Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacillus Strains Isolated from Primary Starters for African Traditional Bread Production and Characterization of the Bacitracin Operon and Bacitracin Biosynthesis

ABSTRACT Bacillus spp. are widely used as feed additives and probiotics. However, there is limited information on their resistance to various antibiotics, and there is a growing concern over the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. The MIC for 8 antibiotics was determined for 85 Bacillus species strains, Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis (n = 29), Bacillus licheniformis (n = 38), and Bacillus sonorensis (n = 18), all of which were isolated from starters for Sudanese bread production. All the strains were sensitive to tetracycline (8.0 mg/liter), vancomycin (4.0 mg/liter), and gentamicin (4.0 mg/liter) but resistant to streptomycin. Sensitivity to clindamycin, chloramphenicol, and kanamycin was species specific. The erythromycin resistance genes ermD and ermK were detected by PCR in all of the erythromycin-resistant (MIC, ≥16.0 mg/liter) B. licheniformis strains and one erythromycin-sensitive (MIC, 4.0 mg/liter) B. licheniformis strain. Several amino acid changes were present in the translated ermD and ermK nucleotide sequences of the erythromycin-sensitive strain, which could indicate ErmD and ErmK protein functionalities different from those of the resistance strains. The ermD and ermK genes were localized on an 11.4-kbp plasmid. All of the B. sonorensis strains harbored the bacitracin synthetase gene, bacA, and the transporter gene bcrA, which correlated with their observed resistance to bacitracin. Bacitracin was produced by all the investigated species strains (28%), as determined by ultra-high-definition quadrupole time-of-flight liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHD-QTOF LC/MS). The present study has revealed species-specific variations in the antimicrobial susceptibilities of Bacillus spp. and provides new information on MIC values, as well as the occurrence of resistance genes in Bacillus spp. , including the newly described species B. sonorensis.
Characterization of transposon Tn5-facilitated donor strains and development of a chromosomal linkage map for Agrobacterium tumefaciens

We have further characterized the transposon Tn5-facilitated chromosomal gene transfer system developed for Agrobacterium tumefaciens 15955. Using a strain whose chromosome contained Tn5, we compared the chromosome-mobilizing ability of plasmid pDP37 (containing Tn5) with that of its parent plasmid R68.45. For R68.45, we observed nonpolar transmission from multiple origins. For pDP37 we found polarized transmission from a single origin near ilv. When we examined the transmission gradients of a number of pDP37-containing donor strains each differing at the site of the chromosomal insertion we found just two classes. One set of donors transmitted markers with a gradient of Ilv+ greater than Rifr greater than His+ greater than Met+, whereas the second set transferred His+ greater than Rifr greater than Ilv+ greater than Met+. Using representatives from each transmission class of donor strains, we conducted matings to measure the degree of linkage between pairs of adjacent donor markers. From this information we developed a map of the A. tumefaciens 15955 chromosome. Attempts to isolate R-prime plasmids or Hfr-like donors were unsuccessful.
A concise introduction to quantum probability , quantum mechanics , and quantum computation

Quantum mechanics is one of the most interesting and surprising pillars of modern physics. Its basic precepts require only undergraduate or early graduate mathematics; but because quantum mechanics is surprising, it is more difficult than these prerequisites suggest. Moreover, the rigorous and clear rules of quantum mechanics are sometimes confused with the more difficult and less rigorous rules of quantum field theory.
Security Awareness Investigation for Mobile User Examined by Using Association Rule Mining Method

Due to the development of mobile communications, some innovation APPs (Applications) provide convenient mobile lifestyle. Smartphone has gradually replaced the traditional cellular phone. The huge usages of smartphones driving the mobile APP have been developed, that the wide use of APPs makes human life more easily. These APPs are not only built-in software, but also sold or free download in online APP stores. User has doubts for unsolicited APPs. Therefore, the smart phone which performs these APPs requires preventing hacker attacks, and the user of smart phone should has some knowledges of information security on when he or she use the kind of APPs. In this paper, the subject of the investigation are the mobile device users who are some university students belonging to different disciplines, grade and gender in Taiwan. We collected total 174 valid questionnaires. Next, the level for mobile security awareness are analyzed by the results collected from questionnaire. The evaluation results of security awareness investigation for the mobile users examined by association rule mining are also revealed in this paper.
XRMA and ToF-SIMS Analysis of Normal and Hypomineralized Enamel

