Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanoparticle–Hydrogel Composites: Concept, Design, and Applications of These Promising, Multi‐Functional Materials

New technologies rely on the development of new materials, and these may simply be the innovative combination of known components. The structural combination of a polymer hydrogel network with a nanoparticle (metals, non‐metals, metal oxides, and polymeric moieties) holds the promise of providing superior functionality to the composite material with applications in diverse fields, including catalysis, electronics, bio‐sensing, drug delivery, nano‐medicine, and environmental remediation. This mixing may result in a synergistic property enhancement of each component: for example, the mechanical strength of the hydrogel and concomitantly decrease aggregation of the nanoparticles. These mutual benefits and the associated potential applications have seen a surge of interest in the past decade from multi‐disciplinary research groups. Recent advances in nanoparticle–hydrogel composites are herein reviewed with a focus on their synthesis, design, potential applications, and the inherent challenges accompanying these exciting materials.
Effect of semiquantitative culture results from complex host surgical wounds on dehiscence rates

The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of positive bacterial cultures at the time of closure on dehiscence rates. Pre‐ and post‐débridement wound cultures from patients undergoing serial surgical débridement of infected wounds were compared with outcomes 30 days postoperatively. One‐hundred patients were enrolled; 35 were excluded for incomplete culture data. Sixty‐five patients were evaluated for species counts, including Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS), and semiquantitative culture data for each débridement. The post‐débridement cultures on the date of closure had no growth in 42 patients (64.6%) of which 6 dehisced (14.3%), and 36 remained closed; with no statistically significant difference in dehiscence rates (p = 0.0664). Pre‐débridement cultures from the 1st débridement of the 65 patients showed 8 patients had no growth, 29 grew 1 species, 19 grew 2 species, and 9 had 3–5 species. There was a reduction in the number of species and improvement of semiquantitative cultures with each subsequent débridement. The dehiscence rate for those who had 2 débridements (n = 42) was 21.4% at 30 day follow‐up and 21.7% in those who had 3 débridements (n = 23). The number of débridements had no statistical significance on dehiscence rates. The presence of CoNS on the day of closure was a statistically significant risk for dehiscence within 30 days (p = 0.0091) postoperatively. This data demonstrates: (1) positive post‐débridement cultures (scant/rare, growth in enrichment broth) at the time of closure did not affect overall dehiscence rates (p = 0.0664), (2) the number of species and semiquantitative culture results both improved with each subsequent débridement, (3) the number of surgical débridement did not influence postclosure dehiscence rates. (4) Positive cultures containing CoNS at the time of closure is a risk factor for dehiscence (p = 0.0091).
Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation

Tropical grassy biomes (TGBs) are changing rapidly the world over through a coalescence of high rates of land-use change, global change and altered disturbance regimes that maintain the ecosystem structure and function of these biomes. Our theme issue brings together the latest research examining the characterization, complex ecology, drivers of change, and human use and ecosystem services of TGBs. Recent advances in ecology and evolution have facilitated a new perspective on these biomes. However, there continues to be controversies over their classification and state dynamics that demonstrate critical data and knowledge gaps in our quantitative understanding of these geographically dispersed regions. We highlight an urgent need to improve ecological understanding in order to effectively predict the sensitivity and resilience of TGBs under future scenarios of global change. With human reliance on TGBs increasing and their propensity for change, ecological and evolutionary understanding of these biomes is central to the dual goals of sustaining their ecological integrity and the diverse services these landscapes provide to millions of people. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation’.
Brain Cytosolic Phospholipase A2α Mediates Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertension and Reactive Oxygen Species Production in Male Mice

Abstract BACKGROUND Recently, we reported that angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension is mediated by group IV cytosolic phospholipase A2α (cPLA2α) via production of prohypertensive eicosanoids. Since Ang II increases blood pressure (BP) via its action in the subfornical organ (SFO), it led us to investigate the expression and possible contribution of cPLA2α to oxidative stress and development of hypertension in this brain area. METHODS Adenovirus (Ad)-green fluorescence protein (GFP) cPLA2α short hairpin (sh) RNA (Ad-cPLA2α shRNA) and its control Ad-scrambled shRNA (Ad-Scr shRNA) or Ad-enhanced cyan fluorescence protein cPLA2α DNA (Ad-cPLA2α DNA) and its control Ad-GFP DNA were transduced into SFO of cPLA2α+/+ and cPLA2α−/− male mice, respectively. Ang II (700 ng/kg/min) was infused for 14 days in these mice, and BP was measured by tail-cuff and radio telemetry. cPLA2 activity, reactive oxygen species production, and endoplasmic reticulum stress were measured in the SFO. RESULTS Transduction of SFO with Ad-cPLA2α shRNA, but not Ad-Scr shRNA in cPLA2α+/+ mice, minimized expression of cPLA2α, Ang II-induced cPLA2α activity and oxidative stress in the SFO, BP, and cardiac and renal fibrosis. In contrast, Ad-cPLA2α DNA, but not its control Ad-GFP DNA in cPLA2α−/− mice, restored the expression of cPLA2α, and Ang II-induced increase in cPLA2 activity and oxidative stress in the SFO, BP, cardiac, and renal fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that cPLA2α in the SFO is crucial in mediating Ang II-induced hypertension and associated pathogenesis. Therefore, development of selective cPLA2α inhibitors could be useful in treating hypertension and its pathogenesis.
How can the health belief model and self-determination theory predict both influenza vaccination and vaccination intention ? A longitudinal study among university students

