Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface modification of PLLA nano-scaffolds with laminin multilayer by LbL assembly for enhancing neurite outgrowth.

In this study, PLLA nanofibers are fabricated by electrospinning and their surfaces are modified by laminin/chitosan (LN/CS) polyelectrolyte multilayer. Surface C/N ratio determined by XPS analysis quantitatively indicates of discrete coating layers on the nanofibers. The amount of LN deposited sustainably increases with LbL assembly processing, approximately 60 ng mm(-2) LN per cycle of LN/CS deposition. The LN-modified PLLA scaffolds significantly induce neurite outgrowth of DRG neurons and NSC compared to the pure PLLA nanofibrous scaffolds. Furthermore, higher amounts of LN adsorbed assist in promoting cell proliferation than PLLA as-spun nanofibers. Therefore, a facile and efficient method to modify nano-scaffolds for the construction of a biomimetic scaffold to promote highly efficient neurite outgrowth is presented.
Lyme Neuroborreliosis in the Rhesus Monkey

Although there are several animal models of Lyme disease, only the rhesus monkey model exhibits all of the key manifestations of the disease. After infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, rhesus monkeys develop signs of early localized, early disseminated, and chronic Lyme disease. Specific features include erythema migrans, uveitis, myocarditis, arthritis, and disease of the peripheral and central nervous system. One of the unique features of the rhesus monkey model is the development of Lyme neuroborreliosis. Peripheral nervous system (PNS) involvement is usually in the form of a mononeuropathy multiplex with primarily axonal-loss features. Evidence of central nervous system (CNS) disease has included CSF pleocytosis, meningeal inflammation, spinal cord lesions, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) data consistent with chronic CNS infection. The pathogenesis of Lyme neuroborreliosis is not well understood, but it is likely to involve complex interactions between B. burgdorferi and host immune mechanisms.
Hepatic ethoxy-, methoxy- and pentoxyresorufin O-dealkylase activities in Landrace and Duroc pigs stimulated with HCG.

The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulation on the activities of ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), methoxyresorufin O-demethylase (MROD) and pentoxyresorufin O-depentylase (PROD) was studied in intact male pigs of purebred Landrace and Duroc breeds. Pigs were divided into four groups: two control groups of each breed, without hCG stimulation (n = 20 for each breed), and two experimental groups (n = 18 for each breed), with hCG stimulation (Pregnyl(®); N.V. Organon, Oss, The Netherlands, 30 IU/kg live weight). Pigs were slaughtered 3 days after hCG stimulation and enzyme activities were measured in hepatic microsomes using two approaches. First, only one substrate concentration was used for the analysis of each enzyme activity. We found that EROD activity was suppressed by hCG-stimulation in Landrace (p = 0.004), but not Duroc pigs (p > 0.05). Generally, EROD activity was higher in Duroc pigs compared with Landrace (p = 0.017). Methoxyresorufin O-demethylase and PROD activities did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). To further characterize EROD, MROD and PROD, enzyme kinetic studies were performed. V(max) values for EROD and MROD in both breeds were lower after hCG stimulation (p < 0.001 for Landrace and p < 0.05 for Duroc). Additionally, V(max) values for EROD significantly differed between Landrace and Duroc pigs being higher in Duroc pigs (p < 0.05). We concluded that both hCG stimulation and breed differences may be important in the regulation of EROD and MROD activities. This study provides the first data on the effect of hCG stimulation and thus high testicular steroids, on EROD, MROD and PROD activities. Further studies are needed to investigate individual CYP450 enzymes and their regulation in porcine tissues.
A 1452-% power extraction improvement energy harvesting circuit with simultaneous energy extraction from a piezoelectric transducer and a thermoelectric generator

This paper presents a dual-source energy harvesting circuit that efficiently and simultaneously extracts the energy from a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and a thermoelectric generator (TEG). The harvester operates in a dual-source pile-up mode (DPM) to efficiently extract the energy from both sources with an increment of the damping force, resulting in a 1452% improvement of power extraction even without a TEG, which is the best among the-state-of-the-art works. Also, the harvester operates in a boost converter mode (BCM) without an additional power switch, achieving 75 % conversion efficiency at 450 μW output power. With a single-shared inductor, a simple control scheme enables the harvester to operate in both DPM and BCM by a time-multiplexing method, consuming low quiescent current of 240 nA.
Variable human minisatellite‐like regions in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome

Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRUs) are 40–100 bp DNA elements often found as tandem repeats and dispersed in intergenic regions of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex genomes. The M. tuberculosis H37Rv chromosome contains 41 MIRU loci. After polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analyses of these loci in 31 M. tuberculosis complex strains, 12 of them were found to display variations in tandem repeat copy numbers and, in most cases, sequence variations between repeat units as well. These features are reminiscent of those of certain human variable minisatellites. Of the 12 variable loci, only one was found to vary among genealogically distant BCG substrains, suggesting that these interspersed bacterial minisatellite‐like structures evolve slowly in mycobacterial populations.
Mapping of the dynamics induced by orthogonal optical injection in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

