cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Characterization of novel N-Acyl neurotransmitter/amino acid conjugates (NAAN) on CB1 and TRP family member receptors
Creators: name: Redmond, William John
Publisher: name: Macquarie University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Other education not elsewhere classified

description: The endocannabinoid family has been extended in recent years from its two first well described members, anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol, to include a new family of related endogenous lipid-derived compounds composed of a neurotransmitter or amino acid head and a fatty acid tail termed N-acyl amino acid/neurotransmitter conjugate (NAAN). This family of molecules have important effects on G protein-coupled receptors, including the cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2; but also have diverse effects on members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family and other ion channels, thus making them important candidates for the modulation of pain. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of some of these NAAN on heterologously expressed CB1, CB2 and TRPA1 receptors. The effects of NAAN on the signalling pathways and desensitization mechanisms of the CB1 and CB2 receptors were investigated. For the TRPA1 receptor, we investigated how these chemically unreactive compounds might activate a receptor commonly seen as activated by electrophilic agonists, temperature, pressure and pH. Studies were conducted using a 96-wells micro plate reader measuring in real time changes in membrane potential and calcium levels in cell lines expressing recombinant receptors and ion channels.N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA) coupled to Gq-mediated elevations ofcalcium in CB1 and CB2 expressing cells, but did not act through these receptors to modulate adenylyl cyclase, K channels or ERK activation. NADA did not change the dynamics of CB1 receptor desensitization or affect the allosteric modulators ORG 27569 and PSNCAM-1. Thus, NADA is a highlyxiiibiased agonist of CB1 and CB2 toward Gq coupling. Various NAANs activated the TRPA1 receptor, but were less efficacious than the parent molecule, arachidonic acid. Activation of TRPA1 was reduced in a mutant TRPA1 receptor lacking the cysteines necessary for the activation of the receptor by reactive compounds, hinting at possibly another binding site for the receptor. The activation of TRPA1 by arachidonic acid was not blocked by inhibiting enzymes which metabolize it. On the contrary, NDGA, a lipoxygenase inhibitor, activates the TRPA1 receptor and caused cold hyperalgesia in an acetone test in mice .The findings of this thesis give new insight in the intricacies of the action of NAANs and related compounds on CB1, CB2 as well as the TRPA1 receptor.
Pressure-induced magnetic transition exceeding 30 K in the Yb-based heavy fermion superconductor $β$-YbAlB$_4$
Creators: name: Tomita, Takahiro
name: Kuga, Kentaro
name: Uwatoko, Yoshiya
name: Nakatsuji, Satoru
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Measurements of the electric resistivity $ρ(T)$ under pressure up to 8 GPa were performed on high-quality single-crystals of the Yb-based heavy fermion system $β$-YbAlB$_4$ in the temperature range $2
description: 7 pages, 5 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev. B
Global online shopping: how well protected is the Australian consumer?
Creators: name: Smith, Lisa
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: 150501 Consumer-Oriented Product or Service Development
subject: FOS: Economics and business
subject: Law
subject: FOS: Law

description: Peer reviewed article published in 12 (Dec 2004) Competition & Consumer Law Journal 163
The least unramified prime which does not split completely
Creators: name: Zaman, Asif
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Number Theory (math.NT)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 11R44

description: Let $K/F$ be a finite extension of number fields of degree $n \geq 2$. We establish effective field-uniform unconditional upper bounds for the least norm of a prime ideal of $F$ which is degree 1 over $\mathbb{Q}$ and does not ramify or split completely in $K$. We improve upon the previous best known general estimates due to X. Li when $F = \mathbb{Q}$ and Murty-Patankar when $K/F$ is Galois. Our bounds are the first when $K/F$ is not assumed to be Galois and $F \neq \mathbb{Q}$.
description: 13 pages
Adsorption Sites of Individual Metal Atoms on Ultrathin MgO(100) Films
Creators: name: Fernandes, Edgar
name: Donati, Fabio
name: Patthey, François
name: Stavrić, Srdjan
name: Šljvančanin, Željko
name: Brune, Harald
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We use Ca doping during growth of one and two monolayer thick MgO films on Ag(100) to identify the adsorption sites of individual adatoms with scanning tunneling microscopy. For this we combine atomic resolution images of the bare MgO layer with images of the adsorbates and the substitutional Ca atoms taken at larger tip-sample distance. For Ho atoms, the adsorption sites depend on MgO thickness. On the monolayer, they are distributed on the O and bridge sites according to the abundance of those sites, 1/3 and 2/3 respectively. On the MgO bilayer, Ho atoms populate almost exclusively the O site. A third species adsorbed on Mg is predicted by density functional theory and can be created by atomic manipulation. Au atoms adsorb on the bridge sites for both MgO thicknesses, while Co and Fe atoms prefer the O sites, again for both thickness.
description: 8 pages, 9 figures, part of the work presented at the DPG Spring meeting in Dresden, 2017
Additional file 6: Figure S4. of Transcriptome analysis of ruminal epithelia revealed potential regulatory mechanisms involved in host adaptation to gradual high fermentable dietary transition in beef cattle
Creators: name: K. Zhao
name: Y. Chen
name: G. Penner
name: M. Oba
name: L. Guan
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Physiology
subject: Ecology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Computational Biology

