Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial and Cytotoxicity Efficacy of Commiphora swynnertonii (Burtt) Extracts

: The in vitro antimicrobial activity of extracts from leaves, stem bark and root bark of Commiphora swynnertonii was assessed using ten microbes of human health importance namely Vibrio chorellae (clinical isolate), Shigella flexineri (clinical isolate), Klebsiella oxytoca (clinical isolate), Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 700603), Salmonella kisarawe (clinical isolate), Proteus mirabilis (NCTC 1075), Streptococcus pyogens (clinical isolate), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Cryptococcus neoformans (clinical isolate) and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028). Extracts were also evaluated for cytotoxicity activity against brine shrimps larvae. The antimicrobial bioassay was conducted using broth microdilution technique. Chloroform leaf extract demonstrated the highest antimicrobial activity with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) range of 0.1953 – 1.5625 mg/mL against bacteria and 0.1953 – 0.7812 mg/mL against fungal species. All extracts exhibited low cytotoxicity activity against brine shrimp larvae with the exception of chloroform root extract which had LC 50 of 4. 5642µg/mL. Commiphora swynnertonii is therefore a potential source of antimicrobial agents with relatively low cytotoxicity.
T cell competition for the antigen‐presenting cell as a model for immunodominance in the cytotoxic T lymphocyte response against minor histocompatibility antigens

We recently demonstrated that spleen cells primed against dominant BALB.B antigens can inhibit the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response against subdominant antigens in vitro. In this study, we show that this interference is dependent on CD8+, but not CD4+, T cells directed against dominant antigens. Similar to immunodominance in vivo, T cell interference in vitro required presentation of dominant and sobdominant antigens by the same antigen‐presenting cell. In vivo priming with cells expressing dominant and subdominant antigens did not induce long‐lasting unresponsiveness against the latter. These results support a model in which immunodominance is mediated by T cell competition. In line with this, we found that the immunodominance effects in the CTL response against these minor histocompatibility antigens could be broken by immunization with live bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells.
We Are Sorry, They Don’t Care: Misinterpretation of Facial Embarrassment Displays in Arab–White Intergroup Contexts

Embarrassment displays show others that one is aware of one’s own misbehavior and willing to make up for it. The facial actions of embarrassment, however, are partly similar to those of disinterest, which has an opposite function, signaling that one is not concerned about one’s self in relation to others. In the context of negative intergroup relations, embarrassment displays of outgroup members may therefore be misinterpreted as disinterest. In the present research, the authors predicted that Whites would perceive Arab expressions of embarrassment more as disinterest, but embarrassment displays of Whites more as embarrassment. Aggregated Study 1 (N = 1,154) confirms this hypothesis showing that White participants perceived more intense embarrassment in Whites than in Arabs and more intense disinterest in Arabs than in Whites. Studies 2 (n = 193) and 3 (n = 260) include methodological improvements and either largely or fully replicated our findings. Based on this evidence in an Arab–White context, the authors conclude that the affiliative function of embarrassment perception is dependent on the nature of the group context. Finally, they discuss the generalizability of this intergroup emotion bias in which emotional expressions may be perceived as the opposite of what they are intended to display.
The Quebec Adolescent Refugee Project: psychopathology and family variables in a sample from 35 nations.

OBJECTIVE This study presents the results of a psychiatric epidemiological survey using a sample of adolescents from refugee families. METHOD The sample included 203 adolescents, aged 13 to 19 years, coming from 35 countries. Psychopathology was assessed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 2.25 and general functioning with the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). RESULTS The total rate of psychopathology excluding simple phobia was 21% compared with 11% in a province-wide survey of young adolescents. Overanxious disorder had a high prevalence of 13%. The rates of major depression and conduct disorders were also high, at 5% and 6%. The rate of 3% of attempted suicide was similar to the rate found in Montreal high schools. Girls had a higher rate of psychopathology than boys, with a gender ratio similar to the one found in the provincial survey. Father's long-term unemployment in the first year of settlement was associated with psychopathology for the whole sample, and family structure was associated with psychopathology for boys only. CONCLUSIONS The high rate of psychopathology in this group confirmed results from other surveys with similar samples. On the other hand, the CGAS scores indicated that many of the adolescents with a diagnosis had good social adaptation.
Meropenem inhibits D,D‐carboxypeptidase activity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Carbapenems such as meropenem are being investigated for their potential therapeutic utility against highly drug‐resistant tuberculosis. These β‐lactams target the transpeptidases that introduce interpeptide cross‐links into bacterial peptidoglycan thereby controlling rigidity of the bacterial envelope. Treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) with the β‐lactamase inhibitor clavulanate together with meropenem resulted in rapid, polar, cell lysis releasing cytoplasmic contents. In Mtb it has been previously demonstrated that 3‐3 cross‐linkages [involving two diaminopimelate (DAP) molecules] predominate over 4‐3 cross‐linkages (involving one DAP and one D‐alanine) in stationary‐phase cells. We purified and analysed peptidoglycan from Mtb and found that 3‐3 cross‐linkages predominate throughout all growth phases and the ratio of 4‐3/3‐3 linkages does not vary significantly under any growth condition. Meropenem treatment was accompanied by a dramatic accumulation of unlinked pentapeptide stems with no change in the tetrapeptide pools, suggesting that meropenem inhibits both a D,D‐carboxypeptidase and an L,D‐transpeptidase. We purified a candidate D,D‐carboxypeptidase DacB2 and showed that meropenem indeed directly inhibits this enzyme by forming a stable adduct at the enzyme active site. These results suggest that the rapid lysis of meropenem‐treated cells is the result of synergistically inhibiting the transpeptidases that introduce 3,3‐cross‐links while simultaneously limiting the pool of available substrates available for cross‐linking.
Executive function and neural activation in adults with β‐thalassemia major: an event‐related potentials study

