Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A glucose-responsive complex polymeric micelle enabling repeated on–off release and insulin protection

We developed a glucose-responsive complex polymeric micelle (CPM) through the self-assembly of two types of diblock copolymers, poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(aspartic acid-co-aspartamidophenylboronic acid) (PEG-b-P(Asp-co-AspPBA)) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(aspartic acid-co-aspartamidophenylboronic acid) (PNIPAM-b-P(Asp-co-AspPBA)). By controlling the weight ratio between PNIPAM and PEG (WPNIPAM/WPEG = 6/4), the block copolymers form complex micelles with a novel core–shell–corona structure. By following this structure, the continuous PNIPAM shell collapsed on the glucose-responsive P(Asp-co-AspPBA) core. As a result, the CPM exhibits a reversible swelling in response to changes in the glucose concentration, enabling the repeated on–off release of insulin regulated by glucose level. Furthermore, the CPM could effectively protect the encapsulated insulin against protease degradation. Therefore, this glucose-responsive CPM provides a simple and powerful strategy to construct a self-regulated insulin delivery system for diabetes treatment.
Effects of β-endorphin on plasma glucose levels.

Healthy, and insulin-deficient (streptozotocin-induced diabetic, STZ) Sprague-Dawley rats were used to investigate the effects of different doses of β-endorphin (25 and 50 µg/kg) on plasma β-endorphin, insulin, glucagon, and glucose levels at 15- and 30-min time points. In experimental groups, plasma β-endorphin levels were higher at the 15-min than at the 30-min time point in healthy rats; however, in STZ-diabetic rats, β-endorphin levels were lower at 15 min than at 30 min, indicating that intraperitoneal absorption of β-endorphin differed between healthy and insulin-deficient rats. β-endorphin did not affect plasma glucose, insulin, or glucagon at either dose in the healthy group. In the insulin-deficient rats, β-endorphin at 50 µg/kg reduced plasma glucose levels at the 30-min time point compared to the 25 µg/kg dose, without affecting plasma insulin. Moreover, β-endorphin at 50 μg/kg decreased plasma glucagon levels at the 15-min time point in comparison to the 25 μg/kg dose in insulin-deficient rats. Plasma glucose levels may be reduced in insulin-deficient rats at high β-endorphin levels regardless of insulin status.
Short Communication: Associations between chemical composition and physical properties of milk and colostrum with feed efficiency in beef cows

Montanholi, Y. R. , Lam, S. , Peripolli, V. , Vander Voort, G. and Miller, S. P. 2013. Short Communication: Associations between chemical composition and physical properties of milk and colostrum with feed efficiency in beef cows. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 487-492. Lactogenesis is an energetically demanding process influencing efficiency of feed utilization. Individual energetic expenditure variation may exist in this process and could be accessed through the properties of milk and colostrum in beef cows. Properties of both secretions were analyzed for fat, protein, and lactose contents. Freezing point and somatic cell count were determined in milk and specific gravity and total solids in colostrum. Associations between feed efficiency and milk freezing point, milk lactose content, and colostrum specific gravity were noticed. This link between milk and colostrum properties with feed efficiency could be considered for the improvement of feed efficiency.
Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health: Sex-Disaggregated Associations Among Adolescents and Young Adults in Uganda

Experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization have well-established associations with poor mental health. There is also burgeoning evidence regarding the association between IPV perpetration and mental health in a small number of countries. However, there is a paucity of data about the gendered differences for these IPV experiences within sub-Saharan African. This study examines the association between IPV victimization, perpetration, and mental health outcomes for male and female adolescents and young adults in Uganda. Data on IPV perpetration were available for a nationally representative sample of 1,373 males and 2,022 females in Uganda. Observations were weighted to be representative of 13- to 24-year-olds in Uganda. Study procedures used multivariate logistic regression models to examine associations between ever-perpetration of IPV and four self-reported mental health variables: severe sadness, feelings of worthlessness, suicide ideation, and alcohol abuse. Models controlled for age, marital status, schooling, and past exposure to violence. Models were sex-disaggregated to examine sex-specific associations. Standard errors were adjusted for sampling stratification and clustering. Data analysis showed that males were more than twice as likely as females to perpetrate IPV (14% vs. 6%, respectively; p < .001), while odds of perpetration for both sexes were higher for those ever experiencing IPV (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 12.12 for males; aOR=4.73 for females). Male perpetrators had 2.93 greater odds of experiencing suicidal ideation (95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.78, 4.82], p < .001) and increased drinking behaviors (2.21, 95% CI: [1.39, 3.50], p < .001) when compared with non-perpetrating males. In addition, female perpetrators had 2.59 times greater odds of suicidal ideation (95% CI: [1.34,4.99], p < .01), as compared with non-perpetrating females. Our findings among youth and adolescents demonstrated associated but different experiences for males and females. Findings indicate the importance of understanding the relationship between IPV victimization and perpetration, and addressing these correlates with a gender-sensitive perspective to inform policy and programming.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts-derived gamma-glutamyltransferase 5 promotes tumor growth and drug resistance in lung adenocarcinoma

