Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determination of Gelation Kinetic Parameters for a Chitosan/β-Glycerophosphate Injectable Hydrogel by Means of Rheological Measurement

The aim of the current study was to improve the knowledge of the gelation process of injectable thermosensitive hydrogels comprising chitosan (CS) and β-glycerophosphate disodium salt (β-GP). The sol-gel transition process was precisely tracked by means of rheological measurement, in which the viscosity changed considerably with gelation time and temperature. The zero-order kinetics model was assumed to adequately describe the extent of gelation reaction. The reaction rate constant increased continuously with the increasing temperature and β-GP concentration. According to Arrhenius equation, the activation energies of gelation reaction for the chitosan injectable hydrogels were calculated as 64.38 KJ/mol, 101.68 KJ/mol and 140.92 KJ/mol for the samples containing 4% w/v, 6% w/v and 8% w/v of β-GP, respectively. It could be an effective way to study the gelation dynamics of injectable hydrogels, and provide references for clinical practice.
Virtual Reality Pain Control During Burn Wound Debridement in the Hydrotank

ObjectiveMost burn-injured patients rate their pain during burn wound debridement as severe to excruciating. We explored the adjunctive use of water-friendly, immersive virtual reality (VR) to distract patients from their pain during burn wound debridement in the hydrotherapy tank (hydrotank). SettingThis study was conducted on inpatients at a major regional burn center. PatientsEleven hospitalized inpatients ages 9 to 40 years (mean age, 27 y) had their burn wounds debrided and dressed while partially submerged in the hydrotank. InterventionAlthough a nurse debrided the burn wound, each patient spent 3 minutes of wound care with no distraction and 3 minutes of wound care in VR during a single wound care session (within-subject condition order randomized). Outcome MeasuresThree 0 to 10 graphic rating scale pain scores (worst pain, time spent thinking about pain, and pain unpleasantness) for each of the 2 treatment conditions served as the primary dependent variables. ResultsPatients reported significantly less pain when distracted with VR [eg, “worst pain” ratings during wound care dropped from “severe” (7.6) to “moderate” (5.1)]. The 6 patients who reported the strongest illusion of “going inside” the virtual world reported the greatest analgesic effect of VR on worst pain ratings, dropping from severe pain (7.2) in the no VR condition to mild pain (3.7) during VR. ConclusionsResults provide the first available evidence from a controlled study that immersive VR can be an effective nonpharmacologic pain reduction technique for burn patients experiencing severe to excruciating pain during wound care. The potential applications of VR analgesia to other painful procedures (eg, movement or exercise therapy) and other pain populations are discussed.
Profile of biochemical risk factors for non communicable diseases in urban, rural and periurban Haryana, India.

BACKGROUND Globalisation and increasing urbanisation in most developing countries including India raises concerns of possibility of a major increase in NCDs in these countries. WHO has recommended a STEPwise approach for NCD risk factor surveillance since risk factors of today are diseases of tomorrow. This paper presents the estimation of biochemical risk factors for NCDs undertaken as a part of the ICMR six centre study. OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence and levels of bio-chemical risk factors (fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL and triglyceride levels) in urban, rural and periurban locations in Ballabgarh, Haryana. METHODOLOGY A community based cross-sectional study was carried out in urban, rural and periurban areas. A total of 1513 subjects were enrolled (501 in urban, 504 in periurban and 508 in rural areas) with equal distribution by area of residence, sex and age group. Fasting blood glucose and lipids were estimated using enzymatic kits. RESULTS The mean levels of fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, TGL and low HDL were the highest in the urban area, though there was not much difference in the rural and periurban areas. There was also an increasing trend of all the parameters as age increased in both men and women. 11.4% of men in urban areas had fasting blood glucose above the cut off levels and 44.3% of urban men and women had high cholesterol levels. CONCLUSION This study documents a high burden of biochemical risk factorsnot only in urban areas but also in the periurban and rural population. It has also brought out some technical and operational issues for carrying out biochemical risk factors surveillance in the community. There is a need to scale up from surveys to surveillance mode using appropriate tools and application of this information for policy planning and programme implementation.
The evolutionary history of polycotylid plesiosaurians

