Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecularly imprinted cryogel for L‐glutamic acid separation

A molecular recognition based L‐glutamic acid (L‐GLU) imprinted cryogel was prepared for L‐GLU separation via chromatographic applications. The novel functional monomer N‐methacryloyl‐(L)‐glutamic acid‐Fe3+ (MAGA‐Fe3+) was synthesized to be complex with L‐GLU. The L‐GLU imprinted cryogel was prepared by free radical polymerization under semifrozen conditions in the presence of a monomer‐template complex MAGA‐Fe3+‐L‐GLU. The binding mechanism of MAGA‐Fe3+ and L‐GLU was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in detail. FTIR analyses on the synthesized MAGA‐Fe3+‐GLU complex reveals bridging bidentate and monodentate binding modes of Fe3+ in complex with the carboxylate groups of the glutamate residues. The template L‐GLU could be reversibly detached from the cryogel to form the template cavities using a 100 mM solution of HNO3. The amount of adsorbed L‐GLU was detected using the phenyl isothiocyanate method. The L‐GLU adsorption capacity of the cryogel decreased drastically from 11.3 to 6.4 μmol g−1 as the flow rate increased from 0.5 to 4.0 mL min−1. The adsorption onto the L‐GLU imprinted cryogel was highly pH dependent due to electrostatic interaction between the L‐GLU and MAGA‐Fe3+. The PHEMAGA‐Fe3+‐GLU cryogel exhibited high selectivity to the corresponding guest amino acids (i.e., D‐GLU, L‐ASN, L‐GLN, L‐, and D‐ASP). Finally, the L‐GLU imprinted cryogel was recovered and reused many times, with no significant decrease in their adsorption capacities. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 2012
Surgical Treatment of Acute Knee Dislocations

Knee dislocation is a rare and devastating injury, and the current literature is sparse regarding its outcomes. Significant controversy exists surrounding treatment methods, timing, and technique. In this report, we describe our preferred approach to the acute management of a dislocated knee, consisting of early simultaneous reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament and posterior cruciate ligament with repair or reconstruction of the medial and lateral structures. Despite our promising results with this technique, further studies are required to determine the most appropriate treatment algorithms for dislocated knees.
The Influence of Oil Price Shocks on China's Macroeconomy: A Perspective of International Trade

International trade has been playing an extremely significant role in China over the last 20 years. This paper is aimed at investigating and understanding the relationship between Chinaâ€™smacro-economy and oil price fromthis newperspective. We find strong evidence to suggest that the increase of Chinaâ€™s price level, resulting fromoil price shocks, is statistically less than that of its main trade partnersâ€™. This helps us to understand the confused empirical results estimated within the SVAR framework and sheds light on recent data. More specifically, as for the empirical results, we find Chinaâ€™s output level is positively correlated with the oil price, and oil price shocks slightly appreciate the RMB against the US dollar. Positive correlation between Chinaâ€™s output and oil price shocks presumably results from the drop in Chinaâ€™s relative price induced by oil price shocks, which is inclined to stimulate Chinaâ€™s goods and service exports. The slight appreciation of the RMB could be justified by the drop in Chinaâ€™s relative price, which is indicated by economic theory. Moreover, constructing a simple model, our new perspective also helps us to understand the recent fact that together with the dramatic surge of the world oil price, while the oil imports of the other major countries (especially the largest oil import country US) in the world steadily decline or remain stable, Chinaâ€™s oil imports, in contrast, have kept rising steeply since the year 2004.
Environmental Contributions to Social and Mental Health Outcomes Following Pediatric Stroke

Mental health and social outcomes following acquired brain injury (ABI) in children are often considered to be due to brain insult, but other factors, such as environment, may also play a role. We assessed mental health and social function in children with chronic illness, with and without stroke (a form of ABI), and typically developing (TD) controls to examine environmental influences on these outcomes. We recruited 36 children diagnosed with stroke, 15 with chronic asthma, and 43 TD controls. Children and parents completed questionnaires rating child mental health and social function and distal and proximal environment. TD children had significantly less internalizing and social problems than stroke and asthma groups, and engaged in more social activities than children with stroke. Poorer parent mental health predicted more internalizing and social problems and lower social participation. Family dysfunction was associated with internalizing problems. Lower parent education contributed to children’s social function. Children with chronic illness are at elevated risk of poorer mental health and social function. Addition of brain insult leads to poorer social participation. Quality of home environment contributes to children’s outcomes, suggesting that supporting parent and family function provides an opportunity to optimize child mental health and social outcomes.
A study of estimation and communication tradeoff using an event-based approach

