cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
High-Level Cefixime- and Ceftriaxone-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in France: Novel penA Mosaic Allele in a Successful International Clone Causes Treatment Failure
Creators: name: Unemo, Magnus
name: Sednaoui, Patrice
name: Gallay, Anne
name: Ohnishi, Makoto
name: Nicholas, Robert
name: Golparian, Daniel
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: ABSTRACT Recently, the first Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain (H041) highly resistant to the expanded-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) ceftriaxone and cefixime, which are the last remaining options for first-line gonorrhea treatment, was isolated in Japan. Here, we confirm and characterize a second strain (F89) with high-level cefixime and ceftriaxone resistance which was isolated in France and most likely caused a treatment failure with cefixime. F89 was examined using six species-confirmatory tests, antibiograms (33 antimicrobials), porB sequencing, N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and sequencing of known gonococcal resistance determinants ( penA , mtrR , penB , ponA , and pilQ ). F89 was assigned to MLST sequence type 1901 (ST1901) and NG-MAST ST1407, which is a successful gonococcal clone that has spread globally. F89 has high-level resistance to cefixime (MIC = 4 μg/ml) and ceftriaxone (MIC = 1 to 2 μg/ml) and resistance to most other antimicrobials examined. A novel penA mosaic allele ( penA-CI ), which was penA-XXXIV with an additional A501P alteration in penicillin-binding protein 2, was the primary determinant for high-level ESC resistance, as determined by transformation into a set of recipient strains. N. gonorrhoeae appears to be emerging as a superbug, and in certain circumstances and settings, gonorrhea may become untreatable. Investigations of the biological fitness and enhanced understanding and monitoring of the ESC-resistant clones and their international transmission are required. Enhanced disease control activities, antimicrobial resistance control and surveillance worldwide, and public health response plans for global (and national) perspectives are also crucial. Nevertheless, new treatment strategies and/or drugs and, ideally, a vaccine are essential to develop for efficacious gonorrhea management.
Contextualized End-to-end Automatic Speech Recognition with Intermediate Biasing Loss
Creators: name: Shakeel, Muhammad
name: Sudo, Yui
name: Peng, Yifan
name: Watanabe, Shinji
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Audio and Speech Processing (eess.AS)
subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: Sound (cs.SD)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Contextualized end-to-end automatic speech recognition has been an active research area, with recent efforts focusing on the implicit learning of contextual phrases based on the final loss objective. However, these approaches ignore the useful contextual knowledge encoded in the intermediate layers. We hypothesize that employing explicit biasing loss as an auxiliary task in the encoder intermediate layers may better align text tokens or audio frames with the desired objectives. Our proposed intermediate biasing loss brings more regularization and contextualization to the network. Our method outperforms a conventional contextual biasing baseline on the LibriSpeech corpus, achieving a relative improvement of 22.5% in biased word error rate (B-WER) and up to 44% compared to the non-contextual baseline with a biasing list size of 100. Moreover, employing RNN-transducer-driven joint decoding further reduces the unbiased word error rate (U-WER), resulting in a more robust network.
description: Accepted to INTERSPEECH 2024
Measurement of the cross section ratio sigma(t t-bar b b-bar) / sigma(t t-bar jj) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV
Creators: name: CMS Collaboration
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The first measurement of the cross section ratio sigma(t t-bar b b-bar) / sigma(t t-bar jj) is presented using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. Events with two leptons (e or mu) and four reconstructed jets, including two identified as b quark jets, in the final state are selected. The ratio is determined for a minimum jet transverse momentum pt of both 20 and 40 GeV. The measured ratio is 0.022 +/- 0.003 (stat) +/- 0.005 (syst) for pt > 20 GeV. The absolute cross sections sigma(t t-bar b b-bar) and sigma(t t-bar jj) are also measured. The measured ratio for pt > 40 GeV is compatible with a theoretical quantum chromodynamics calculation at next-to-leading order.
description: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI
Groundwater fluoride contamination in Coimbatore district: a geochemical characterization, multivariate analysis, and human health risk perspective
Creators: name: Pazhuparambil Jayarajan, Sajil Kumar
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Fluoride
subject: Geochemistry
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Multivariate analysis
subject: Human health risk assessment (HHRA)
subject: Revised permissible limits
subject: Coimbatore
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie::551 Geologie, Hydrologie, Meteorologie

description: In this paper, fluoride geochemistry and health risk of groundwater in Coimbatore district is studied. The order of dominance of ions were HCO3 > Cl > SO4 > CO3 and Na > Ca > Mg > K. Alkaline groundwater and the dominance of HCO3 and Na is favourable for the fluoride enrichment. Around 46% of the samples, N–NE regions, have F− higher than permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L. Pink granites, charnockite and gneisses in lithology is the possible origin of F−. However, NO3 vs F plot shows positive trend in some samples, indicating anthropogenic inputs of F−. Correlation plots of F− was trending positive with pH, HCO3 and Na and but negative for Ca, indicating the control of these ions in F− mobility. This result is supported by undersaturation of fluorite and supersaturation of carbonates. Four significant principal components were derived, which have explained 87% of the total variation. PC1 has high factor loadings for EC, Ca, Mg Na, Cl, SO4, NO3 indicating both natural and anthropogenic influences. PC2, PC3 and PC4 have higher loading for pH and HCO3, K and HCO3 and F−, respectively, indicating geogenic factors in the F− enrichment. Human health risk assessment (HHRA) by ingestion and dermal pathways were calculated using Hazard Quotient HQ and Hazard Index (HI). 27% of males, 36% of females and 39% of the children have HI > 1, posing noncarcinogenic risks.
