Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface α-1,3-Glucan Facilitates Fungal Stealth Infection by Interfering with Innate Immunity in Plants

Plants evoke innate immunity against microbial challenges upon recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as fungal cell wall chitin. Nevertheless, pathogens may circumvent the host PAMP-triggered immunity. We previously reported that the ascomycete Magnaporthe oryzae, a famine-causing rice pathogen, masks cell wall surfaces with α-1,3-glucan during invasion. Here, we show that the surface α-1,3-glucan is indispensable for the successful infection of the fungus by interfering with the plant's defense mechanisms. The α-1,3-glucan synthase gene MgAGS1 was not essential for infectious structure development but was required for infection in M. oryzae. Lack or degradation of surface α-1,3-glucan increased fungal susceptibility towards chitinase, suggesting the protective role of α-1,3-glucan against plants' antifungal enzymes during infection. Furthermore, rice plants secreting bacterial α-1,3-glucanase (AGL-rice) showed strong resistance not only to M. oryzae but also to the phylogenetically distant ascomycete Cochlioborus miyabeanus and the polyphagous basidiomycete Rhizoctonia solani; the histocytochemical analysis of the latter two revealed that α-1,3-glucan also concealed cell wall chitin in an infection-specific manner. Treatment with α-1,3-glucanase in vitro caused fragmentation of infectious hyphae in R. solani but not in M. oryzae or C. miyabeanus, indicating that α-1,3-glucan is also involved in maintaining infectious structures in some fungi. Importantly, rapid defense responses were evoked (a few hours after inoculation) in the AGL-rice inoculated with M. oryzae, C. miyabeanus and R. solani as well as in non-transgenic rice inoculated with the ags1 mutant. Taken together, our results suggest that α-1,3-glucan protected the fungal cell wall from degradative enzymes secreted by plants even from the pre-penetration stage and interfered with the release of PAMPs to delay innate immune defense responses. Because α-1,3-glucan is nondegradable in plants, it is reasonable that many fungal plant pathogens utilize α-1,3-glucan in the innate immune evasion mechanism and some in maintaining the structures.
The Making of the Female Witch: Reflections on Witchcraft and Gender in the Early Modern Period

One day in the early decades of the seventeenth century, a farmhand and a shepherd in Rheden, a village north-east of Arnhem in the Dutch province of Gelderland, performed divination by sieve and shears. They let their contraption turn around while naming the women of Rheden one by one by their name and nickname. Whoever was named when the sieve turned and came to a full stop was proven to be able to bewitch. In this way they discovered that every woman in the village qualified as a witch, with the exception of three. This caused quite a stir and the two men were heavily fined. 1
Update on SPECT and PET in parkinsonism - part 2: biomarker imaging of cognitive impairment in Lewy-body diseases.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To give an update on recent biomarker imaging studies using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) on cognitive impairment in Lewy-body diseases (LBD). RECENT FINDINGS Imaging studies of regional cerebral glucose metabolism with [F]fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG)-PET support the concept that Parkinson's disease (PD) with mild cognitive impairment represents a prodromal stage of PD with dementia (PDD). Furthermore, [F]FDG-PET may be suited for risk stratification for dementia in PD. In line with neuropathological studies, preliminary amyloid-beta (Aβ) PET studies suggest that Aβ acts synergistically with Lewy pathology in LBD, leading to an earlier manifestation of cognitive impairment in dementia with Lewy-bodies compared with PDD and a more rapid cognitive decline in PD patients with concomitant Aβ pathology. SUMMARY Molecular neuroimaging with SPECT and PET provides unique in-vivo insights into neuropathological and pathophysiological changes underlying cognitive impairment in LBD. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm the prognostic value of [F]FDG-PET and to define the value of amyloid PET and upcoming techniques, such as tau imaging, for diagnosis and prognosis in LBD.
Hardware impairments in large-scale MISO systems: Energy efficiency, estimation, and capacity limits

