Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Siderophore-Mediated Iron Sequestering by Shewanella putrefaciens

The iron-sequestering abilities of 51 strains of Shewanella putrefaciens isolated from different sources (fish, water, and warm-blooded animals) were assessed. Thirty strains (60%) produced siderophores in heat-sterilized fish juice as determined by the chrome-azurol-S assay. All cultures were negative for the catechol-type siderophore, whereas 24 of the 30 siderophore-producing strains tested positive in the Csáky test, indicating the production of siderophores of the hydroxamate type. Siderophore-producing S. putrefaciens could to some degree cross-feed on the siderophores of other S. putrefaciens strains and on compounds produced by an Aeromonas salmonicida strain under iron-limited conditions. The siderophores of S. putrefaciens were not sufficiently strong to inhibit growth of other bacteria under iron-restricted conditions. However, siderophore-producing Pseudomonas bacteria were always inhibitory to S. putrefaciens under iron-limited conditions. Growth of siderophore-producing strains under iron-limited conditions induced the formation of one major new outer membrane protein of approximately 72 kDa. Two outer membrane proteins of approximately 53 and 23 kDa were not seen when iron was restricted.
Activation of AMP-activated Protein Kinase Inhibits Protein Synthesis Associated with Hypertrophy in the Cardiac Myocyte*

A necessary mediator of cardiac myocyte enlargement is protein synthesis, which is controlled at the levels of both translation initiation and elongation. Eukaryotic elongation factor-2 (eEF2) mediates the translocation step of peptide-chain elongation and is inhibited through phosphorylation by eEF2 kinase. In addition, p70S6 kinase can regulate protein synthesis by phosphorylating eEF2 kinase or via phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6. We have recently shown that eEF2 kinase is also controlled by phosphorylation by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key regulator of cellular energy homeostasis. Moreover, the mammalian target of rapamycin has also been shown to be inhibited, indirectly, by AMPK, thus leading to the inhibition of p70S6 kinase. Although AMPK activation has been shown to modulate protein synthesis, it is unknown whether AMPK could also be a regulator of cardiac hypertrophic growth. Therefore, we investigated the role of AMPK activation in regulating protein synthesis during both phenylephrine- and Akt-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Metformin and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide 1-β-d-ribofuranoside were used to activate AMPK in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. Activation of AMPK significantly decreased protein synthesis induced by phenylephrine treatment or by expression of constitutively active Akt. Activation of AMPK also resulted in decreased p70S6 kinase phosphorylation and increased phosphorylation of eEF2, suggesting that inhibition of protein synthesis involves the eEF2 kinase/eEF2 axis and/or the p70S6 kinase pathway. Together, our data suggest that the inhibition of protein synthesis by pharmacological activation of AMPK may be a key regulatory mechanism by which hypertrophic growth can be controlled.
Trends in Agro-Meteorological Parameters as Groundwater Exploitation Indicators

Rainfall being a major component of the hydrologic cycle, influences the agricultural practices in an area. Thus, trends in rainfall as well as rainy days are of major concern to farmers. Present study focusses on understanding the rainfall trends and its spatial distribution along with the trends in vegetation. An approach where Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) procured from MODIS NDVI as an indicator for vegetation was used in this study. Mann Kendall trend test was performed on a 0.25-degree gridded data and the trends were then compared with the distribution of groundwater stress map of the study area. The study tries to examine the coupled use of NDVI and rainfall trends to decrypt the groundwater exploitation in the region. Further Ghataprabha river basin being susceptible to drought by hosting most of the significantly decreasing trend was investigated further. The propagation of severe drought return periods within the basin resembles the agro-meteorological trends. Even within the limitations of the present study, the methodology with further modifications promises to portray strong indication of groundwater exploitation.
Depression and anxiety symptoms moderate the relation between negative reinforcement smoking outcome expectancies and nicotine dependence.

OBJECTIVE Smoking reinforcement expectancies-expectations that smoking modulates mood-can be powerful motivators to smoke, resulting in increased nicotine dependence. The impact of smoking reinforcement expectancies on nicotine dependence may be particularly strong in individuals with increased mood or anxiety symptoms because they may be more likely to act on expectancies with smoking behavior in order to offset their affective symptoms. This study examined levels of emotional symptom dimensions as moderators of the relation between positive and negative smoking reinforcement expectancies and nicotine dependence severity in a community sample. METHOD In a cross-sectional design, 317 daily cigarette smokers (215 men) completed self-report measures of smoking reinforcement expectancies, mood and anxiety symptoms, and nicotine dependence. RESULTS Increasing levels of negative affect and anxiety symptoms strengthened associations between negative reinforcement smoking expectancies and nicotine dependence severity (moderation effects; (βs > .13; ps < .03) but did not moderate relations between positive reinforcement expectancies and dependence. Anhedonia did not moderate relations involving either positive or negative reinforcement smoking expectancies. CONCLUSIONS Distinct components of anxiety and depressive symptoms interact differently with smoking reinforcement expectancies. Emotional symptoms characterized by excesses in aversive (but not deficits in appetitive) functioning may amplify tendencies to compulsively act on negative reinforcement expectancies by smoking. Cessation treatments that target negative reinforcement expectancies may be particularly salient for emotionally distressed smokers.
Nondeterministic soliton automata with a single external vertex

