Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formation and dissimilation of oxalacetate and pyruvate Pseudomonas citronellolis grown on noncarbohydrate substrates

Metabolism of lactate as a carbon source by Pseudomonas citronellolis occurred via a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-independent L-lactate dehydrogenase, which was present in cells grown on DL-lactate but was not present in cells grown on acetate, aspartate, citrate, glucose, glutamate, or malate. The cells also possessed a constitutive, NAD-independent malate dehydrogenase instead of the conventional NAD-dependent malate dehydrogenase instead of the conventional NAD-dependent enzyme in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Both enzymes were particulate and used dichlorophenolindo-phenol or oxygen as an electron acceptor. In acetate-grown cells, the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase and NAD phosphate-linked malate enzyme decreased, cells grown on glucose or lactate. This was consistent with the need to maintain a supply of oxalacetate for metabolism of acetate via the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Changes in enzyme activities suggest that gluconeogenesis from noncarbohydrate carbon sources occurs via the malate enzyme (when oxalacetate decarboxylase is inhibited) or a combination of the NAD-independent malate dehydrogenase and oxalacetate decarboxylase.
Aspirin in the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes

ABSTRACT Diabetes imparts a substantial increased risk for cardiovascular disease-related mortality and morbidity. Because of this, current medical guidelines recommend prophylactic treatment with once-daily, low-dose aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular (CV) events in high-risk patients. However, only modest reductions in CV events and mortality have been observed with once-daily aspirin treatment in patients with diabetes, including patients with a previous CV event, perhaps because of disparity between aspirin pharmacokinetics and diabetes-related platelet abnormalities. Once-daily aspirin irreversibly inactivates platelets for only a short duration (acetylsalicylic acid half-life, approximately 15–20 minutes), after which time newly generated, active platelets enter the circulation and weaken aspirin’s effect. Platelets from patients with diabetes are more reactive and are turned over more rapidly than platelets from normal individuals; the short inhibitory window provided by once-daily aspirin may therefore be insufficient to provide 24-h protection against CV events. Alternative conventional aspirin regimens (e.g. higher daily dose, twice-daily dosing, combination with clopidogrel) and newer formulations (e.g. 24-h, extended-release) have been proposed to overcome the apparent limited efficacy of conventional aspirin in patients with diabetes; however, tolerability concerns and limited clinical efficacy data need to be taken into account when considering the use of such regimens.
Human apolipoprotein E expression from mouse skeletal muscle by electrotransfer of nonviral DNA (plasmid) and pseudotyped recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV2/7).

Plasma apolipoprotein E (apoE) has multiple atheroprotective actions. However, although liver-directed adenoviral gene transfer of apoE reverses hypercholesterolemia and inhibits atherogenesis in apoE-deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice, safety considerations have revived interest in nonviral DNA (plasmid) and nonpathogenic adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors. Here, we assess the effectiveness of these two delivery vehicles by minimally invasive intramuscular injection. First, we constructed AAV2-based expression plasmids harboring human apoE3 cDNA, driven by two muscle-specific promoters (CK6 and C5-12) and one ubiquitous promoter (CAG); each efficiently expressed apoE3 in transfected cultured C2C12 mouse myoblasts, although muscle-specific promoters were active only in differentiated multinucleate myotubes. Second, a pilot study verified that electrotransfer of the CAG-driven plasmid (p.CAG.apoE3) into tibialis anterior muscles, pretreated with hyaluronidase, of apoE(-/-) mice significantly enhanced (p < 0.001) local intramuscular expression of apoE3. However, in a 7-day experiment, the CK6- and C5-12-driven plasmids produced less apoE3 in muscle than did p.CAG. apoE3 (0.61 +/- 0.38 and 0.45 +/- 0.38 vs. 13.38 +/- 7.46 microg of apoE3 per muscle, respectively), but plasma apoE3 levels were below our detection limit (<15 ng/ml) in all mice and did not reverse the hyperlipidemia. Finally, we showed that intramuscular injection of a cross-packaged AAV serotype 7 viral vector, expressing human apoE3 from the CAG promoter, resulted in increasing levels of apoE3 in plasma over 4 weeks, although the concentration reached (1.40 +/- 0.35 microg/ml) was just below the threshold level needed to reduce the hypercholesterolemia. We conclude that skeletal muscle can serve as an effective secretory platform to express the apoE3 transgene, but that improved gene transfer vectors are needed to achieve full therapeutic levels of plasma apoE3 protein.
The Neonate Has a Temporary Conductive Hearing Loss due to Fluid in the Middle Ear

