jimnoneill/paper-to-field-training huggingface dataset:
Differential Effects of Exogenous and Endogenous Connective Tissue Growth Factor on Rat WB-F344 Cells

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)

Objective Hepatic progenitor cells(WB-F344) can be differentiated into hepatocytes or cholangiocytes depending on different stimulations. The aim of the current study was to compare influences of exogenous and endogenous connective tissue growth factor(CTGF) on WB-F344 cells differentiation. Methods MTT assay was used to detect cell viability after recombinant human CTGF stimulated WB-F344 cells in complete medium for 24 hours. Western blotting was used to detect CTGF influence on WB-F344 cells differentiation:including the changes of α-fetoprotein(AFP),albumin and cytokeratin-19(CK-19). The plasmid expressing CTGF(dl6-95-CTGF) was constructed through inserting the full length of CTGF gene into the AAV vector dl6-95. The stable transfected WB-F344 cells with dl6-95-CTGF using G418 selection. Western blotting was also used to detect the changes of hepatic progenitor markers. Results Twenty-four hours after stimulating WB-F344 by recombinant human CTGF,the viability of WB-F344 was slightly inhibited(P0.05) without dose-dependent manner. High dose(100 ng/mL) of CTGF could change the phenotype markers of WB-F344 cells at protein level:the expression of fetal hepatocyte marker(AFP) was down-regulated,while the expression of mature hepatocyte marker(albumin) and cholangiocyte marker(CK-19) were up-regulated. The plasmid expressing CTGF(dl6-95-CTGF) was constructed and G418 resistant clones were screened for cell clones with stable transfection successfully. Compared with transfected with dl6-95,WB-F344 cells transfected with dl6-95-CTGF could decrease the expressions of AFP and CK-19,while the expression of albumin increased(P0.05),the results were consistent with CTGF directly stimulated,but the degree of induction was less obvious than that of exogenous CTGF. Conclusion Compared with endogenous CTGF,exogenous CTGF was able to stimulate WB-F344 cells differentiation toward hepatocytes more obviously.
Flavor Stability

Field: Chemical Engineering (Physical Sciences)

The formation of trans-2-nonenal is one of the main causes of beer staling. The main mechanism contributing to the generation of trans-2-nonenal in beer is the enzymatic or nonenzymatic oxidation of lipids and oxidized free fatty acids. This hypothesis has been examined by looking for relations between lipoxygenase activity in malt, nonenal potential in wort, and nonenal values in fermenting wort and beer in relation to the sensory flavor stability of the finished beer. New methods were developed to determine nonenal potential and trans-2-nonenal values. It was concluded that within one experimental series of brews, lipoxygenase activity and nonenal potential were useful to predict susceptibility of beer to staling. Moreover, there was a high degree of correlation between nonenal potential and trans-2-nonenal developed in beer after natural aging. A test in which three oxidation products of linoleic acid, all suspected precursors of trans-2-nonenal in beer, were added to beer, did not give evidence of whether these components were precursors or not. Other aldehydes, besides trans-2-nonenal, were formed that do not appear during natural or forced staling of beer. In fermentation trials with an excess of trans-2-nonenal in wort, rapid reduction of trans-2-nonenal to a nondetectable level was demonstrated. At the same time, 2-nonen-1-ol and 1-nonanol were formed. Different crown corks showed remarkable differences in the diffusion velocity of oxygen through the plastic liner. The choice of a liner with a low diffusion velocity leads to a lower oxygen content and thus better flavor stability of the finished beer during storage. Finally some suggestions are given for the reduction of staling.
Laboratory finding of CSF analysis in patients with meningitis at Elamin Hamid Pediatrics Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Bacterial meningitis in infants and children is a serious clinical entity with signs and symptoms that commonly do not allow distinguishing the diagnosis and the causative agents. The only method to determine if meningitis is the cause of these symptoms is a lumbar puncture. Lumbar puncture is the gold standard for the diagnosis and should be done in all suspected cases of meningitis unless contraindicated. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify the importance of the microbiological study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients suspected to have acute meningitis. Despite the availability of all other investigations and Imaging for diagnosis of meningitis but CSF analysis remains the most available, accurate, and cheaper for diagnosis of meningitis in children. Methodology and result: This is a prospective study. 71 patients were included. All patients were clinically suspected to have acute meningitis. A lumbar puncture for CSF analysis was done for all patients. The data was collected and analysed. CSF culture was done. The culture was negative In 58 patients (81.7%) and positive in 13 patients (18.3%). Streptococcus was found in 3 patients (4.2 %), staphylococcus epidermidis in 2 patients (2.8%), E Coli in 2 patients (2.8%), klebsiella in 2 patients (2.8%), pneumococci in 2 patient (2.8%), salmonella in 1 patient (1,4%) and Bacilli in 1 patient (1.4 %). Recommendation: Lumbar Puncture (LP) remains the easiest, cheapest and accurate investigation for diagnosis of meningitis in children mainly in rural areas in Sudan and other developing countries. It’s mandatory to offer training for doctors and medical staff for doing lumber punctures safely and accurately and to offer well-equipped laboratories for such essential investigations. It’s not only the role of doctors and medical staff but is a governmental obligation as well. This can save a lot of sick children and prevent mortality and morbidity of acute meningitis in children.
An Innovative Surgical Management of Complicated Bile Duct Variant in Emergency Living Donor Adult Liver Transplantation: Initial Experience