In recent years, there has been growing interest in understanding the involvement of the nervous system and neurological complications in β‐thalassemia major (β‐TM). Several reports have demonstrated β‐TM–related neurological abnormalities, and these have been postulated to be responsible for impaired cognitive and neuropsychological functioning. We investigated neural correlates of cognitive function in adults with β‐TM and healthy controls using scalp‐recorded event‐related potentials (ERPs). To date, there have been no ERP studies in β‐TM adult patients. We identified ERP correlates of executive function by using a complex task‐switching paradigm in which participants have to quickly and effectively switch between two different task sets. The results indicated poorer cognitive performance of β‐TM patients, resulting in overall higher error rates, longer response times, and increased switch costs compared with controls. Hemoglobin levels were negatively correlated with error rates and response times. Electrophysiological results indicated significant alterations in peak amplitudes of the ERP components P1, N1, and P2 in β‐TM patients relative to controls. P2 amplitude correlated with hemoglobin levels. This novel investigation of executive function and related brain mechanisms and dynamics in adults with β‐TM underscores the usefulness of ERP methodology as a sensitive measure for the study of neurocognitive processes in β‐TM.
New classes of three-dimensional topological crystalline insulators: Nonsymmorphic and magnetic

We theoretically predict two new classes of three-dimensional topological crystalline insulators (TCIs), which have an odd number of unpinned surface Dirac cones protected by crystal symmetries. The first class is protected by a single nonsymmorphic glide plane symmetry; the second class is protected by a composition of a twofold rotation and time-reversal symmetry (a magnetic group symmetry). Both classes of TCIs are characterized by a quantized $\ensuremath{\pi}$-Berry phase associated with surface states and a ${Z}_{2}$ topological invariant associated with the bulk bands. In the presence of disorder, these TCI surface states are protected against localization by the average crystal symmetries, and exhibit critical conductivity in the universality class of the quantum Hall plateau transition. These new TCIs exist in time-reversal-breaking systems with or without spin-orbital coupling, and their material realizations are discussed.
Inhibitory Motor Control in Response Stopping and Response Switching

While much is known about the neural regions recruited in the human brain when a dominant motor response becomes inappropriate and must be stopped, less is known about the regions that support switching to a new, appropriate, response. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging with two variants of the stop-signal paradigm that require either stopping altogether or switching to a different response, we examined the brain systems involved in these two forms of executive control. Both stopping trials and switching trials showed common recruitment of the right inferior frontal gyrus, presupplementary motor area, and midbrain. Contrasting switching trials with stopping trials showed activation similar to that observed on response trials (where the initial response remains appropriate and no control is invoked), whereas there were no regions that showed significantly greater activity for stopping trials compared with switching trials. These results show that response switching can be supported by the same neural systems as response inhibition, and suggest that the same mechanism of rapid, nonselective response inhibition that is thought to support speeded response stopping can also support speeded response switching when paired with execution of the new, appropriate, response.
NMDA Di-Heteromeric Receptor Populations and Associated Proteins in Rat Hippocampus

