Expression and antiviral application of exogenous lectin (griffithsin) in sweetpotatoes.

Griffithsin (GRFT) is a highly effective, broad-spectrum, safe, and stable viral inhibitor used to suppress a variety of viruses. However, little information is available on whether GRFT can prevent plant viral diseases. In this study, we constructed a GRFT overexpression vector containing the sweetpotato storage cell signal peptide and generated exogenous GRFT overexpression lines through genetic transformation.

Effects of Mexican Ganoderma lucidum extracts on liver, kidney, and the gut microbiota of Wistar rats: A repeated dose oral toxicity study.

Well-characterized and standardized extracts of a Mexican genotype of Ganoderma lucidum (Gl), a medicinal mushroom, cultivated on oak sawdust (Gl-1) or oak sawdust plus acetylsalicylic acid (Gl-2, ASA), have been shown to exert antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory, prebiotic, and anticancer properties. However, toxicity analyses still need to be carried out. Different doses of these Gl-1 or Gl-2 extracts were administered to Wistar rats for 14 days in a repeated dose oral toxicity study.

Scale, context, and heterogeneity: the complexity of the social space.

The social space refers to physical or virtual places where people interact with one another. It decisively influences the emergence of human behaviors. However, little is known about the nature and complexity of the social space, nor its relationship to context and spatial scale.

Comparative Study on the Quality of Microcrystalline and Epitaxial Silicon Films Produced by PECVD Using Identical SiF Based Process Conditions.

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) and epitaxial silicon (epi-Si) films have been produced from SiF, H and Ar mixtures by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 200 °C. Here, both films were produced using identical deposition conditions, to determine if the conditions for producing µc-Si with the largest crystalline fraction (X), will also result in epi-Si films that encompass the best quality and largest crystalline silicon (c-Si) fraction. Both characteristics are of importance for the development of thin film transistors (TFTs), thin film solar cells and novel 3D devices since epi-Si films can be grown or etched in a selective manner.

Socioeconomic Patterns of Twitter User Activity.

Stratifying behaviors based on demographics and socioeconomic status is crucial for political and economic planning. Traditional methods to gather income and demographic information, like national censuses, require costly large-scale surveys both in terms of the financial and the organizational resources needed for their successful collection. In this study, we use data from social media to expose how behavioral patterns in different socioeconomic groups can be used to infer an individual's income.

Geographical fragmentation of the global network of Twitter communications.

Understanding the geography of society represents a challenge for social and economic sciences. The recent availability of data from social media enables the observation of societies at a global scale. In this paper, we study the geographical structure of the Twitter communication network at the global scale.

Segregation dynamics with reinforcement learning and agent based modeling.

Societies are complex. Properties of social systems can be explained by the interplay and weaving of individual actions. Rewards are key to understand people's choices and decisions.

Fabrication of Microbolometer Arrays Based on Polymorphous Silicon-Germanium.

This work reports the development of arrays of infrared sensors (microbolometers) using a hydrogenated polymorphous silicon-germanium alloy (pm-SiGe:H). Basically, polymorphous semiconductors consist of an amorphous semiconductor matrix with embedded nanocrystals of about 2-3 nm. The pm-SiGe:H alloy studied has a high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of 4.

Segregation and polarization in urban areas.

Social behaviours emerge from the exchange of information among individuals-constrained by and reciprocally influencing the structure of information flows. The Internet radically transformed communication by democratizing broadcast capabilities and enabling easy and borderless formation of new acquaintances. However, actual information flows are heterogeneous and confined to self-organized echo-chambers.

US social fragmentation at multiple scales.

Despite global connectivity, societies seem to be increasingly polarized and fragmented. This phenomenon is rooted in the underlying complex structure and dynamics of social systems. Far from homogeneously mixing or adopting conforming views, individuals self-organize into groups at multiple scales, ranging from families up to cities and cultures.

Identifying seasonal mobility profiles from anonymized and aggregated mobile phone data. Application in food security.

We propose a framework for the systematic analysis of mobile phone data to identify relevant mobility profiles in a population. The proposed framework allows finding distinct human mobility profiles based on the digital trace of mobile phone users characterized by a Matrix of Individual Trajectories (IT-Matrix). This matrix gathers a consistent and regularized description of individual trajectories that enables multi-scale representations along time and space, which can be used to extract aggregated indicators such as a dynamic multi-scale population count.

A Possible Link Between Pyriproxyfen and Microcephaly.

The Zika virus has been the primary suspect in the large increase in incidence of microcephaly in 2015-6 in Brazil. While evidence for Zika being the cause of some of the cases is strong, its role as the primary cause of the large number of cases in Brazil has not been confirmed. Recently, the disparity between the incidences in different geographic locations has led to questions about the virus's role.

Global patterns of synchronization in human communications.

Social media are transforming global communication and coordination and provide unprecedented opportunities for studying socio-technical domains. Here we study global dynamical patterns of communication on Twitter across many scales. Underlying the observed patterns is both the diurnal rotation of the Earth, day and night, and the synchrony required for contingency of actions between individuals.

