Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of radioprotective and chemoprotective drug (WR-2721) on toxicity of acetaminophen in mice

Abstract Background and Purpose: It is known that WR-2721 WR-2721 – [S-2-(3-aminopropylamino)ethylposphorothioate] has radioprotective and chemoprotective effects on non-tumor tissues, and is now introduced into clinical tumor therapy protocols.We investigated whetherWR-2721 have a protective role in acute liver injury induced with acetaminophen (APAP). Material and Method: CBA/H Zgr inbred mice of both sexes aged 12– 16 weeks, weighing 20– 25 g were used. Mice were given phenobarbitone- sodium in drinking water during 7 days (300 mg/kg) in order to induce hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes. Thereafter, mice were fasted overnight andWR-2721 was given i.p. (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg). After 15– 30 minutes they received acetaminophen (APAP ; Paracetamol) 200 mg/kg by gastric tube. Animals were allowed food 4 hours later. The mortality of mice was followed for 3 days and serum aminotransferase levels were determined 24 hours after APAP administration. Results: Survival of mice was prolonged after all doses ofWR-2721, but significantly only after the dose of 100 mg/kg of WR-2721. Similarly, the pretreatment of mice with 100 mg/kg of WR-2721 highly significantly reduced serum aspartate aminotransferase levels (AST, p<0. 0005) and serum alanine aminotransferase levels (ALT, p<0.005). The doses of 50 and 200 mg/kg of WR-2721 also reduced AST and ALT, but not significantly. Conclusions: These data showed that WR-2721 has definitive hepatoprotective effect which is significant in very restricted dose range.
Coronavirus Main Proteinase (3CLpro) Structure: Basis for Design of Anti-SARS Drugs

A novel coronavirus has been identified as the causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The viral main proteinase (Mpro, also called 3CLpro), which controls the activities of the coronavirus replication complex, is an attractive target for therapy. We determined crystal structures for human coronavirus (strain 229E) Mpro and for an inhibitor complex of porcine coronavirus [transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV)] Mpro, and we constructed a homology model for SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) Mpro. The structures reveal a remarkable degree of conservation of the substrate-binding sites, which is further supported by recombinant SARS-CoV Mpro-mediated cleavage of a TGEV Mpro substrate. Molecular modeling suggests that available rhinovirus 3Cpro inhibitors may be modified to make them useful for treating SARS.
Relations between perceptions of the teaching environment and approaches to teaching.

BACKGROUND Previous research has established substantial relations between students' approaches to study in higher education and their perceptions of the learning environment. More recently, there has been a growing body of research into teachers' approaches to teaching and conceptions of teaching. There has, however, been little research into their perceptions of the teaching context. AIMS This study aimed to develop an inventory of university teachers' perceptions of their teaching environment (PTE) and how those perceptions related to their approaches to teaching. SAMPLES The interview sample comprised 13 teachers of first year university physics and chemistry courses in two Australian universities, and the survey sample comprised 46 teachers from several Australian universities. METHODS In the qualitative study teachers were interviewed about the things they thought affected their teaching. The interviews were content analysed, and an inventory was produced. In the quantitative study, the results of the administration of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory and the PTE were analysed by correlational, factor and cluster analyses. RESULTS This exploratory study found systematic relations between the perceptions and approaches. The relations observed suggest that the adoption of a conceptual change and student focused approach to teaching is associated with perceptions that the teacher has control over what is taught and how it is taught, as well as perceptions that the department values teaching and that class size is not too large. CONCLUSIONS The paper concludes by arguing that if we are to improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education we will need to take account of the perceptions teachers have of their teaching context.
Five algorithms that calculate cardiac output from the arterial waveform: a comparison with Doppler ultrasound.

BACKGROUND Different mathematical approaches are used to calculate arterial pulse pressure wave analysis (PPWA) cardiac output. The CardioQ-Combi is a research oesophageal Doppler (COODM) monitor that includes these five fundamental PPWA algorithms. We compared these PPWA cardiac output readings to COODM and suprasternal USCOM Doppler (COUS) over a range of cardiac output values induced by dopamine infusion in patients undergoing major surgery. USCOM acted as a control. METHODS Serial sets of cardiac output data were recorded at regular intervals as cardiac output increased. Formulae included: cardiac output calculated form systemic vascular resistance (COMAP), pulse pressure (COPP), Liljestrand-Zander formula (COLZ), alternating current power (COAC) and systolic area with Kouchoukos correction (COSA). The reference method for comparisons was COODM. Statistical methods included: Scatter plots (correlation), Bland-Altman (agreement) and concordance (trending) and polar (trending). RESULTS From 20 patients 255 sets of cardiac output comparative data were collected. Mean cardiac output for each method ranged between 5.0 and 5.5 litre min(-1). For comparisons between COUS and the five PPWA algorithms with COODM: Correlation was best with COUS (R(2)=0.81) followed by COLZ (R(2)=0.72). Bias ranged between 0.1 and 0.5 litre min(-1). Percentage error was lowest with COUS (26.4%) followed by COLZ (35.2%), others (40.7 to 56.3%). Concordance was best with COUS (92%), followed by COLZ (71%), others (64 to 66%). Polar analysis (mean(standard deviation)) were best with COUS (-2.7 (21.1)), followed by COLZ (+4.7 (26.6). CONCLUSIONS The Liljestrand-Zander PPWA formula was most reliable compared with oesophageal Doppler in major surgical patients under general anaesthesia, but not better than USCOM.
Single-objective and multi-objective genetic algorithms for compression of biological networks

