Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epitaxial co-deposition growth of CaGe_2 films by molecular beam epitaxy for large area germanane

Two-dimensional crystals are an important class of materials for novel physics, chemistry, and engineering. Germanane (GeH), the germanium-based analogue of graphane (CH), is of particular interest due to its direct band gap and spin-orbit coupling. Here, we report the successful co-deposition growth of CaGe_2 films on Ge(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy and their subsequent conversion to germanane by immersion in hydrochloric acid. We find that the growth of CaGe_2 occurs within an adsorption-limited growth regime, which ensures stoichiometry of the film. We utilize in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) to explore the growth temperature window and find the best RHEED patterns at 750 °C. Finally, the CaGe_2 films are immersed in hydrochloric acid to convert the films to germanane. Auger electron spectroscopy of the resulting film indicates the removal of Ca, and RHEED patterns indicate a single-crystal film with an in-plane orientation dictated by the underlying Ge(111) substrate. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy indicate that the resulting films are indeed germanane. Ex situ atomic force microscopy shows that the grain size of the germanane is on the order of a few micrometers, being primarily limited by terraces induced by the miscut of the Ge substrate. Thus, optimization of the substrate could lead to the long-term goal of large area germanane films.
Analysis of Soot Propensity in Combustion Processes Using Optical Sensors and Video Magnification

Industrial combustion processes are an important source of particulate matter, causing significant pollution problems that affect human health, and are a major contributor to global warming. The most common method for analyzing the soot emission propensity in flames is the Smoke Point Height (SPH) analysis, which relates the fuel flow rate to a critical flame height at which soot particles begin to leave the reactive zone through the tip of the flame. The SPH and is marked by morphological changes on the flame tip. SPH analysis is normally done through flame observations with the naked eye, leading to high bias. Other techniques are more accurate, but are not practical to implement in industrial settings, such as the Line Of Sight Attenuation (LOSA), which obtains soot volume fractions within the flame from the attenuation of a laser beam. We propose the use of Video Magnification techniques to detect the flame morphological changes and thus determine the SPH minimizing observation bias. We have applied for the first time Eulerian Video Magnification (EVM) and Phase-based Video Magnification (PVM) on an ethylene laminar diffusion flame. The results were compared with LOSA measurements, and indicate that EVM is the most accurate method for SPH determination.
Effectiveness of intra-articular ozone injections on outcomes of post-arthroscopic surgery for knee osteoarthritis

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate intra-articular ozone injection following arthroscopic surgery for knee osteoarthritis (OA) with regard to its efficacy in pain reduction, joint function and quality of life improvement. The present study retrospectively evaluated 80 patients with symptomatic knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade II or III), who either did or did not receive 20 ml of 20 µg/ml ozone as an intra-articular injection after arthroscopic surgery. The minimum follow-up period was 12 months. The outcomes evaluated for knee OA were pain on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Lequesne Index, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). The VAS score in the ozone group was significantly better than that in the control group at all post-operative follow-up time-points (P<0.05). The ozone group also exhibited a significantly greater improvement in Lequesne Index scores (P<0.05). In the ozone group, the score on the WOMAC-pain, WOMAC-stiffness and WOMAC-function subscales, as well as the total WOMAC score decreased significantly (P<0.05). Furthermore, in the ozone group a significantly higher number of patients (P<0.05) with better CGI grades was encountered compared with that in the control group at the 12-month follow-up assessment, despite comparable baseline values in all aforementioned clinical measures between the two groups of patients. The present study suggests that intra-articular ozone injections after arthroscopic surgery may effectively improve the outcomes of arthroscopic surgery in terms of pain relief, functional improvement and quality of life in patients with knee OA of Kellgren-Lawrence grade II or III.
Yolk testosterone shapes the expression of a melanin-based signal in great tits: an antioxidant-mediated mechanism?

SUMMARY Conspicuous traits produced by melanin deposition in integuments are often involved in visual communication. The information content of melanin-based signals is unclear as their expression is tightly controlled by genes and, apparently, is less dependent on individual condition. In birds, high heritabilities have been attributed to melanin-based plumages, often on the basis of egg-swapping manipulations (cross-fostering experiments). However, it is well known that female birds can differentially transfer testosterone to the egg yolk. Furthermore, high testosterone levels have been related to high oxidative stress. As we recently found that oxidative stress experienced during development influences the expression of melanin-based traits, here we manipulated the level of yolk testosterone in great tits (Parus major) to assess the influence of this maternal effect on the expression of the black breast stripe, a well-known melanin-based signal. We predicted that fledglings hatched from eggs with high testosterone levels will not only show larger black stripes but also experience changes in their antioxidant machinery. Indeed, the size of the black stripe of great tits hatched from testosterone-injected eggs was almost double that of controls. Furthermore, the same individuals showed a trend to higher levels of circulating antioxidants, which suggests an adaptive response against some testosterone-induced oxidative challenge.
Altered soil microbial community at elevated CO2 leads to loss of soil carbon

