Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of lactulose, pectin, arabinogalactan and cellulose on the production of organic acids and metabolism of ammonia by intestinal bacteria in a faecal incubation system

An in vitro faecal incubation system was used to study the metabolism of complex carbohydrates by intestinal bacteria. Homogenates of human faeces were incubated anaerobically with added lactulose, pectin, the hemicellulose arabinogalactan, and cellulose, both before and after subjects had been pre-fed each carbohydrate. Fermentation of added substrate was assessed by the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and suppression of net ammonia generation over 48 h of incubation. Control faecal homogenates to which carbohydrate was not added yielded an average increment of SCFA of 43 mmol/l, equivalent to 172 mmol/kg in the original stool. The addition of lactulose, pectin and arabinogalactan each increased the yield of SCFA by a similar amount, averaging 6·5 mmol/g carbohydrate or 1·05 mol/mol hexose equivalent; organic acid yield was not increased by pre-feeding these substances for up to 2 weeks. Acetate was the major SCFA in all samples at all times and, after pre-feeding with extra carbohydrate, butyrate concentrations exceeded propionate in all samples. Faecal homogenates incubated with cellulose showed no greater SCFA production than controls over the first 48 h, but there was a slight increase when samples from two subjects pre-fed cellulose were incubated for 14 d. Net ammonia generation was markedly suppressed by addition of lactulose to faecal incubates with an initial period of net bacterial uptake of ammonia. Pectin and arabinogalactan also decreased ammonia generation, but the reductions were not significant unless subjects were pre-fed these materials; cellulose had no effect on ammonia generation.
Effect of Transition Planning on Postsecondary Support Receipt by Students With Disabilities

The authors of this article analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 to determine the effect of receiving transition planning education and having a transition plan that specified needed postsecondary accommodations on the receipt of disability-specific services and generally available supports at the postsecondary level by students with disabilities. Propensity model analyses indicated that both variables significantly increased the odds that students with disabilities would receive disability-specific and generally available supports at 2-year institutions. In addition, students with transition plans specifying accommodations were more likely to receive disability-related supports at career and technical education (CTE) schools, and CTE students who had received transition planning education in high school were more likely to receive generally available supports. The results provide important implications for policy and practice, and a strong foundation for further exploration of the linkages between transition planning experiences and receipt of disability-specific and generally available supports at postsecondary schools.
Corruption and economic growth in Croatia

Today, more and more authors are involved in researching the economic phenomenon of corruption and its impact on many macroeconomic indicators. Nevertheless, transitional surroundings have offered a unique opportunity in history to explore the relationship between corruption and economic growth in entirely different environment from the one in developed western economies. Researching of, at first sight, two unrelated social phenomena gave additional light on the causes of economic growth in Croatia. The researching paper also gives Croatian position among ten transition EU member countries. The corruption perception index was used as the best measuring method of corruption in Croatia and other countries while economic growth was measured by GDP per capita instead of growth rates. We explained reasons why we did so. The time period covered by the research was from 1999 to 2009 for Croatia and from 1995 to 2009 for ten transition EU member countries. Total of 137 cases were evaluated. The researching paper demonstrates the negative impact of corruption on economic growth where the strength of its influence is relatively obvious. It is also evident that the impact of corruption on economic growth is substantially a direct one and that it takes place without a significant time delay. Results for the period of research related to Croatia, more closely fit the observed data of other transition countries. Corruption could be an additional explanation (certainly not the only one) for low or high level of GDP per capita in Croatia. Misunderstanding of all the factors that encourage the economic growth may lead to macroeconomic structural misbalances in Croatian economy.
Environmental Contamination by Dog’s Faeces: A Public Health Problem?