Soliton automata are the mathematical models of certain possible molecular switching devices called soliton circuits. Both from theoretical and practical point of view, it is a central question to describe soliton automata with a single external vertex. Extending a result of Dassow and Jurgensen, we characterize nondeterministic automata in this special case.
Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease Pathology by Cannabinoids: Neuroprotection Mediated by Blockade of Microglial Activation

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by enhanced β-amyloid peptide (βA) deposition along with glial activation in senile plaques, selective neuronal loss, and cognitive deficits. Cannabinoids are neuroprotective agents against excitotoxicity in vitro and acute brain damage in vivo. This background prompted us to study the localization, expression, and function of cannabinoid receptors in AD and the possible protective role of cannabinoids after βA treatment, both in vivo and in vitro. Here, we show that senile plaques in AD patients express cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, together with markers of microglial activation, and that CB1-positive neurons, present in high numbers in control cases, are greatly reduced in areas of microglial activation. In pharmacological experiments, we found that G-protein coupling and CB1 receptor protein expression are markedly decreased in AD brains. Additionally, in AD brains, protein nitration is increased, and, more specifically, CB1 and CB2 proteins show enhanced nitration. Intracerebroventricular administration of the synthetic cannabinoid WIN55,212-2 to rats prevent βA-induced microglial activation, cognitive impairment, and loss of neuronal markers. Cannabinoids (HU-210, WIN55,212-2, and JWH-133) block βA-induced activation of cultured microglial cells, as judged by mitochondrial activity, cell morphology, and tumor necrosis factor-α release; these effects are independent of the antioxidant action of cannabinoid compounds and are also exerted by a CB2-selective agonist. Moreover, cannabinoids abrogate microglia-mediated neurotoxicity after βA addition to rat cortical cocultures. Our results indicate that cannabinoid receptors are important in the pathology of AD and that cannabinoids succeed in preventing the neurodegenerative process occurring in the disease.
The Phonetic and Phonological Effects of Moribundity

Structural change in a language are considered nearly inevitable consequences of language death (Campbell and Muntzel 1989; Wolfram 2002). The literature on sound change in endangered languages has focused on whether the changes are internally or externally motivated, and, therefore, the difference between categorical sound shifts and gradient phonetic effects has been overlooked (cf. Campbell and Muntzel 1989; Woolard 1989; Dorian 1993). In addition, this research has been largely impressionistic in nature, leaving subtle variation that is beyond the scope of narrow transcription out of the discussion (Schmidt 1985; Goodfellow 2005) This paper discusses sound change in Mono Lake Northern Paiute – an American Indian language spoken in California – through two instrumental experiments that investigate the difference between categorical changes in the phonological inventory and subphonemic variation within a category. The first experiment examines the maintenance of a three-way oral stop contrast in laryngeal setting across three generations of speakers. The results suggest that while the youngest generation of speakers generally patterns like the elder generations, there is an increase in the amount of variability in consonant production. Static palatography was employed for the second experiment to investigate a shift in place of articulation for the sibilant across two generations of speakers. The findings illustrate that the traditional palatalized retroflexed sibilant has been replaced by a fricative identical to American English /s/, causing interesting changes to a phonetically motivated allophonic pattern in the traditional form of the language. After considering the sound changes described in languages experiencing attrition, this paper concludes by arguing that sound change in obsolescing languages takes one of two predictable paths: approximation or transfer (terms originally applied to patterns of vowel mergers in Trudgill and Foxcroft (1978). Approximation, a type of change being experienced by the sounds examined in the first experiment, involves the expansion of phonological categories within the moribund language. Transfer, a type of substitution (e.g. Weinreich 1953; Thomason and Kaufman 1988), is exemplified by the second experiment where a dominant language phoneme replaces a similar sound in the obsolescing language. These types of changes, at least in their current state in Mono Lake Northern Paiute, do not cause neutralizations in the phonological system. This contradicts claims made by Andersen (1982), who argues that ultimate speakers of moribund languages fail to make phonological distinctions in the endangered language that are not supported by identical distinctions in the dominant language.
Potent Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Neutralizing and Complement Lysis Activities of Antibodies Are Not Obligatorily Linked