In this paper, the output characteristics of an oxide-confined AlGaAs-As quantum well vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) under orthogonal optical injection are mapped as a function of the strength of the optical injection and the detuning between the injection frequency and the free-running frequency of the solitary laser, for a very large range of frequency detuning (from -82 to 89 GHz). The injection light is polarized orthogonally with respect to the solitary VCSEL output light. As the injection strength increases the VCSEL switches to the master laser polarization. Polarization switching is accompanied by a rich nonlinear dynamics, including limit cycle, wave mixing, subharmonic resonance and period doubling route to chaos. Polarization switching is found with but also without injection locking. Injection locking occurs with the slave fundamental transverse mode or, for large positive detunings, with the first-order transverse mode.
Osteolysis: Medical and Surgical Approaches

Osteolysis is defined as the process of progressive destruction of periprosthetic bony tissue, characterized on serial radiographs as progressive radiolucent lines and/or cavitation at the implant-bone or cement-bone interface. Without proper treatment, osteolysis may progress to aseptic loosening and catastrophic failure of the implant. Osteolysis is a multifactorial process stemming from host, prosthesis, and surgical factors. Billions of submicron wear particles are generated at material interfaces that cause osteolysis. Wear particles are dispersed along the effective joint space, into bone, and throughout the adjacent soft tissues. Initially, patients may have no clinical symptoms despite radiographic evidence of osteolysis and can remain completely asymptomatic, even in the presence of substantial bone loss. Symptoms usually do not occur until the bone loss has reached the point of causing implant loosening, implant failure (fracture), or periprosthetic fracture. Radiographic images and standard examination provide limited information and almost always underestimate the amount of bone loss. Three-dimensional computed tomography is more sensitive and can monitor the volume of the lesion, however the trade-offs are its high cost and radiation exposure. The timing for treatment of periprosthetic osteolysis is controversial and the medical decision-making is debatable. Medical treatment seems to be attractive but there is no proven or approved drug therapy to prevent or inhibit periprosthetic osteolysis. We reviewed the medical and surgical options that are available for treatment of periprosthetic osteolysis.
Mass systematics for A=29-44 nuclei: The deformed A~32 region.

Further evidence for the presence of an anomaly in binding energies for the island of inversion'' centered at {ital Z}=11, {ital N}=21 is obtained by comparison of shell-model calculations to experiment. The calculations were done with a shell-model interaction that is applicable to nuclei with active valence nucleons in both the (1{ital s},0{ital d}) and (0{ital f},1{ital p}) major shells. This interaction is described in detail as are its predictions for binding energies and energy spectra of {ital Z}=8--20, {ital N}=18--25 nuclei. These calculations provide the background for the exploration of the island of inversion. '' The extent of the island'' and the magnitude of the anomaly is explored by calculating the binding energies of 2{h bar}{omega} excitations of neutrons from the (1{ital s},0{ital d}) shell to the (0{ital f},1{ital p}) shell relative to the 0{h bar}{omega} ground state. The reason why mixed (0+2){h bar}{omega} calculations are not considered reliable is addressed. Truncation schemes and a weak-coupling approximation are used to extend the range of the calculations. It is found that for {ital Z}=10--12, {ital N}=20--22 (and possibly {ital N}{gt}22) nuclei the lowest 2{h bar}{omega} state is more bound than the 0{h bar}{omega} ground state. The role of odd {ital n}more » {ital n}{h bar}{omega} excitations is considered and it is found that the 1{h bar}{omega} ground state always lies below that of 3{h bar}{omega}, and for {ital N}=19, 21, and 23, the lowest 1{h bar}{omega} state is in close competition with 2{h bar}{omega} for the lowest binding energy. Collectivity is considered via {ital E}2 observables and energy spectra for the 2{h bar}{omega} ground-state bands. The reason for the existence of the island'' is discussed. « less
PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Differential Experiences of Siblings in the Same Family as Predictors of Adolescent Sibling Personality Differences

In the area of personality development, environmental influences operate to make siblings in the same family different rather than similar to each other. The goal of the present study was to determine whether differential experience of siblings can be used to explain the marked personality differences of siblings. The Sibling Inventory of Differential Experience (SIDE) along with personality information (the EAS Temperament Inventory and questions about career expectations) was administered to 50 biological sibling pairs and 98 adoptive sibling pairs in adolescence and young adulthood. The results indicated that differential sibling interaction and differential peer characteristics as self-reported on the SIDE explain 6%-26% of the variance in sibling personality difference scores. For example, the sibling who reports more sociability as compared to his sibling also experiences more sibling closeness and more peer popularity as compared to his sibling. Comparison between adoptive and biological siblings indicates that the SIDE relations are mediated environmentally rather than genetically.
1. Dissection of the Vertebral Artery During a Basketball Game

