Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Antibacterial Activity of Coriolus versicolor Methanol Extract and Its Effect on Ultrastructural Changes of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Enteritidis

The antibacterial activity of methanol extract obtained from fruiting body of industrially grown basidiomycete Coriolus versicolor was examined. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values against various bacteria ranged from 0.625 to 20 mg mL-1. C. versicolor expressed bactericidal activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The growth curves of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, measured at 630 nm, and confirmed with macrodilution method showed that the obtained extract could inhibit the growth of tested bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the loss of 260-nm-absorbing material were used to examine the ultrastructural changes in bacteria induced by the extract. When S. aureus was exposed to the MIC of C. versicolor, elongated and malformed cells were observed by SEM, while S. Enteritidis treated cells appeared shorter and aggregated with ruptured cell walls. TEM revealed the formation of non-membrane-enclosed bodies and depleted inner content of S. aureus. Larger and irregular periplasmic space and deformed and scattered components of the cell envelope were observed in treated S. Enteritidis. The loss of 260-nm-absorbing material indicated that the disruptive action of the extract on cytoplasmic membrane was more pronounced in S. aureus than in S. Enteritidis treated cells. The UV and FTIR spectrophotometric analyses revealed diverse composition of C. versicolor extract and high content of total phenolics. Altogether, mushroom extracts could be used to develop nutraceuticals or drugs effective against pathogenic microorganisms.
SIRT Is Required for EDP-Mediated Protective Responses toward Hypoxia–Reoxygenation Injury in Cardiac Cells

Hypoxia–reoxygenation (H/R) injury is known to cause extensive injury to cardiac myocardium promoting development of cardiac dysfunction. Despite the vast number of studies dedicated to studying H/R injury, the molecular mechanisms behind it are multiple, complex, and remain very poorly understood, which makes development of novel pharmacological agents challenging. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n3) is an n - 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid obtained from dietary sources, which produces numerous effects including regulation of cell survival and death mechanisms. The beneficial effects of DHA toward the cardiovascular system are well documented but the relative role of DHA or one of its more potent metabolites is unresolved. Emerging evidence indicates that cytochrome P450 (CYP) epoxygenase metabolites of DHA, epoxydocosapentaenoic acids (EDPs), have more potent biological activity than DHA in cardiac cells. In this study we examined whether EDPs protect HL-1 cardiac cells from H/R injury. Our observations demonstrate that treatment with 19,20-EDP protected HL-1 cardiac cells from H/R damage through a mechanism(s) protecting and enhancing mitochondrial quality. EDP treatment increased the relative rates of mitobiogenesis and mitochondrial respiration in control and H/R exposed cardiac cells. The observed EDP protective response toward H/R injury involved SIRT1-dependent pathways.
Layered OFDMA Radio Access for IMT-Advanced

This paper proposes layered orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) radio access for LTE (long-term evolution)-advanced to achieve higher-level system requirements than those in Release 8 LTE called Evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access (UTRA) and UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN). Layered OFDMA comprises layered transmission bandwidth assignment according to the required data rate, a layered control signaling structure, and support for layered environments in which an adaptive multi-access scheme with hybrid single-carrier and multicarrier based radio access is applied. layered OFDMA radio access will support all functionalities provided in Release 8 LTE and its enhancement. Key radio access techniques such as fast inter-cell radio resource management that take advantage of remote radio equipment (RRE) aiming at inter-cell orthogonality, multi-antenna transmissions with more antennas, and coverage enhancing techniques are used to achieve a high level of capacity and cell-edge spectrum efficiency.
High prevalence and presumptive treatment of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis among African refugees.

BACKGROUND Schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis cause substantial morbidity and mortality among hundreds of millions of infected persons worldwide. In the United States, these infections are most commonly found among international travelers, immigrants, and refugees from areas of endemicity. Refugees resettled to the United States since 2000 include >3800 "Lost Boys and Girls" of Sudan and 8000 Somali Bantu. Many Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan reported chronic abdominal pain only since arrival, and some received diagnoses of schistosomiasis or strongyloidiasis. We assessed seroprevalence of these infections among these refugees and hypothesized an association between infection and abdominal pain. METHODS We offered a survey assessing chronic abdominal pain and serologic testing for schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis to all 800 attendees of a Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan reunion in the United States. Serologic testing was performed on preimmigration specimens obtained from 100 United States-bound Somali Bantu refugees. RESULTS Of the 462 Sudanese refugees (58%) tested, 44% and 46% were seropositive for schistosomiasis (primarily due to Schistosoma mansoni) and strongyloidiasis, respectively; 24% of those who tested positive for schistosomiasis had S. mansoni antigenemia. Forty-six percent reported chronic abdominal pain, which was not associated with either infection. Among 100 Somali Bantu, 73% and 23% tested seropositive for schistosomiasis (primarily due to Schistosoma haematobium) and strongyloidiasis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The high seroprevalence of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis among Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls and Somali Bantu refugees supports presumptive treatment for these refugees. Current refugee resettlement policies inadequately address these diseases; our data support consideration of predeparture presumptive therapy for all refugees from areas of endemicity.
Bare plural nominals in Romanian and French