Storage and processing of biological networks is challenging and costly due to the large sizes of many of these networks. Compression of such graphs is one possible solution to this problem. This study presents two single-objective genetic algorithms, along with one multi-objective algorithm, to address the problem of graph compression. The fitness functions were both based on the concept of merging nodes based on “similarity” but each defined that similarity in a different way. The multiobjective GA based on NSGA-II worked to find a balance between the compression ratio and the similarity. The methods were applied to three different biological networks with different characteristics. The single-objective GAs were first applied to these networks for a fixed compression ratio. Then based on the results of the multiobjective GA, target compression ratios were chosen for each graph and the single-objective GAs were applied to this target. Applying the single-objective GAs to a target identified in this manner was significantly more successful than using the results from the multiobjective GA for the same compression ratio.
The Relationship among Gene Expression, the Evolution of Gene Dosage, and the Rate of Protein Evolution

The understanding of selective constraints affecting genes is a major issue in biology. It is well established that gene expression level is a major determinant of the rate of protein evolution, but the reasons for this relationship remain highly debated. Here we demonstrate that gene expression is also a major determinant of the evolution of gene dosage: the rate of gene losses after whole genome duplications in the Paramecium lineage is negatively correlated to the level of gene expression, and this relationship is not a byproduct of other factors known to affect the fate of gene duplicates. This indicates that changes in gene dosage are generally more deleterious for highly expressed genes. This rule also holds for other taxa: in yeast, we find a clear relationship between gene expression level and the fitness impact of reduction in gene dosage. To explain these observations, we propose a model based on the fact that the optimal expression level of a gene corresponds to a trade-off between the benefit and cost of its expression. This COSTEX model predicts that selective pressure against mutations changing gene expression level or affecting the encoded protein should on average be stronger in highly expressed genes and hence that both the frequency of gene loss and the rate of protein evolution should correlate negatively with gene expression. Thus, the COSTEX model provides a simple and common explanation for the general relationship observed between the level of gene expression and the different facets of gene evolution.
Discriminatively learned filter bank for acoustic features

Filter banks on a frequency domain are widely applied and studied mainly for MFCC and its variant methods on speech recognition tasks. In recent years, other types of acoustic features which are derived from image classification literature have attracted attentions for the tasks regarding environmental sounds. For those features, the filter banks can also be employed mainly to effectively reduce feature dimensionality along the frequency. The filter banks have been designed according to human auditory process and are not necessarily optimal from the viewpoint of distinguishing actual acoustic data. We propose a method to build a filter bank from scratch in a data-driven manner based on the natural properties of filter banks without parametrically modeling them, which thereby more flexibly describes intrinsic characteristics of data. Those filters are optimized by incorporating discriminative criterion so as to provide effective features of high performance even with the smaller-sized filter bank. In the experiments on acoustic scene classification, the proposed method exhibits favorable performance especially on lower dimensional features.
Towards intelligent mining of public social networks' influence in society

This paper presents an overview of a proposed framework for the intelligent mining of the influence of public social networks in society. The framework consists of a data collection platform and a set of intelligent social-data processing modules. These modules identify relevant trending social topics and relevant actors within those topics, and trace back in time the evolution of those topics in the public social networks. The framework creates quantitative and qualitative indicators that can be used to analyze the role and the influence of the social networks and of their main actors in society.
A new approach for software requirements elicitation

Requirements elicitation is both the hardest and most critical part of software development, since errors at this beginning stage propagate through the development process and are the hardest to repair later. This paper proposes an improved process for requirements elicitation. The key improvements are: (1) to train the non-technical stakeholders (primarily the users) in the capabilities and limitations of computer hardware, software, and of software developers; (2) identify keywords while interviewing the stakeholders, visually as well as in text form; (3) use keyword mapping to generate candidate system requirements; (4) apply the techniques of quality function deployment (QFD) and the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) during the elicitation process.
Myopia, Light and Circadian Rhythms