The risk to public health from the large number of dog stools present on streets of urban areas is cause for concern. Dog faeces may be a serious hazard because they may contain microorganisms that are both pathogenic to humans and resistant to several classes of antibiotics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for zoonotic infections and for the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in canine faeces which contaminates the urban environment. A total of 418 canine faecal samples were collected from streets in seven areas of Bari, Southern Italy. We have isolated multi-drug resistant Enterococci and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from these dog faecal samples. The presence of the resistant bacteria in an urban environment may represent a public health hazard which requires control measures by competent authorities. No Salmonella, Yersinia or Campylobacter species were isolated. Giardia cysts were detected in 1.9% of the samples. The predominant Enterococcus species were E.faecium (61.6%), E. gallinarum (23.3%) and E. casseliflavus (5.5%). Other species, including E. faecalis were also isolated. These strains were resistant to clindamycin (86.3%), tetracycline (65.7%), erythromycin (60.27%) and ampicillin (47.9%). High-level aminoglycoside resistance (HLAR) was found in 65.7% of enterococci. Resistance to three or more antibiotics and six or more antibiotics were observed in 67.12% and 38.4% of Enterococcus spp. , respectively. Resistance to vancomycin and teicoplanin was not detected in any of the Enterococcus spp. isolated. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 0.7% of the faecal samples. Canine faeces left on the streets may represent a risk factor for transmission of microorganisms and a reservoir of multidrug- resistant bacteria thus contributing to the spread of resistance genes into an urban area.
Diversity of metabolic syndrome criteria in association with cardiovascular diseases – a family medicine-based investigation

Background This study compared the association between the 3 definitions of metabolic syndrome (MetS) suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), National Cholesterol Education Programme (NCEP ATP III), and International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and shows the prevalence and characteristics of persons with MetS in continental vs. coastal regions and rural vs. urban residence in Croatia. Material/Methods A prospective multicenter study was conducted on 3245 participants ≥40 years, who visited general practices from May to July 2008 for any reason. This was a cross-sectional study of the Cardiovascular Risk and Intervention Study in Croatia-family medicine project (ISRCTN31857696). Results All analyzed MetS definitions showed an association with CVD, but the strongest was shown by NCEP ATP III; coronary disease OR 2.48 (95% CI 1.80–3.82), cerebrovascular disease OR 2.14 (1.19–3.86), and peripheral artery disease OR 1.55 (1.04–2.32), especially for age and male sex. According to the NCEP ATP III (IDF), the prevalence was 38.7% (45.9%) [15.9% (18.6%) in men, and 22.7% (27.3%) in women, and 28.4% (33.9%) in the continental region, 10.2% (10.9%) in the coastal region, 26.2% (31.5%) in urban areas, and 12.4% (14.4%) in rural areas. Older age, male sex, and residence in the continental area were positively associated with MetS diagnosis according to NCEP ATP III, and current smoking and Mediterranean diet adherence have protective effects. Conclusions The NCEP ATP III definition seems to provide the strongest association with CVD and should therefore be preferred for use in this population.
Practical Considerations of Parallel Simulations and Architecture Independent Parallel Algorithm Design

We examine combinatorial properties of a class of hash functions and its application to the simulations of classical models of parallel computation on other models, such as theBSPand theS*PRAM, optimally in communication to within additive lower order terms. The BSP model can serve as a programming paradigm as well; we also examine the implications of architecture independent parallel algorithm design in the context of the BSP model and show how it can lead to portable and scalable implementations of algorithms that can work on a multiplicity of hardware platforms with only recompilation of the source program code. Toward this end, dense Cholesky factorization algorithms are presented and their performance on three parallel hardware platforms, an SGI Power Challenge, IBM SP2, and Cray T3D, is examined and analyzed.
A Kinesin-Like Protein Is Essential for Oriented Deposition of Cellulose Microfibrils and Cell Wall Strength Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.005801.

