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No current guidance exists to inform the content area credit hours for doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) programs in the United States (US). Public websites were accessed for all Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited PharmD programs in the US to record the credit hours devoted to drug therapy, clinical skills, experiential learning, scholarship, social and administrative sciences, physiology/pathophysiology, pharmacogenomics, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics in the didactic curricula. Due to the high prevalence of programs that integrate drug therapy, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry into a single course, we subdivided programs based upon whether drug therapy courses were "integrated" or "non-integrated." A regression analyses was conducted to explore the relationship between each content area and North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) pass rates and residency match rates. Data were available for 140 accredited PharmD programs. Drug therapy had the highest credit hours in programs with both integrated and non-integrated drug therapy courses. Programs with integrated drug therapy courses had significantly more credit hours in experiential and scholarship and fewer credit hours in stand-alone courses for pathophysiology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology. Credit hours in content areas did not predict NAPLEX pass rate nor residency match success rate. This is the first comprehensive description of all ACPE accredited pharmacy schools with credit hours broken down by content areas. While content areas did not directly predict success criteria, these results may still be useful to describe curricular norms or inform the design of future pharmacy curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite new developments and a growing commitment to internationalization of higher education at the government and institutional levels, Vietnam remains largely on the periphery of existing scholarship on international higher education. Even though students are both key actors and beneficiaries of internationalization at home, insufficient attention is paid by policy makers and training institutions in Vietnam to student experiences and engagement in international programs. The study reported in this paper responds to this critical gap and explores student agency in navigating intercultural adaptability (IA). It draws on 80 interviews with different stakeholders in eight international programs across five Vietnamese universities. Using agency theory, student IA has been unpacked in specific ecological circumstances in terms of (i) how student agency for IA has enacted; and (ii) what supportive interventions have been created for student agency enactment in international programs. The study provides original insights into how individual aspirations for international programs, agentic life and professional history have influenced students' agentic engagement in IA. It sheds light on the ways in which access to and capacity to influence supportive spaces in terms of language support, culturally responsive pedagogy, career orientation and intercultural exchange programs, have enabled students to reinforce their agency in IA. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop a non-invasive MRI-based methodology to visually and quantitatively assess the impact of head and chest rotations on the airway caliber. An MRI table set-up was developed for independent rotations of the head and chest along B 0 field and tested for feasibility using phantom scans. The accuracy of the head and chest rotations was validated with ten volunteer scans. A 3T MRI protocol was optimized to image the regions of interest (ROIs) that were the retropalatal (RP) and retroglossal (RG) sections of the upper airway. A workflow for data analysis was developed to assess the changes of the airway caliber following the independent head and chest rotations. A prototype MRI table setup was established with two separate plates each supporting and rotating the head or chest independently. Subject positioning and image acquisition were finished within seven minutes for each position. Thus, each subject MRI was set up with seven positions and completed for less than one hour. The implemented angles were within 0.3-degree deviation from the targeted angles. The data analysis workflow provided 2D and 3D visualization and quantification with the measurements of cross-sectional area, lateral and anterior-posterior distances of the ROIs. Sharp contrast of the airway and its surrounding tissues facilitated an automatic approach to ROI placement to minimize subjectivity. The 3T MRI data acquisition and analysis methodology could reliably assess the impact of head and chest rotations on the upper airway caliber to identify the optimal position for obstructive sleep apnea patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumen protozoa produce hydrogen, which can be utilised by methanogens to produce enteric methane (CH 4 ) that is a loss of digested energy and has an adverse environmental impact as a greenhouse gas. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the absence of rumen protozoa on pasture intake, ruminal fermentation and enteric CH 4 production and performance of grazing sheep. An incomplete crossover experiment was conducted with eleven crossbred ewes (6 without [defaunated] and 5 with protozoa [refaunated]) on 2 × 2 ha pastures with daily CH 4 production (DMP) being measured by GreenFeed Emission Monitoring (GEM) units. Grazing defaunated sheep exhibited a lower concentration of rumen ammonia ( P  = 0.01), but similar concentrations of total rumen volatile fatty acids compared to refaunated sheep ( P  > 0.05). The molar proportion of acetate was decreased and butyrate proportion was increased by defaunation, while the proportion of propionate was unchanged. Estimated pasture intake was not different between defaunated and refaunated sheep ( P  > 0.05). Defaunated sheep tended to have a higher total dry matter intake (tDMI; P  = 0.06), being the sum of pasture intake and pellet supplement intake. There was a tendency towards a lower CH 4 yield (g CH 4 /kg tDMI; P  = 0.07) in defaunated sheep, but no differences in average daily gain or wool growth occurred due to defaunation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of molecular organic semiconductors constituting of two side groups R, R = silole or silole-benzene, attached symmetrically to a central dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide unit were theoretically designed as host materials in red phosphorescence. Their electronic and transport properties were determined using density functional theory methods. Structural modifications of the R groups and central units were performed with the aim of increasing both triplet energy and charge mobility. Calculated results suggested a few compounds to have sufficiently high triplet energies (>2.5 eV) to be used as host materials in PhOLED devices in combination with low-triplet-energy guest materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal intercalation to graphite produces various types of superconductors. The highest superconducting transition temperature T c (onset temperature, T c onset , of 11.5 K) was found in Ca intercalated graphite, denoted CaC 6 . T c onset increased up to 15.1 K at 7.5 GPa, implying a positive pressure dependence. However, no new metal-intercalated graphite superconductors with T c onset higher than 11.5 K at ambient pressure have so far been reported. To search for new graphite superconductors, we successfully synthesized binary-element-intercalated graphite, Ca x K 1−x C y . Their structure resembles that of KC 8 . T c increased continuously with increasing x. Furthermore, the pressure dependence of T c in Ca 0.6 K 0.4 C 8 was investigated over a wide pressure range from 0–43 GPa. T c (= 9.6 K at 0 GPa) increased to 11.6 K at 3.3 GPa, and decreased to 2.0 K at 41 GPa. This behavior is similar to that of CaC 6 , albeit with a lower maximum T c . X-ray diffraction patterns were measured under high pressures of 0–24 GPa, and suggest a structural transition at 15 GPa. Evidence is given for superconducting graphite involving binary metal intercalation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A unified mechanism is proposed for the formation of xanthine and isoguanine. [•] The mechanisms explain formation of biomolecules and promote prebiotic biodiversity. [•] The mechanisms are appropriate for non-aqueous scenarios of prebiotic synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Accelerating wavepackets are obtained by applying the extended Galilean transformation to free-space particle wavepackets, or to time-dependent bound states. The transformed Schrödinger equation contains a potential term, which drives the acceleration. The method reproduces Darwin’s result for an accelerating Gaussian wavepacket in a constant force field, and Schrödinger’s oscillating wavepacket in a harmonic well. We also derive a new accelerating Airy wavepacket in a gravitational field, and give a new derivation of oscillating wavepackets based on the higher harmonic oscillator energy eigenstates. These results illustrate an analytic method of dealing with wavepackets accelerating in force fields. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Guest Editors It is our pleasure to present this special section of Computers & Graphics (C&G), featuring the best paper presented at the 25th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST 2019), held November 12-15, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. ACM VRST is a premier international forum for the exchange of experiences and knowledge among researchers and developers concerned with virtual reality software and technology. This paper, "Realistic haptic rendering of hyper-elastic material via measurement-based FEM model identification and real-time simulation" by the authors Arsen Abdulali, Ibragim Atadjanov, Seungkyu Lee and Seokhee Jeon [1], presents a haptic rendering framework that is capable of enhancing haptic feedback realism by means of an innovative, measurement-based modeling and rendering paradigm. [Extracted from the article]

Inflammasomes are large cytosolic multiprotein complexes assembled in response to infection and cellular stress, and are crucial for the activation of inflammatory caspases and the subsequent processing and release of pro-inflammatory mediators. While caspase-1 is activated within the canonical inflammasome, the related caspase-4 (also known as caspase-11 in mice) and caspase-5 are activated within the non-canonical inflammasome upon sensing of cytosolic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria. However, the consequences of canonical and non-canonical inflammasome activation are similar. Caspase-1 promotes the processing and release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 and the release of danger signals, as well as a lytic form of cell death called pyroptosis, whereas caspase-4, caspase-5 and caspase-11 directly promote pyroptosis through cleavage of the pore-forming protein gasdermin D (GSDMD), and trigger a secondary activation of the canonical NLRP3 inflammasome for cytokine release. Since the presence of the non-canonical inflammasome activator LPS leads to endotoxemia and sepsis, non-canonical inflammasome activation and regulation has important clinical