Gamma-glutamyltransferase 5 (GGT5) is a member of the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase gene family with the capacity of cleaving the gamma-glutamyl moiety of glutathione, but its role in cancer progression has never been revealed. In this study, we found that gene GGT5 was highly expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in lung adenocarcinoma, predicting the unfavorable survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Cell growth, foci formation and spheres formation analyses showed that cancer cell proliferation was attenuated under treatment with the conditioned media from GGT5-silenced CAFs. Moreover, high expression of GGT5 in CAFs enhanced the drug resistance of cancer cells by increasing intracellular glutathione and reducing the intracellular reactive oxygen species in cancer cells. In mouse xenograft model, we proved that targeting GGT5 with a small-molecule inhibitor GGsTop could inhibit tumor growth and increase the chemosensitivity of cancer cells. Taken together, our study illuminates that high level of GGT5 in CAFs contributes to cancer cell survival and drug resistance, indicating that GGT5 may be a promising therapeutic target in lung adenocarcinoma.
Antibacterial activity and composition of the essential oils of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. and Myrtus communis L. growing in Northern Cyprus

Water-distilled essential oils from leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. and Myrtus communis L. , collected from Northern Cyprus, were analysed by GC-MS. The major constituents of the essential oil from E. camaldulensis Dehn. were ethanone (25.36%), eucalyptol (13.73%), -caryophyllene (11.55%) and carvacrol (9.05%). Eucalyptol (50.13%) was identified as the main constituent of the essential oil of Myrtus communis L. The other important components were linalool (12.65%), -terpineol (7.57%) and limonene (4.26%). M. communis showed some activity on Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria while E. camaldulensis was found to have a low activity. The higher efficacy of M. communis was confirmed by the agar dilution method.
Effects of Salvia officinalis in the liver : relevance of glutathione levels

Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae, common sage) is an aromatic plant that grows in Portugal well known for its medical properties. Antioxidant and antidiabetic effects are among the medicinal properties attributed to this plant. However, both still lack of biological experimental confirmation. Since sage compounds, after gastrointestinal absorption, first pass through the liver, giving an opportunity to accumulate to considerable concentrations, the antioxidant and antidiabetic studies reported here focused on the liver. In addition, the liver is a biotransforming organ, susceptible to toxic effects of xenobiotics and affected by several liver diseases where oxidative stress is known to be involved. Therefore, these studies allowed us to observe, besides the benefits of sage consumption to the liver, the possible toxic effects of sage and interactions with other drugs. Three different extracts of sage were studied: the essential oil (EO), a methanolic extract and a water extract (prepared as a tea). In chapter 2, sage EO was tested in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes. No direct antioxidant effects were observed in liver cells. On the contrary, at higher concentrations (more than 2 μl/ml), sage EO induced significant cell death, which was accompanied by GSH (glutathione – reduced form) depletion but not by lipid peroxidation. The GSH depletion induced by sage EO was probably an important mechanism that explains EO toxic effects. Then, after an in vivo experiment with mice, where sage tea drinking (for 14 days) improved the liver antioxidant status (chapter 3), the direct effects of sage were studied on HepG2 cells (a human hepatoma cell line) in chapter 4. Sage extracts protected against cell death induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide – a model of oxidative stress – revealing their direct antioxidant effects at cellular level. Sage was able to act at a cell critical parameter, the GSH levels, preventing GSH depletion. The cytoprotective effect of sage was found to be dependent on its composition in phenolic compounds and their antiradical activity. Also in chapter 4, not only did sage extracts prevent GSH depletion in a situation of oxidative stress, they also increased basal GSH levels in HepG2 cells. This fact indicated a capacity of sage extracts to improve basal cell antioxidant defences. The increase in basal GSH levels may possibly have happened by induction of de novo glutathione synthesis, which was corroborated by a different set of experiments using rat hepatocytes in culture (chapter 3). In that study, sage tea given in vivo restored hepatocyte GSH levels after collagenase isolation to higher levels when compared with controls. Sage tea was, in addition, able to induce significantly the activities of GST (chapter 3), GPox and NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase
Femtosecond Pulse Ablation Assisted Mg-ZnO Nanoparticles for UV-Only Emission