In this paper, we consider estimating the state of a linear time-invariant system over a network subject to limited sensor communications. A sensor locally computes the state estimate for the system from its observations and send it to a remote estimator under the constraint that the total transmission times are no more than a pre-specified value. The sensor needs to decide when to send the local estimate in order to minimize the average estimation error covariance at the remote estimator. Offline scheduling and online scheduling policies are two typical solutions. The main contribution of this paper is that we propose a novel form of hybrid scheduling policies, which combine the two conventional ones and demonstrate that the estimator performance is improved when compared with the optimal offline schedule while the computation complexity is reduced when compared with the optimal online schedule. Therefore, the proposed schedules provide a trade-off between the two classic approaches in terms of estimation quality and computation complexity.
Direct Data-Driven Control of Constrained Systems

In model-based control design, one often has to describe the plant by a linear model. Deriving such a model poses issues of parameterization, estimation, and validation of the model before designing the controller. In this paper, a direct data-driven control method is proposed for designing controllers that can handle constraints without deriving a model of the plant and directly from data. A hierarchical control architecture is used, in which an inner linear time-invariant or linear parameter-varying controller is first designed to match a simple and a priori specified closed-loop model. Then, an outer model predictive controller is synthesized to handle input/output constraints and to enhance the performance of the inner loop. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated by means of a simulation and an experimental example. Practical implementation issues are also discussed.
Abdominal aortic calcific deposits are associated with increased risk for congestive heart failure: the Framingham Heart Study.

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine the association of aortic atherosclerosis, detected by calcific deposits in the abdominal aorta seen on lateral lumbar radiographs, with risk for congestive heart failure (CHF). BACKGROUND Although the association between atherosclerotic coronary heart disease (CHD) and CHF has been extensively studied, there are limited prospective data regarding the association of extracoronary atherosclerosis with CHF. METHODS Lateral lumbar radiographs were obtained in 2467 Framingham Heart Study participants (1030 males and 1437 females) free of CHF in 1968. An abdominal aortic calcium (AAC) score was calculated for each subject based on the extent of calcium in the abdominal aorta. Proportional hazards models were used to test for associations between AAC score and CHF risk. RESULTS There were 141 cases of CHF in men and 169 cases in women. In men, the multivariable-adjusted risk for CHF was increased for the second (hazards ratio [HR] 1.5, 95% CI 0.9-2.5) and third (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.7) tertiles compared with the lowest tertile. Similarly, in women, the multivariable-adjusted risk for CHF was increased for the second (HR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.9) and third (HR 3.2, 95% CI 2.0-5.1) tertiles compared with the lowest tertile. After further adjustment for CHD occurring prior to the onset of CHF, risk remained significantly increased for both men and women. CONCLUSIONS Atherosclerosis of the abdominal aorta is an important risk factor for CHF, independent of CHD and other risk factors. Noninvasive detection and quantification of atherosclerosis may be useful in identifying high-risk individuals likely to benefit from strategies aimed at preventing CHF. The possibility of a link between AAC and vascular compliance deserves further study.
The Scaffold Protein CNK1 Interacts with the Tumor Suppressor RASSF1A and Augments RASSF1A-induced Cell Death*