Subunit composition of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) determines a range of physiological properties, downstream signaling effects, and binding partners. Differential localization of NR2A- or NR2B-containing NMDARs within the neuron and subunit-specific protein associations may explain differences in NR2A and NR2B contributions to synaptic plasticity and excitotoxic cell death. This question is complicated by the existence of tri-heteromeric complexes (NR1/NR2A/NR2B). To date, no quantitative biochemical determinations have been made of the relative abundance of different NMDAR populations in intact hippocampus, the region extensively correlated with NMDAR-dependent long-term potentiation. We investigated subunit composition and subunit-specific interactions in CA1/CA2 of rat hippocampus. Using sequential immunoprecipitations to deplete either NR2B or NR2A, di-heteromeric NR1/NR2A and NR1/NR2B receptor populations were isolated from postnatal day 7 (P7) hippocampus and P42 and 6-month-old CA1/CA2. Quantitative Western blot analysis revealed that 60–70% of NR2A and 70–85% of NR2B subunits were associated in NR1/NR2A or NR1/NR2B di-heteromeric complexes. Isolated di-heteromeric receptor fractions were used to examine NR2A- or NR2B-specific interactions with synapse-associated proteins. Our results indicate that NR2A- or NR2B-containing NMDARs associate similarly with postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95), synapse-associated protein 102, and PSD-93 at P42. However, NR2A-containing receptors coimmunoprecipitated a greater proportion of the synaptic proteins neuronal nitric oxide synthase, Homer, and β-catenin. Finally, mass spectrometry analysis of isolated di-heteromeric receptors identified a novel NMDAR interactor, collapsin response mediator protein 2, which preferentially associates with NR2B-containing di-heteromeric NMDARs. In summary, in rat hippocampus, NR2A and NR2B exist primarily in di-heteromeric complexes that interact similarly with PSD-95-related proteins but are associated with different protein complexes.
Phenomenological features and clinical impact of affective disorders in OCD: a focus on the bipolar disorder and ocd connection

Given the general population prevalence rates of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and the affective disorders, one would expect the co‐occurrence of these syndromes to be rare. Yet findings by our group and others have revealed extremely high rates of comorbidity in OCD with both depressive disorders (DD; 50%) and bipolar disorder (BPD; 10%). The current investigation sought to further clarify the role affective disorder comorbidity—particularly that with BPD—may play in the clinical expression of OCD.
Unsupervised Part of Speech Tagging Supporting Supervised Methods

This paper investigates the utility of an unsupervised partof-speech (PoS) system in a task oriented way. We use PoS labels as features for different supervised NLP tasks: Word Sense Disambiguation, Named Entity Recognition and Chunking. Further we explore, how much supervised tagging can gain from unsupervised tagging. A comparative evaluation between variants of systems using standard PoS, unsupervised PoS and no PoS at all reveals that supervised tagging gains substantially from unsupervised tagging. Further, unsupervised PoS tagging behaves similarly to supervised PoS in Word Sense Disambiguation and Named Entity Recognition, while only chunking benefits more from supervised PoS. Overall results indicate that unsupervised PoS tagging is useful for many applications and a veritable low-cost alternative, if none or very little PoS training data is available for the target language or domain.
Dynamic Sagittal Plane Trunk Control During Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that trunk control likely plays a role in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Yet, the majority of ACL research remains focused on the lower limb, with limited information on the trunk position at the time of injury. Hypotheses: Athletes experiencing a noncontact ACL injury after a 1-legged landing position their center of mass (COM) more posterior from the base of support (BOS) at initial ground contact in comparison with uninjured athletes. The distance from the COM to the BOS (COM_BOS) is larger in female, as compared with male, athletes during 1-legged landing. Study Design: Case control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Movie captures of 20 athletes performing a 1-legged landing maneuver resulting in a torn ACL were compared with matched (for gender, sport, and activity just before landing) movie captures of 20 athletes performing a similar maneuver that did not result in an ACL disruption (controls). The COM_BOS, trunkG angle, and limbG angle (both relative to the gravity vector) were measured in the sagittal plane at initial ground-foot contact. A 2-way ANOVA (injury status × gender) was used to examine the hypotheses. Results: There was a significant difference in all 3 measures based on injury status but not on gender. The COM_BOS, normalized by femur length, and limbG angle were greater (Δ = 0.9, P < .001 and Δ = 16°, P = .004, respectively), and the trunkG angle was smaller (Δ = 12°, P = .016) in the participants who sustained an ACL injury as compared with controls. The average COM was calculated as 38 cm more posterior relative to the BOS in the participants who sustained an ACL injury as compared with controls. Conclusion: Landing with the COM far posterior to the BOS may be a risk factor for noncontact ACL injury and potentially can be addressed in prevention programs.
Temperature affects the morphology and calcification of Emiliania huxleyi strains