The need for improved UV emitting luminescent materials underscored by applications in optical communications, sterilization and medical technologies is often addressed by wide bandgap semiconducting oxides. Among these, the Mg-doped ZnO system is of particular interest as it offers the opportunity to tune the UV emission by engineering its bandgap via doping control. However, both the doped system and its pristine congener, ZnO, suffer from being highly prone to parasitic defect level emissions, compromising their efficiency as light emitters in the ultraviolet region. Here, employing the process of femtosecond pulsed laser ablation in a liquid (fs-PLAL), we demonstrate the systematic control of enhanced UV-only emission in Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles using both photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectroscopies. The ratio of luminescence intensities corresponding to near band edge emission to defect level emission was found to be six-times higher in Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles as compared to pristine ZnO. Insights from UV-visible absorption and Raman analysis also reaffirm this defect suppression. This work provides a simple and effective single-step methodology to achieve UV-emission and mitigation of defect emissions in the Mg-doped ZnO system. This is a significant step forward in its deployment for UV emitting optoelectronic devices.
A New Nasal Restriction Device Called FeelBreathe® Improves Breathing Patterns in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients during Exercise

A device called FeelBreathe (FB)® was designed, developed, and patented for inspiratory muscle training. The main aim was to determine the acute responses on lung ventilation, gas exchange, and heart rate during exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with and without the use of FB. In this study, a randomized cross-over trial was performed with 18 men diagnosed with COPD (FEV1 between 30% and 70% of its predicted value). Each participant randomly conducted two trials with 30 min of rest between them with the same protocol on a treadmill for 10 min at a constant rate of 50% of VO2peak. Each test was performed randomly and in a crossover randomized design in two different conditions: (1) oronasal breathing; and (2) nasal breathing with FB (nasal ventilatory flow restriction device). It was observed that FB had positive effects on dynamic hyperinflation, breathing pattern, and breathing efficiency, with higher expiratory and inspiratory time. Despite these differences, blood oxygen saturation percentage, oxygen uptake, and heart rate showed a similar response for both conditions during exercise. The results suggest that exercise performed with FB improved ventilatory responses compared to the oronasal mode in COPD patients. This new tool could be used during most daily tasks and exercise programs.
Küçük Ruminant Vebas› Saptanan Keçilerde Serum Vitamin C Düzeyleri

The role of vitamin C in the medical treatment of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) was investigated by measuring the serum vitamin C levels in goats with PPR. Fifteen goats 5-6 months old with PPR (sick group) and 15 healthy goats 9-10 months old (control group) were used. All the animals used in the study were systematically and clinically examined and blood samples were obtained for white blood cell counts and serum vitamin C levels. The white blood cell counts were detected using Thoma microslides. Serum vitamin C levels were measured by the phosphotungstic acid method with Schimadzu UV-1208, UV-VIS Spectrophotometer. The differences in average body temperature, respiration rate, rumen activity and serum vitamin C levels of the animals in the control group and sick group was found to be significant (p<0.001) and also a significant difference between the groups was found in terms of pulse rate and white blood cell counts (p<0.01). In conclusion, because of the low serum vitamin C levels in animals with PPR, administration of vitamin C appears to be useful for increasing body resistance and for activation of the immune defence system.
Zinc, Lead and Cadmium Tolerance, Uptake and Accumulation by the Common Reed,Phragmites australis(Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel

Abstract Zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) tolerance in populations of seedlings of Phragmites australis raised from seeds collected from a mine site (Plombieres, Belgium) contaminated with Zn, Pb and Cd and three ‘clean’ sites (Felixstowe, UK; Wisbech, UK; and Mai Po, Hong Kong) were studied under glasshouse conditions. Small differences were found between the metal-contaminated population and the three ‘clean’ populations when seedlings were grown in 1.0 μg ml −1 Zn and 10.0 μg ml −1 Pb treatment solutions. In general, however, different populations of seedlings showed similar growth responses, metal uptake and indices of Zn, Pb and Cd tolerance when cultured in the same metal-contaminated media for 89 d or in the same metal treatment solutions (ZnSO 4 :1.0 and 4.0 μg ml −1 Zn; Pb(NO 3 ) 2 : 10.0 and 25.0 μg ml −1 Pb; CdSO 4 : 0.5 and 1.0 μg ml −1 Cd) for 3 weeks. There was insufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that the metal-contaminated population has evolved to a Zn-, Pb- or Cd-tolerant ecotype but the results indicated some differentiation between the populations with that from Hong Kong being the least productive under the experimental conditions used. The implications of the findings on selection of provenances for use in constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment are discussed.
Terpens from aerial parts of Euphorbia splendida.

