Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulatory effect of α-linolenic acid-rich garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) seed oil on inflammatory mediators in adult albino rats

Vegetable oils containing α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18 : 3n-3) have been shown to modulate the functions of immunocompetent cells. The aim of the present study was to understand the modulatory effect of ALA-rich garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) seed oil (GCO) on lipid composition, spleen lymphocyte (SL) proliferation and inflammatory mediator production by peritoneal macrophages (PMΦ) in rats. Female Wistar rats were fed diets containing either GCO (2·5, 5·0 and 10 %, w/w) or sunflower oil (SFO, 10 % w/w) for 8 weeks. Ex vivo proliferation of SL was measured by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. IL-2 and TNF-α in SL and PMΦ were analysed by ELISA. Inflammatory mediators such as NO, leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and H2O2 were measured in mitogen-activated PMΦ. GCO significantly increased the levels of ALA, EPA and DHA, but reduced linoleic acid and arachidonic acid in SL and PMΦ lipids. GCO (10 %) significantly decreased the concanavalin A (Con-A)- and phytohaemagglutinin-mediated proliferation of SL by 54 and 38 %, respectively, in comparison with SFO. A marginal decrease in IL-2 and TNF-α was observed in Con-A-stimulated SL and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated PMΦ. LTB4 levels in Ca ionophore-stimulated PMΦ were reduced by 40 % in GCO-fed rats. NO release in response to various stimuli was significantly decreased in PMΦ of GCO-fed rats. The present study is the first report on the modulatory efficacy of GCO on immunomediators in rats. GCO modulated inflammatory mediators such as NO and LTB4, and thus may play a role in alleviating inflammatory conditions favourably.
Flow in Porous Rocks: Energy and Environmental Applications

Focusing on simplified models of physical flow processes, this book develops a series of quantitative models to describe the recovery of oil and gas from hydrocarbon reservoirs (including fracking), the physics of geo-sequestration of CO2, geothermal power production, and the potential for underground contaminant dispersal in the long-term storage of nuclear waste. The author approaches these problems by developing simplified mathematical models and identifying the key dimensionless variables that control the processes. This analysis is then used to demonstrate the challenges and constraints of modelling flow in complex and heterogeneous rocks, which often have uncertain flow properties. Analytical solutions for flows are provided where possible, and analogue laboratory experiments are also presented to help illustrate and provide a different perspective on the flows. Incorporating end-of-chapter exercises, this is an important introduction to the different controls on flow in porous rocks for academic researchers, energy industry professionals and graduate students.
Bacillus alkalilacus sp. nov., isolated from a sediment sample from a lake in India.

An aerobic, endospore-forming, haloalkali-tolerant, Gram-stain-positive, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain AK73T, was isolated from a sediment sample collected from Sambhar lake, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Colonies were circular, 1-2 mm in diameter, glossy, smooth, yellowish and convex with an entire margin after 48 h growth on marine agar at pH 9 and 37 °C. Growth occurred at 15-42 °C, 0-10 % (w/v) NaCl and at a pH range of 7-12. Strain AK73T was positive for catalase and arginine dihydrolase 2 activities, hydrolysis of Tweens 20, 40 and 80, and negative for esculinase, caseinase, gelatinase, β-galactosidase, lipase (Tween 60) and urease activities. The fatty acids were dominated by branched iso-, anteiso-, saturated fatty acids with a high abundance of iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0; MK-7 was the major menaquinone. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminophospholipid, four unidentified phospholipids and three unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of strain AK73T was 54 mol%. Analysis based on comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that Bacillus alcalophilus was the nearest phylogenetic neighbour, with a pair-wise sequence similarity of 96.0 %. Phylogenetic analysis showed that strain AK73T formed a separate lineage but was loosely associated with a peripheral cluster of organisms that contained Bacillus gibsonii, Bacillus murimartini and Bacillus plakortidis with similarity values of 93.6, 93.5 and 93.4 %, respectively. Based on its phenotypic characteristics and on phylogenetic inference, strain AK73T represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus alkalilacus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AK73T (=JCM 32184T=MTCC 12637T=KCTC 33880T).
Topology and Magnetics Optimisation for a 100-kW Bi-Directional DC-DC Converter