Modelling the connection between propagating disturbances and solar spicules
Creators: name: Skirvin, Samuel
name: Samanta, Tanmoy
name: Van Doorsselaere, Tom
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Propagating (intensity) disturbances (PDs) are well reported in observations of coronal loops and polar plumes in addition to recent links with co-temporal spicule activity in the solar atmosphere. However, despite being reported in observations, they are yet to be studied in depth and understood from a modelling point of view. In this work, we present results from a 3D MHD numerical model featuring a stratified solar atmosphere which is perturbed by a p-mode wave driver at the photosphere, subsequently forming spicules described by the rebound shock model. Features with striking characteristics to those of detected PDs appear consistent with the co-temporal transition region dynamics and spicular activity resulting from nonlinear wave steepening and shock formation. Furthermore, the PDs can be interpreted as slow magnetoacoustic pulses propagating along the magnetic field, rather than high speed plasma upflows, carrying sufficient energy flux to at least partially heat the lower coronal plasma. Using forward modelling, we demonstrate the similarities between the PDs in the simulations and those reported in observations from IRIS and SDO/AIA. Our results suggest that, in the presented model, the dynamical movement of the transition region is a result of wave dynamics and shock formation in the lower solar atmosphere, and that PDs are launched co-temporally with the rising of the transition region, regardless of the wave-generating physical mechanisms occurring in the underlying lower solar atmosphere. However, it is clear that signatures of PDs appear much clearer when a photospheric wave driver is included. Finally, we present the importance of PDs in the context of providing a source for powering the (fast) solar wind
description: 10 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A
HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors and Clinical Malaria: a Secondary Analysis of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5208 Study
Creators: name: Stringer, Elizabeth
name: Porter, Kimberly A.
name: Sawe, Frederick K.
name: Currier, Judith S.
name: Siika, Abraham
name: Poole, Charles
name: Cole, Stephen R.
name: Chipato, Tsungai
name: Skinner-Adams, Tina S.
name: Lockman, Shahin
name: Eron, Joseph J.
name: Salata, Robert
name: Shaffer, Doug
name: McCarthy, James S.
name: Hosseinipour, Mina
name: Zheng, Yu
name: Hughes, Michael D.
name: D'Amico, Ronald
name: Meshnick, Steven R.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: ABSTRACT HIV-1 protease inhibitors (PIs) have antimalarial activity in vitro and in murine models. The potential beneficial effect of HIV-1 PIs on malaria has not been studied in clinical settings. We used data from Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5208 sites where malaria is endemic to compare the incidence of clinically diagnosed malaria among HIV-infected adult women randomized to either lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) or to nevirapine (NVP)-based ART. We calculated hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. We conducted a recurrent events analysis that included both first and second clinical malarial episodes and also conducted analyses to assess the sensitivity of results to outcome misclassification. Among the 445 women in this analysis, 137 (31%) received a clinical diagnosis of malaria at least once during follow-up. Of these 137, 72 (53%) were randomized to LPV/r-based ART. Assignment to the LPV/r treatment group ( n = 226) was not consistent with a large decrease in the hazard of first clinical malarial episode (hazard ratio = 1.11 [0.79 to 1.56]). The results were similar in the recurrent events analysis. Sensitivity analyses indicated the results were robust to reasonable levels of outcome misclassification. In this study, the treatment with LPV/r compared to NVP had no apparent beneficial effect on the incidence of clinical malaria among HIV-infected adult women. Additional research concerning the effects of PI-based therapy on the incidence of malaria diagnosed by more specific criteria and among groups at a higher risk for severe disease is warranted.
GIS-based mapping of water-level fluctuations (WLF) and its impact on groundwater in an Agrarian District in Tamil Nadu, India
Creators: name: Pazhuparambil Jayarajan, Sajil Kumar
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Groundwater
subject: Water-level fluctuation
subject: GIS
subject: Thanjavur
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie::550 Geowissenschaften

description: This study describes the results of groundwater table variation in Thanjavur District before and after the monsoon seasons. Groundwater-level data acquired by the field measurement and the elevation data have been obtained from the topographic survey. Groundwater is the major source for different sectors in this region, and the major portion was used for irrigation. The impacts of geology, soil types, topographic elevation, land-use changes were critically analyzed and identified that these factors are controlling the infiltration capacity. The maximum fluctuation in the water table was 2 m below the ground level; still, 50% of the study area is under threat of overexploitation. This is projecting to a severe shortage in water supply soon. Groundwater quality is threatening by the saline intrusion in the coastal region, and the irrigation return flows inland. The spatial variation maps were useful in visualizing the seasonal water level and fluctuation in Thanjavur. A proper monitoring system, efficient irrigation practices, and effective groundwater recharge structures are recommended.