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Background: The incidence of biliary complications after living donor adult liver transplantation (LDALT) is still high due to the dile duct variation and necessity reconstruction of multiple small bile ducts. The current surgical management of the biliary variants is unsatisfactory. We evaluated the role of a new surgical approach in a complicated hilar bile duct variant (Nakamura type IV and Nakamura type II) under emergent right lobe LDALT for high MELD score patients. Methods: The common hepatic duct (CHD) and the LHD of the donor were transected in a right-graft including short common trunks with right posterior and anterior bile ducts, whereas the LHD of the donor was anastomosed to the CHD and the common trunks of a right-graft bile duct and the recipient CHD was end-to-end anastomosed. Results: Ten of 13 grafts (Nakamura types II, III, and IV) had two or more biliary orifices after right graft lobectomy; seven patients had biliary complications (53.8%). Later, the surgical innovation was carried out in five donors with variant bile duct (Four Nakamura type IV and one type II), and, consequently, no biliary or other complications were observed in donors and recipients during 47-53 months of follow-up, significant differences (P<0.05) were found when two stages were compared. Conclusions: Our initial experience suggests that, in the urgent condition of LDALT when an alternative live donor was unavailable, a surgical innovation of cutting part of the CHD trunks including variant RHDs in a complicated donor bile duct variant may facilitate biliary reconstruction and reduce long-term biliary complications.
The activity in vitro against herpes virus of 9-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl)guanine (acycloguanosine), a new antiviral agent

Field: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (Life Sciences)

The antiviral activity of acycloguanosine in vitro was compared with that of idoxuridine, cytarabine, trifluorothymidine, vidarabine and phosphonoacetic acid by means of plaque reduction assays in VERO cells with several strains of type 1 and type 2 herpes virus. The dose-response lines thus obtained showed that acycloguanosine was considerably more active than the other compounds. The activity of all compounds was somewhat lower in HeLa cells. Acycloguanosine was equally effective against type 1 and type 2 herpes, and individual strains varied little in their sensitivity. The other compounds showed wider variations in strain sensitivity, with a tendency for type 2 strains to be less sensitive. Preliminary studies with acycloguanosine showed that its antiviral action took place in the early stages of the multiplication cycle of the virus. Acycloguanosine had very low toxicity to VERO cells. At concentrations at the limit of solubility (20,000 μM), it caused only limited changes in cell morphology and inhibition of cell growth which was reversible. The favourable properties of acycloguanosine indicate that it may be of clinical use in the treatment of herpes virus infections.
CFD Simulations and on-site measurements of urban microclimate in a real compact urban area

Field: Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)

The urban population has reached the highest number ever recorded. Based on recent studies, this number is going to increase even further, with strong consequences for the urban microclimate. In this perspective, the analysis of microclimatic conditions in the urban environment is getting more significant. This study analyzes microclimatic conditions in a real urban area. The real compact inhomogeneous urban area under study is located in Nicosia old town, in Cyprus. High-resolution Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed based on the 3D unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations to assess the air temperature, surface temperatures and wind speed distributions. The CFD results are compared with on-site measurements for the same area. The results show that CFD can predict air temperatures in compact real urban areas, with an average deviation of approximately 7%. Based on the results, conclusions are going to be made regarding microclimatic conditions in the case study area.
Ginsenoside Rh4 Improves Hepatic Lipid Metabolism and Inflammation in a Model of NAFLD by Targeting the Gut Liver Axis and Modulating the FXR Signaling Pathway

