Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The bacterial lipopeptide iturins induce Verticillium dahliae cell death by affecting fungal signalling pathways and mediate plant defence responses involved in pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity.

Verticillium wilt in cotton caused by Verticillium dahliae is one of the most serious plant diseases worldwide. Because no known fungicides or cotton cultivars provide sufficient protection against this pathogen, V. dahliae causes major crop yield losses. Here, an isolated cotton endophytic bacterium, designated Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 41B-1, exhibited greater than 50% biocontrol efficacy against V. dahliae in cotton plants under greenhouse conditions. Through high-performance liquid chromatography and mass analysis of the filtrate, we found that the antifungal compounds present in the strain 41B-1 culture filtrate were a series of isoforms of iturins. The purified iturins suppressed V. dahliae microsclerotial germination in the absence or presence of cotton. Treatment with the iturins induced reactive oxygen species bursts, Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and defects in cell wall integrity. The oxidative stress response and high-osmolarity glycerol pathway contribute to iturins resistance in V. dahliae. In contrast, the Slt2 MAPK pathway may be involved in iturins sensitivity in this fungus. In addition to antagonism, iturins could induce plant defence responses as activators and mediate pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity. These findings suggest that iturins may affect fungal signalling pathways and mediate plant defence responses against V. dahliae.
HEREDITARY CONJUGACY SEPARABILITY OF RIGHT ANGLED ARTIN

We prove that finite index subgroups of right angled Artin groups are conjugacy separable. We then apply this result to establish various properties of other classes of groups. In particular, we show that any word hyperbolic Coxeter group contains a conjugacy separable subgroup of finite index and has a residually finite outer automorphism group. Another consequence of the main result is that Bestvina-Brady groups are conjugacy separable and have solvable conjugacy problem.
Genome-wide miRNA expression profiling of human lymphoblastoid cell lines identifies tentative SSRI antidepressant response biomarkers.

AIM Over 30% of patients with major depression do not respond well to first-line treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Using genome-wide expression profiling of human lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) CHL1 was identified as a tentative SSRI sensitivity biomarker. This study reports on miRNAs implicated in SSRI sensitivity of LCLs. METHODS Eighty LCLs were screened from healthy adult female individuals for growth inhibition by paroxetine. Eight LCLs exhibiting high or low sensitivities to paroxetine were chosen for genome-wide expression profiling with miRNA microarrays. RESULTS The miRNA miR-151-3p had 6.7-fold higher basal expression in paroxetine-sensitive LCLs. This corresponds with lower expression of CHL1, a target of miR-151-3p. The additional miRNAs miR-212, miR-132, miR-30b*, let-7b and let-7c also differed by >1.5-fold (p < 0.05) between the two LCL groups. CONCLUSION The potential value of these miRNAs as tentative SSRI response biomarkers awaits validation with lymphocyte samples of major depression patients.
Estimation of Uplink WCDMA Load in a Single RBS

The measurement of uplink load is important for the scheduling of enhanced uplink channels in WCDMA systems. This measurement is particularly difficult since the thermal noise power floor is unobservable when using power measurements in a single base station. The problem is due to the neighbor cell interference. The paper proposes a work around, using a novel algorithm for soft Bayesian estimation of a conditional probability distribution of the minimum of filtered power samples, this minimum approximating the thermal noise power floor of the digital receiver. The load can then be estimated from the total wideband power of the cell and the estimated minimum. The discretized conditional pdf is one-dimensional - hence the algorithm has a low complexity. Details of the implementation are described in the paper, together with measured results.
Invasive implantation and intimate placental associations in a placentotrophic african lizard, Trachylepis ivensi (scincidae)

In the viviparous lizard Trachylepis ivensi (Scincidae) of central Africa, reproducing females ovulate tiny ∼1 mm eggs and supply the nutrients for development by placental means. Histological study shows that this species has evolved an extraordinary placental pattern long thought to be confined to mammals, in which fetal tissues invade the uterine lining to contact maternal blood vessels. The vestigial shell membrane disappears very early in development, allowing the egg to absorb uterine secretions. The yolk is enveloped precocially by the trilaminar yolk sac and no isolated yolk mass or yolk cleft develops. Early placentas are formed from the chorion and choriovitelline membranes during the neurula through pharyngula stages. During implantation, cells of the chorionic ectoderm penetrate between uterine epithelial cells. The penetrating tissue undergoes hypertrophy and hyperplasia, giving rise to sheets of epithelial tissue that invade beneath the uterine epithelium, stripping it away. As a result, fetal epithelium entirely replaces the uterine epithelium, and lies in direct contact with maternal capillaries and connective tissue. Placentation is endotheliochorial and fundamentally different from that of all other viviparous reptiles known. Further, the pattern of fetal membrane development (with successive loss and re‐establishment of an extensive choriovitelline membrane) is unique among vertebrates. T. ivensi represents a new extreme in placental specializations of reptiles, and is the most striking case of convergence on the developmental features of viviparous mammals known. J. Morphol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
X-ray computed tomography for medical imaging