Abstract Molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is a developmental disturbance of the enamel. This study presents analyses of hypomineralized and normal enamel in first molar teeth diagnosed with MIH, utilizing time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry area analyses and X-ray microanalysis of area and spot profiles in uncoated samples between gold lines which provide electrical conductivity. Statistical analysis of mean values allows discrimination of normal from MIH enamel, which has higher Mg and lower Na and P. Inductive analysis using complete data sets for profiles from the enamel surface to the enamel–dentin junction found that Mg, Cl and position in the profile provide useful discrimination criteria. Element profiles provide a visual complement to the inductive analysis and several elements also provide insight into the development of both normal and MIH enamel. The higher Mg content and different Cl profiles of hypomineralized enamel compared with normal enamel are probably related to a relatively short period during the development of ameloblasts between birth and the 1st year of life.
NECT Is Next: Implementing the New Drug Combination Therapy for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense Sleeping Sickness

Fatal if untreated, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT; sleeping sickness) afflicts an estimated 50,000–70,000 people each year [1], all in sub-Saharan Africa, with only a minority of cases (nearly 12,000 in 2008) being reported [2]. HAT is one of four neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as requiring Innovative and Intensified Disease Management (IDM), along with Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and Buruli ulcer [3]. These particular NTDs have poorly understood burdens, lack optimal control tools, receive insufficient research and development (R&D) investment, and affect people who often live in remote or insecure areas with limited access to health care. Excluding Buruli ulcer, these IDM diseases have the highest death rates of all NTDs [4]. HAT in west and central Africa is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, transmitted through tsetse flies. The disease progresses from first stage (infecting blood and lymph) to second stage (infecting the central nervous system), which can lead to severe sleep disturbances, neurological and psychiatric disorders, coma, and death. Primary elements of HAT management are surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, and vector control. Drug treatments for T. b. gambiense HAT have been limited: pentamidine for first-stage disease, and melarsoprol or eflornithine for second-stage disease. Eflornithine is safer and often more effective than melarsoprol, which is associated with high toxicity, even fatal at times, and exhibits high rates of treatment failure in numerous HAT-endemic foci. However, despite an increasing proportion of second-stage HAT treated with eflornithine during recent years [5], melarsoprol remains in use in many treatment centers due to eflornithine's long, burdensome treatment administration requirements, which are difficult to implement in resource-constrained settings. In April 2009, a new treatment option, nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy (NECT), was added to the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML) for the treatment of second-stage T. b. gambiense HAT [6]. NECT was added to the EML based on the high efficacy and good safety profile observed in all studies done to date, against a background of recognized severity of stage 2 disease and toxicity of existing treatments. Surveillance of adverse events was strongly recommended [7]. Compared with eflornithine monotherapy, NECT is easier to administer and requires fewer human and material resources. In the current context, NECT stands as the most promising first-line treatment for second-stage T. b. gambiense HAT. Here we describe the developments and challenges in rolling out and implementing NECT in HAT-endemic areas.
Successful Treatment of Acute Lung Injury with Pitavastatin in Septic Mice: Potential Role of Glucocorticoid Receptor Expression in Alveolar Macrophages

There is growing evidence that the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) provide some of the beneficial effects that are independent of their lipid-lowering effects. Recent animal experiments and clinical trials suggest that statin use may limit the development of sepsis and associated systemic inflammation. The aim of this study was to explore the potential role of statins in the prevention treatment of sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Mice were rendered septic by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). An intraperitoneal injection of 3 mg/kg per day of pitavastatin was initiated 4 days before surgery and was maintained for life support afterward, which significantly improved the survival of CLP mice. Treatment with pitavastatin prevented the ALI development in CLP mice, as indicated by the findings that severe hypoxemia, increased pulmonary vascular permeability, and histological lung damage, including inflammatory cell infiltrate, were greatly remedied. This was associated with down-regulation of increased activity of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in septic lungs. Although plasma cortisol showed a sharp rise, glucocorticoid receptor (GCR) expression in the lungs was strikingly reduced after the onset of CLP-induced sepsis. It is noteworthy that pitavastatin increased GCR expression with an increase in alveolar macrophages in which GCRs are localized, without modifying the sepsis-associated rise in plasma cortisol. These results confirm significant protection by pitavastatin on septic ALI and demonstrate that down-regulated NF-κB activation associated with the GCR expression increase consequent to the increased number of alveolar macrophages may explain, in part, the mechanisms responsible for favorable effects of statins on the ALI management.
Electrotonic coupling between stratum oriens interneurones in the intact in vitro mouse juvenile hippocampus