Cortical microtubules have long been hypothesized to regulate the oriented deposition of cellulose microfibrils. However, the molecular mechanisms of how microtubules direct the orientation of cellulose microfibril deposition are not known. We have used fibers in the inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis to study secondary wall deposition and cell wall strength and found a fragile fiber (fra1) mutant with a dramatic reduction in the mechanical strength of fibers. The fra1 mutation did not cause any defects in cell wall composition, secondary wall thickening, or cortical microtubule organization in fiber cells. An apparent alteration was found in the orientation of cellulose microfibrils in fra1 fiber walls, indicating that the reduced mechanical strength of fra1 fibers probably was attributable to altered cellulose microfibril deposition. The FRA1 gene was cloned and found to encode a kinesin-like protein with an N-terminal microtubule binding motor domain. The FRA1 protein was shown to be concentrated around the periphery of the cytoplasm but absent in the nucleus. Based on these findings, we propose that the FRA1 kinesin-like protein is involved in the microtubule control of cellulose microfibril order.
Pākehā Learners of Māori Language Responding to Racism Directed Toward Māori

Māori are discriminated against at disproportionate rates to non-Māori. Pākehā who have invested in relationships with Māori through learning te reo Māori (Māori language) and their responses to discrimination are the focus of this research. Interviews with 13 Pākehā (New Zealand Europeans) indicated that they were critically aware of discrimination toward Māori and responded to discrimination in a variety of ways. This research highlights how some Pākehā who are developing relationships with Māori through Māori language learning may become aware of the inequalities that exist between Māori and Pākehā. This study explores how Pākehā language learners of te reo Māori contribute to creating positive change for bicultural relationships in New Zealand.
THE NEGOTIATION OF INVOLUNTARY CIVIL COMMITMENT

Involuntary commitment to mental hospitals has been a topic of scholarly interest for the last twenty years. That interest has resulted in dozens of studies which have informed the legal reform of many state commitment statutes. In this paper we analyze the organizational context in which the decision to commit takes place. Relying on observations of the commitment process in an urban setting, we discuss the negotiating among the actors involved in the decision to commit. Our data suggest that formal disposition to involuntarily commit accounts for only a small percentage of those held at the hospital against their will. Court procedures and professional persuasion are used to coerce citizens into "voluntary" stays at the hospital in order to avoid court proceedings. We conclude with some thoughts about the meaning of commitment rates in light of these findings. This study is about decision-making in a court of law. The court of law is the mental health court of a major metropolis, and the decision in question is whether to allow a hospital to confine someone unwillingly for mental illness. Scholars have been concerned with this decision-making process for well over twenty years and have sought to determine what rules or norms guide that process. In the court we studied we found that this process has many characteristics in common with decision-making in criminal court, the most important of which is the tendency to replace formal decisions with informal agreements. The key actors in the court setting work together to dispose of cases before they are formally presented to the judge. These actors, who include the public defender (PD), the state's attorney (SA), and social workers or other staff attached to the hospital, find a number of ways to dispose of cases. These include voluntary admissions and informal and
Hexose transport regulation in cultured fibroblasts derived from normal and type II diabetic patients.

The kinetics of saturable and nonsaturable sugar transport were studied in normal and Type II diabetic cultured skin fibroblasts under fast or slowly growing conditions. The Km of hexose transport for fast and slow-growing normal fibroblasts was 1.38 +/- 0.3 and 0.88 +/- 0.12 mM, respectively, while those of the diabetic fibroblasts were 1.57 +/- 0.29 and 0.8 +/- 0.19 mM, respectively. The respective transport Vmax for normal and diabetic fast-growing cells was 13.9 +/- 0.8 and 12.95 +/- 2.4 nmoles 2-DG/mg protein/min. For slowly growing cells of both groups, a transport Vmax of 11.5 +/- 2.4 and 11.3 +/- 1.7 nmoles 2-DG/mg protein/min was obtained. No significant differences were observed in the Km or Vmax of hexose transport under these various growth conditions between normal and diabetic cell cultures. Nonsaturable sugar uptake as determined by L-glucose or cytochalasin B inhibited 2-DG uptake was variable, but no significant differences were observed between the normal and Type II diabetic cells. The activation energies for saturable and nonsaturable sugar uptake were not different among the two donor groups. Insulin stimulation of hexose transport was studied in the presence and absence of dexamethasone (5 X 10(-6) M) at varying insulin concentrations. No difference was observed in the amount of insulin necessary to obtain a maximum stimulatory response (approximately 33 nM insulin in both groups). Also, the insulin concentration required to achieve a one-half maximal response was not significantly different in the donor groups (i.e., 3.53 +/- 0.6 nM for normals and 3.98 +/- 1.1 nM for diabetics.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Nick Hales Award Lecture 2011: glucocorticoids and early life programming of cardiometabolic disease