Disease severity and mortality caused by dengue in a Dominican pediatric population.

Millions are infected with dengue yearly. We evaluated the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pediatric patients infected with dengue in the Dominican Republic. The applicability of World Health Organization (WHO) warning signs for predicting severe dengue and mortality was also studied.

Modeling decision support rule interactions in a clinical setting.

Traditionally, rule interactions are handled at implementation time through rule task properties that control the order in which rules are executed. By doing so, knowledge about the behavior and interactions of decision rules is not captured at modeling time. We argue that this is important knowledge that should be integrated in the modeling phase.

Noninvasive imaging of myocyte apoptosis following application of a stem cell-engineered delivery platform to acutely infarcted myocardium.

Unlabelled: The cardioprotective effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) include reducing myocyte apoptosis, and this effect can be enhanced by preconditioning and encapsulation in a fibrin scaffold. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that apoptosis imaging can detect the cardioprotective effects of a conditioned MSC patch grafted in a rat model of acute myocardial infarction.

Methods: Cell culture experiments simulating engraftment of fibrin patches onto beating rat ventricular myocytes exposed to hypoxia showed an effect of conditioned cells to reduce apoptosis.

Prenatal prevalence of skeletal dysplasias and a proposal ultrasonographic diagnosis approach.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of fetal bone dysplasias diagnosed at the Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine (UNIMEF) of the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia (INPer); and to describe the most frequent skeletal dysplasias and to propose a diagnostic flow chart.

Materials And Methods: This is a case series study including skeletal dysplasias cases from January 1995 until December 2009 at the UNIMEF Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 12 statistical software.

Results: A total of 81,892 births were registered at the institution during the study period.

Sample concentration and impedance detection on a microfluidic polymer chip.

We present an on-chip microfluidic sample concentrator and detection triggering system for microparticles based on a combination of insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) and electrical impedance measurement. This platform operates by first using iDEP to selectively concentrate microparticles of interest based on their electrical and physiological characteristics in a primary fluidic channel; the concentrated microparticles are then directed into a side channel configured for particle detection using electrical impedance measurements with embedded electrodes. This is the first study showing iDEP concentration with subsequent sample diversion down an analysis channel and is the first to demonstrate iDEP in the presence of pressure driven flow.

Low-distortion, high-strength bonding of thermoplastic microfluidic devices employing case-II diffusion-mediated permeant activation.

We demonstrate a new method for joining thermoplastic surfaces to produce microfluidic devices. The method takes advantage of the sharply defined permeation boundary of case-II diffusion to generate dimensionally controlled, activated bonding layers at the surfaces being joined. The technique is capable of producing bonds that exhibit cohesive failure, while preserving the fidelity of fine features in the bonding interface.

Performance impact of dynamic surface coatings on polymeric insulator-based dielectrophoretic particle separators.

Efficient and robust particle separation and enrichment techniques are critical for a diverse range of lab-on-a-chip analytical devices including pathogen detection, sample preparation, high-throughput particle sorting, and biomedical diagnostics. Previously, using insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) in microfluidic glass devices, we demonstrated simultaneous particle separation and concentration of various biological organisms, polymer microbeads, and viruses. As an alternative to glass, we evaluate the performance of similar iDEP structures produced in polymer-based microfluidic devices.

Effect of inoculation with Penicillium albidum, a phosphate-solubilizing fungus, on the growth of Trifolium pratense cropped in a volcanic soil.

Volcanic soils in the south of Chile have an elevated quantity of total P, which is scarcely available due to its high P fixation capacity. One strategy for increasing the availability of P for the vegetables that grow there would be to use phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms. In one assay conducted in a greenhouse on a volcanic soil, the effect of inoculation with Penicillium albidum, a phosphate-solubilizing fungus, was studied on the growth of red clover (Trifolium pratense L).

On implementing clinical decision support: achieving scalability and maintainability by combining business rules and ontologies.

We present an approach and architecture for implementing scalable and maintainable clinical decision support at the Partners HealthCare System. The architecture integrates a business rules engine that executes declarative if-then rules stored in a rule-base referencing objects and methods in a business object model. The rules engine executes object methods by invoking services implemented on the clinical data repository.

Incidence of complications during flap creation in LASIK using the NIDEK MK-2000 microkeratome in 26,600 cases.

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of intraoperative complications using the NIDEK MK-2000 microkeratome during flap creation in LASIK.

Methods: The incidence of intraoperative flap complications during LASIK using the NIDEK MK-2000 microkeratome was retrospectively studied in 26,600 procedures performed in 5 outpatient excimer laser surgery centers.

Results: A total of 65 (0.

Improving information prescription to parents of premature infants through an OWL-based knowledge mediator.

In the Baby CareLink system, information prescription plays an important role in preparing parents of premature infants for the eventual discharge to home of their children. However, the prescription process requires scarce clinician time in order to dispense information, and can become cumbersome as content bases grow in size. We describe the development of an OWL-based knowledge mediator to facilitate information prescription.