ABSTRACT To evaluate the contribution of complement-mediated lysis to the in vivo activities of neutralizing antibodies, we analyzed the influence of complement activation on treatment success in a recent passive immunization trial with the neutralizing monoclonal antibodies 2G12, 2F5, and 4E10. Administration of monoclonal antibodies led to an immediate, high activation of the complement system even in the absence of viremia in the 14 participating human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals. Lysis activity measured in patient plasma increased during passive immunization; however, the increases were modest and only partially attributable to the administration of antibodies. We found that unlike neutralization activity, lysis activity was not associated with treatment success in this trial. Compared to complement lysis mounted by the polyclonal antibody response in vivo, monoclonal antibodies were weak inducers of this activity, suggesting that polyclonal responses are more effective in reaching the required threshold of complement activation. Importantly, strong neutralization activity of the monoclonal antibodies did not predict complement lysis activity against patient and reference viruses, suggesting that these activities are not linked. In summary, our data support the notion that the in vivo activities of 2G12, 2F5, and 4E10 are likely due to direct neutralization or Fc receptor-mediated mechanisms such as phagocytosis and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.
Clinical outcome of 802 immediately loaded 2-stage submerged implants with a new grit-blasted and acid-etched surface: 12-month follow-up.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of delayed or immediately loaded implants of 3 different implant macrodesigns. The hypothesis was that no significant differences in implant success would be observed between immediately and delayed loaded implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between July 2003 and December 2003, 321 patients were consecutively enrolled for this study. Immediate loading was performed in cases where the implant stability quotient (ISQ) values were > 60 (as determined by resonance frequency analysis) and implant insertion torque was > 25 Ncm. In the case of delayed loading, a submerged technique (2-stage) or a single-stage procedure was used. The following variables were statistically analyzed with logistic regression: implant length, implant diameter, implant type, implant site, insertion torque, ISQ, and type of loading (immediate or delayed). RESULTS Eight hundred two implants were placed. Immediate loading was chosen for 423 implants and delayed loading for 379 implants. All implants were followed up for a minimum of 12 months after prosthetic loading. Only 3 implants were lost, with an overall success rate of 99.6%. No statistically significant differences were found for any variables between the failures in the 2 groups (immediate loading protocol versus delayed loading). Implants with a crestal bone loss greater than 0.2 mm during the first year of observation (69 cases) were evaluated as a group; within this subset, only ISQ value (P < .004), implant length (P < .002), and implant type (P < .049) had a statistically significant effect on crestal bone resorption. CONCLUSIONS Based upon this study of 802 implants, no significant differences in implant success were observed between the 2 groups.
A Survey on Quantum Channel Capacities

Quantum information processing exploits the quantum nature of information. It offers fundamentally new solutions in the field of computer science and extends the possibilities to a level that cannot be imagined in classical communication systems. For quantum communication channels, many new capacity definitions were developed in comparison to classical counterparts. A quantum channel can be used to realize classical information transmission or to deliver quantum information, such as quantum entanglement. Here we review the properties of the quantum communication channel, the various capacity measures and the fundamental differences between the classical and quantum channels.
Effect of Calcium Concentration on the Transmembrane Potentials of Purkinje Fibers

The effects of variation in calcium concentration on the action potential of Purkinje fibers isolated from the dog heart were studied. Action potentials recorded during perfusion with Tyrode solution containing 2.7 mM calcium chloride were compared with those recorded during subsequent perfusion with solutions containing 0.675 (1/4X), 1.35 (1/2X), 5.4 (2X), or 10.8 (4X) mM calcium chloride. In both 1/2X and 1/4X solutions, the time required to repolarize to minus 60 mv and the duration of the action potential were increased. There were significant decreases in the slopes of phases 2 and 3 and the terminal phase of repolarization, while the slope of phase 1 increased. In 2X or 4X solutions, repolarization was speeded mainly by an earlier onset of phase 3. As a result the time to repolarize to minus 60 mv and the duration of the action potential were decreased significantly. The slope of phase 1 decreased significantly in 4X solution. In both high calcium solutions the rate and magnitude of diastolic depolarization increased. It was shown that the rate of the calcium-enhanced diastolic depolarization was dependent on the stimulus rate. The possible role of these changes in transmembrane potential in causing the ventricular arrhythmias following CaCl2 infusion in intact animals is discussed.
In vitro induction and selection of fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants of Streptococcus pyogenes strains with multiple emm types.

