Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacteriophage-Mediated Toxin Gene Regulation in Clostridium difficile

ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile has been identified as the most important single identifiable cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis. Virulent strains of C. difficile produce two large protein toxins, toxin A and toxin B, which are involved in pathogenesis. In this study, we examined the effect of lysogeny by ΦCD119 on C. difficile toxin production. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated a decrease in the expression of pathogenicity locus (PaLoc) genes tcdA, tcdB, tcdR, tcdE, and tcdC in ΦCD119 lysogens. During this study we found that repR, a putative repressor gene of ΦCD119, was expressed in C. difficile lysogens and that its product, RepR, could downregulate tcdA::gusA and tcdR::gusA reporter fusions in Escherichia coli. We cloned and purified a recombinant RepR containing a C-terminal six-His tag and documented its binding to the upstream regions of tcdR in C. difficile PaLoc and in repR upstream region in ΦCD119 by gel shift assays. DNA footprinting experiments revealed similarities between the RepR binding sites in tcdR and repR upstream regions. These findings suggest that presence of a CD119-like temperate phage can influence toxin gene regulation in this nosocomially important pathogen.
Disorders of Personality: DSM-III: Axis II

Brings together clinical literature on personality disorders in a single source book. Coordinates and evaluates current theory on the subject in close conjunction with the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) to which the author made substantial contribution in the section on personality disorders. Presents contrasting views of the dynamics and development of each syndrome, with special attention to the newer personality syndromes such as avoidant, narcissistic, borderline, and schizotypal, as well as more common mixed'' personality types.
The blood volumes of the primary and secondary circulatory system in the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L., using plasma bound Evans Blue and compartmental analysis

SUMMARY The volume of the primary (PCS) and secondary (SCS) circulatory system in the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua was determined using a modified dye dilution technique. Cod (N=10) were chronically cannulated in the second afferent branchial artery with PE-50 tubing. Evans Blue dye was bound to harvested fish plasma at a concentration of 1 mg dye ml-1 plasma, and injected at a concentration of 1 mg kg-1 body mass. Serial sampling from the cannula produced a dye dilution curve, which could be described by a double exponential decay equation. Curve analysis enabled the calculation of the primary circulatory and total distribution volume. The difference between these volumes is assumed to be the volume of the SCS. From the dilution curve, it was also possible to calculate flow rates between and within the systems. The results of these experiments suggest a plasma volume in the PCS of 3.42±0.89 ml 100 g-1 body mass, and in the SCS of 1.68±0.35 ml 100 g-1 body mass (mean ± S.D.) or approximately 50% that of the PCS. Flow rates to the SCS were calculated as 2.7% of the resting cardiac output. There was an allometric relationship between body mass and blood volumes. Increasing condition factor showed a tendency towards smaller blood volumes of the PCS, expressed as percentage body mass, but this was not evident for the volume of the SCS.
Sirt1 and the Mitochondria

Sirt1 is the most prominent and extensively studied member of sirtuins, the family of mammalian class III histone deacetylases heavily implicated in health span and longevity. Although primarily a nuclear protein, Sirt1’s deacetylation of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor Gamma Coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) has been extensively implicated in metabolic control and mitochondrial biogenesis, which was proposed to partially underlie Sirt1’s role in caloric restriction and impacts on longevity. The notion of Sirt1’s regulation of PGC-1α activity and its role in mitochondrial biogenesis has, however, been controversial. Interestingly, Sirt1 also appears to be important for the turnover of defective mitochondria by mitophagy. I discuss here evidences for Sirt1’s regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and turnover, in relation to PGC-1α deacetylation and various aspects of cellular physiology and disease.
Speed and accuracy of network simulation in the SimGrid framework