Modern applications of high-power DC-DC converters can be found in the renewable energy, energy storage, and automotive industries, where they are used for on-board power trains and rapid charging systems for Electric Vehicles (EV). This paper presents an investigation into the optimisation of a high-power bi-directional DC-DC interleaved converter suitable for high-performance EV applications. Three topologies are considered for comparison - the three- and four-phase interleaved converter with discrete inductors (3P-DI and 4P- DI), and the four-phase interleaved converter with three Interphase Transformers (4P-IPT). The different topologies are compared through a comprehensive multi-objective design optimisation procedure for a 100 kW 300-750 V case study. It is shown that the 4P-IPT offers lower volume and higher efficiency than the 3P-DI and 4P-DI across a wide range of switching frequencies, with reductions in weight of up to 50\% being possible at low switching frequencies. It is then demonstrated that magnetic cores with higher temperature limits and lower gap losses may enable the discrete inductor topologies to be competitive with the 4P-IPT in terms of power density and efficiency.
The role of molecular diagnostic testing in the management of thyroid nodules

ABSTRACT Introduction: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) with cytologic examination remains the standard of care for investigation of thyroid nodules. However, as many as 30% of FNA samples are cytologically indeterminate for malignancy, which confounds clinical management. To reduce the burden of repeat diagnostic testing and unnecessary surgery, there has been extensive investigation into molecular markers that can be detected on FNA specimens to more accurately stratify a patient’s risk of malignancy. Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss recent evidence and progress in molecular markers used in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer highlighting somatic gene alterations, molecular technologies and microRNA analysis. Expert commentary: The goal of molecular markers is to improve diagnostic accuracy and aid clinicians in the preoperative management of thyroid lesions. Modalities such as direct mutation analysis, mRNA gene expression profiling, next-generation sequencing, and miRNA expression profiling have been explored to improve the diagnostic accuracy of thyroid nodule FNA. Although no perfect test has been discovered, molecular diagnostic testing has revolutionized the management of thyroid nodules.
An Adaptable Time-Delay Neural Network to Predict the Spanish Economic Indebtedness

In this paper, we study and predict the economic indebtedness for the autonomic of Spain. In turn, we use model of neural network. In this study, we assess the feasibility of the Time-Delay neural network as an alternative to these classical forecasting models. This neural network permits accumulate more values of pass and a best prediction of the future. We show the MSE assignment to check the good forecasting of indebtedness economic.
Evidence for a Role for the Plasma Membrane in the Nanomechanical Properties of the Cell Wall as Revealed by an Atomic Force Microscopy Study of the Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Ethanol Stress

ABSTRACT A wealth of biochemical and molecular data have been reported regarding ethanol toxicity in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, direct physical data on the effects of ethanol stress on yeast cells are almost nonexistent. This lack of information can now be addressed by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) technology. In this report, we show that the stiffness of glucose-grown yeast cells challenged with 9% (vol/vol) ethanol for 5 h was dramatically reduced, as shown by a 5-fold drop of Young's modulus. Quite unexpectedly, a mutant deficient in the Msn2/Msn4 transcription factor, which is known to mediate the ethanol stress response, exhibited a low level of stiffness similar to that of ethanol-treated wild-type cells. Reciprocally, the stiffness of yeast cells overexpressing MSN2 was about 35% higher than that of the wild type but was nevertheless reduced 3- to 4-fold upon exposure to ethanol. Based on these and other data presented herein, we postulated that the effect of ethanol on cell stiffness may not be mediated through Msn2/Msn4, even though this transcription factor appears to be a determinant in the nanomechanical properties of the cell wall. On the other hand, we found that as with ethanol, the treatment of yeast with the antifungal amphotericin B caused a significant reduction of cell wall stiffness. Since both this drug and ethanol are known to alter, albeit by different means, the fluidity and structure of the plasma membrane, these data led to the proposition that the cell membrane contributes to the biophysical properties of yeast cells. IMPORTANCE Ethanol is the main product of yeast fermentation but is also a toxic compound for this process. Understanding the mechanism of this toxicity is of great importance for industrial applications. While most research has focused on genomic studies of ethanol tolerance, we investigated the effects of ethanol at the biophysical level and found that ethanol causes a strong reduction of the cell wall rigidity (or stiffness). We ascribed this effect to the action of ethanol perturbing the cell membrane integrity and hence proposed that the cell membrane contributes to the cell wall nanomechanical properties.
Drain Current Stress-Induced Instability in Amorphous InGaZnO Thin-Film Transistors with Different Active Layer Thicknesses