Increased carbon storage in ecosystems due to elevated CO2 may help stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations and slow global warming. Many field studies have found that elevated CO2 leads to higher carbon assimilation by plants, and others suggest that this can lead to higher carbon storage in soils, the largest and most stable terrestrial carbon pool. Here we show that 6 years of experimental CO2 doubling reduced soil carbon in a scrub-oak ecosystem despite higher plant growth, offsetting ≈52% of the additional carbon that had accumulated at elevated CO2 in aboveground and coarse root biomass. The decline in soil carbon was driven by changes in soil microbial composition and activity. Soils exposed to elevated CO2 had higher relative abundances of fungi and higher activities of a soil carbon-degrading enzyme, which led to more rapid rates of soil organic matter degradation than soils exposed to ambient CO2. The isotopic composition of microbial fatty acids confirmed that elevated CO2 increased microbial utilization of soil organic matter. These results show how elevated CO2, by altering soil microbial communities, can cause a potential carbon sink to become a carbon source.
Improved Oral Bioavailability and Variability Control in Pharmacokinetic Data – Role of Formulations

In order to render the best possible outcome for effective in vivo human translatability of the preclinical efficacy measures for orally administered drugs certain clinical pharmacology attributes play a key role. In this regard, effective and predictable absorption is the most relevant one; followed by controlled and reasonable variability in the pharmacokinetic parameters. Hence oral bioavailability would be expected to play a vital role in delivering the drug to site(s) of action needed to attain the desired efficacy measures.
Paradoxical protection from atherosclerosis and thrombosis in a mouse model of sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with vascular complications including premature stroke. The role of atherothrombosis in these vascular complications is unclear. To determine the effect of SCD on atherosclerosis and thrombosis, mice with SCD along with controls were generated by transplantation of bone marrow from mice carrying the homozygous sickle cell mutation (Hbbhβs/hβs) or wild‐type mice (Hbb+/+) into C57BL6/J or apolipoprotein E deficient (Apoe−/−) recipient mice. At the time of sacrifice, 23–28 weeks following bone marrow transplantation, anaemia, reticulocytosis, and splenomegaly were present in mice receiving Hbbhβs/hβs bone marrow compared with control mice. Analysis of atherosclerosis involving the aortic root revealed reduced atherosclerotic lesion area with reduced macrophage content and increased collagen content in Apoe−/−, Hbbhβs/hβs mice compared to Apoe−/−, Hbb+/+ mice. In a carotid thrombosis model, the time to thrombosis was prolonged in Hbbhβs/hβs mice compared to Hbb+/+ mice. This apparent protective effect of SCD on atherosclerosis and thrombosis was diminished by inhibition of heme oxygenase‐1 (HMOX1) using zinc protoporphyrin IX.
Developmentally inspired human ‘organs on chips’

ABSTRACT Although initially developed to replace animal testing in drug development, human ‘organ on a chip’ (organ chip) microfluidic culture technology offers a new tool for studying tissue development and pathophysiology, which has brought us one step closer to carrying out human experimentation in vitro. In this Spotlight article, I discuss the central role that developmental biology played in the early stages of organ-chip technology, and how these models have led to new insights into human physiology and disease mechanisms. Advantages and disadvantages of the organ-chip approach relative to organoids and other human cell cultures are also discussed. Summary: This Spotlight discusses the central role that developmental biology played in the early stages of organ-chip technology development and how such technology has provided insights into human physiology and disease mechanisms.
Productivity in the Era of Trade and Investment Liberalization in India

Over recent years India has witnessed wide-ranging economic reforms in her policies governing international trade and FDI flows. Consequently, both trade and FDI flows have risen dramatically since 1991. Using firm-level panel data this paper finds that significant productivity improvements have taken place in the period since 2000. The paper further explores the important determinants of productivity improvements across a range of different categories. As per the findings of the paper, some of the important determinants of productivity measured by total factor productivity (TFP) include imports of raw materials and capital goods, size of operation, quality of employment captured by wage rates and technology imports measured by royalty payments. It also emerges that R&D in organized manufacturing remains at a nascent stage possibly because of the inadequate emphasis this sphere has been given by the private sector. However, further exploration of this issue is required in order to draw any firm conclusions. Broadly, foreign firms have catered to the Indian domestic market and as a result India is yet to develop as an export platform. Finally, the import-export linkage is not shown to be significant in the sample of import-dependent firms. However, the paper emphasizes that the issue of productivity gains needs to be kept in a balanced perspective. Towards the end, the paper makes some broad policy suggestions in the realm of regional integration focusing on trade in goods and services, investment cooperation, R&D cooperation and human resource development in order to harness regional sources of demand impulses.
Growth Trajectories of Young Children's Objectively Determined Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Body Mass Index.