The article looks at reconstruction in 2-D and 3-D tomography. We have not dealt with some of the issues in reconstruction such as sampling and aliasing artifacts, finite detector aperture artifacts, beam hardening artifacts, etc., in greater detail since these are beyond the scope of an introductory tutorial. We examine the physical and mathematical concepts of the Radon (1917) transform, and the basic parallel beam reconstruction algorithms are discussed. We also develop the algorithms for fan-beam CT, and discuss the mathematical principles of cone-beam CT.
Early optical and millimeter observations of GRB 030226 afterglow

The CCD magnitudes in Johnson UBV and Cousins RI photometric passbands for the afterglow of the long duration GRB 030226 are presented. Upper limits of a few mJy to millimeter wave emission at the location of optical are obtained over the first two weeks. The optical data presented here, in combination with other published data on this afterglow, show an early R band flux decay slope of $0.77\pm0.04$, steepening to $2.05\pm0.04$ about $0.65\pm0.03$ day after the burst. Interpreted as the “jet break”, this indicates a half opening angle of ∼ 3.2 degree for the initial ejection, for an assumed ambient density of ∼ $1~{\rm cm}^{-3}$. Broadband spectra show no appreciable evolution during the observations, and indicate the presence of synchrotron cooling frequency $\nu_{\rm c}$ near the upper edge of the optical band. From the broadband spectra we derive an electron energy distribution index $p = 2.07\pm0.06$ and an intrinsic extinction $E(B - V)\sim0.17$. Millimeter upper limits are consistent with these derived parameters.
Acute Toxicity of Vildagliptin

This article describes acute toxicity data in cynomolgus monkeys following oral treatment with vildagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor. Acute toxicity symptoms in cynomolgus monkeys include edema formation of the extremities, tails, and face associated with skeletal muscle necrosis, and elevations of lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, alanine transaminase, and aspartate aminotransferase activities in the serum; hypothermia; hypotension; tachycardia; moribundity; and death in a few isolated instances. In surviving animals, symptoms were reversible even if treatment was continued. Cynomolgus monkeys from Mauritius appear more sensitive than monkeys of Asian origin. The underlying mechanism(s) of these symptoms in cynomolgus monkeys is currently not well understood, although a vascular mechanism including initial vasoconstriction and subsequent vascular leakage in distal extremities may play a role. The monkey data are reviewed and discussed in the context of other preclinical and clinical data, and it is concluded that acute toxicity following vildagliptin treatment is a monkey-specific phenomenon without relevance for humans.
A Saponification Method for Chlorophyll Removal from Microalgae Biomass as Oil Feedstock

Microalgae oil is an optimal feedstock for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and biodiesel production, but its high levels of chlorophyll limit its large-scale application. To date, few effective approaches have been developed to remove chlorophyll from microalgae oil. The main purpose of this study was to present a preprocessing method of algae oil feedstock (Scenedesmus) to remove chlorophyll by saponification. The results showed that 96% of chlorophyll in biomass was removed. High quality orange transparent oil could be extracted from the chlorophyll reduced biomass. Specifically, the proportion of neutral lipids and saturation levels of fatty acids increased, and the pigments composition became carotenoids-based. The critical parameters of chlorophyll reduced biodiesel conformed to the standards of the USA, China and EU. Sodium copper chlorophyllin could be prepared from the bleaching effluent. The results presented herein offer a useful pathway to improve the quality of microalgae oil and reduce the cost of microalgae biodiesel.
Intrusion Detection in the RPL-connected 6LoWPAN Networks

The interconnectivity of 6LoWPAN networks with the Internet raises serious security concerns, as constrained 6LoWPAN devices are accessible anywhere from the untrusted global Internet. Also, 6LoWPAN devices are mostly deployed in unattended environments, hence easy to capture and clone. Despite that state of the art crypto solutions provide information security, IPv6 enabled smart objects are vulnerable to attacks from outside and inside 6LoWPAN networks that are aimed to disrupt networks. This paper attempts to identify intrusions aimed to disrupt the Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL). In order to improve the security within 6LoWPAN networks, we extend SVELTE, an intrusion detection system for the Internet of Things, with an intrusion detection module that uses the ETX (Expected Transmissions) metric. In RPL, ETX is a link reliability metric and monitoring the ETX value can prevent an intruder from actively engaging 6LoWPAN nodes in malicious activities. We also propose geographic hints to identify malicious nodes that conduct attacks against ETX-based networks. We implement these extensions in the Contiki OS and evaluate them using the Cooja simulator.
Increased Concordance of Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Identical Twins