description: Illustrative comparison of the gene networks related to fatty acid transport and metabolism between Down group and Up group. â means decreased and â means increased when the diet transitioned from 72% grain to 89% grain within. (PDF 131Â kb)
MPEC 2024-U192 : 2024 UD6
Creators: name: Minor Planet Center Staff
Publisher: name: The Minor Planet Center
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Small Solar System bodies
valueUri: http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/1469
subject: 2024 UD6

description: The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets, routine data on comets and natural satellites, and occasional editorial announcements.  They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Free will: philosophy, psychology and simulated driver behaviour
Creators: name: O'Neill, Joshua
Publisher: name: Macquarie University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Other education not elsewhere classified

description: Free will and its consequences have been studied for millennia. Although traditionally bound to the field of philosophy, the notion of free will has become salient in experimental psychology in recent years. This is largely due to the discovery that lowering belief in free will has deleterious behavioural consequences. The entailments of some types of determinism furthermore, constitute a defeater for some psychological theories of motivation. This paper addresses both of these considerations. Firstly, arguments for determinism are shown to be unsound and thus, the entailments relevant to psychology do not obtain. Secondly the results of an experiment seeking to determine the relationship between belief in free will and driver behaviour are reported. Results were non-significant. Given that significant effects have been widely reported in other conceptually related studies, the discussion considers misunderstandings regarding the replication process -- summary.
Additional file 5: Table S3. of Latent class models for Echinococcus multilocularis diagnosis in foxes in Switzerland in the absence of a gold standard
Creators: name: Belen Otero-Abad
name: Armua-Fernandez, Maria
name: Deplazes, Peter
name: Torgerson, Paul
name: Hartnack, Sonja
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Description of the prior information used in the latent class models for four diagnostic tests. (DOC 38Â kb)
Graphene nanoplatelets induced tailoring in photocatalytic activity and antibacterial characteristics of MgO/graphene nanoplatelets nanocomposites
Creators: name: Arshad, Aqsa
name: Iqbal, Javed
name: Siddiq, M.
name: Mansoor, Qaisar
name: Ismail, M.
name: Mehmood, Faisal
name: Ajmal, M.
name: Abid, Zubia
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The synthesis, physical, photocatalytic, and antibacterial properties of MgO and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanocomposites are reported. The crystallinity, phase, morphology, chemical bonding, and vibrational modes of prepared nanomaterials are studied. The conductive nature of GNPs is tailored via photocatalysis and enhanced antibacterial activity. It is interestingly observed that the MgO/GNPs nanocomposite with optimized GNPs content show a significant photocatalytic activity (97.23% degradation) as compared to bare MgO (43%) which makes it the potential photocatalyst for purification of industrial waste water. In addition, the effect of increased amount of GNPs on antibacterial performance of nanocomposites against pathogenic micro-organisms is researched, suggesting them toxic. MgO/GNPs 25% nanocomposite may have potential applications in waste water treatment and nanomedicine due its multifunctionality.
description: 10 pages, 12 figures
Fructose promotes ampicillin killing of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus agalactiae
Creators: name: Chen, Xuan-Wei
name: Wu, Jia-Han
name: Liu, Ying-Li
name: Munang’andu, Hetron Mweemba
name: Peng, Bo
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Cancer
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Virology
subject: Computational Biology

