Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nisin Resistance in Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 700302 Is a Complex Phenotype

ABSTRACT Nisin resistance in Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 700302 is a complex phenotype involving alterations in both the cytoplasmic membrane and the cell wall and a requirement for divalent cations. In addition to a lower ratio of C15 to C17 fatty acids than in the wild-type strain (A. S. Mazzotta and T. J. Montville, J. Appl. Microbiol. 82:32–38, 1997), this nisin-resistant (Nisr) strain contained significantly more zwitterionic phosphatidylethanolamine and less anionic phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin. The extraction of cardiolipin was enhanced by a penicillin-lysozyme step to disrupt the cell wall. This study is the first to quantify the phosphatidylethanolamine component of the L. monocytogenes cytoplasmic membrane. While these cytoplasmic membrane changes were induced by nisin, the Nisr strain also showed altered sensitivities to cell wall-acting compounds, even when grown in the absence of nisin, suggesting a constitutive alteration in the strain’s cell wall. A model which integrates the roles of the cell membrane, cell wall, and divalent cations is presented. Finally, nisin resistance inL. monocytogenes ATCC 700302 conferred cross-resistance to the class IIa bacteriocin pediocin PA-1 and the class IV leuconocin S.
Fixation Disparity and Stereopsis

&NA; The magnitude of fixation disparity has been proposed to be uncorrelated with stereoscopic sensitivity. Studies on this relationship have been confined to the effects of vergenceinduced fixation disparity on stereoacuity: some subjects exhibited decreased stereoacuity with induced fixation disparity. The present study was designed to determine whether prismatic correction of naturally occurring horizontal fixation disparity would result in increased stereoacuity. Five subjects with eso and 5 with exo fixation disparity had their fixation disparity curves and stereothresholds evaluated before and after wearing corrective lenses and prisms that neutralized the fixation disparity. Five subjects with no fixation disparity served as controls. After 1 month most subjects showed no change in their fixation disparity curves and stereothresholds.
Social Physique Anxiety, Reasons for Exercise, and Attitudes Toward Exercise Settings

Hart, Leary, and Rejeski (1989) hypothesized that social physique anxiety (SPA), self-presentational anxiety associated with the physique, may deter some people from participating in fitness programs. This contention was explored in the present investigation. Data were collected from 104 undergraduate females regarding SPA, weight satisfaction, body satisfaction, and reasons for exercise. Following each of two video presentations of aerobics classes as stimulus materials, attitudes toward the favorability of the exercise settings were assessed. One class wore attire emphasizing the physique; the other appeared in shorts and T-shirts, deemphasizing the physique. Multiple regression analyses revealed SPA was associated with favorability of attitudes toward both exercise settings. SPA was negatively associated with favorability of the setting emphasizing the physique and was positively related to favorability of the setting de-emphasizing the physique. The results indicate that self-presentational, theoretic.
Role of the Basolateral Amygdala in the Storage of Fear Memories across the Adult Lifetime of Rats

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is intimately involved in the development of conditional fear. Converging lines of evidence support a role for this region in the storage of fear memory but do not rule out a time-limited role in the memory consolidation. To examine this issue, we assessed the stability of BLA contribution to fear memories acquired across the adult lifetime of rats. Fear conditioning consisted of 10 tone–shock pairings in one context (remote memory), followed 16 months later by 10 additional tone–shock pairings with a novel tone in a novel context (recent memory). Twenty-four hours after recent training, rats were given NMDA or sham lesions of the BLA. Contextual and tone freezing were independently assessed in individual test sessions. Sham-lesioned rats showed high and comparable levels of freezing across all context and tone tests. In contrast, BLA-lesioned rats displayed robust freezing deficits across both recent and remote tests. Subsequent open-field testing revealed no effects of BLA lesions on activity patterns in a dark open field or during bright light exposure. Lesioned rats were able to reacquire normal levels of context-specific freezing after an overtraining procedure (76 unsignaled shocks). Together, these findings indicate that BLA lesions do not disrupt freezing behavior by producing hyperactivity, an inability to suppress behavior, or an inability to freeze. Rather, the consistent pattern of freezing deficits at both training-to-lesion intervals supports a role for the BLA in the permanent storage of fear memory.
Reproducibility of interpreting "and" and "or" in terminology systems

