Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tabebuia bahamensis: A Major Source of Pharmacologically Important Ursolic Acid

Leaves of Tabebuia bahamensis, collected on Abaco Island, Bahamas, were dried and extracted with dichloromethane to yield a crude extract. Using preparative flash column chromatography on silica gel, enabled the isolation of ursolic acid with an excellent yield of 2.06 percent based on the mass of dry leaves. Both the crude leaf extract and ursolic acid produced selective in-vitro cytotoxic activity on tumor cells from human mammary and bladder tissue. Ursolic acid also demonstrated antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. INTRODUCTION Commonly known as “five fingers,” Tabebuia bahamensis (North.) Britton, is a small tree in the Bignoniaceae family along with 110 other genera consisting of 650 species of flowering plants of which about 100 species belong to the Tabebuia genus (Rahmatullah et al., 2010; Ospina et al., 2013). The Five Fingers tree, which is endemic to the Bahamas, is now commonly observed in tropical and subtropical habitats, has small leaves with 3-5 leaflets that are slender, green on the upper surface and strongly whitish on the lower surface. The tree is slim with straight upright branches and grows well in properly drained, alkaline or acidic soils. Flowers vary in color from white to pink and the tree blooms throughout the year (Popenoe, 1980). Several species of the genus Tabebuia hold ethnopharmacological and ethnobotanical importance. In the Bahamas, the leaves of T. bahamensis are used as a tea for “bodily strain” and for relief of backache (Higgs, 1969). The leaf decoction of T. bahamensis has been used as a sex stimulant and aphrodisiac (Halberstein, 2005), and the plant has been an essential component of a “love potion” prepared on Andros Island of the Bahamas (Eshbaugh, 2014). In the current study, the biological activity of crude leaf extract from T. bahamensis and the isolation of ursolic acid in large quantities are detailed. To our knowledge, this is the first examination of the phytochemistry of T. bahamensis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material. Leaves of T. bahamensis were collected December 16, 2000, on Abaco Island, Bahamas (26° 31.092′ N, 77° 4.258 W, 13 m asl). The plant was identified in the field by a qualified local ethnobotanical informant (Dolly Davis), and verified with a field guide (Nickrent et al., 1991). A voucher specimen (TABA2000) has been deposited in the herbarium of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The leaves were cleaned of debris, chopped, air dried, and 594 g of chopped dry leaves were extracted by refluxing with dichloromethane for four hours using a Soxhlet extractor. The solvent was subsequently evaporated to yield 50.1 g of crude leaf extract. Preparative flash chromatography. The crude, dichloromethane leaf extract (25.0 g) was subjected to flash chromatography (Figure 1) using silica gel (230-400 mesh), in a 90 cm long × 5 cm diameter glass column. A hexane/ethyl acetate step Shrestha et al.: Tabebuia bahamensis: A Major Source of Pharmacologically Importa
Education, Employment, and Income Polarization among Aboriginal Men and Women in Canada

Aboriginal women and men (aged 25-44) have made substantial gains in education, employment, and income. Higher levels of education, full-time employment, and earned income allowed some Indian, Métis, and Inuit men and women to close the gaps between themselves and their non-Aboriginal counterparts. On the other hand, at the lower end of the ladder, conditions have stagnated or deteriorated. As a result, social inequality is increasing substantially within Indian and Inuit populations: polarization is less marked among the Métis—the least disadvantaged among Aboriginals. Although women surpass men in educational attainment, a gender gap in income persists among Indian and Métis—but not Inuit—peoples.In the aggregate, Aboriginal people remain in the lowest ranks in terms of most socioeconomic indicators. However, individuals from each of the Aboriginal identity groups have made impressive gains in higher education, full-time employment, and earned income—effectively leaving those on the bottom rungs of the ladder farther behind. Whereas people who identify as North American Indian on the census are the most disadvantaged among Aboriginals, Indian women fare worse than men. On the lowest rung of the ladder are Indian women, who suffer multiple jeopardy based on race, ethnicity (Aboriginal identity), and gender.
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ΔmsbB Triggers Exacerbated Inflammation in Nod2 Deficient Mice

The intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes intestinal inflammation characterized by edema, neutrophil influx and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine expression. A major bacterial factor inducing pro-inflammatory host responses is lipopolysaccharide (LPS). S. Typhimurium ΔmsbB possesses a modified lipid A, has reduced virulence in mice, and is being considered as a potential anti-cancer vaccine strain. The lack of a late myristoyl transferase, encoded by MsbB leads to attenuated TLR4 stimulation. However, whether other host receptor pathways are also altered remains unclear. Nod1 and Nod2 are cytosolic pattern recognition receptors recognizing bacterial peptidoglycan. They play important roles in the host's immune response to enteric pathogens and in immune homeostasis. Here, we investigated how deletion of msbB affects Salmonella's interaction with Nod1 and Nod2. S. Typhimurium Δ msbB-induced inflammation was significantly exacerbated in Nod2 −/− mice compared to C57Bl/6 mice. In addition, S. Typhimurium ΔmsbB maintained robust intestinal colonization in Nod2 −/− mice from day 2 to day 7 p.i. , whereas colonization levels significantly decreased in C57Bl/6 mice during this time. Similarly, infection of Nod1 −/− and Nod1/Nod2 double-knockout mice revealed that both Nod1 and Nod2 play a protective role in S. Typhimurium ΔmsbB-induced colitis. To elucidate why S. Typhimurium ΔmsbB, but not wild-type S. Typhimurium, induced an exacerbated inflammatory response in Nod2 −/− mice, we used HEK293 cells which were transiently transfected with pathogen recognition receptors. Stimulation of TLR2-transfected cells with S. Typhimurium ΔmsbB resulted in increased IL-8 production compared to wild-type S. Typhimurium. Our results indicate that S. Typhimurium ΔmsbB triggers exacerbated colitis in the absence of Nod1 and/or Nod2, which is likely due to increased TLR2 stimulation. How bacteria with “genetically detoxified” LPS stimulate various innate responses has important implications for the development of safe and effective bacterial vaccines and adjuvants.
An emerging paradigm: a strength-based approach to exploring mental imagery

Mental imagery, or the ability to simulate in the mind information that is not currently perceived by the senses, has attracted considerable research interest in psychology since the early 1970's. Within the past two decades, research in this field—as in cognitive psychology more generally—has been dominated by neuroscientific methods that typically involve comparisons between imagery performance of participants from clinical populations with those who exhibit apparently normal cognitive functioning. Although this approach has been valuable in identifying key neural substrates of visual imagery, it has been less successful in understanding the possible mechanisms underlying another simulation process, namely, motor imagery or the mental rehearsal of actions without engaging in the actual movements involved. In order to address this oversight, a “strength-based” approach has been postulated which is concerned with understanding those on the high ability end of the imagery performance spectrum. Guided by the expert performance approach and principles of ecological validity, converging methods have the potential to enable imagery researchers to investigate the neural “signature” of elite performers, for example. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explain the origin, nature, and implications of the strength-based approach to mental imagery. Following a brief explanation of the background to this latter approach, we highlight some important theoretical advances yielded by recent research on mental practice, mental travel, and meta-imagery processes in expert athletes and dancers. Next, we consider the methodological implications of using a strength-based approach to investigate imagery processes. The implications for the field of motor cognition are outlined and specific research questions, in dynamic imagery, imagery perspective, measurement, multi-sensory imagery, and metacognition that may benefit from this approach in the future are sketched briefly.
Looking Behind the Curtain: What Do L2 Composition Ratings Really Mean?

Barritt, L. , Stock, P. L. , & Clark, F. (1986) Researching practice: Evaluating assessment essays. College Composition and Communication, 37, 315-327. Black, L. , Daiker, D. A. , Sommers,J., & Stygall, G. (1994). New directions in portfolio assessment. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Heinemann. Cumming, A. , & Riazi, A. (1994, October). Learning variables and achievement in ESL written composition. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, McGill and Concordia Universities, Montreal, Canada. Hamp-Lyons, L. (1991). Scoring procedures for ESL contexts. In L. Hamp-Lyons (Ed.), Assessing second language writing in academic contexts (pp. 241-276). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Jacobs, H.L. , Zinkgraf, S.A. , Wormuth, D.R. , Hartfiel, V.F. , & Hughey,J.B. (1981). Testing ESL composition: A practical approach. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Lloyd-Jones, R. (1977). Primary trait scoring. In C. R. Cooper & L. Odell, (Eds.), Evaluating writing: Describing, measuring, judging (pp. 33-68). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. MELAB Technical Manual. (1994). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan,Testing and Certification Division, English Language Institute.
Rescaled localities and redefined class relations: neoliberal experience in south-east Turkey

