Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanostructured lipid carriers as novel drug delivery system for lung cancer gene therapy

Abstract Context: Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) are potentially good colloidal drug carriers for gene delivery. They are advised to be the second lifetime of lipid nanocarriers. Objective: The aim of this study is to develop novel modified NLC as nanomedicine for delivery of plasmid-containing enhanced green fluorescence protein (pEGFP). This system could target the lung cancer cells through receptor-mediated pathways to increase the nuclear uptake of genetic materials. Methods: In the present study, pEGFP-loaded NLC (NLC/pEGFP) were prepared. Transferrin (Tf) containing ligands were used for the surface coating of the vectors. In vitro transfection efficiency of the modified vectors was evaluated in human alveolar adenocarcinoma cell line (A549 cells) and in vivo transfection efficiency of the modified vectors was evaluated on mice bearing A549 cells model. Results: Tf-modified NLC/pEGFP (Tf-NLC/pEGFP) has a particle size of 157 nm, and ∼82% of gene loading quantity. Tf-NLC/pEGFP displayed remarkably higher transfection efficiency than non-modified NLC/pEGFP both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that the novel NLC gene delivery system offers an effective strategy for lung cancer gene therapy.
Análise de séries de tempo e modelo de formação de expectativas

E fato comum na teoria economica que os individuos reagem a valores correntes de variaveis e a seus valores esperados no futuro. Como as expectativas se formam ainda e materia de debates. E improvavel que exista um unico mecanismo explicativo. Propomos como uma importante aplicacao do estudo de series de tempo, a geracao de modelos de formacao de expectativas atraves de tais tecnicas. Neste trabalho descrevemos e discutimos os modelos de formacao de expectativas mais usuais empregados em estudos economicos passados.
SHARP WEIGHTED ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOR OF MULTIPLIER OPERATORS

We prove that for a large class of multiplier operators Tm, the following convergence lim[w]A2→1 ‖Tm‖L2(w)→L2(w) = ‖Tm‖L2→L2 is exactly of the order 1 + √ δ, where w is an A2 weight, [w]A2 ≤ 1 + δ < 2, and in addition we give a new easy proof of the same fact for the Hilbert transform after the results from [10].
The mucus and mucins of the goblet cells and enterocytes provide the first defense line of the gastrointestinal tract and interact with the immune system

The gastrointestinal tract is covered by mucus that has different properties in the stomach, small intestine, and colon. The large highly glycosylated gel‐forming mucins MUC2 and MUC5AC are the major components of the mucus in the intestine and stomach, respectively. In the small intestine, mucus limits the number of bacteria that can reach the epithelium and the Peyer's patches. In the large intestine, the inner mucus layer separates the commensal bacteria from the host epithelium. The outer colonic mucus layer is the natural habitat for the commensal bacteria. The intestinal goblet cells secrete not only the MUC2 mucin but also a number of typical mucus components: CLCA1, FCGBP, AGR2, ZG16, and TFF3. The goblet cells have recently been shown to have a novel gate‐keeping role for the presentation of oral antigens to the immune system. Goblet cells deliver small intestinal luminal material to the lamina propria dendritic cells of the tolerogenic CD103+ type. In addition to the gel‐forming mucins, the transmembrane mucins MUC3, MUC12, and MUC17 form the enterocyte glycocalyx that can reach about a micrometer out from the brush border. The MUC17 mucin can shuttle from a surface to an intracellular vesicle localization, suggesting that enterocytes might control and report epithelial microbial challenge. There is communication not only from the epithelial cells to the immune system but also in the opposite direction. One example of this is IL10 that can affect and improve the properties of the inner colonic mucus layer. The mucus and epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract are the primary gate keepers and controllers of bacterial interactions with the host immune system, but our understanding of this relationship is still in its infancy.
Man-Made Vitreous Fibers in Office Buildings in the Helsinki Area