OBJECTIVE. We estimated differences in the severity of respiratory syncytial virus infection attributable to genetic and environmental factors. METHODS. Record linkage data on hospitalizations attributable to respiratory syncytial virus infection were gathered on all twins (12346 pairs) born in Denmark between 1994 and 2003. Latent-factor models of genetic and environmental effects were fitted to the observed data by using maximal likelihood methods. RESULTS. Identical twins resembled each other significantly more than did fraternal twins for respiratory syncytial virus hospitalization (concordance rate: 0.66 vs 0.53), which suggests genetic influences on disease severity. Genetic factors accounted for 16%, family environment for 73%, and nonshared environment for 11% of the individual susceptibility to develop severe respiratory syncytial virus infection. CONCLUSIONS. The severity of respiratory syncytial virus infection is determined partly by genetic factors. This result should stimulate the search for genetic markers of disease severity.
Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group – DBCG: History, organization, and status of scientific achievements at 30-year anniversary

DBCG (Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group) constitutes a multidisciplinary organization established in 1975 by the Danish Surgical Society. The purpose involves first and foremost a nation-wide standardization of breast cancer treatment based on novel therapeutic principles, collaboration between experts handling diagnostic work-up, surgery, radiotherapy, medical oncology, and basic research, and, further, complete registration of relevant clinical data in a national data base attached to DBCG. Data are processed by the Secretariat personnel composed of statisticians, data managers, and data secretaries making current analyses of outcome results feasible. DBCG is run by the Executive Committee consisting of expert members appointed by their respective society. From 1978 the DBCG project gained widely accession from participating units, and since then nearly all newly diagnosed breast cancer incident cases are reported and registered in the national data base. Today, the data base includes approximately 80 000 incidents of primary breast cancer. Annually, the Secretariat receives roughly 1.5 million parameters to be entered into the data base. Over time DBCG has generated seven treatment programmes including in situ lesions and primary invasive breast cancer. Probands are subdivided into risk groups based on a given risk pattern and allocated to various treatment programmes accordingly. The scientific initiatives are conducted in the form of register- and cohort analysis or randomized trials in national or international protocolized settings. Yearly, about 4 000 new incident cases of primary invasive breast cancer and about 200 in situ lesions enter the national programmes. Further, about 600 women with hereditary disposition of breast cancer are registered and evaluated on a risk scale. The main achievements resulted in a reduction of relative risk of death amounting up to 20% and increased 5-year overall survival ascending from 60% to roughly 80%. This article is partly based on a Danish paper to be published in the Centenary Jubilee book of the Danish Surgical Society, 2008.
Hearing aid instruction booklets: employing usability testing to determine effectiveness.

PURPOSE This study implemented performance-based usability and literature testing to determine whether people could use 2 instruction booklets for hearing aids (HAs) to carry out basic maintenance tasks and find and understand key facts. METHOD Using a cross-sectional study design, researchers recruited 40 participants (25 women, 15 men, ages 46-72 years) with no experience of HAs or audiology services to test instruction booklets for a Danalogic and Unitron HA (20 participants each). Participants were asked to follow instructions provided within the booklets to complete common HA tasks (e.g., cleaning the HA and mold and changing the battery) and demonstrate understanding of information. Participants' views of the booklets were then obtained within a short individual interview. RESULTS Participants experienced problems in completing all tasks while following instructions provided by the Danalogic and Unitron booklets. Individual interviews highlighted further issues regarding layout, diagrams, and content, including missing information. CONCLUSIONS Some HA instruction booklets contain information that some users may find difficult to find, understand, and follow. These limitations may negatively impact on HA satisfaction and use. It is recommended that written information for clients be evaluated prior to use. This study supports the premise that performance-based usability and literature testing are appropriate methods to use.
Results of UAE in women under 40 years of age

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the success rate of uterine artery embolization for leiomyomata for women under 40 years of age. Material and methods: This observational study of fibroid treatment in women under 40 years of age at the time of procedure was conducted at a private practice located in Los Angeles, CA. One hundred and four patients participated in the study. The study involved a pre- and post- UAE survey of symptoms evaluated on a scale of mild, moderate, or severe. The post UAE assessment also involved an indication of whether the patients would recommend UAE. Patients were surveyed concerning subsequent pelvic surgery and pregnancy. Results: Comparison of pre- and post- survey data resulted in an overall success rate of 90.4% based on relief of symptoms. Patients reported no late onset failures. Several patients underwent full-term pregnancies. 6.7 % of patients underwent abdominal myomectomy following UAE. No patient underwent hysterectomy. Conclusion: No significant difference exists in the success rate of UAE for women under 40 and the entire cohort of women undergoing UAE. UAE is a suitable form of treatment for women in this age group.
Education-related Inequity in Access and Utilization of Oral Health Care in Iran