Interplay between Single Resistance-Associated Mutations in the HIV-1 Protease and Viral Infectivity, Protease Activity, and Inhibitor Sensitivity
Creators: name: Henderson, Gavin J.
name: Lee, Sook-Kyung
name: Irlbeck, David M.
name: Harris, Janera
name: Swanstrom, Ronald
name: Parkin, Neil
name: Kline, Melissa
name: Pollom, Elizabeth
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: ABSTRACT Resistance-associated mutations in the HIV-1 protease modify viral fitness through changes in the catalytic activity and altered binding affinity for substrates and inhibitors. In this report, we examine the effects of 31 mutations at 26 amino acid positions in protease to determine their impact on infectivity and protease inhibitor sensitivity. We found that primary resistance mutations individually decrease fitness and generally increase sensitivity to protease inhibitors, indicating that reduced virion-associated protease activity reduces virion infectivity and the reduced level of per virion protease activity is then more easily titrated by a protease inhibitor. Conversely, mutations at more variable positions (compensatory mutations) confer low-level decreases in sensitivity to all protease inhibitors with little effect on infectivity. We found significant differences in the observed effect on infectivity with a pseudotype virus assay that requires the protease to cleave the cytoplasmic tail of the amphotropic murine leukemia virus (MuLV) Env protein. Additionally, we were able to mimic the fitness loss associated with resistance mutations by directly reducing the level of virion-associated protease activity. Virions containing 50% of a D25A mutant protease were 3- to 5-fold more sensitive to protease inhibitors. This level of reduction in protease activity also resulted in a 2-fold increase in sensitivity to nonnucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase and a similar increase in sensitivity to zidovudine (AZT), indicating a pleiotropic effect associated with reduced protease activity. These results highlight the interplay between enzyme activity, viral fitness, and inhibitor mechanism and sensitivity in the closed system of the viral replication complex.
Benchmarking Ghana's Policies for Creating Healthy Food Environments.
Creators: name: Laar, Amos
name: Akua Tandoh
name: Barnes, Amy
name: Bash, Kristin
name: Vandevijvere, Stefanie
name: Holdsworth, Michelle
name: K Mensah
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 111199 Nutrition and Dietetics not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Ghana Healthy Food environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) country scorecards and priority recommendations for action.
One-step synthesis of Cu-doped Pb$_{10}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$ apatite: A wide-gap semiconductor
Creators: name: Yang, W. Z.
name: Pang, Z. H.
name: Ren, Z.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The recent claim of potential room-temperature superconductivity in Pb$_{10-x}$Cu$_{x}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$O has attracted widespread attention. However, the signature of superconductivity is later attributed to the Cu$_{2}$S impurity formed during the multiple-step synthesis procedure. Here we report a simple one-step approach to synthesize single-phase chloride analogue Cu-doped Pb$_{10}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$ using PbO, PbCl$_{2}$, CuCl$_{2}$, and NH$_{4}$H$_{2}$PO$_{4}$ as starting materials. Irrespective of the initial stoichiometry, the Cu doping always leads to a lattice expansion in Pb$_{10}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$. This indicates that Cu prefers to reside in the hexagonal channels rather than substitutes at the Pb site, and the chemical formula is expressed as Pb$_{10}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$Cu$_{x}$Cl$_{2}$. All the Pb$_{10}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$Cu$_{x}$Cl$_{2}$ (0 $\leq$ $x$ $\leq$ 1.0) samples are found to be semiconductors with wide band gaps of 4.46-4.59 eV, and the Cu-doped ones ($x$ = 0.5 and 1.0) exhibit a paramagnetic behavior without any phase transition between 400 and 1.8 K. Our study calls for a reinvestigation of the Cu location in Pb$_{10-x}$Cu$_{x}$(PO$_{4}$)$_{6}$O, and supports the absence of superconductivity in this oxyapatite.
