emphasis on changes in attractiveness over the menstrual cycle, possible changes in women's attractiveness over their lifespan have received little attention. The present study investigated men's ratings of young girls' (11–15 years old), adult women's (19–30 years old) and circum-menopausal women's (50–65 years old) facial, body odor, and vocal attractiveness and femininity. Faces and voices, but not body odors, of young girls and adult women were perceived to be significantly more attractive and feminine than those of circum-menopausal women. These data suggest that facial and vocal cues may be cues to women's reproductive value, but that body odor cues do not necessarily advertise this information.
Toward a Comprehensive Phylogeny for Mammalian and Avian Herpesviruses

ABSTRACT With the aim of deriving a definitive phylogenetic tree for as many mammalian and avian herpesvirus species as possible, alignments were made of amino acid sequences from eight conserved and ubiquitously present genes of herpesviruses, with 48 virus species each represented by at least one gene. Phylogenetic trees for both single-gene and concatenated alignments were evaluated thoroughly by maximum-likelihood methods, with each of the three herpesvirus subfamilies (theAlpha-, Beta-, andGammaherpesvirinae) examined independently. Composite trees were constructed starting with the top-scoring tree based on the broadest set of genes and supplemented by addition of virus species from trees based on narrower gene sets, to give finally a 46-species tree; branching order for three regions within the tree remained unresolved. Sublineages of the Alpha- andBetaherpesvirinae showed extensive cospeciation with host lineages by criteria of congruence in branching patterns and consistency in extent of divergence. The Gammaherpesvirinaepresented a more complex picture, with both higher and lower substitution rates in different sublineages. The final tree obtained represents the most detailed view to date of phylogenetic relationships in any family of large-genome viruses.