Postnatal functional changes in the activity of the ear and auditory pathway in neonatal guinea pigs [from day of birth (postnatal day, PND = 0), PNDs 1–4, 7 and then weekly up to 7 weeks] were studied as a model of maturation of hearing in human neonates. On the day of birth there were signs of a conductive hearing loss: negative middle ear pressure, auditory nerve brainstem evoked response (ABR) threshold elevation, ABR wave 1 latency prolongation and low amplitude otoacoustic emissions. The conductive hearing loss is probably a result of the (amniotic) fluid found in the neonatal middle-ear cavity. Over the next PNDs, this conductive hearing loss was resolved. In order to confirm this neonatal conductive hearing loss and its resolution, saline was instilled into the middle ear of guinea pigs. This induced signs of a conductive hearing loss similar to those seen in the neonatal guinea pigs which disappeared with clearance of this fluid. Therefore it may be concluded that most of the changes in auditory function seen over the first PNDs are due to absorption of amniotic fluid from the middle-ear cavity.
Reconciliation(s): Transitional Justice in Postconflict Societies

Contributors include Caitlin Donnelly (Queen's Belfast), Stephanus Du Toit (Institute for Justice and Reconciliation), Samar El-Masri (Prince Sultan University, Riyadh), Nicholas Frayling (Dean, Chichester Cathedral), Mark Freeman (International Center for Transitional Justice), Trudy Govier (Lethbridge), Brandon Hamber (Ulster), Joanne Hughes (Queen's Belfast), Anita Isaacs (Haverford), Grainne Kelly (INCORE, University of Ulster), Rosemary Nagy (Nipissing), Veerle Opgenhaffen (International Center for Transitional Justice), Valerie Perry (OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina), Joanna R. Quinn (Western), and Laurence Thomas (Syracuse).
Adaptive output feedback controller design for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with actuator failures

In this paper, we aim to design adaptive output feedback controllers for a class of uncertain nonlinear multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems in the presence of stuck type actuator failures. The class of MISO system has a characteristic that the relative degrees with respect to each of the inputs are not necessarily the same. We first design a pre-filter for each input and then derive the state space representation of a newly constructed plant. The design of control variable will be provided by making certain modifications on traditional backstepping technique. It will be shown that with our proposed scheme, the effects due to actuator failures can be compensated and global boundedness of the closed-loop signals is still ensured. Further, the system output can asymptotically track a given reference signal.
Melatonin as a major skin protectant: from free radical scavenging to DNA damage repair

Abstract: Melatonin, one of the evolutionarily most ancient, highly conserved and most pleiotropic hormones still operative in man, couples complex tissue functions to defined changes in the environment. Showing photoperiod‐associated changes in its activity levels in mammals, melatonin regulates, chronobiological and reproductive systems, coat phenotype and mammary gland functions. However, this chief secretory product of the pineal gland is now recognized to also exert numerous additional functions which range from free radical scavenging and DNA repair via immunomodulation, body weight control and the promotion of wound healing to the coupling of environmental cues to circadian clock gene expression and the modulation of secondary endocrine signalling (e.g. prolactin release, oestrogen receptor‐mediated signalling). Some of these activities are mediated by high‐affinity membrane (MT1, MT2) or specific cytosolic (MT3/NQO2) and nuclear hormone receptors (RORα), while others reflect receptor‐independent antioxidant activities of melatonin. Recently, it was shown that mammalian (including human) skin and hair follicles are not only melatonin targets, but also sites of extrapineal melatonin synthesis. Therefore, we provide here an update of the relevant cutaneous effects and mechanisms of melatonin, portray melatonin as a major skin protectant and sketch how its multi‐facetted functions may impact on skin biology and pathology. This is illustrated by focussing on recent findings on the role of melatonin in photodermatology and hair follicle biology. After listing a number of key open questions, we conclude by defining particularly important, clinically relevant perspectives for how melatonin may become therapeutically exploitable in cutaneous medicine.
Analogy Engines in Classroom Teaching: Modeling the String Circuit Analogy