Euphorbia splendida Mobayen (Euphorbiaceae) is one of the Euphorbia species that has not been studied so far. The aerial parts of this plant was collected from Arak, Iran and extracted with methanol (by maceration). The dried extract was subjected to exhaustive separation by column chromatography and preparative TLC. Two terpens, a lupane-type triterpenoid and a diterpene with a tricylic lathyrane skeletone, were isolated and purified and identified as 3-28-dihydroxylup-20(29)-ene (betulin) and decipinone respectively for the first time from this plant. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods including 1 and 2 D-NMR, IR, UV and MS. Key words: Chromatography, diterpene, triterpen, betulin, decipinone.
Courts

The preceding chapter considered the foundations of judicial review in the EU. The discussion now turns to the EU Courts. The way in which the principles of review have developed has been affected by the jurisdictional divide between the CJEU and GC, and between these Courts and national courts. It will be argued that a necessary condition for an effective regime of judicial control is the existence of a rational judicial architecture, embracing the CJEU, GC, national courts, and agency boards of appeal.
Concordance among stream assemblages and spatial autocorrelation along a fragmented gradient

Patterns of spatial autocorrelation of biota and distributional similarity (concordance) between assemblages of different organism groups have important implications in both theoretical ecology and biodiversity conservation. Here we report environmental gradients and spatial distribution patterns of taxonomic composition among stream fish, benthic macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages along a fragmented stream in south‐western France. We quantified spatial patterns of lotic assemblage structure along this stream, and we tested for concordance in distribution patterns among the three taxonomic groups. Our results showed that both environmental characteristics and stream assemblages were spatially autocorrelated. For stream fish and diatom assemblages, these patterns reflected assemblage changes along the longitudinal stream gradient, whereas environmental variables and benthic macroinvertebrates exhibited a more patchy spatial pattern. Cross‐taxa concordance was significant between stream fish and diatoms, and between stream fish and benthic macroinvertebrates. The assemblage concordance between stream fish and diatoms could be attributed to similar responses along the longitudinal gradient, whereas those between stream fish and benthic macroinvertebrates may result from biotic interactions. Based on potential dispersal capacities of taxa, our results validated the hypotheses that weakly dispersing taxa exhibit greater concordance than highly dispersing ones and that dispersal capacities affect how taxonomic groups respond to their local environment. Both diatoms and highly dispersing stream fish were affected by stream fragmentation (i.e. the number of dams between sites), while the effect of fragmentation was not significant for invertebrates that fly well in their adult stage, thus emphasizing the importance of the way of dispersal. These results suggest that addressing the effects of dispersal capacity on stream assemblage patterns is crucial to identifying mechanisms behind patterns and to better understanding the determinants of stream biodiversity.
Ecology, Flowering Phenology, and Hummingbird Pollination of Some Costa Rican Heliconia Species

Nine hummingbird—pollinated species of Heliconia occur together at Finca La Selva, in the wet Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. In forest habitats, Heliconia clumps (clones) are typically small; in more open areas, many clumps attain large size. This probably reflects differences in light intensity and degree of vegetative competition in these habitats. Nine species of hummingbirds regularly visit Heliconia flowers at La Selva. The four hermits are nonterritorial, traplining foragers with long, curved bills. Non—hermits frequently hold territories at Heliconia clumps, and have short, straight bills. Pollination by hermits tends to produce more cross—pollination; territorial hummingbirds increase self—pollination. Different Heliconia species appear to be specialized for pollination by either hermits on non—hermits, largely through components of the caloric phenotype: amount and timing of nectar production, rate of inflorescene and flower production, and morphological paramerters that affect the energetic efficiency of nectar—harvesting hummingbirds. Habitat may influence pollination systems through its effects on clump size and thus on the number of flowers a clump can have at any one time. Ultimately, specialization for hermits or non—hermits may depend on the degree of self—compatibility of the different Heliconia species. Hermit—pollinated Heliconia mostly show sequential and nonoverlapping flowering peaks, probably resulting from competition for pollinators and/or selection against hybridization. Two hermit—pollinated species bloom simultanesoulsy, thereby inducing the birds to utilize an other—wise little—used microhabitat. Heliconia species pollinated by non—hermits bloom in the early to middle rainy season, and are mostly separated by habitat. Isolating mechanisms among sympatric Heliconia species involve both spatial and temporal patterns of partioning available pollinators. Floral parameters include mechanical (different site of pollen deposition on the bird) and ethological (caloric and visual factors affecting flower choice) mechanisms. Selection for pollinator specificity may result in convergence of blooming peaks, provided that other isolating mechanisms are present. Human activity has broken down some habitat barriers by producing large areas of second growth.