Using the isolated juvenile (7–14 days) mouse whole hippocampus preparation, which contains intact complex local circuitry, 145 dual whole cell recordings were made from stratum oriens (s.o.) interneurones under infrared microscopy. In 11.7% of paired recordings, evidence for direct electrotonic coupling between the s.o. interneurones was obtained from the response of one interneurone to a long (400–600 ms) constant current pulse passed into the coupled interneurone. When specifically orienting the dual recordings in the transectional plane of the hippocampus, 18.5% of paired recordings showed electrotonic coupling. The coupling coefficient, estimated from averaged data, was 6.9 ± 4.7%, ranging from 1.3 to 17.6%. The time constant of the electrotonically transmitted hyperpolarization was inversely related to the coupling coefficient between the two neurones. The electrotonic responses of one neurone to constant current pulses injected into the other coupled neurone were intermittent. Spikes in one of the coupled neurones were associated with small electrotonic EPSPs (spikelets) in the other coupled neurone, in those neuronal pairs with coupling coefficients greater than 10%. Failure of spikelet production following a spike in the coupled cell occurred 5–10% of the time. Electrotonic coupling and spikelets persisted in the presence of chemical synaptic transmission blockade by CNQX, APV and bicuculline, or in zero Ca2+ perfusate, but were abolished by carbenoxolone (100 μm), a gap junctional blocker. These data confirm the existence of electrotonic coupling between s.o. interneurones, presumably via gap junctions located in dendrites.
Prediction of Clinically Relevant Herb-Drug Clearance Interactions Using Sandwich-Cultured Human Hepatocytes: Schisandra spp. Case Study

The Schisandraceae family is reported to have a range of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory effects. As with all herbal preparations, extracts of Schisandra species are mixtures composed of >50 lignans, especially schizandrins, deoxyschizandrins, and gomisins. In China, Schisandra sphenanthera extract (SSE) is often coadministered with immunosuppressant treatment of transplant recipients. In cases of coadministration, the potential for herb-drug interactions (HDIs) increases. Clinical studies have been used to assess HDI potential of SSE. Results demonstrated that chronic SSE administration reduced midazolam (MDZ) clearance by 52% in healthy volunteers. Although clinical studies are definitive and considered the “gold standard,” these studies are impractical for routine HDI assessments. Alternatively, in vitro strategies can be used to reduce the need for clinical studies. Transporter-certified sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes (SCHHs) provide a fully integrated hepatic cell system that maintains drug clearance pathways (metabolism and transport) and key regulatory pathways constitutive active/androstane receptor and pregnane X receptor (CAR/PXR) necessary for quantitative assessment of HDI potential. Mechanistic studies conducted in SCHHs demonstrated that SSE and the more commonly used dietary supplement Schisandra chinensis extract (SCE) inhibited CYP3A4/5-mediated metabolism and induced CYP3A4 mRNA in a dose-dependent manner. SSE and SCE reduced MDZ clearance to 0.577- and 0.599-fold of solvent control, respectively, in chronically exposed SCHHs. These in vitro results agreed with SSE clinical findings and predicted a similar in vivo HDI effect with SCE exposure. These findings support the use of an SCHH system that maintains transport, metabolic, and regulatory functionality for routine HDI assessments to predict clinically relevant clearance interactions.
Arch Height and Lower Limb Pain: An Adult Civilian Study

Flexible flatfeet in children are still treated with orthotics and operative procedures by some physicians who believe such treatment will prevent disability in adult life. Opponents of treatment cite military studies that show flexible flatfeet are not a source of disability in soldiers. Because no study of adult civilians relating arch configuration and pain have been reported, this study was undertaken. Ninety-nine adult male and female physically active grocery-store employees were studied. Half-weight-bearing footprints were made, and leg and foot pain questionnaires were scored for each subject. No relationship was found between arch configuration and pain scores. This study suggests that in the civilian population flexible flatfeet are not a source of disability. This study is consistent with previous studies and provides additional evidence against the practice of treating flexible flatfeet in children.
The regulatory subunits of fission yeast protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) affect cell morphogenesis, cell wall synthesis and cytokinesis

Background: Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) holoenzymes have a trimeric structure, consisting of a catalytic subunit C and two regulatory subunits A (PR65) and B (PR55). In fission yeast the C subunits, being 80% identical to their mammalian counterparts, are essential for viability and negatively regulate the entry into mitosis. Genetic analyses in budding yeast and Drosophila show that the regulatory subunits are implicated in chromosome segregation, cell morphogenesis and/or cytokinesis.
An MPI Implementation of the SPAI Preconditioner on the T3E

The authors describe and test spai_1. 1, a parallel MPI implementation of the sparse approximate inverse (SPAI) preconditioner. They show that SPAI can be very effective for solving a set of very large and difficult problems on a Cray T3E. The results clearly show the value of SPAI (and approximate inverse methods in general) as the viable alternative to ILU-type methods when facing very large and difficult problems. The authors strengthen this conclusion by showing that spai_1. 1 also has very good scaling behavior.
Shear Behavior of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Beams without Stirrup Reinforcement

