Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New strategy of photodynamic treatment of TiO2 nanofibers combined with celastrol for HepG2 proliferation in vitro.

As one of the best biocompatible semiconductor nanomaterials, TiO(2) nanofibers can act as a good photosensitizer material and show potential application in the field of drug carriers and photodynamic therapy to cure diseases. Celastrol, one of the active components extracted from T. wilfordii Hook F. , was widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for many diseases. In this study, the cytotoxicity of celastrol for HepG2 cancer cells was firstly explored. The results showed that celastrol could inhibit cancer cell proliferation in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner, inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in HepG2 cells. After the TiO(2) nanofibers were introduced into the system of celastrol, the cooperation effect showed that the nanocomposites between TiO(2) nanofibers and celastrol could enhance the cytotoxicity of celastrol for HepG2 cells and cut down the drug consumption so as to reduce the side-effect of the related drug. Associated with the photodynamic effect, it is evident that TiO(2) nanofibers could readily facilitate the potential application of the active compounds from natural products like celastrol. Turning to the advantages of nanotechnology, the combination of nanomaterials with the related monomer active compounds of promising Chinese medicine could play an important role to explore the relevant mechanism of the drug cellular interaction and promote the potential application of TiO(2) nanofibers in the clinical treatment.
The Effect of French Television Sexual Program Content on the Recall of Sexual and Nonsexual Advertisements

This study examined the impact of television program sexual content and explicit sexual advertisement content on memory for advertisements. Eighty-two French participants, aged 18 to 48 years, watched either a sexual program (Sex and the City) or a nonsexual program (Friends), with three sexual and three nonsexual adverts embedded within it. They then completed free- and cued-recall questionnaires testing their memory of the advertisements, as well as a gender identity scale. Overall, sexual advertisements were recalled (in free recall) better than nonsexual advertisements. Participants were found to recall adverts significantly better within the nonsexual program than within the sexual program. No interaction was found between program type and advertisement type: Sexual adverts were recalled better than nonsexual adverts within both programs. Males and females recalled sexual adverts equally, with no mediating effect of gender identity. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
An Empirical Note on Factor Price Elasticities and Substitution in Australian Higher Education

This note uses a multiple-input, multiple-output translog cost function to calculate Allen-Uzawa and Morishima elasticities of substitution for thirty-six Australian universities over the period 1998 to 2006. The input prices are academic and non-academic labour and capital. The six outputs are undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD completions, national competitive and industry grants, and publications. The results suggest that the derived demand for academic labour in the Australian university sector is highly price inelastic while the demand for non-academic labour and capital is highly price elastic. This suggests that the cost drivers in the Australian university sector are presently price-related for academic inputs and technology-related for non-academic and capital inputs. Moreover, the opportunities for input substitution are not symmetric, with the sector generally finding it easier to switch to capital than academic and non-academic labour. Finally, while the Allen-Uzawa measures indicate that academic and non-academic labour is a substitute, the less-restrictive Morishima measures suggests neither complementarity or substitutability at the aggregate level.
Clinical Objective Dry Eye Tests in a Population of Tannery Workers in North India

ABSTRACT Purpose: To analyze the correlation between subjective symptoms and clinical signs of dry eye among tannery workers. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, three classic clinical tests, namely the fluorescein tear film break-up time (FTBUT) test, the fluorescein staining (FS) test, and the Schirmer test (ST), were performed to assess the clinical signs of dry eye disease in 246 tanners who were found symptomatic for dry eye in a prior ocular surface disease index survey. Results: All workers were male with a mean age of 35 ± 9 years, and the mean duration of work at tanneries was 8 ± 5 years. Among 246 symptomatic subjects, the FTBUT test, the FS test and the ST were positive in 63.8%, 30.9% and 41.9% workers, respectively. Mean FTBUT and ST scores were 10.6 ± 4.2 seconds and 10.1 ± 7.7mm, respectively. Mean FTBUT for mild, moderate and severe symptom categories differed significantly. Mean ST scores for the mild symptom group were significantly higher than that of the moderate group (p < 0.0001). The FTBUT and ST score showed a strong negative correlation with severity of symptoms (p < 0.0001). A moderate positive correlation was observed between FS positivity and increasing symptom severity (p < 0.0001). The effect of age was insignificant for FTBUT (p = 0.10), while significant for ST score (p < 0.001). The effect of duration of tannery work was significant for both FTBUT and ST scores (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Clinical tests correlated well with symptom severity among tanners, and a multifactorial etiology is suggested for dry eye diseases.
Using Multiple Data Sources on Species Distribution for Biodiversity Assessment: The Prarie Crocus (Anemone Patens) as a Case Study

