Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of flavophospholipol on conjugation frequency between Escherichia coli donor and recipient pairs in vitro and in the chicken gastrointestinal tract.

OBJECTIVES To examine the ability of flavophospholipol to inhibit bacterial conjugation between Escherichia coli donor and recipient pairs in vitro and in day-of-hatch chickens. METHODS In vitro donor cultures were incubated in the presence of 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 mg/L flavophospholipol during primary overnight mono-cultures only, secondary conjugation cultures only, or throughout primary and secondary cultures. Transconjugants were selected using oxytetracycline and nalidixic acid. Treatment groups A-G (n=20) of day-of-hatch broiler chickens received 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 g/ton flavophospholipol, respectively, in their feed throughout the experiment. On day 4, all treatment groups were given 0.25 mL of donor and recipient E. coli at 7.0 and 9.0 log10 cfu/mL, respectively. On day 10, the birds were euthanized and the caecal contents were cultured on selective medium (oxytetracycline and nalidixic acid). RESULTS A dose-dependent reduction in transconjugant populations was observed in vitro when flavophospholipol was present in the secondary conjugation culture. The susceptibility profiles of transconjugants obtained from in vitro studies were identical to the predicted profile of the donor and recipient combination. There was no significant difference (P>or=0.05) in the number of transconjugants isolated from chickens among any of the flavophospholipol treatment groups when compared with the controls. The susceptibility profiles of chicken transconjugants suggested acquisition of naturally occurring plasmids. CONCLUSIONS Flavophospholipol strongly inhibited conjugation in vitro, but did not prevent recipient E. coli from acquiring resistance determinants in vivo.
Opportunities and Constraints in Characterizing Landscape Distribution of an Invasive Grass from Very High Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery

Understanding spatial distributions of invasive plant species at early infestation stages is critical for assessing the dynamics and underlying factors of invasions. Recent progress in very high resolution remote sensing is facilitating this task by providing high spatial detail over whole-site extents that are prohibitive to comprehensive ground surveys. This study assessed the opportunities and constraints to characterize landscape distribution of the invasive grass medusahead (Elymus caput-medusae) in a ∼36.8 ha grassland in California, United States from 0.15m-resolution visible/near-infrared aerial imagery at the stage of late spring phenological contrast with dominant grasses. We compared several object-based unsupervised, single-run supervised and hierarchical approaches to classify medusahead using spectral, textural, and contextual variables. Fuzzy accuracy assessment indicated that 44–100% of test medusahead samples were matched by its classified extents from different methods, while 63–83% of test samples classified as medusahead had this class as an acceptable candidate. Main sources of error included spectral similarity between medusahead and other green species and mixing of medusahead with other vegetation at variable densities. Adding texture attributes to spectral variables increased the accuracy of most classification methods, corroborating the informative value of local patterns under limited spectral data. The highest accuracy across different metrics was shown by the supervised single-run support vector machine with seven vegetation classes and Bayesian algorithms with three vegetation classes; however, their medusahead allocations showed some “spillover” effects due to misclassifications with other green vegetation. This issue was addressed by more complex hierarchical approaches, though their final accuracy did not exceed the best single-run methods. However, the comparison of classified medusahead extents with field segments of its patches overlapping with survey transects indicated that most methods tended to miss and/or over-estimate the length of the smallest patches and under-estimate the largest ones due to classification errors. Overall, the study outcomes support the potential of cost-effective, very high-resolution sensing for the site-scale detection of infestation hotspots that can be customized to plant phenological schedules. However, more accurate medusahead patch delineation in mixed-cover grasslands would benefit from testing hyperspectral data and using our study’s framework to inform and constrain the candidate vegetation classes in heterogeneous locations.
Sunlight‐Induced Radiation Recall