description: Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) is an important pathogenic bacteria that infected both aquatic animals and human beings, causing huge economic loss. The increasing cases of antibiotic-resistant GBS impose challenges to treat such infection by antibiotics. Thus, it is highly demanded for the approach to tackle antibiotic resistance in GBS. In this study, we adopt a metabolomic approach to identify the metabolic signature of ampicillin-resistant GBS (AR-GBS) that ampicillin is the routine choice to treat infection by GBS. We find glycolysis is significantly repressed in AR-GBS, and fructose is the crucial biomarker. Exogenous fructose not only reverses ampicillin resistance in AR-GBS but also in clinic isolates including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and NDM-1 expressing Escherichia coli. The synergistic effect is confirmed in a zebrafish infection model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the potentiation by fructose is dependent on glycolysis that enhances ampicillin uptake and the expression of penicillin-binding proteins, the ampicillin target. Our study demonstrates a novel approach to combat antibiotic resistance in GBS.
Developing a Proteomic Signature for the Early Detection of Heart Failure in Type 2 Diabetics
Creators: name: C. Slingsby, Oliver
Publisher: name: University of Leicester
Year: 2024

description: The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) globally exceeds 500 million individuals, constituting a significant health concern. T2D patients are at increased risk of developing heart failure (HF) by at least 2-fold. Therefore, this PhD aims to identify protein biomarkers from plasma, using Liquid Chromatography tandem mass spectrometry capable of predicting early-stage HF within T2D patients. The clinical variables: global longitudinal strain (GLS), the ratio of early diastolic mitral inflow velocity (E) to early diastolic mitral annulus velocity (e’) (E/e’), extracellular volume fraction (ECV) and peak volume of oxygen consumption (VO2 max) were used as variables predictive of HF. The overall aim can be split into 3 sub-objectives: the identification of candidate biomarkers using high-resolution MS, the development of a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) assay for the quantification of proteotypic peptides representing target proteins, and the utilisation of this assay to conduct a verification study of identified biomarkers.To achieve these objectives, a biomarker discovery study was undertaken on 96 participants recruited as part of the PREDICT study consisting of 69 T2D patients. Plasma underwent enrichment for extracellular vesicles and lipid-associated proteins via binding with lipid removal agent. Bottom-up proteomics was performed on the resulting proteins. Novel data processing techniques were applied to remove unwanted variation by employing surrogate variable analysis where, dummy variables are created that represent the variation in the data not attributable to the variable of interest. The normalised data were correlated against the four variables of interest to determine which proteins were associated with early HF.A crude custom peptide library facilitated the identification of proteotypic peptides for the 27 candidate biomarkers identified during the discovery study. A total of 42 peptides were identifiable in a crude plasma digest, and an MRM assay was created to quantify these peptides. Sixteen peptides pass the bioanalytical method validation and were implemented in the clinical verification study. Analysis of the verification study revealed three peptides from three distinct proteins exhibited a significant association with VO2 max.
title: Maternity Acupressure Training for Healthcare Providers in India. Assessment Of Program Delivery at Fernandez Foundation and Associated Hospitals, Hyderabad India
Creators: name: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3784-4648
Publisher: name: https://ror.org/02stey378
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/02stey378
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The use of acupressure and massage during childbirth has been shown to be effectiveness for supporting normal labour, reducing unnecessary medical interventions, and increasing satisfaction for women during birth. For hospitals, these approaches are low-cost and straight-forward to implement. Importantly acupressure and massage provide natural pain management and improve the experience of childbirth, which many women describe as traumatic due to medical interventions.
To understand the effectiveness of the training program and to understand how these modalities are used maternity services, this study will use on online survey tool, containing 10-point scales to ask healthcare providers about any changes in their level of skill and knowledge in using these techniques before and after training, and then 6 months after training.
We will also ask if they are using the skills 6 months after training, and what might help them to implement the skills more effectively.
Security analysis of cryptographic algorithms
Creators: name: Emami, Sareh Sadet
Publisher: name: Macquarie University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Other education not elsewhere classified