INTRODUCTION Biodiversity assessment requires precise data about species distribution that are lacking for many areas because they are often incomplete or biased1,2. Recently, many studies are turning to the vast amount of information associated with the natural history collections, particularly herbaria. Herbarium data are useful for biodiversity explorat ion3,4, identi f icat ion of species of conservat ion concern 5, deve lopment o f regional red lists6, prioritizing of rare species for conservation planning7,8, documenting effects of urbanization on flora9 as well as assessment of spread and status of invasive species10,11. For a comprehensive analysis of studies on biogeographical patterns and various environmental questions where herbarium collections have been successfully used, refer to Lavoie12. In most cases herbarium data provide error-free information5. However, because of its existing limitations2, additional sources of information are required to assist in biodiversity assessment and conservation planning.
Failure detection with HMM waveforms

HMM data illustrates the usefulness of collecting current pulse waveforms during HMM testing. Waveforms revealed failures before leakage measurements would show device failure. With capacitively coupled devices, Time Domain Reflectometry, (TDR), can be used to detect part failures in addition to extracting this information from HMM pulse waveforms.
A Randomized Modulation scheme for filterless digital Class D audio amplifiers

We propose to employ the Randomized Wrapped-Around Pulse Position Modulation scheme (RWAPPM) to mitigate the switching-frequency harmonics at the output signal of filterless digital Class D audio amplifiers. The conventional Pulse Width Modulation schemes (PWMs) typically have a non-zero common-mode voltage that contributes to the radiated Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), and generate high switching-frequency harmonics that dissipate extra power at the speaker and also contribute to the radiated EMI. We simulate and compare the RWAPPM (2-level) against the PWMs and a reported randomized modulation scheme. The 2-level RWAPPM has zero common-mode voltage, and amongst the modulation schemes, it features the highest attenuation of the switching-frequency harmonics, highest out-of-band Spurious Free Dynamic Range (22 dBc), and a relatively high Signal to Noise and Distortion Ratio (57 dB) at the output voltage.
Modified backcross breeding method for rapid conversion of field corn line to shrunken2 (sh2) gene-based sweet corn line

The non-availability of superior and diverse inbred parents is one of the major bottlenecks to develop high yielding sweet corn hybrids. The sh2, one of the promising recessive mutant alleles, has been used in sweet corn development however its transfer to superior field corn lines may require extra inbreeding to identify heterozygous carrier plants. The use of molecular markers linked with sh2 requires a well-equipped laboratory and skilled person to carry the marker assisted backcross breeding (MABB). Considering the above constraints, a modified backcross breeding method was used taking advantage of shrunken kernel of sweet corn for foreground selection coupled with phenotypic comparison with recurrent parent (RP). The BC1F1 plants were grown and plants having high phenotypic similarity with RP were selfed as well as backcrossed as pollen parent. The BC2F1 kernels of BC1F1 plants having high similarity with RP and segregation in BC1F2 kernels were harvested. The BC2F1 plants phenotypically most similar to recomment parameter (RP) were selfed and the shrunken kernels were selected from the segregating BC2F2 . The shrunken kernels were homozygous (sh2sh2) at Sh2 locus, which were validated upon inbreeding based on nonsegregating kernels in BC2F3 . The modified backcross method used is rapid, cost effective and can be used by maize breeder with limited resources for conversion as well diversification of sweet corn germplasm.
Testing Saliency Based Techniques For Planetary Surface Scene Analysis

Saliency based techniques inspired by biological vision systems offer significant potential advantages over the approaches typically adopted for analysing images gathered from the planetary surface. Using saliency, the algorithms deployed are significantly more computationally efficient as only a subset of the image is processed in depth, and thus they offer the potential for near real time performance, facilitating time critical applications such as hazard detection. Saliency based analysis techniques have however in the main been developed with a focus on terrestrial objects and environments, and so require substantial modification for the relatively monochromatic scenes found on the planetary surface. This paper describes the development and testing of a scene analysis model utilising saliency based techniques which has been optimised for the planetary surface environment. The model has been widely tested using datasets from multiple sources and has been implemented as a hazard detection algorithm as part of the recently completed FASTER FP7 project. The model is shown to achieve rates of computational analysis which are more than adequate for navigation purposes in the context of wheeled planetary exploration; it incorporates equalisation techniques designed to expand the limited colour space seen in the planetary environment context; and uses intensity, colour opponency, shape and orientation-based visual stimuli in a weighted matrix to generate a saliency map; stereo disparity information is then used to locate the salient objects in 3D space. Of note is that despite the limited hue variation in the planetary environment, colour is found still to be an important contributor to the success of the model. The model weighting approach is tuneable, enabling optimisation for a number of specific object types and classes to be achieved, which means that the model can be utilised for many more applications than purely hazard detection, such as improving the computational speed of a feature detection / tracking model using saliency to reduce the scale of the image data to which point based feature detection / tracking, as used for SLAM, is applied. Other applications include data mining of planetary imagery, identifying images of interest appropriate for further detailed study, based on parameters tuned to select the desired feature set of interest.
Psychological Profile of Pedophiles and Child Molesters