In this study, the initial electrical properties, positive gate bias stress (PBS), and drain current stress (DCS)-induced instabilities of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with various active layer thicknesses (TIGZO) are investigated. As the TIGZO increased, the turn-on voltage (Von) decreased, while the subthreshold swing slightly increased. Furthermore, the mobility of over 13 cm2·V−1·s−1 and the negligible hysteresis of ~0.5 V are obtained in all of the a-IGZO TFTs, regardless of the TIGZO. The PBS results exhibit that the Von shift is aggravated as the TIGZO decreases. In addition, the DCS-induced instability in the a-IGZO TFTs with various TIGZO values is revealed using current–voltage and capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements. An anomalous hump phenomenon is only observed in the off state of the gate-to-source (Cgs) curve for all of the a-IGZO TFTs. This is due to the impact ionization that occurs near the drain side of the channel and the generated holes that flow towards the source side along the back-channel interface under the lateral electric field, which cause a lowered potential barrier near the source side. As the TIGZO value increased, the hump in the off state of the Cgs curve was gradually weakened.
Predicting Sexual Revictimization in Childhood and Adolescence: A Longitudinal Examination Using Ecological Systems Theory

A substantial proportion of sexual abuse victims report repeat sexual victimization within childhood or adolescence; however, there is limited understanding of factors contributing to revictimization for youth. Thus, the present study examined predictors of sexual revictimization prior to adulthood using ecological systems theory. Records of 1,915 youth presenting to a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) were reviewed to identify individual, familial, and community factors as well as initial abuse characteristics associated with risk for revictimization. Results showed that 11.1% of youth re-presented to the CAC for sexual revictimization. At the individual level, younger children, girls, ethnoracial minority youth, and those with an identified mental health problem were most likely to experience revictimization. Interpersonal factors that increased vulnerability included the presence of a noncaregiving adult in the home, being in mental health treatment, and domestic violence in the family. Community-level factors did not predict revictimization. When factors at all levels were examined in conjunction, however, only individual-level factors significantly predicted the risk for revictimization. Findings from this study provide valuable information for CACs when assessing risk for re-report of sexual abuse and add to the field’s understanding of revictimization within childhood.
Toddlers Help a Peer.

Toddlers are remarkably prosocial toward adults, yet little is known about their helping behavior toward peers. In the present study with 18- and 30-month-old toddlers (n = 192, 48 dyads per age group), one child needed help reaching an object to continue a task that was engaging for both children. The object was within reach of the second child who helped significantly more often compared to a no-need control condition. The helper also fulfilled the peer's need when the task was engaging only for the child needing help. These findings suggest that toddlers' skills and motivations of helping do not depend on having a competent and helpful recipient, such as an adult, but rather they are much more flexible and general.
DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint defects in a mouse model of ‘BRCAness’ are partially rescued by 53BP1 deletion