High quality terminologies are a fundamental requirement in a range of health care applications. To ensure high quality terminologies we should reflect about the understandability, reproducibility and utility criteria within a terminology. This paper describes efforts to improve the understandability of SNOMED. We describe the problem related to the grammatical conjunctions "and" and "or" and how we applied basic semantic rules defined by the SNOMED Editorial Board. The results show that the meaning of "and" and "or" in SNOMED can be made explicit in almost all cases and can be done in a reasonable, reliable, and reproducible manner.
The protein bcl-2 alpha does not require membrane attachment, but two conserved domains to suppress apoptosis

Bcl-2 is a mitochondrial- and perinuclear-associated protein that prolongs the lifespan of a variety of cell types by interfering with programmed cell death (apoptosis). Bcl-2 seems to function in an antioxidant pathway, and it is believed that membrane attachment mediated by a COOH-terminal hydrophobic tail is required for its full activity. To identify critical regions in bcl-2 alpha for subcellular localization, activity, and/or interaction with other proteins, we created, by site-directed mutagenesis, various deletion, truncation, and point mutations. We show here that membrane attachment is not required for the survival activity of bcl-2 alpha. A truncation mutant of bcl-2 alpha lacking the last 33 amino acids (T3.1) including the hydrophobic COOH terminus shows full activity in blocking apoptosis of nerve growth factor-deprived sympathetic neurons or TNF-alpha-treated L929 fibroblasts. Confocal microscopy reveals that the T3 mutant departs into the extremities of neurites in neurons and filopodias in fibroblasts. Consistently, T3 is predominantly detected in the soluble fraction by Western blotting, and is not inserted into microsomes after in vitro transcription/translation. We further provide evidence for motifs (S-N and S-II) at the NH2 and COOH terminus of bcl-2, which are crucial for its activity.
Overlapping Schwarz Methods for Isogeometric Analysis

We construct and analyze an overlapping Schwarz preconditioner for elliptic problems discretized with isogeometric analysis. The preconditioner is based on partitioning the domain of the problem into overlapping subdomains, solving local isogeometric problems on these subdomains, and solving an additional coarse isogeometric problem associated with the subdomain mesh. We develop an $h$-analysis of the preconditioner, showing in particular that the resulting algorithm is scalable and its convergence rate depends linearly on the ratio between subdomain and „overlap sizes” for fixed polynomial degree $p$ and regularity $k$ of the basis functions. Numerical results in two- and three-dimensional tests show the good convergence properties of the preconditioner with respect to the isogeometric discretization parameters $h, p, k$, number of subdomains $N$, overlap size, and also jumps in the coefficients of the elliptic operator.
Canola Oil in Lactating Dairy Cow Diets Reduces Milk Saturated Fatty Acids and Improves Its Omega-3 and Oleic Fatty Acid Content

To produce milk that is healthier for human consumption, the present study evaluated the effect of including canola oil in the diet of dairy cows on milk production and composition as well as the nutritional quality of this milk fat. Eighteen Holstein cows with an average daily milk yield of 22 (± 4) kg/d in the middle stage of lactation were used. The cows were distributed in 6 contemporary 3x3 Latin squares consisting of 3 periods and 3 treatments: control diet (without oil), 3% inclusion of canola oil in the diet and 6% inclusion of canola oil in the diet (dry matter basis). The inclusion of 6% canola oil in the diet of lactating cows linearly reduced the milk yield by 2.51 kg/d, short-chain fatty acids (FA) by 41.42%, medium chain FA by 27.32%, saturated FA by 20.24%, saturated/unsaturated FA ratio by 39.20%, omega-6/omega-3 ratio by 39.45%, and atherogenicity index by 48.36% compared with the control treatment. Moreover, with the 6% inclusion of canola oil in the diet of cows, there was an increase in the concentration of long chain FA by 45.91%, unsaturated FA by 34.08%, monounsaturated FA by 40.37%, polyunsaturated FA by 17.88%, milk concentration of omega-3 by 115%, rumenic acid (CLA) by 16.50%, oleic acid by 44.87% and h/H milk index by 94.44% compared with the control treatment. Thus, the inclusion of canola oil in the diet of lactating dairy cows makes the milk fatty acid profile nutritionally healthier for the human diet; however, the lactating performance of dairy cows is reduce.
Psychological Stress Induces Temporary Masticatory Muscle Mechanical Sensitivity in Rats