Polycotylidae is a clade of plesiosaurians that appeared during the Early Cretaceous and became speciose and abundant early in the Late Cretaceous. However, this radiation is poorly understood. Thililua longicollis from the Middle Turonian of Morocco is an enigmatic taxon possessing an atypically long neck and, as originally reported, a series of unusual cranial features that cause unstable phylogenetic relationships for polycotylids. We reinterpret the holotype specimen of Thililua longicollis and clarify its cranial anatomy. Thililua longicollis possesses an extensive, foramina-bearing jugal, a premaxilla–parietal contact and carinated teeth. Phylogenetic analyses of a new cladistic dataset based on first-hand observation of most polycotylids recover Thililua and Mauriciosaurus as successive lineages at the base of the earliest Late Cretaceous polycotyline radiation. A new dataset summarizing the Bauplan of polycotylids reveals that their radiation produced an early burst of disparity during the Cenomanian–Turonian interval, with marked plasticity in relative neck length, but this did not arise as an ecological release following the extinction of ichthyosaurs and pliosaurids. This disparity vanished during and after the Turonian, which is consistent with a model of ‘early experimentation/late constraint’. Two polycotylid clades, Occultonectia clade nov. and Polycotylinae, survived up to the Maastrichtian, but with low diversity.
Combination Kinase Inhibitor Treatment Suppresses Rift Valley Fever Virus Replication

Viruses must parasitize host cell translational machinery in order to make proteins for viral progeny. In this study, we sought to use this signal transduction conduit against them by inhibiting multiple kinases that influence translation. Previous work indicated that several kinases involved in translation, including p70 S6K, p90RSK, ERK, and p38 MAPK, are phosphorylated following Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) infection. Furthermore, inhibiting p70 S6K through treatment with the FDA approved drug rapamycin prevents RVFV pathogenesis in a mouse model of infection. We hypothesized that inhibiting either p70 S6K, p90RSK, or p90RSK’s upstream kinases, ERK and p38 MAPK, would decrease translation and subsequent viral replication. Treatment with the p70 S6K inhibitor PF-4708671 resulted in decreased phosphorylation of translational proteins and reduced RVFV titers. In contrast, treatment with the p90RSK inhibitor BI-D1870, p38MAPK inhibitor SB203580, or the ERK inhibitor PD0325901 alone had minimal influence on RVFV titers. The combination of PF-4708671 and BI-D1870 treatment resulted in robust inhibition of RVFV replication. Likewise, a synergistic inhibition of RVFV replication was observed with p38MAPK inhibitor SB203580 or the ERK inhibitor PD0325901 combined with rapamycin treatment. These findings serve as a proof of concept regarding combination kinase inhibitor treatment for RVFV infection.
Effects of an 8-week meditation program on mood and anxiety in patients with memory loss.

BACKGROUND This study assesses changes in mood and anxiety in a cohort of subjects with memory loss who participated in an 8-week Kirtan Kriya meditation program. Perceived spirituality also was assessed. Previous reports from this cohort showed changes in cognitive function and cerebral blood flow (CBF). The purpose of this analysis was to assess outcome measures of mood and affect, and also spirituality, and to determine whether or not results correlated with changes in CBF. METHODS Fifteen (15) subjects (mean age 62±7 years) with memory problems were enrolled in an 8-week meditation program. Before and after the 8-week meditation, subjects were given a battery of neuropsychologic tests as well as measures of mood, anxiety, and spirituality. In addition, they underwent single photon emission computed tomography scans before and after the program. A region-of-interest template obtained counts in several brain structures that could also be compared to the results from the affect and spirituality measures. RESULTS The meditation training program resulted in notable improvement trends in mood, anxiety, tension, and fatigue, with some parameters reaching statistical significance. All major trends correlated with changes in CBF. There were nonsignificant trends in spirituality scores that did not correlate with changes in CBF. CONCLUSIONS An 8-week, 12 minute a day meditation program in patients with memory loss was associated with positive changes in mood, anxiety, and other neuropsychologic parameters, and these changes correlated with changes in CBF. A larger-scale study is needed to confirm these findings and better elucidate mechanisms of change.
The effect of bright light therapy on sleep and circadian rhythms in renal transplant recipients: a pilot randomized, multicentre wait‐list controlled trial