description: 8 pages, 6 figures
Exposure and health risk assessment of nitrate contamination in groundwater in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts in Tamil Nadu, South India
Creators: name: Pazhuparambil Jayarajan, Sajil Kumar
name: Kuriachan, Lemoon
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Groundwater quality
subject: Nitrate contamination
subject: Human health risk assessment (HHRA)
subject: Crystalline aquifer
subject: South India
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie::550 Geowissenschaften

description: Anthropogenic factors are contaminating crystalline aquifers more rapidly than natural sources and affecting human health in many states in India. Since a large population depends on untreated groundwater, identifying the sources of this contamination and assessing the related human health risk are essential to ensure a good-quality water supply. Nitrate is one of the most widespread means of groundwater contamination in many parts of India. Coimbatore and Tirupur districts are the most rapidly growing industrial urban areas in southern India. This paper deals with nitrate contamination and possible health risks for children and adults in the Coimbatore and Tirupur districts based on 93 groundwater samples. To achieve this goal, classical hydrochemical and deterministic hazard identification methods coupled with spatial mapping technologies were applied. A wide variation in nitrate concentration, between 1 and 415 mg/L, was observed, with 37% of the samples exceeding the WHO permissible limit of 50 mg/L. The distinct concentrations of nitrate and other ions observed spatially can be attributed to the diverse geochemical and land use settings in the study area. The bivariate plots of NO3 with other ions suggested that the principal origin of nitrate in this study is related to the excess application of fertilizers and sewages. The spatial variation of NO3, in comparison with the land use map, confirmed these results. The values of hazard quotient (HQ) via ingestion exceeded the critical value, one in 40% in males, 42% in females, and 45% in children. However, HQ values via oral pathways are within one and pose no exposure risk. Thus, the hazard index corresponds to HQingestion only. The health risk was in the increasing order of male>female>children, and shows that body weight is the most critical factor that is influencing the health impact to children as compared to adults. The spatial variation of hazard index values showed that groundwater quality is highly polluted with NO3 in the north and northeastern parts of the study area, mainly due to intensive agricultural practices, and poses critical health concerns. Considering the increasing population and higher dependencies on groundwater, immediate and sufficient measures are proposed.
Ketoamide Resistance and Hepatitis C Virus Fitness in Val55 Variants of the NS3 Serine Protease
Creators: name: Kim, Seungtaek
name: Schweizer, Sabine
name: Domingues, Francisco S.
name: Welsch, Christoph
name: Antes, Iris
name: Shimakami, Tetsuro
name: Lemon, Stanley M.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: ABSTRACT Drug-resistant viral variants are a major issue in the use of direct-acting antiviral agents in chronic hepatitis C. Ketoamides are potent inhibitors of the NS3 protease, with V55A identified as mutation associated with resistance to boceprevir. Underlying molecular mechanisms are only partially understood. We applied a comprehensive sequence analysis to characterize the natural variability at Val55 within dominant worldwide patient strains. A residue-interaction network and molecular dynamics simulation were applied to identify mechanisms for ketoamide resistance and viral fitness in Val55 variants. An infectious H77S.3 cell culture system was used for variant phenotype characterization. We measured antiviral 50% effective concentration (EC 50 ) and fold changes, as well as RNA replication and infectious virus yields from viral RNAs containing variants. Val55 was found highly conserved throughout all hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes. The conservative V55A and V55I variants were identified from HCV genotype 1a strains with no variants in genotype 1b. Topology measures from a residue-interaction network of the protease structure suggest a potential Val55 key role for modulation of molecular changes in the protease ligand-binding site. Molecular dynamics showed variants with constricted binding pockets and a loss of H-bonded interactions upon boceprevir binding to the variant proteases. These effects might explain low-level boceprevir resistance in the V55A variant, as well as the Val55 variant, reduced RNA replication capacity. Higher structural flexibility was found in the wild-type protease, whereas variants showed lower flexibility. Reduced structural flexibility could impact the Val55 variant's ability to adapt for NS3 domain-domain interaction and might explain the virus yield drop observed in variant strains.
Characterization of the Wolf 1061 Planetary System
Creators: name: Waters, M.A.
name: Mann, A.W.
name: Henry, G.W.
name: Von Braun, K.
name: Boyajian, T.S.
name: Kane, S.R.
Publisher: name: Institute of Physics Publishing
Year: 2017

description: A critical component of exoplanetary studies is an exhaustive characterization of the host star, from which the planetary properties are frequently derived. Of particular value are the radius, temperature, and luminosity, which are key stellar parameters for studies of transit and habitability science. Here we present the results of new observations of Wolf 1061, known to host three super-Earths. Our observations from the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy interferometric array provide a direct stellar radius measurement of 0.3207 ± 0.0088 Ro, from which we calculate the effective temperature and luminosity using spectral energy distribution models. We obtained 7 yr of precise, automated photometry that reveals the correct stellar rotation period of 89.3 ± 1.8 days, finds no evidence of photometric transits, and confirms that the radial velocity signals are not due to stellar activity. Finally, our stellar properties are used to calculate the extent of the Habitable Zone (HZ) for the Wolf 1061 system, for which the optimistic boundaries are 0.09-0.23 au. Our simulations of the planetary orbital dynamics show that the eccentricity of the HZ planet oscillates to values as high as ∼0.15 as it exchanges angular momentum with the other planets in the system.