Abstract Pedophiles and child molesters share some characteristics. Most are male, and they can be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. Some prefer adult sex partners but choose children because they are available and vulnerable. The sexual abuse perpetrated may be a 1-time incident and may consist only of fondling. Penetration is unlikely with young children. Perpetrators' ages range from teens to midlife. Most victims are girls, and the perpetrator usually is a relative, friend, or neighbor. The home of the victim is often the setting for the incident. When boys are victims, sexual abuse may take place outside the home, and perpetrators may be strangers. Perpetrators of sexual abuse of children often claim that they themselves were victims of childhood sexual abuse. Psychological profiles are helpful but are compromised partly because many perpetrators are prisoners and control groups are lacking for this research.
Diencephalic Size Is Restricted by a Novel Interplay Between GCN5 Acetyltransferase Activity and Retinoic Acid Signaling

Diencephalic defects underlie an array of neurological diseases. Previous studies have suggested that retinoic acid (RA) signaling is involved in diencephalic development at late stages of embryonic development, but its roles and mechanisms of action during early neural development are still unclear. Here we demonstrate that mice lacking enzymatic activity of the acetyltransferase GCN5 ((Gcn5hat/hat)), which were previously characterized with respect to their exencephalic phenotype, exhibit significant diencephalic expansion, decreased diencephalic RA signaling, and increased diencephalic WNT and SHH signaling. Using a variety of molecular biology techniques in both cultured neuroepithelial cells treated with a GCN5 inhibitor and forebrain tissue from (Gcn5hat/hat) embryos, we demonstrate that GCN5, RARα/γ, and the poorly characterized protein TACC1 form a complex in the nucleus that binds specific retinoic acid response elements in the absence of RA. Furthermore, RA triggers GCN5-mediated acetylation of TACC1, which results in dissociation of TACC1 from retinoic acid response elements and leads to transcriptional activation of RA target genes. Intriguingly, RA signaling defects caused by in vitro inhibition of GCN5 can be rescued through RA-dependent mechanisms that require RARβ. Last, we demonstrate that the diencephalic expansion and transcriptional defects seen in (Gcn5hat/hat) mutants can be rescued with gestational RA supplementation, supporting a direct link between GCN5, TACC1, and RA signaling in the developing diencephalon. Together, our studies identify a novel, nonhistone substrate for GCN5 whose modification regulates a previously undescribed, tissue-specific mechanism of RA signaling that is required to restrict diencephalic size during early forebrain development. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Changes in diencephalic size and shape, as well as SNPs associated with retinoic acid (RA) signaling-associated genes, have been linked to neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the mechanisms that regulate diencephalic morphogenesis and the involvement of RA signaling in this process are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate a novel role of the acetyltransferase GCN5 in a previously undescribed mechanism of RA signaling in the developing forebrain that is required to maintain the appropriate size of the diencephalon. Together, our experiments identify a novel nonhistone substrate of GCN5, highlight an essential role for both GCN5 and RA signaling in early diencephalic development, and elucidate a novel molecular regulatory mechanism for RA signaling that is specific to the developing forebrain.
Efficacy of Controlled Memory and Shape Memory Nickel Titanium Instruments in Removing Filling Material from Severely Curved Root Canals: An Ex Vivo Study

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of four NiTi instruments with different properties (shape memory and control memory), in both rotary and reciprocating motions, during retreatment procedures. Methods and Materials: Mesial canals of thirty-two mandibular molars were instrumented, obturated, and then scanned with” Cone-beam Computed Tomography” (CBCT). Teeth were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=8) according to each system: “Shape Memory” (SM) instruments including Reciproc (R25 file) and ProTaper Next (X3 and X2 file), “Controlled Memory” (CM) instruments including WaveOne Gold (Primary file) and Hyflex (30.06 and 25.06 file). The specimens were rescanned after retreatment procedures. The volume of the residual material left inside the canals, the operating time and the fractured files were analyzed. ANOVA and student t-tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: There were no significant differences in the percentage of the residual filling material or requiring time amongst different groups of instruments (P>0.05). However, CM instruments presented the highest frequency of fractured files [2 SM instruments (12.5%) and 7 CM instruments (43.75%)] with a significant difference (P=0.023). Conclusions: This ex vivo study showed that CM and SM instruments can remove filling materials from mandibular mesial root canals during retreatment procedures; nonetheless the CM instruments had a higher frequency of fractured files. No system was able to completely remove the filling materials. Therefore, additional procedures and techniques are needed to improve root canal cleanliness.
What makes or breaks a health fundraising campaign on twitter