The use of large-scale antenna arrays has the potential to bring substantial improvements in energy efficiency and/or spectral efficiency to future wireless systems, due to the greatly improved spatial beamforming resolution. Recent asymptotic results show that by increasing the number of antennas one can achieve a large array gain and at the same time naturally decorrelate the user channels; thus, the available energy can be focused very accurately at the intended destinations without causing much inter-user interference. Since these results rely on asymptotics, it is important to investigate whether the conventional system models are still reasonable in the asymptotic regimes. This paper analyzes the fundamental limits of large-scale multiple-input single-output (MISO) communication systems using a generalized system model that accounts for transceiver hardware impairments. As opposed to the case of ideal hardware, we show that these practical impairments create finite ceilings on the estimation accuracy and capacity of large-scale MISO systems. Surprisingly, the performance is only limited by the hardware at the single-antenna user terminal, while the impact of impairments at the large-scale array vanishes asymptotically. Furthermore, we show that an arbitrarily high energy efficiency can be achieved by reducing the power while increasing the number of antennas.
Improved parallel weighted bit flipping decoding of finite geometry LDPC codes

To seek a decoding scheme with good performance, low complexity and fast convergence, we present an improved parallel weighted bit flipping (IPWBF) algorithm for finite geometry low-density parity-check codes whose parity check matrix is of heavy row and column weights. In the IPWBF, a bit flipping (BF) function and two parallel BF criteria, all of which scatter in the literature, are exploited jointly to serve our purpose. Meanwhile, differential evolution is used to optimize the involved parameters. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm achieves an observable performance gain over its counterparts without any complexity penalty. Furthermore, with respect to other known low complexity decodings such as normalized BP-based, the IPWBF yields a new performance versus complexity tradeoff, that is, higher throughput at the expense of moderate performance loss.
Measurement of Visceral Fat, Abdominal Circumference and Waist-hip Ratio to Predict Health Risk in Males and Females.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Obesity is a risk factor for a broad range of diseases. This study aimed to estimate association between selected variables (visceral fat, abdominal circumference and waist-hip ratio) and health risk in between male and female. MATERIALS AND METHODS The university student based cross-sectional study was conducted among male and female students. The anthropometric measurements were taken through the auto-calibrated digital scale. Bioelectrical impedance analyzer device was used to determine visceral fat area, abdominal circumference and waist-hip ratio. Independent t-test and Pearson Chi-Square was used for statistical analysis. To see the association among the all three variables, scatter plots were also drawn. RESULTS The results showed that 28.3% male and 9.4% female at risk for visceral fat, for the abdominal circumference 16.9% male and 6% female at risk and for waist-hip ratio 27.5% male and 6% female fell under risk category. There was a significant relationship among all variable for male and female. CONCLUSION Findings suggested that visceral fat area, abdominal circumference and waist-hip ratio were strong predictors of health risk. Male were more prone to health risk than female participants.
Optimizing conservative breast surgery

The potential advantages of conservative breast surgery include the minor outpatient nature of the procedures, lower incidence of postoperative pain and complications, preservation of the breast and nipple areolar complex, and shorter delay to adjuvant therapy. In order to optimize the number of patients eligible for conservative breast surgery, one must utilize a multidisciplinary team approach. Imaging implications, use of neoadjuvant therapy for downsizing tumors, oncoplastic techniques, adjuvant radiation options, and pathological assessment are discussed. J. Surg. Oncol. 2011; 103:306–312. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Epidemiology and management of chronic constipation in elderly patients