Dissection of the vertebral artery represents a significant potential cause of strokes among young and middle-aged people. We present a case of dissection of the vertebral artery observed at the forensic autopsy of a professional basketball player who was suddenly taken ill during a practice game and died seven days after the event. A medico-legal autopsy was performed in order to establish an essential causal relationship between arterial dissection and basketball activity. No preceding trauma possibly contributing to the dissection was discovered. The histology of the arterial wall did not show specific alterations in the adventitia, the muscular layer, or the intima. In addition, the toxicological examination excluded any effects of drugs of abuse. We describe macroscopic and microscopic findings in the autopsy, and discuss possible mechanisms of the arterial rupture as well as the autopsy procedure in similar cases.
An Empirical Investigation of Ecommerce-Reputation-Escalation-as-a-Service

In online markets, a store’s reputation is closely tied to its profitability. Sellers’ desire to quickly achieve a high reputation has fueled a profitable underground business that operates as a specialized crowdsourcing marketplace and accumulates wealth by allowing online sellers to harness human laborers to conduct fake transactions to improve their stores’ reputations. We term such an underground market a seller-reputation-escalation (SRE) market. In this article, we investigate the impact of the SRE service on reputation escalation by performing in-depth measurements of the prevalence of the SRE service, the business model and market size of SRE markets, and the characteristics of sellers and offered laborers. To this end, we have infiltrated five SRE markets and studied their operations using daily data collection over a continuous period of 2 months. We identified more than 11,000 online sellers posting at least 219,165 fake-purchase tasks on the five SRE markets. These transactions earned at least $46,438 in revenue for the five SRE markets, and the total value of merchandise involved exceeded $3,452,530. Our study demonstrates that online sellers using the SRE service can increase their stores’ reputations at least 10 times faster than legitimate ones while about 25% of them were visibly penalized. Even worse, we found a much stealthier and more hazardous service that can, within a single day, boost a seller’s reputation by such a degree that would require a legitimate seller at least a year to accomplish. Armed with our analysis of the operational characteristics of the underground economy, we offer some insights into potential mitigation strategies. Finally, we revisit the SRE ecosystem 1 year later to evaluate the latest dynamism of the SRE markets, especially the statuses of the online stores once identified to launch fake-transaction campaigns on the SRE markets. We observe that the SRE markets are not as active as they were 1 year ago and about 17% of the involved online stores become inaccessible likely because they have been forcibly shut down by the corresponding E-commerce marketplace for conducting fake transactions.
An image watermarking scheme with hidden signatures

In recent years, digital watermarking has been introduced as a means of effectively protecting copyrights on digitized media such as image, audio and multimedia data. We present a watermarking technique for embedding digital seal images into a digital image, and apply this technique to each spatial and frequency domain of an image. Additionally, this technique does not require the original image to recover the seal image. This not only simplifies the encoding process but also makes up for the weak point which could be shown when an illegal attacker makes proving ownership difficult by creating a fake original. Experimental results show that the proposed watermarking technique is robust to various kinds of attacks.
Testosterone and phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors: new strategy for preventing endothelial damage in internal and sexual medicine?

Normal vascular endothelium is essential for the synthesis and release of substances affecting vascular tone (e.g. nitric oxide; NO), cell adhesion (e.g. endothelins, interleukins), and the homeostasis of clotting and fibrinolysis (e.g. plasminogen inhibitors, von Willebrand factor). The degeneration of endothelial integrity promotes adverse events (AEs) leading to increased atherogenesis and to the development of vascular systemic and penile end-organ disease. Testosterone (T) is an important player in the regulation of vascular tone through non-genomic actions exerted via blockade of extracellular-calcium entry or activation of potassium channels; also, adequate T concentrations are paramount for the regulation of phosphodiesterase type-5 (PDE5) expression and finally, for the actions exerted by hydrogen sulphide, a gas involved in the alternative pathway controlling vasodilator responses in penile tissue. It is known that an age-related decline of serum T is reported in approximately 20 to 30% of men whereas T deficiency is reported in up to 50% of men with metabolic syndrome or diabetes. A number of laboratory and human studies have shown the combination of T and other treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED), such as PDE5 inhibitors, to be more beneficial in patients with ED and hypogonadism, who fail monotherapy for sexual disturbances. The aim of this review is to show evidence on the role of T and PDE5 inhibitors, alone or in combination, as potential boosters of endothelial function in internal medicine diseases associated with reduced T or NO bioavailability, i.e. metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, hyperhomocysteinemia, that share common risk factors with ED. Furthermore, the possibility of such a strategy to prevent endothelial dysfunction in men at increased cardiovascular risk is discussed.
Formal and Simulation Models for a Phlebotomy Station Service System

