Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Selective algicidal activity of Gemini1231 biquaternary ammonium salt].

The growth-inhibiting effects of Gemini1231 surfactant on Prorocentrum donghaiense, Alexandrium tamarense, Gymnodinium sp. , Heterosigma akashiwo, Skeletonema costatum , Platymonas helgolanidica and Platymonas subcordiforus were investigated. The results demonstrate that the growth of P. donghaiense, A. tamarense and H. akashiwo was strongly inhibited in medium containing Gemini1231 from 0.2 to 0.5 mg x L(-1), and the S. costatum was also inhibited at concentrations above 0.5 mg x L(-1). However, the effects of this surfactant on the growth of Gymnodinium sp. and two beneficial green microalgae tested were negligible under the same treatment, indicating the potential for the selective control of red tide organisms. In addition, the analysis of the correlation between the inhibitory effect of the Gemini1231 on the algae tested and fatty acid composition of the algae implied that the differences in the fatty acid composition, especially the proportion of PUFAs, were responsible for the species-specific responses to biquaternary ammonium salt.
Deposition of PZT thin films with {001}, {110}, and {111} crystallographic orientations and their transverse piezoelectric characteristics

Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 (PZT) thin films of morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) composition having {001}, {110}, and {111}- orientations were fabricated on silicon substrates (111)Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si using a metal organic decomposition spin-coating technique. The influence of crystallographic orientation on the transverse piezoelectric coefficient e31 * of the films have been determined. The largest e31 * was found in {110}-oriented film. The differences observed in e31 * have been explained on the basis of domain wall contributions which are dependent on film texture. The influence of thin film texture on polarization switching characteristics have also been studied. Copyright © 2012 VBRI Press.
Microfluidics in silicon/polymer technology as a cost-efficient alternative to silicon/glass

We investigate TMMF photopolymer as a cost-efficient alternative to glass for the leak-tight sealing of high-density silicon microchannels. TMMF enables low temperature sealing and access to structures underneath via lamination and standard UV-lithography instead of costly glass machining and anodic bonding. TMMF is highly transparent and has a low autofluorescence for wavelengths larger than 400 nm. As the photopolymer is too thin for implementing bulky world-to-chip interfaces, we propose adhesive bonding of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) modules. All materials were tested according ISO 10993-5 and showed no cytotoxic effects on the proliferation of L929 cells. To quantify the cost efficiency of the proposed techniques, we used an established silicon/Pyrex nanoliter dispenser as a reference and replaced structured Pyrex wafers by TMMF laminates and COC modules. Thus, consumable costs, manpower and machine time related to sealing of the microchannels and implementing the world-to-chip interface could be significantly reduced. Leak tightness was proved by applying a pressure of 0.2 MPa for 5 h without delamination or crosstalk between neighboring microchannels located only 100 µm apart. In contrast to anodic bonding, the proposed techniques are tolerant to surface inhomogeneities. They enable manufacturing of silicon/polymer microfluidics at lower costs and without compromising the performance compared to corresponding silicon/glass devices.
Bilateral effect of unilateral isokinetic concentric training and Russian current stimulation on quadriceps strength

Isokinetic training and Russian current stimulation have been advertised to increase muscle strength. So, the purpose of this study was to compare between unilateral isokinetic concentric training and Russian current stimulation on the quadriceps strength of ipsilateral and contralateral limbs. Sixty healthy male subjects were randomly assigned into 3 equal groups; Isokinetic group; received isokinetic concentric training. Russian group; received Russian current stimulation, and control group: did not receive any training program. Isokinetic and Russian groups trained for 4 weeks, 3 session/week on the dominant quadriceps femoris muscle. Biodex Multi-joint System 3, Biodex, Shirley, NY, used to measure the isokinetic concentric peak torque/body weight before and after 4 weeks training for all groups at angular velocity 30°/s. For contralateral and ipsilateral quadriceps strength there was significant increase in the quadriceps strength of isokinetic and Russain group (p= 0.000). However, there was no significant increase in the quadriceps strength of control group (p= 0.214, 0.061) respectively. There was no significant difference between isokinetic and Russian group for the value of increasing of the quadriceps strength (p= 0.391, 0.579) respectively. The percent of improvement of ipsilateral side was significantly higher than the improvement of contralateral side for isokinetic and Russian group (p= 0.004, 0.006) respectively. So, Isokinetic training and Russian current stimulation have equal level of effectiveness in improving the concentric strength of the contralateral and ipsilateral quadriceps muscle. In spite of, the improvement of ipsilateral side was higher than that of the contralateral side.
Taking the Scenic Route: Biosynthetic Traffic to the Plasma Membrane in Polarized Epithelial Cells