Abstract. The global warming debate has sparked an unprecedented interest in temperature effects on coccolithophores. The calcification response to temperature changes reported in the literature, however, is ambiguous. The two main sources of this ambiguity are putatively differences in experimental setup and strain specificity. In this study we therefore compare three strains isolated in the North Pacific under identical experimental conditions. Three strains of Emiliania huxleyi type A were grown under non-limiting nutrient and light conditions, at 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C. All three strains displayed similar growth rate versus temperature relationships, with an optimum at 20–25 °C. Elemental production (particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), particulate organic carbon (POC), total particulate nitrogen (TPN)), coccolith mass, coccolith size, and width of the tube element cycle were positively correlated with temperature over the sub-optimum to optimum temperature range. The correlation between PIC production and coccolith mass/size supports the notion that coccolith mass can be used as a proxy for PIC production in sediment samples. Increasing PIC production was significantly positively correlated with the percentage of incomplete coccoliths in one strain only. Generally, coccoliths were heavier when PIC production was higher. This shows that incompleteness of coccoliths is not due to time shortage at high PIC production. Sub-optimal growth temperatures lead to an increase in the percentage of malformed coccoliths in a strain-specific fashion. Since in total only six strains have been tested thus far, it is presently difficult to say whether sub-optimal temperature is an important factor causing malformations in the field. The most important parameter in biogeochemical terms, the PIC : POC ratio, shows a minimum at optimum growth temperature in all investigated strains. This clarifies the ambiguous picture featuring in the literature, i.e. discrepancies between PIC : POC–temperature relationships reported in different studies using different strains and different experimental setups. In summary, global warming might cause a decline in coccolithophore's PIC contribution to the rain ratio, as well as improved fitness in some genotypes due to fewer coccolith malformations.
Facets of Personality Linked to Underweight and Overweight

Objective: Personality traits underlie maladaptive behaviors, and cognitive and emotional disturbances that contribute to major preventable causes of global disease burden. This study examines detailed personality profiles of underweight, normal, and overweight individuals to provide insights into the causes and treatments of abnormal weight. Methods: More than half of the population from four towns in Sardinia, Italy (n = 5693; age = 14–94 years; mean ± standard deviation = 43 ± 17 years) were assessed on multiple anthropometric measures and 30 facets that comprehensively cover the five major dimensions of personality, using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Results: High Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness were associated with being underweight and obese, respectively. High Impulsiveness (specifically eating-behavior items) and low Order were associated with body mass index categories of overweight and obese, and with measures of abdominal adiposity (waist and hip circumference). Those scoring in the top 10% of Impulsiveness were about 4 kg heavier than those in the bottom 10%, an effect independent and larger than the FTO genetic variant. Prospective analyses confirmed that Impulsiveness and Order were significant predictors of general and central measures of adiposity assessed 3 years later. Conclusions: Overweight and obese individuals have difficulty resisting cravings and lack methodical and organized behaviors that might influence diet and weight control. Although individuals’ traits have limited impact on the current obesogenic epidemic, personality traits can improve clinical assessment, suggest points of intervention, and help tailor prevention and treatment approaches. BMI = body mass index; FFM = Five-Factor Model; N = Neuroticism; E = Extraversion; O = Openness to Experience; A = Agreeableness; C = Conscientiousness; NEO-PI-R = Revised NEO Personality Inventory; OR = odds ratio; SD = standard deviation.
On the nature and measurement of fiscal illusion: a survey

In tube extrusion presses, there are two steps in production. Firstly, a mandrel pierces a hole through the center of a billet, the tip of the mandrel ending up just within the opening of the extrusion die. Secondly, the now hollow cylindrical billet is extruded through the die and over and around the tip of the mandrel to produce a tube. To limit the movement of the mandrel, stroke-limiting rods are provided which pass through bores in a part attached to the mandrel and in a fixed part of the press. The rods can be held fast in one or both of these bores, or released to slide through them, depending on the stage reached in the extrusion process.
Anaplastic plasmacytomas: relationships to normal memory B cells and plasma cell neoplasms of immunodeficient and autoimmune mice

Anaplastic plasmacytomas (APCTs) from NFS.V+ congenic mice and pristane‐induced plasmacytic PCTs from BALB/c mice were previously shown to be histologically and molecularly distinct subsets of plasma cell neoplasms (PCNs). Here we extended these comparisons, contrasting primary APCTs and PCTs by gene expression profiling in relation to the expression profiles of normal naïve, germinal centre, and memory B cells and plasma cells. We also sequenced immunoglobulin genes from APCT and APCT‐derived cell lines and defined surface phenotypes and chromosomal features of the cell lines by flow cytometry and by spectral karyotyping and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The results indicate that APCTs share many features with normal memory cells and the plasma cell‐related neoplasms (PLs) of FASL‐deficient mice, suggesting that APCTs and PLs are related and that both derive from memory B cells. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Thought intrusion among adults living with complex regional pain syndrome.

PURPOSE This study investigated the presence and influence of intrusive thoughts among adults previously diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome. METHOD The present study used an Internet-based survey completed by a sample (N = 326) from two national organizations. RESULTS After controlling for age, gender, and pain level, intrusive thoughts were significantly related to disability and health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS Intrusive thoughts about the inciting event that caused CRPS uniquely influenced pain and quality of life, suggesting a potential mechanism to target for intervention. Understanding factors that relate to maintenance of CRPS and its resulting disability will help in the development of treatments to improve quality of life.