A man with adenocarcinoma ofthe prostate, stage B2, presented to the Yale-New Haven (CT) Hospital for radiation therapy. Routine physical examination revealed an enlarged prostate. A prostatic biopsy was performed and showed a Cleason grade 4/10 adenocarcinoma. The patient was asymptomatic, and there was no evidence of metastatic disease by either bone scan or pelvic computed tomographic (CT) scan. Past medical history was remarkable for hypertension and a partial thyroidectomy. His only regular medication was nadolol. No chemotherapeutic agents were given. There was no history of photosensitivity. Radiation therapy was initiated to a large pelvic field on April 4, 1986. He received 180 rads/day to a total of 4500 rads. On May 9, the field was decreased, and treatment was continued. The patient presented on May 27 with complaints of a rash and tenderness in the gluteal region and on the upper extremities. On examination, a well-demarcated erythematous patch containing papules, vesicles, and erosions was present on the buttocks (Fig. 1). This area was the site of the radiation port. A similar vesicular dermatitis was located on the outer aspects of the distal arms and forearms, the hands, and the V ofthe neck (Fig. 2). Nootherareasof the skin were involved. An examination 3 days before this visit revealed slight erythema and hyperpigmentation in the treatment field. The patient had been sailing on May 24 and 25. He received approximately 3 and 5 hours of sun exposure on those days, respectively, while wearing a short-sleeved shirt and hat. No sunscreens were used. Frythema was noticed on his forearms after the first day of sailing and on the buttocks on the second day. A peak reaction, with tenderness and blisters, occurred by May 28, 4 days after the initial sun exposure. The patient had received 5900 rads out of a planned 6500 rads when the cutaneous reaction occurred. The final 600 rads were administered through an alternate pelvic port to avoid further skin injury on the buttocks. The vesicular dermatitis was treated with cool compresses and a tapering course of prednisone over 2 weeks, beginning with a dose of 60 mg a day. The skin eruption resolved after the first week of therapy. About 4 weeks after radiotherapy had been discontinued, the patient experienced another episode of prolonged sun
Delayed Transplantation of Adult Neural Precursor Cells Promotes Remyelination and Functional Neurological Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in loss of oligodendrocytes demyelination of surviving axons and severe functional impairment. Spontaneous remyelination is limited. Thus, cell replacement therapy is an attractive approach for myelin repair. In this study, we transplanted adult brain-derived neural precursor cells (NPCs) isolated from yellow fluorescent protein-expressing transgenic mice into the injured spinal cord of adult rats at 2 and 8 weeks after injury, which represents the subacute and chronic phases of SCI. A combination of growth factors, the anti-inflammatory drug minocycline, and cyclosporine A immunosuppression was used to enhance the survival of transplanted adult NPCs. Our results show the presence of a substantial number of surviving NPCs in the injured spinal cord up to 10 weeks after transplantation at the subacute stage of SCI. In contrast, cell survival was poor after transplantation into chronic lesions. After subacute transplantation, grafted cells migrated >5 mm rostrally and caudally. The surviving NPCs integrated principally along white-matter tracts and displayed close contact with the host axons and glial cells. Approximately 50% of grafted cells formed either oligodendroglial precursor cells or mature oligodendrocytes. NPC-derived oligodendrocytes expressed myelin basic protein and ensheathed the axons. We also observed that injured rats receiving NPC transplants had improved functional recovery as assessed by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan Locomotor Rating Scale and grid-walk and footprint analyses. Our data provide strong evidence in support of the feasibility of adult NPCs for cell-based remyelination after SCI.
Mudstone Clast Breccia in the Cretaceous Athabasca Oil Sands, Western Canada: Fluvial Debris-Flow Transitions into Traction Carpets

The origin and distribution of mudstone clast breccia bed deposits of the middle McMurray Formation responded to a range of current flow conditions associated with downchannel migrations by kilometers-long point bars, which accumulated as reservoirs of the Cretaceous Athabasca oil sands in northern Alberta. Fabrics consisting of dispersed clast entrainments within centimeters- to decimeters-thick stratified sand beds accumulated as grain flows and small-scale debris flows that filled shallow, flat-bottomed troughs during bed erosion on the point bar. Most low-density clast dispersals were sourced by eroded mudstone beds exposed along the bar bed surfaces. Clast-laden debris flows, 1–2 m thick, filled deeper troughs on the point bar, often as overlying flow-surge deposits, resulting in internal erosional surfaces within the breccia bed. Elsewhere, voluminous debris flows were sourced by undercut older channel walls that eroded mud-dominated counter point bar beds or exhumed lower McMurray floodplain beds. The slumps transitioned into clast-laden sand transported by strong currents that winnowed fines, concentrating and supporting the clasts in the sand by dispersive pressures. Breccia fabrics and thicknesses were significantly impacted by stability of the channel floors. These widely distributed decimeters- to meters-thick breccia beds accumulated during bar migrations along a highly sinuous channel belt with low-gradient channel floors that trended along a stable substrate consisting of Devonian limestone throughout the central-southern Athabasca deposit. In contrast, the distributary channels across the northern Athabasca deposit were impacted by removal of up to 100 m of Prairie Evaporite salt beds in the Middle Devonian substrate only 200 m below. These regional salt-removal trends, before and concurrent with McMurray deposition, strongly impacted the channel floors, resulting in instability as the underlying kilometer-scale Devonian fault blocks differentially subsided. This allogenic forcing induced abrupt and steep changes in the channel slope gradient that favored hundreds-of-meters- to kilometer-scale debris flows during flood-stage discharge. Abrupt changes in the flow rheology along these channel floors resulted in increased traction in the segments of the debris flow as strong shearing boundary stress imposed by overlying turbulence caused frictionally locked sand grains. Segments of the large debris flow, transitioning to early-stage traction carpets, were overridden by more fluidal tailing edges, resulting in overlying inversely graded breccia beds lacking internal erosional surfaces. This model explains the accumulation of tens-of-meters-thick breccia beds as debris flows that transitioned into tiered traction carpets driven forward as bedload.
Developing a parsimonious model for predicting completion of advance directives.