In this paper we investigate Bare Plurals (BPs; NPPL) in English and Romanian and Bare Plural Partitives (BParts; i.e. des NPPL) in French. Romanian BPs and French BParts only share with English BPs the existential interpretation with obligatory narrow scope. We propose that this reading shared by all three comes from the same pieces: a non-kind-selecting predicate, a kind-denoting argument, and a special combination operation ‘Derived Kind Predication’ (DKP) glueing the two together by providing local existential quantification over instances of the kind. French BParts only have this reading because the partitive de spells out DKP. The kind and generic patterns for English, French, and Romanian fall out once we consider what happens when we remove DKP from this structure.
The need for integrating behavioral care in a college health center.

OBJECTIVE A trend toward the integrated care model is evident in community primary medical care settings, where behavioral services are provided alongside medical services. The present study explored the potential need for implementing an integrated care model at a Midwest University Health Center by investigating whether the use of two behavioral questionnaires influenced providers' prescription of psychotropic medications and referrals for behavioral intervention. DESIGN Participants were randomly assigned to condition. The 109 participants in the experimental condition completed two behavioral questionnaires and the 91 control participants received treatment as usual. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The behavioral questionnaires were the mental health-oriented Patient Health Questionnaire and the college-adjustment-oriented College Health Questionnaire. Postvisit, all participants rated their satisfaction with treatment; providers documented psychotropic medication prescriptions, and behavioral treatment referrals. RESULTS The experimental condition displayed significantly higher rates of discussion of behavioral problems and prescription of psychotropic medications but not referrals for behavioral treatment. Patients in the experimental condition and all providers indicated a desire to use the questionnaires in future visits. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that increased awareness of behavioral problems influences treatment-decision making at a university health service, and therefore this setting would be fertile ground for implementation of an integrated care model.
Comparative whole genome transcriptome analysis of three Plasmodium falciparum strains

Gene expression patterns have been demonstrated to be highly variable between similar cell types, for example lab strains and wild strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultured under identical growth conditions exhibit a wide range of expression differences. We have used a genome-wide approach to characterize transcriptional differences between strains of Plasmodium falciparum by characterizing the transcriptome of the 48 h intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC) for two strains, 3D7 and Dd2 and compared these results to our prior work using the HB3 strain. These three strains originate from geographically diverse locations and possess distinct drug sensitivity phenotypes. Our goal was to identify transcriptional differences related to phenotypic properties of these strains including immune evasion and drug sensitivity. We find that the highly streamlined transcriptome is remarkably well conserved among all three strains, and differences in gene expression occur mainly in genes coding for surface antigens involved in parasite–host interactions. Our analysis also detects several transcripts that are unique to individual strains as well as identifying large chromosomal deletions and highly polymorphic regions across strains. The majority of these genes are uncharacterized and have no homology to other species. These tractable transcriptional differences provide important phenotypes for these otherwise highly related strains of Plasmodium.
CIPRO 2.5: Ciona intestinalis protein database, a unique integrated repository of large-scale omics data, bioinformatic analyses and curated annotation, with user rating and reviewing functionality

The Ciona intestinalis protein database (CIPRO) is an integrated protein database for the tunicate species C. intestinalis. The database is unique in two respects: first, because of its phylogenetic position, Ciona is suitable model for understanding vertebrate evolution; and second, the database includes original large-scale transcriptomic and proteomic data. Ciona intestinalis has also been a favorite of developmental biologists. Therefore, large amounts of data exist on its development and morphology, along with a recent genome sequence and gene expression data. The CIPRO database is aimed at collecting those published data as well as providing unique information from unpublished experimental data, such as 3D expression profiling, 2D-PAGE and mass spectrometry-based large-scale analyses at various developmental stages, curated annotation data and various bioinformatic data, to facilitate research in diverse areas, including developmental, comparative and evolutionary biology. For medical and evolutionary research, homologs in humans and major model organisms are intentionally included. The current database is based on a recently developed KH model containing 36 034 unique sequences, but for higher usability it covers 89 683 all known and predicted proteins from all gene models for this species. Of these sequences, more than 10 000 proteins have been manually annotated. Furthermore, to establish a community-supported protein database, these annotations are open to evaluation by users through the CIPRO website. CIPRO 2.5 is freely accessible at http://cipro.ibio. jp/2.5.
Real-time Localization in Outdoor Environments using Stereo Vision and Inexpensive GPS