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between low birthweight and a range of diseases in adult life including cardiometabolic and psychiatric diseases. One of the key mechanisms proposed to underlie early life ‘programming’ of disease is overexposure of the developing foetus to glucocorticoids. This review will explore the data from human studies that glucocorticoids are not only mediators of programming, but also targets of programming. Cohort studies of men and women of known birthweight have demonstrated that low birthweight is associated with high fasting cortisol levels. In healthy individuals and in people with type 2 diabetes who are at high cardiovascular risk, there is a similar association between high fasting cortisol and the metabolic syndrome. The high cortisol levels appear to be due to activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis though detailed studies to further explore central negative feedback sensitivity are required. The evidence in humans that glucocorticoids mediate programming is more scanty, though changes in maternal body composition, stress and anxiety levels and activity of the placental barrier enzyme 11 β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) may all influence maternal HPA axis activity. Emerging studies are supportive that high maternal cortisol levels in humans and/or deficiencies placental 11β-HSD2 humans are associated with lower birthweight and adverse metabolic and neurocognitive outcomes in the offspring.
The induction of Ethylene response factor 3 (ERF3) in potato as a result of co-inoculation with Pseudomonas sp. R41805 and Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833 – a possible role in plant defense

Colonization of plant rhizosphere/roots by beneficial microorganisms (e.g. plant growth promoting rhizobacteria – PGPR, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – AMF) confers broad-spectrum resistance to virulent pathogens and is known as induced systemic resistance (ISR) and mycorrhizal-induced resistance (MIR). ISR or MIR, an indirect mechanism for biocontrol, involves complex signaling networks that are regulated by several plant hormones, the most important of which are salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET). In the present study, we investigated if inoculation of potato plantlets with an AMF (Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833) and a PGPR (Pseudomonas sp R41805) either alone or in combination, could elicit host defense response genes in the presence or absence of Rhizoctonia Solani EC-1, a major potato pathogen. RT-qPCR revealed the significant expression of ethylene response factor 3 (EFR3) in mycorrhized potato plantlets inoculated with Pseudomonas sp R41805 and also in mycorrhized potato plantlets inoculated with Pseudomonas sp R41805 and challenged with R. solani. The significance of ethylene response factors (ERFs) in pathogen defense has been well documented in the literature. The results of the present study suggest that the dual inoculation of potato with PGPR and AMF may play a part in the activation of plant systemic defense systems via ERF3.
Biological activity of probable/possible high‐risk human papillomavirus types in cervical cancer

