Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kinetics of Manganese Oxidation by Cell-Free Extracts of Bacteria Isolated from Manganese Concretions from Soil

A study of the kinetics of Mn2+ oxidation catalyzed by cell extracts of two bacterial isolates (E1, Pseudomonas III [new isolate] and E4, Citrobacter freundii) isolated from the core of manganese concretions from Greek soils is presented. The reaction velocity of Mn2+ oxidation was determined from the rate of consumption of Mn2+. The oxidation of Mn2+ was followed by measuring changes in Mn2+ concentration by activation analysis and by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The reaction velocity was directly proportional to cell extract concentration when the reaction time was 1 h. At longer reaction times, the relationship deviated from linearity because substrate concentration became limiting. The rate of Mn2+ oxidation increased with the Mn2+ concentration. Analysis of the results by application of the integrated Michaelis equation for determining Michaelis constants and maximal velocities either in the presence (Km = 3.33 μmol/ml and Vmax = 1.25 μmol/ml·h) or in the absence of maleate buffer (Km = 2.52 μmol/ml and Vmax = 2.04 μmol/ml·h) indicated a strong affinity between the oxidizing system and manganese. All results in this study are consistent with an enzymatic manganese-oxidizing system and give an indication of the mechanism of biological Mn2+ oxidation in soil which differs from that in the marine environment.
Morphine via nitric oxide modulates beta-amyloid metabolism: a novel protective mechanism for Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND The deposition of intracellular and extracellular beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) in the brain is a pathologic feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. However, the exact role of the Abeta peptide in causing AD's symptoms is unclear. MATERIAL/METHODS CRL-2266 SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells (ATCC, USA) and HTB-11 human neuroblastoma cells (ATCC, USA) were cultured. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to analyze the effects of beta25-35, morphine, and SNAP treatments upon BACE-1 and BACE-2 mRNA expression semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The production of NO in SH-SY5Y cells was detected using the Apollo 4000 Free Radical Analyzer (World Precision Instruments). RESULTS Untreated HTB-11 neuroblastoma cells constitutively express BACE-1 and BACE-2 mRNA. Morphine down regulates the expression of BACE-1 and up regulates the expression of BACE-2 in a naloxone antagonizable manner. When HTB-11 cells were treated with L-NAME, a cNOS inhibitor; the effects of morphine were blocked. SNAP (a NO donor) mimicked the effect of morphine. In SH-SY5Y cells, Abeta treated cells show a dose-dependent decrease in NO release, demonstrating that Ab is dose-dependently inhibiting the release of constitutive NO. CONCLUSIONS Ab and morphine/NO each inhibit the production of the other. This suggests that a deficiency of basal NO or endogenous morphine may trigger drastically reduced levels of basal NO. The outcome is chronic vasoconstriction and brain hypoperfusion and eventual neuronal death. This novel theorized mechanism for AD supports an increasingly-accepted vascular pathological hypothesis for the disease.
First Order-Rewritability and Containment of Conjunctive Queries in Horn Description Logics

We study FO-rewritability of conjunctive queries in the presence of ontologies formulated in a description logic between EL and Horn-SHIF, along with related query containment problems. Apart from providing characterizations, we establish complexity results ranging from EXPTIME via NEXPTIME to 2EXPTIME, pointing out several interesting effects. In particular, FO-rewriting is more complex for conjunctive queries than for atomic queries when inverse roles are present, but not otherwise.
Psychological outcome and quality of life following liver transplantation: A prospective, national, single‐center study