We describe a real-time, low-cost system to localize a mobile robot in outdoor environments. Our system relies on stereo vision to robustly estimate frame-to-frame motion in real time (also known as visual odometry). The motion estimation problem is formulated efficiently in the disparity space and results in accurate and robust estimates of the motion even for a small-baseline configuration. Our system uses inertial measurements to fill in motion estimates when visual odometry fails. This incremental motion is then fused with a low-cost GPS sensor using a Kalman filter to prevent long-term drifts. Experimental results are presented for outdoor localization in moderately sized environments (ges100 meters)
Histopathological and biochemical changes in lung tissues of rats following administration of fluoride over several generations

The possible effects of multigenerational administration of sodium ﬂuoride (NaF) via drinking water on lung tissue morphology and biochemistry and body and lung weight were investigated in second‐generation adult male rats. For this purpose we selected 45 Albino adult Wistar rats in nine cages, each of which consisted of four females and one male. Twenty‐eight pregnant rats were selected for the experiment, divided into four groups of seven rats given 1 (control group), 10, 50 and 100 mg l−1 NaF in drinking water during the gestation period. After gestation the rats had 165 pups in total. The mothers received ﬂuoridated water during the lactation period and the offspring of the ﬁrst generation had access to ﬂuoridated water during the suckling period (21 days) and after the weaning period (30 days) until they became mature and at the start of the second part of the experiment. During this time 23 pups died and 79 female and 63 male ﬁrst‐generation rats survived. These ﬁrst‐generation rats were then used to obtain the second‐generation offspring in the same manner as before, which were subjected to the same treatments. At the end of 6 months the rats were sacriﬁced and autopsied. Serum ﬂuoride levels and the activities of principal antioxidant enzymes were determined in lung tissue samples taken from all groups. In addition, the lung tissues were submitted for histopathological examination.
UPPER BOUNDS AND DOUBLE BRUHAT CELLS

We develop a new approach to cluster algebras based on the notion of an upper cluster algebra, defined as an intersection of Laurent polynomial rings. Strengthening the Laurent phenomenon established in [6], we show that, under an assumption of “acyclicity”, a cluster algebra coincides with its “upper” counterpart, and is finitely generated; in this case, we also describe its defining ideal, and construct a standard monomial basis. We prove that the coordinate ring of any double Bruhat cell in a semisimple complex Lie group is naturally isomorphic to an upper cluster algebra explicitly defined in terms of relevant combinatorial data.
Clinical and patient-centered outcomes after minimally invasive non-surgical or surgical approaches for the treatment of intrabony defects: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND The present study aims to compare the performance of minimally invasive non-surgical and surgical approaches for the therapy of intrabony defects. METHODS Twenty-nine patients who presented with intrabony defects were randomly assigned to: 1) a minimally invasive non-surgical technique (MINST) group, or 2) minimally invasive surgical technique (MIST) group. The chair time of each therapeutic procedure was calculated. The probing depth (PD), position of the gingival margin (PGM) and relative clinical attachment level (RCAL) were evaluated at 3 and 6 months after treatments. The patient perception of discomfort/pain experienced during and after therapy and patient satisfaction regarding treatments were also evaluated. RESULTS Significant PD reductions, RCAL gains, and no changes in the PGM were obtained at 3 and 6 months in MINST and MIST groups (P <0.05). No differences were observed between groups at any time points (P >0.05). Patient-oriented outcomes did not demonstrate differences between therapeutic approaches (P >0.05). Significant higher chair times were required in the MIST group than in the MINST group (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS Minimally invasive non-surgical and surgical approaches were successfully used for the treatment of intrabony defects and achieved periodontal health in association with negligible morbidity and suitable patient satisfaction. However, non-surgical therapeutic modality presented an advantage in terms of a reduction of treatment chair time.
Asymptotic stability of positive 2D linear systems with delays

Abstract. New necessary and sufficient conditions for the asymptotic stability of positive 2D linear systems with delays described by the general model, Fornasini-Marchesini models and Roesser model are established. It is shown that checking of the asymptotic stability of positive 2D linear systems with delays can be reduced to the checking of the asymptotic stability of corresponding positive 1D linear systems without delays. The efficiency of the new criterions is demonstrated on numerical examples.
ABO blood-groups in trophoblastic neoplasia.