Myopia has been investigated scientifically for over a century but the search for an effective remedy has been manifestly unsuccessful. The prevalence of myopia in developed societies has now risen to about 30% in USA (Vitale, Sperduto et al. 2009) and up to 70% in some Asian centres (Lin, Shih et al. 2004). In addition to the socio-economic burden of providing optical corrections for myopia, common myopia limits career choice and increases the risk of glaucoma and cataract. High myopia also increases the risk of retinal detachment, chorioretinal degeneration and subsequent visual impairment (Saw, Gazzard et al. 2005). Both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in the aetiology of myopia. Children with myopic parents have a higher than normal risk of developing myopia (Mutti, Mitchell et al. 2002) and twin studies show a higher level of concordance of common myopia in monozygotic compared to dizygotic twins (Dirani, Chamberlain et al. 2006). However, the rapid rise in myopia prevalence over recent decades argues strongly that changing environmental factors also play an important role in the aetiology of myopia.
Evidence for the Role of Calcineurin in Morphogenesis and Calcium Homeostasis during Mycelium-to-Yeast Dimorphism of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

ABSTRACT Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is a dimorphic fungus that causes paracoccidioidomycosis, the most prevalent human deep mycosis in Latin America. The dimorphic transition from mycelium to yeast (M-Y) is triggered by a temperature shift from 25°C to 37°C and is critical for pathogenicity. Intracellular Ca2+ levels increased in hyphae immediately after temperature-induced dimorphism. The chelation of Ca2+ with extracellular (EGTA) or intracellular (BAPTA) calcium chelators inhibited temperature-induced dimorphism, whereas the addition of extracellular Ca2+ accelerated dimorphism. The calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A (CsA), but not tacrolimus (FK506), effectively decreased cell growth, halted the M-Y transition that is associated with virulence, and caused aberrant growth morphologies for all forms of P. brasiliensis. The difference between CsA and FK506 was ascribed by the higher levels of cyclophilins contrasted to FKBPs, the intracellular drug targets required for calcineurin suppression. Chronic exposure to CsA abolished intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and decreased mRNA transcription of the CCH1 gene for the plasma membrane Ca2+ channel in yeast-form cells. CsA had no detectable effect on multidrug resistance efflux pumps, while the effect of FK506 on rhodamine excretion was not correlated with the transition to yeast form. In this study, we present evidence that Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent phosphatase calcineurin controls hyphal and yeast morphology, M-Y dimorphism, growth, and Ca2+ homeostasis in P. brasiliensis and that CsA is an effective chemical block for thermodimorphism in this organism. The effects of calcineurin inhibitors on P. brasiliensis reinforce the therapeutic potential of these drugs in a combinatory approach with antifungal drugs to treat endemic paracoccidioidomycosis.
Path coloring on the mesh

In the minimum path coloring problem, we are given a list of pairs of vertices of a graph. We are asked to connect each pair by a colored path. Paths of the same color must be edge disjoint. Our objective is to minimize the number of colors used. This problem was raised by A. Aggarwal et al. (1994) and P. Raghavan and E. Upfal (1994) as a model for routing in all-optical networks. It is also related to questions in circuit routing. In this paper, we improve the O(ln N) approximation result of J. Kleinberg and E. Tardos (1995) for path coloring on the N/spl times/N mesh. We give an O(1) approximation algorithm to the number of colors needed, and a poly(ln ln N) approximation algorithm to the choice of paths and colors. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first sub-logarithmic bounds for any network other than trees, rings, or trees of rings. Our results are based on developing new techniques for randomized rounding. These techniques iteratively improve a fractional solution until it approaches integrality. They are motivated by the method used by F.T. Leighton, B.M. Maggs, and S.B. Rao (1994) for packet routing.
Mothers as active partners in the prevention of childhood diseases: maternal factors related to immunization status of preschool children in Italy.

BACKGROUND We examined how maternal socio-demographic factors, together with mother's education, knowledge, and perception of immunizations, can affect the uptake of optional vaccinations of preschool children in Italy. METHODS Interviews of Italian mothers were performed using a structured questionnaire administered by trained interviewers with no specific medical competence. RESULTS A convenience sample of 1,035 mothers were interviewed. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents reported to have had their child immunized with the MMR vaccine and 54% reported to have had their child immunized against pertussis. In logistic regression analysis, three variables were significantly associated with both the immunization outcomes: mother's positive attitude toward immunization (OR = 1.69; IC 1.13-2.52 for pertussis; OR = 1.86, IC 1. 17-2.96 for MMR); mothers' residency in the North of the country (OR = 1.74; IC 1.32-2.30 for pertussis; OR = 1.63, IC 1.18-2.24 for MMR); and mother's receipt of satisfactory information on immunization (OR = 1.67; IC 1.15-2.21 for pertussis; OR = 2.25, IC 1. 47-3.43 for MMR). An immunization performed in recent years (after 1994), probably following the widespread use of acellular vaccine, was the most significant predictor for pertussis immunization (OR = 3.21; IC 2.43-4.24). CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that mothers' attitudes, educational level, and socio-demographic characteristics, as well as socio-economic factors and local health policies, can influence children's immunization uptake. Health promotion, based on a partnership between parents and health professionals, should become a priority in Italian vaccination policies.
Teachers’ Reflective Practice in Lesson Study: A Tool for Improving Instructional Practice