Transformation Properties of Learned Visual Representations
Creators: name: Cohen, Taco S.
name: Welling, Max
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: Neural and Evolutionary Computing (cs.NE)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: When a three-dimensional object moves relative to an observer, a change occurs on the observer's image plane and in the visual representation computed by a learned model. Starting with the idea that a good visual representation is one that transforms linearly under scene motions, we show, using the theory of group representations, that any such representation is equivalent to a combination of the elementary irreducible representations. We derive a striking relationship between irreducibility and the statistical dependency structure of the representation, by showing that under restricted conditions, irreducible representations are decorrelated. Under partial observability, as induced by the perspective projection of a scene onto the image plane, the motion group does not have a linear action on the space of images, so that it becomes necessary to perform inference over a latent representation that does transform linearly. This idea is demonstrated in a model of rotating NORB objects that employs a latent representation of the non-commutative 3D rotation group SO(3).
description: T.S. Cohen & M. Welling, Transformation Properties of Learned Visual Representations. In International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), 2015
The Extended IRTF Spectral Library: Expanded Coverage in Metallicity, Temperature, and Surface Gravity
Creators: name: Mann, A.W.
name: Johnson, B.
name: Rayner, J.
name: Conroy, C.
name: Villaume, A.
name: Van Dokkum, P.
Publisher: name: Institute of Physics Publishing
Year: 2017

description: We present a 0.7-2.5 μm spectral library of 284 stars observed with the medium-resolution infrared spectrograph, SpeX, at the 3.0 m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Maunakea, Hawaii. This library extends the metallicity range of the IRTF Cool Star library beyond solar metallicity to -1.7 < [Fe/H] < 0.6. All of the observed stars are also in the MILES optical stellar library, providing continuous spectral coverage for each star from 0.35 to 2.5 μm. The spectra are absolute flux calibrated using Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry, and the continuum shape of the spectra is preserved during the data reduction process. Synthesized JHK S colors agree with observed colors at the 1%-2% level, on average. We also present a spectral interpolator that uses the library to create a data-driven model of spectra as a function of , Teff , log g, , and [Fe/H]. We use the library and interpolator to compare empirical trends with theoretical predictions of spectral feature behavior as a function of stellar parameters. These comparisons extend to the previously difficult to access low-metallicity and cool dwarf regimes, as well as the previously poorly sampled super-solar metallicity regime. The library and interpolator are publicly available.
Interaction of synthesized nitrogen enriched graphene quantum dots with novel anti-Alzheimer’s drugs: spectroscopic insights
Creators: name: Srishti Sharma
name: Namrata Singh
name: Nepovimova, Eugenie
name: Korabecny, Jan
name: Kuca, Kamil
name: Manmohan L. Satnami
name: Ghosh, Kallol K.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 111714 Mental Health
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Hematology

description: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is considered as one of widespread dementia with no approved diagnosis, cure or prevention. Currently, only symptomatic relief can be provided upon administration of anti-AD drugs generally belonging to a category of anticholinesterases and antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. In present investigation, a sensing platform has been designed for studying recently developed anti-AD drugs viz., PC-25 (N-(2-{4-[(4-bromophenyl)methyl]piperazin-1-yl}ethyl)-7-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridin-9-amine trihydrochloride), PC-37 (7-methoxy-N-(2-{4-[(3-methylphenyl)methyl]piperazin-1-yl}ethyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridin-9-amine trihydrochloride) and PC-48 (N-(2-{4-[(3-bromophenyl) methyl]piperazin-1-yl}ethyl)-7-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridin-9-amine trihydrochloride) and two known standard tacrine (THA) and donepezil drugs for their estimation of in vitro potency towards AD using spectroscopic method. Anti-AD drugs have been accounted for individually with highly fluorescent nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs). The designed anti-AD drugs exerted the efficacy related to cholinergic hypothesis of AD. While the enzyme action is sensed by interacted species of NGQDs and acetylcholine, the fluorescence of NGQDs is quenched by the hydrolyzing action of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme but the lost fluorescence is recovered upon addition of anti-AD drugs. These alterations in fluorescence of NGQDs are expected to have biological relevance akin to sensing. Moreover, these results advocate that out of all the drugs tested PC-37 displayed maximum inhibition efficiency. Our investigations suggest that synthesized drugs have the AD treating potential and can be entrusted in the near future for AD treatment. The validation parameters such as LOD, LOQ and recovery (%) were calculated in the range of 2.87 mM, 9.58 mM and 85–96%, respectively. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma Interaction of synthesized nitrogen enriched graphene quantum dots with acetylcholine. Recovery of quenched fluorescence upon addition of anti-Alzheimer drugs in a concentration-based manner.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Once-Daily versus Twice-Daily Raltegravir in Treatment-Naïve HIV-Infected Patients
Creators: name: Luo, Wen-Lin
name: Zhao, Jing
name: Hang, Yaming
name: Wenning, Larissa
name: Su, Jing
name: Sklar, Peter
name: Nguyen, Bach-Yen T.
name: Eron, Joseph J.