Abstract A review of blood-group data in 260 cases revealed that the risk of choriocarcinoma developing after any form of pregnancy is critically related to the ABO groups of both the woman and her husband. Women of group A married to males of group O seem to have the highest risk, whereas women of group A married to males of group A have the lowest: the relative risk of these two groups was found to be 10.4/1. The spontaneous regression of trophoblast after evacuation of hydatidiform mole happened most commonly in women mated to males of their own ABO phenotype. Group-AB patients tend to have rapidly progressive tumours which do not respond well to chemotherapy. The data indicate that genetic factors strongly affect the development of choriocarcinoma. These effects are possibly mediated immunologically, but the observations do not appear to conform with current concepts of tumour/host and materno/fetal interaction.
Low Mach number limit for viscous compressible flows

In this survey paper, we are concerned with the zero Mach number limit for compressible viscous flows. For the sake of (mathematical) simplicity, we restrict ourselves to the case of barotropic fluids and we assume that the flow evolves in the whole space or satisfies periodic boundary conditions. We focus on the case of ill-prepared data . Hence highly oscillating acoustic waves are likely to propagate through the fluid. We nevertheless state the convergence to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations when the Mach number ϵ goes to 0 . Besides, it is shown that the global existence for the limit equations entails the global existence for the compressible model with small ϵ . The reader is referred to [R. Danchin, Ann. Sci. Ec. Norm. Sup. (2002)] for the detailed proof in the whole space case, and to [R. Danchin, Am. J. Math. 124 (2002) 1153–1219] for the case of periodic boundary conditions.
The association between static pelvic asymmetry and low back pain.

STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional case-control approach was used to estimate the association between low back pain of less than 12 months' duration and pelvic asymmetry among 21-50-year-old patients seeking physical therapy services. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the premise that asymmetrical positioning of the innominates of the pelvis is a source of low back pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA No published studies have been conducted to evaluate systematically the association between low back pain and pelvic asymmetry in a clinic-based sample. METHODS Pelvic landmark data were obtained in 144 cases and 138 control subjects. The associations of low back pain with levels of pelvic asymmetry were estimated by use of odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Effect modification and confounding of the low back pain-pelvic asymmetry association by several factors was assessed and alternative asymmetry measures considered. RESULTS Pelvic asymmetry was not positively associated with low back pain in any way that seemed clinically meaningful. Asymmetry of posterior superior iliac spine landmarks showed some evidence of a weak positive association with low back pain. CONCLUSIONS In the absence of meaningful positive association between pelvic asymmetry and low back pain, evaluation and treatment strategies based on this premise should be questioned.
Expression and Activity of Nitric Oxide Synthase Isoforms in Methamphetamine-Induced Striatal Dopamine Toxicity

Nitric oxide is implicated in methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity; however, the source of the nitric oxide has not been identified. Previous work has also revealed that animals with partial dopamine loss induced by a neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine fail to exhibit further decreases in striatal dopamine when re-exposed to methamphetamine 7–30 days later. The current study examined nitric oxide synthase expression and activity and protein nitration in striata of animals administered saline or neurotoxic regimens of methamphetamine at postnatal days 60 and/or 90, resulting in four treatment groups: Saline:Saline, METH:Saline, Saline:METH, and METH:METH. Acute administration of methamphetamine on postnatal day 90 (Saline:METH and METH:METH) increased nitric oxide production, as evidenced by increased protein nitration. Methamphetamine did not, however, change the expression of endothelial or inducible isoforms of nitric oxide synthase, nor did it change the number of cells positive for neuronal nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression or the amount of neuronal nitric oxide synthase mRNA per cell. However, nitric oxide synthase activity in striatal interneurons was increased in the Saline:METH and METH:METH animals. These data suggest that increased nitric oxide production after a neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine results from increased nitric oxide synthase activity, rather than an induction of mRNA, and that constitutively expressed neuronal nitric oxide synthase is the most likely source of nitric oxide after methamphetamine administration. Of interest, animals rendered resistant to further methamphetamine-induced dopamine depletions still show equivalent degrees of methamphetamine-induced nitric oxide production, suggesting that nitric oxide production alone in response to methamphetamine is not sufficient to induce acute neurotoxic injury.
Electrically Stimulated Glottal Opening Combined with Adductor Muscle Botox Blockade Restores Both Ventilation and Voice in a Patient with Bilateral Laryngeal Paralysis

The purpose of this study was to determine whether paced electrical stimulation of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle with an implantable device could restore ventilation in a patient with bilateral vocal fold paralysis without disturbing voice. In the first US case of a multi-institutional study, this patient was implanted with an Itrel II stimulator (Medtronic, Inc). In monthly postoperative sessions over an 18-month period, an effective stimulus paradigm was derived, the magnitude of stimulated vocal fold abduction and ventilation was measured, and perceptual judgments of voice quality were made. After identification of optimum parameters, posterior cricoarytenoid muscle stimulation produced a moderately large vocal fold abduction of 4 mm, but only marginal improvement in mouth ventilation, with no change in voice quality. After adductor muscle blockade with botulinum toxin, the patient's voice improved with increased phonatory airflow, but ventilation through the passive airway was still inadequate. However, by combining these Two therapeutic strategies, dynamic abduction increased to 7 mm, ventilation through the mouth surpassed that through the tracheotomy (allowing decannulation), and voice quality was restored to normal.