Several sources of man-made vitreous fibers (MMVFs) may exist in an office environment causing irritation symptoms among occupants. In 258 office buildings, the occurrence and density of settled MMVFs on surfaces were measured by two sampling methods. Altogether, 1113 samples of settled dust were collected from surfaces with plastic bags and gelatine tape and were analyzed with a scanning electron microscope and a stereomicroscope, respectively. Tape samples from 68 buildings were collected from frequently cleaned (n = 162) and seldom cleaned (n = 57) room surfaces in 56 and 29 offices, respectively, and from supply air ducts (n = 24) in 10 offices. MMVFs longer than 20 μm were counted with a stereomicroscope. Irritation symptoms were recorded with a questionnaire. More than 60% of the surface dust and almost 90% of the samples collected from supply air ducts contained MMVFs. The density of MMVFs longer than 20 μm ranged from < 0.1 to 5 fiber cm− 2. The mean density of the MMVFs was about two times higher on the seldom cleaned surfaces than on the frequently cleaned surfaces. The density was usually under 0.2 MMVF cm− 2 in surface dust of offices without emission sources of MMVFs. The measurements combined with qualitative analysis of settled dust can help to localize relevant sources of fiber emissions. Altogether, in 40% of the buildings, several occupants had repeated irritation symptoms that were verified by occupational health care personnel.
The 32-Kilodalton Subunit of Replication Protein A Interacts with Menin, the Product of the MEN1 Tumor Suppressor Gene

ABSTRACT Menin is a 70-kDa protein encoded by MEN1, the tumor suppressor gene disrupted in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. In a yeast two-hybrid system based on reconstitution of Ras signaling, menin was found to interact with the 32-kDa subunit (RPA2) of replication protein A (RPA), a heterotrimeric protein required for DNA replication, recombination, and repair. The menin-RPA2 interaction was confirmed in a conventional yeast two-hybrid system and by direct interaction between purified proteins. Menin-RPA2 binding was inhibited by a number of menin missense mutations found in individuals with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, and the interacting regions were mapped to the N-terminal portion of menin and amino acids 43 to 171 of RPA2. This region of RPA2 contains a weak single-stranded DNA-binding domain, but menin had no detectable effect on RPA-DNA binding in vitro. Menin bound preferentially in vitro to free RPA2 rather than the RPA heterotrimer or a subcomplex consisting of RPA2 bound to the 14-kDa subunit (RPA3). However, the 70-kDa subunit (RPA1) was coprecipitated from HeLa cell extracts along with RPA2 by menin-specific antibodies, suggesting that menin binds to the RPA heterotrimer or a novel RPA1-RPA2-containing complex in vivo. This finding was consistent with the extensive overlap in the nuclear localization patterns of endogenous menin, RPA2, and RPA1 observed by immunofluorescence.
Development of Domain Ontology for Enhancing Design Understand-Ability for Developers and End-Users

Ontology defines entity and their relationship among knowledge concepts within a problem domain that may provide better specifications of a system blue-print. Such basic specification can provide an interoperable format that enhances understand-ability to both human users and developers. This makes the ontology as one of the prominent techniques specially to systemize problem domains. In this paper, we describe importance of a domain ontology development, reporting on our experience in a user-oriented applications development project. The project was designed to address issues related to both human users' access to and developers' understandability on developed record management systems. Through a formal methodology we developed a domain ontology model and promoted its unique significance specially for developing system solution. Findings from our studies suggest that ontology enables provisions of design support both to end users and system developers to reflect user's real requirements that in turn maximize various user benefits.
Whole wheat and triticale flours with differing viscosities stimulate cecal fermentations and lower plasma and hepatic lipids in rats.