ramifications. Here we discuss the mechanism of non-canonical inflammasome activation, mechanisms regulating its activity and its contribution to health and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin-1 receptor type 2 (IL1R2) is a decoy receptor for exogenous IL-1. However, its functional role in chicken immunity is poorly understood. Herein, chicken IL-1R2 (chIL-1R2) was identified and functionally characterized in vivo and in vitro. The chIL-1R2 coding sequence includes 1,236 nucleotides encoding 412 amino acids, is highly conserved, and has a close relationship with its mammalian counterpart. Its extracellular region has three Ig-like domains but no TIR domain for intracellular signaling. Using ELISA, the recombinant chIL-1R2 protein was demonstrated to specifically bind to the chicken IL-1β. Ch IL-1R2 mRNA expression was shown to be higher in the spleen, lung, kidney, small intestine, and liver. The expression of chIL-1R2 and chIL-1R1 was significantly upregulated in DF-1 cells treated with poly (I:C), but significantly downregulated in the presence of NF-κB, JNK, and MEK inhibitors, indicating that the NF-κB, JNK, and MEK signaling pathways are required for the transcriptional regulation of ch IL-1R1 and chIL-1R2 expression. It is worth noting that while the p30 MAPK pathway was required for ch IL-1R1 expression, it was not required for ch IL-1R2 expression. Furthermore, ch IL-1R2 expression increased as early as day 1, and then significantly decreased until day 3, while chIL-1R1 was dramatically upregulated in four organs of chickens infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV). These findings indicate that ch IL-1R1 and ch IL-1R2 may play a crucial in innate and adaptive immune responses toward HPAIV infection. In summary the present study showed that chIL-1R2 binds to chIL-1β antibody. Ch IL-1R2 expression can be induced by a viral infection, and may be regulated through NF-κB/JNK/MEK-mediated signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ten 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles 2a–2j were prepared and tested for their ability to increase oleic acid oxidation in human myotubes using a high-throughput multiwell assay. Compounds 2e (2-{4-[(1-(3-fluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methylthio]-2-methylphenoxy}acetic acid) and 2i (2-{4-[(1-(3-chloro-4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methylthio]-2-methylphenoxy}acetic acid) exhibited potent agonist activities. Compounds 2e and 2i also exhibited powerful agonist effects for both PPARα and PPARδ in a luciferase-based assay. Consequently, these triazoles can be categorized as dual PPAR agonists. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The chemical composition of PM 2.5 was monitored simultaneously at two sites, one in a general area of the city center and one at a roadside, in Hanoi, Vietnam, during August 2019–July 2020 using 220 daily (24 h) filter samples. PM mass, water soluble ions, trace elements, organic and elemental carbon and sugar anhydrides were measured. The annual average PM 2.5 concentrations, 49 and 46 μg m−3 at the traffic and the general urban site, respectively, exceeded the national (25 μg m−3) and 2021 WHO limit values (5 μg m−3). Daily PM 2.5 concentrations were the highest in winter when stagnant meteorological conditions prevailed. On average, half of the resolved mass was organic matter, of which about 40% was attributable to biomass burning, most likely rice straw field burning and domestic fuel combustion. One third of PM 2.5 was secondary inorganic aerosol which was dominated by sulphate hence indicating a high contribution of stationary sources like coal combustion. The elemental carbon level was higher at the traffic site, except in April 2020 during the COVID-19 restrictions. Zinc was the most common trace element with high daily variations and large differences between the sites, and it often peaked with Cd, Cl− and Pb indicating contribution of industrial sources and/or coal combustion. The highest zinc concentrations appeared on a few days and likely originated from open burning of municipal solid waste. It appeared that scattered open waste and biomass burning, as well as coal combustion, are important sources causing spikes of PM 2.5 pollution in Hanoi above the general levels caused by routine industrial and traffic sources, especially during stagnant winter days. Source contributions were further studied with positive matrix factorization producing six source factors: traffic (12%), local secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA, 18%), biomass burning (19%), industry (9%), long-range transported SIA (25%) and dust (17%). [Display omitted] • Highest daily concentrations occurred during winter with stagnant meteorological conditions. • Half of resolved PM 2.5 mass was organic matter of which about 40% attributable to biomass burning. • One third of PM 2.5 mass was secondary inorganic aerosol dominated by sulphates. • With the PMF analysis following source factors were found LRT and local SIA, traffic, biomass burning, industry and dust. • During the COVID-19 lockdown period concentration of elemental carbon was halved at the traffic site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiogenesis is an important adaptation for recovery from peripheral ischemia. Here, we determined whether 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) contributes to ischemia-induced angiogenesis and assessed its underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms using a mouse hindlimb-ischemia angiogenesis model. Hindlimb blood flow was measured by Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging and microvessel density was determined by CD31 and tomato lectin staining. We found that systemic and local administration of a 20-HETE synthesis inhibitor, DDMS, or a 20-HETE antagonist, 6,15-20-HEDGE significantly reduced blood flow recovery and microvessel formation in response to ischemia. 