name: Campbell, Havilland
name: Rizk, Matthew L.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: ABSTRACT QDMRK was a phase III clinical trial of raltegravir given once daily (QD) (800-mg dose) versus twice daily (BID) (400 mg per dose), each in combination with once-daily coformulated tenofovir-emtricitabine, in treatment-naive HIV-infected patients. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analyses were conducted using a 2-step approach: individual non-model-based PK parameters from observed sparse concentration data were determined, followed by statistical analysis of potential relationships between PK and efficacy response parameters after 48 weeks of treatment. Sparse PK sampling was performed for all patients (QD, n = 380; BID, n = 384); selected sites performed an intensive PK evaluation at week 4 (QD, n = 22; BID, n = 20). In the intensive PK subgroup, daily exposures (area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 24 h [AUC 0–24 ]) were similar between the two regimens, but patients on 800 mg QD experienced ∼4-fold-higher maximum drug concentration in plasma ( C max ) values and ∼6-fold-lower trough drug concentration ( C trough ) values than those on 400 mg BID. Geometric mean (GM) C trough values were similarly lower in the sparse PK analysis. With BID dosing, there was no indication of any significant PK/PD association over the range of tested PK parameters. With QD dosing, C trough values correlated with the likelihood of virologic response. Failure to achieve an HIV RNA level of <50 copies/ml appeared predominantly at high baseline HIV RNA levels in both treatment arms and was associated with lower values of GM C trough in the 800-mg-QD arm, though other possible drivers of efficacy, such as time above a threshold concentration, could not be evaluated due to the sparse sampling scheme. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of the shape of the plasma concentration-versus-time curve for long-term efficacy.
Quasilocal rotating conformal Killing horizons
Creators: name: Chatterjee, Ayan
name: Ghosh, Avirup
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The formulation of quasi-local conformal Killling horizons(CKH) is extended to include rotation. This necessitates that the horizon be foliated by 2-spheres which may be distorted. Matter degrees of freedom which fall through the horizon is taken to be a real scalar field. We show that these rotating CKHs also admit a first law in differential form.
description: 15 pages. sequel to arXiv:1412.5115. Definition slightly modified, an appendix added
K2-99: A subgiant hosting a transiting warm Jupiter in an eccentric orbit and a long-period companion
Creators: name: Grziwa, S.
name: Palle, E.
name: Mann, A.
name: Nespral, D.
name: Cabrera, J.
name: Barragán, O.
name: Johnson, M.C.
name: Rauer, H.
name: Eigmüller, P.
name: Deeg, H.J.
name: Guenther, E.
name: Pätzold, M.
name: Hirano, T.
name: Nowak, G.
name: Cochran, W.D.
name: Albrecht, S.
name: Narita, N.
name: Ribas, I.
name: Bowler, B.
name: Erikson, A.
name: Smith, A.M.S.
name: Endl, M.
name: Prieto-Arranz, J.
name: Cusano, F.
name: Hatzes, A.P.
name: Csizmadia, S.
name: Fridlund, M.C.V.
name: Tingley, B.
name: Hidalgo, D.
name: Alonso, R.
name: Gandolfi, D.
name: Wolthoff, V.
name: Korth, J.
Publisher: name: Oxford University Press
Year: 2017

description: We report the discovery from K2 of a transiting planet in an 18.25-d, eccentric (0.19 ± 0.04) orbit around K2-99, an 11th magnitude subgiant in Virgo. We con- firm the planetary nature of the companion with radial velocities, and determine that the star is a metal-rich ([Fe/H] = 0.20 ± 0.05) subgiant, with mass 1.60+0.14 -0.10 M⊙ and radius 3.1 ± 0.1 R⊙. The planet has a mass of 0.97 ± 0.09 MJup and a radius 1.29 ± 0.05 RJup. A measured systemic radial acceleration of -2.12 ± 0.04 m s-1d-1 offers compelling evidence for the existence of a third body in the system, perhaps a brown dwarf orbiting with a period of several hundred days.
title: Clinical and bio-inorganic studies on anti-arthritic gold complexes
Creators: name: Kean, Walter Fairbairn
Publisher: name: University of Glasgow
Year: 1983
Subjects: subject: Pharmacology.

description: The discovery that gold compounds are beneficial in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is possibly the greatest breakthrough in the management of this devastating crippling disease which we will witness in this century. This thesis describes my clinical and research experience with gold compounds over the past seven years and also contains my attempts to understand some of the clinical, chemical and biological actions of the anti- arthritic gold complexes, in the hope that my observations may prove beneficial to the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Chapter I and II describe the history of gold in medicine and its subsequent use as an agent in the treatment of rheumatoid disease. Gold's presumed magical qualities and its resemblance to the "essence" of the sun made it a natural choice as a healing agent by priests and shamen. Gold therapy results in toxicity in at least 30% of patients. It was to identify some of these risk that I engaged in the clinical studies reported in chapters III, IV and V. My findings indicated that side-effects such as rash, mouth ulcer and proteinuria had predictable patterns of development, all predominantly occurring within the first year, whereas thrombocytopenia and low white blood cell count could appear at any time. No predictive correlates could be established for patients who had gone into sustained remission, but the data strongly suggested that patients who improve within six months may continue gold therapy for up to three years with an increasing margin of safety for mucocutaneous and renal toxicity. Finally, in Chapter VIII my observations that gold sodium thiomalate inhibits the serine esterase thrombin in vitro and in vivo is described. Gold sodium thiomalate inhibits the action of thrombin on washed human platelets and the thrombin clotting time of platelet rich plasma and platelet poor plasma. Using an experimental model of experimentally induced thrombosis it was shown that rabbits treated with pharmacological concentrations of gold sodium thiomalate had significantly reduced thrombus weight compared to controls. Gold sodium thiomalate had no effect on fibrinolysis nor platelet survival, therefore the reduction in thrombus weight was most likely due to the direct inhibition of the thrombin as was observed in vitro. Clearly such a finding could have far reaching consequences in the treatment of vasculitis, lupus glomerulonephritis, coronary artery disease and cerebro-vascular disease. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).