The maintenance of epithelial cell function requires the establishment and continuous renewal of differentiated apical and basolateral plasma membrane domains with distinct lipid and protein compositions. Newly synthesized proteins destined for either surface domain are processed along the biosynthetic pathway and segregated into distinct subsets of transport carriers emanating from the trans‐Golgi network. Recent studies have illuminated additional complexities in the subsequent delivery of these proteins to the cell surface. In particular, multiple routes to the apical and basolateral cell surfaces have been uncovered, and many of these involve indirect passage through endocytic compartments. This review summarizes our current understanding of these routes and discusses open issues that remain to be clarified.
A model-based markovian context-dependent reinforcement learning approach for neurobiologically plausible transfer of experience

Reinforcement learning (RL) is an algorithmic theory for learning by experience optimal action control. Two widely discussed problems within this field are the temporal credit assignment problem and the transfer of experience. The temporal credit assignment problem postulates that deciding whether an action is good or bad may not be done upon right away because of delayed rewards. The problem of transferring experience investigates the question of how experience can be generalised and transferred from a familiar context, where it was acquired, to an unfamiliar context, where it may, nevertheless, prove helpful. We propose a controller for modelling flexible transfer of experience in a context-dependent reinforcement learning paradigm. The devised controller combines two alternatives of perfect learner algorithms. In the first alternative, rewards are predicted by individual objects presented in a temporal sequence. In the second alternative, rewards are predicted on the basis of successive pairs of objects. Simulations run on both deterministic and random temporal sequences show that only in case of deterministic sequences, a previously acquired context could be retrieved. This suggests a role of temporal sequence information in the generalisation and transfer of experience.
Pollinator Behavior Mediates Negative Interactions between Two Congeneric Invasive Plant Species

Simultaneously flowering plant species may indirectly interact with each other by influencing the quantity of pollinator visitation and/or the quality of pollen that is transferred. These effects on pollination may depend on how pollinators respond to floral resources at multiple levels. In this study, we demonstrate pollinator‐mediated negative interactions between two invasive plants, Carduus acanthoides and Carduus nutans. Using constructed arrays of the two species, alone and in mixture, we quantified pollinator visitation at the patch and individual plant levels and measured seed production. We found that co‐occurrence of our species led to a shift in pollinator services at both levels. Greater interference occurred when arrays were small and spacings between neighboring plants were large. A spatially explicit movement model suggests that pollinator foraging behavior, which mediates the interactions between plants, was driven by floral display size rather than species identity per se. Pollinator behavior significantly reduced the proportion of seed set for both species relative to that in single‐species arrays. Overall, the dependence of pollinator behavior on patch size, spacing between plants, and patch composition can lead to pollinator‐mediated plant interactions that range from facilitative to competitive.
Sales agents vs the internet: Understanding service sabotage based on the conservation of resources theory