To explore the relationship between psychological stress and masticatory muscle pain, we created a communication stress animal model to determine whether psychological stress could induce increased mechanical sensitivity in masticatory muscles and to study the changes of mechanical nociceptive thresholds after stress removal. Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a control group (CON), a foot-shocked group (FS, including 3 subgroups recorded as FS-1, FS-2, and FS-3), a psychological stress group (PS), and a drug treatment group (DT). PS and DT rats were confined in a communication box for one hour a day to observe the psychological responses of neighboring FS rats.Measurements of the mechanical nociceptive thresholds of the bilateral temporal and masseter muscles showed a stimulus-response relationship between psychological stress and muscle mechanical sensitivity. The DT rats, who received a diazepam injection, showed almost the same mechanical sensitivity of the masticatory muscles to that of the control in response to psychological stress. Fourteen days after the psychological stressor was removed, the mechanical nociceptive thresholds returned to normal. These findings suggest that psychological stress is directly related to masticatory muscle pain. Removal of the stressor could be a useful method for relieving mechanical sensitivity increase induced by psychological stress.
The Feasibility of Xpert MTB/RIF Testing to Detect Rifampicin Resistance among Childhood Tuberculosis for Prevalence Surveys in Northern China

Drug resistance surveillance is crucial for control of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). However, limited data exists on the burden of drug-resistant TB in children. The goal of this work was to generate prevalence data regarding rifampicin- (RIF-) resistant childhood TB in northern China and to test the feasibility of Xpert for surveying pediatric TB drug resistance prevalence. We enrolled 362 clinically diagnosed childhood TB patients and collected sputum, gastric lavage aspirate (GLA), bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) samples. Xpert and solid culture were utilized to detect RIF resistance. The detection rate of Xpert-positive TB among new clinically diagnosed TB cases was 38.4% (139/362), significantly higher than that of solid culture-positive TB (16.3%, 59/362, P < 0.01). Notably, Xpert-positive rates differed significantly by sample type, with the highest positive rate for GLA (51.2%). The unit testing costs per RIF-resistant TB patient were $828.41 for solid culture and $761.86 for Xpert. Our data demonstrate that the prevalence of RIF resistance among childhood TB cases in our study (6.9%) is comparable to the national RIF resistance prevalence level of new cases (6.7%). In addition, Xpert is superior to the solid culture for RIF resistance survey in the childhood TB patients.
Right frontal lobe slow frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (SF r-TMS) is an effective treatment for depression: a case-control pilot study of safety and efficacy

Major depression may result from decreased left frontal lobe function with respect to the right. Fast frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (FF r-TMS) excites the underlying cortex whereas slow frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (SF r-TMS) causes cortical inhibition. Left frontal FF r-TMS attenuates major depression whereas the inhibitory effects of right frontal SF r-TMS are unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that right frontal SF r-TMS would treat depressed patients with minimal effect on controls. A psychiatrist administered the Beck depression inventory and Hamilton D depression rating scales to eight depressed patients and six controls before and after the treatment protocol. Eight sessions of 100 right frontal lobe SF r-TMS were given at motor threshold and 0.5 Hz over a 6 week period. No adverse outcomes were noted in either group. A significant antidepressant effect was noted in depressed patients on the Beck and Hamilton D depression rating scales (p<0.05). No change on either scale was noted in the controls. In conclusion right frontal lobe SF r-TMS is a safe, non-invasive treatment for major depression that deserves further investigation.
Survey of active verbs in the titles of clinical trial reports.