GIS and AHP Based Groundwater Potential Zones Delineation in Chennai River Basin (CRB), India
Creators: name: Pazhuparambil Jayarajan, Sajil Kumar
name: Lakshmanan, Elango
name: Schneider, Michael
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: groundwater potential
subject: AHP
subject: thematic layers
subject: GIS
subject: Chennai River Basin
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie::551 Geologie, Hydrologie, Meteorologie

description: Groundwater depletion is one of the most critical concerns for users and policymakers. Identifying groundwater potential (low to high) helps properly plan the available groundwater resource. This study has used the possibilities of a geographical information system (GIS), remote sensing and, of course, field data to delineate the groundwater potential zones in the Chennai River Basin (CRB). Thematic layers generated for eleven controlling factors, such as geology, water level, drainage, soil, lineament, rainfall, land use, slope, aspect, geomorphology, and depth to bedrock, were brought into the GIS environment. Then, appropriate weightage was given to each layer using a multi-criteria decision-making technique, namely, the analytic hierarchical process (AHP). A groundwater potential map is generated using weighted overlay analysis, with the following five classes: very poor, poor, moderate, good, and very good. The results were comparable to the actual specific yield data from the field and accuracy was 78.43%. Thus, AHP-aided GIS–RS mapping is a useful tool in groundwater prospecting in this region of the world.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Oral Artesunate Monotherapy in Patients with Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in Western Cambodia
Creators: name: Vanachayangkul, Pattaraporn
name: Noedl, Harald
name: Khemawoot, Phisit
name: Rutvisuttinunt, Wiriya
name: Bethell, Delia
name: Sriwichai, Sabaithip
name: Fukuda, Mark
name: Saunders, David
name: Teja-isavadharm, Paktiya
name: Siripokasupkul, Raveewan
name: Ringwald, Pascal
name: Lin, Jessica
name: Se, Youry
name: Tyner, Stuart
name: Socheat, Doung
name: Chanthap, Lon
name: Timmermans, Ans
name: Smith, Bryan
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: ABSTRACT Artemisinin-resistant malaria along the Thailand-Cambodian border is an important public health concern, yet mechanisms of drug action and their contributions to the development of resistance are poorly understood. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral artesunate monotherapy were explored in a dose-ranging trial in an area of emerging artesunate resistance in western Cambodia. We enrolled 143 evaluable subjects with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in an open label study of directly observed artesunate monotherapy at 3 dose levels (2, 4, and 6 mg/kg of body weight/day) for 7 days at Tasanh Health Center, Tasanh, Cambodia. Clinical outcomes were similar among the 3 groups. Wide variability in artesunate and dihydroartemisinin concentrations in plasma was observed. No significant dose-effect or concentration-effect relationships between pharmacokinetic (PK) and parasite clearance parameters were observed, though baseline parasitemia was modestly correlated with increased parasite clearance times. The overall parasite clearance times were prolonged compared with the clearance times in a previous study at this site in 2006 to 2007, but this did not persist when the evaluation was limited to subjects with a comparable artesunate dose (4 mg/kg/day) and baseline parasitemia from the two studies. Reduced plasma drug levels with higher presentation parasitemias, previously hypothesized to result from partitioning into infected red blood cells, was not observed in this population with uncomplicated malaria. Neither in vitro parasite susceptibility nor plasma drug concentrations appeared to have a direct relationship with the pharmacodynamic (PD) effects of oral artesunate on malaria parasites. While direct concentration-effect relationships were not found, it remains possible that a population PK modeling approach that allows modeling of greater dose separation might discern more-subtle relationships.