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze perceptions of service cannibalization from sales agents when faced with increased online sales, and their consequences on the employee. The authors assess the effect of service cannibalization perceptions on insecurity, satisfaction, alienation, sales agents’ effort. The study also examines relationships between effects on sales agents’ service sabotage during service delivery. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 497 travel agency sales agents, and structural equation modeling was used to examine hypothesized relationships. Findings The results suggest that sales agents’ perceptions of service cannibalization influence employees, and have repercussions regarding service sabotage. Research limitations/implications Mediators were not tested, and the model does not capture the phenomenon’s complexity. This study reinforces the importance of capturing sales agents’ perceptions from travel agency managers in reducing negative consequences on employees, which is particularly important given multichannel marketing when online marketing channels coexist with traditional sales forces. Practical implications This study offers insights to firms regarding perceived cannibalization and its consequences on sales agents’ motivation. Organizations should find ways to minimize insecurity, dissatisfaction, and alienation. Originality/value This study examines psychological influences of the addition of an internet channel on sales agents’ job-related outcomes, and its relationship with sales agents’ service sabotage during service delivery.
Proposal of communication robot with simple motions

In recent years, many kinds of humanoid robots have been developed. A disadvantage of a simple robot is a lack of movements unlike some humanoid robots have arms. The authors test simple robots could realize fluent communication as well as humanoid robots. What kind of motion should do as basic communication movements for a simple robot was researched in pre-experiments. Based on the results of pre-experiments, the proposed simple robot was created. Using pepper and a simple robot, the authors conducted an experiment to evaluate the impression. The following knowledge is obtained by results of experiments. A proposed simple robot with emotional motions is evaluated as well as Pepper in “Familiarity”, “Enjoyment”, and “Performance. ” A proposed simple robot with emotional motions is evaluated higher than simple robot without emotional motion “Familiarity”, “Enjoyment” and “Activity. ” Even with the proposed simple robot, the author can realize the same degree of communication as Pepper by multimodal transformation.
Ventilation rate in office buildings and sick building syndrome.

OBJECTIVE--To examine the relation between ventilation rate and occurrence of symptoms of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin as well as general symptoms such as lethargy and headache, often termed the sick building syndrome. METHODS--A cross sectional population based study was carried out in 399 workers from 14 mechanically ventilated office buildings without air recirculation or humidification, selected randomly from the Helsinki metropolitan area. The ventilation type and other characteristics of these buildings were recorded on a site visit and the ventilation in the rooms was assessed by measuring the airflow through the exhaust air outlets in the room. A questionnaire directed at workers inquired about the symptoms and perceived air quality and their possible personal and environmental determinants (response rate 81%). The outcomes were weekly work related symptoms experienced during the previous 12 months and symptom groups defined either by their anatomical location or hypothesised mechanism. RESULTS--In logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for any symptom of interest was 3.03 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.13 to 8.10) in the very low ventilation category of below 5 l/s per person and 2.24 (0.89 to 5.65) in the high ventilation category of over 25 l/s per person compared with the reference (15- < 25 l/s). The ORs for ocular (1.27, 1.11 to 1.46), nasal (1.17, 1.06 to 1.29), skin symptoms (1.18, 1.05 to 1.32), and lethargy (1.09, 1.00 to 1.19) increased significantly by a unit decrease in ventilation from 25 to 0 l/s per person. CONCLUSION--The results suggest that outdoor air ventilation rates below the optimal (15 to 25 l/s per person) increase the risk of the symptoms of sick building syndrome with the sources of pollutants present in mechanically ventilated office buildings. The Finnish guideline value is 10 l/s per person.
Isolation of Helicobacter strains from wild bird and swine feces

We report the first isolations of Helicobacter strains from wild birds and swine. Genus-specific oligonucleotide probes identified nine Cape Cod isolates from gull, tern, house sparrow, and pig feces as Helicobacter spp. and not Campylobacter spp. Antibiotic sensitivity and urease tests distinguished three phenotypes. Strains examined rapidly lost culturability under simulated natural conditions.
Spatial, Species, and Temporal Variations in the13C/12C Ratios of C3Plants: Implications for Palaeodiet Studies