The behavior of a central phlebotomy station for an out-patient medical care facility is analyzed by a formal service system model (queuing theory) and by a computer simulation model. Although the distributions of the intervals between successive patient arrivals and the duration of individual phlebotomies do not conform to the requirements of the formal model, some calculated system characteristics, such as the efficiencies of individual phlebotomists, agree quite closely with the results generated by simulation. The two models yield different values for the optimal number of phlebotomists in an econometric analysis, however.
DEPOLYMERISATION UNDER SUPERCRITICAL PROCESS CONDITIONS FOR AROMATIC CHEMICALS PRODUCTION

Valorisation of lignin plays a key role in the further development of biorefinery processes for biofuels and the production of biobased materials from lignocellulosic biomass. Today’s increased demand for alternatives to fossil carbon based products, such as the production of transportation biofuels and bulk “green” chemicals, expands the interest and the need to create added value to the unconverted lignin fraction. As a consequence of its poly-aromatic structure, lignin is the obvious candidate to serve as a source for aromatic chemicals. In this work organosolv hardwood lignin was converted in a mixture of super critical carbon dioxide, acetone and water (300 – 370°C, 100 bar) to aromatic monomeric compounds with a total yield of 10% based on dry lignin. Addition of formic acid increases the yield of aromatics from 7% to 10%. Main monomeric lignin derived products were 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, 4-hydroxy-3,5dimethoxybenzoic acid, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol and 2methoxyphenol. During this process a strong competition occurs between depolymerisation of lignin and recondensation of fragments. This leads to a residual lignin fraction representing 40% of the starting material consisting of a substantially reduced oxygen/carbon ratio and a similar structure to carbon black.
Virtual team user environments - a step from tele-cubicles towards distributed tele-collaboration in mediated workspaces

We introduce a new concept of an immersive 3D video-conference system and immersive tele-collaboration. Based on the principle of a shared virtual table environment (SVTE), the key features of the new system concept are explained and compared to the other SVTE approaches like tele-cubicles. Furthermore we present a complete system architecture based on MPEG-4 technology and discuss first implementations.
Study on processing hierarchical structures in relational databases within a distributed application

The paper focuses on presenting systematic design techniques for processing hierarchical structures: we deal with representation and data selection techniques, as well as with processing ones. We comparatively present these methods and discuss their run-time efficiency based on a dedicated benchmark. The paper also addresses methods for optimizing database access; in this respect, we briefly present some database optimization actions that we have performed consequent to log processing. Case studies are performed on AcademicInfo information system that we have designed and implemented. We reveal the advantages of parameterized stored procedures and of using MS SQL WITH statement in processing hierarchic structures.
Efficient Waveguide Mode Conversions by Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons at Terahertz Frequencies

In this paper, waveguide mode conversions in a parallel plate waveguide, rectangular waveguide, and circular waveguide are all demonstrated at terahertz frequencies. Different from the traditional ways to realize mode conversions, an ultracompact design method based on the inner-embedded subwavelength metallic gratings is provided. The principle of the method relies on modulating the phase velocities of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) supported on the gratings to generate π phase difference. Owing to the gradient matching the phase velocities of the waveguide modes and SSPPs, the efficiencies of the mode conversions are considerable. The output mode purities of the both demonstrations are very good. Besides, waveguide bend is also achieved by this method. The work in this paper hopes to establish a universal technique for compact waveguide mode control, especially in the terahertz frequency range.
Commentary: Computerised interpretation of fetal heart rate during labour (INFANT): a randomised controlled trial

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, 2 Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research, Cork, Ireland, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, Department of Mathematics and Department of Statistical Science, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, 5 School of Nursing and Midwifery, NUI Galway, Galway, Ireland
The effects of expectancy violations on early attention to race in an impression-formation paradigm

Previous research has demonstrated that early attentional components of the event-related potential (ERP) reflect differential attention to race during person perception. There is also evidence that inconsistency between stereotypic information following impression formation leads to greater neural processing in later ERP components. However, research has not examined how expectancy violations following impression formation affect the early attentional processing of race. The current study examined this issue by leading White participants to form impressions of targets based on positive or negative behaviors associated with stereotypes about Blacks or Whites, with the purpose of creating an expectation of Black or White targets. Following each impression formation trial, a target face whose race either violated or confirmed this expectancy was displayed. Participants indicated whether this target could have performed the previous behavior. Results demonstrated that reaction times and early attentional components of the ERP varied as a function of the match between expectancy and the race of target faces, with stereotypic expectancy violating trials yielding longer reaction times and greater N1 and N2 amplitudes than expectancy-confirming trials. Implications for impression formation and person perception are discussed.