This study assessed the effect and feasibility of morning bright light therapy (BLT) on sleep, circadian rhythms, subjective feelings, depressive symptomatology and cognition in renal transplant recipients (RTx) diagnosed with sleep–wake disturbances (SWD). This pilot randomized multicentre wait‐list controlled trial included 30 home‐dwelling RTx randomly assigned 1:1 to either 3 weeks of BLT or a wait‐list control group. Morning BLT (10 000 lux) was individually scheduled for 30 min daily for 3 weeks. Wrist actimetry (measuring sleep and circadian rhythms), validated instruments (subjective feelings and cognition) and melatonin assay (circadian timing) were used. Data were analysed via a random‐intercept regression model. Of 30 RTx recipients (aged 58 ± 15, transplanted 15 ± 6 years ago), 26 completed the study. While BLT had no significant effect on circadian and sleep measures, sleep timing improved significantly. The intervention group showed a significant get‐up time phase advance from baseline to intervention (+24 min) [(standardized estimates (SE): −0.23 (−0.42; −0.03)] and a small (+14 min) but significant bedtime phase advance from intervention to follow‐up (SE: −0.25 (−0.41; −0.09). Improvement in subjective feelings and depressive symptomatology was observed but was not statistically significant. Bright light therapy showed preliminary indications of a beneficial effect in RTx with sleep–wake disturbances. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT01256983)
Facilities and Environment

airy cattle include replacement heifer calves and yearlings, dry cows, lactating cows, and breeding bulls used for research and teaching purposes related to milk production. The basic requirements for safeguarding the welfare of dairy cattle are an appropriate husbandry system that meets all essential needs of the animals, and high standards of handling (Agriculture Canada, 1990). Physical accommodations for dairy cattle should provide a relatively dry area for the animals to lie down in and be comfortable (Cook et al., 2005) and should be conducive to cows lying for as many hours of the day as they desire. Recent work indicates that blood flow to the udder, which is related to the level of milk production , is substantially higher (28%) when a cow is lying than when a cow is standing (Metcalf et al., 1992). Criteria for a satisfactory environment for dairy cattle include thermal comfort (effective environmental temperature), physical comfort (injury-free space and contact surfaces), disease control (good ventilation and clean surroundings), and freedom from fear. Cattle can thrive in almost any region of the world if they are given ample shelter from excessive wind, solar radiation, and precipitation (Webster, 1983). Milk production declines as air temperature exceeds 24°C (75°F; West, 2003) or falls below −12°C (10°F) for Holstein and Brown Swiss cows or below −1°C (30°F) for Jerseys (Yeck and Stew-art, 1959; Young, 1981). Heat stress affects the comfort of cattle more than does cold stress. Milk production can be increased during hot weather by the use of sunshades, sprinklers, misters, and other methods of cooling (Roman-Ponce et al. as well as by dietary alterations (NRC, 1981). Temperatures that are consistently higher than body temperature can cause heat prostration of lactating cows, but additional energy intake (+1%/°C) and greater heat production by the cow can compensate for lower temperatures, even extremely low ones. Consideration also needs to be given to humidity levels and wind chill factors in determining effective environmental temperatures. Adaptation to cold results in a thicker haircoat and more subcutaneous fat, which also reduces cold stress (Curtis, 1983; Holmes and Graves, 1994). Because dairy animals adapt well to cold climates, maintaining indoor air temperature equal to or slightly above outdoor air temperature is quite tolerable to housed animals. Coincidentally, providing the ventilation rate necessary to maintain this minimum temperature difference leads to good air quality (Bickert, 2003b). Protecting the animal from extreme drafts, providing dry …
End-to-End Multi-Speaker Speech Recognition