The δ13C value of a C3plant is influenced by the species’ response to its environment, which is subject to natural changes with space and time. This paper reviews the magnitude of the resulting variations in plant δ13C values—the differences between species, and the variations at different spatial and temporal scales—with particular emphasis on studies of tree wood. Because of these variations, any attempt to estimate the absolute δ13C values of a plant food resource at a particular place and time in the past, even when based on analysis of archaeological plant remains, will be subject to uncertainties. Uncertainties due to a single factor are commonly 1 per mil, and in many cases a combination of factors will lead to uncertainties of at least 2 per mil. Many of these factors are also relevant to archaeological studies based on differences between the δ13C values of different individuals or populations of animal/humans. Where such differences are only a few per mil it may be difficult to unambiguously ascribe them to palaeodietary, rather than to palaeoenvironmental, causes.
Serotonin transport and metabolism in the mammary gland modulates secretory activation and involution.

CONTEXT Serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] is an important local regulator of lactation homeostasis; however, the roles for the serotonin reuptake transporter and monoamine oxidase have not been known. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to determine whether drugs that impact 5-HT affect human lactation physiology. DESIGN AND SETTING We conducted laboratory studies of human and animal models and an observational study of the onset of copious milk secretion in postpartum women at a university medical center. PARTICIPANTS We studied women expecting their first live-born infant; exclusion criteria were: referred to the medical center for another medical condition, known contraindication to breastfeed, and less than 19 yr of age and unable to obtain parental consent. INTERVENTION(S) The mothers were interviewed. The cell and animal studies consisted of a variety of biochemical, pharmacological, and genetic interventions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) The human subjects outcome was prevalence of delayed onset of copious milk secretion. The cell and animal outcomes were physiological and morphological. RESULTS Inhibiting serotonin reuptake in mammary epithelial cells altered barrier function, and the effects were amplified by coadministering a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Direct delivery of fluoxetine by slow-release pellets caused localized involution. TPH1 knockout mice displayed precocious secretory activation. Among a cohort of 431 women, those taking SSRI were more likely (P = 0.02) to experience delayed secretory activation. CONCLUSIONS Medications that perturb serotonin balance dysregulate lactation, and the effects are consistent with those predicted by the physiological effects of intramammary 5-HT bioactivity. Mothers taking serotonergic drugs may need additional support to achieve their breastfeeding goals.
Adaptive subspace detectors

We use the theory of generalized likelihood ratio tests (GLRTs) to adapt the matched subspace detectors (MSDs) of Scharf (1991) and of Scharf and Frielander (1994) to unknown noise covariance matrices. In so doing, we produce adaptive MSDs that may be applied to signal detection for radar, sonar, and data communication. We call the resulting detectors adaptive subspace detectors (ASDs). These include Kelly's (1987) GLRT and the adaptive cosine estimator (ACE) of Kaurt and Scharh (see ibid., vol.47, p.2538-41, 1999) and of Scharf and McWhorter (see Proc. 30th Asilomar Conf. Signals, Syst., Comput., Pacific Grove, CA, 1996) for scenarios in which the scaling of the test data may deviate from that of the training data. We then present a unified analysis of the statistical behavior of the entire class of ASDs, obtaining statistically identical decompositions in which each ASD is simply decomposed into the nonadaptive matched filter, the nonadaptive cosine or t-statistic, and three other statistically independent random variables that account for the performance-degrading effects of limited training data.
Mycophenolate mofetil inhibits rat and human mesangial cell proliferation by guanosine depletion.