ABSTRACT ‘BRCAness’ is a term used to describe cancer cells that behave similarly to tumors with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. The BRCAness phenotype is associated with hypersensitivity to chemotherapy agents including PARP inhibitors, which are a promising class of recently-licensed anti-cancer treatments. This hypersensitivity arises because of a deficiency in the homologous recombination (HR) pathway for DNA double-strand break repair. To gain further insight into how genetic modifiers of HR contribute to the BRCAness phenotype, we created a new mouse model of BRCAness by generating mice that are deficient in BLM helicase and the Exo1 exonuclease, which are involved in the early stages of HR. We find that cells lacking BLM and Exo1 exhibit a BRCAness phenotype, with diminished HR, and hypersensitivity to PARP inhibitors. We further tested how 53BP1, an important regulator of HR, affects repair efficiency in our BRCAness model. We find that deletion of 53BP1 can relieve several of the repair deficiencies observed in cells lacking BLM and Exo1, just as it does in cells lacking BRCA1. These results substantiate the importance of BRCAness as a concept for classification of cancer cases, and further clarify the role of 53BP1 in regulation of DNA repair pathway choice in mammalian cells.
Expected Economic Potential of Substituting Legumes for Nitrogen in Bermudagrass Pastures

ABSTRACTGrazing warm-season grass pastures with stocker cattle ( Bos taurus ) is an important eco-nomic activity in the southern Great Plains, and substantial increases in the price of N fertilizer have negatively affected profi tability of forage pro-ducers. The goal of the study was to determine if bermudagrass [ Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. ] pas-tures interseeded with either annual or perennial legumes are more profi table than the conventional method of fertilizing with 112 kg N ha –1 commercial fertilizer. A completely randomized design grazing study was conducted in south-central Oklahoma during the spring and summer months of 2008, 2009, and 2010. Preconditioned stocker cattle (260 ± 47 kg head –1 ) were randomly assigned to pastures (1.42 ± 0.10 ha; three replicates per system) at 2.32 ± 0.40 animals ha –1 , begin-ning when measured standing forage reached 2000 kg ha –1 and grazing continuously until forage mass declined to 1000 kg ha –1 . Results of the 3-yr grazing study show that under continuous stock-ing for the growing conditions common to the south-central Great Plains, the legume systems could not compete economically with the com-mon practice of fertilizing bermudagrass pastures with synthetic inorganic N fertilizer. Results are most sensitive to number of grazing days, price of N, and prices of legume seed.J.T. Biermacher, R. Reuter, M.K. Kering, J.K. Rogers, J. Blanton, Jr., and T.J. Butler, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., Ardmore, OK 73401; J.A. Guretzky, Dep. of Horticulture and Agronomy, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915. Received 25 Aug. 2011. *Corresponding author (jtbiermacher@noble.org).
A new chaos-based image encryption algorithm

In this paper, we propose a new image encryption algorithm based on the Compound chaotic image encryption algorithm. The original one can’t resist chosen-plaintext attack and has weak statistical security, but our new algorithm can resist the chosen-plaintext attack using a simple improvement solution. The improvement solution is novel and transplantable, it can also be used to enhance the ability of resisting differential attack of other image encryption algorithms. The experimental results show that the new algorithm has higher security but its encryption speed is very nearly the same as the original one.
ECG artefact detection using ensemble decision trees

This paper describes a novel method for artefact detection in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. ECG analysis algorithms require a relatively clean dataset. Therefore, data corrupted by artefacts should either be filtered or discarded. The proposed method can be situated in the second class, since it identifies contaminated segments that can later be discarded from further analysis. The dataset used in this study contains 16 single lead ECG recordings, segmented in intervals of 60 seconds. Each segment is labeled either clean or contaminated by a medical doctor. Only 3.2% of the data is contaminated. The segments are characterized by features derived from their autocorrelation function (ACF). Due to its effectiveness in skewed datasets, the RUSBoost algorithm is then usedfor classification. Results show an accuracy of 99.85%, a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 95.51%. This suggests that the proposed method could be of great help for future ECG processing.
Repair of Partly Misspecified Causal Diagrams.