Field: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (Life Sciences)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a series of disorders of liver metabolism caused by the accumulation of lipids in the liver, which is considered the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. Our previous study demonstrated the promising efficacy of ginsenoside Rh4 in improving the intestinal tract and its related metabolites. Meanwhile, many studies in the literature have investigated the gut microbiota and its metabolites, such as bile acids (BAs) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which play a key role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Therefore, this study focused on whether Rh4 could achieve therapeutic effects on NAFLD through the gut–liver axis. The results showed that Rh4 exhibited sound therapeutic effects on the NAFLD model induced by the Western diet and CCl4 in mice. In the liver, the degrees of hepatic steatosis, lobular inflammation levels, and bile acid in the liver tissue were improved after Rh4 treatment. At the same time, Rh4 treatment significantly increased the levels of intestinal SCFAs and BAs, and these changes were accompanied by the complementary diversity and composition of intestinal flora. In addition, correlation analysis showed that Rh4 affected the expression of proteins involved in the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) signaling pathway in the liver and intestine, which modulates hepatic lipid metabolism, inflammation, and proteins related to bile acid regulation. In conclusion, our study provides a valuable insight into how Rh4 targets the gut–liver axis for the development of NAFLD, which indicates that Rh4 may be a promising candidate for the clinical therapy of NAFLD.
In Silico Analysis of the Molecular-Level Impact of SMPD1 Variants on Niemann-Pick Disease Severity

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)

Sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase (SMPD1) is a key enzyme in the sphingolipid metabolism. Genetic SMPD1 variants have been related to the Niemann-Pick lysosomal storage disorder, which has different degrees of phenotypic severity ranging from severe symptomatology involving the central nervous system (type A) to milder ones (type B). They have also been linked to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson and Alzheimer. In this paper, we leveraged structural, evolutionary and stability information on SMPD1 to predict and analyze the impact of variants at the molecular level. We developed the SMPD1-ZooM algorithm, which is able to predict with good accuracy whether variants cause Niemann-Pick disease and its phenotypic severity; the predictor is freely available for download. We performed a large-scale analysis of all possible SMPD1 variants, which led us to identify protein regions that are either robust or fragile with respect to amino acid variations, and show the importance of aromatic-involving interactions in SMPD1 function and stability. Our study also revealed a good correlation between SMPD1-ZooM scores and in vitro loss of SMPD1 activity. The understanding of the molecular effects of SMPD1 variants is of crucial importance to improve genetic screening of SMPD1-related disorders and to develop personalized treatments that restore SMPD1 functionality.
Question-formatted reproaches in classroom management

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

This paper provides a micro-analytical investigation into the action formation and ascription of interrogatives as reproaches and the interactional exigencies and functions that motivate this reproach design choice for classroom management. It is shown how the participants draw on an interplay of turn-design, epistemic territories and features of sequence organisation to produce these question-formatted reproaches. These can then be used to directly address forms of pupils’ conduct as unacceptable, encourage the adherence to behavioural norms, establish the condition for upcoming reproaches and highlight pupils’ failure to adhere to behavioural expectations.
Adenovirus-Mediated Bcl-Xl Gene Therapy Combined with Pronase Treatment Protects the Small Intestine from Radiation-Induced Enteritis in Mouse Model

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Intestinal injury is a major side effect of radiation treatment for many malignancies. The present study investigated whether transducing Bcl-xL, a potent anti-apoptotic gene, into intestinal epithelial cells would exert protective effects against radiation-induced acute injuries. Methods: Adenoviral vectors containing the human Bcl-xL gene (AxCABclxL) or β-galactosidase gene (AxCAlacZ) driven by the CAG promoter were generated. To increase transduction efficiency into the mucosal epithelium, the intraluminal space of the small intestine of mice was washed with buffered-saline and mucus components were digested with Pronase MS®. Gene transduction was performed by injecting 2×108 pfu adenoviral vector into the pre-treated small intestine. Transduction efficiency was examined by X-gal staining 24 hours after AxCAlacZ infection. Radiation-induced acute injury of the small intestine was induced by whole body irradiation (15 Gy) performed 24 hours after adenoviral vector infection. Apoptotic epithelial cells were visualized by TUNEL assay. Morphological analysis was assessed by histological examination. Results: Successful transduction after Pronase MS® treatment was achieved in the basal crypt epithelial cells in the ileum, thought to be the location of stem cells, as determined by X-gal staining. The AxCABclxL group demonstrated significantly fewer radiation-induced apoptotic mucosal epithelial cells when compared with the other two groups at 6 hours after irradiation (p<0.05). At 72 hours after irradiation, the morphological appearance of the small intestine in the AxCABclxL group showed significantly less radiation damage in terms of mucosal thickness (p<0.001). Conclusions: The present study indicates that Bcl-xL gene expression using adenoviral vector-mediated transduction is a valuable approach to prevent intestinal injury caused by radiation exposure.
Brain Natriuretic Peptide in The Diagnosis of Heart Failure