Liver transplantation is a well‐established treatment for liver failure. Prolongation in survival is accepted, but long‐term effects of liver transplantation on cognitive and psychological outcome are unclear. In the present study, psychological data were prospectively collected for 164 patients who were assessed for liver transplantation. Memory impairment, psychomotor slowing, anxiety, and depression were commonly observed. Severity of liver disease at assessment was significantly associated with slowing of reaction time. Memory impairment distinguished those who were not listed for transplantation because of illness severity. One year posttransplantation, follow‐up data from transplant recipients showed significant improvement in most psychological domains relative to both healthy comparison participants and patients with chronic liver disease who did not undergo transplantation. Immunosuppression (cyclosporine versus tacrolimus) did not have differential effects on quality of life, fatigue, or affective status, although those administered cyclosporine showed greater improvements at 1‐year follow‐up on simple and choice reaction times. Elevated levels of anxiety and neuroticism at pretransplantation assessment were associated with worse psychosocial outcome at 1 year posttransplantation. Severity of liver disease was not related to psychological outcome at 1 year. Good psychological outcome at 1 year was maintained at the 3‐year follow‐up. (Liver Transpl 2003;9:712‐720.)
Evidence for overdensity around zem > 4 quasars from the proximity effect

We study the density field around zem > 4 quasars using high-quality medium spectral resolution Echelle Spectrograph and Imager–Keck spectra ( R∼ 4300 , signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) > 25) of 45 high-redshift quasars selected from a total of 95 spectra. This large sample considerably increases the statistics compared to previous studies. The redshift evolution of the mean photoionization rate and the median optical depth of the intergalactic medium (IGM) are derived statistically from the observed transmitted flux and the pixel optical depth probability distribution function, respectively. This is used to study the so-called proximity effect, that is, the observed decrease of the median optical depth of the IGM in the vicinity of the quasar caused by enhanced photoionization rate due to photons emitted by the quasar. We show that the proximity effect is correlated with the luminosity of the quasars, as expected. By comparing the observed decrease of the median optical depth with the theoretical expectation, we find that the optical depth does not decrease as rapidly as expected when approaching the quasar if the gas in its vicinity is part of the standard IGM. We interpret this effect as revealing gaseous overdensities on scales as large as ∼15 h−1 Mpc. The mean overdensity is of the order of 2 and 5 within, respectively, 10 and 3 h−1 Mpc. If true, this would indicate that high-redshift quasars are located in the centre of overdense regions that could evolve with time into massive clusters of galaxies. The overdensity is correlated with luminosity: brighter quasars show higher overdensities.
Differential Brainstem Fos-Like Immunoreactivity after Laryngeal-Induced Coughing and Its Reduction by Codeine

We used the expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos, a marker of neuronal activation, to localize brainstem neuronal populations functionally related to fictive cough (FC). In decerebrate, paralyzed, and ventilated cats, the level of Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) was examined in five groups of animals: (1) controls, sham-operated unstimulated animals; (2) coughing cats, including both animals in which FC was elicited by unilateral electrical stimulation of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) and (3) those in which FC was elicited by bilateral SLN stimulation; (4) stimulated–treated cats, in which bilateral SLN stimulation was applied after selective blockade of FC by codeine; and (5) codeine controls, sham-operated unstimulated cats subjected to administration of codeine. Fifteen brainstem structures were compared for numbers of labeled cells. Because codeine selectively blocks FC, brainstem nuclei activated specifically during FC were identified as regions showing increased FLI after FC and significant reductions in FLI after FC suppression by codeine in stimulated–treated cats. In coughing animals, we observed a selective immunoreactivity in the interstitial and ventrolateral subdivisions of the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, the medial part of the lateral tegmental field, the internal division of the lateral reticular nucleus, the nucleus retroambiguus, the para-ambigual region, the retrofacial nucleus, and the medial parabrachial nucleus. FLI in all these nuclei was significantly reduced in stimulated–treated cats. Our results are consistent with the involvement of neurons overlapping the main brainstem respiratory-related regions as well as the lateral tegmental field and the lateral reticular nucleus in the neural processing of laryngeal-induced FC.
A Combinational Buffer Management Scheme in Mobile Opportunistic Network