The importance of analogy-making and analogy-based reasoning for human cognition and learning by now has widely been recognized, and analogy-based methods are slowly also being explicitly integrated into the canon of approved education and teaching techniques. Still, the actual level of knowledge about analogy as instructional means and device as of today is rather low and subject to scientific study and investigation. In this paper, we propose the fruitful use of computational analogy-engines as methodological tool in this domain of research, motivating our claim by a short case study showing how Heuristic-Driven Theory Projection can be used to model the mode of operation of an analogy taken from a science class for 8 to 9 year old children.
De la evaluación tradicional a una nueva evaluación basada en competencias

La evaluacion escolar –de los alumnos– a lo largo del tiempo ha sido un elemento que ha intentado estimar el esfuerzo, capacidad y aprendizaje escolar. No obstante, en sus inicios, sus formas eran mediciones parciales de la evolucion de la conducta con respecto a un comportamiento deseable. Mas tarde, la evaluacion fue sufriendo cambios que beneficiaron los procesos de valoracion y enjuiciamiento del desempeno academico de los aprendices y su propio aprendizaje. En la actualidad, las exigencias de las sociedades contemporaneas son vastas y multiples; los educandos no requieren exclusivamente aprender conocimientos: es necesario ayudarles a desarrollar habilidades, valores y actitudes. La educacion posmoderna exige el desarrollo de diversas facultades y capacidades que les permitan a los individuos evolucionar de manera integral. Por tanto, la evaluacion, en ese sentido, debe responder a tales necesidades de enjuiciamiento didacticas, valorando etica, tecnica y fehacientemente el desarrollo evolutivo de las competencias de los educandos y, asi, poder emitir juicios cualitativos y cuantitativos de manera mas justa y objetiva. Este proyecto de disertacion es el resultado de la revision bibliografica de varios autores y el trabajo cotidiano docente en los Centros de Educacion Media Superior a Distancia del Estado de Morelos, Mexico
Multifunctional Nanotube–Mucoadhesive Poly(methyl vinyl ether‐co‐maleic acid)@Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose Acetate Succinate Composite for Site‐Specific Oral Drug Delivery

An advanced oral drug delivery system that can effectively deliver drugs with poor oral bioavailability is strongly desirable. Herein, a multifunctional nano‐in‐micro structured composite is developed by encapsulation of the mucoadhesive poly(methyl vinyl ether‐co‐maleic acid) modified halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) with the pH‐responsive hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate by the microfluidics to control the drug release, increase cell–particle interaction, and improve drug absorption. The microparticles show spherical shape, homogeneous particle size distribution (58 ± 1 µm), and pH‐responsive dissolution behavior at pH > 6, and they prevent the premature release of curcumin in simulated pH conditions of the stomach and immediately release the curcumin in simulated pH conditions of the small intestine. The surface modification of HNT with mucoadhesive poly(methyl vinyl ether‐co‐maleic acid) significantly enhances its interactions with the intestinal Caco‐2/HT29‐MTX cells and the mouse small intestines, and increases the permeability of curcumin across the co‐cultured Caco‐2/HT29‐MTX cell monolayers by about 13 times compared to the free curcumin. Therefore, the developed multifunctional nanotube–mucoadhesive poly(methyl vinyl ether‐co‐maleic acid)@hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate composite is a promising oral drug delivery system for drugs with poor oral bioavailability.
Infiltration in ASHRAE's Residential Ventilation Standards