PURPOSE To develop a theory-based model to assist nurses in promoting self-determination for completion of an advance directive (AD). DESIGN AND METHODS This descriptive study included data from a convenience sample of 118 community-dwelling older adults in Tennessee, USA. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the influence of 15 factors and covariates on completion of an AD. FINDINGS The parsimonious model had three significant factors: receiving AD information; attitude index; and health literacy score. Participants were highly likely to complete ADs if they had positive attitudes toward ADs and had received information on ADs. As health literacy increased, the likelihood that participants completed ADs was reduced. This model explained 25% of the variation in AD completion. Chi-square fit for the parsimonious model was highly significant. CONCLUSIONS Of 15 factors and covariates that could influence completion of an AD, only receiving information about ADs, having positive attitudes toward ADs, and health literacy significantly affected the likelihood of participants completing ADs. More study is needed on this model and how nurses can assist patients with end-of-life decisions.
Secure Mobile User Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol with Privacy Protection in Global Mobility Networks

As much of the web information nowadays is published by roaming mobile users, and these mobile users may get services from various foreign agents, security, privacy and authentication are important for the roaming service in global mobility networks. In 2011, Chen et al. proposed a lightweight and provably secure user authentication scheme with anonymity for roaming service. We first show that their scheme is susceptible to off-line password attack once a user's smart card is compromised, we also show that it does not provide fair session key generation or user untraceability. The scheme also lacks of user friendliness and perfect forward secrecy. To remedy these weaknesses, we propose a new scheme which is suitable for using in the global mobility network.
Postnatal development and plasticity of corticocortical projections from area 17 to area 18 in the cat's visual cortex

We used retrogradely transported fluorescent tracers to study the development of projections from area 17 to area 18 in normal and monocularly deprived kittens. In newborn animals, cells in area 17 that were labeled from small, discrete injections in area 18 were concentrated around the retinotopically corresponding zone, but distributed with lower density over a very wide surrounding area. Hence, the total convergence and divergence of the projection were initially enormous, but they decreased dramatically, mainly during the first postnatal month, through elimination of the sparse, widespread distribution of projections. Injections of two different tracers close together in area 18 produced very few double-labeled cells in area 17 at any age, implying that most individual axons arborize over very small territories even at birth. In normal kittens the peak density of association cells in the upper layers, corrected for the overall expansion of the cortex, doubled over the first postnatal month and then declined gradually over the following several months, presumably because of continuing selection and elimination. As shown in previous work (Price and Blakemore, 1985a), area 17 to 18 cells in newborn kittens were distributed in two continuous bands in supragranular and infragranular layers. During normal maturation, elimination of projections results in the formation of distinct clusters; these lie preferentially in the upper layers above patches of ipsilateral eye input to layer 4 (Price et al., 1994). Monocular deprivation, which causes the terminal patches representing the deprived eye to become much smaller than normal, did not stop the normal decrease in overall convergence/divergence or the appearance of clusters of association cells, but the clusters were distinctly larger than normal in both hemispheres. Monocular deprivation also prevented the normal reduction in density of association cells within clusters after 1 month of age. Comparison with results from binocularly deprived animals, where clusters also form but association cell density is low, suggests that the size of clusters and the density of association cells retained depend on the overall level of cortical activity.
Nondeterministic State Complexity of Basic Operations for Prefix-Free Regular Languages

We investigate the nondeterministic state complexity of basic operations for prefix-free regular languages. The nondeterministic state complexity of an operation is the number of states that are necessary and sufficient in the worst-case for a minimal nondeterministic finite-state automaton that accepts the language obtained from the operation. We establish the precise state complexity of catenation, union, intersection, Kleene star, reversal and complementation for prefix-free regular languages.
Odour identification test and its relation to cardiac 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine in patients with drug induced parkinsonism