description: Design and security analysis of symmetric algorithms are amongst the most important topics in cryptography. This thesis studies cryptanalysis of symmetric algorithms including block ciphers and hash functions. Block ciphers are symmetric-key encryption algorithms employed in many cryptographic systems to provide confidentiality of data. In a secure symmetric encryption algorithm, decryption of the cipher text should be intractable for parties that do not know the secret key. However, this should be easy for the party who knows the key. Cryptographic hashing algorithms, on the other hand, are predominately used for authentication and integrity verification purposes. Effcient digital signatures are possible when signatures are generated for the message digests instead of for messages themselves. In this case, the security of signatures are tied to the collision resistance of the used hash algorithm. The thesis provides background material that is necessary to understand the topics covered in the work. In particular, the first two chapters explain the basic design structures and describe analytic tools (also called attacks) that are employed to test the security of cryptographic algorithms. Our contributions, presented in subsequent chapters, are three-fold. First we consider the lightweight block cipher LBlock and analyse its resistance against truncated differential attacks. Next we focus our attention on the Feistel networks and analyse them using the rebound attack. Our approach is illustrated on the Camellia block cipher. The last contribution is an analysis of Grøstl hash function against the preimage attack. We employ differential probability distributions to improve the truncated differential cryptanalysis and apply key-recovery attacks to the reduced variants of LBlock. Benefiting from the differential distributions, this technique analyses the security of algorithms with relatively less data compared to other methods. The truncated differential analysis together with the rebound attack is used to improve attacks on generalised Feistel-SP networks. Then, we study randomness of the reduced-round Camellia block cipher. We also examine hash functions based on Camellia with respect to distinguishing and collision attacks. Finally, the security of Grøstl hash function is analysed against preimage and multi-target preimage attacks. We exploit the rebound technique to attack the reduced-round Grøstl compression function and find preimages and multi-target preimages for chosen sets of hash values.
Additional file 5: Figure S3. of Transcriptome analysis of ruminal epithelia revealed potential regulatory mechanisms involved in host adaptation to gradual high fermentable dietary transition in beef cattle
Creators: name: K. Zhao
name: Y. Chen
name: G. Penner
name: M. Oba
name: L. Guan
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 19999 Mathematical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the varied ruminal pH response. (A) Fisher exact test of the association between SNPs and varied ruminal pH response. (B) The sequences of the SNP (g46,834,311 Aâ >â G). (PDF 81Â kb)
Kinetics and structure of cold- and warm-adapted (𝘙)-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase
Creators: name: Guerreiro Machado, Teresa Filipa
Publisher: name: The University of St Andrews
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: QP603.D4G84
subject: Dehydrogenases
subject: Enzymes
subject: Catalysis

description: Temperature is a critical variable influencing the rate of chemical reactions and plays a key role in the evolution of enzymes. Considering that life likely arose in a hot environment and primordial enzymes had a thermophilic nature, most modern enzymes had to evolve to be efficient at lower temperatures. Psychrophilic enzymes offer opportunities in biocatalysis and biotechnology since they exhibit high catalytic rates, higher than their mesophilic counterparts, even when little kinetic energy is available in the system. The work documented in this thesis focuses on a side-by-side comparison between a psychrophilic and a mesophilic (𝘙)-3- hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH) in order to understand the differences in mechanism and structure between the two enzyme orthologues. HBDHs catalyse the NADH-dependent reduction of acetoacetate to (𝘙)-3-hydroxybutyrate, and are particularly interesting ketoreductases for biocatalysis, as they generate (𝘙)-3-hydroxycarboxylates, which are useful chiral precursors in the synthesis of carbapenem antibiotics and the monomeric components of biodegradable polyesters. Whilst probing the rate-limiting steps of the psychrohilic and mesophilic HBDHs this work identified that linear Eyring plots may conceal a change in rate- limiting step within enzyme-catalysed reactions, previously overlooked. Both enzymes display a concerted chemical