The purpose of ventilation is to dilute or remove indoor contaminants that an occupant could be exposed to. It can be provided by mechanical or natural means. ASHRAE Standards including standards 62, 119, and 136 have all considered the contribution of infiltration in various ways, using methods and data from 20 years ago. The vast majority of homes in the United States and indeed the world are ventilated through natural means such as infiltration caused by air leakage. Newer homes in the western world are tight and require mechanical ventilation. As we seek to provide acceptable indoor air quality at minimum energy cost, it is important to neither over-ventilate nor under-ventilate. Thus, it becomes critically important to correctly evaluate the contribution infiltration makes to both energy consumption and equivalent ventilation. ASHRAE Standard 62.2 specifies how much mechanical ventilation is considered necessary to provide acceptable indoor air quality, but that standard is weak on how infiltration can contribute towards meeting the total requirement. In the past ASHRAE Standard 136 was used to do this, but new theoretical approaches and expanded weather data have made that standard out of date. This article will describe how to properly treat infiltration as an equivalent ventilation approach and then use new data and these new approaches to demonstrate how these calculations might be done both in general and to update Standard 136.
A Novel Proxy Certificate Issuance on Grid Portal Without Using MyProxy

A long nose locking hand tool having a pair of opposing jaw members, a fixed handle and a movable handle and lever locking means therebetween for maintaining a toggle relationship between the jaws when in a closed position; and wherein each of said jaw members comprising a jaw face configuration having a total jaw length to average jaw height ratio of from about 6.5 to about 11.5 with a through jaw hardness range of from about 53 to about 57 Rockwell C, with said jaw members made of an alloy spring steel, said jaw members having a nominal parallel opening when they are spaced apart, no greater than about 1/4 inch, thereby enabling said jaw members to clamp a workpiece therebetween with parallel jaw faces by flexing to the parallel condition when closed and returning to their original unstressed state when released of clamping pressure. A long nose locking hand tool having a pair of opposing jaw members, a fixed handle having an adjustment screw, and a movable handle and lever locking means therebetween for maintaining a toggle relationship between the jaw faces of said jaw members when in a closed position; and wherein said fixed handle having a strike surface, and having an axis passing through said strike surface defining the direction of a line of force impartable to the hand tool; and said pair of jaws further defining a bisecting axis or line formed by the angle of said jaws when closed against a workpiece gripped therebetween; and the angle between said axes being less than 5 DEG when the gripping tips of said jaw member are in a generally touching or closed position.
Impact of bacteria in nasal aspirates on disease severity of bronchiolitis

Background: The effect of potentially pathogenic bacteria (PPB) on disease severity in patients with bronchiolitis is understudied. Methods: This prospective study was carried out in the Children's Hospital of Soochow University during the 2012–2013 autumn and winter seasons. We enrolled consecutive children < 2 years of age hospitalized with an attending physician's diagnosis of bronchiolitis. Nasopharyngeal aspirate samples were tested for multiple respiratory viruses and cultured for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Results: In all, 30% (188 patients) were positive for Strep. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis, and Staph. aureus. Length of stay (LOS) for patients with PPB was 4.0 days (interquartile range, IQR, 25th–75th percentile: 3.0–6.0 days) versus 3.0 days (IQR, 3.0–5.0 days) for patients without PPB (p < 0.001). However, requirement and duration of supplemental oxygen were not significantly different between the two groups. H. influenzae was an independent risk factor for hospital LOS ≥ 5.0 days (adjusted odds ratio, 1.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–2.91). The presence of PPB was not associated with increased risk of supplemental oxygen requirement. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that pediatricians should evaluate for PPB in patients with bronchiolitis, especially when they present with RSV infection, fever or percentage of neutrophils > 40%. The presence of H. influenzae in nasal aspirates is associated with longer LOS in patients with bronchiolitis.
Interactions of natural polyamines with mammalian proteins