Errors in causal diagrams elicited from experts can lead to the omission of important confounding variables from adjustment sets and render causal inferences invalid. In this report, a novel method is presented that repairs a misspecified causal diagram through the addition of edges. These edges are determined using a data-driven approach designed to provide improved statistical efficiency relative to de novo structure learning methods. Our main assumption is that the expert is "directionally informed," meaning that "false" edges provided by the expert would not create cycles if added to the "true" causal diagram. The overall procedure is cast as a preprocessing technique that is agnostic to subsequent causal inferences. Results based on simulated data and data derived from an observational cohort illustrate the potential for data-assisted elicitation in epidemiologic applications. See video abstract at, http://links.lww. com/EDE/B208.
Superparamagnetic lipid-based hybrid nanosystems for drug delivery

ABSTRACT Introduction: The development of multifunctional drug carriers provides many opportunities in the field of drug delivery. Among them, carriers loaded with both drug and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles would allow the combination of chemotherapy with the possibility of monitoring or controlling the distribution of the nanocarrier in the body, triggering drug release and/or applying a synergistic hyperthermia treatment. Areas covered: The present review covers biocompatible lipid-based nanotechnologies that have been employed to co-encapsulate drug and iron oxide. Depending on their physico-chemical properties, lipids are able to generate monophasic lipophilic nanodispersions or more complex structures containing both lipidic and aqueous domains. This review describes the rationale behind these nanoobjects and how they can be prepared. Expert opinion: This review focuses on the co-encapsulation aspects of these hybrid systems and discusses in particular the possible heterogeneities in drug-to-iron oxide ratio and the difficulties that could be encountered in the construction of these biocompatible multifunctional drug carriers.
Attitudes toward Studying, Academic Procrastination and Multiple Mediation Analysis between Them

This study aims to examine vocational high school students’ attitudes towards studying (valuing studying, willing to study, studying as a habit), academic procrastination behaviors and causal mediation relationship among them. 278 students from three vocational high schools were participated in the study. Correlational research design was applied. In order to collect data, Aitken Academic Procrastination Inventory and Attitudes toward Studying Scale was used and in order to analyze data, ANOVA and multiple mediation analysis methods were utilized. Results showed that students value studying and willing to study but they do not have a tendency for studying as a habit in the same way. Attitudes of girls were more positive than boys and procrastination among girls were significantly lower than boys. Attitudes of students who prefer studying in the morning and afternoon have more positive attitudes towards studying and students who prefer studying in the evening tend to procrastinate more than the others. According to multiple mediation analysis results, when gender of students was controlled, valuing studying indirectly affects academic procrastination through willingness to study and studying as a habit.
Epitaxial Growth of Copper Film by MOCVD

Copper thin films were deposited on single crystal sapphire substrate via metal-organic MOCVD using Cu (acac)2 as precursor. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) were employed for studying preferred orientation and microstructure. Atomic Force Microscope was utilized in order to characterize roughness of copper thin layer. By calculation of the Gibbs free energy, the reactions have been deeply understood. Depositions were carried out at various substrate temperatures in the rage 473K to 673K. It has been revealed that temperature determined the orientation and microstructure of copper films. At 673K, copper films have exhibited preferred orientation, smooth surface and connected grains, which proved that this copper thin film can act as precursor. Based on the study of epitaxial growth of copper films, a schematic diagram of epitaxial growth relationship is suggested for the step by step depositions processes.
Nucleation and dynamics of bubbles forming around laser heated microabsorbers

Selective tissue damage on the cellular level can be achieved due to transient microbubbles around laser-heated intracellular pigments. We investigated bubble dynamics and nucleation mechanisms at microabsorbers in suspensions as well as bubble formation in retinal pigment epithelial cells by fast flash photography and time-resolved probe laser transmission.