The connector enhancer of KSR (CNK) is a multidomain scaffold protein discovered in Drosophila, where it is necessary for Ras activation of the Raf kinase. Recent studies have shown that CNK1 also interacts with RalA and Rho and participates in some aspects of signaling by these GTPases. Herein we demonstrate a novel aspect of CNK1 function, i.e. reexpression of CNK1 suppresses tumor cell growth and promotes apoptosis. As shown previously for apoptosis induced by Ki-Ras(G12V), CNK1-induced apoptosis is suppressed by a dominant inhibitor of the mammalian sterile 20 kinases 1 and (MST1/MST2). Immunoprecipitates of MST1 endogenous to LoVo colon cancer cells contain endogenous CNK1; however, no association of these two polypeptides can be detected in a yeast two-hybrid assay. CNK1 does, however, bind directly to the RASSF1A and RASSF1C polypeptides, constitutive binding partners of the MST1/2 kinases. Deletion of the MST1 carboxyl-terminal segment that mediates its binding to RASSF1A/C eliminates the association of MST1 with CNK1. Coexpression of CNK1 with the tumor suppressive isoform, RASSF1A, greatly augments CNK1-induced apoptosis, whereas the nonsuppressive RASSF1C isoform is without effect on CNK1-induced apoptosis. Overexpression of CNK1-(1–282), a fragment that binds RASSF1A but is not proapoptotic, blocks the apoptosis induced by CNK1 and by Ki-Ras(G12V). Thus, in addition to its positive role in the proliferative outputs of active Ras, the CNK1 scaffold protein, through its binding of a RASSF1A·MST complex, also participates in the proapoptotic signaling initiated by active Ras.
Some Aryl Substituted 2-(4-Nitrophenyl)-4-oxo-4-phenylbutanoates and 3-(4-Nitrophenyl)-1-phenyl-1,4-butanediols and Related Compounds as Inhibitors of Rat Liver Microsomal Retinoic Acid Metabolising Enzymes

Some aryl substituted methyl 2-(4-nitrophenyl)-4-oxo-4-phenylbutanoates generally had poor to moderate inhibitory potency (4–73%) towards rat liver microsomal retinoic acid metabolising enzymes compared with ketoconazole (80%). Conversion to the corresponding 3-(4-nitrophenyl)-1-aryl-1,4-butanediols considerably increased potency (29–78%). The 4-iodophenyl analogue, (30) and the 4-iodo- (45) and 4-methoxyphenyl (46) analogues, were the most potent in both series respectively. The corresponding 5-membered lactones, in the three instances examined, were also potent (52%, 67%, 69%) as were the cis- and trans-isomers of the 5-membered tetrahydrofuran (77%, 65% respectively). Beckmann rearrangement of the oxime methyl 4-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-hydroxyimino-2-(4-nitrophenyl)butanoate (54) gave the expected products (55) and (56), which were potent inhibitors (75%, 74% respectively) of the enzyme whereas the oxime was an activator.
Soccer Boots Elevate Plantar Pressures in Elite Male Soccer Professionals

Objective:The present study measured the difference in peak plantar pressure between running shoes and soccer shoes in male soccer professionals [mean (SD): age, 23 (4) years; height, 184 (7) cm; weight, 81 (6) kg]. Design:Case series. Setting:Institutional study. Participants:A total of 17 elite male soccer professionals [mean (SD): age, 23 (4) years; height, 184 (7) cm; weight 81 (6) kg]. Interventions:Fifteen right and left steps with sensor-loaded insoles (99 sensors, 50 Hz) while running (3.3 m/s) in running shoes and then chosen soccer shoes (12-stud profile). The players were equipped with running shoes from the supplier without any medical supervision. Main Outcome Measures:Changes of peak plantar pressure for 9 defined foot portions between soccer boots and running shoes. Results:A statistically significant increase of peak plantar pressure was found for the lateral midfoot (P < 0.001 for preferred and nonpreferred foot), the first metatarsal head (preferred foot: P < 0.001, nonpreferred foot: P = 0.002), the metatarsal heads 4/5 (preferred foot: P = 0.001, nonpreferred foot: P = 0.002), and the big toe (preferred foot: P = 0.001, nonpreferred foot: P < 0.001), but not for the lateral and medial hindfoot, the medial midfoot, and lesser toes. Conclusions:In running, soccer boots generate excessive foot loadings predominantly under the lateral midfoot, as compared with running shoes. Players should be trained with a thoughtfully designed workout regimen that allows performing as many straight running exercises as possible in running shoes instead of soccer boots. This may help to prevent fifth metatarsal stress fractures in elite male soccer players.
Nutrition and the immune system