mechanism, with the hydride- and proton-transfers happening within the same transition-state; a conserved tyrosine acts as the proton donor. At temperatures below zero, the chemical step is more optimised for the psychrophilic enzyme, whereas for the mesophilic enzyme chemistry is fully rate-limiting. At -5°C, the two enzymes exhibit very distinct transition states, while the psychrophilic enzyme exhibits a near-symmetric hydride transfer transition state, the mesophilic proceeds via an early or a late transition state. The active site of the two enzymes differs only in one single residue, that significantly effects catalysis. The psychrophilic enzyme is active with five unnatural substrates, however attempts to rationally engineer its activity were unsuccessful. Overall, this work provides the most detailed characterization of the chemical step of an HBDH-catalysed reaction reported to date.
Additional file 1 of Origin, evolution, and tissue-specific functions of the porcine repetitive element 1
Creators: name: Zheng, Min
name: Guo, Tianfu
name: Yang, Bin
name: Zhang, Zhiyan
name: Huang, Lusheng
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 1: Figure S1. Nested and tandem PRE1. a Mechanisms of the formation of nested PRE1 and tandem PRE1. b A PRE1 inserted into another PRE1 tail. The target motif is located in the PRE1 tail (chr7:29710723:29711249). The nested PRE1 are actually two new tandem PRE1 with changed tile lengths. The tail of the basal PRE1 at the 5′ end is shortened, but the tail of the embedded PRE1 at the 3′ end is extended. Target site duplications (TSD) are shown in red font. Embedded PRE1 are shown in blue font, and basal PRE1 are shown in green font. c Repeated TSD produce three tandem PRE1 (chr12:33294823-33295640); d A PRE1 inserted into another PRE1 body. The target motif is located in the PRE1 body, which leads to a nested PRE1 (chr14:22207023-22207668); and e A tandem PRE1 inserted into the genome (chr2:80470307-80470742). Figure S2. Internal repeat segments in PRE1. a The consensus sequence of quasi-oligomeric PRE1 including three direct repeats. The black arrows indicate the three direct repeats; b Several rare PRE1 with other direct repeats in the PRE1 body. Four repeat segments of PRE1 (chr15:28050427-28050730, chr6:166491294-166491728, chr7:65896533-65896843; and chr15:77600095-77600373) have been marked in the consensus sequence. The arrows show the duplicated segments in different PRE1; and c The degenerate 46-bp repeat sequence in PRE1. The blue dotted arrows show the degenerate 46-bp repeat sequence, and the green arrows show the direct repeats. Figure S3. Three alternative alignment methods for PRE1d2. The PRE1d2 shows a degenerate 46-bp segment following the splicing model, and PRE1d2(2) and PRE1d2(3) show hypothetically missed whole R or F direct repeats, respectively. Figure S4. Differentially-methylated PRE1 in the promoter regions of the HACD3 and HORMAD1 genes.
Quantum Monte Carlo with variable spins: fixed-phase and fixed-node approximations
Creators: name: Melton, Cody A.
name: Mitas, Lubos
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study several aspects of the recently introduced fixed-phase spin-orbit diffusion Monte Carlo (FPSODMC) method, in particular, its relation to the fixed-node method and its potential use as a general approach for electronic structure calculations. We illustrate constructions of spinor-based wave functions with the full space-spin symmetry without assigning up or down spin labels to particular electrons, effectively "complexifying" even ordinary real-valued wave functions. Interestingly, with proper choice of the simulation parameters and spin variables, such fixed-phase calculations enable one to reach also the fixed-node limit. The fixed-phase solution provides a straightforward interpretation as the lowest bosonic state in a given effective potential generated by the many-body approximate phase. In addition, the divergences present at real wave function nodes are smoothed out to lower dimensionality, decreasing thus the variation of sampled quantities and making the sampling also more straightforward. We illustrate some of these properties on calculations of selected first-row systems that recover the fixed-node results with quantitatively similar levels of the corresponding biases. At the same time, the fixed-phase approach opens new possibilities for more general trial wave functions with further opportunities for increasing accuracy in practical calculations.
description: 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables
Senate Bill 847: the implementation of New Jersey’s recess law in elementary schools
Creators: name: Olsen, Edward B.
name: Tsuda, Emi
name: Wyant, James D.
name: Gerken, Zach
name: Capp, Ian
name: Smith, Gabriella
name: Conforti, Nestor
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy

description: This study explored school administrators' perceptions and experiences in implementing S. 847 (NJ's recess law) in schools during the 2019-2020 school year. A total of 230 and 20 school administrators participated in Phase 1 (survey) and Phase 2 (semi-structured interviews) of the study. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and interview data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The Theoretical Domains Framework underscores this study. Phase 1 results showed that participants have positive attitudes toward the bill and 85.7% of the participants indicated they meet the 20-minutes daily recess requirements. Time demands and inadequate facilities were the primary barriers. Phase 2 results indicated that, while participants support the bill, they struggled to fully understand all the requirements. The participants also perceived positive changes in the students' academics and behaviors. Providing funding and professional development could facilitate the process of adopting and executing physical activity policies in schools.
Exploring the Modulatory Impact of Isosakuranetin on Staphylococcus aureus: Inhibition of Sortase A Activity and α-hemolysin Expression
Creators: name: Tian, Lili
name: Wang, Li
name: Yang, Fengying
name: Zhou, Tiezhong
name: Jiang, Hong
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Cancer
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Virology

description: The ubiquity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the mounting prevalence of antibiotic resistance necessitate the identification of novel therapeutic approaches to reduce the selective pressure of antibiotics. Targeting bacterial virulence factors is a wise option, as it can mitigate the pathogenicity of bacteria without eradicating them. Sortase A (SrtA), which is critical for bacterial adhesion, invasion, and immune evasion, is a promising target for virulence inhibition in S. aureus. α-Hemolysin (Hla), a toxin secreted by S. aureus, is closely linked to virulence and has been identified as a key target against MRSA. Herein, we report the discovery of a flavonoid, isosakuranetin, which inhibits the activity of S. aureus SrtA. A fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay revealed that isosakuranetin exhibited a low IC50 of 21.20 μg/mL. Furthermore, isosakuranetin significantly inhibited SrtA-related virulence properties, such as bacterial adhesion to fibrinogen, biofilm formation, and invasion of A549 cells. We employed fluorescence quenching and molecular docking to determine the interactions between isosakuranetin and SrtA, revealing the key amino acid sites for binding. Importantly, isosakuranetin inhibited the hemolytic activity of S. aureus in vitro at a concentration of 32 μg/mL. Moreover, isosakuranetin effectively suppressed the transcription and expression of Hla in a dose-dependent manner and regulated the transcription of RNAIII, the upstream operator of Hla. Notably, isosakuranetin demonstrated in vivo efficacy in a mouse model of S. aureus-induced pneumonia by significantly improving survival rates and reducing lung damage. This is a valuable finding, as isosakuranetin’s dual inhibitory effects on SrtA and hemolytic activity, as well as its anti-virulence activity against MRSA, make it an excellent candidate for therapeutic development.
Additional file 4: Table S2. of Latent class models for Echinococcus multilocularis diagnosis in foxes in Switzerland in the absence of a gold standard
Creators: name: Belen Otero-Abad
name: Armua-Fernandez, Maria
name: Deplazes, Peter
name: Torgerson, Paul
name: Hartnack, Sonja
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Description of the prior information used in the latent class models for three diagnostic tests. (DOC 35Â kb)
Quenching or Bursting: Star Formation Acceleration--A New Methodology for Tracing Galaxy Evolution
Creators: name: Martin, D. Christopher
name: Goncalves, Thiago
name: Darvish, Behnam
name: Seibert, Mark
name: Schiminovich, David
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We introduce a new methodology for the direct extraction of galaxy physical parameters from multi-wavelength photometry and spectroscopy. We use semi-analytic models that describe galaxy evolution in the context of large scale cosmological simulation to provide a catalog of galaxies, star formation histories, and physical parameters. We then apply stellar population synthesis models and a simple extinction model to calculate the observable broad-band fluxes and spectral indices for these galaxies. We use a linear regression analysis to relate physical parameters to observed colors and spectral indices. The result is a set of coefficients that can be used to translate observed colors and indices into stellar mass, star formation rate, and many other parameters, including the instantaneous time derivative of the star formation rate which we denote the {\it Star Formation Acceleration (SFA)}, We apply the method to a test sample of galaxies with GALEX photometry and SDSS spectroscopy, deriving relationships between stellar mass, specific star formation rate, and star formation acceleration. We find evidence for a mass-dependent SFA in the green valley, with low mass galaxies showing greater quenching and higher mass galaxies greater bursting. We also find evidence for an increase in average quenching in galaxies hosting AGN. A simple scenario in which lower mass galaxies accrete and become satellite galaxies, having their star forming gas tidally and/or ram-pressure stripped, while higher mass galaxies receive this gas and react with new star formation can qualitatively explain our results.
description: 33 pages, 31 figures, ApJ accepted
Fructose promotes ampicillin killing of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus agalactiae
Creators: name: Chen, Xuan-wei
name: Wu, Jia-han
name: Liu, Ying-li
name: Munang’andu, Hetron Mweemba
name: Peng, Bo
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Virology
subject: Computational Biology