BACKGROUND Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is used for immunosuppression after renal transplantation because it reduces lymphocyte proliferation by inhibiting inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) in lymphocytes and GTP biosynthesis. In the present study we asked if therapeutic concentrations of MMF might interfere with mesangial cell (MC) proliferation which is involved in inflammatory proliferative glomerular diseases. METHODS Rat and human MCs were growth-arrested by withdrawal of fetal calf serum (FCS) and stimulated by addition of FCS, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) or lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Different concentrations of MMF (0.019-10 microM) were added concomitantly in the presence or absence of guanosine. MC proliferation was determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation. Cell viability was assessed by trypan blue exclusion. Apoptotic nuclei were stained using the Hoechst dye H33258. Cytosolic free Ca2+ concentrations were determined with the fluorescent calcium chelator fura-2-AM. RESULTS MMF inhibited mitogen-induced rat MC proliferation with an IC50 of 0.45 +/- 0.13 microM. Human MCs proved to be even more sensitive (IC50 0.19 +/- 0.06 microM). Inhibition of MC proliferation was reversible and not accompanied by cellular necrosis or apoptosis. Addition of guanosine prevented the antiproliferative effect of MMF, indicating that inhibition of IMPDH is responsible for decreased MC proliferation. Early signalling events of GTP-binding-protein-coupled receptors, such as changes in intracellular Ca2+ levels were not affected by MMF. CONCLUSIONS The results show that MMF has a concentration-dependent antiproliferative effect on cultured MCs in the therapeutic range, which might be a rationale for the use of this drug in the treatment of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis.
Migration kinetics of mineral oil hydrocarbons from recycled paperboard to dry food: monitoring of two real cases

Mineral oil hydrocarbons present in printing inks and recycled paper migrate from paper-based food packaging to foods primarily through the gas phase. Migration from two commercial products packed in recycled paperboard, i.e. muesli and egg pasta, was monitored up to the end of their shelf life (1 year) to study the influence of time, storage conditions, food packaging structure and temperature. Mineral oil saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons (MOSH and MOAH, respectively), and diisopropyl naphthalenes (DIPN) were monitored using online HPLC-GC/FID. Storage conditions were: free standing, shelved, and packed in transport boxes of corrugated board, to represent domestic, supermarket and warehouse storage, respectively. Migration to food whose packs were kept in transport boxes was the highest, especially after prolonged storage, followed by shelved and free-standing packs. Tested temperatures were representative of refrigeration, room temperature, storage in summer months and accelerated migration testing. Migration was strongly influenced by temperature: for egg pasta directly packed in paperboard, around 30 mg kg−1 of MOSH migrated in 8 months at 20°C, but in only 1week at 40°C. Muesli was contained into an internal polyethylene bag, which firstly adsorbed hydrocarbons and later released them partly towards the food. Differently, the external polypropylene bag, containing pasta and recycled paper tray, strongly limited the migration towards the atmosphere and gave rise to the highest level of food contamination. Tests at increased temperatures not only accelerated migration, but also widened the migration of hydrocarbons to higher molecular masses, highlighting thus a difficult interpretation of data from accelerated simulation.
Feeding acutely stimulates fibrinogen synthesis in healthy young and elderly adults.

Fibrinogen is a positive acute-phase protein and its hepatic synthesis is enhanced following inflammation and injury. However, it is not clear whether fibrinogen synthesis is also responsive to oral nutrients and whether the response to a meal may be affected by age. Our aim in this study was to investigate the acute effect of oral feeding on fibrinogen synthesis in both young and elderly men and women. Fibrinogen synthesis was determined in 3 separate occasions from the incorporation of l[(2)H(5)]phenylalanine (43 mg/kg body weight) in 8 young (21-35 y) and 8 elderly (>60 y) participants following the ingestion of water (control), a complete liquid meal (15% protein, 30% fat, and 55% carbohydrate), or only the protein component of the meal. The ingestion of the complete meal enhanced fibrinogen fractional synthesis rates (FSR) by 17 +/- 6% in the young and by 38 +/- 10% in the elderly participants compared with the water meal (P < 0.02). A comparable stimulation of FSR occurred with only the protein component of the meal in both young (29 +/- 7%) and elderly participants (41 +/- 9%) compared with the water meal (P < 0.005). Similar results were obtained when fibrinogen synthesis was expressed as absolute synthesis rates (i.e. mg.kg(-1). d(-1)). The results demonstrate that fibrinogen synthesis is acutely stimulated after ingestion of a meal and that this effect can be reproduced by the protein component of the meal alone, both in young and elderly adults.