The experimental study of distributed systems and algorithms for large-scale internet platforms typically requires simulation of compute and network resources. This paper focuses on network simulation issues. While many packet-level network simulators are available and enable high-accuracy simulation, they can lead to prohibitively long simulation times. Consequently, a number of simulation frameworks have been developed that simulate networks at higher levels, thus enabling fast simulation but losing accuracy. One such framework, SimGrid, uses a flow-level approach that approximates the behavior of TCP networks, including TCP's bandwidth sharing properties. In this paper we perform a quantitative evaluation of SimGrid and compare it to popular packet-level simulators. We identify the regimes in which SimGrid's accuracy is comparable to that of these packet-level simulators, and the regimes in which SimGrid's accuracy may not be acceptable. We then describe an integration of the GTNetS packet-level simulator and SimGrid, which allows SimGrid users to easily opt either for fast but potentially inaccurate flow-level simulation or for accurate but potentially prohibitively slow packet-level simulation.
miR-135 family members mediate podocyte injury through the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling

The upregulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling occurs in virtually all types of kidney disease and is associated with podocyte injury. However, the precise mechanisms involved in the development of kidney disease remain to be elucidated. MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs and they have been shown to be regulators of gene expression, mainly by binding to the untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs. The aim of the present study was to determine the role of the 2 members of the miR-135 family (miR-135a and miR-135b) in podocyte injury and to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the damage to podocytes. The results revealed that miR-135a and miR-135b were upregulated in models of podocyte injury and in glomeruli isolated from patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). The ectopic expression of miR-135a and miR-135b led to severe podocyte injury and the disorder of the podocyte cytoskeleton. Our findings demonstrated that miR-135a and miR-135b activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling and induced the nuclear translocation of β-catenin. Using luciferase reporter assays, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis, glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) was identified as a target gene of miR-135a and miR-135b. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that members of the miR-135 family (specifically miR-135a and miR-135b) regulate the expression of GSK3β, thus playing a role in the development of podocyte injury and the disorder of the podocyte cytoskeleton. This is an important finding as it may contribute to the development of novel therapeutics for podocyte injury-associated glomerulopathies.
Elevated Plasma Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Levels in Non-Diabetic Predialysis Uraemia

Chronic renal impairment is associated with increased vascular morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of this aggressive vascular pathology is unknown but believed to be multi-factorial in origin. There is accumulating in vivo and in vitro evidence to suggest that the vascular endothelium is dysfunctional in uraemia, including the propensity of endothelial cells to produce VEGF in response to acidosis. There is also preliminary data to suggest abnormally increased endothelial permeability in uraemia. To investigate the potential abnormal circulating levels of VEGF in uraemia, EDTA plasma samples were collected from 20 non-diabetic predialysis patients and matched controls. Free plasma VEGF levels were detected using a commercially available ELISA kit. There were significantly higher plasma levels of VEGF predialysis group (median 351 pg/ml, range 70–636 pg/ml) compared to matched controls (median 125.5 pg/ml, range 22–450 pg/ml), p < 0.002. In conclusion, free plasma VEGF levels are high in chronic renal impairment. We hypothesise that this potent growth and permeability factor may contribute to the endothelial dysfunction of uraemia.
Use of antidepressants and rates of hip bone loss in older women: the study of osteoporotic fractures.

BACKGROUND Serotonin transporters have recently been described in bone, raising the possibility that medications that block serotonin reuptake could affect bone metabolism. METHODS We assessed current use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and obtained serial bone mineral density (BMD) measurements in a cohort of 2722 older women (mean age, 78.5 years) participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, a prospective cohort study of community-dwelling women. Hip BMD was measured at the sixth examination and an average of 4.9 years later at the eighth examination. We categorized women as nonusers (used no SSRIs or TCAs at either examination; n=2406), SSRI users (used SSRIs but no TCAs at either examination; n=198), or TCA users (used TCAs but no SSRIs at either examination; n=118). Depressive symptoms were identified using a cutoff score of at least 6 on the Geriatric Depression Scale. RESULTS After adjustment for potential confounders, including the Geriatric Depression Scale score, mean total hip BMD decreased 0.47% per year in nonusers compared with 0.82% in SSRI users (P<.001) and 0.47% in TCA users (P=.99). Higher rates of bone loss were also observed at the 2 hip subregions for SSRI users. Results were not substantially altered when women who scored at least 6 on the Geriatric Depression Scale were excluded from the analysis. CONCLUSION Use of SSRIs but not TCAs is associated with an increased rate of bone loss at the hip in this cohort of older women.
dSensingNI: a framework for advanced tangible interaction using a depth camera