Background and objective Seasonal influenza is frequent among students and often responsible for impaired academic performance and lower levels of general health. However, the vaccination rate in this population is very low. As the seasonal influenza vaccine is not compulsory in France, it is important to improve the vaccination uptake by identifying predictors of both intention and behaviour. This study investigated the effect of decisional balance, motivation and self-efficacy on vaccination acceptance using the Extended Health Belief Model (HBM) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Design and Main Outcome Measures University students were invited to fill in an online survey to answer questions about their influenza vaccination intention, and HBM and SDT constructs. A one-year longitudinal follow-up study investigated vaccination behaviour. Results Autonomous motivation and self-efficacy significantly influenced the intention to have the influenza vaccine, and vaccine behaviour at one-year follow-up. Intention predicted a significant proportion of variation (51%) in behaviour, and mediated the effect of these predictors on vaccination behaviour. Conclusion These results suggest that motivation concepts of the Self-Determination Theory can be adequately combined with the Health Belief Model to understand vaccination behaviour.
Perianal Pediatric Crohn Disease Is Associated With a Distinct Phenotype and Greater Inflammatory Burden

Objectives: Data on the outcomes of children with perianal Crohn disease (pCD) are limited, although its presence is often used for justifying early use of biologics. We aimed to assess whether pCD in children is associated with more severe outcomes as found in adults. Methods: Data were extracted from the ImageKids database, a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal cohort study. The study enrolled 246 children at disease onset or thereafter. All patients underwent comprehensive clinical, endoscopic, and radiologic evaluation at enrollment; 98 children had repeat evaluation at 18 months. Results: Of the 234 included patients (mean age 14.2 ± 2.4 years; 131 [56%] boys), 57 (24%) had perianal findings, whereas only 21 (9%) had fistulizing perianal disease. Children with pCD had reduced weight and height z scores compared with non-pCD patients (−0.9 vs −0.35, P = 0.03 and −0.68 vs −0.23, respectively; P = 0.04), higher weighted pediatric CD activity index (32 [interquartile range 16–50] vs 20 [8–37]; P = 0.004), lower serum albumin (3.6 ± 0.7 vs 4.5 ± 0.8, P = 0.016), and higher magnetic resonance enterography global inflammatory score (P = 0.04). Children with pCD had more rectal (57% vs 38%, P = 0.04), and jejunal involvement (31% vs 11% P = 0.003) and a higher prevalence of granulomas (64% vs 23%, P = 0.0001). Magnetic resonance enterography–based damage scores did not differ between groups. Patients with skin tags/fissures only, had similar clinical, endoscopic, and radiologic characteristics as patients with no perianal findings. Conclusions: Pediatric patients with pCD with fistulizing disease have distinct phenotypic features and a predisposition to a greater inflammatory burden.
Thermomechanical Modeling of Successive Material Deposition in Layered Manufacturing

Residual stress build-up due to successive deposition of superheated molten metal onto metal substrates is modeled for application to layered manufacturing methods. This work is specifically applied to microcasting, which is a deposition process used within shape deposition manufacturing. One-dimensional thennal and mechanical models are used to predict temperature and stress evolution related to two physical phenomena. First, the effect of thennal cycling by newly deposited material on stress states in previously deposited and cooled layers is investigated. Here, deposited molten metal solidifies and cools to room temperature before new molten metal is deposited. For this case, predicted stress distributions as a function of depth are relatively uncomplicated and can be related to residual stress-induced part tolerance loss. In the second case, the effect of localized preheating by previously deposited material is investigated. In this model, molten metal is successively deposited at a rate comparable to that used to deposit individual droplets in the microcasting process. Results indicate that although preheating by previously deposited material strongly affects transient stresses, final stress states are not substantially altered.
Characterization of macromolecular baseline of human brain using metabolite cycled semi‐LASER at 9.4T