# Survey of active verbs in the titles of clinical trial reports {#article-title-2} The title of the report of a clinical trial can be indicative (such as “Newbetalol in the treatment of tachycardias”) or informative (“Newbetalol prevents tachycardias”). 1 Rosner believes informative titles are “improper and imprudent” and a symptom of “science as product. ”2 Weiss objected to an “overly optimistic” title beginning “Improved survival …” from a pilot study using historical controls.3 According to the popperian model, hypotheses cannot be proved but only supported or rejected, and then only to an arbitrary level of statistical significance. This makes an informative title incorrect, but rejected hypotheses live on in such titles. I tested the validity of informative titles in clinical reports and their prevalence. To see whether informative titles are valid, I searched Medline (Paperchase) for clinical trial reports published in 1996 whose titles contained the word “prevents. ” I searched Medline at five year intervals from 1970 to 1995, and for 1997 as the last full year, for titles containing some active verbs as markers for informative titles. Although limiting, this method of identification is more efficient than, say, examining titles at random. I grouped them as absolute verbs (“prevents,” “abolishes,” and “eliminates”), relative verbs (“prolongs,” “reduces,” “improves,” “predicts,” “lessens,” and “weakens”), and “nounal” verbs (“increases,” “decreases,” and “causes”), although a quick scan of retrieved titles showed that …
S‐phase fraction of human brain tumors in situ measured by uptake of bromodeoxyuridine

One hundred fifty‐four patients with brain tumors of various types were given an intravenous infusion of the thymidine analogue bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR), 200 mg/m2, at the time of surgery but before biopsy of the tumor to label S‐phase cells. Excised tumor specimens were fixed, sectioned, and stained by immunoperoxidase methods to detect BUdR. The labelling index (LI), or percentage of BUdR‐labelled cells, was calculated for each tumor specimen. The LIs of glioblastomas, medulloblastomas, and most highly anaplastic astrocytomas were 5% to 20%. The majority of moderately anaplastic astrocytomas showed LIs of less than 1 %, but 30% of them had LIs similar to those of highly malignant gliomas. Most pituitary adenomas and neurinomas showed LIs of less than 1%. Non‐ malignant meningiomas had LIs of less than 1%, whereas malignant meningiomas had LIs higher than 2.7%. This is an important observation, because malignant meningiomas are not well‐defined histopathologically and their growth rate and rate of recurrence cannot be predicted by current diagnostic procedures. By estimating the proliferative potential of individual tumors more precisely, the BUdR LI supplements histopathological diagnosis, allowing a more accurate estimate of prognosis and facilitating the design of treatment regimens for individual patients.
Asymptomatic Embolization Predicts Stroke and TIA Risk in Patients With Carotid Artery Stenosis