We investigated olfactory function and its relation to cardiac 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake in 15 patients with drug induced parkinsonism (DIP). The mean Cross Cultural Smell Identification (CCSI) score was significantly greater in patients with DIP than in those with Parkinson’s disease (PD: 6.9 (1.6) vs 4.4 (2.2); p<0.001); however, the mean CCSI score in patients with DIP was not significantly different from controls. One patient with DIP, whose CCSI score was significantly reduced, also exhibited decreased cardiac MIBG uptake. DIP patients with CCSI scores within the normal range had normal cardiac MIBG uptake. Our study suggests that an olfactory function test may be a useful tool for detecting DIP unrelated to PD and for identifying patients with DIP who have subclinical PD.
Mesial Prefrontal Cortex Degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A High-Field Proton MR Spectroscopy Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration is responsible for the cognitive abnormalities seen in patients with ALS. We sought to evaluate the in vivo neurochemical changes associated with this pathology indicative of neuronal loss and gliosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients with ALS (2 with ALS-FTD) and 15 healthy controls were studied. High-field proton MR spectroscopy of the mesial prefrontal cortex was used to determine concentrations of NAA and mIns, markers of neuronal integrity and gliosis, respectively. Metabolite concentrations were correlated with cognitive tests (verbal fluency, ACE). RESULTS: NAA/mIns was decreased 17% (P =.002). Abnormalities were present to a lesser degree in the individual metabolites NAA (decreased 9%; P =.08) and mIns (increased 11%; P =.06) than the ratio of the 2 metabolites. These measures did not correlate significantly with verbal fluency or the ACE. CONCLUSIONS: Prefrontal lobe degeneration exists in patients with ALS as indicated by an abnormal mesial prefrontal cortex neurochemical profile. Further study is necessary to determine the potential utility of the NAA/mIns ratio as a biomarker for frontal lobe degeneration in ALS.
Connecting personal-scale sensing and networked community behavior to infer human activities

Advances in mobile and wearable devices are making it feasible to deploy sensing systems at a large-scale. However, slower progress is being made in activity recognition which remains often unreliable in everyday environments. In this paper, we investigate how to leverage the increasing capacity to gather data at a population-scale towards improving existing models of human behavior. Specifically, we consider the various social phenomena and environmental factors that cause people to develop correlated behavioral patterns, especially within communities connected by strong social ties. Reasons underpinning correlated behavior include shared externalities (e.g., work schedules, weather, traffic conditions), that shape options and decisions; and cases of adopted behavior, as people learn from each other or assume group norms due to social pressure. Most existing approaches to modeling human behavior ignore all of these phenomena and recognize activities solely on the basis of sensor data captured from a single individual. We propose the Networked Community Behavior (NCB) framework for activity recognition, specifically designed to exploit community-scale behavioral patterns. Under NCB, patterns of community behavior are mined to identify social ties that can signal correlated behavior, this information is used to augment sensor-based inferences available from the actions of individuals. Our evaluation of NCB shows it is able to outperform existing approaches to behavior modeling across four mobile sensing datasets that collectively require a diverse set of activities to be recognized.
Inhibitory Effects of Adlay Extract on Melanin Production and Cellular Oxygen Stress in B16F10 Melanoma Cells

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of adlay extract on melanin production and the antioxidant characteristics of the extract. The seeds were extracted by the supercritical fluid CO2 extraction (SFE) method. The effect of adlay extract on melanin production was evaluated using mushroom tyrosinase activity assay, intracellular tyrosinase activity, antioxidant properties and melanin content. Those assays were performed spectrophotometrically. In addition, the expression of melanogenesis-related proteins was determined by western blotting. The results revealed that the adlay extract suppressed intracellular tyrosinase activity and decreased the amount of melanin in B16F10 cells. The adlay extract decreased the expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein-1 (TRP-1) and tyrosinase related protein-2 (TRP-2). The extract also exhibited antioxidant characteristics such as free radical scavenging capacity and reducing power. It effectively decreased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in B16F10 cells. We concluded that the adlay extract inhibits melanin production by down-regulation of MITF, tyrosinase, TRP-1 and TRP-2. The antioxidant properties of the extract may also contribute to the inhibition of melanogenesis. The adlay extract can therefore be applied as an inhibitor of melanogenesis and could also act as a natural antioxidant in skin care products.