Macromolecular resonances (MM) arise mainly from cytosolic proteins and overlap with metabolites, influencing metabolite quantification. Macromolecules can serve as valuable biomarkers for diseases and pathologies. The objectives of this study were to characterize MM at 9.4T in the human brain (occipital and left parietal lobe) and to describe the RF coil setup used for MM acquisition in the two regions.
Segmentation of clustered cells in negative phase contrast images with integrated light intensity and cell shape information

Automated cell segmentation plays a key role in characterisations of cell behaviours for both biology research and clinical practices. Currently, the segmentation of clustered cells still remains as a challenge and is the main reason for false segmentation. In this study, the emphasis was put on the segmentation of clustered cells in negative phase contrast images. A new method was proposed to combine both light intensity and cell shape information through the construction of grey‐weighted distance transform (GWDT) within preliminarily segmented areas. With the constructed GWDT, the clustered cells can be detected and then separated with a modified region skeleton‐based method. Moreover, a contour expansion operation was applied to get optimised detection of cell boundaries. In this paper, the working principle and detailed procedure of the proposed method are described, followed by the evaluation of the method on clustered cell segmentation. Results show that the proposed method achieves an improved performance in clustered cell segmentation compared with other methods, with 85.8% and 97.16% accuracy rate for clustered cells and all cells, respectively.
Differences in coagulofibrinolytic changes between post‐cardiac arrest syndrome of cardiac causes and hypoxic insults: a pilot study

Dear Editor, Post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) is often involved in coagulofibrinolytic disorder, which occurs as a result of systemic ischemia and reperfusion. We are under the clinical impression that PCAS patients who experience cardiac arrest due to hypoxia are inclined to suffer from severe coagulopathy and that their condition is associated with a worse prognosis in comparison to patients in whom cardiac arrest occurs in association with a cardiogenic event. The present study is a subgroup analysis of our previous study. Thirteen patients with PCAS caused by cardiogenic cardiac arrest (the cardiogenic group) and 13 patients with PCAS caused by hypoxia-related cardiac arrest (the hypoxia group) were enrolled in the present study. Soluble fibrin (SF) and plasmin-a2 plasmin inhibitor complex (PPIC), which are markers of thrombin activation and plasmin activation, respectively, were measured. Figure 1 shows the serial changes in the plasma levels of SF and PPIC. On day 1, the levels of SF in the hypoxia group were significantly higher than that in the cardiogenic group. Moreover, the levels of PPIC in the hypoxia group were significantly elevated in comparison to the cardiogenic group on day 1. When a good outcome was defined as cerebral performance categories 1 or 2, and a poor outcome was defined as cerebral performance categories 3–5, the cardiogenic group showed a more favorable outcome than the hypoxia group (good / poor: 4/9 versus 0/13, respectively; P = 0.003). The intervals between the receipt of the emergency call and the return of spontaneous circulation in the hypoxia and cardiogenic groups did not differ to a statistically significant extent (cardiogenic versus hypoxia, 38.9 4.2 min versus 31.1 2.3 min, P = 0.111). Our previous study suggested that the SF levels of PCAS patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) were significantly higher than those in patients without DIC. Systemic hypoxia, ischemia, and reperfusion cause endothelial damage with a consequent increase in tissue factor activity, which forms a complex with factor VII/ VIIa, and the complex results in the generation of thrombin. Moreover, anoxia and endothelial injury lead to hyperfibrinolysis. These findings indicate that the hypoxiainduced endothelial injury of the hypoxic PCAS patients was more serious. This could result in more severe coagulopathy with hyperfibrinolysis, leading to a poorer outcome. This may be due to the differences in the pre-cardiac arrest conditions of patients with cardiogenic and hypoxic PCAS. Hypoxic cardiac arrest is affected by both hypoxia due to circulatory arrest and pre-cardiac arrest hypoxia, followed by more severe endothelial damage and coagulofibrinolytic changes. The results of the present study are also supported by the previous study, which showed that patients with cardiogenic PCAS had a better chance of surviving until discharge and a more favorable long-term outcome than patients with a non-cardiac etiology, including a
Pharmacokinetics and Tolerance of the Phage Endolysin-Based Candidate Drug SAL200 after a Single Intravenous Administration among Healthy Volunteers

ABSTRACT This study was a phase 1, single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dosing, and dose-escalating study of intravenous SAL200. It is a new candidate drug for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant staphylococcal infections based on a recombinant form of the phage endolysin SAL-1. The study evaluated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and tolerance among healthy male volunteers after the intravenous infusion of single ascending doses of SAL200 (0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10 mg/kg of body weight). SAL200 was well tolerated, and no serious adverse events (AEs) were observed in this clinical study. Most AEs were mild, self-limiting, and transient. The AEs reported in more than three participants were fatigue, rigors, headache, and myalgia. No clinically significant values with respect to the findings of clinical chemistry, hematology, and coagulation analyses, urinalysis, vital signs, and physical examinations were observed, and no notable trends in our electrocardiogram (ECG) results for any tested dose were noticed. A greater-than-dose-proportional increase with regard to systemic exposure and the maximum serum concentration was observed when the SAL200 dose was increased from 0.1 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg. This investigation constitutes the first-in-human phase 1 study of an intravenously administered, phage endolysin-based drug. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT01855048 and at the Clinical Research Information Service [https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/ ] under identifier KCT0000968.).
International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems a New Multidimensional Model with Text Dimensions: Definition and Implementation a New Multidimensional Model with Text Dimensions: Definition and Implementation