Whole flours from oat, rye or barley effectively modify digestive fermentation and lipid metabolism, whereas the effectiveness of whole wheat flour has not been established. To address this question, cecal digestion, short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolism and cholesterol metabolism were investigated in four groups of rats fed the following semipurified diets differing in their carbohydrate source: a control diet (purified wheat starch) and three whole cereal flour diets [Valoris wheat (Wv), Soissons wheat (Ws), or Carnac triticale (Tc)]. Wv is particularly viscous and rich in arabinoxylans, and Tc is richer in hemicellulose than wheat. Compared with controls, rats fed the whole-flour diets had enlarged ceca and a moderate acidification of the bulk pH ( approximately 6.4). In these rats, the cecal SCFA pool size was enhanced (P < 0.05), and the SCFA molar ratio reflected propionic/butyric acid-rich fermentations, especially in those fed TC: The portal SCFA concentrations reflected the rise of the acetic and propionic acid pools in the cecum, whereas portal butyric acid remained relatively low, probably reflecting extensive metabolism by the cecal wall. The fecal excretion of total steroids (bile acids + sterols) was markedly enhanced by all of the whole-flour diets, with Wv (+78%) > Tc (+64%) > Ws (+47%). In parallel, there was a significant plasma cholesterol-lowering effect for rats fed Wv (-27%) and Tc (-32%) and a plasma triglyceride-lowering effect (approximately -40%) in all rats fed whole-flour diets (P < 0.05). This effect was observed mainly for triglyceride-rich lipoprotein-cholesterol, whereas HDL cholesterol was unaffected. These results indicate that whole wheat flours can strikingly affect cecal SCFA, especially butyrate, and are effective plasma cholesterol-lowering agents.
Expert opinion on emerging drugs in childhood arterial ischemic stroke

Introduction: Vascular stroke syndromes in childhood (arterial ischemic stroke (AIS), cerebral sinovenous thrombosis and non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage) are increasingly recognized as important causes of mortality and morbidity, with significant personal and societal economic costs. The disease mechanisms underlying childhood AIS differ significantly from adults; in particular, atheroma plays an extremely minor role in children. However, to date, treatment principles in children have been based on extrapolation from adult data, usually by consensus expert opinion. Areas covered: This review article summarizes the current pharmacological treatments of childhood AIS, the evidence supporting these and proposes future treatment targets directed at underlying disease mechanisms. This is categorized into acute management, secondary prevention, emerging treatments and future treatments. Expert opinion: There is a paucity of robust data supporting current treatment approaches in childhood AIS. There are currently no recommended acute treatments; the role of thrombolysis in children remains to be determined. Aspirin, heparin and warfarin are used as secondary prevention therapies, but have not been shown to be superior to placebo. Non-atheromatous arteriopathy is now recognized as an important risk factor for recurrent AIS in children; further understanding of its etiology and pathophysiology could lead to identification of future therapeutic targets.
Limestone and oyster shell for brown layers in their second egg production cycle

This study aimed at evaluating the effect of dietary calcium levels and the replacement of calcium sources with different particle size compositions on the performance and egg quality of brown layers in their second egg production cycle. A randomized block experimental design was applied with 12 treatments in a 3x4 factorial arrangement: three calcium levels (2.6, 3.2, 3.8 %) and four combinations of calcium sources (1- 100% fine limestone (FL), 2- 50% FL + 50% coarse limestone (CL), 3- 50% FL and 50% oyster shell (OS), 4- 50% FL and 25% CL+ 25 %OS), with six replicates of eight birds each. Calcium sources were analyzed for geometric mean diameter (GMD) and in-vitro solubility. The following performance and egg quality parameters were evaluated: egg weight (EW, g), egg production (% Eggs), egg mass (EM %), feed intake (FI g), feed conversion ratio (FCR kg/dz and FCR kg/kg), mortality (% Mort.), specific egg gravity (SG), percentages of yolk (Y%), albumen (Alb%) and eggshell (ES%), eggshell thickness (EST), eggshell breaking strength (BS), eggshell weight per surface area (EWSA), Haugh unit (HU), yolk index (YI) and yolk color. Performance and internal egg quality were not affected by the treatments (p>0.05). Blocks had a significant effect on (p<0.05) FI and FCR (kg/dz and kg/kg). Treatments significantly influenced external egg quality, which improved as dietary calcium levels increases and when up to 50% fine limestone was replaced by combinations of coarse limestone with oyster shell.
Relationship between Smiling and Laughter in Humans (Homo sapiens): Testing the Power Asymmetry Hypothesis