PURPOSE This study examined trajectories in children's physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior, and body mass index (BMI) for both genders, and relationships among these trajectories, from childhood through early adolescence. METHODS A total of 261 seconds and third-grade children (135 girls; Meanage = 7.81; 73% White) from two U.S. elementary schools participated in this study. Their objective PA, sedentary behavior, and BMI were measured yearly from 2012 to 2015. The outcome variables were accelerometer-determined daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), sedentary behavior, and BMI-calculated as height divided by weight squared. A series of latent growth curve models (LGCM) were employed to analyze the trajectories in the outcome variables and relationships over time through AMOS version 23 in 2017. RESULTS The models generally fitted the data well. In detail, children's MVPA increased slightly by the end of the first year and then declined during follow-ups (p < 0.05), with boys having more MVPA time. Sedentary hours increased at 2-year follow-ups (p < 0.05), but decreased slightly at year 3 follow-up in both genders. BMI increased gradually for boys (p < 0.05), particularly in year 3. Trajectories in MVPA were negatively related to BMI trajectories (p < 0.05), and trajectories in MVPA and sedentary behavior did not interact to affect BMI trajectories. CONCLUSIONS Maintaining or increasing MVPA and limiting sedentary behavior should be components of efforts to prevent excess weight gain during the transition from childhood to early adolescence. Children's MVPA and sedentary behavior are independent determinants of BMI changes.
The Size of Health Selection Effects

The association between adult socioeconomic status and health status has been alternately attributed to the material effects of economic status, ties between labor productivity and health and cumulative effects of early life socioeconomic status. This paper considers the lasting effects of early child health for adult socioeconomic gradients in health status. We analyze longitudinal data with measures of developmental, health and socioeconomic outcomes over the life cycle and show how poor health early in life correlates with lower schooling outcomes, lower adult occupational status and poor adult health. We then examine the cumulative effects of early child health for trajectories of both socioeconomic attainment and health accumulation with a set of counterfactual experiments of health effects over the life cycle. The results show that early child health effects contribute little to the socioeconomic gradient in health that is observed in adulthood. ∗Correspondence Address: Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA. a-palloni@northwestern.edu.
Genomic big data hitting the storage bottleneck

During the last decades, there is a vast data explosion in bioinformatics. Big data centres are trying to face this data crisis, reaching high storage capacity levels. Although several scientific giants examine how to handle the enormous pile of information in their cupboards, the problem remains unsolved. On a daily basis, there is a massive quantity of permanent loss of extensive information due to infrastructure and storage space problems. The motivation for sequencing has fallen behind. Sometimes, the time that is spent to solve storage space problems is longer than the one dedicated to collect and analyse data. To bring sequencing to the foreground, scientists have to slide over such obstacles and find alternative ways to approach the issue of data volume. Scientific community experiences the data crisis era, where, out of the box solutions may ease the typical research workflow, until technological development meets the needs of Bioinformatics.
Identification and functional characterization of the first two aromatic prenyltransferases implicated in the biosynthesis of furanocoumarins and prenylated coumarins in two plant families: Rutaceae and Apiaceae

Furanocoumarins constitute one of the classes of secondary metabolites deriving from the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway. These molecules are described as phytoalexins in plants but are also used by humans for their pharmaceutical properties. A large number of biochemical studies were carried out to understand their biosynthetic pathway but little information was available concerning the genes involved in the pathway. In this study, we focused on the characterization of genes encoding for aromatic prenyltransferases which were described to be involved in this pathway. Prenlyltransferases catalyze the entry step to the linear or angular furanocoumarin pathway. Hence they catalyze the addition of a dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP) prenyl moiety to umbelliferone. Using a recently characterized aromatic prenyltransferase (SfN8DT-1) as a probe, we isolated 7 different candidate genes from two plant families (Rutaceae and Apiaceae). As these enzymes were described as membrane bound proteins, we adapted a heterologous expression system made up of Nicotiana benthamian aand we validated its efficiency by using two membrane-associated enzymes: a cytochrome P450 (CYP98A22) and the already described prenyltransferase SfN8DT-1. Subsequently, this system was used to perform the functional characterization of the 7 newly identified proteins. This way we succeeded to characterize the first umbelliferone prenyltransferase of Petroselinum crispum that was able to catalyze both the 6-C and 8-C prenylation of umbelliferone with DMAPP producing demethylsuberosin and osthenol respectively. We made evidence that these reactions occurred both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, in planta studies performed in P.crispum showed a positive relationship between the gene expression level and the content of prenylated umbelliferone. The overexpression of this gene was investigated in Ruta graveolens and we could provide evidences of a link between the enzymatic activity and the disappearance of umbelliferone. We also reported a similar activity for a prenyltransferase isolated from Pastinaca sativa, which makes us assume that the prenylation step is not a rate limiting step in the biosynthetic pathway of angular furanocoumarins since parsley is producing only linear furanocoumarins whereas parsnip is producing both linear and angular furanocoumarins. In addition, using the same N. benthamiana and R. graveolens heterologous expression systems, we identified a second aromatic prenyltransferase able to catalyze the addition of geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) both to umbelliferone and esculetin
The Evolution of Organellar Coat Complexes and Organization of the Eukaryotic Cell