Current advances in deep learning have resulted in a convergence of methods across a wide range of tasks, opening the door for tighter integration of modules that were previously developed and optimized in isolation. Recent ground-breaking works have produced end-to-end deep network methods for both speech separation and end-to-end automatic speech recognition (ASR). Speech separation methods such as deep clustering address the challenging cocktail-party problem of distinguishing multiple simultaneous speech signals. This is an enabling technology for real-world human machine interaction (HMI). However, speech separation requires ASR to interpret the speech for any HMI task. Likewise, ASR requires speech separation to work in an unconstrained environment. Although these two components can be trained in isolation and connected after the fact, this paradigm is likely to be sub-optimal, since it relies on artificially mixed data. In this paper, we develop the first fully end-to-end, jointly trained deep learning system for separation and recognition of overlapping speech signals. The joint training framework synergistically adapts the separation and recognition to each other. As an additional benefit, it enables training on more realistic data that contains only mixed signals and their transcriptions, and thus is suited to large scale training on existing transcribed data.
Self-organized Reuse of Software Engineering Knowledge Supported by Semantic Wikis

Self-organized reuse of artifacts from software and system development, using the lightweight Wiki-Technology, promises a sustainable preservation and availability of business-critical information. However, due to the organic, sometimes chaotic growth of content inside a Wiki, additional support for structuring the knowledge and finding interrelated useful content is needed. The enhancement of Wiki content with ontologies – named semantic Wikis can solve these problems. The application of such semantic Wikis and the development of reasoning mechanisms for software engineering is subject of the project RISE (Reuse in Software Engineering).
Energy and fat intakes of children and adolescents in the united states: data from the national health and nutrition examination surveys.

BACKGROUND Dietary factors related to body weight and chronic disease risk are of interest because of recent increases in the prevalence of overweight. OBJECTIVE Secular trends in energy and fat intakes of youths aged 2-19 y were assessed. Current intakes were compared with recommendations. DESIGN Dietary 24-h recall data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) and earlier national surveys were examined. RESULTS Mean energy intake changed little from the 1970s to 1988-1994 except for an increase among adolescent females. Over the same time period, the mean percentage of energy from total and saturated fat decreased, but remained above recommendations, with overall means of 33.5% of energy from fat and 12.2% of energy from saturated fat. In 1988-1994, approximately 1 in 4 youths met the recommendations for intakes of fat and saturated fat and 3 in 4 met the recommendation for cholesterol intake. Beverages contributed 20-24% of energy across all ages and soft drinks provided 8% of energy in adolescents. Except for adolescent girls, beverage energy contributions were generally higher among overweight than nonoverweight youths; soft drink energy contribution was higher among overweight youths than among nonoverweight youths for all groups. CONCLUSIONS The lack of evidence of a general increase in energy intake among youths despite an increase in the prevalence of overweight suggests that physical inactivity is a major public health challenge in this age group. Efforts to increase physical activity and decrease nonnutritive sources of energy may be important approaches to counter the rise in overweight prevalence.
In vitro antibacterial activities of crude extracts of Nauclea latifolia and Daniella oliveri

The comparative studies of extracts of leaves, barks and roots of Nauclea latifolia and Daniella oliveri with respect to their phytochemical and antibacterial properties was carried out. Preliminary screening for phytochemical components showed that both plants had similar constituents, namely tannins, alkaloids and glycosides, but variable proportions of saponins. The antibacterial screening of the water and ethanolic extracts of the various plant materials were carried out against pathogenic bacteria includingPseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiealla pneumonia, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella dysenteriae. Ethanolic extracts were more potent than aqueous extracts and activity were concentration dependent. The Gram positive bacteria were more sensitive to the ethanolic extracts of both plants. Key words: Nauclea latifolia, Daniella oliveri, phytochemical, antibacterial properties, gram positive bacteria.
Differential Activation of a Mouse Estrogen Receptor β Isoform (mERβ2) with Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