This work presents an approach to overcome the disadvantages of existing interaction frameworks and technologies for touch detection and object interaction. The robust and easy to use framework dSensingNI (Depth Sensing Natural Interaction) is described, which supports multitouch and tangible interaction with arbitrary objects. It uses images from a depth-sensing camera and provides tracking of users fingers of palm of hands and combines this with object interaction, such as grasping, grouping and stacking, which can be used for advanced interaction techniques.
Prevalence of vaginal infections with bacterial vaginosis, Trichomonas vaginalis and Candida albicans among pregnant women at the Port Moresby General Hospital Antenatal Clinic.

A clinico-sociodemographic and microbiological survey was carried out at the Port Moresby General Hospital Antenatal Clinic to determine the prevalences of bacterial vaginosis, Trichomonas vaginalis and Candida albicans vaginal infections in pregnancy and to examine if the infections had any association with some suspected sociodemographic risk factors. The study was carried out between December 1990 and January 1991. Of 206 consecutive subjects surveyed, 79 (38%) had symptomatic infection. However, on speculum examination, abnormal discharge was seen in 188 (91%). 118 (57%) had microbiologically confirmed infection. The prevalences of the individual infections were T. vaginalis 19%, C. albicans 23% and bacterial vaginosis 23%. Combined infection, i.e. two infections occurring together in the same subject, was uncommon. None of the infections had an association with any of the sociodemographic characteristics studied. Of the 118 positive subjects, 52 (44%) complained of vaginal discharge and 55 (47%) complained of pruritus.
Aalborg Universitet A Benchmark for Virtual Camera Control

Automatically animating and placing the virtual camera in a dynamic environment is a challenging task. The camera is expected to maximise and maintain a set of properties — i.e. visual composition — while smoothly moving through the environment and avoiding obstacles. A large number of different solutions to the problem have been proposed so far including, for instance, evolutionary techniques, swarm intelligence or ad hoc solutions. However, the large diversity of the solutions and the lack of a common benchmark, made any comparative analysis of the different solutions extremely difficult. For this reason, in this paper, we propose a benchmark for the problem of virtual camera control and we analyse a number of different problems in different virtual environments. Each of these scenarios is described through a set of complexity measures and, as a result of this analysis, a subset of scenarios is selected as the core of the benchmark.
Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer: clinical and molecular evidence for a new entity of hereditary colorectal cancer

Background: Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is clinically defined by familial clustering of colorectal cancer and other associated tumours. Methods: By thorough molecular and clinical evaluation of 41 families, two different groups were characterised: group 1, 25 families with truncating mutations in MLH1 or MSH2 (12 novel mutations); and group 2, 16 Amsterdam positive families without mutations in these genes and without microsatellite instability in their corresponding tumours. Results: Significant clinical differences between these two groups were found. Firstly, earlier age of onset for all colorectal cancers (median 41 v 55 years; p<0.001) and all tumours (median 43 v 56 years; p = 0.022) was observed, comparing groups 1 and 2. Secondly, 68% of the index colorectal cancers were localised proximally of the splenic flexure in group 1 compared with 14% in group 2 (p<0.010). Thirdly, more synchronous and metachronous colorectal (p = 0.017) and extracolorectal tumours (p<0.001) were found in group 1. Fourthly, a higher colorectal adenoma/carcinoma ratio (p = 0.030) and a tendency towards more synchronous or metachronous adenomas in group 2 (p = 0.084) was observed, indicating a slower progression of adenomas to carcinomas. As three mutation negative tumours revealed chromosomal instability after comparative genomic hybridisation, these tumours may be caused by one or more highly penetrant disease alleles from the chromosomal instability pathway. Conclusion: These data show that HNPCC includes at least two entities with clinical and molecular differences. This will have implications for surveillance programmes and for cancer research.
Moral motivation through the life span