Eukaryotic cells possess a remarkably diverse range of organelles that provide compartmentalization for distinct cellular functions and are likely responsible for the remarkable success of these organisms. The origins and subsequent elaboration of these compartments represent a key aspect in the transition between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cellular forms. The protein machinery required to build, maintain, and define many membranebound compartments is encoded by several paralog families, including small GTPases, coiled-bundle proteins, and proteins with β-propeller and α-solenoid secondary structures. Together these proteins provide the membrane coats and control systems to structure and coordinate the endomembrane system. Mechanistically and evolutionarily, they unite not only secretory and endocytic organelles but also the flagellum and nucleus. The ancient origins for these families have been revealed by recent findings, providing new perspectives on the deep evolutionary processes and relationships that underlie eukaryotic cell structure. 637 Click here to view this article's online features: • Download figures as PPT slides • Navigate linked references • Download citations • Explore related articles • Search keywords ANNUAL REVIEWS Further A nn u. R ev . B io ch em . 2 01 7. 86 :6 37 -6 57 . D ow nl oa de d fr om w w w . a nn ua lr ev ie w s. or g A cc es s pr ov id ed b y R oc ke fe lle r U ni ve rs ity o n 07 /1 9/ 17 . F or p er so na l u se o nl y. BI86CH26-Rout ARI 31 May 2017 8:4
Core-shell nanoparticle monolayers at planar liquid- liquid interfaces: effects of polymer architecture on the interface microstructure†

Self-assembly of core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) at liquid–liquid interfaces is rapidly emerging as a strategy for the production of novel nano-materials bearing vast potential for applications, including membrane fabrication, drug delivery and emulsion stabilization. The development of such nanoparticle-based materials is facilitated by structural characterization techniques that are able to monitor in situ the self-assembly process during its evolution. Here, we present an in situ high-energy X-ray reflectivity study of the evolution of the vertical position (contact angle) and inter-particle spacing of core–shell iron oxide–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) nanoparticles adsorbing at flat, horizontal buried water–n-decane interfaces. The results are compared with time-resolved interfacial tension data acquired with the conventional pendant drop method. We investigate in particular the effect of varying polymer molecular weights (2–5 kDa) and architectures (linear vs. dendritic) on the self-assembly process and the final structure of the interfacially adsorbed NP monolayers. Linear PEG particles adsorb more rapidly than dendritic PEG ones and reach full interface coverage and stable NP monolayer structure, while dendritic PEG particles undergo a slower adsorption process, which is not completed within the experimental time window of ∼6 hours. All NPs are highly hydrophilic with effective contact angles that depend weakly on PEG molecular weight and architecture. Conversely, the in-plane NP separation depends strongly on PEG molecular weight. The measured inter-particle separation at full interface coverage yields low iron oxide core content, indicating a strong deformation and flattening of the linear PEG shell at the interface. This finding is supported by modeling and has direct implications for materials fabrication, e.g. for the realization of core–shell NP membranes by in situ cross-linking of the polymer shells.
A Low Voltage 10-Bit Non-Binary 2B/Cycle Time and Voltage Based SAR ADC

This paper proposes a low power 10-bit 2b/cycle time and voltage based-successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (ADC). At low supply voltage, there will be a significant difference in comparator decision time for different input voltages. By taking advantage of the fact, this ADC converts the reference voltage to the corresponding comparator decision time, achieving 2b/cycle quantization to improve the conversion speed. In addition, by obtaining reference delays with duplicated circuits and using non-binary capacitor arrays, the ADC can tolerate process, voltage and temperature (PVT) variations and decision errors. To validate these concepts, a 10-bit 2 MS/s SAR ADC is designed using 130nm CMOS process with 0.5 V power supply voltage. Simulation results shows the ADC achieve signal-to-noise distortion ratio (SNDR) of 59.63 dB, corresponding to an effective number of bits (ENOB) of 9.61 bits and consumes 3.2 µW, resulting in a figure of merit (FOM) of 2.06 fJ/c-s.