Nodes in Mobile Opportunistic Network (MON) have to cache packets to deal with the intermittent connection. The buffer management strategy obviously impacts the performance of MON, and it attracts more attention recently. Due to the limited storage capacity of nodes, traditional buffer management strategies just drop messages based on the property of message, and they neglect the collaboration between neighbors, resulting in an ineffective performance improvement. Therefore, effective buffer management strategies are necessary to ensure that each node has enough buffer space to store the message when the node buffer is close to congestion. In this paper, we propose a buffer management strategy by integrating the characteristics of messages and nodes, and migrate the redundant messages to the neighbor to optimize the total utility, instead of deleting them. The simulation experiment results show that it can obviously improve the delivery ratio, the overhead ratio and the average delays, and reduce the amount of hops compared with the traditional ones.
Boredom and Organization Studies

Even if people may always have been bored, ‘boredom’ as a phenomenon is not a universal feature of human existence. Rather it is deeply connected to organization as a reaction to the gradual emergence in Western culture of the management and administration of time. As an acquired capacity of those able to tell and endure time in an organized manner, boredom is a perceived loss of meaning inferred by the lived experience of a discrepancy between the involvement with transient means in everyday life and their value in a larger vision of existence. But boredom also signifies a concurrent protest against such a loss, which potentially leads new possibilities with it. In this essay, I explore the connection between boredom and organization, focusing on these two interrelated aspects of the phenomenon: how boredom can be understood as an experience of a loss of meaning, but also how this loss itself can be viewed as an imperative towards meaning that remains the source of new forms of organizing.
Posttransfusion equilibration of hematocrit in hemodynamically stable neonates

Objective: To determine whether hematocrit obtained 15 mins after blood transfusion in hemodynamically stable neonates is significantly different from that obtained after 6 hrs. We hypothesized that the hematocrit stabilizes within the first 15 mins that follow a 3-hr blood transfusion in preterm infants. Design: We prospectively studied 24 consecutive infants who received blood transfusion. Hematocrit was measured immediately before the transfusion and 15 mins and 6 hrs after the transfusion of 10 mL/kg body weight of sedimented red blood cells administered over 3 hrs. Hematocrit was measured by centrifugation of a capillary. Results: There was a significant increase in hematocrit from pretransfusion values both at 15 mins and 6 hrs. The increase in hematocrit from the pretransfusion value was identical (11%) at both 15 mins and 6 hrs. Conclusion: The hematocrit obtained 15 mins after the end of a 3-hr blood transfusion in hemodynamically stable, anemic infants is indistinguishable from that obtained after 6 hrs in the same infants. Thus, if the increase of hematocrit is deemed insufficient at 15 mins after the transfusion, it is possible to complete the transfusion without exposing the patient to an additional donor.
Kinetic study of adenosine concentrations and the expression of adenosine deaminase in mononuclear cells during hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND We previously showed that high intralymphocytic adenosine (Ado) concentrations are found in hemodialyzed patients due to the reduced activity of mononuclear cell adenosine deaminase (MCADA). These abnormalities contribute to the immune defect observed in HD patients. The kinetics of these abnormalities and the causes of the low MCADA activity, however, have not been investigated. Here, we addressed this question. Since interferon gamma (IFNgamma) partially modulates MCADA, we also evaluated the effect of IFNgamma on MCADA activity in vitro. METHODS AND RESULTS The study included 12 patients (eight men and four women) who were observed from the first to the 36th hemodialysis (HD) session, and eight healthy subjects (controls). MCADA activity and Ado concentrations were normal before the first HD session. Ado concentrations progressively increased from the first (10.5 +/- 3.1 pmol/10(7) cells) to the fourth session (26.7 +/- 3 pmol/10(7) cells), before stabilizing at a high level. MCADA activity increased transiently until the second session (2.2 +/- 0.5 IU/10(7) cells before HD vs. 2.8 +/- 0.6 IU/10(7)cells), and then decreased and stabilized at a low level (1.0 +/- 0.5 IU/10(7)cells). The amount of MCADA mRNA transiently increased until the third session (mRNA MCADA/mRNA beta-actin: 0.6 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.8 +/- 0.2), and then decreased to 0.3 +/- 0.1 at the 36th session. MCADA activity underwent a dose-dependent increase after IFNgamma stimulation. CONCLUSION HD affects the transcription of the gene encoding MCADA after just three HD sessions, leading to decreased MCADA activity and increased plasma concentration of Ado.
A microRNA expression signature of human solid tumors defines cancer gene targets