Introduction: Moral Development Study in the 21st Century - Carolyn Pope Edwards and Gustavo Carlo Human Morality and Temperament - Jerome Kagan (Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard University) The Roots of Goodness: The Fulfillment of Basic Human Needs and the Development of Caring, Helping and Nonaggression, Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage, Active Bystandership, and Altruism Born of Suffering - Ervin Staub (Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amsherst) The Development of Empathy-Related Responding - Nancy Eisenberg (Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University) The Neo-Kohlbergian Tradition and Beyond: Schemas, Expertise and Character - Darcia Narvaez (Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame) The Development of Moral Identity - Daniel Hart (Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University) Motivation and Moral Development: A Tri-Focal Perspective - F. Clark Power (Professor of Psychology at Notre Dame University)
"Dexmedetomidine V/S Fentanyl with 0.75% Ropivacaine for Epidural Anaesthesia in Lower Abdominal Surgeries - A Comparative Study"

Epidural anaesthesia is an integral part of today’s practice of anaesthesia, as it gives the anaesthesiologist the opportunity to place it at any level of the vertebrae to provide anaesthesia and analgesia, to supplement general anaesthesia, decrease the need for deep levels of general anaesthesia and therefore provide haemodynamically stable operative course. As early postoperative mobilization and rehabilitation with minimally associated pain and discomfort is the most desirable feature for modern orthopaedic and general surgeries so epidural becomes desirable technique of anaesthesia [1]. It not only provides perioperative surgical anaesthesia but also post-op analgesia in lower abdominal and limb surgeries [2].
Prevalence and Molecular Characteristics of Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Hunan, China

ABSTRACT To determine the prevalence and molecular characteristics of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Hunan province, drug susceptibility testing and spoligotyping methods were performed among 171 M. tuberculosis isolates. In addition, the mutated characteristics of 12 loci, including katG, inhA, rpoB, rpsL, nucleotides 388 to 1084 of the rrs gene [rrs(388–1084)], embB, pncA, tlyA, eis, nucleotides 1158 to 1674 of the rrs gene [rrs(1158–1674)], gyrA, and gyrB, among drug-resistant isolates were also analyzed by DNA sequencing. Our results indicated that the prevalences of isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), streptomycin (SM), ethambutol (EMB), pyrazinamide (PZA), capreomycin (CAP), kanamycin (KAN), amikacin (AKM), and ofloxacin (OFX) resistance in Hunan province were 35.7%, 26.9%, 20.5%, 9.9% 15.2%, 2.3%, 1.8%, 1.2%, and 10.5%, respectively. The previously treated patients presented significantly increased risks for developing drug resistance. The majority of M. tuberculosis isolates belonged to the Beijing family. Almost all the drug resistance results demonstrated no association with genotype. The most frequent mutations of drug-resistant isolates were katG codon 315 (katG315), inhA15, rpoB531, rpoB526, rpoB516, rpsL43, rrs514, embB306, pncA96, rrs1401, gyrA94, and gyrA90. These results contribute to the knowledge of the prevalence of drug resistance in Hunan province and also expand the molecular characteristics of drug resistance in China.
Evidence for involvement of central 5-HT(4) receptors in cholinergic function associated with cognitive processes: behavioral, electrophysiological, and neurochemical studies.