Constipation is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, with prevalence in the general population of approximately 20%. In the elderly population the incidence of constipation is higher compared to the younger population, with elderly females suffering more often from severe constipation. Treatment options for chronic constipation (CC) include stool softeners, fiber supplements, osmotic and stimulant laxatives, and the secretagogues lubiprostone and linaclotide. Understanding the underlying etiology of CC is necessary to determine the most appropriate therapeutic option. Therefore, it is important to distinguish from pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD), slow and normal transit constipation. Evaluation of a patient with CC includes basic blood work, rectal examination, and appropriate testing to evaluate for PFD and slow transit constipation when indicated. Pelvic floor rehabilitation or biofeedback is the treatment of choice for PFD, and its efficacy has been proven in clinical trials. Surgery is rarely indicated in CC and can only be considered in cases of slow transit constipation when PFD has been properly excluded. Other treatment options such as sacral nerve stimulation seem to be helpful in patients with urinary dysfunction. Botulinum toxin injection for PFD cannot be recommended at this time with the available evidence. CC in the elderly is common, and it has a significant impact on quality of life and the use of health care resources. In the elderly, it is imperative to identify the etiology of CC, and treatment should be based on the patient’s overall clinical status and capabilities.
.‫املقالة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫الكامل‬ ‫النص‬ ‫نهاية‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الخالصة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫الرتجمة‬ Herbal Medicine Research and Global Health: an Ethical Analysis

Governments, international agencies and corporations are increasingly investing in traditional herbal medicine research. Yet little literature addresses ethical challenges in this research. In this paper, we apply concepts in a comprehensive ethical framework for clinical research to international traditional herbal medicine research. We examine in detail three key, underappreciated dimensions of the ethical framework in which particularly difficult questions arise for international herbal medicine research: social value, scientific validity and favourable risk–benefit ratio. Significant challenges exist in determining shared concepts of social value, scientific validity and favourable risk–benefit ratio across international research collaborations. However, we argue that collaborative partnership, including democratic deliberation, offers the context and process by which many of the ethical challenges in international herbal medicine research can, and should be, resolved. By " cross-training " investigators, and investing in safety-monitoring infrastructure, the issues identified by this comprehensive framework can promote ethically sound international herbal medicine research that contributes to global health. Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l'article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español.
A Novel Leishmania infantum Recombinant Antigen Which Elicits Interleukin 10 Production by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Visceral Leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT We report here the characterization of a novel Leishmania infantum protein termed papLe22 (22-kDa potentially aggravating protein of Leishmania). A positive clone from a cDNA library was identified by serum of a visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patient. Full-length cDNA obtained using rapid amplification of cDNA ends-PCR codes for a 22-kDa protein. In L. infantumpromastigotes an endogenous nuclear protein of 14-kDa electrophoretic mobility was found by using an antiserum prepared against the fusion protein glutathione S-transferase–papLe22. Its expression was also shown in L. infantum amastigotes and inLeishmania major and Leishmania guyanensispromastigotes. VL patients' sera showed anti-papLe22 immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG reactivities, indicating that a primary response against the leishmanial protein papLe22 accompanied acute VL manifestations. Specific IgG levels were correlated with patients' clinical status. The presence of IgG1, IgG2, and IgG3 subclasses suggested a mixed Th1- and Th2-type response; there was no correlation between subclass reactivity and the disease course. The recombinant papLe22 specifically activated interleukin-10 production by VL patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected at diagnosis and after treatment-induced cure, indicating its contribution to VL pathogenesis and concomitant immunosuppression and its potential role in the reactivation of latent parasites. As a dominant immunogen, papLe22 might be used as a vaccine component, provided that the vaccination protocol directs the response toward the Th1 pattern.
Haplotyping RAD loci: an efficient method to filter paralogs and account for physical linkage