Small noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) can contribute to cancer development and progression and are differentially expressed in normal tissues and cancers. From a large-scale miRnome analysis on 540 samples including lung, breast, stomach, prostate, colon, and pancreatic tumors, we identified a solid cancer miRNA signature composed by a large portion of overexpressed miRNAs. Among these miRNAs are some with well characterized cancer association, such as miR-17-5p, miR-20a, miR-21, miR-92, miR-106a, and miR-155. The predicted targets for the differentially expressed miRNAs are significantly enriched for protein-coding tumor suppressors and oncogenes (P < 0.0001). A number of the predicted targets, including the tumor suppressors RB1 (Retinoblastoma 1) and TGFBR2 (transforming growth factor, beta receptor II) genes were confirmed experimentally. Our results indicate that miRNAs are extensively involved in cancer pathogenesis of solid tumors and support their function as either dominant or recessive cancer genes.
Advanced fault collapsing (logic circuits testing)

The partitioning of faults into equivalence classes so that only one representative fault per class must be explicitly considered in fault simulation and test generation, called fault collapsing, is addressed. Two types of equivalence, which are relevant to the work reported, are summarized. New theorems on fault equivalence and dominance, forming the basis of an algorithm that collapses all the structurally equivalent faults in a circuit, plus many of the functionally equivalent faults, are presented. Application of the algorithm to a set of benchmark circuits establishes that identification of functionally equivalent faults is feasible, and that, in some cases, they are a large fraction of the faults in a circuit. The collapsing algorithm applies not only to combinational designs but to synchronous sequential circuits as well. <<ETX>>
Bmc Microbiology

Diversity of the parB and repA genes of the Burkholderia cepacia complex and their utility for rapid identification of Burkholderia cenocepacia Abstract Background: Burkholderia cenocepacia is the most prominent species of the B. cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of nine closely related and difficult to identify bacteria that cause serious infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. Despite its clinical relevance, identification of B. cenocepacia as a single species is unavailable, as it splits by a widely used recA gene-based PCR identification method into discrete phylogenetic subgroups IIIA, IIIB, IIIC and IIID. With the aim of identifying gene targets suitable for unified detection of B. cenocepacia strains, we examined sequence polymorphisms in the repA and parB genes. These essential genes are involved in the replication and partitioning of bacterial replicons, hence we also had the opportunity for the first time to investigate the evolution of the multireplicon (three chromosome) structure of Bcc genomes.
Packing Small Vectors

Online d-dimensional vector packing models many settings such as minimizing resources in data centers where jobs have multiple resource requirements (CPU, Memory, etc.). However, no online d-dimensional vector packing algorithm can achieve a competitive ratio better than d. Fortunately, in many natural applications, vectors are relatively small, and thus the lower bound does not hold. For sufficiently small vectors, an O(log d)-competitive algorithm was known. We improve this to a constant competitive ratio, arbitrarily close to e a 2.718, given that vectors are sufficiently small. We give improved results for the two dimensional case. For arbitrarily small vectors, the First Fit algorithm for two dimensional vector packing is no better than 2-competitive. We present a natural family of First Fit variants, and for optimized parameters get a competitive ratio a 1.48 for sufficiently small vectors. We improve upon the 1.48 competitive ratio -- not via a First Fit variant -- and give a competitive ratio arbitrarily close to 4/3 for packing small, two dimensional vectors. We show that no algorithm can achieve better than a 4/3 competitive ratio for two dimensional vectors, even if one allows the algorithm to split vectors among arbitrarily many bins.
Implementation of health programs in hospitals.