OBJECTIVES To perform a systematic analysis of point mutations in the quinolone resistance determining regions (QRDRs) of the DNA gyrase and topoisomerase genes of emm type 6 and other emm types of Streptococcus pyogenes strains after in vitro exposure to stepwise increasing concentrations of levofloxacin. METHODS Twelve parent strains of S. pyogenes, each with a different emm type, were chosen for stepwise exposure to increasing levels of levofloxacin followed by selection of resistant mutants. The QRDRs of gyrA, gyrB, parC and parE correlating to mutants with increased MICs were analysed for point mutations. RESULTS Multiple mutants with significantly increased MICs were generated from each strain. The amino acid substitutions identified were consistent regardless of emm type and were similar to the mechanisms of resistance reported in clinical isolates of S. pyogenes. The number of induction/selection cycles required for the emergence of key point mutations in gyrA and parC was variable among strains. For each parent-mutant set, when MIC increased, serine-81 of gyrA and serine-79 of parC were the primary targets for amino acid substitutions. No point mutations were found in the QRDRs of gyrB and parE in any of the resistant mutants sequenced. CONCLUSIONS Despite its intrinsic polymorphism in the QRDR of parC, emm type 6 is not more likely to develop high-level resistance to fluoroquinolones when compared with other emm types. All emm types seem equally inducible to high-level fluoroquinolone resistance.
Association between Annular Tears and Disk Degeneration: A Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Annular tears and nuclear degeneration often occur concurrently, but their temporal association remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess whether annular tears precede nuclear degeneration and whether the evolution of nuclear degeneration is affected by presence of annular tears. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From our radiology report data base, 46 patients with back pain were identified, each with 2 previously obtained lumbar spine MR imaging examinations in the absence of any spinal intervention. Two neuroradiologists evaluated intervertebral disks between the T12 and S1 segments in a random blinded fashion. Hyperintense foci within the anulus were noted to diagnose annular tears. The signal intensity of disks was graded on an ordinal scale, and overall degeneration, on the scale of Pfirrmann et al. Mean signal-intensity and degeneration grades were calculated for disks with and without annular tears, and differences were tested for statistical significance. Mean changes in these grades on follow-up studies were also calculated and compared for 2 groups. RESULTS: The study included 13 men and 33 women, with a mean age of 53.6 ± 15.2 years (range, 20–88 years). The mean interval between the imaging studies was 31.8 months. Annular tears were seen in 203 of 276 (73.5%) disks. Twenty-one of these had normal central signal intensity. Compared with disks without annular tears, disks with annular tears demonstrated significantly higher degeneration grades and a higher change in these grades on follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Annular tears occur in the early stages of disk degeneration and are associated with a faster subsequent nuclear degeneration.
Voting under Constraints

Abstract We consider a broad class of situations where a society must choose from a finite set of alternatives. This class includes, as polar cases, those where the preferences of agents are completely unrestricted and those where their preferences are single-peaked. We prove that strategy-proof mechanisms in all these domains must be based on a generalization of the median voter principle. Moreover, they must satisfy a property, to be called the “intersection property,” which becomes increasingly stringent as the preference domain is enlarged. In most applications, our results precipitate impossibility theorems. In particular, they imply the Gibbard–Satterthwaite theorem as a corollary. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: D71.
A potential tool for the diagnosis of ALS based on diffusion tensor imaging

Abstract Our objective was to quantify and better understand white matter (WM) impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to propose a model based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for diagnosing patients with suspected ALS with upper motor neuron (UMN) signs. Twenty-six ALS patients (24 with prominent UMN signs and two with an isolated lower-motor neuron (LMN) syndrome) and 22 healthy volunteers were examined using DTI. Data analysis included voxel-based WM tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), volume-of-interest analysis of the TBSS results and stream-line tractography analysis. Converging evidence revealed WM impairment along the corticospinal tracts and in the mid-body of the corpus callosum. This was demonstrated by reduced fractional anisotropy values caused by increased radial diffusivity, without significant changes in axial diffusivity. There were no significant correlations between diffusivity indices and patients’ disability or disease duration. A discriminant analysis model based on the tractography results was designed to distinguish between patients with UMN signs and controls, yielding 87.5% sensitivity and 85% specificity. In conclusion, DTI can detect WM impairment in patients with ALS in several brain regions, and might be a sensitive tool for the diagnosis of ALS in the early stages of the disease with UMN involvement.
P57 and cyclin G1 express differentially in proliferative phase endometrium and early pregnancy decidua.

OBJECTIVE To compare the expression of P57 and Cyclin G1 in proliferation endometrium and early pregnancy decidua. METHODS Human endometrial samples were acquired from normal menstrual cycle women undergoing laparoscopy or hysterectomy for fallopian tubes problems. Decidua were acquired from women in early pregnancy who underwent artificial abortion without any endometrial problems. Twelve were in proliferative phase and 13 were deciduas. P57 and Cyclin G1 mRNA and protein were measured by real-time PCR and Western blot. RESULTS The expression of P57 mRNA and protein were lower in proliferation phase compared with the early pregnancy decidua. Cyclin G1 mRNA and protein expression were slightly higher in decidua than proliferation endometrium but it had no significant difference. CONCLUSION P57 and Cyclin G1 may play an important role in the endometrial change during the embryo implantation.