description: Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) is an important pathogenic bacteria that infected both of human and animals, causing huge economic loss. The increasing cases of antibiotic-resistant GBS impose challenges to treat such infection by antibiotics. Thus, it is highly demanded for the approach to tackle antibiotic resistance in GBS. In this study, we adopte a metabolomic approach to identify the metabolic signature of ampicillin-resistant GBS (AR-GBS) that ampicillin is the routine choice to treat infection by GBS. We find glycolysis is significantly repressed in AR-GBS, and fructose is the crucial biomarker. Exogenous fructose not only reverses ampicillin resistance in AR-GBS but also in clinic isolates including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and NDM-1 expressing Escherichia coli. The synergistic effect is confirmed in a zebrafish infection model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the potentiation by fructose is dependent on glycolysis that enhances ampicillin uptake and the expression of penicillin-binding proteins, the ampicillin target. Our study demonstrates a novel approach to combat antibiotic resistance in GBS.
The Many Guises of a Neutral Fermion Singlet
Creators: name: Ma, Ernest
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The addition of a neutral fermion singlet to the standard model of particle interactions leads to many diverse possibilities. It is not necessarily a right-handed neutrino. I discuss many of the simplest and most interesting scenarios of possible new physics with this approach. In particular I propose the possible spontaneous breaking of baryon number, resulting in the massless 'sakharon'.
description: 13 pages, 2 figures, submitted as a Brief Review to MPLA
Characterisation of an extract and fractions of Azadirachta indica flower on cholesterol lowering property and intestinal motility
Creators: name: Acharaporn Duangjai
name: Nitra Nuengchamnong
name: Learn-Han Lee
name: Bey-Hing Goh
name: Surasak Saokaew
name: Nungruthai Suphrom
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Space Science
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Azadirachta indica has long been used in traditional medicine. This study focused on isolation and characterisation of active ingredients in the extract, its fractions (NF-EA, NF-AQ, NF-G) and its effect on the cholesterol absorption activity. The NF-EA fraction was identified by marker compounds by LC-ESI-QTOF/MS. Cholesterol absorption activity was performed by measuring the solubility and size of cholesterol micelles. The intestinal motility was also examined by isolated rat’s ileum to test the contraction. The extract and its fractions consist of flavonoids and phenolic compounds, like quercetin, kaempferol and myricetin. We found that A. indica extract and NF-EA increase cholesterol micelles size, while the extract, NF-AQ, myricetin and quercetin, reduced the solubility of cholesterol in micelles. The extract and quercetin inhibited the contraction induced by KCl up to 29 and 18%, respectively, and also decreased CaCl2-induced contraction. This finding is in support to traditional uses of A. indica as cholesterol-lowering agents and regulator of gastrointestinal motility.
Outer membrane protein OMP76 of Riemerella anatipestifer contributes to complement evasion and virulence by binding to duck complement factor vitronectin
Creators: name: Li, Sen
name: Wang, Yanhua
name: Yang, Rongkun
name: Zhu, Xiaotong
name: Bai, Hongying
name: Deng, Xiaojian
name: Bai, Jiao
name: Zhang, Yang
name: Xiao, Yuncai
name: Li, Zili
name: Liu, Zhengfei
name: Zhou, Zutao
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Virology

description: Riemerella anatipestifer is an important bacterial pathogen in poultry. Pathogenic bacteria recruit host complement factors to resist the bactericidal effect of serum complement. Vitronectin (Vn) is a complementary regulatory protein that inhibits the formation of the membrane attack complex (MAC). Microbes use outer membrane proteins (OMPs) to hijack Vn for complement evasion. However, the mechanism by which R. anatipestifer achieves evasion is unclear. This study aimed to characterise OMPs of R. anatipestifer which interact with duck Vn (dVn) during complement evasion. Far-western assays and comparison of wild-type and mutant strains that were treated with dVn and duck serum demonstrated particularly strong binding of OMP76 to dVn. These data were confirmed with Escherichia coli strains expressing and not expressing OMP76. Combining tertiary structure analysis and homology modelling, truncated and knocked-out fragments of OMP76 showed that a cluster of critical amino acids in an extracellular loop of OMP76 mediate the interaction with dVn. Moreover, binding of dVn to R. anatipestifer inhibited MAC deposition on the bacterial surface thereby enhancing survival in duck serum. Virulence of the mutant strain ΔOMP76 was attenuated significantly relative to the wild-type strain. Furthermore, adhesion and invasion abilities of ΔOMP76 decreased, and histopathological changes showed that ΔOMP76 was less virulent in ducklings. Thus, OMP76 is a key virulence factor of R. anatipestifer. The identification of OMP76-mediated evasion of complement by recruitment of dVn contributes significantly to the understanding of the molecular mechanism by which R. anatipestifer escapes host innate immunity and provides a new target for the development of subunit vaccines.
Human health risk and assessment of trace element contamination from indoor dust in Australian homes
Creators: name: Doyi, Israel
Publisher: name: Macquarie University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Other education not elsewhere classified