Next‐generation sequencing of reduced‐representation genomic libraries provides a powerful methodology for genotyping thousands of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among individuals of nonmodel species. Utilizing genotype data in the absence of a reference genome, however, presents a number of challenges. One major challenge is the trade‐off between splitting alleles at a single locus into separate clusters (loci), creating inflated homozygosity, and lumping multiple loci into a single contig (locus), creating artefacts and inflated heterozygosity. This issue has been addressed primarily through the use of similarity cut‐offs in sequence clustering. Here, two commonly employed, postclustering filtering methods (read depth and excess heterozygosity) used to identify incorrectly assembled loci are compared with haplotyping, another postclustering filtering approach. Simulated and empirical data sets were used to demonstrate that each of the three methods separately identified incorrectly assembled loci; more optimal results were achieved when the three methods were applied in combination. The results confirmed that including incorrectly assembled loci in population‐genetic data sets inflates estimates of heterozygosity and deflates estimates of population divergence. Additionally, at low levels of population divergence, physical linkage between SNPs within a locus created artificial clustering in analyses that assume markers are independent. Haplotyping SNPs within a locus effectively neutralized the physical linkage issue without having to thin data to a single SNP per locus. We introduce a Perl script that haplotypes polymorphisms, using data from single or paired‐end reads, and identifies potentially problematic loci.
Achieving lipid goals with rosuvastatin compared with simvastatin in high risk patients in real clinical practice: a randomized, open-label, parallel-group, multi-center study: the DISCOVERY-Beta study

The aim of this multi-center, open-label, randomized, parallel-group trial was to compare the efficacy of rosuvastatin with that of simvastatin in achieving the 1998 European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) lipid treatment goals. 504 patients (≥18 years) with primary hypercholesterolemia and a 10-year cardiovascular (CV) risk >20% or history of coronary heart disease (CHD) or other established atherosclerotic disease were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive rosuvastatin 10 mg or simvastatin 20 mg once daily for 12 weeks. A significantly higher proportion of patients achieved 1998 EAS low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal after 12 weeks of treatment with rosuvastatin 10 mg compared to simvastatin 20 mg (64 vs 51.5%, p < 0.01). Similarly, significantly more patients achieved the 1998 EAS total cholesterol (TC) goal and the 2003 EAS LDL-C and TC goals (p < 0.001) with rosuvastatin 10 mg compared with simvastatin 20 mg. The incidence of adverse events and the proportion of patients who discontinued study treatment were similar between treatment groups. In conclusion, in the DISCOVERY-Beta Study in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia greater proportion of patients in the rosuvastatin 10 mg group achieved the EAS LDL-C treatment goal compared with the simvastatin 20 mg group. Drug tolerability was similar across both treatment groups.
The relationship of job satisfaction with organizational variables in public health nursing.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the relationship of the organizational variables of structure, technology, and environment with job satisfaction among public health nurses in a southeastern state. BACKGROUND There is little research on the characteristics of the work environment that influence nurses to remain in the public health work setting. Prior research in this setting has focused on the negative aspects of the nursing positions. These aspects of least desirability for the public health nurse provide only a partial view of job satisfaction. To decide and plan specific strategies, the nurse administrator must have valid and useful information about the positive aspects of job satisfaction of public health nurses. METHODS The researchers distributed a questionnaire to all licensed nursing personnel employed by a state public health department. Data collection consisted of four tools: 1) structure instrument; 2) technology instrument; 3) environmental uncertainty instrument; and 4) McCloskey-Mueller Job Satisfaction Scale (MMSS). The sample of 838 public health nurses (response rate of 50.6%) included representation from all 13 districts and the central office of the public health department. RESULTS Significant relationships were found between job satisfaction and the demographic variables of nurse category (registered nurse and licensed practical nurse) and years of experience with the public health department. The critical variable for predicting job satisfaction in this group of public health nurses was organizational structure (vertical participation, horizontal participation, and formalization). Dimensions of structure accounted for 41% of the variance in job satisfaction. Structure remained the critical predictor of job satisfaction, although the findings do not suggest a conclusive model. The three dimensions of technology (instability, variability, and uncertainty) and environmental uncertainty assumed significance only in concert with each other or with the dimensions of structure. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to nursing management theory by examining the relationship of organizational structure, technology, and environmental uncertainty with job satisfaction in public health nurses. This research also has implications for nurse administrators in public health for creating more flexible work environments and facilitating staff involvement in decision making.
Privacy-Aware Relevant Data Access with Semantically Enriched Search Queries for Untrusted Cloud Storage Services