The power asymmetry hypothesis claims that individuals should have distinct signals of appeasement/affiliation and play when status difference is high, whereas these signals should overlap in egalitarian interactions. Naturalistic observations were conducted on humans interacting in groups that differed in terms of age composition (and presumably social status). Three affiliative behaviours were recorded by focal sampling: spontaneous smiles, deliberate smiles and laughter. Interestingly, young men showed significantly higher proportions of deliberate smiles in comparison to laughter when interacting with people of a different age class than when interacting in same-age groups. The pattern of affiliative behaviours in women remained unaffected by the age composition of groups. This partly supports the power asymmetry hypothesis and suggests that in men, deliberate smiles could play a role in the regulation of hierarchical relationships.
EXPLORING THE BIOLOGY OF GPCRs : FROM IN VITRO TO IN VIVO Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Signaling by G-Protein – Coupled Receptors

Signaling by G-protein–coupled receptors is often considered a uniform process, whereby a homogeneously activated proportion of randomly distributed receptors are activated under equilibrium conditions and produce homogeneous, steady-state intracellular signals. While this may be the case in some biologic systems, the example of rhodopsin with its strictly local singlequantum mode of function shows that homogeneity in space and time cannot be a general property of G-protein–coupled systems. Recent work has now revealed many other systems where such simplicity does not prevail. Instead, a plethora of mechanisms allows much more complex patterns of receptor activation and signaling: different mechanisms of proteinprotein interaction; temporal changes under nonequilibrium conditions; localized receptor activation; and localized second messenger generation and degradation—all of which shape receptor-generated signals and permit the creation of multiple signal types. Here, we review the evidence for such pleiotropic receptor signaling in space and time.
Development of a DNA probe to detect Salmonella typhi

This study was undertaken to identify a DNA sequence that could be used to facilitate the diagnostic identification of Salmonella typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever. All virulent S. typhi strains encode a relatively unique capsular antigen termed the virulence (Vi) antigen. Two distinct genetic loci, viaA and viaB, are involved in the synthesis of this antigen. The structural genes, located at viaB, were considered as a possible specific DNA probe. The viaB locus, contained in a recombinant cosmid, was subcloned to various plasmid vectors for this purpose. Selected viaB-region DNA fragments were then analyzed for specificity in DNA colony hybridization reactions with more than 170 strains representing a variety of enteric bacteria. An 8.6-kilobase EcoRI fragment was highly specific for the viaB gene region and was considered a good hybridization probe. This DNA probe should prove useful in rapid diagnostic assays set up to detect S. typhi in mixed bacterial samples (e.g., stools) within a few hours of specimen collection.
European guidelines for quality assurance in colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis. First Edition – Quality assurance in endoscopy in colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis

Multidisciplinary, evidence-based guidelines for quality assurance in colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis have been developed by experts in a project coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The full guideline document covers the entire process of population-based screening. It consists of 10 chapters and over 250 recommendations, graded according to the strength of the recommendation and the supporting evidence. The 450-page guidelines and the extensive evidence base have been published by the European Commission. The chapter on quality assurance in endoscopy includes 50 graded recommendations. The content of the chapter is presented here to promote international discussion and collaboration by making the principles and standards recommended in the new EU Guidelines known to a wider professional and scientific community. Following these recommendations has the potential to enhance the control of colorectal cancer through improvement in the quality and effectiveness of endoscopy and other elements in the screening process, including multidisciplinary diagnosis and management of the disease.
Malignant melanoma a review of 10 years experience in Glasgow, Scotland