Superbounce and Loop Quantum Cosmology Ekpyrosis from Modified Gravity
Creators: name: Oikonomou, V. K.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: As is known, in modified cosmological theories of gravity many of the cosmologies which could not be generated by standard Einstein gravity, can be consistently described by $F(R)$ theories. Using known reconstruction techniques, we investigate which $F(R)$ theories can lead to a Hubble parameter describing two types of cosmological bounces, the superbounce model, related to supergravity and non-supersymmetric models of contracting ekpyrosis and also the Loop Quantum Cosmology modified ekpyrotic model. Since our method is an approximate method, we investigate the problem at large and small curvatures. As we evince, both models yield power law reconstructed $F(R)$ gravities, with the most interesting new feature being that both lead to accelerating cosmologies, in the large curvature approximation. The mathematical properties of the some Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetimes $M$, that describe superbounce-like cosmologies are also pointed out, with regards to the group of curvature collineations $CC(M)$.
description: References added
Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
Creators: name: Liu, Boyuan
name: Hartwig, Tilman
name: Sartorio, Nina S.
name: Dvorkin, Irina
name: Costa, Guglielmo
name: Santoliquido, Filippo
name: Fialkov, Anastasia
name: Klessen, Ralf S.
name: Bromm, Volker
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The gravitational wave (GW) signal from binary black hole (BBH) mergers is a promising probe of Population III (Pop III) stars. To fully unleash the power of the GW probe, one important step is to understand the relative importance and features of different BBH evolution channels. We model two channels, isolated binary stellar evolution (IBSE) and nuclear star cluster-dynamical hardening (NSC-DH), in one theoretical framework based on the semi-analytical code A-SLOTH, under various assumptions on Pop III initial mass function (IMF), initial binary statistics and high-$z$ nuclear star clusters (NSCs). The NSC-DH channel contributes $\sim 8-95\%$ of Pop III BBH mergers across cosmic history, with higher contributions achieved by initially wider binary stars, more top-heavy IMFs, and more abundant high-$z$ NSCs. The dimensionless stochastic GW background (SGWB) produced by Pop III BBH mergers has peak values $Ω^{\rm peak}_{\rm GW}\sim 10^{-11}-8\times 10^{-11}$ around observer-frame frequencies $ν\sim 10-100\ \rm Hz$. The Pop III contribution can be a non-negligible ($\sim 2-32\%$) component in the total SGWB at $ν\lesssim 10\ \rm Hz$. The estimated detection rates of Pop III BBH mergers by the Einstein Telescope are $\sim 6-230\ \rm yr^{-1}$ and $\sim 30-1230\ \rm yr^{-1}$ for the NSC-DH and IBSE channels, respectively. Pop III BBH mergers in NSCs are more massive than those from IBSE, so they dominate the Pop III SGWB below $20$ Hz in most cases. Besides, the detection rate of Pop III BBH mergers involving at least one intermediate-mass BH above $100\ \rm M_\odot$ by the Einstein Telescope is $\sim 0.5-200\ \rm yr^{-1}$ in NSCs but remains below $0.1\ \rm yr^{-1}$ for IBSE.
description: 28 + 6 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
Zodiacal exoplanets in time (ZEIT) - II. A 'super-Earth' orbiting a young K dwarf in the Pleiades Neighbourhood
Creators: name: Mace, G.
name: Kraus, A.
name: Graham, J.R.
name: Gaidos, E.
name: Ansdell, M.
name: Nofi, L.
name: Narita, N.
name: Feiden, G.
name: De Rosa, R.J.
name: Vanderburg, A.
name: Jaffe, D.
name: Rizzuto, A.
name: Mann, A.W.
name: Esposito, T.M.
name: Takeda, Y.
name: Hirano, T.
Publisher: name: Oxford University Press
Year: 2017

description: We describe a 'super-Earth'-size (2.30 ± 0.16 R⊕) planet transiting an early K-type dwarf star in the Campaign 4 field observed by the K2 mission. The host star, EPIC 210363145, was identified as a candidate member of the approximately 120 Myr-old Pleiades cluster based on its kinematics and photometric distance. It is rotationally variable and exhibits near-ultraviolet emission consistent with a Pleiades age, but its rotational period is ≈20 d and its spectrum contains no Ha emission nor the Li I absorption expected of Pleiades K dwarfs. Instead, the star is probably an interloper that is unaffiliated with the cluster, but younger (≲1.3 Gyr) than the typical field dwarf.We ruled out a false positive transit signal produced by confusion with a background eclipsing binary by adaptive optics imaging and a statistical calculation. Doppler radial velocity measurements limit the companion mass to < 2 times that of Jupiter. Screening of the light curves of 1014 potential Pleiades candidate stars uncovered no additional planets. An injection-and-recovery experiment using the K2 Pleiades light curves with simulated planets, assuming a planet population like that in the Kepler prime field, predicts only 0.8- 1.8 detections (versus ~20 in an equivalent Kepler sample). The absence of Pleiades planet detections can be attributed to the much shorter monitoring time of K2 (80 d versus 4 yr), increased measurement noise due to spacecraft motion, and the intrinsic noisiness of the stars.
Editorial: Disruptive technologies for the study of host-pathogen interactions.
Creators: name: Quintana, Juan F
name: Harding, Clare
name: Huet, Diego
name: Sateriale, Adam
name: Bernabeu, Maria
Publisher: name: The Francis Crick Institute
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Infectious Disease
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Cell Biology

description: No description supplied