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Abstract We present a new multidimensional model with textual dimensions based on a knowledge structure extracted from the texts, where any textual attribute in a database can be processed, and not only XML texts. This dimension allows to treat the textual data in the same way as the non-textual one in an automatic way, without user's intervention, so all the classical operations in the multidimensional model can been defined for this textual dimension. While most of the models dealing with texts that can be found in the literature are not implemented, in this proposal, the multidimensional model and the OLAP system have been implemented in a software tool, so it can be tested on real data. A case study with medical data is included in this work.
Splitting Computation of Answer Set Program and Its Application on E-service

As a primary means for representing and reasoning about knowledge, Answer Set Programming (ASP) has been applying in many areas such as planning, decision making, fault diagnosing and increasingly prevalent e-service. Based on the stable model semantics of logic programming, ASP can be used to solve various combinatorial search problems by finding the answer sets of logic programs which declaratively describe the problems. It's not an easy task to compute answer sets of a logic program using Gelfond and Lifschitz's definition directly. In this paper, we show some results on characterization of answer sets of a logic program with constraints, and propose a way to split a program into several non-intersecting parts step by step, thus the computation of answer sets for every subprogram becomes relatively easy. To instantiate our splitting computation theory, an example about personalized product configuration in e-retailing is given to show the effectiveness of our method.
Ceftolozane-Tazobactam Activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Clinical Isolates from U.S. Hospitals: Report from the PACTS Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, 2012 to 2015

ABSTRACT The activity of ceftolozane-tazobactam was compared to the activities of 7 antimicrobials against 3,851 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates collected from 32 U.S. hospitals in the Program to Assess Ceftolozane-Tazobactam Susceptibility from 2012 to 2015. Ceftolozane-tazobactam and comparator susceptibilities were determined using the CLSI broth microdilution method at a central monitoring laboratory. For ceftolozane-tazobactam, 97.0% of the isolates were susceptible. Susceptibilities of the other antibacterials tested were: amikacin, 96.9%; cefepime, 85.9%; ceftazidime, 85.1%; colistin, 99.2%; levofloxacin, 76.6%; meropenem, 81.8%; and piperacillin-tazobactam, 80.4%. Of the 699 (18.1%) meropenem-nonsusceptible P. aeruginosa isolates, 87.6% were susceptible to ceftolozane-tazobactam. Six hundred seven isolates (15.8%) were classified as multidrug resistant (MDR), and 363 (9.4%) were classified as extensively drug resistant (XDR). Only 1 isolate was considered pandrug resistant, which was resistant to all tested agents, including colistin. Of the 607 MDR isolates, 84.9% were ceftolozane-tazobactam susceptible, and 76.9% of XDR isolates were ceftolozane-tazobactam susceptible. In vitro activity against drug-resistant P. aeruginosa indicates ceftolozane-tazobactam may be an important agent in treating serious bacterial infections.
In vivo quantification of mechanical properties of caudal fins in adult zebrafish

ABSTRACT The caudal fins of adult zebrafish are supported by multiple bony rays that are laterally interconnected by soft interray tissue. Little is known about the fin's mechanical properties that influence bending in response to hydrodynamic forces during swimming. Here, we developed an experimental setup to measure the elastic properties of caudal fins in vivo by applying micro-Newton forces to obtain bending stiffness and a tensional modulus. We detected overall bending moments of 1.5×10−9–4×10−9 N m2 along the proximal–distal axis of the appendage showing a non-monotonous pattern that was not due to the geometry of the fin itself. Surgical disruption of the interray tissues along the proximal–distal axis revealed no significant changes to the overall bending stiffness, which we confirmed by determining a tensional modulus of the interray tissue. Thus, the biophysical values suggest that the flexibility of the fin during its hydrodynamic performance predominantly relies on the mechanical properties of the rays. Summary: The quantitative in vivo determination of the zebrafish caudal fin's main constituents (bony rays and interray tissue) shows that flexibility is dominated by the elastic properties of the bony rays, whereas the elastic properties of the interray tissue co-define the fin's complex 3D deformation during swimming and will also be needed as a crucial input for hydrodynamic simulations.