In teacher education, a collection of research has established the importance of reflection in professional development. Lesson study, a popular professional development in Japan, incorporates reflection in one of its stages to enhance teachers’ capacity to look into their enacted practices to improve their research lessons. However, there appear to be few studies determining the types of reflective practice among teachers. In this study, the various stages of lesson study process were documented and transcribed to analyze the teachers’ reflective practices. Qualitative analyses yielded three types of reflective practice exemplified by the teachers, namely: descriptive, analytical, and critical. The study highlighted the collaborative, sustainable, and provisional environment which enabled the teachers to become practitioners who are able to use their reflections to gain understanding of their instructional practices. Findings also indicated that the context of professional development for teachers must be tailored to their direct experiences for them to significantly use the outcomes.
Chromosome‐specific segmentation revealed by structural analysis of individually isolated chromosomes

Analysis of structural rearrangements at the individual chromosomal level is still technologically challenging. Here we optimized a chromosome isolation method using fluorescent marker‐assisted laser‐capture and laser‐beam microdissection and applied it to structural analysis of two aberrant chromosomes found in a lung cancer cell line. A high‐density array‐comparative genomic hybridization (array‐CGH) analysis of DNA samples prepared from each of the chromosomes revealed that these two chromosomes contained 296 and 263 segments, respectively, ranging from 1.5 kb to 784.3 kb in size, derived from different portions of chromosome 8. Among these segments, 242 were common in both aberrant chromosomes, but 75 were found to be chromosome‐specific. Sequences of 263 junction sites connecting the ends of segments were determined using a PCR/Sanger‐sequencing procedure. Overlapping microhomologies were found at 169 junction sites. Junction partners came from various portions of chromosome 8 and no biased pattern in the positional distribution of junction partners was detected. These structural characteristics suggested the occurrence of random fragmentation of the entire chromosome 8 followed by random rejoining of these fragments. Based on that, we proposed a model to explain how these aberrant chromosomes are formed. Through these structural analyses, it was demonstrated that the optimized chromosome isolation method described here can provide high‐quality chromosomal DNA for high resolution array‐CGH analysis and probably for massively parallel sequencing analysis. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ANALISIS FRAMING BERITA TAWURAN ANTAR PELAJAR DI HARIAN KOMPAS

Student brawls occur continuously in various cities, especially in the Jakarta, the attention of many people, and did not escape the attention of the media. Framing Kompas is a mayor concern in this study.The study conducted by taking a sample 0f 37 news, between 2008 to 2012. The paradigm used is the paradigm of constructivism. The method used is the analysis of the model Entman framing.The results that the Kompas student brawls see that the problem is complexs issue, and not ordinary deliguency, but it leads to crime, a form of deviance. Student brawls, agroup behavior, and other problems caused by unclear, revenge hereditary, in solidarity with friends, as well as maintain the good name of the school, violence derived from the senior students to yunior. Recommendation are offfered to prevent and fight is, sanction, both preventive and repressive, conducted formal and nonformal.
Increasing fluid intelligence is possible after all

Almost 40 years ago, Jensen (1) claimed that, when all is said and done, there is not much one can do to raise people's IQs. Over the years, there have been various attempts to do so, which generally have yielded somewhat ambiguous results (2). Even successful attempts (3) have typically involved training people on the same kinds of items on which they would be tested, so that it was not clear whether the training was generalizable, rather than merely a result of practice effects on particular item types (4).
Standardisation versus innovation in psychological testing

Many studies on the effects of drugs on psychological performance have been carried out in the past few decades. The number of different tests of performance used have been almost as great. They range from measurements of reaction times to the speed of putting tops on ball-point pens; from the rate of crossing out the letter 'e' in a page of letters to assessments of standing steadiness; from memory of lists of words to the ability to carry out mental arithmetic (Hindmarch, 1980). Does such variety simply represent the diversity in the skills that need to be assessed? Or is it rather due to a lack of coherence and focus in research strategies? The author considers standardisation versus innovation in psychological testing. >