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is a global problem, with more than 20 million people affected.The overall prevalence of heart failure in developed countries is around 2%.The significance of natriuretic peptides (NPs) is well established in the diagnosis of heart failure (HF). Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 100 consecutive patients who presented with acute dyspnea to the Emergency department of a tertiary medical centre in Palakkad were included from December 2019-April 2020.The initial diagnosis for dyspnea was assigned to the emergency department.Later the patient was evaluated in the cardiology department and a final diagnosis was made.A rapid microparticle enzyme immunoassay (AXSYM SYSTEMS ABOTT) was used for the quantitative determination of BNP measurement.EDTA plasma of the patients was subjected to the estimation of BNP according to the manufacturer's instructions.Results: Out of 100 patients, 79 % had abnormal BNP levels (>100pg/ml); Out of these,6 In this study, among patients with elevated BNP levels 55 % had abnormal ECG changes and 45 % had normal ECG 1% (n=47) were diagnosed to have CCF(p<0.01)and 39% had another diagnosis. Conclusion:The results conclude that the measurement of BNP levels will help the clinicians to differentiate cardiac and noncardiac causes of dyspnea in the emergency setting.
In Situ Reduction of Gold Nanoparticle-Decorated Ti3C2 MXene for Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Detection of MicroRNA-21 with a Cascaded Signal Amplification Strategy

Field: Chemistry (Physical Sciences)

Sensitive detection of miRNA-21 provides remarkable results for the diagnosis of early breast cancer. Here, we fabricated a novel electrochemical biosensor for the ultrasensitive detection of miRNA-21 via in situ reduction of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-decorated Ti 3 C 2 MXene, combined with a cascaded signal amplification strategy, that is, strand displacement of DNA walker-induced multi-DNA (product DNA) release and cyclic enzymatic signal amplification. First, in situ reduction of AuNPs on a Ti 3 C 2 MXene layer was not only used as a carrier of capture DNA (C-DNA) and a way to make DNA hybridization accessible but also to provide a predominant (111) facet with high electrocatalytic activity of AuNPs that significantly ameliorated the electrochemical signal, in which MXene acted as both reductant and stabilizer. In addition, in the presence of miRNA-21, multi-DNA fragments (p-DNA) that were produced by strand displacement of the DNA walker could be captured by C-DNA on the fabricated biosensor and trigger Exo III cyclic digestion for further amplification of electrochemical signals. By cascaded signal amplification, the changes in peak signal currents (Δ I ) using differential pulse voltammetry were amplified. Under optimal conditions, the electrochemical biosensor achieved a detection limit of 50 aM (S/N = 3) with a linear range from 100 aM to 1.0 nM. With its excellent analytical performance, this biosensor may have the potential to be used in early diagnosis and biomedical applications.
Impact of emotional intelligence of pharmacist and pharmacy techicians on potential for achieving compliance

Field: Health Professions (Health Sciences)

Emotional intelligence is defined as ability to process emotional information which have impact on many cognitive processes of significance for achieving professional success. Studying of emotional intelligence, in order to implement this concept in pharmacy practice, is important to improve relationship between pharmacists and patients. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of emotional intelligence and potential for achieving patient's compliance, considering various factors that may influence them. The study included 102 patients, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from 25 pharmacies in Kragujevac. All patients received the questionnaire, a checklist for patient counseling and a test of emotional intelligence. The relationship between emotional intelligence and potential for achieving good patient's compliance was statistically tested by linear correlation. It was shown that emotional intelligence significantly correlated with potential to improve compliance (r = 0.432). The mean value of emotional intelligence score was 185.05 ± 1.84, while the average value of the achievement of good compliance score was 17.35 ± 0.56. Different factors like ownership over pharmacy, professional satisfaction and contribution to pharmacy prosperity were significantly associated with level of emotional intelligence, while potential for achieving compliance depended on years of work experience, competence, professional development of pharmaceutical staff and caring for a patient with chronic disease at home. This study showed that pharmaceutical staff with higher level of emotional intelligence had greater potential for achieving compliance. It was found that the level of emotional intelligence of pharmaceutical staff was significantly associated with professional satisfaction, contribution to prosperity of a pharmacy and ownership over pharmacy where the study participant worked. Professional experience, competence and taking opportunities for professional development differed significantly between people with different levels of potential for improving compliance in their patients. A higher potential for achieving compliance was found among the staff who had a patient with chronic disease to care for at home.