The possible involvement of 5-HT(4) receptors in cognitive function was investigated with a view toward modulating the cholinergic neuronal system. For this purpose, behavioral, electrophysiological, and neurochemical studies were performed in rats. The behavioral study, using a passive avoidance test, demonstrated that the 5-HT(4) receptor agonist SC 53116 (10 microg/rat i.c.v.) had an ameliorative effect on the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine-induced (1 mg/kg i.p.) impairment of learning. The electrophysiological study showed that SC 53116 (1 and 10 microg/rat i.c.v.) enhanced the population spike amplitude in the hippocampal CA1 field evoked by Schaffer collateral stimulation. SC 53116 (10 microg/rat i.c.v.) also augmented the tetanus-induced long-term potentiation (LTP). This augmented LTP was blocked not only by the selective 5-HT(4) receptor antagonist GR 113808 (20 microg/rat i.c.v.) but also by scopolamine (1 mg/kg i.p.). These findings suggest that the functional interaction between the serotonergic system mediated via 5-HT(4) receptors and the cholinergic system associated with cognitive processes exists in vivo. This possibility was further strengthened by neurochemical study using in vivo microdialysis; local administration of SC 53116 (10 and 100 microM) concentration-dependently enhanced the extracellular levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the hippocampus. SC 53116-induced (10 microM) facilitation of ACh release was prevented by coperfusion of GR 113808 (10 microM). Taken together, the present findings obtained by these different approaches indicate the possibility that the 5-HT(4) receptors are involved in cognitive impairment induced by the cholinergic neuronal system.
Mutations in the intersubunit bridge regions of 16S rRNA affect decoding and subunit–subunit interactions on the 70S ribosome

The small and large subunits of the ribosome are held together by a series of bridges, involving RNA–RNA, RNA–protein and protein–protein interactions. Some 12 bridges have been described for the Escherichia coli 70S ribosome. In this work, we have targeted for mutagenesis, some of the 16S rRNA residues involved in the formation of intersubunit bridges B3, B5, B6, B7b and B8. In addition to effects on subunit association, the mutant ribosomes also affect the fidelity of translation; bridges B5, B6 and B8 increase decoding errors during elongation, while disruption of bridges B3 and B7b alters the stringency of start codon selection. Moreover, mutations in the bridge B5, B6 and B8 regions of 16S rRNA also correct the growth and decoding defects associated with alterations in ribosomal protein S12. These results link bridges B5, B6 and B8 with the decoding process and are consistent with the recently described location of translation factor EF-Tu on the ribosome and the proposed involvement of h14 in activating Guanosine-5′-triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis by aminoacyl-tRNA•EF-Tu•GTP. These observations are consistent with a model in which bridges B5, B6 and B8 contribute to the fidelity of translation by modulating GTP hydrolysis by aminoacyl-tRNA•EF-Tu•GTP ternary complexes during the elongation phase of protein synthesis.
A Theoretical Modeling and Analysis of Communication via Heat Flow at Nanoscale

Nanonetworks constructed by interconnecting nanodevices using wireless communication allow the nanodevices to perform more complex functions by means of cooperation between them. For the first time in the literature, a novel and physically realizable nanoscale communication technique is introduced: Nanoscale Heat Communication (NHC) in which the heat transfer is used for communication at the nanoscale. The transmitted information is encoded in temperature signals using Magneto-Caloric Effect (MCE) which is the change in temperature of a magnetic material exposed to a varying magnetic field. Thermal energy emitted or absorbed by a transmitter nanodevice is subject to the laws of thermal diffusion which changes the temperature of the communication medium. The transmitted information is decoded by a receiver nanodevice that senses the temperature variations. Using information theoretical analysis, a closed-form expression for the channel capacity is obtained. According to the performance evaluation of the channel capacity, NHC provides a significantly higher capacity communication compared with the existing molecular communication techniques. Therefore, NHC stands as a promising solution to nanoscale communication between nanomachines based on its channel capacity performance, advantages, and possible applications for the emerging field of nanonetworks.
Exploring social structure effect on language evolution based on a computational model

A compositionality-regularity coevolution model is adopted to explore the effect of social structure on language emergence and maintenance. Based on this model, we explore language evolution in three experiments, and discuss the role of a popular agent in language evolution, the relationship between mutual understanding and social hierarchy, and the effect of inter-community communications and that of simple linguistic features on convergence of communal languages in two communities. This work embodies several important interactions during social learning, and introduces a new approach that manipulates individuals’ probabilities to participate in social interactions to study the effect of social structure. We hope it will stimulate further theoretical and empirical explorations on language evolution in a social environment.