While laptops and other Internet accessible technologies facilitate student learning in the classroom, they also increase opportunities for interruptions from off-task social networking sites such as Facebook (FB). A small number of correlational studies have suggested that FB has a detrimental effect on learning performance, however; these studies had neglected to investigate student-engagemen...

This study aimed to develop an oral delivery system using clay-based organic-inorganic hybrid materials to improve the bioavailability of the drug, flurbiprofen, which is poorly soluble in water. 3-aminopropyl functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate (AMP clay) was synthesized by a one-pot direct sol-gel method, and then flurbiprofen (FB) was incorporated into AMP clay (FB-AMP) at different drug...

RATIONALE A critical event in the development of cardiac fibrosis is the transformation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. The electrophysiological consequences of this phenotypic switch remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVE Determine whether fibroblast activation following cardiac injury results in a distinct electrophysiological phenotype that enhances fibroblast-myocyte interactions. METHOD...

The adsorption of a recalcitrant fluoroaromatic compound, fluorobenzene (FB), onto granular activated carbon (GAC) was evaluated. The respective isotherm was obtained and the Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson models were fitted to the experimental data, with the Redlich-Peterson model giving the best fitting. Freundlich model also provided a good fit but the Langmuir model could not ade...

Mutations and polymorphisms in complement genes have been linked with numerous rare and prevalent disorders, implicating dysregulation of complement in pathogenesis. The 3 common alleles of factor B (fB) encode Arg (fB(32R)), Gln (fB(32Q)), or Trp (fB(32W)) at position 32 in the Ba domain. The fB(32Q) allele is protective for age-related macular degeneration, the commonest cause of blindness in...

Fumonisins are polyketide mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides (synonym F. moniliforme), a major pathogen of maize (Zea mays) worldwide. Most field strains produce high levels of fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) and low levels of the less-oxygenated homologues FB(2) and FB(3), but fumonisin B(1)-nonproducing field strains have been obtained by natural variation. To test the role of various fum...

A few foldback (FB) transposable elements have, between their long terminal inverted repeats, central loop sequences which have been shown to be different from FB inverted repeat sequences. We have investigated loop sequences from two such FB elements by analyzing their genomic distribution and sequence conservation and, in particular, by determining if they are normally associated with FB elem...

Acetate accumulation during the fermentation process of Escherichia coli FB-04, an L-tryptophan production strain, is detrimental to L-tryptophan production. In an initial attempt to reduce acetate formation, the phosphate acetyltransferase gene (pta) from E. coli FB-04 was deleted, forming strain FB-04(Δpta). Unfortunately, FB-04(Δpta) exhibited a growth defect. Therefore, pta was replaced wit...

Acute and subacute intraperitoneal doses of fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) were administered to test the efficacy of the FB(1)-glucose reaction products in detoxifying FB(1) in swine. In the acute study at 11 mumol of FB(1)/kg of body weight, five of six pigs administered FB(1) and four of six pigs administered FB(1)-glucose died from acute pulmonary edema. Analysis of weight gain, serum aspartate amin...