description: The focus of this study is on potentially toxic contaminants in residential indoor dust from Australia, but predominantly Sydney metropolitan area, in the New South Wales state of Australia. Residents were engaged to submit their samples and complete online questionnaire via Australian media and through platforms developed for an earlier citizen science project (VegeSafe). This thesis uses an exposome approach to better quantify the potential health risks to individuals that may arise from exposure to environmental-sourced trace element contaminants in residential indoor dust. The exposome approach is based on the premise that the toxicity of environmental contaminants depends on several factors including the amount of contaminant an individual is exposed to (dose), route of exposure, chemical species, age, gender, genetics, and nutritional status. Given the known high degree of toxicity of As, Cr(VI), Ni and Pb, these elements are often priority elements for exposure assessment and are considered in depth in this study. Other elements Cu, Mn, and Zn are also included because previous studies have identified their prevalence in urban environments from industrial sources. In addition, potential cancer and mutagenic health risks from exposure to radiation from the radioactive isotopes ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in indoor dust were also examined. The chemical and mineralogical analytical methods used in this thesis include portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysis, total reflection X-ray fluorescence (tXRF) spectrometry, gamma-ray spectrometry, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis, Energy-Dispersion Spectrometer (EDS) analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis....Overall, this thesis contributes to the growing body of research in exposure science that has examined the effectiveness of using indoor dust as a metric for residential exposure assessment. This thesis contains the first independent survey on gamma emitting radionuclides in indoor it also contains the largest study of Australian indoor dust with the aim of documenting the occurrence and distribution of natural radionuclides in indoor dust. This thesis data shows that Cr and Pb levels in indoor dust together with naturally occurring radiogenic elements ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K pose potentially significant adverse health risks to residents. To reduce exposure of residents to potentially environmental-sourced contaminants in indoor environment, residents were advised to adopt a suite of mitigation strategies such as adopting a no shoes policy, establishing entry system to capture pollutants and moisture, and using washable rugs. Where high levels of naturally occurring radionuclides are present, the national authority should provide exposure reduction guidance to existing residents.
A Riemann-Hilbert Approach to the Complex Sharma-Tasso-Olver Equation on the Half Line
Creators: name: Zhang, Ning
name: Xia, Tiecheng
name: Hu, Beibei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)
subject: Exactly Solvable and Integrable Systems (nlin.SI)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this paper, we use the Fokas method to analyze the complex Sharma-Tasso-Olver(cSTO) equation on the half line. We show that it can be represented in terms of the solution of a matrix RHP formulated in the plane of the complex spectral parameter λ.
description: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1109.4935, arXiv:1205.1559, arXiv:0808.1534 by other authors
Additional file 1 of Effectiveness of acupuncture at acupoint BL1 (Jingming) in comparison with artificial tears for moderate to severe dry eye disease: a randomized controlled trial
Creators: name: Zhang, Xue
name: Zhang, Bo
name: Peng, Siyang
name: Zhang, Guoliang
name: Ma, Jumei
name: Zhu, Wenzeng
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Science Policy

description: Additional file 1: Supplement 1. Trial Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan.
Additional file 4: Figure S2. of Transcriptome analysis of ruminal epithelia revealed potential regulatory mechanisms involved in host adaptation to gradual high fermentable dietary transition in beef cattle
Creators: name: K. Zhao
name: Y. Chen
name: G. Penner
name: M. Oba
name: L. Guan
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Ecology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Marine Biology
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Plant Biology

description: RT-qPCR validation of selected target genes identified by RNA-seq. The gene expressions detected by RT-qPCR are shown by line graphs on the top and values are shown on the right Y-axis as relative abundance. The gene expressions detected by RNA-seq are shown by bar graphs on the bottom and values are shown on the left Y-axis as log2RPM. The data were analyzed by T-test, * indicated P
C2729T mutation associated with HBV mother-to-child transmission reduces HBV production via suppressing LHBs expression
Creators: name: Liu, Minmin
name: Song, Yarong
name: Li, Yi
name: Yang, Xingwen
name: Zhuang, Hui
name: Li, Jie
name: Wang, Jie
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Virology

description: Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is still the main route of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the virological factors affecting HBV MTCT have not been fully elucidated. In this study, based on a prospective cohort of mother-infant pairs with positive maternal hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), we found that the average nucleotide mutation rate of HBV preS1 promoter (SPI) region in the immunoprophylaxis success group was significantly higher than that in the immunoprophylaxis failure group. Among the nucleotide mutations of the HBV SPI region, the C2729T mutation had the highest frequency. Next, we found that the C2729T mutation promoted HBsAg release but reduced HBV production by suppressing the expression of large hepatitis B surface antigen (LHBs), and overexpressing LHBs could rescue this phenomenon. Based on the fact that the C2729T mutation could alter the binding site of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (HNF1) in the HBV SPI region, we uncovered that such an alteration could downregulate the transcriptional activity of SPI by attenuating the binding ability of HNF1 and HBV SPI region. This study suggests that HBV C2729T mutation may contribute to the immunoprophylaxis success of HBV MTCT by reducing HBV production, which supplements the virological factors affecting HBV MTCT.
Additional file 3: of Latent class models for Echinococcus multilocularis diagnosis in foxes in Switzerland in the absence of a gold standard
Creators: name: Belen Otero-Abad
name: Armua-Fernandez, Maria
name: Deplazes, Peter
name: Torgerson, Paul
name: Hartnack, Sonja
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Bayesian latent-class model code for four diagnostic tests. (DOC 43Â kb)