Privacy-aware search of outsourced data ensures relevant data access in the untrusted domain of a public cloud service provider. Subscriber of a public cloud storage service can determine the presence or absence of a particular keyword by submitting search query in the form of a trapdoor. However, these trapdoor-based search queries are limited in functionality and cannot be used to identify secure outsourced data which contains semantically equivalent information. In addition, trapdoor-based methodologies are confined to pre-defined trapdoors and prevent subscribers from searching outsourced data with arbitrarily defined search criteria. To solve the problem of relevant data access, we have proposed an index-based privacy-aware search methodology that ensures semantic retrieval of data from an untrusted domain. This method ensures oblivious execution of a search query and leverages authorized subscribers to model conjunctive search queries without relying on predefined trapdoors. A security analysis of our proposed methodology shows that, in a conspired attack, unauthorized subscribers and untrusted cloud service providers cannot deduce any information that can lead to the potential loss of data privacy. A computational time analysis on commodity hardware demonstrates that our proposed methodology requires moderate computational resources to model a privacy-aware search query and for its oblivious evaluation on a cloud service provider.
Generic Amplicon Deep Sequencing to Determine Ilarvirus Species Diversity in Australian Prunus

The distribution of Ilarvirus species populations amongst 61 Australian Prunus trees was determined by next generation sequencing (NGS) of amplicons generated using a genus-based generic RT-PCR targeting a conserved region of the Ilarvirus RNA2 component that encodes the RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene. Presence of Ilarvirus sequences in each positive sample was further validated by Sanger sequencing of cloned amplicons of regions of each of RNA1, RNA2 and/or RNA3 that were generated by species specific PCRs and by metagenomic NGS. Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) was the most frequently detected Ilarvirus, occurring in 48 of the 61 Ilarvirus-positive trees and Prune dwarf virus (PDV) and Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) were detected in three trees and one tree, respectively. American plum line pattern virus (APLPV) was detected in three trees and represents the first report of APLPV detection in Australia. Two novel and distinct groups of Ilarvirus-like RNA2 amplicon sequences were also identified in several trees by the generic amplicon NGS approach. The high read depth from the amplicon NGS of the generic PCR products allowed the detection of distinct RNA2 RdRp sequence variant populations of PNRSV, PDV, ApMV, APLPV and the two novel Ilarvirus-like sequences. Mixed infections of ilarviruses were also detected in seven Prunus trees. Sanger sequencing of specific RNA1, RNA2, and/or RNA3 genome segments of each virus and total nucleic acid metagenomics NGS confirmed the presence of PNRSV, PDV, ApMV and APLPV detected by RNA2 generic amplicon NGS. However, the two novel groups of Ilarvirus-like RNA2 amplicon sequences detected by the generic amplicon NGS could not be associated to the presence of sequence from RNA1 or RNA3 genome segments or full Ilarvirus genomes, and their origin is unclear. This work highlights the sensitivity of genus-specific amplicon NGS in detection of virus sequences and their distinct populations in multiple samples, and the need for a standardized approach to accurately determine what constitutes an active, viable virus infection after detection by molecular based methods.
Molecular regimes in ultracold Fermi gases

The use of Feshbach resonances for tuning the interparticle interaction in ultracold Fermi gases has led to remarkable developments, in particular to the creation and Bose-Einstein condensation of weakly bound diatomic molecules of fermionic atoms. These are the largest diatomic molecules obtained so far, with a size of the order of thousands of angstroms. They represent novel composite bosons, which exhibit features of Fermi statistics at short intermolecular distances. Being highly excited, these molecules are remarkably stable with respect to collisional relaxation, which is a consequence of the Pauli exclusion principle for identical fermionic atoms. The purpose of this review is to introduce theoretical approaches and describe the physics of molecular regimes in two-component Fermi gases and Fermi-Fermi mixtures, focusing attention on quantum statistical effects.