In March 2011, a popular newspaper in Turkey reported a recent ‘strange’ incident in the city of Diyarbakır, a city located in south-east Turkey and of symbolic importance for the Kurds and the Kurdish movement. In the article, it was argued that the rapid rise of land prices in the last five years redefined the city as a competitor with Istanbul—famous for the speculative rises in its land market since the 1970s. In Diyarbakır, land prices have multiplied 50-fold since 2005. Quite surprised by this dramatic increase in land prices, economic elites and businessmen fear that this speculative rise will not only bring a standstill to the construction sector, one of the locomotive sectors of the local economy, but also cripple the already stagnant industrial production. In the meantime, city councils, municipalities and NGOs have a busy agenda regarding the regeneration process that was actually initiated in 2010 in the Suriçi district, the historical city accommodating internally displaced persons and rural migrants. Started in 2000, the renovation of the ancient city walls gradually developed into a more inclusive urban regeneration project with the participation of a state institution, the Mass Housing Administration (TOKI), Diyarbakır municipality and governorship. Now put in limbo due to opposition from the parts of some groups within the local political and cultural elites who favour a more inclusive urban renewal within the city, the regeneration of Suriçi and the speculative land prices are part of a broader transformation that has taken place in the city in the last decade. For many observers, Diyarbakır went through a massive change in terms of urban design and spatial arrangement. This paper attempts to contextualize this spatial transformation within the exigencies of the neoliberal era and the latter’s relation to space. During the past decades, a growing literature has grappled with the concept of neoliberalism and proposed various, sometimes conflicting, views on how pervasive economic changes on a global scale triggered socio-spatial processes around the globe and has become deeply infused into many spheres of life. Such an interest stems from not only the need for a ‘toolbox’ of tangible and concrete instruments for grasping the volatile concept of the ‘global’ and its impacts on social structures, but also the rapid expansion of neoliberal programmes around the globe. A multifaceted and multilayered transnational economic system
Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism

In conventional parlance, the current era in history is generally characterized as one of globalization, technological revolution, and democratization. In all three of these areas media and communication play a central, perhaps even a defining, role. Economic and cultural globalization arguably would be impossible without a global commercial media system to promote global markets and to encourage consumer values. The very essence of the technological revolution is the radical development in digital communication and computing. The argument that the bad old days of police states and authoritarian regimes are unlikely to return is premised on the claims that new communication technologies along with global markets undermine, even eliminate, the capacity for "maximum leaders" to rule with impunity.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
Epithelioid blue nevus: a rare variant of blue nevus not always associated with the Carney complex

Epithelioid blue nevus is a rare variant of blue nevus that has been recently described in patients with Carney complex. Some of the patients with Carney complex have multiple epithelioid blue nevi and a familial history of similar lesions is often recorded. Epithelioid blue nevus consists of an intradermal melanocytic nevus composed of polygonal epithelioid cells laden with melanin. Neoplastic cells show no maturation at the base of the lesion and, in contrast with the usual stromal changes in blue nevi, epithelioid blue nevus exhibits no fibrosis of the dermis. We have studied three cases of epithelioid blue nevus in three patients with no evidence of Carney complex. The lesions were solitary and there was no family history of similar lesions. Therefore, epithelioid blue nevus is a distinctive variant of blue nevus that may also appear as a sporadic lesion and is not always associated with Carney complex.
Export of galectin-3 from nuclei of digitonin-permeabilized mouse 3T3 fibroblasts.

Galectin-3 is a galactose-/lactose-binding protein (M(r) approximately 30,000), identified as a required factor in the splicing of pre-mRNA. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that galectin-3 distributes differentially between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, depending on the proliferative state of the cells under analysis. Using digitonin-permeabilized mouse 3T3 fibroblasts, we provide evidence that galectin-3 is rapidly and selectively exported from the nucleus. Although both phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated isoforms of galectin-3 are found in the nuclear fraction, only phosphorylated galectin-3 is identified in the exported fraction, implying that phosphorylation is important for the nuclear export of the protein. The rate of galectin-3 export is temperature dependent and is decreased by the addition of wheat germ agglutinin. More strikingly, galectin-3 export can be inhibited by the addition of leptomycin B, a drug that disrupts the interaction between the leucine-rich nuclear export signal and its receptor, CRM1 (chromosome maintenance region 1). Indeed, a putative leucine-rich nuclear export signal can be found in residues 241-249 of the murine galectin-3 sequence. Finally, gel filtration of the exported material showed that galectin-3 can be found in at least two high molecular weight complexes (approximately 650 and approximately 60 kDa), both of which can be disrupted by lactose.
Nari Bikash Sangha: Towards Empowerment

The idea of Nari Bikash Sangha (NBS) emerged in 1985 as an intervention from a group of economically vulnerable women to reach out to others in similar situations. Gradually, the NBS began to acquire other roles in an economically and socially backward region of West Bengal. Its spontaneous inroads into natural resource management, political participation, better community relations, etc. with the clear idea of rights and responsibilities were evidence of its growing strength, and capacity and ability to create a new social space for women in the region. Its example also demonstrates the fact that in a given situation, individual empowerment of women is better achieved through a collective process, where the individual draws her strength and power of self-assertion from a strong collective and sense of solidarity. Social heterogeneity, ethnicity, political ideological differences and cultural diversity tend to get subsumed under the pace and pressure of a collective empowerment process. The paper attempts to document this process through the words of NBS women.
Occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms and psychiatric disorders in mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment subtypes