1. Infectious diseases reduce productivity and diminish animal welfare. 2. Appropriate nutrition may aid in minimising the incidence of diseases by enhancing immunity. 3. An understanding of the pressures imposed by evolution that underlie poultry nutrition as well as those which underlie immunity provides focus to the field of nutritional immunology. Additional understanding is provided by knowing the specific cellular mechanisms by which diet affects immunity, and how these mechanisms pertain to specific nutrients and pathogens. 4. These approaches indicate that higher inclusion rates of all nutrients are not always better and that the traditional ideas of adding a surfeit of specific nutrients to improve immunity does not usually serve us well. 5. Understanding the nuances of nutrition and immunity is important for optimising bird health and productivity, and will be an important contributor towards fulfilling the consumer's conflicting demands for more natural production and better animal welfare. 2007 Gordon Memorial Lecture: delivered at the Spring Meeting of the WPSA (UK Branch) March 2007, in Stockport
The LEGO approach for achieving max-min capacity in reciprocal multipoint networks

Locally enabled, globally optimized (LEGO) wireless networks offer paradigm shifting performance enhancements for wireless networks equipped with multiple antennas. In this paper attention is focused on some convergence aspects of an improved version of the LEGO algorithm. A technique is presented which is guaranteed to converge to a local optimum of a newly formulated network objective function, that minimizes the total network transmit power subject to arbitrary channel capacity constraints. Networks that possess channel reciprocity can efficiently implement the LEGO algorithm using highly localized information, obviating the need for complex network controllers. Moreover the LEGO algorithm can efficiently exploit MIMO channel and network topology diversity to multiply the capacity of the network. A numerical experiment is presented which suggests several orders of magnitude performance improvement over more conventional networks.
Microaerophilic Conditions Permit to Mimic in VitroEvents Occurring during in Vivo Helicobacter pylori Infection and to Identify Rho/Ras-associated Proteins in Cellular Signaling*

Molecular dissection of the mechanisms underlyingHelicobacter pylori infection suffers from the lack of in vitro systems mimicking in vivoobservations. A system was developed whereby human epithelial cells (Caco-2) grown as polarized monolayers and bacteria can communicate with each other under culture conditions optimal for each partner. Caco-2 cells grown on filter supports were inserted in a vertical position into diffusion chambers equilibrated with air and 5% CO2 at their basolateral surface (aerophilic conditions) and 5% CO2, 5% O2, 90% N2(microaerophilic conditions) in the apical compartment. Remarkably, the epithelial polarized layer was stable under these asymmetric culture conditions for at least 24 h, and the presence of Caco-2 cells was necessary to maintain H. pylori growth. In contrast to previous studies conducted with non-polarized Caco-2 cells and other cell lines kept under aerophilic conditions, we found H. pylori-dependent stimulation of cytokine secretion (MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractantprotein-1), GRO-α (growth-regulated oncogene-α), RANTES (regulated on activationnormal T cell expressed andsecreted)). This correlated with nuclear translocation of NF-κB p50 and p65 subunits. Tyrosine phosphorylation of nine cellular proteins was induced or enhanced; we identified p120 RasGAP , p190 RhoGAP , p62dok (downstream of tyrosinekinases), and cortactin as H. pylori-inducible targets. Moreover, reduction of H. pylori urease expression was observed in adherent bacteria as compared with bacteria in suspension. In addition to mimicking several observations seen in the inflamed gastric mucosa, the novel in vitro system was allowed to underscore complex cellular events not seen in classicalin vitro analyses of microaerophilic bacteria-epithelial cell cross-talk.
Experimental models for predicting drug absorption and metabolism