Abstract The ubiquitously expressed natural polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are small, flexible cationic compounds that exert pleiotropic actions on various regulatory systems and, accordingly, are essentially involved in diverse life functions. These roles of polyamines result from their capability to interact with negatively charged regions of all major classes of biomolecules, which might act in response by changing their structures and functions. The present review deals with polyamine-protein interactions, thereby focusing on mammalian proteins. We discuss the various modes in which polyamines can interact with proteins, describe major types of affected functions illustrated by representative examples of involved proteins, and support information with respective structural evidence from elucidated three-dimensional structures. A specific focus is put on polyamine interactions at protein surfaces that can modulate the aggregation of proteins to organized structural networks as well as to toxic aggregates and, moreover, can play a role in important transient protein-protein interactions.
Greek. A comprehensive grammar of the modern language

The last two years have seen the publication of a number of reference works on Greek, including Babiniotis' Dictionary (1998), Horrocks' Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (1997) and the book under review by David Holton, Peter Mackridge and Irene Philippaki-Warburton. It seems that Greek linguists are taking stock of the linguistic situation after the definitive demise of the diglossia, freed from the syndromes of the past and the need to take sides or make political or ideological statements through the description of the language. This book is a fine illustration of this mature attempt at mapping the resources of the language that originate in the multiple registers of the earlier demotic and katharevousa codes, as well as an endeavour of accounting for the wide gamut of alternatives available to users of Greek. The work by Holton, Mackridge and Philippaki-Warburton is admirable for the elaborate treatment and thorough exemplification of phonological, morphological and syntactic phenomena of Greek. It is also exemplary for the plethora of its judicious descriptions. The book is organized in three parts, dealing with the phonology, morphology and syntax of Greek, respectively. The description of the sound and writing systems (Part I), as well as of the morphological paradigms and processes of Greek (Part IT), is, in general, lucid and comprehensive, and its standards are hardly compromised by the few odd quirks and inaccuracies. With regard to phonology, one could note the dubious point on the existence of a nonsyllabic allophonic [j] in words like poXoi, aicouEt, <t>pdouAot, which is repeated with emphasis on pages 6, 7, 9 and 15. (Can one, really, pronounce these words in two syllables? ) Likewise, the use of Latin characters in Greek is treated in a rather anecdotal fashion, in contrast to the thorough, even if unnecessarily detailed, presentation of the traditional diacritic system. A more important shortcoming involves the perfunctory remarks on intonation, which are clearly based on an outdated account. The section on morphology is daunting in its exhaustive classification, ending on a high point with a useful discussion of derivational morphology — although suffixes such as -7roi(i, -dpw, -droc, -dvi etc. are curiously absent here. Part in has the lion's share of the book and is commendable for the meticulous discussion of what is probably the widest range of grammatical issues in the context of Greek. The main discussion is complemented by most useful appendices on the correspondence between pronouns, determiners and adverbs, expressions of time, space and quantity, and agreement of number, gender and case, as well as by a glossary of grammatical terms and an index.
Global cognitive function before, surrounding, and after ischemic stroke: the role of risk and protective factors varies with time among ischemic stroke survivors

An estimated 65% of individuals demonstrate multidomain cognitive impairment poststroke, although little is known about the varying role of cognitive risk and protective factors in preischemic, peri-ischemic, and postischemic stroke phases. Longitudinal changes in global cognitive function after ischemic stroke are not well characterized, especially in older adults over age 80. We examined global cognitive function trajectories in these three phases across a mean follow-up of 8.12 (2.30) years in 159 female stroke survivors aged 65–79 at baseline using linear mixed models with change points. In separate models controlling for demographic variables, we tested the interaction of baseline risk and protective factors with stroke phase on global cognitive function. None of the prestroke global cognitive function means or trajectories differed significantly. At the time of ischemic stroke, higher body mass index (BMI), the presence of hypertension (HTN), low optimism, and higher physical function were all associated with significantly greater mean decreases in global cognition (all p’s <.0.0001), but were not significantly different from the contrasting level (all p’s >0.05). Higher BMI, the presence of HTN, low optimism, and higher physical function were in turn protective of global cognitive decline postischemic stroke (all contrasting p values <.01). Baseline factors may play either a risk or a protective role in global cognitive function depending on the phase of ischemic stroke.