Background: Oral health affects peoples’ lives physically and psychologically and is related to general health, quality of life, and feelings of social well-being. As the educational level is an important predictor of healthy life and can affect healthcare utilization, this study aims to estimate the inequity related to the educational level of parents on the access and utilization of oral health care (OHC) in Qom, Iran. Study Design: An analytical, cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: Overall 281 children, six to seven years of age, were given a self-administrated questionnaire to fill. The sex, access to utilization of OHC, and educational level of the children's parents were questioned. The concentration (C) index was used as the inequity measure and statistical inference was conducted by chi square and the confidence interval of C. Statistics: The mean age of the children was 6.48 ± 0.5 years. There was not statistically significant difference in the access and utilization rate of OHC between the two sexes (P > 0.05). There was an increasing trend in the utilization rate of OHC, because of the increased educational level of the parents. The C for access and utilization rate, for different levels of fathers’ education was 0.055(-0.095 to 0.205) and 0.097(-0.068 to 0.261) and for mothers’ educational level was 0.086(-0.068 to 0.241) and 0.091(-0.81 to 0.263), respectively. Conclusion: Our results did not show evidence of sex disparity in the access and utilization of OHC in Iranian children. Also the inequity related to the educational level in access and utilization of OHC was low and not considerable.
Experimental studies on the chemosterilization of Schistosoma mansoni

Treatment of mice infected with S. mansoni by various sterilants effective against male rodents produced phases of inhibition of schistosome oviposition assessed by miracidial counts. In the treated worms, besides apparent disappearance of the testes, marked involution of ovarian tissue occurred. The gonads of both male and female worms seem to be directly affected by the antifertility substances. It is suggested that gamete production in both sexes follows similar lines in contrast to the finite reservoir of meiotic oocytes in mammals.
Obstetrician/gynecologists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding prevention of infections in pregnancy.

BACKGROUND Maternal infection during pregnancy is a well-recognized cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities, as well as an important contributor to other adverse pregnancy outcomes. The objective of the present survey was to gain information about the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of obstetrician/gynecologists regarding prevention of infections during pregnancy. METHODS A survey was mailed to 606 Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network (CARN) members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) (approximately 2% of membership). CARN members were sampled to demographically represent ACOG. RESULTS Of the 606 eligible respondents, surveys were received from 305 (response rate: 50%). Most obstetrician/gynecologists knew that specific actions by pregnant women could reduce the risk of infection. Seventy-nine to eighty-eight percent reported counseling pregnant women about preventing infection from Toxoplasma gondii, hepatitis B virus, and influenza, 50%-68% about varicella-zoster virus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Parvovirus B19, and <50% about cytomegalovirus, Bordetella pertussis, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. The majority reported time constraints were a barrier to counseling, although most reported educational materials would be helpful. CONCLUSIONS Knowledge was accurate and preventive counseling was appropriate for some infections, but for others it could be improved. Further studies are needed to identify strategies to increase preventive counseling.
Apolipoprotein C‐III predicts cardiovascular mortality in severe coronary artery disease and is associated with an enhanced plasma thrombin generation

Summary. Background: Apolipopoprotein C‐III (apo C‐III) plays a pivotal role in controlling plasma triglyceride (TG) and contributes to the atherogenic properties of TG‐rich lipoproteins. Objectives: (i) To examine the predictive value of serum apo C‐III for cardiovascular mortality in the setting of secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD); and (ii) to evaluate possible associations between apolipoprotein levels and the thrombin generation assay, a global test to estimate plasma thrombogenic potential. Methods and results: A cohort of 633 patients with angiographically proven CAD was prospectively followed for a median follow‐up of 57 months. The large majority of them (92%) underwent coronary (endovascular or surgical) revascularization. During the follow‐up, 91 (14.3%) out of 633 patients died, with 64 events (10.1%) attributed to cardiovascular causes. After adjustment for all the other predictors of mortality during univariate analysis (i.e. age, statin therapy, myocardial infarction history, diabetes, hs‐CRP and creatinine), elevated apo C‐III levels (≥ 10.5 mg dL−1– the median value) significantly predicted both total and cardiovascular mortality (HR for total mortality 2.22 with 95% CI 1.16–4.24; HR for cardiovascular mortality 2.35 with 95% CI 1.19–4.62). In a subgroup of 225 subjects, apo C‐III levels were significantly associated with endogenous thrombin potential in regression models (standardized β coefficient = 0.207, P = 0.002). Conclusions: Basal concentrations of apo C‐III levels ≥ 10.5 mg dL−1 in CAD patients independently predicted cardiovascular mortality during the subsequent 5‐year period. Such concentrations were associated with an enhanced plasma endogenous thrombin generation, suggesting a complex interplay between TG‐rich particles and the coagulation cascade as well as a new ‘thrombogenetic’ role for apo C‐III.