Introduction: For orally administered drugs, their intestinal absorption and hepatic metabolism are key players for determining a drug's systemic bioavailability and thus therapeutic effect. Drug absorption and metabolism are both complicated processes, with many physicochemical and physiological factors involved. Understanding the contribution of each of these processes is essential in regulating a drug's level in the bloodstream and in maintaining its optimum therapeutic outcome and safety. Several animal models have been established for studying the intestine and liver as barriers to drug delivery and systemic bioavailability. Areas covered: This review provides an overview of available animal and cell-based models that have been used to characterize and predict drug intestinal absorption and hepatic clearance in humans. Among the most commonly used models to study drug intestinal absorption are in-vitro Caco-2 cells, in situ rat intestinal perfusion and the in vivo animal models. On the other hand, hepatic clearance is mostly studied using in vitro techniques. The authors also review in silico approaches which play significant role during early pharmaceutical research. Expert opinion: The current models developed have greatly contributed to our knowledge of drug interactions with physiological factors, while also useful in the prediction of drug intestinal absorption and metabolism. However, much work remains in this area for the successful extrapolation of in vitro–in vivo data and in furthering the development of reliable and accurate models.
Lineage-Specific Trisomy 21 in a Neonate With Resolving Transient Myeloproliferative Syndrome

The cellular events that lead to transient myeloproliferative syndrome (TMS) in patients with trisomy 21 mosaicism confined to the hematopoietic system are poorly understood. The authors attempt to define the event that led to the development of TMS in a single patient with clonal trisomy 21. A phenotypically normal neonate with clonal trisomy 21 is described. At the time when his TMS was resolving, fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis was performed on cell populations sorted by flow cytometry to determine what cell populations contained trisomic cells. Trisomy 21 was found in cells of the erythrocytic and monocytic lineages, but not in the stem cells, progenitor compartment, megakaryocytes, lymphocytes, or neutrophils. These results support the hypothesis that, in this neonate, trisomy 21 occurred in a multipotent hematopoietic progenitor, and a subsequent event led to the appearance of the blast population.
Role of disulfide bonding in outer membrane structure and permeability in Chlamydia trachomatis

The outer membrane of Chlamydia trachomatis can be efficiently solubilized by a variety of mild detergents in the presence of the reducing agent dithiothreitol. This allows purification of the chlamydial major outer membrane protein at high yield in very gentle conditions by using its differential solubility in Sarkosyl and octylglucoside in the presence of dithiothreitol. The major outer membrane protein of the L2 serovar is an acidic protein with a pI of ca. 5. It contains three cysteine residues that allow it to form a disulfide-linked proteinaceous network responsible for the characteristic rigid outer membrane of the elementary body. By the use of an in vitro reconstitution assay developed by Nikaido and his co-workers, it was shown that the outer membrane contains pores with an "exclusion limit" between molecular weights 850 and 2,250. In addition, the "opening-closing" of the pores was shown to be controlled through a simple reduction-oxidation mechanism. A model that outlines the role of disulfide bonding in the physiology of chlamydial development is presented.
Identifying Expectation Transformation in a Housing Market under Different Exogenous Conditions: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach

This paper has built a GP (Genetic programming) - based Agent-based model to simulate the expectation transformations in a housing market under different conditions. This paper sets one group of control experiments based on Normal Base Case. The control experiments based on Normal Base Case reveals impacts of trading psychology, population growth, income growth, supply growth, tax and monetary policies. We reveal in the housing market a dilemma, that the rise of house price can increase society wealth and lower poverty rate, but it also raise the unevenness of wealth distribution. Based on the work of this paper, it is possible to simulate a reality-alike situation and to analysis housing markets for a certain application case.
Impact study of energy storage for optimal energy scheduling in microgrid

Microgrid is one essential part of study in smart grid. In this paper, an optimal energy management in microgrid considering the impact of energy storage system is studied. The purpose is to minimize the total cost, improve the renewable energy utilization efficiency and maximize the profits gained by a microgrid. The model for this problem is found as a multi-parametric programming constrained by dynamic programming. In this study, an advanced dynamic programming is proposed in solving this model. This approach is tested on a typical microgrid case in different operation conditions. At last, the results are presented and conclusions are drawn.
Endovascular Management of Coarctation of the Aorta

Untreated thoracic aortic coarctation leads to early death predominantly because of hypertension and its cardiovascular sequelae. Surgical treatment has been available for > 50 years and has improved hypertension and survival. More recently, endovascular techniques have offered a minimally invasive alternative to traditional open repair. Early and intermediate results suggest angioplasty and stenting have an important role in the management of aortic coarctation, particularly in adults and older children.