Judging the carcinogenicity of human papillomavirus (HPV) types rarely found in cervical cancer (CxCa) is hindered by lack of studies of their biological activity in cancer tissues. To asses transcriptional activity of HPV types, we have developed ultra‐short amplimer, splice‐site specific, E6*I mRNA RT‐PCR assays for 12 high‐risk (HR)‐HPV (IARC Group 1) and eight probable/possible high‐risk (pHR)‐HPV types (IARC Group 2A/B carcinogens). Previously unreported E6*I splice sites of the six pHR‐HPV types 26, 53, 67, 70, 73 and 82 were identified by cloning and sequencing. We analyzed 97 formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded (FFPE) Mongolian CxCa biopsies for presence of HPV DNA by two sensitive genotyping assays, for E6*I transcripts of all HR‐/pHR‐HPV types identified and for expression of HPV surrogate markers p16INK4a, pRb and p53. E6*I of at least one HR‐/pHR‐HPV was expressed in 94 (98%) of cancer tissues including seven with pHR‐HPV types 26, 66, 70 or 82 as single transcribed types. Fifty‐eight of E6*I mRNA transcribing cases were analyzable by immunohistochemistry and displayed p16INK4a overexpression in 57 (98%), pRb downregulation in 56 (97%) and p53 downregulation in 36 (62%) tissues. The newly developed E6*I mRNA RT‐PCR assays appeared to be highly sensitive method to analyze HPV transcription in FFPE materials. Our finding of viral oncogene transcription of pHR‐HPV types 26, 66, 70 and 82 in cervical tumors, in the absence of any other transcriptionally active HR‐type and with p16INK4a overexpression and pRb downregulation, may support a reassessment of the carcinogenicity classification of these pHR‐HPV types.
Energetic basis of colonial living in social insects

Understanding the ecology and evolution of insect societies requires greater knowledge of how sociality affects the performance of whole colonies. Metabolic scaling theory, based largely on the body mass scaling of metabolic rate, has successfully predicted many aspects of the physiology and life history of individual (or unitary) organisms. Here we show, using a diverse set of social insect species, that this same theory predicts the size dependence of basic features of the physiology (i.e., metabolic rate, reproductive allocation) and life history (i.e., survival, growth, and reproduction) of whole colonies. The similarity in the size dependence of these features in unitary organisms and whole colonies points to commonalities in functional organization. Thus, it raises an important question of how such evolutionary convergence could arise through the process of natural selection.
Minorities at risk: A global view of ethnopolitical conflicts

The turmoil in Yugoslavia, the rebellions of the Kurds and Shi? is in Iraq, the ongoing struggle in South Africa? ethnic conflict continues unabated in many areas of the world.To help us understand the persistence of such conflict, this pioneering work analyzes ethnopolitical conflict in every region of the globe. An ambitious and unprecedented effort, it provides a comprehensive survey of 233 politically active communal groups, plus in-depth assessments of ethnic tensions in the western democracies, the former Soviet bloc, the Middle East, and Africa.By identifying these groups and examining their disadvantages and grievances, Minorities at Risk attempts to explain why disadvantaged groups mobilize, and it evaluates strategies that have successfully reduced ethnic conflict in the past, including autonomy, pluralism, and power sharing.This provocative and well-written volume challenges conventional wisdom and raises the discussion about a widespread but little-understood phenomenon to a higher level.
The Many Lives of an Agile Story: Design Processes, Design Products, and Understandings in a Large-Scale Agile Development Project

In Agile Software Development (ASD), stakeholders use stories to stimulate conversations that create and convey understanding of software requirements. Some authors have argued that ASD methods have limited applicability to large-scale projects because agile stories are not sufficient to capture the complexities of up-front design. This paper reports a 2.5-year field study of how an ASD team for a complex software system adapted the user story concept and the Scrum approach. The team sought to create a convention for representing agile stories which could capture the complexities of the system requirements without burdening the team with unneeded documentation. They developed eight different ways to represent a story. The core representation of the approach was called a HyperEpic, a structured collection of closely-related HyperStories. HyperEpics required 90-99% fewer words than conventional specifications. Because of their dense form, Hyper-epics were not useful for other phases in the design/build processes. The team evolved a design/build work practice that proceeded in stages. In each stage, stories underwent a one or more transformations. Each transformation represented stories differently to create varied kinds of understandings among different stakeholder sets. The team was able to gain the benefits of ASD - faster development cycles, less documentation, rapid adaptation to insights and conditions.