This paper investigates the behavior of steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams in shear, as well as the possibility of using steel fibers as minimum shear reinforcement. In the study, 28 simply supported beams with a shear span-to-effective depth ratio of approximately 3.5 were subjected to a monotonically increased, concentrated load. The target concrete compressive strength for all of the beams was 41 MPa (6000 psi). The studied parameters included beam depth, fiber length, fiber aspect ratio, fiber strength, and fiber volume fraction. Three types of steel fibers were considered, all with hooks at their ends. The behavior of beams failing in shear prior to or after flexural yielding was also investigated by varying the longitudinal reinforcement ratio. Compared to reinforced concrete (RC) beams without stirrup reinforcement, the use of hooked steel fibers in a volume fraction greater than or equal to 0.75% led to an enhanced inclined cracking pattern and a substantial increase in shear strength.
CA1 hippocampal network activity changes during sleep-dependent memory consolidation

A period of sleep over the first few hours following single-trial contextual fear conditioning (CFC) is essential for hippocampally-mediated memory consolidation. Recent studies have uncovered intracellular mechanisms required for memory formation which are affected by post-conditioning sleep and sleep deprivation. However, almost nothing is known about the circuit-level activity changes during sleep that underlie activation of these intracellular pathways. Here we continuously recorded from the CA1 region of freely-behaving mice to characterize neuronal and network activity changes occurring during active memory consolidation. C57BL/6J mice were implanted with custom stereotrode recording arrays to monitor activity of individual CA1 neurons, local field potentials (LFPs), and electromyographic activity. Sleep architecture and state-specific CA1 activity patterns were assessed during a 24 h baseline recording period, and for 24 h following either single-trial CFC or Sham conditioning. We find that consolidation of CFC is not associated with significant sleep architecture changes, but is accompanied by long-lasting increases in CA1 neuronal firing, as well as increases in delta, theta, and gamma-frequency CA1 LFP activity. These changes occurred in both sleep and wakefulness, and may drive synaptic plasticity within the hippocampus during memory formation. We also find that functional connectivity within the CA1 network, assessed through functional clustering algorithm (FCA) analysis of spike timing relationships among recorded neurons, becomes more stable during consolidation of CFC. This increase in network stability was not present following Sham conditioning, was most evident during post-CFC slow wave sleep (SWS), and was negligible during post-CFC wakefulness. Thus in the interval between encoding and recall, SWS may stabilize the hippocampal contextual fear memory (CFM) trace by promoting CA1 network stability.
Hypersensitivity reactions and the utility of oral and intravenous desensitization in patients with gynecologic malignancies.

OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to characterize hypersensitivity reactions to chemotherapy in patients with gynecologic malignancies and to determine the utility of oral and intravenous desensitization. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed patients with hypersensitivity reactions identified by direct physician query and by review of charts with ICD9 code E933.1 (Adverse Effect Anti-Neoplastic). RESULTS Thirty-two patients were identified: 27 with ovarian cancer, 4 with primary peritoneal cancer, and 1 with cervical cancer. Nine patients experienced hypersensitivity reactions during the primary regimen and 23 during chemotherapy for recurrent disease. Hypersensitivity occurred following an average of nine courses. Hypersensitivity occurred secondary to paclitaxel (10) carboplatin (16), cisplatin (4), bleomycin (1), and paclitaxel/carboplatin combination therapy (1). Patients had previously received the agent in 93.8% of carboplatin reactions, in 54.5% of paclitaxel reactions, and in all other agent reactions. Hypersensitivity reactions most commonly included flushing, dyspnea/bronchospasm, back pain, chest discomfort, pruritus, erythema, and nausea and occasionally included alterations in blood pressure or pulse rate. Reactions were successfully treated in 96.9% of patients by interrupting the infusion and administering steroids, antihistamines, benzodiazepines, nebulized beta-agonists, and/or pressors. Seventeen patients underwent desensitization, one to two agents, with 94% success. Nine of ten patients had successful iv desensitization, and 8/10 patients had successful oral desensitization. One failure on the oral regimen had previous successful iv desensitization. CONCLUSIONS Hypersensitivity reactions to chemotherapeutic agents do not necessarily require exclusion of a compound from the treatment regimen. Intravenous and oral desensitization protocols are useful for successful and safe administration of paclitaxel and platinum compounds in patients with prior hypersensitivity reactions.
Down Regulation of Gene Expression by the Vaccinia Virus D10 Protein

ABSTRACT Vaccinia virus genes are expressed in a sequential fashion, suggesting a role for negative as well as positive regulatory mechanisms. A potential down regulator of gene expression was mapped by transfection assays to vaccinia virus open reading frame D10, which encodes a protein with no previously known function. Inhibition was independent of the promoter type used for the reporter gene, indicating that the mechanism did not involve promoter sequence recognition. The inhibition was overcome, however, when the open reading frame of the reporter gene was preceded by the encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosome entry site, which excludes the possibility of nonspecific metabolic or other antiviral effects and suggests that capped mRNAs or cap-dependent translation might be the target of the D10 product. The inducible overexpression of the D10 gene by a recombinant vaccinia virus severely inhibited viral protein synthesis, decreased the steady-state level of viral late mRNA, and blocked the formation of infectious virus.