ABSTRACT Background: Neuropsychiatric disorders are common in cognitively impaired older persons, and associated with institutionalization and caregiver stress in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Few studies have compared the occurrence of both psychiatric disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes. We aimed to investigate the frequency of psychiatric disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD and MCI patients, compared to controls. Methods: We included 245 outpatients of a memory clinic in Rome, Italy (119 AD; 68 multidomain-MCI; 58 amnestic-MCI) and 107 controls. Categorical disorders of depression and apathy were diagnosed with structured interviews. Symptoms were evaluated with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). The odds ratios (OR) of patients having neuropsychiatric symptoms compared to controls were calculated with logistic regression, adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Results: A large proportion of AD (49.6%) and multidomain-MCI (44.1%) patients had depression disorder. Apathy disorder was common in AD (51.3%) but less frequent in amnestic-MCI (6.9%) and multidomain-MCI (14.7%). AD patients were three times more likely to have depression disorders (OR = 3.0, CI = 1.1–7.6) or apathy (OR = 16.9, CI = 4.6–61.8) compared to amnestic-MCI, and seven times more likely to have apathy disorder than multidomain-MCI (OR = 7.5, CI = 3.0–19.2). After apathy and depression, the most prevalent neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD and MCI were anxiety, agitation, irritability, night-time behaviors, and appetite disturbances. There was an increasing prevalence of many neuropsychiatric symptoms with increasing severity of cognitive syndromes. Conclusions: Clinicians should consider the relevance of neuropsychiatric disorders and symptoms in patients with cognitive disturbances, and incorporate a thorough psychiatric examination in the evaluation of patients.
Realism and operationism in psychiatric diagnosis

In the context of psychiatric diagnosis, operationists claim that mental disorders are nothing more than the satisfying of objective diagnostic criteria, whereas realists claim that mental disorders are latent entities that are detected by applying those criteria. The implications of this distinction are substantial in actual clinical situations, such as in the co-occurrence of disorders that may interfere with one another's detection, or when patients falsify their symptoms. Realist and operationist conceptions of diagnosis may lead to different clinical decisions in these situations, affecting treatment efficacy and ultimate patient outcomes.
Spatial representation, activity, and meaning: Children's images of the contemporary city

Abstract The present study deals with aspects of the child's construction of mental representations of the contemporary city. Its aim is a compilation of a body of concepts-criteria for the organization of built environments for child activity, environments that will serve in the direction of child education, not simply act as material framework for his activity. The study is organized around two axes of argumentation. The first axis regards the contemporary city itself, the interpretation of its structure, and of the organization of its public space, the qualities linked to the spatio-temporal activity of the individual and social interaction. Subjects emerging from the literature such as alienation, fragmentary experience of space, changes in the public-private relation, and, broader topics such as changes in the identity of the residence area, as well as of the city, provided the orientation for the questions raised in this research. The second axis concerns epistemological issues of the construction of mental representations of space. On this latter level, we attempt to build our approach on the basis of social interactionism, which promotes the concept of activity to a significant factor in the assignment of meaning to space. From this theoretical discussion emerges the concept of socio-spatial strategic activity, which, along with other social and geographical variables, became the tools in the analysis of the data yielded by our field research (interviews, mental maps), conducted in Thessaloniki, on a sample of seventy-seven eleven- and twelve-year-olds.
An Examination of Couples' Difficulties With Emotional Expressiveness and Their Marital Satisfaction

This study investigated a sample of 66 husbands' and wives' perceived difficulties with emotional expressiveness and their marital satisfaction. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Taylor, 1994) was used to assess couples' difficulties identifying, describing, and personalizing emotions, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) was used to assess their marital satisfaction. Results from 2 piece-wise regression models indicated that both husbands' and wives' difficulties with emotional expressiveness impaired their own, as well as their spouses' marital satisfaction. Specifically, husbands' difficulties describing and personalizing their emotions negatively influenced their marital satisfaction. Also, husbands' difficulties describing their emotions negatively influenced their wives' marital satisfaction. Wives' difficulties with identifying emotions negatively influenced their own, as well as their husbands', marital satisfaction. These findings suggest when either husbands or wives have lower levels of emotional expressiveness than their partners, their marital satisfaction will be negatively influenced. Although most husbands and wives revealed differences between themselves on each of the 3 levels of emotional expressiveness, no significant differences were found between the 2 genders-at-large on the 3 independent variables, difficulty identifying, describing, and personalizing emotions, and the dependent variable, marital satisfaction.