Health campaigns that aim to raise awareness and subsequently raise funds for research and treatment are commonplace. While many local campaigns exist, very few attract the attention of a global audience. One of those global campaigns is Movember, an annual campaign during the month of November, that is directed at men’s health with a special focus on cancer. Health campaigns routinely use social media portals to capture people’s attention. Recently, researchers began to consider to what extent social media is effective in raising the awareness of health campaigns. In this paper we focus on the second goal of such campaigns (fundraising), and investigate to what extent different campaign strategies influence people’s visitor & donation behaviour. To that end, we analyze the 2013 Movember Twitter campaigns across four different countries, cross-correlating the awareness signals of Twitter users, with Movember visitors and donations raised through Twitter.
Important deficits of lung function in three modern colliery populations. Relations with dust exposure.

To determine whether dust-related "clinically important" deficits of lung function still occur in British coal miners we have analyzed the relationship between lifetime cumulative exposure to respirable dust and risk of defined functional deficits in a population of miners who were examined between 1981 and 1986. The study group consisted of a sample of men who had worked at any one of three collieries (South Wales, Yorkshire, and North East England) between 1970, when new dust standards were introduced, and date of medical survey. There were 1,671 men studied, including men who had left the collieries. "Clinically important" deficits of FEV1 from predicted values derived in this population were defined by comparisons with questionnaire data on exercise tolerance limited by breathlessness. The mean FEV1 of men in the South Wales colliery, for example, who said they had to stop for breath when walking at their own pace on level ground was 942 ml less than the predicted value for nonsmokers after taking age and stature into account. Individual cumulative exposures to respirable dust were calculated from a long-term program of measurements of dust concentrations and occupational records commencing in 1953. In the three colliery populations, 24, 24, and 12% in South Wales, Yorkshire, and the North East, respectively, had FEV1 deficits that were at least as severe as the average deficit associated with the severe grade of exertional dyspnea described above. In all collieries deficits were more common in smokers than in nonsmokers, and more common in men who had left the industry than in men still within it. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Čtyři zamyšlení nad cílováním inflace v České republice

The paper consists of four parts each of them devoted to a practical aspect of inflation targeting as conducted by the Czech National Bank. The first part outlines the reasons that led to the adoption of this monetary regime and summarises other advantages for effective and transparent decision-making. The second part addresses the issue of missing inflation targets. It is argued that simple confrontation of targets with actual behaviour of inflation may give a distorted view about the actual performance of monetary policy. The third part discusses a subtle methodological controversy about the difference between so-called escape clauses on the one hand and net inflation on the other. In the last section the author presents his critical view about the role of unconditional forecast in its capacity to indicate future interest rate decisions and to provide a realistic description of transmission mechanism in a small open economy.
Injectable cell/hydrogel microspheres induce the formation of fat lobule-like microtissues and vascularized adipose tissue regeneration

In this paper, we demonstrated that collagen/alginate microspheres could be generated by a non-contact microfabrication device and serve as excellent cell embedding and delivery devices as they were porous, injectable and able to provide growth- and differentiation-supporting matrix for human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs). The microsphere matrix demonstrated highly porous structure and mechanical stability for as long as 90 days. hASCs demonstrated high viability after microsphere formation as well as higher proliferation and more mature adipocytes induction compared to two-dimensional culture. After four weeks culture in adipogenic differentiation medium, adipocytes/collagen/alginate microspheres highly mimicking natural fat lobules were obtained and injected subcutaneously into the head of node mice. The in vivo study demonstrated vascularized adipose tissue formation in four weeks. The regenerated vasculature among the transplantation showed functional anastomosis with host vasculature, suggesting that these cell/hydrogel microspheres present injectable adipocytes delivery devices capable of generating vascularized adipose tissue in vivo and thus suitable for cell transplantation and tissue regeneration.
Colonization resistance of the digestive tract in conventional and antibiotic-treated mice

SUMMARY The effect of oral administration of antibiotics on the intestinal flora of conventional mice and their resistance to colonization by orally introduced Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied. Colonization resistance (CR) was expressed as the log of the oral bacterial dose followed by a persistent take in 50 % of the contaminated animals. The intestinal flora was virtually eliminated by the antibiotics and this elimination was accompanied by a precipitous fall of CR. CR gradually returned to normal values during the period of repopulation of the intestinal tract by the organisms surviving the treatment. Antibiotic treatment resulted in the disappearance of Enterobacteriaceae, enterococci, staphylococci and yeasts and, under appropriate housing conditions, the animals remained free of these organisms indefinitely. Germ-free mice contaminated with the intestinal flora of an antibiotic-treated animal and their offspring housed in a germ-free isolator showed high values of CR. Their intestinal flora consisted of anaerobic bacteria only. Apparently, these anaerobes are responsible for CR in these and in conventional mice.