The clinical features and results of treatment of 165 patients with extraocular malignant melanoma seen in the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland between 1952–1961 are recorded and analyzed. This is an eminently treatable tumor if diagnosed while still confined to the primary site. Tumors in women, tumors of the head and neck regardless of age and sex, tumors between knee and ankle in young women, small tumors, and tumors which have not spread have a better than average prognosis. Elective dissection of clinically tumors—free nodes should not be too readily discounted. Tumors in men, tumors on the trunk, large tumors, and tumors which have spread beyond the primary site have a poor prognosis. Local recurrence per se is not a uniformly bad sign. Available methods of treatment of Stage II and III malignant melanoma are unsatisfactory. The accuracy of clinical diagnosis of this tumor is low and all cutaneous tumors should be regarded with suspicion, adequately excised, and examined histologically.
Review of Targeted Therapies for Periocular Tumors

Various cancers can affect the eyelid, with orbital invasion being the most serious complication. The most frequent periocular cancers encountered are basal cell carcinomas (BCC), accounting for nearly 90% of eyelid malignancies, in addition to squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), malignant melanomas, and sebaceous cell carcinomas (SBCC). Treatment options vary depending on the extent and type of malignancy, and can involve surgical excision, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. With advancements in the field of oncology, targeted therapies have created a new treatment paradigm for some advanced malignancies. These newer molecular treatment options can target and interfere with cellular signaling pathways that are important for the survival and proliferation of neoplastic cells. In this article, we discuss common eyelid and periocular malignancies, as well as novel-targeted therapies to treat these cancers.
Fuzzy association rule mining for fashion product development

Purpose – The emergence of the fast fashion trend has exerted a great pressure on fashion designers who are urged to consider customers’ preferences in their designs and develop new products in an efficient manner. The purpose of this paper is to develop a fuzzy association rule mining (FARM) approach for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of new product development (NPD) in fast fashion. Design/methodology/approach – The FARM identifies the hidden relationships between product styles and customer preferences. The knowledge discovered help the fashion industry design new products which are not only fashionable, but are also saleable in the market. Findings – To evaluate the proposed approach, a case study is conducted in a Hong Kong-based fashion company in which a real-set of data are tested to generate fuzzy association rules. The results reveal that the FARM approach can provide knowledge support to the fashion industry during NPD, shorten the NPD cycle time, and increase customer satisfaction.
Exercise induced hypoxemia at moderate altitude: comparison between running and roller skiing field test in young elite biathletes.

AIM Exercise induced hypoxemia (EIH) can develop in highly trained endurance athletes in terms of exercise mode, muscle mass involved in the exercise, training status and altitude. With this background, the present study compared EIH development and cardiorespiratory responses, in younger highly trained biathletes, at moderate altitude, during running and roller ski field tests. METHODS Ten younger (15.3±1.5 years) highly trained biathletes performed two incremental maximal field tests (Leger Boucher test) in running (R) and in roller skiing (RS), at 1850 meters altitude. EIH (haemoglobin O2 saturation (SpO2) decreased ≥4% from baseline) was measured indirectly using an ear-lobe pulse oximeter included in the K4 (Cosmed) used for measured cardiorespiratory responses. RESULTS During the R test, 9 athletes developed EIH whereas only 7 in SR test. Tests duration was the same furthermore at the end of tests, fall of SpO2 was significantly higher in R compared to RS (-9.11±1.51 vs. -5.89±1.09; P<0.01). SpO2 was significantly lower in R compared to RS from 75% of VO2max to VO2max (P<0.05). VO2max was significantly higher in R than in RS (61.33±6.36 vs. 57±6.60 mL.min-1.kg-1; P<0.001). No difference of maximal heart rate, global ventilation, tidal volume or respiratory frequency was present during and at the end of tests. CONCLUSION We concluded that prevalence and severity of EIH was more important during R than RS exercises and that EIH differences may be due to a greater gas exchange abnormality in R.