Data from 480 short-term general nonfederal hospitals are analyzed by means of the Automatic Interaction Detector program in an attempt to discover manipulable factors influencing the innovation of programs contributing to comprehensiveness of health care. The data are divided into three sets of independent variables pertaining to contextual (locational) and organizational characteristics of hospitals and to personal characteristics of hospital administrators. The dependent variable is an overall implementation score for each hospital, assigned on the basis of a scale of rankings of a hypothetical service by a panel of experienced hospital personnel. The AID program eliminates variance in overall implementation attributable to the nonmanipulable contextual and organizational variables, permitting identification of residual variance arising from administrator characteristics.
Telescoping Tracheal Tubes into Catheters Minimizes Epistaxis during Nasotracheal Intubation in Children

Background:Numerous strategies have been used to reduce epistaxis after nasotracheal intubation. The authors compared the severity of epistaxis after nasotracheal intubation in children with tubes at room temperature, warm tubes, and tubes telescoped into catheters. Methods:Children who were scheduled for elective dental surgery were randomly assigned to undergo nasotracheal intubation using a tube at room temperature (control), warmed in saline, or whose distal end had been telescoped into a red rubber catheter. After an inhalational induction and intravenous propofol, a lubricated tube or red rubber catheter was inserted into the right naris. Tracheal intubation was achieved by direct laryngoscopy and tube placement using Magill forceps. The pharynx was swabbed for blood by an observer who was blind to the treatment. The severity of bleeding was rated using reference figures. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests. P < 0.05 was accepted. Results:The demographics of the three groups were similar. The estimated median area of the gauze in the catheter group that was covered with blood (0%) was significantly less than the areas in the control (40%) and warm (20%) groups. The incidence of clinically relevant bleeding (≥ 40% of the gauze area covered in blood) in the catheter group (5%) was significantly less than in the control (56%) and warm (39%) groups. The incidence of no detectable blood in the catheter group (59%) was significantly greater than in the control (21%) and warm (26%) groups. Conclusions:Telescoping the endotracheal tube into a catheter significantly reduces epistaxis in children undergoing nasotracheal intubation.
Regional Cerebral Plasma Volume Response to Carbon Dioxide Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background Noninvasive techniques used to determine the changes in cerebral blood volume in response to carbon dioxide are hampered by their limited spatial or temporal resolution or both. Using steady state contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, the authors determined regional changes in cerebral plasma volume (CPV) induced by hypercapnia in halothane‐anesthetized rats. Methods Cerebral plasma volume was determined during normocapnia, hypercapnia and recovery in the dorsoparietal neocortex and striatum of each hemisphere, in cerebellum, and in extracerebral tissue of rats with either intact carotid arteries (group 1) or unilateral common carotid ligation (group 2). Another group was studied without injection of a contrast agent (group 3). Results Hypercapnia (partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood [PaCO2] [nearly =] 65 mmHg) resulted in a significant increase in CPV in the striatum (+42 +/‐ 8%), neocortex (+34 +/‐ 6%), and cerebellum (+49 +/‐ 12%) compared with normocapnic CPV values (group 1). Carotid ligation (group 2) led to a marked reduction of the CPV response to hypercapnia in the ipsilateral striatum (+23 +/‐ 14%) and neocortex (+27 +/‐ 17%) compared with the unclamped side (+34 +/‐ 15% and +38 +/‐ 16%, respectively). No significant changes in CPV were found in extracerebral tissue. In both groups, the CPV changes were reversed by the carbon dioxide washout period. Negligible changes in contrast imaging were detected during hypercapnia without administration of the contrast agent (group 3). Conclusions The contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging technique is sensitive to detect noninvasively regional CPV changes induced by hypercapnia in rat brain. This could be of clinical interest for determining the cerebrovascular reactivity among different brain regions.