20-HETE production, measured by LC/MS/MS, was markedly increased in ischemic muscles (91 ± 11 vs. 8 ± 2 pg/mg in controls), which was associated with prominent upregulation of the 20-HETE synthase, CYP4A12. Immunofluorescence co-localized increased CYP4A12 expression in response to ischemia to CD31-positive EC in the ischemic hindlimb microvessels. We further showed that ischemia increased HIF-1α, VEGF, and VEGFR2 expression in gracilis muscles and that these increases were negated by DDMS and 6,15-20-HEDGE. Lastly, we showed that ERK1/2 of MAPK is a component of 20-HETE regulated ischemic angiogenesis. Taken together, these data indicate that 20-HETE is a critical contributor of ischemia-induced angiogenesis in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human parasite Plasmodium falciparum kills an estimated 445,000 people a year, with the most fatalities occurring in African children. Previous studies identified falcilysin (FLN) as a malarial metalloprotease essential for parasite development in the human host. Despite its essentiality, the biological roles of this protease are not well understood. Here we describe the optimization of a piperazine-based hydroxamic acid scaffold to develop the first reported inhibitors of FLN. Inhibitors were tested against cultured parasites, and parasiticidal activity correlated with potency against FLN. This suggests these compounds kill P. falciparum by blocking FLN, and that FLN is a druggable target. These compounds represent an important step towards validating FLN as a therapeutic target and towards the development of chemical tools to investigate the function of this protease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Intravenous infusion of human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) has been shown to ameliorate hepatic fibrosis in murine models. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the principal collagen-secreting cells in the liver. The aim of this study was to investigate whether factors secreted by hAECs and present in hAEC-conditioned medium (CM) have anti-fibrotic effects on activated human HSCs. Methods. Human AECs were isolated from the placenta and cultured. Human hepatic stellate cells were exposed to hAEC CM to determine potential anti-fibrotic effects. Results. HSCs treated for 48 h with hAEC CM displayed a significant reduction in the expression of the myofibroblast markers α-smooth muscle actin and platelet-derived growth factor. Expression of the pro-fibrotic cytokine transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and intracellular collagen were reduced by 45% and 46%, respectively. Human AEC CM induced HSC apoptosis in 11.8% of treated cells and reduced HSC proliferation. Soluble human leukocyte antigen--Gl, a hAEC-derived factor, significantly decreased TGF-β1 and collagen production in activated HSCs, although the effect on collagen production was less than that of hAEC CM. The reduction in collagen and TGF-B1 could not be attributed to PGE2, relaxin, IL-10, TGF-B3, FasL or TRAIL. Conclusions. Human AEC CM treatment suppresses markers of activation, proliferation and fibrosis in human HSCs as well as inducing apoptosis and reducing proliferation. Human AEC CM treatment may be effective in ameliorating liver fibrosis and warrants further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukins (ILs) regulate cell surface antigens known as activation markers, which have distinct functional roles. However, the regulation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I, MHC class II, and related genes by cytokines in chickens is not well understood. In the present study, we evaluated the influence of certain recently discovered chicken interleukins—i.e., IL-11, IL-12B, IL-17A, IL-17B, IL-26, and IL-34—on the expression and regulation of genes related to MHC class I, MHC class II, and the associated proteins in an HD11 chicken macrophage cell line. We used quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), immunocytochemical, and flow cytometric analyses to assess dose- and time-dependent expression in the HD11 cell line and found that the ILs induced MHC class I, MHC class II, and associated protein. As NF-κB is actively involved in cell activation and is constitutively activated in many immune cells, we also determined whether NF-κB regulates MHC class I, MHC class II, and related gene expression in the HD11 cell line. The NF-κB inhibitor sulfasalazine (Sz) dose-dependently inhibited MHC class I and MHC class II in the HD11 cell line. Sz also downregulated the expression of MHC class I, MHC class II, and the associated proteins in the IL-induced HD11 cell line. The expression of MHC class I, MHC class II, and associated genes was accompanied by the Sz-sensitive degradation of the p65 (RelA) and p50 subunits of NF-κB and IκBα. Our results indicate that the different effects of each IL on the expression of genes related to MHC class I, MHC class II, and the associated proteins are involved with the regulation of the dose and duration of antigenic peptide presentation and, thus, also influence Th1, Th2, and Th17 production. • Chicken interleukins recombinant proteins were induced MHC class I, MHC class II, and related genes in HD11 cell line. • NF-κB regulates MHC class I, MHC class II, and related gene expression in the HD11 cell line. • NF-κB inhibitor sulfasalazine inhibited MHC class I and MHC class II in HD11 cell line. • The activation of sulfasalazine through by p65 (RelA) and p50 subunits of NF-κB and IκBα. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]