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis and the G20210A Mutation of Factor II To the Editor: In addition to the article of Longstreth et al 1 recently published in Stroke, we describe 2 cases of stroke due to cerebral venous thrombosis with the G20210A mutation as only risk factor. After sequencing of the gene for human prothrombin (factor II) by Degen and Davie 2 in 1987, a new mutation of prothrombin (G20210A) was described by Poort et al 3 in 1996. It is a common mutation of this factor associated with an increased risk of venous (and possible arterial) thrombosis, as stated by Martinelli et al.4 The mutation can be detected by a polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, as described by Poort. 3 Our laboratory uses this method. Recently, we saw 2 patients with a definite diagnosis of cerebral venous thrombosis. No other known risk factor for cerebral venous thrombosis could be found. The finding of the abnormal mutation (G20210A) of factor II gene (both patients had a heterozygous state for the mutation) suggested this as etiology. Patient 1 was a 42-year-old employee and moderate smoker. In his early thirties he had an arterial thrombectomy in a peripheral artery. In his family only his father had suffered a “stroke. ” He was admitted to our hospital with a first epileptic seizure, focal in origin. There was a venous infarction in the right frontal lobe. MR angiography (including venous phase) showed a typical stop in the frontal superior sagittal sinus, with loss of draining veins. None of the other tests associated with venous hypercoagulability showed a hypercoagulable state (no activated protein C resistance, proteins C or S deficiency, detectable antinuclear factors, lupus anticoagulants, or antithrombin III). The G20210A mutation was found, showing a heterozygous genotype for this mutation in this patient. Patient 2 was a 63-year-old farmer who was admitted to our hospital 3 days after being missed by his family. He didn’t return home after market day and was disorientated in place, time, and person. A few days earlier, his family had found him to be a little distracted. CT and MRI showed a bithalamic venous infarction. On MR angiography and arteriography there was total obliteration of deep intracerebral venous structures. Anticoagulation was started. He remained with disinhibited frontal behavior. None of the classical risk factors of hypercoagulation were present. He did not smoke. By PCR-RFLP (as described above), he proved to be heterozygous for the G20210A mutation. Besides being a well-known and relatively frequent risk factor for venous thrombosis in general, this mutation must be looked for in the less-frequent cerebral venous thrombosis patients. Testing for this mutation is important because people with this genotype should be strongly advised to avoid other risk factors, such as oral contraceptive use 5 and smoking.
Inclusion initiated damage studies at repetition rate pulse laser

Theory of laser-induced damage to dielectric films wich contain highly absorbing impurities was proposed previously for single-shot damage of multiple shots. By the model of damage induced by inclusions in dielectric thin-films, with the experiment done by S.Papernov et al who deposited HfO2 thin-films containing gold nanoparticles on a cleaved fused-silica by e-beam evaporation, the absorption cross-section of gold was obtained. Furthermore, the Laser-induced damage threshold induced by inclusions with varies radius and varies repetition frequency was calculated.
Information Technology Acceptance across Cultures

This chapter introduces national culture as a possible factor accounting for the differences in information technology adoption and use be-tween countries. Based upon culture theory and the technology acceptance model (TAM), the author offers a conceptual model aiming at better understanding IT acceptance across countries of different cultures. It has been argued that six value dimensions—individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, high/low context, and poly-chronism/monochronism—act as moderators of the TAM relationships. Furthermore, the author aims at helping IT designers and IT managers all over the world to understand why certain national cultural values may be congruent or not with the IT to be designed or implemented.
Common Risk Factors in the US Treasury and Corporate Bond Markets : An Arbitrage-free Dynamic Nelson-Siegel Modeling Approach †

The vast majority of the term structure literature has focused on modeling the riskfree term structure as implied by Treasury bond yields. As fixed-income markets should be interconnected, we combine the modeling of Treasury yields with a modeling of the common factors present in representative risky credit spread term structures derived from Bloomberg corporate bond data. The question we address is whether we can improve our understanding of, and our ability to forecast, Treasury yields by incorporating information from corporate bond market. We use the arbitrage-free dynamic version of the Nelson-Siegel yield-curve model derived Christensen, Diebold and Rudebusch (2007) to model Treasury yields and corporate bond spreads across rating and industry categories. In addition to the three-factor Nelson-Siegel factors for Treasury yields, we find two common factors—a level and a slope factor—are required to capture the time series dynamics of aggregated credit spreads. We find that the preferred specifications of the joint dynamics of all five factors have feedback effects from the Treasury factors to the credit risk factors, but we also find feedback effects from the credit risk factors to the Treasury factors. To determine the significance of these feedback effects, we perform an out-of-sample forecast exercise. The results so far suggest that the preferred Treasury yield model can easily beat the random walk and that adding the information from the credit markets allows us to improve forecast performance even further for forecast horizons up to 26-weeks. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. We thank Robert Goldstein for many valuable comments. Draft date: October 18, 2012.