Background: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are suspected of altering estrogenic signaling through estrogen receptor (ER) α or β (mERβ1 in mice). Several EDC effects have been reported in animal studies and extrapolated to human studies. Unlike humans, rodents express a novel isoform of ERβ (mERβ2) with a modified ligand-binding domain sequence. EDC activity through this isoform remains uncharacterized. Objectives: We identified the expression pattern of mERβ2 in mouse tissues and assessed the estrogenic activity of EDCs through mERβ2. Methods: mERβ2 mRNA expression was measured in mouse tissues. HepG2 cells were used to assess the transactivation activity of mERβ isoforms with EDCs and ER co-activators. 293A cells transiently transfected with mER isoforms were used to detect EDC-mediated changes in endogenous ER target gene expression. Results: Expression of mERβ2 mRNA was detected in mouse reproductive tissues (ovary, testis, and prostate) and lung and colon tissues from both female and male mice. Five (E2, DES, DPN, BPAF, Coum, 1-BP) of 16 compounds tested by reporter assay had estrogenic activity through mERβ2. mERβ2 had a compound-specific negative effect on ERβ/ligand-mediated activity and ER target genes when co-expressed with mERβ1. mERβ2 recruited coactivators SRC2 or SRC3 in the presence of EDCs, but showed less recruitment than mERβ1. Conclusion: mERβ2 showed weaker estrogenic activity than mERβ1 in our in vitro system, and can dampen mERβ1 activity. In vivo models of EDC activity and ER-mediated toxicity should consider the role of mERβ2, as rodent tissue responses involving mERβ2 may not be reproduced in human biology. Citation: Donoghue LJ, Neufeld TI, Li Y, Arao Y, Coons LA, Korach KS. 2017. Differential activation of a mouse estrogen receptor β isoform (mERβ2) with endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Environ Health Perspect 125:634–642; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/EHP396
Soft pneumatic grippers embedded with stretchable electroadhesion

Current soft pneumatic grippers cannot robustly grasp flat materials and flexible objects on curved surfaces without distorting them. Current electroadhesive grippers, on the other hand, are difficult to actively deform to complex shapes to pick up free-form surfaces or objects. An easy-to-implement PneuEA gripper is proposed by the integration of an electroadhesive gripper and a two-fingered soft pneumatic gripper. The electroadhesive gripper was fabricated by segmenting a soft conductive silicon sheet into a two-part electrode design and embedding it in a soft dielectric elastomer. The two-fingered soft pneumatic gripper was manufactured using a standard soft lithography approach. This novel integration has combined the benefits of both the electroadhesive and soft pneumatic grippers. As a result, the proposed PneuEA gripper was not only able to pick-and-place flat and flexible materials such as a porous cloth but also delicate objects such as a light bulb. By combining two soft touch sensors with the electroadhesive, an intelligent and shape-adaptive PneuEA material handling system has been developed. This work is expected to widen the applications of both soft gripper and electroadhesion technologies.
The Effects of Mobile-Phone Electromagnetic Fields on Brain Electrical Activity: A Critical Analysis of the Literature

We analyzed the reports in which human brain electrical activity was compared between the presence and absence of radio-frequency and low-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from mobile phones, or between pre- and post-exposure to the EMFs. Of 55 reports, 37 claimed and 18 denied an EMF-induced effect on either the baseline electro encephalogram (EEG), or on cognitive processing of visual or auditory stimuli as reflected in changes in event-related potentials. The positive reports did not adequately consider the family-wise error rate, the presence of spike artifacts in the EEG, or the confounding role of the two different EMFs. The negative reports contained neither positive controls nor power analyses. Almost all reports were based on the incorrect assumption that the brain was in equilibrium with its surroundings. Overall, the doubt regarding the existence of reproducible mobile-phone EMFs on brain activity created by the reports appeared to legitimate the knowledge claims of the mobile-phone industry. However, it funded, partly or wholly, at least 87% of the reports. From an analysis of their cognitive framework, the common use of disclaimers, the absence of information concerning conflicts of interest, and the industry's donations to the principal EMF journal, we inferred that the doubt was manufactured by the industry. The crucial scientific question of the pathophysiology of mobile-phone EMFs as reflected in mea surements of brain electrical activity remains unanswered, and essentially unaddressed.